Twas the night before Christmas

John and my second Christmas married proved to be another special couple of days. This year, we decided to go to Mom and Steve's house on Christmas Eve, since we go to my grandma's Christmas morning, and John's parents' Christmas evening. It makes for a busy couple of days, but it is really special to experience Christmas as we grew up with it with the ones we love.

We started out at one of my favorite restaurants ever for some excellent New York Steak and mashed potatoes. I love my family. It was just the five of us - Mom, Steve, Carly, John, and me. And the pets, of course. :) (minus Sophie - our more shy kitty, who wasn't quite as present as these three).
I love my mom's house at Christmastime. She always transforms the entire home into Christmas with such simple touches. One day I will have lots of little decorations to transform our home - at this point, it's just the living room. :)

The tree with presents under it is always magical. Each present is uniquely wrapped and beautiful.
I got some of the funnest stuff! This beautiful necklace, a super cute vest, and a fun glove/scarf/hat set...Simon also got some fun ribbon to play with. The cute thing about my pets is that they love Christmas as much as I do. They all come lay all over the wrapping, and Simon plays with it until it's gone.
I'm so thankful for my amazing family and a special Christmas Eve. Thanks for making it so perfect, Mom.

The Reason

"While [Mary and Joseph] were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."
Luke 2:6-14, 16-19

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel," which means, "God with us."
Matthew 1:22

"[The Magi] went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."
Matthew 2:9-11

From our home to yours, Merry Christmas.

Neighborly love

We have this super sweet couple that live near us in our condo complex. We took them a platter of Christmas cookies earlier today, and opened our door tonight to find this on our front step.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Noal and Shea. I'm so excited to eat some yummy cocoa mix.

Sweet sicky

John has been sick this week - poor guy. Since he had the week off, he moseyed around our humble abode with his hood on his head as I baked. He found his way to the couch and our little Bear joined him. I seriously am in love with these two.

Baking the way to Christmas

Every year since I was little, my mom has done tons of baking. Usually my sister and I helped, when we could. And by help, I mean sit and watch, chat, and sneak bites of sugar cookie dough. My mom can frost cookies better than anyone I know. And she always made lots of different things. And then we would deliver them on Christmas to all my aunts and uncles and family. Baking day was always such a joyful day. Long, exhausting, and probably frustrating for my mom at times... but always a joy.

Since I got married, I have tried my best to carry on that little tradition. As much as cooking stresses me out (well, it used to!), baking makes me happy. This year, I made sugar cookies (a staple item), peanut butter temptations (proud to say I found this all on my own), chex muddy buddies (of course), peanut buddy bars (thanks for the recipe, Mom), and banana and zucchini bread. They are all ready to be delivered tomorrow!

John's Mancave

Since I started nursing school and sort of took over the desk and iMac, John has been expressing his desire for a desk area of his very own. Tuesday, his wishes came true as we picked up a nice chair for him and he pulled the little desk we had in our garage upstairs. Now, J has his own little corner where he can work and do whatever he does. :) He is so happy!

Getaway!

I am looking forward to a little trip with my husband up north a bit next week.

We get to stay in a beautiful little bed and breakfast.
We get to walk to downtown Santa Barbara.
Have breakfast catered to us each morning.
Walk a few blocks to the beach.

This is my perfect vacation.

I am so excited for a little getaway with my best friend.

Moments past and moments to come

So far, this break has been super special. What have I done?

- Dinner with John to celebrate me being halfway done with school and vacation for us :)
- Slept in until 9am (thank you Emma!)
- Finished Christmas shopping and wrapping
- Looked at Pepper Drive Christmas lights with my husband and Starbucks
- Had a lovely coffee date
- Got an early Christmas present ... more to come on that ;)
- Had sushi with my very special friend and her awesome sister

And what am I looking forward to?

- Coffee with Mahea
- Christmas baking
- Haircut with my favorite hair dresser from Nor Cal, Kelli
- Grocery shopping with hubby
- Julian with John
- Christmas eve church
- Family time

And this is just the first week!

Gosh I love vacation.

And the sky today.

Coffee and candy canes

I met the ladies for coffee this afternoon.
It was simply lovely.

My grandma brought us all these wonderful candy canes with the candy cane story and beautiful bookmarks.
Thanks, Grandma.

Emma's Treasures

Emma likes to collect things. As in, she likes to pick up any random object she can reach on her walks and proudly carry it in her mouth. Especially pinecones. Especially pinecones that are just the right size for her mouth. Although she's not picky.

Many dog owners would not let their dogs pick up sticks and random log chunks and bits of pinecones. And, I mean, we do have rules. She's not supposed to pull on the leash. We'll let you know when we get that one accomplished.

And, I mean, she knows sit. And she's pretty good at it! I figure that counts for something.

But when it comes to her sticks, we both just laugh. They make her so happy! Walking Emma with a stick is a rather pleasant job.

And once I got this idea to make her a basket for her collections, I practically begged her to pick up a pinecone if I saw one.

They don't all make it home. Some make it into other grassy areas. Saving it for later, we like to say. But this is what made it home so far, and their new home.