THE HIGHWAY SETS THE TRAVELER'S STAGE

Hello, old friends, and hello, 2014.

After the grande finale of a semester that can really only be described by the fact that there was really no energy left for much to say, I feel the need to offer up some highlights of a winter break for all of our viewing pleasure.

One of my favorite things about winter break is a real lack of responsibility. Sure, there's Christmas presents to be wrapped, very important holiday crafts to make, cookies to bake, and shopping to do, but for the most part it entails dragging your disheveled, hungry, sleep-deprived self home to Mom & Dad for a short while, filling your belly with delicious treats, relaxing, watching movies (or binge-watching Netflix - you know), and cuddling with sweet kitties (or a significant other, if you're into that).

Following the graduation of one of my very best friends and old roommates, I headed home to Collierville, gave the little man a kiss, and checked to make sure I hadn't made the naughty list. Success.

Mom, Meredith and I had a serious ornament craft session, and when I say serious I mean Meredith and I tend to be collectively a serious pain in the butt when it comes to sitting down and doing planned holiday activities together. Makin' memories. And snowflakes.

The next weekend the Rife clan, cats excluded, piled into a minivan full of cold weather gear and Christmas cheer (ha ha) to make the long, all-too familiar 10 hour journey to Southwest Virginia to visit the grandparents. It was a grand time, fighting off sickness and isolation-induced boredom, studying books upon books of collected coins, and hearing stories about Pa-Paw's elusive pet foxes that had, much to my dismay, "gone south for the winter."

Ever been hit by a truck? Me neither. But I came metaphorically pretty damn close, with the flu. Nothing like heading to the ER on Christmas Eve Eve to get you in the holiday spirit!

The night we returned home it hit me, along with my usual allergies, causing a tornado of breathing issues I can only describe as being smothered. Hence the trip to the hospital and the oxygen mask of which I will spare you the selfie because it's really just terrifying.

So while I celebrated Sickmas and spent the next few days curled up in bed, a lovely Christmas was had by all. Santa came and left me the sexiest chair I've ever had the pleasure of sitting in and he also pinky promised to help fund an upcoming trip back abroad. And the cats must have wormed their way off the naughty list seeing as their brand new kitty condo is probably three stories more of a home than I will ever own.

Speaking of home, I'm sure we all know by now that I have small bits of "home" all over the place. One of the most important being Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, with my two very best friends. I was thinking about it a lot as I sorted through a bunch of photos last night - how the faces and spaces in them seem so, so familiar to my heart. The girls in those pictures are not as young as we used to be, not as entirely carefree and not as evidently in our awkward stage. Ok, ok, maybe I'm still in my awkward stage. Anyway, regardless, I realized that these are even more photos documenting our 16 years of wonderful friendship, and even more photos that we will look back on in many years and remember our youth. This trip up to North Carolina was a blessing in being able to make it happen and also a more somber reunion, because the three of us realized with impending graduations, general uncertainty, and big girl jobs these reunions may not be so long or so frequent in the coming years.

But to be as cheesy as your favorite macaroni, one thing IS certain and that is that we will a l w a y s be the peanut butter and bread to the other's jelly.

The deciding factor for my journey was the opportunity to see the Avett Brothers together, one of my all-time favorite bands, live on New Year's Eve in Charlotte. Scott and Seth Avett are local boys in that area and those strong ties made their performance all the more special to everyone involved. The show was wonderful and we sang along to every word and got to watch a thousand balloons fall onto the crowd below at midnight. It was a pretty significant way to ring in the new year.

We spent the rest of the week relaxing and hanging around town, eating too much What-a-Burger, playing with Becca's niece and nephews, babysitting American Girl dolls, watching movies and staying up giggling until 4 a.m. for no good reason. We window shopped at "Kitty City" one evening after dinner, and by window shopped I mean played with a bunch of cats through the glass for far too long. I received a beautiful ring one night with which Becca pretend proposed to me, because it seemed like the trendy thing to do. On Friday we paid a short visit to High Point so I could see where Sara goes to school and lives at least once before she graduates. And I can't exclude the multitude of heart-to-hearts and attempts to perfect certain new dance moves.

Also noteworthy: I upped my selfie game with discussing the physics of a good front-facing portrait with Albert Einstein himself, and also seem to have facilitated an adorable baby's first selfie. Oops.

This New Year's was one of the most special I've ever had, and hitting that hypothetical refresh button had never seemed more tempting, but this year I didn't make any resolutions. I suppose that's a testament to something - something along the lines of living in the here and now. I hope to figure out what exactly that means. To let things come and go as they will, day by day, month by month. I just want to live this year, as always, as best I can. Sometimes it's great and sometimes it's all a bust, but that's just what it is and we must do the best we can. I just hope that at the end of this year, my last year of school, that I've done that.

This mindset and absence of expectations have been a long time coming. While I miss my best friends and family dearly and have another semester of hard work and decisions looming ahead, to quote one of my favorite Avett songs, I am rested and I'm ready. Here's to a happy and healthy 2014 to all of you.