'tis the season: part 3 ('tis ALWAYS the season)

so, i've just decided that i'm going to stop apologizing when i haven't blogged for a while. it's really just a waste of world wide web space and finger power. i blog when i blog, you understand.

to start off, i'm going to give you a very BRIEF synopsis of what i've been up to for the last few weeks since my last post.

i moved out of my sister's house just in time for ma and pa gagnon to make the trek down to pittsburgh from bow for christmas. they had plenty of space there, and i've had plenty of space in my new digs, housesitting for a friend in squirrel hill, a nice little section of pittsburgh that my dad affectionately named "rodent mountain."


(the christmas tree at the house where i am house-sitting. i feel right at home!)

despite my change of address, amy and doug, mom, dad, me, koen, tavin and friends along the way all thoroughly enjoyed Christmas morning and the surrounding activities. it, as always, was a very special time of year. but this year, more than ever, i have decided that it is completely acceptable to wake up and pretend it is Christmas morning every day of the year. the same Miracle is always there whether it is december 25 or not. note to self: pretend every day is Christmas. and try not to get down when every day does NOT yield wrapped presents.

so here is a little bit of pittsburgh, a little bit of family, and a LOT of love. all wrapped up in a few photos.

the view as i left my last day of work at the gingerbread shop.


a pretty little house on my walking route to gap.


speaking of gap...the holiday line you DIDN'T know about...


it was a "slippery" christmas. (4 out of 7 of us got slippers. see above, koen and doug's slipper high five.)


i just love this...the boys chasing each other around the dining room table. ah, the good old days!


does it get any better than this? he didn't even care about the present, he just LOVED the tissue paper!

(okay, so i just realized that i didn't really make it into any of these photos, but i'm not going to apologize for that, either, as this blog has basically been the abbie show up until now. besides, it's january. i'm getting pretty pasty.)

'tis the season: part 2

...for viruses. that's right, 'tis the season for viral infections to wrack my respiritory system for weeks on end. this is my second bout with some kind of head cold/chest cold in a period of six weeks. isn't there a rule against that somewhere that my body should know to follow?

thus my pictorial tour of pittsburgh yule is on hold. i will probably restate my goal next week. i hope you're not all too disappointed. it's going to be grand when it does go public, though, i assure you.

and for a quick update on my current goings-on...well...there's not much...going on, that is. on the bright side, i have been thoroughly enjoying my time to be close to my nephews and my sister and her hubbie, and friends in pittsburgh. i've been working at gap about 20 hours a week, and i work at the gingerbread gig all weekend. on the "dark side," (not to get all star wars on you) i feel torn in many different directions when it comes to where i want to live, what kind of career i want, and when to give up on the ideas that aren't supposed to be part of the picture. i have had several interviews in pittsburgh and have sent resumes all over the place. the cold has set into the northeast and into my heart, as it sometimes feels, but, being a lifelong northeastern-er, i saw that coming.

so these are basically the reasons i have not been blogging. i really want my blog to be uplifting, so how can i chronicle these darker, colder days? i responded with the easiest answer: "i can't...i'll just let the blog go dormant." but then i realized...i didn't name this "the comfortable and ever-upbeat life of abbie gagnon." i aptly named it "adventures with abbie." and the adventure certainly is not over...it's just at that part when just about everything is going wrong for the likable main character and the reader just feel depressed at the end of the chapter. but then, something good ALWAYS happens in the next chapter, right? well, let's just put it out there: this protagonist is ready for something good in chapter 2011.

'tis the season: part 1

first of all, let me clear up one misconception...mainly, for myself. 'tis NOT the season to quit blogging, even though everything else is getting busier, my roadtrip is on a hiatus, and life is getting a little monotonous. 'tis the season to take pictures of the things that keep life from being...just...monotony. even though my patience with photography wears very thin as (a) i prefer to take pictures outdoors and (b) it is cold outdoors now.

my goal this week is to take photos of pittsburgh that will convince most of my east-coast, west-coast and everything-in-between friends that pittsburgh is worth visiting! i'm not saying i'm staying here forever, but while i am here, i'd love a visit or two. i just need to figure out sleeping arrangements. (currently i'm on the very comfy pull-out couch in the guest room at my sister's house, and i haven't checked the rulebook, but i'm thinking i can't just have a pile of friends there too.)

so, YOU get to keep me accountable on my search for pictorial holiday cheer in the upcoming seven days: my goal is to have some kind of eye candy to lure you back to my blog with every day this week. until tomorrow!