christmas break has come and gone

during fall semester of last year, i always felt like doing this.....


so i was incredibly ready for Christmas break.






there was lots of time spent with family and lots of time eating. although both were enjoyable, i miss the first activity most of all now that i am back in dallas. i knew i missed "the fam", but this christmas cinched my thoughts once and for all ..... i must move closer to them. for me, it's not enough to spend just christmas and other holidays with loved ones. it also made me realize i'm still a country girl at heart.
my sisters and i had a photo shoot in order to get photos for a christmas present for dad. here's one where we had some fun.
so among my other activities were beach time (Florida) and lake time (Georgia). my drive to Georgia from Florida wound through small towns and beautiful country. along my drive i saw some things that made me laugh, such as the sign of Striplings General Store, which read "You Never Sausage Place"..... nice. Although some people would make fun of my love of states that would have a store like that, what makes me love it so much is deer crossing the road in the afternoon, cotton blooming, oaks so big that their branches cover the ground, rows and rows of pecan trees, the smell of diesel, sweet tea in every restaurant, water towers painted like peaches, and stars that were so bright, i forgot they could look like that... all of which i saw on my trek this christmas.
here's one i took along the way of Georgia's old courthouses.