Saturday / Our Thanksgiving week home with family went by way too fast. In fact, it sort of went by in the blink of an eye. We basically laughed our tushies off all week, and then today it was time to say our goodbyes. And yep, we definitely all had tears in our eyes. Living far away from our families is something that has never gotten easier. But I will say that flying through Chicago O’Hare during the holidays always puts a smile on my face. I can’t walk down this corridor and not feel tempted to quote a little Kevin McAllister from “Home Alone 2.”
Sunday / This is not exactly the “Sunday funday” that we had in mind. We woke up to partially unpacked suitcases, a peck of apples that needed to be washed (don’t ask), several loads of laundry to be done, boxes to be unpacked, things to be brought down to storage, the house to be cleaned. . .and then with whatever time or energy we had left. . .Christmas decorations to be put up. Ryan and I like to sometimes jokingly say to each other, “what time is the maid showing up?” And today was definitely one of those days.
Monday / One of the hallmarks of the Christmas season in our home is the changing of the plates. From as young as I can remember, my Mom would collect one new Christmas table setting each year. Which as you can imagine, turned into quite the beautiful and unique collection of Christmas plates. And as a kid it felt so special to get to pick out a different plate to use for dinner each night. For me, this was a tradition that I could barely wait to carry on myself. And so here we are all these years later, many different patterns collected, and I still get just as excited about picking out my dinner plate!
Tuesday / Christmas is slowly taking over our apartment here, and it is literally the best thing ever! We made it over to Trader Joe’s today, and we picked up some greens to decorate our Advent wreath with. Yep, another family tradition from my side. Each night with dinner my parents would light the appropriate candle or candles on our Advent wreath. And us kids would take turns reading from the book, “A Devotion a Day Until Christmas.” After Ryan and I got married, my parents bought us our own Advent wreath, and then passed down the book to us as well. The book has been taped together in several spots, and still has some spaghetti stains on it from when I was a kid, but somehow that makes it all the more special.
Wednesday / So it rained today. And not the typical “San Diego” rain. (Which is really just a sprinkle.) It was cats and dogs, streets flooding raining. Which honestly I love. But one little thing. . .I don’t have any rain boots right now. I have been on the hunt for a new pair of rain boots for over a year now (and probably ordered about a dozen different pairs at this point). And I still haven’t found a winner. Luckily for me though, the hubby has his own pair of rain boots. So he generously lended me his Winter boots (which have more rubber than mine). At least two sizes too big? You betcha. But hey, at least my feet stayed dry all morning!
Thursday / “O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree / How lovely are thy branches. . .” Today was finally the day! The rain had held us off for a few days, but today we finally got to go pick out our Christmas tree! And this was especially exciting, because this is the first year that we are putting up a live tree. Although we have already missed the convenience of a fake tree, and the ability to put it up and leave it up for months at a time (because we are Christmas obsessed), the little Fraser Fir that we brought home has already brought us so much joy!
Friday / Anybody else celebrate St. Nick? (Technically the feast of St. Nicolas.) You know, the whole argue with you siblings who gets your Dad’s biggest sock to leave out for St. Nick to fill up with goodies for you? Yep, last night we left out our stockings, and this morning we woke up and ran to find out that St. Nick had visited us! St. Nick came! St. Nick came! Apparently we’ve both been pretty good this year, because both of our stockings were filled with lots and lots of treats to enjoy in the coming weeks as we prepare for Christmas.
That’s so nice that St. Nick still visits your house-clearly you both are true believers!
Awww, thanks Alice! And you bet we are!!