Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Photo Diary | Florida Holiday

Before
My hometown is in Florida, so every year Preston & I (& the cats) fly down to spend time with our families. We are lucky that it doesn't have to be a choice since our parents live so close to each other (though 45 minutes in high school felt like forever). My 'hood is definitely more suburban beach town (and old rich peoples...golf) while Preston's house is almost a petting zoo in the woods. I love it. 

Our trip started with the realization that our flight was now 12 hours earlier, 8 am instead of pm. I would much rather have a morning flight, but it did leave me a bit frazzled at work texting Preston to make sure I wasn't seeing things & to dibs the laundry machines for me...We finished packing up all our things and our presents (I was pretty proud of my gift-giving skills this year) and woke up at 4 am to catch a flight from JFK--> JAX. It was hot and felt like summer, but family makes it feel like the holidays a bit more than snow. I always have so much fun wandering around making friends with all of Preston's pets, including the most recent addition Lord Willoughby-the peacock. I lovingly joke that we do such redneck things at Preston's house-including ATV riding around the neighborhood, check out that crazy hair. I also get excited about car selfies. I can't do that in the city...though driving everywhere gets old. Fast.

During
Christmas at Preston's begins at 5:30 am. I don't think he has completely grown up. It's super fun to be that excited about it again, and it gives me lots of time to be with his family and him before I head over to my mom's to celebrate Christmas with her and my sister, at a reasonable hour. Like normal adults. My sister also brought the love of her life... her dog, Haze, over so he could meet the many beasts at Preston's. Preston & I were adults on one part of Christmas-kind of. We went in together on a joint gift- a drone. Yup. It provided (and still is) hours of entertainment, and I really need to get onto editing that footage. I am so interested in comparing the woods and 'burbs of Florida to our nabe in Brooklyn. My family was so sweet and got me the most lovely presents. My mom went all out and got me a Michael Kors watch for a late graduation, congrats on the new job, and Merry Christmas gift all-in-one.

After
Theoretically, it should have felt like we had plenty of time after Christmas, but it went by so fact. We just chilled on deck (or burned. I literally got a sunburn in December.) and played board games (Dix It, Resistance, Telestrations, & Love Letters to name a few). Our converted city cats love the outdoors. It was so fun to see them explore. We went to historic St. Augustine a couple of times to drone around the fort and marina. It was gorgeous, definitely way more summer feeling than winter though. I was also able to visit some of my cousins, aunts, and uncles on my dad's side that I haven't seen in years. Preston went along with me which feels so awesome when your partner gets to meet and learn more about your family. We ended the trip with a round of Manhunt with Preston's brothers-hilarious. I was pretty good at hiding, if I do say so myself. It's always so bittersweet to say goodbye.

I hope you had a great end of 2014 
[whether it was near or far, a big deal or not, or whether you celebrated anything at all]
 Wishing you an amazing 2015!

2 comments:

  1. I went to Florida for Thanksgiving and I'm sad to report that there was no cute horsies on my trip! XD His horses look so cute!!

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    1. Haha! They are so funny-I really didn't believe him when we first met & he said he had mini horses. Lol

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