New Year's in San Fran!!

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Maybe the best part of my trip home was going to San Fran to hang out with my cousin, Jen. It was totally awesome! It's strange this year that I don't see her as much as I did last year. Going to school in Santa Cruz, we're only an hour away from each other so she'd come and visit me, a sort of escape from the city for a bit plus some fun with my loveable crazy friends. And SC is a bit more laidback than SF which makes a difference too. 😊

New Year's Eve we went down to the Embarcadero to watch the fireworks on the Bay. They were amazing and lasted for a really long time. A gazillion people had the same idea as well, which was pretty cool to see especially in California. It's not everyday that you are able to have a huge gathering of people in one place and have it be peaceful (although Canada has it down pat!). Afterwards it took us a really long time to get back to Jen's apartment. She lives off of Geary, which is the main busline, but we couldn't find a bus anywhere to get on. So we basically ended up walking half way to her apartment and eventually hailing a cab (all the cabs we saw were already taken or not taking passengers). It was utterly ridiculous but kinda fun....but let's just say we definitely got our walking in for the week!!!

For the rest of the time that I was there we kinda hung around the house, played games, munched and enjoyed each other's company. Jen works a lot and it was her first few days of not working which was awesome.

On Wednesday she drove me down to Modesto (my least favorite place to visit) for a funeral. My step-grandmother had passed away on Dec. 16th and the entire family came up for a two-day Catholic funeral (vigil, mass, and burial). It was nice to see family that I haven't seen in awhile and to talk with the cousins from the Midwest. We headed home on Friday, and I became pressed for time....time to say goodbye to Kris and Steve who were moving to Michigan, and Auntie Margie and Uncle Scott who were helping to move them. Plus I had to pack as I was leaving the next afternoon! And of course I said goodbye to Daddy, Vick, and Toby and to Mom, Jim, and Erika (and Max of course).

And I was off once more on my trek across the Atlantic.

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Photos

Family!
A.Margie, Jen, Kris & U.Scott...Christmas Eve dinner at Outback!