"It's the season to be jolly, and be thankful for all that we have"

I feel like every few months I am on here apologizing for being a bad blogger, but once again we have had a busy month and now that the holidays are upon us things have continued to be busy. Timmy and I both agree however that we have had so much to be thankful for this year and feel so blessed to be where we are in our lives this holiday season. At the beginning of November Timmy was offered a job here in Charleston with Citadel Broadcasting. He is still an account executive but is now working for radio rather than TV. While he had a hard time leaving his friends and co-workers behind at Raycom we both grateful that he is no longer commuting to Columbia every day.


I had the entire week of Thanksgiving off work and was able to head to Blacksburg the weekend before to go to the VT v. NC State game. It was great to catch up with with some of my favorite Hokie friends and to visit my favorite place on earth! I spent the rest of the week at home with mom as she continued to recover from her surgery. We had a wonderful time laying around on the couch all day most days, which was nice for both of us! Timmy came to Chester on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and we enjoyed Thanksgiving and the weekend after visiting with his family and spending time with Benjamin.
I also had the chance to get out and catch up with some friends on Black Friday at our annual Chester reunion that night. It was great to be home and catch up for a few days with friends and family.
Since we finally have a house to decorate we have enjoyed our real size Christmas tree and decorating the house for the holidays. We are hosting two holiday parties here for my students and have enjoyed getting everything ready. The preparations remind me a lot of getting ready for the annual Westra Family Christmas Party we had every year growing up. While there will probably be no singing or 12 Days of Christmas, and certainly not as many people, I feel blessed to have learned from one of the best hostesses I know, my mom!


The beginning of December also marks the Annual Meeting for the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors, the professional organization that myself and others in my field are members of. I always enjoy the opportunity to catch up with old colleagues and friends, engage in some great dialogue about fraternity/sorority life, and to sharpen my own skills from the different education sessions. I continue to feel blessed to have a job that I am so passionate about and to work with so many other amazing professionals, it is truly humbling to see all the amazing things that are happening in our field!

There is a very brief update on our last month. Like I mentioned before, we have a variety of Holiday Parties coming up and we look forward to both attending and hosting!