Glad that some of you were able to take advantage of my flash giveaway for the Big Slice Apples on Saturday. They really are a great product, and I urge you to check them out! Farrah was the big winner, but for the rest of you all, you can find them at Target 😀

And the winner for the EPIC FITNESS SWAG GIVEAWAY will be announced as soon as I wake up and pick it! Did you win?

This past weekend has been another fantastic weekend filled with family, food, and getting spoiled. And thank you to Erin and Katie for letting me brag about it!

Alex and I finally had the opportunity to meet his nephew, and we were able to get the whole Virginia family together for an early Christmas and yet another Thanksgiving (MORE TURKEY!!). I (obviously) had a fantastic time, but I really was just so happy for Alex that he was able to get time to spend with his family. This year has been so intense for him, and he literally finished night float, came home, saw me, he went to bed and I went to take my test (btw, I am now fully licensed as a leasing agent and yes, tipsy studying is apparently the way to go), he slept for 2ish hours, and then we left for the airport.

Milanese Torta on the left and tortilla soup on the right. Unpictured salad with veggies and chicken.

After a yummy (not even kidding) Frontera Tortas and salad lunch at the airport , we flew to Cville and then drove the 2 hours to Roanoke for a big family Thanksgiving/Christmas meal.

Alex was pretty much just cruising on adrenaline–he was able to stay up a bit later than me!

Saturday we had Christmas just a bit early, and a neighbor took some wonderful photos of all of us. Here is one of my favorites:

Alex and I were totally spoiled by his parents, aunt, and brother. Among the gifts that we will now get to enjoy (before anyone else, suckkkkasss):

Saucony Ulti-Mitts, Yaktrax Run, and the new snowflake ProCompression Socks!

Reminds me of last year 😀  ALL THE RUNNER GIFTS! These, my new Smartwool gaitor, and Flipbelt mean that I am going to be set for winter running! I’ll have all my winter running essentials taken care of 😀

They also gave us all the candy, and some really fabulous and special gifts that will be with us for a long time to come.

Sunday was the first time that Alex and I did anything remotely physically taxing since Thursday. The treadmill running that I have been doing seems to have put a bit of strain on my left hamstring (the troublemaker), and it is definitely strained, so I am just letting it chill out for a few days. The same thing happened when I was supposed to run Zooma during the summer, and it seemed to get better after a few days of relaxing, so I’m hoping that the same will hold true this go round. After all, I need to test out my new equipment!

If I can’t run, I shall fuel.

I’m keeping this post short and to the point because we are really just trying to soak up every second we have here with the family, and, once we get to Cville, with our friends. So short and sweet is the name of the game today.

Now, please excuse me while I go have another round of pie. I mean, Aunt Peggy made it, and it would be rude of me not to eat it, right?

Thought so! And in case you were wondering, coffee and scotch with almond milk is good, but scotch and hot cocoa and almond milk is wwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy better. I went from tipsy studying to tipsy Farkle playing. IT’S ON.

I hope that you all had a fabulous weekend, whatever you did and wherever you are. I hope that it was filled with the people, places, and things that you love, and that you had a great many reasons to smile throughout.

Favorite “spirited” hot beverage? Favorite board/card game

How often are you able to get your immediate family together?

Do your parents still live in your childhood home?