A Christmas-time week of fun!

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful." ~Norman Vincent Peale

Wow, this was a great week full of SO many fun things!!! It all started LAST Saturday, when we went to the Living Christmas Tree concert at Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro. We have been in the past and it is always really beautiful and a great way to get into the Christmas spirit. It was hard to get pictures to turn out because it was so dark in there (and we were sitting in the balcony), but here are a few attempts...





On Tuesday night, we went to the Greensboro Coliseum for the annual WFMY Holiday Blood Drive. Always a great thing that we love doing - such an easy and worthwhile way to help someone and a great feeling to know that you have helped save a life!

Wednesday, we celebrated my mother's birthday at PF Changs in Greensboro with my parents and grandparents. What a great evening! We had an awesome waiter who served us a great meal and then brought us some AMAZING treats after the meal. We told him it was my mothers birthday, and also that in the same month was David's birthday and my grandparents anniversary. No one would believe the food that was put on our table! After dinner, the waitstaff made my grandparents a personalized plate for them to keep for their anniversary, and brought us two desserts to share amongst the table - banana spring rolls, and the biggest piece of chocolate cake you have ever seen - must have been 4 pounds (all 6 of us were able to eat a large piece of it)! Thanks PF Changs, for making our celebration so special! And if you go, make sure you ask for Lamont as your waiter - he was awesome!







Thursday morning, we woke up to snow/ice that had fallen overnight, and the roads were SLICK! So I didn't go into work until 12:30. Short work day! Thursday evening, David and I sat on the floor in our living room and wrapped enormous amounts of Christmas presents to be opened over the next week by our families. Lots of work, but fun and totally worth it! David and I have so much fun just being in the same room together, even when we are working hard on stuff. I treasure those times with him!!!

Before we have Christmas with our families, we decided this year we would do a special "couples Christmas" just with the two of us (then will be doing our family Christmases this next week). So last night, Friday, was our "Christmas Eve" for our couples Christmas. So we grabbed steak for David (which he grilled), chicken for me, red and white wine, twice baked potatoes and ice cream, pulled out our fine china and crystal (people told us married couples NEVER use their fine china or crystal, but we find so many fun ways to celebrate with using them), and had a nice candlelit meal together in our dining room! So much fun and such a romantic time with my sweetie!













After our nice dinner, the two of us rode around town and looked at Christmas lights, something we love to do. David drove us and wore his Santa hat...





This morning was our "Couples Christmas Day." David woke up earlier than me and told me to stay in our bedroom and sleep while he got a "surprise" ready for me. When he finally let me up, he had a hot Chai Tea from Starbucks that he had gone out to get me. YUM! How sweet! We went into the living room to open our stockings and presents we had gotten for each other. Among the many wonderful presents my husband got me? Some BEAUTIFUL jewelry, a really pretty sweater, and a Starbucks gift card. I got him a gym membership and some shoes he had been wanting. We sat in our living room in our pjs, opened presents, and looked at our tree and talked (also ready the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke). SUCH a great memory!





To cap the day off, we went to the UNC-Texas game at the Greensboro Coliseum with my parents. It was a NAIL BITER and it ended in a heartbreaking loss for Carolina! But it was a fun experience nonetheless, and was snowing a little as we walked into the coliseum (although you can't tell in the picture)...









When I look back at weeks like this, I realize just how blessed David and I are to have so much fun in our marriage! So much to be thankful for!

St. Nicholas Eve/Day!

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there." -Clement C. Moore

Not so much stockings, but shoes!!!

Ever heard of "St. Nicholas Day?" If you haven't, don't be alarmed, you are not alone. St. Nicholas Day is a tradition in a lot of European countries from which David and I have heritage from, such as Ireland, Germany, and some of the Scandinavian countries. When we have children, we really want to start a lot of traditions with them handed down from our families, American traditions, as well as traditions from the countries of which our ancestors are descended. St. Nicholas Day (December 6th) is one of those traditions! It goes like this - on St. Nicholas Eve (December 5th), children leave their shoes out by the fireplace, along with a note for Saint Nicholas. St. Nick makes sort of a "preliminary" Christmas visit this night - coming in on a white horse this evening instead of a reindeer (I guess the reindeer are resting up for Christmas Eve). So it's crucial to leave a carrot as well to make the horse happy. For the good boys and girls, St. Nick will come during the night and fill their shoes with candy, nuts, and other treats. He also will leave a bundle of switches, though, just as a warning that one should continue to be good year round.

So, we've really been looking forward to letting our children participate in this one day. But, seeing as how we don't have kids yet, we figured, why wait to celebrate this day? Who says St. Nick will only come to kids?

So on the evening of the 5th, before bed, we very carefully put out our shoes (actually our slippers) by the fireplace in our den...


And left St. Nick a nice note on the hearth...


And of course, a carrot for his white horse was essential. There are a lot of treats to carry around, and that horse must get tired!


The next morning, when we woke up to go to work, we discovered it worked! St. Nick came!!! We got cookies, chocolate, candy canes, M&Ms, and even Chick-fil-a coupons!!!






Instead of switches, St. Nick left us a ruler with the "Golden Rule" written on it...


What a fun way to start the week!


Yes, David and I know we may be cheesy. But we get a lot of enjoyment out of life, and I think we have more fun together than just about any two people I know. :-)

Hope everyone had a great St. Nicholas Day!!!

A Christmasy Weekend!

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year." -Charles Dickens

This has been a great weekend full of fun Christmas activities!

It started Friday night when we went to the "Festival of Lights" in downtown Greensboro. My parents used to take me to this when I was a little girl, and so we invited them to come along. It was very COLD but fun!

We had trouble finding a place to park, and when we finally did there was one extra space in front of us. So David stood in the space and told every car that came along that they couldn't park there because he was holding it for someone (my parents). Haha! He is such a trip! Here is a blurry picture I took from the car of him in front of the car "holding" that parking place...



Below is the big tree in Center City Park that the city lit up...


And the lights reflecting off the really cool condo building across the street from Center City Park...


David and I got a picture together (the News and Record handed out foam reindeer antlers to festival-goers)...


And we got my Dad's picture with a giant blow-up snowman...


The festival was a great way to start the weekend!

Saturday morning, David and I decided to take some Christmasy pictures outside in our backyard and at our storage building...






After that, David and I helped take a group of children from my Junior League placement, Operation Homework, over to Winston-Salem to see a 1 hour children's version of "A Christmas Carol" (once again, David is such a good Junior League husband!). When we came out from the play at noon, it was SNOWING (hours earlier than the weather people had predicted it would). We took some awesome pictures!

Leaving Winston (snow just starting)...


Getting a little heavier as we get back to our house..


And now you see our backyard only an hour or so later!!! Wow!




Despite the weather, we headed out towards Alamance County for the annual Andrews Family Christmas party at Carver's Restaurant in Graham. It is always a fun time! Attendance was bit low because of the weather, but it was great to see everyone who could make it.














Finally, we wrapped up the fun day by going back to Winston-Salem for the RMIC Christmas Party. What a great time! David and I got a room in the Marriott (the hotel where the party was) so that we could just ride the elevator "home" after the party, which ended up being a great idea!



I got to have a lot of fun dancing...




Kristina and I got pictures taken in our matching reds...


And Benton got a little crazy...


Don't even ask...


We both had a great time!




And this morning, when we looked out our hotel window, we had a great view of Pilot Mountain!


FUN WEEKEND! :-)