Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Break's over! Happy New Year

I wrote this post as the first one back, but then I figured I'd wait to post it until I could add some pictures in. Looking through all the pictures I took of the holidays I realized none of them really related to anything I was talking about so, here it is, with very little value added. I might just post a few pictures later for the fun of it.



I hope you enjoyed your holidays as much as I did. Brian and I ran all over Texas celebrating with people we love and we sure did have a time at it! I put off coming back to the blog for a few days because I didn't want to write a doozy of a recap post but I couldn't exactly ignore the last couple weeks when they were such nice ones. Insead, here are the highlights of the holidays for us.



1. Walking on the beach of South Padre Island on Christmas day and I don't mind bragging about it! My Aunt Nancy hosted and that's where she lives. Some years it's nice enough to wear shorts and wade in the water and then I really better than. This year it was pretty cold and kind of ugly, but if you're lucky enough to be at the beach, then you're lucky enough and I sure was!



2. My Christmas decorations. I didn't do a tour of homes like so many of my blog friends did because we celebrate Advent right up until Christmas Eve so my decorations don't get put up till that last week or so. This year I really didn't want to spend a lot of money buying new stuff so this year's theme was "use what's already paid for." It turned out quite nicely if I do say so. I love my popcorn and cranberry garland, gift wrapped front door, and old books stacked up to display the most important parts of the decor. I also love the lights and beads on the majestic palm in our bedroom. It'll be up until Wednesday when the Wise Men get here.



3. Christmas cards! I love checking the mail year round, but this time of the year it's even more exciting because we received Christmas greetings from so many family members and friends and sent them out too! We have a whole heap of them displayed in the entryway and it makes me quite happy to see them there. I'm a little ticked off with the USPS though. First wedding and shower invitations, then thank you notes, and now Christmas cards! Quit losing my stuff! I'm counting on you to let my loved ones know I'm thinking of them and you're letting me down. Shape up and fly right!



4. Getting spoiled by all the great gifts I got and the wonderful reactions about the ones I gave. Brian and I use the "something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read" guidelines to keep things interesting and sort of fair. In past years one or both of us have had to return or exchange things and there's always a couple of duds it seems like, but this yearit was not like that at all! Every gift was the perfect gift and will be well used!

For Him:

Something he wanted: remote control meat thermometer for smoking and grilling

Something he needed: Craftsman tool chest. This thing is 5 ft of manliness and he's already built little organizational compartments inside the drawers for his sockets and such

Something to wear: A brown Patagonia fleece because sometimes camo just doesn't fit the dress code.

Something to read: road maps from madmaps.com of the best scenic drives around Austin, San Antonio and Houston. I'm not buying that boy another book until he finishes the job on the countless others he's started.



For Me:

Something I wanted: An antique (from 1906) kitchen scale in perfect condition! Layla at The Lettered Cottage inspired me to ask for this. It'll go much better in my dream kitchen than in the country fruits one I'm renting but I love it even now.

Something I needed: A navy Jon Hart with my new initials to be my teacher bag.

Something to wear: a really pretty, perfectly me sleepshirt. It's feminine and comfy which is sometimes hard to do in the winter.

Something to read: The Pictorial History of New Braunfels. I read it at an old woman that I used to work for's house and loved it! If I'm going to live here, I better know something about it.



Our family was also incredibly generous with us and I want for nothing!



5. Movies streaming directly to our tv! We used some Christmas money to buy a BlueRay player and we can stream Netlix movies straight to it! This has encouraged our new couch potato status and its the real reason I haven't written yet this year. I might have mentioned that Brian sold our working DVD player in a garage sale a couple months ago so even though we don't have an HDTV yet, it made sense to use to get the BlueRay because someday we will have one and in the meantime my streaming queue is getting quite lengthy.



6. New Years Eve party at the Huckaby house! It was a blast ringing in the new year with our dearest friends, play games, hanging out, eating too much and drinking too much. which brings me to my next point



7. Cooking a bona fide Southern New Years Day meal for 12, then serving 3 because everyone was hungover. I sawthemthe night before, and know that they weren't making it up. That means more black eyed peas for us and they kicked right in! I found my pearls that had been missing since June after just testing one pea while I was making them. They were last seen at my final bridal shower but were gone by the wedding, then found 6 months later in the bottom of a medicine drawer. I swear I take better care of my jewelry than that, but maybe I'll find my missing diamond earring next new years.



8. Celebrating 6 months of marital bliss yesterday with my hubby! He brought me flowers and we tried out a quaint new pizza parlor where they lit a fire just for us and we talked all mushy gushy, I love it! I love him and our life together and couldn't think of asking for more!

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