No place like home for the holidays. SERIOUSLY.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! 

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

A baby changes everything! 

Etc. etc. etc. 

I am so sorry I'm appx. 32 days late.

Christmas + New Year haven't left a lot of time alone with just me, my computer & I. But wowza, WHAT a christmas it was! Lots of glass-half-fulls, lots of glass-half-empties & LOTS of airplanes. Holy airport, were there lots of airplanes... So, in fact, I have a story for you. An anecdote, really. I was debating whether I wanted to share this semi-humiliating story, but was convicted by the fact that the whole thing serves no purpose unless it is shared. So... you're welcome. 

Let's just cut to the chase- right before my NYC plane to DFW took off, I received this group text from my sister: "While I have you all here, don't forget PASSPORTS!" Yup. That's where this story is headed. It's headed straight into the garbage can. I forgot my passport. Our trip to Canada (why do I need a passport to Canada? good question, all.) was in two days. But no problem, my amazing roomie alekza was so kind to overnight it to me so, like, sleep easy, kelsey. And by "sleep easy" I mean UPS didn't get it to me in time so the morning of our flight (527 calls to UPS having already been made) I got to sleep in because - oh yes - I DID NOT MAKE OUR FLIGHT. yes I'm an idiot, yes I reaped the consequences, but yes UPS probably still owes me a flight, OK?

You think the story is over? Ha! I scoff at the thought! So the only thing that kept my 76 more UPS phone calls from ruining my Saturday was that I got to enjoy my coffee in front of hallmark movies. all afternoon. In fact, I ended up missing a potential 3:20pm flight because I eventually had to drive 30 minutes into Fort Worth to FETCH my passport. Oh yes, I fetched. But my family was so sweet & assured me over & over that I wasn't a total idiot & that these things happen. (Please reaffirm that statement when you see me in person.) So I got to go to Fellowship's christmas service with my sis & brother-in-law & had a blast spending the night eating, chatting & christmas movie-ing at their new apartment. I love them :) then woke up at 5:30am & my sweetest aunt Marsha & uncle Jamie offered to take me to my 8:30am flight! 

But wait. There's more.

Got on my first plane to Philly, PA, made it with no problems (except for some "Airplane Etiquette 101" - mainly having to do with the girl in the above photo and the use of my earbuds, which are also in the above photo - but f'real, a whole blog post on that later). Then grabbed myself some Au Bon Pain & kicked my feet up for 3 hours. Got on my second plane for Quebec City next to a nice-looking, although alas French-speaking, man. That's when we heard "alright, folks, we've got some heavy freezing rain that might set us back a few minutes" which turned into "alright, folks, we're actually canceling this flight, so if you could just make your way on out." ... what. well, at the time, I actually wasn't super bothered by this? call it ignorance, call it "the peace that passes understanding," call it what you'd like, but mainly I just had no idea what the implications of this moment were. Basically, long story shorter, I waited in appx. 4 special services lines and got on standby for appx. 2-3 different flights that ended up being booked over capacity. The only silver lining was that the French people were in a great mood. So while we could not communicate, I was able to look in on their conversation with joy & appreciation. Meanwhile, there was the most irritable young guy both yelling and sobbing on the phone because he had missed his flight. We're talkin' profanity to the point of policemen walking over & checking out the situation (which is when the better part of the sobbing ensued). 

But anyway... this story ends soon, I promise. 
Here's two Quebec photos just to make sure you're still with me:

  

throwing snow & stuff!

So here's what happened. I grabbed another Au Bon Pain wrap and a water bottle and hauled it to a flight to Washington, D.C. (this is after appx. 10-11 hours in the Philly airport, mind you) well, I somehow managed to get a seat because someone missed their flight (sorry about it, but like, PTL). But this flight gave me the slightest insight into what this all might've been for. 

Initially I wasn't thrilled to be sitting by an angsty teenage girl who asked if I could move my bag to another overhead bin so she could use the one above our row. (Maintain composure.) But as I actually fought with the voice inside me saying to chat with her, I asked where she went to school and then sat & listened to her story for the remainder of the flight. I found out her best friend had just passed away literally one month beforehand and she was battling with whether to stay in school or take the trip to Mexico that her best friend had been planning on taking with her dad. She had a surprisingly sound mind about the whole thing, but you could tell she was really struggling. Not to mention she goes to a school where they have to do "co-ops" so she spent a semester at a cheese & milk factory. This story is true, I tell you no lie. Anyway, if any of y'all are familiar with Luke Steinmann's story, I was able to share a little bit of how I, too, had a friend pass away while I was in college and how it was amazing to see the good that came from it, but also how sometimes it feels as though nothing could take away the sting of his absence in our lives. (And I know no one understands this better than his own family. Although it was amazing to watch their strength through that time - and their continued strength now.) And I briefly mentioned how none of it would've been possible without a Jesus-filled community, to which she answered "yeah, that's why I loved my best friend so much. she taught me a lot about what it's like to be spiritual." So although the conversation was short-lived and although I thought this was the day from you-know-where, I knew the Lord was whispering "you don't always know what I'm doing. you gotta just trust me." So, even though I had to spend the night alone in a hotel in Montreal, Canada, surrounded by French families with the knowledge that my luggage was potentially missing, I'm still thankful for that flight from D.C. to Montreal.

And the good news? The next day I was informed that I was merely on standby for my flight to Quebec City, but by the grace of God, I MADE IT BY NOON! And my luggage made it too! And we had a marvelous, snowy, scenic, family-filled holiday :)

 

the fam (minus ken!) after dad, bro & tiff's night skiing
(yes that is tiffany in the night-prowler-ski attire)

And any other hiccups were merely anthills in the grand scheme of things. Except that time my momma might have taken a tumble on a mogul-covered blue slope (thanks dad) and had to be sledded down the mountain by bearded Canadians in one of those plastic emergency sleds that looked like a body bag to the horror of her 3 children waiting at the base of the mountain. Happy 2nd day of skiing! Ha! Nothing like that's ever happened to us. (Except that time dad jumped over a fallen skier and broke his nose on a tree.) But mom took it like a champ. A champ who got to spend most of the rest of her trip next to a fire with book in hand. Poor girl ;)

she's gonna love me for this ;) 

And then there was also that time that Kris & I had just skied down the mountain to meet the fam for lunch when we were greeted by Andrew saying, "Yeah, dad slipped in his ski boots in the local cafe and broke their door. And then Tiff thought it was mom who fell so she jumped up & then she slipped too and broke off her nail. But seriously, everyone's fine."

Um. What?

So anyway, he wasn't lying, and here's a pic of the bathroom door that now has a missing panel right where the view of the toilet is. Nice aim, dad. ;)

^^ left a perfect view of the toilet ;)    ^^ hardly noticeable, right?

But aside from the excitement that never evades a Martin vacation, Quebec City truly was a dream! We skied, we ate, we watched Christmas movies, we ate, we made gingerbread houses, we found out we're terrible at gingerbread houses, we walked around the village, and then we ate! It was such a beautiful city with so much history, so much French and SO MUCH SNOW. Yes, NYC might be having the coldest winter since 1996, but the -10 degree weather in Quebec was surely a helpful precursor to "Winter Storm Hercules." Winter storm...pfft. ;) So enough of that, here are some pics:

another pic of the bro & i...that looks like an engagement photo;)

sigh...boy, was it breathtaking. 

our humble fire & charlie brown tree :) thankful for parents
that always bring an entire extra suitcase just so we have
presents to open on christmas day when away from home!

It sure was one unforgettable Christmas trip to Quebec. God showered these Texans in snow, and we were spoiled with underrated views like this ^. So thankful for a time away from distractions & a moment with family. Especially in this new season that I'm in - I'll never take that time for granted again! Can't believe it's already been a month, but I hope you all had the merriest Christmases & the happiest New Years! Now onto February & a phrase that's never been quite so all-consuming:

AUDITION SEASON.

I don't know about you, but that sounds like a 

pretty good subject for a blog post to me...