Thanksgiving... so much to be thankful for

Full but nearing empty.

I'm stuffed... I really am. I'm stuffed with stuffing, sweet potatoes, and corn casserole. I had three helpings of the green beans with gravy, countless handfuls of nuts, and at least 2 pieces of apple pie. Yum. I even made room for my favorite dessert...the 7-layer jello that mom was so sweet to make.

breath.

I miss this.. and I have it... I miss it and it's all right here. How is it that I can feel the moment slipping even when its in my grip? I'm 20.. 20 years old. I'm home from my 2nd year of college for Thanksgiving at the grandparents' house. It's so nice. It's so nice to feel so loved.... to be so loved.

Brad and Aileen just came in town last night with Erin, Kate, and Maggie... Kelly has been here pretty much all week.. She got here on Sunday and then my family of course got here late Saturday night. That was so fun.

And now the week is over, or well its definitely nearing its end and I'm.. I'm just not ready. Why does it go so fast?

Sometimes I wish it back.. I wish everything back... to live this all again. Then I look around and realize how amazing it is to watch everyone grow together. It's so perfect. I'm amazed. Kelly and I celebrated our birthdays together 20 and 25. Now that is crazy. I love my mom. She's such a sweetheart. We were all done celebrating my birthday-or so I thought- and then she just went all out. I have all these presents, a big balloon, an ice cream cake. I felt so special. It was really neat because the night we celebrated Tara, Melissa (my best friend in the entire world) , and then Connie's family (old family friends) came over. It felt like the good ol' times. They even sang- so today is your birthday... the martin family tradition.

Let's see.. what else was really neat about this break. We played trouble a lot- very fun- I love the way it makes my dad laugh, we put together a 750 piece puzzle- Tara and Meli were great with the edge pieces!, we watched a ton of movies. 6 of the infamous Junior High seven went to the movies to see Rent.. all but Mallory. That was really amazing. It was so neat to see us all together. Di, Whit, Meli, and I all went out to eat at Hacienda- Yum Yum I've been loving their soup. Meli, Britt, Tara, and I went to see the Spauldings at 1 AM when they got home... that was fun. We all woke James up at his house when we went to see him. This time I really felt like he was changing. =( But he gave us sr. pics and all that stuff.. they were great pictures. He's really growing up. We stopped in and saw some of the girls at cheer practice because Tara wanted us to stop by. Brittany thought it felt kind of weird, and I guess it was. I just missed it. It gave me a strange feeling. Kramer made me feel good about being there though. I always enjoy her excitement.

I picked Melissa up from the Indy airport on Saturday at 3:45 and I had a bright pink poster that was really fun. We hugged so hard we ripped it in half. I think we both felt a little awkward at first when we met because we were so excited we just didn't know what to do with ourselves. After a little while we were rollin. Haha. We retrieved her luggage from the good ole baggage claim and rolled on out to Santa Baby. We loaded up and then before exiting the parking garage I decided it was time to decorate the car. I armed myself with window paint and approached the windshield. I wrote "We are SO .." haha I couldn't reach any further from either side of the car. Meli hopped out and I stepped aside to see if her extra height my be the ticket to a complete message. She could reach a little more... but not quite enough. So, it was right there in the parking garage that we busted out one of our old cheer moves and I hoisted her up. She added the finishing touches.. and it was perfect. "We are SO going home." Nothing could've described it better. I don't know if either of us were really referring to a place, but more a combination of people that make us feel at home. I don't know how to explain it, but someday you'll understand.
A string of giggles and we shut the car doors. Music on. Time to drive. We went down the turning structure that provided an exit from the concrete parking structure and drove to the ticket window. The woman working was excited about the message on our windshield and asked us a few questions. Where is home?, etc. At that moment I realized what was really happening. I was sitting in the car with my best friend of over seven years and she flew in all the way from Utah.. now we had a whole week to exist in the same place.. our old familiar place. It's moments like these I feel more than blessed.

So Melissa...she is so fun... like crazy super duper fun! I don't know if we have ever not had fun together. After the airport we finally found our road and we listened to music and chatted as we went down 70 to catch 41. I had wanted to take her to dinner so we went to Outback ( a different location than the one I work at) and that was a blast. We had steak dinners and talked and it was really great. Plus we were both extremely hungry. Yum!
Anyways....it was cold when we left Outback and ran to the car. I almost forgot to put the heat on. Crazy! We made the rest of our journey and Meli played DJ. Soon we approached the Ville where we bought candy bars for our long lost loves because we just couldn't resist (I really shouldn't be writing this for the public) . Finally we approached the Vern. I'll never forget how excited we were to drive into MV.... we rolled down the windows and just.. felt it.. took it all in. We were screaming and rolling the windows down and I don't know... every time I enter that town I get this huge wave of emotion that rushes over me. So many great memories packed into one place...

Later Melissa and I made fun of ourselves for holding on to our guys (not to be revealed, but if you know us you know them) ...and that was some classic comedy. Like we were totally on the floor laughing. Haha. It was pretty funny. I should know better than to disappoint myself. Anyways.... there was this one night that was just hilarious. Meli jumped on my back for a piggy back ride and started singing I like big butts or something so I started shaking and she started falling and.... it was hysterical. She fell, but not too hard I hope. When we got back to the house she wanted to give me a ride so I jumped on her and.. well she's a little thing. She bent over forward and I just slid off face first into the planter. I thought I was going to pee my pants it was so funny.

I'm randomly changing subjects here.. sorry I'm going with my train of thought and it's a track jumper if I ever saw one. Grandpa took us all to Abuelo's one night too... which was really nice. I should be around these people that I love more often. He bought us all dinner.. it was hilarious because dad and I got the trio fajitas and I subbed out the chicken for veggies. Who'd have known they gave us 6 cucumber slices .. haha we laughed at that one for awhile. It was like the time Meli and I tried to share an 8 oz steak. We were like..is that ALL of it?! Haha.. back to Abuelo's.. Grandpa told the restaurant about Kel and I's bdays and we got a free dessert. Flan... ooh ooh! Haha.. Kelly wasnt too fond of the texture.

Hunter and Tara and Melissa and Britt and Brooke and I went bowling one night.. Bowl from 9-11 at Franklin lanes for 5 bucks.. it was a blast..they had great music from back in the day. Brooke had a lot of fun. The gutter dance, spare dance, etc. The guys that liked Tara and I hugging in the parking lot. That was pretty funny. Meli got her cranberry bliss, mom won 400 dollars. What else happened? Brandon drove me around for like the 1st time ever..we went to the river to swing and he gave me a piggy back ride. Great guy.. so excited for the girl he marries. The donut bank.. his little girl friends.... the right and wrong he sees. Talking to alex k. and sarah p....seein amanda and levi.. the hickey talks.. talking to megan on the phone..texts to john....let it go.... brittany's excitement - i hope she's always that excited.. jace being in florida... kayas text, brooke latching onto di....so many memories. good times. I'll miss this.. 2 and a half wks of school... you can do it bry. you can.

I LOVE MY FAMILY AND MY FRIENDS.