Christmas in Canada

(no pictures, our camera flash broke so we had to send it in, sorry!)

This year was Mike's family's "turn" for Christmas. We got to Seattle on Monday afternoon and grabbed some lunch before shopping at an outlet mall for an hour (we limited it to one hour so the boys didn't get bored) :-) and then headed North.

Most of our week was spent hanging around the house (boo for Christmas colds) but we did get lots of family time in and got to hang out with several of Mike's friends from home. Oh, and hockey, we watched lots of hockey. :-)

We got home Tuesday night, we even ended up catching an earlier flight home which was great because we had a three-seat row to ourselves (an Economy plus row at that!) and didn't have to deal with the 20 minute delay that our original flight had because of the snow. Mike did have to go back to the airport the next morning to get our bag but it was so nice to be home earlier - with or without our bag!

So yeah, that's it. Kinda boring but oh so relaxing and nice to spend time with family!

Pre-Christmas

Yes, yes, I know, it has been awhile. I do have a reason - I don't like to broadcast when I'm going to be out of town. :-)

We had a great Christmas in Vancouver with Mike's family but man was it an exhausting few days leading up to our flight North. We left the Monday before Christmas but in the 4 days prior to that, my Grandad ended up visiting the ER and then returning to the hospital for a 5 day stay. I knew he would be fine so I wasn't too nervous about leaving town but was still a little anxious.

My brother, and later my Dad, came and stayed at our house to help my grandparents and it ended up being a big blessing to us since we'd have someone watching our house for a few extra days (even though we had wonderful friends who were already planning on checking on the house and the cat), someone to take us to the airport, etc., etc.

Long story short, after juggling some minor logistics, Grandad came home from the hospital in time for Christmas, Mike and I had a good time in Vancouver, the house, dog, and cat were all well watched during our trip and bonus, we didn't have to pay for parking at the airport since my parents were here when we got back. :-)

More on Christmas later! :-)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas blessings to you and yours!

Isaiah 9:6 - "For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given....And he will be called Wonderful Couselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Thankful Thursdays

I'm thankful:

• that Christmas is just around the corner.
• that more people seem to be "getting" Christmas (www.adventconspiracy.org)
• that tomorrow is the last day of work for two weeks.
• for the ability and opportunity to help friends
• for friends who help us so we can help friends (it's a beautiful thing, isn't it?)

The Nester's Tour of Homes

Yay! I can't tell ya'll how excited I am to see everyone's Christmas decorations!

In the mean time, welcome to our home!

I took this picture a few nights ago - it looks like it was snowing but it wasn't even close. I guess I need to clean the lens on my camera! :-)

Here's the house lit up with our outside lights. We have candle lights in every window - I love the way it looks. We're going to put more lights up next year, we realized this year that we needed a little more outside.

Our Christmas wreath on the front door.

Our mantel - I don't light the candles very often but it looks so pretty when I do.

Our tree all lit up! I still love how well my tree skirt turned out.

Some of our Christmas ornaments - the pineapple my Dad and brothers brought us from Colonial Williamsburg; the Swarovski tree, holly, and snowflake some family friends gave us as a wedding gift; the ornament we got in Hawaii on our Honeymoon; the fishing moose from our road trip to Grand Teton Nat'l Park and beyond; one from NYC that friends sent us after we couldn't find one when we were there (in June); and every Texas girl needs a cowboy boot on her tree! :-) Mike and I try to get a Christmas ornament wherever we travel - it makes for wonderful memories and lots of fun when we pick them out together.

The platter on the bar next to the tree - a dear friend gave it to us as a wedding gift and it makes me smile every time I look at it.

A poinsettia (99 cents from Lowes on Black Friday - my only purchase that day) on the table next to the couch with an angel figurine that Mike's Mom gave me the first Christmas we were married.

The shelves above the couch.

The bell that hangs from the chandelier over the dining room. I took the picture before I added the poinsettia to the center of the table and to the corner shelf.

A snowflake candle holder in the guest bathroom.

We also have glass balls and tons of berry picks all over the house in random places. I've seen several tutorials online for these magazine Christmas trees so I made a few the other day - they're very cute!

We do have a little tree in our basement. My grandparents gave me $20 before I went back to school at Thanksgiving my senior year of college. I lived in an apartment style dorm that year and knew we needed a little tree (even if it only had lights and a ribbon tree topper). My Mom added the lantern lights to the tree a few years ago when they had the tree up in their basement.

That's it! I can't wait to see everyone's decorations and get ideas for next year!

Have a very blessed and Merry Christmas!

Bathroom Blahs

Our bathroom is pretty straightforward - bath, shower, sinks, toilet. We painted the bathroom after we moved in but I hadn't found anything that I liked to hang on the walls that wouldn't be impacted by the steam.

Today, I think I finally found the right thing! Hobby Lobby's wall decor was 50% off and I saw two "ceiling tiles" that I thought would work.

I'm not sure the brown is the right color but it does tie in to the comforter we have on our bed. I figured the worst thing that could happen is I end up repainting them to the right color but for the time being, I'm glad there's something on the wall. I want to get a basket to put on the back of the toilet for extra rolls of toilet paper or something - we'll see.

Thankful Thursdays

I'm thankful for:

• new perspectives
• my warm bed
• a roof over my head
• my cozy house, decorated for Christmas
• time with friends tomorrow night
• the REASON for the Season

Merry Christmas to You (from Kelly's Korner & BooMama)

***EDIT - I didn't read close enough the first time around - NieNie and MckMama were also given the chance to give an HP TouchSmart so make sure you check out their blogs, too!

For anyone who needs or might need a new computer soon (or knows someone who will) - Kelly at Kelly's Korner and BooMama have giveaways for a new HP Touchsmart computer. How cool is that?!?

Go check out Kelly's site to enter!

OR

BooMama's site

I Triple Dog Dare You

The real life Christmas Story:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34332302/ns/us_news-weird_news/

More Than Christmas Gifts

To go along with the Advent Conspiracy, I thought it might be a neat idea to share some Christmas gifts that also give to someone in need in some way, shape, or form.

Of course, there are TOMS. For every pair of shoes purchased, they give a pair to someone who needs them. How cool is that?!

If you want something a little more "springy" - there are Sseko's. A group of women in Africa make these shoes, learn about business, hard work and so much more. The cool thing about the actual sandals is that you can change out the straps.

The beads on these necklaces are made out of paper. Again, women in Africa make these necklaces and benefit from their sales. Several of my friends who have traveled to Africa have necklaces like these and they are so pretty!

I know there are LOTS of other organizations/companies who do similar things - these are just a few of the ones that I'm aware of. In the spirit of giving but focusing on the REAL meaning of Christmas, I can't help but think if you can find a way to give to multiple people in some way at the same time, why not?

If you know of other organizations like the ones above - I'd love to hear about them!

O Christmas Tree

I can't wait to see all of the Christmas tree's on Kelly's this week! Hop on over and check them out for yourself.

Now, without further adieu, here's our tree!

Nothing too big or spectacular to add to this year's tree. (I took the picture pre-new rug) We got 4 new ornaments during our road trip this summer (one from each of the following places: Grand Canyon, Redwood Forrest, Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone) and of course, the tree skirt that I made.

I love our Christmas ornament theme - each ornament has a story to it. Most of them are gifts from friends (yay for getting married close to Christmas) or ones that we get from the places we visit (we have ornaments from our honeymoon in Hawaii, trips to New Mexico, Canada). I guess our theme is "things we've done together" and I love it.

Merry Christmas!

Thankful Thursdays

This week I'm thankful for:

• the cold weather. It's crazy, I know but everything about the Christmas season fits so well together.
• two weeks of work until Christmas
• laughter (always)
• getting things done
• homemade egg nog lattes

Amen

If you haven't heard about Nie, you need to read her blog. She's pretty cool (from what I can tell of her blog, at least.)

I REALLY like her post today.

To GOD be the glory, great things HE hath done.