3 Days of Celebration in the Mountain State

Image via Charleston Gazette;
http://www.wvgazette.com

I hope everyone's last minute Christmas related errands, preparations, and plans are coming together! My husband and I are packed and ready to head to the snowy West Virginia mountains for Christmas; we will be hittin' I-77 and I-79 bright and early tomorrow morning.  This evening, he and I are having dinner and watching Black Swan as a little way to celebrate his 29th birthday (which is tomorrow! Thisclose to being a Christmas baby!) 

My husband's Birthday kicks off Christmas festivities with our families in a big way. His family and my mom and step-dad will gather together tomorrow evening at my in-laws' house, where we will all officially celebrate his birthday and the big new J-O-B!  We are so excited to head to WV and see everyone - the past couple of months have been a whirlwind with the job market thing going on, so it's going to be so nice to celebrate the present and the future, and of course, breathe a collective sigh of relief!

I'll be busy with family gatherings at various houses on Christmas Eve, opening gifts at my in-laws on Christmas morning, and spending Christmas day at my mom's house (dinner! And she made those thumbprint cookies, HOLLA!!!) I'm planning to head to church w/my mom on Sunday before heading back to Athens.  When the hubs and I return to our Ohio home on Sunday, we'll exchange gifts - it's a great way to end the weekend!  We've had the same Christmas routine for the past five years, and it seems to work out really well for us.  I'm sure our routine will change a bit next year, since we will be living in NY (YAY!) so I'm going to try to enjoy this year as much as I possibly can.

Next week, I'll begin shamelessly plugging my new blog.  I will be posting here until New Year's Eve, but then the Days in the Life of a Grad Student's Wife will come to an end.  A Day in the Life of a Professor's Wife will begin, and I hope you will join me!  If you like, head on over now to follow via Google Friend Connect, email, Facebook, and Twitter.  All is ready to go on January 1st, 2011!  I can't wait to share my new journey with you all!

[via]

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! I'm going to give blogging a break for a few days, as I'm sure most of you are, too. I hope you have a wonderful weekend with your families, and I look forward to reading your Christmas recap posts on Monday!