Christmas Wish List

This year we are mostly asking for baby stuff for Christmas. That is what we really need...but if you had to twist my arm for what I wanted here is part of my list...

A new Restoration Hardware throw. This throw is amazeballs. Seriously the softest most wonderful blanket on the planet. At $39 it is a steal. I want it in Graphite.

I may have added this to our baby registry...We could use the 10% off on this bad boy!

We also really need some more storage for linens in both of our bathrooms, but especially upstairs. There is just nowhere for guest linens, and soon baby J linens, to go! So this seems like a good solution and is fairly affordable to boot.

A few of these wouldn't hurt...

Amazon GC

Target Gift Cards always appreciated!

Gap, isn't that a given...

And my love of make-up will never die.

Friday Funday

I came across this idea on GroopDealz today! It is something you could EASILY do as a DIY project instead of spending $12 on.

It is a Santa Key!

All you really need is a fun key - I'm sure you can find them at thrift stores or some craft stores- and then come up with some fun saying to put with it.

This is the example that they have with theirs:

If you have no chimney on Christmas Eve,

Awaiting the presents that Santa will leave,

Just hang this key by the door for him,

And all the gifts will be left within.

This is something that will come in handy I suppose when we have children. Currently we don't have a chimney, I am really hoping our next house will have one because the only thing I want more than a fireplace is a master bath! So fingers crossed I won't need this unless we are on vacation at Christmas one year!

Hawaii Part 1

So as I have mentioned a couple times already Ross and I went to Hawaii with his whole family over the holidays. It was absolutely amazing. We were able to pack a lot of adventure in our short time there.

This was when we really knew we were finally in Maui. It was a very long day of traveling to get there. We left ND at 6 am and didn't get to Maui until 5:30 pm Hawaiian time (4 hours behind CST). We were very happy to finally get there. It was kind of chaos when we got there because Ross's parent's flight was delayed about an hour which meant that we were all getting there about the same time and had to make a couple trips from the airport to hotel and back again.

We were all pretty wiped and went to bed soon after we got there (after a quick tropical drink of course).

Like I said before the four hour time difference kind of got to us and the next morning we were up at 4 am. Wowza we knew we were in for a long (Christmas) day when it started at 4 am. The picture above is us, waaaaay too early in the morning.

For Christmas we went to church after swimming for awhile and then back to Ross's parent's condo for Christmas festivities.

Stay tuned for Part 2...

Ice Cream Maker

This Christmas Ross and I got a special Christmas present from my parents.


As I'm sure you could tell from this post's title...it was an Ice cream maker of my very own! You may remember from last year's post around this time, my family makes ice cream every year for the holidays.

This year Ross and I were in Hawaii with his family celebrating the holidays (much more on that yet to come!!!) and I missed out on the ice cream tradition. They were nice enough to send me a picture showing me what I missed though!



So it was very nice that my parents gave us an ice cream maker for us to use anytime we want. We have already put it to good use and I just can't wait to try making it again!!!

Decoding the 12 Days of Christmas

via

Merry Christmas everyone, just in case I don't get a chance to write again before we leave for Hawaii!!! I will think of you all while I'm basking in the sun. Then it is off to the party of the year, my friend Kristen's wedding!!! Maybe we'll see Josh and Fergie there, they're spending the holidays in Fargo, ND.

I thought this was very interesting. It decodes the 12 days f Christmas song and give the meaning behind each of the true love's gifts - it also finally reveals who our true love actually is!

Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829 were prohibited by law to practice their faith either in public or private. It was illegal to be Catholic until Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England in 1829.

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England as one of the "catechism songs" to help young Catholics learn the basics of their faith. In short, it was a coded-message, a memory aid. Since the song sounded like rhyming nonsense, young Catholics could sing the song without fear of imprisonment. The authorities would not know that it was a religious song.

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is in a sense an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something significant to the teachings of the Catholic faith. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help Catholic children learn their faith. The better acquainted one is with the Bible, the more these interpretations have significance.

The song goes, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…"
The "true love" mentioned in the song doesn’t refer to an earthly suitor, but it refers to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. i.e. the Church.

First Day:
The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus upon the Cross. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge because she would feign injury to decoy a predator away from her nestlings. She was even willing to die for them. The tree is the symbol of the fall of the human race through the sin of Adam and Eve. It is also the symbol of its redemption by Jesus on the tree of the Cross.

Second Day:
The "Two Turtle Doves" refers to the Old and New Testaments.

Third Day:
The "Three French Hens" stand for faith, hope and love—the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (1 Corinthians 13).

Fourth Day:
The "Four Calling Birds" refers to the four Evangelists who wrote the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Fifth Day:
The "Five Golden Rings" represents the first five books of the Bible, also called the Jewish Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Sixth Day:
The "Six Geese A-Laying" is the six days of Creation.

Seventh Day:
The "Seven Swans A-Swimming" refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord.

Eigth Day:
The "Eight Maids A-Milking " reminded children of the eight Beatitudes listed in the Sermon on the Mount.

Ninth Day:
The "Nine Ladies Dancing" were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control.

Tenth Day:
The "Ten Lords A-Leaping" represents the Ten Commandments

Eleventh Day:
The "Eleven Pipers Piping" refers to the eleven faithful apostles.

Twelfth Day:
The "Twelve Drummers Drumming" were the twelve points of belief expressed in the Apostles’ Creed: belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, made man, crucified, died and arose on the third day, that he sits at the right hand of the father and will come again, the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting.

So, the next time you hear "The Twelve Days of Christmas" consider how this otherwise non-religious sounding song had its origins in keeping alive the teaching of the Catholic faith.

Christmas Cards

I love Shutterfly for all my cards and have had a photobook saved in my account for 6 months. They have a couple different styles including flat photo cards, flat stationary cards, and folding stationary cards.

I have a couple favorites from the flat photo card category. I just love sending out Christmas cards. This year will be the second year Ross and I are doing a card together. Last year we had a couple different versions. This year we will probably stick to just one.

I think this one is very traditional. I love the color red for Christmas. I love cards that keep Christmas at the heart of the card.

This next card is very cute and a little more contemporary but again is keeping with the Christmas theme.
This last card is one of my front runners. It is more contemporary but I think that may be fun to change it up a bit this year. I also wanted to find a card with three slots for pictures for various photos I want to include.

Lastly, I have big news - more to come on my first Wedding Wednesday post - BUT - I am engaged! To Mr Ross. I couldn't be happier. He is just the love of my life and I can't imagine spending one day without him. Here is my favorite picture of us together. I want to get something like this together again for this year's card.


*Disclaimer - This year Shutterfly is having a great promotion for bloggers. If you sign up for the promotion they will send you free cards. This is part of that promotion.

AJ

Meet my friend AJ.

AJ is the single creepiest thing on the face of the planet. Fact. I met my friend AJ at our office Christmas party. I won him in our white elephant exchange. He came in a box which told me that his name is AJ, he plays the trumpet because he wants to be like his parents who are musicians, mom is a pianist and dad is a sax player. Now AJ is a undercover kid, and undercover kids like to play dress up and play with their friends. They hide secret gifts (this is all on the box remember, I'm not making it up!) under their clothes and sneak into their friends' rooms to leave them their gifts.

I tried to let AJ live in peace at Santa's Village with people like him but somehow AJ followed me home and I found him at work on Monday. So I guess I will just have to take of AJ for the next year and send him to his next lucky friend at next year's christmas party :)

My favorite lady

One of my most favorite people on earth is miss Aubrey Kate. She is probably the smartest, cutest most fun little munchkin. Over Christmas I stole her the whole time, what a great time!!

This was Aubrey in her Christmas outfit. She was ready to open her presents!

Aubrey showing off her flexibility skills.

Aubrey and I were taking pictures on my phone all weekend. She kept saying over and over "make it go bright" meaning make the flash go off. Which would then blind her and two seconds later we would have to do it all over again.

All snuggled up on the couch. This must have been in between books. We read books over and over and over. Goodnight moon, 8 silly monkeys you name it we read it.

Aubrey conned me to put actual water in her baby's bottle (in my defense she caught me when I was on the phone and not really thinking) I'm putty in her hands. We had one hungry baby on our hands because she was eating alllllll weekend.

AND NOW INTRODUCING KINSEY RAE!!!!!! Just born yesterday. Looks like all the practice holding all those baby dolls paid off for Aubrey. I can't wait to go and meet her. Unfortunately the stupid weather isn't letting me leave this tundra, but maybe later this weekend I can get outta here!

Welcome to the world Kinsey, I can't wait to spoil you rotten!!!

My Borrowed (stolen) Christmas Tradition

One of my BFFs Kristen writes a blog. http://tiny.cc/KsBlog452 It rocks. Check it out. I am always impressed with her writing and her entertaining life. I am also incredibly jealous of her ability to be Suzie homemaker. She has a great eye for decorating, fun and unique craft ideas and can cook/bake with the best of them! She started a tradition with her bf to create an ornament together for each Christmas they are together with something they did that year that was special. http://tiny.cc/KsOrnament Super cute! So of coarse, I copied it. Ross and I decided before Thanksgiving that we would buy each other ornaments that reminded us of each other to get our shared collection going. Well, I realized this probably wouldn't be sustainable year to year. Enter Kristen's tradition. Like I said, I stole it. She is definitely a genius with this one. It is certainly a lot more fun to make an ornament together than try to shop for one alone. It is also kind of fun talking about all the possible themes we could use for the ornament. After the discussion though, I kind of copped out and just did a "First Christmas". However, I love it and it was a blast. I can't wait for next year!