Merry Christmas!

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas from our "home" to yours :). We hope all of you have a great holiday!

TO-THE-DMV-FOR-THE-RANNEYS

it'd become apparent that our addresses in washington were probably no longer valid/legal and we should probably 'sign up' for our new address on the east coast. that, of course, involved a visit to the friendly, neighbourhood dmv.

abbie's been pushing getting this part of the transformation over while i have reluctantly been declining...

abbie: it's already been two months since we've moved, do you think we should get our licenses changed?

scott: no, i think i'll wait a bit.

abbie: really?

scott: yeah, you can go if YOU want to, but i think i'll put it off as long as i can (of course, that can't be good with the whole CDL-elephant-in-the-room.)

that was the end of october- we went in on Nov.24 as that was a day we both had off and we agreed to hit the office EARLY, like 6:45, just-opened-the-doors-early, to try and avoid any and all dmv-esque related bumps-in-the-road. being that it was our joint day off, we didn't get out the door until 7, which really put the doubt in my mind that we were in for a day-long ordeal.

i couldn't be more surprised! wow. unbelievable!

this experience almost completely changed my view of dmv offices-almost...those washington offices will always have a certain priority for what i loathe. anyway, back to VT dmvs...

we walked in, and they had "12 step process". 

first window, get your forms you'll need to present to the dmv rep. nice-no waiting so far...go back to window for a number.

number's called, go to window right after paperwork is filled out. write check or pay cash, of which we did both. take picture. walk to the front of the office, they call your name, give you license, you're on your way. if i didn't have to deal with the CDL lady (who didn't know exactly what to do), we'd have been out of there in 15 minutes! but that was where the wait was, and it wasn't too bad (maybe 10 minutes).

during their review of my paperwork, the question of my citizenship never came up (which was CLEARLY stated on the form) and on top of that, i guess previously having a CDL exempts one from taking the basic can-you-see-the-3rd-line test (aka, eye test). i guess vermont doesn't care if someone is a blind, illegal alien.

we both brought books to pass the time, but, of course, neither were needed. a pleasantly surprising trip to the dmv, for sure! when i went back to the window to pick up my license (that's right, no temp cards here), i inquired about changing the 4 runner's plates and the lady asked if i'd like to do that now, but i declined- mostly because i wanted to cherish the visit i had already experienced. but that looks like it won't be as easy as the license event was...i'll report back the findings.

moral of the story: if you need a new license, vermont's the place to do it!

The Holidays

It is crazy to think that we have now been here in Vermont for a little over 3 months.  So far it hasn't been hard getting used to the area, our friends Joe and Rachel have been doing a great job in helping us get to know the area.  

The first bits of homesickness I've experienced since moving here hit last night during our weekly Chi Alpha meeting.  We broke up into small groups to talk about how we can prevent ourselves from getting sucked in to the buying spree that the Christmas season has become.  One of the questions allowed us to reminisce about any traditions we had with family during the holidays.  Here is where a whole floodgate of memories was let loose for me.  I instantly started thinking about decorating our tree with all the decorations my brother and I had made when we were little that my parents could never throw away, no matter how chipped or faded some of them were.  I thought about how every year my dad would lay out all the lights up and down the hallway to inspect them for burned out bulbs, which of course there were always a few.  And when the tree was finally finished there was always an argument between my brother and I about who would be the one to be hoisted up on our dad's shoulders to put the angel on the top.  One of the traditions I kind of put myself in charge of since I was in Jr. High was setting up the nativity scene.  We had a very nice nativity scene that was hand-carved in the Philippines.  Friends of ours who were missionaries there brought it back for us.  I always enjoyed setting  up Mary, Joseph, the three wise men, shepherds, sheep, a camel, and the manger and then rearranging them at least one more time to make sure it looked perfect.  What made this tradition special to my family was we "hid" baby Jesus every year and when Christmas morning arrived one of us would take him out of his hiding place and place him in the manger.  After this and before we started opening presents we would read about Jesus' birth in the book of Luke.  

For me, I think this was how my parents taught my brother and I that Christmas was not just about the presents we were about to tear into.  It was about remembering how Jesus was and is the perfect Christmas gift.  

Since Scott and I won't be going back to WA for Christmas this year, this will really be the year where we start to make our own traditions special. I look forward to creating those traditions because I think that is what keeps me grounded during a sometimes hectic time of year.

-Abbie