My Favorite Time of the Year

For both Shannon and I, Christmas has special meaning. We both love all the trappings that come along with it - the decorations, the tree, the lights the crispness to the winter air - all of it. I just said to her the other day "Sweetie, when we have kids, I think that we should go all out for Christmas with the decoration".

This I think is an admirable goal, but one that I will be relying on Shannon for somewhat in the future to push me along with. I'll admit, I sometimes do things in a somewhat half assed manner. Currently, that is how the decorations are in the house - The tree is up, but the colored lights are in a pile next to it, needing to be restrung, and approximately 5 ornaments are on it. The lights are on the front of the house, but I haven't found the ones for the bushes yet.

I think that part of the problem is that in my head I want the Hollywood depiction of Christmas - the two story Colonial with the wreath on the door, icicles hanging from the eves, snow on the ground, and twinkling lights shining everywhere, producing that otherworldly glow that pulls us out of the mundane dreariness of Winter, and transforms it into something magical. The problem is that we live in Arizona. We don't get snow, Colonials, icicles or any of the other aspects that tell us that the best time of year is nearly upon us. We had 90 degree weather 3 weeks ago. Sure, its in the mid 60's now during the day, and it gets pretty dang cold at night, but I feel like a part of me is absolutely starved for "Real Christmas", even if what I feel like should be "real" is in fact not something that has ever been real to me. In my experience this form of Christmas has only existed on the screen, and in my head.

I understand that the point, and the true meaning of Christmas is not found in the decorations, or in the tree, or the lights, but is rather supposed to be wrapped up in the mystery and wonder of a tiny baby sent by God, who is God, come to save us all, and how we celebrate His coming with our family and friends. I'm not disappointed with my Christmas experiences in life - far from it, as they are some of my favorite memories. Yet someday I would love to have the whole package, and be able to provide that experience to my future children.

Welcome to 2002!

Ok, not really - it's almost 2010. I'm jumping on the bandwagon a bit late, as usual :-) I've been pestering Shannon that she should start a blog since we've been together (almost 11 months!) since she likes to read them so much. I just never really considered one for myself. Ok, yes I did have a Live Journal back in the day where I whined about relationship issues (or lack of relationship issues, which is more like it) but that wasn't a proper blog, per se.

I think for the both of us, this is something we can work on and have fun with together. It's easy to do and should be amusing for us to go back and look at in the future. Whether anyone else reads it, or cares, really isn't the point. As Shannon and I grow in our relationship, working towards our wedding, I want to be able to look back and read about the small details that we so often forget about as days go by. Every day with her is a treasure that should be remembered always :-)

Weekend

We have had an especially busy last couple of days. Friday I got my hair cut while Chris was at work. What a mess. I have stuck with going to the same salon for the past 3 years despite the fact that it is an hour and a half away, because they really know how to deal with my massively thick hair. I decided to be adventurous and try a new (and much closer) salon to get a trim and highlight touch up. HA! I don't know what this lady was doing but it was far from just a trim. She messed up the cut I had. She put more layers into it and it looks just plain weird to me. Needless to say I am not too pleased with it. Its not a disaster by any means, but I am not a fan of it. When I get a chance I will post pics.

When Chris got home from work last night, we went to see Julie and Julia. The theater close by was having $1.00 movies. Can't beat that! I loved the movie. It was quite adorable and made me want to start cooking more often. We shall see if that happens ;) Chris wants to try the beef bourguignon. He is a pretty great cook, so I think he will do a great job. After the movie we went to Buddy's Grill for Happy Hour. We got some Lavosh to eat and a couple yummy cocktails.

This morning we woke up bright and early for my parents to come into town. We had to have the lovely discussion about the wedding expenses. *HEADACHE* Actually, it went quite well, I think. We are going to have to do some penny pinching and saving, but if things go well, I think we can pull it off without much or any debt. Chris was kind enough to bake some delicious blueberry muffins for our little "meeting". We had muffins, tea, and coffee. Thank you to my wonderful fiance for the treats to help lighten the mood!

Following our discussion, Mom, Vanessa, and I headed out to do some wedding shopping. First, we went to Michael's to buy some vases for Vanessa's wedding center pieces. While we were there we discovered some very gorgeous DIY wedding invitation packages. These are some of the best looking DIY invites I have seen. They are quite affordable and with those 40% off coupons in the Michael's ads every week, I think we may have found a great deal.

After browsing at Michaels, we headed across the street to Alfred Angelo to try on dresses. So much fun!! I especially loved the first one I tried on. As a matter of fact I made them let me try it on twice haha. Dresses sure are costly though. I still have time, so we will see what else is out there in the wedding dress world before I make any decisions.

We went back to the apartment after trying on dresses. Dad and Chris were watching the U of A vs. University of Spoiled Children (USC) football game. We made it back just in time to watch the last quarter of the game and see our Wildcats win!!! So proud of them!

To end the day we took the parents and Vanessa out to dinner at Guadalajara Grill. Yummy food was had. Mom and Dad drove back home after dinner and we headed back home for some relaxation.

Time for bed. Off to work tomorrow!!

1st Post

It is safe to say that I have an addiction to reading blogs. There is a list of about 20 blogs on my favorites that I check daily for updates. Chris has been telling me for several months now that I should start a new blog of my own. I told him that I don't have any idea what I would say. Until now, when my loving fiance and I invested in a fabulous new camera. (My last camera was destroyed minutes after Chris proposed to me when I dropped it and shattered the screen). I am excited to start using our new camera and blog to document happenings of our life together.