Christmas 2011

Christmas was relaxing this year. 

We kept decorating our home pretty simple.  Just enough to add a touch of holiday spirit.  There was minimal treat making... I just didn't feel like making a lot of stuff this year so a few batches of salted caramel sauce and cashew brittle for gifts and one pan of bars and batch of party mix for us was it.  And honestly, it was just enough.

We spent the weekend at the Winthrop Harbor B&B with lots of catching up, hanging out on the sofas in front of the 14' tree, playing with new toys (kindle was the theme this year), walks with the pups, reading, and of course lots of good food.

(do you see Dan in this photo?)

It was a nice end to this busy year. 

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we travelled to the farm.  We usually leave on Wednesday night but this year we left on Thanksgiving morning bright and early... it was an awesome decision as there was nearly no traffic.  Just a quiet fall drive to the country.

Thanksgiving was exactly what it should be - lots of good food and hanging out with family.  Dreamy high pumpkin pie, egg nog, blackberry pie, ham and turkey, seven layer salad... and of course lots of napping.   And a french fry night- the best ever french fries.  It was such a relaxing weekend.  The weather was unseasonably warm making it fun for the dogs as they got lots of outside time.

valentines in the age of smartphones

lovey-dovey text messages have been flying around today... who needs hallmark when you have printer paper, spreadsheets and the ability to text a photo from your phone.

 

Christmas at the Farm

This year we celebrated Christmas at the farm.  We had some of the worst weather in recent years for our drive out there; for a significant portion of the drive we were going 35 miles an hour.  But we made it. 

All of my siblings and their families were at the farm this year so there was a lot of catching up. We didn't take a ton of pictures as we were busy chatting.  My family always takes pictures in front of the tree... and for some reason they are always at the end of the night so everyone is a little wound up.  This wasn't the best picture (there is one that we are all looking at the camera) but this is a bit more true to the experience... someone is always hamming it up, a dog running through, a kid playing on the sidelines...

There was ham and turkey and mashed potatoes... And of course there were presents to be opened...

A couple days after Christmas, at the point where I start to get antsy about not being at my own home, we woke to find everything covered in frost.  After mom's waffles for breakfast it was time to get out of the house and go for a little drive through the country...

The drive gave Dan a chance to test out his new parka which kept him toasty warm... success! 

Ray had told Dan about some work they had done at his place since the last time we were here so Dan put in his request to make a stop at Ray's.

Where I spotted a decendend of Norman...

Norman was an orphan calf that we made something of a pet when kids, named after the City Slickers calf of course.

Dan was amazed at dad's snow blower...

We found our way to Charles City for a little walk. It was only seven degrees so it was definitely a petite walk.

And then we headed home. Taking with us a crummy cold that is basically the plague of colds. Which ended our years long streak of not getting sick.  Boo.

Holiday Dates

We have a tradition that is a few years old where we go out for a holiday event/activity.  We have gone to the Joffrey Ballet Nutcracker (that was the first one!), to see the Christmas Carol at the Goodman, the Christmas show at the Symphony, etc.  This year we did two fun holiday-inspired outings!  (I have no idea what to call this- it isn't a date night, activity is to generic, outing sounds weird...) 

I love the movie It's a Wonderful Life.  Ray and I used to watch it at my grandparents' house each year on Christmas on their ancient television.  Dan had never seen it.  So it was time to check out the Music Box.

The Music Box (an old school, independent theater) has an annual event for showings of It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas which are kicked off with caroling led by Santa.  You can just imagine that Dan was belting out the tunes.  Despite being late (of course), the tipsy neighbors and the enormous head in front of us - we had a great time.  It was followed up with a yummy late dinner and glass of red wine at Brown Trout.

Next up - Zoolights!  We have been saying that we are going to go check out the Zoolights every single year for eight years.  This year it almost got pushed off but we finally made it.     

We planned to go on the 23rd after dinner.  Then impatiently waiting for the FedEx delivery was added into the evening plans.  And after Eddie burst into the office to find me wrapping their presents there was no way we could leave without doing presents... if we had we might have come home to every present being opened.

{oh my gosh do I hate on camera flash - even when it is just a random doggie pic!}

We might have only had 30 minutes before closing time but we made it!

I took the gorilla pod with me thinking that I could make this a couple and photograph event... But with the sliver of time we had there I let it be just a couple activity.  So cranked up the ISO and did a few hand held shots... which have terrible focus and need a smaller aperture - oh well. 

We had fun walking through the paths lit with pretty lights.  And then decised that tomato bisque by itself is not enough for dinner.  So headed to the tap for a bite.  Where we talked about things like what neighborhood we want to live in during 2011. 

Trimming the Nest

We did a lot more holiday decorating this year than we have in the past.  It is still pretty small scale stuff but we added a little touch of the holidays to our home with our zero budget and small space...

In the past couple of years the short number of hours with daylight as we approach the winter solstice has started to drive me crazy.  The extra strings of lights framing the windows helps add a bit of cheer.

 

We did an advent calendar for the first time this year.  It has been fun and kept us moving through all of the small stuff that we wanted to do to get ready for and enjoy the holidays.

Trimming the Tree

Every year there is a little back and forth regarding whether we will get a tree.  Last year we didn't get one as there was the whole we are moving to Indiana thing going on. This year I made the executive decision that we were in fact getting a tree.  It is one of the key pieces to making it feel like Christmas is on its way...

So on a very blustery cold night we headed to a local non-charming shop to get a tree.  (Price was very much a decision factor!)  Dan tied it to the top of the Jeep and nearly froze off his fingers. 

The next morning after Dan came in from taking the dogs out he burst in while I was getting ready for work to exclaim "Our apartment smells like Christmas!!!"  The naysayer was converted.

So we pulled the one or two boxes of decorations out of the attic and opened a bottle of bubbly.  We did remain in comfy pants for the festivities.

We had fun trimming the tree with the small amount of ornaments that we have collected.  A few are from my childhood, a few are those we have purchased together over the last three-four years (that is the amount of time we have been getting trees together), and others have been gifts (that pretty blue ball that Dan is commenting on is from Ms Kristin- thank you!). 

And of course the dogs had fun too.  They like the holidays.  And they really like to bust out the reindeer antlers.