Christmas is Coming!

So, how are we doing Christmas this year?

We have the milestone of our first married Christmas, and I'm relishing decorating our home and celebrating the season with out going overboard.

First things, first. Our tree.

Please enjoy the look of this tree. I think Charlie Brown would be proud. The story here...we were debating about our tree. At the apartment there isn't really space to store an artificial tree (plus I don't want an artificial tree) and the real ones are expensive, and again the space situation. So when we saw this Norfolk Island Pine we thought it was a perfect compromise. And it's a live tree, David thinks we can use it next year, ha! 

This plan seemed all well and good until I put the tree in our apartment. Suddenly this pine did not look so much like a Christmas tree. Alas. We decorated the tree, covered it in lights, and put on our ornaments. This was a great lesson in why the varieties of trees use for Christmas have been selected. This one cannot hold up ornaments to save it's life. Please note the droop of the tree. I love it anyway. Even if it won't get me on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens. 

I think this nativity is my favorite Christmas decoration. Growing up, a friend of my mom's gave me a new piece for Christmas each year. Not pictured: the shepherds and wisemen. 

I got the supplies to make a memory wreath at my bridal shower. My mom always put one out at Christmas in our house. The idea is that you add little trinkets from vacations, major events, or whatever else. I was gifted with a few quilted yo-yos in fabrics that relate to our interests so we started with that and we'll add another item or two each year. 

Right now I'm knitting my Christmas stocking. It won't be done in time, but I'm okay with that. I was going for a candy cane look, but when I look at this all I can see is Cat in the Hat. 

A couple years ago I made David this stocking and have been gifting things in it ever since. The stocking is my favorite gift part of Christmas so I love to make luxuriously large ones. 

This month we have been reading this devotional by Ann Voskamp most days. I tend to get swept up in all the other aspects of holiday cheer that sometimes I miss the fact that we are celebrating Christ's birth. The devotional has been helpful in keeping me a little more centered. As far as recommendations...this is written in a very poetic style. Sometimes it is difficult to process and challenging to read aloud. All the same, I am glad we are doing this together. 

This year I tried to get fancier with cookie decorating. I'm learning the in's and outs of royal icing. Be on the lookout for improved cookies next year.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our celebrations and decorations this season. Have a very merry Christmas!

My Latest Month of Reading

Linking up again with Modern Mrs. Darcy Twitterature to share my reads from mid-Nov to now.


Lady Almina and The Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle, Fiona J.M. Aitken

Really interesting! Loved learning about the culture of the time and getting a bit of a history lesson. Recommended for Downton fans, you'll come across some familiar names and events.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman

Not a huge fan of this one. While I appreciated the fantasy world that was created in such a short book, I felt like it had some of the strangeness of a fairy tale without lighter happy moments. 

The Maze Runner, James Dashner

The Scorch Trials, James Dashner

The Death Cure, James Dashner

Review of the series- Each book was like one giant action scene. The chapters were short but it was almost impossible to read one at a time. While I did enjoy these this series wasn't my favorite. The first two books are almost all action, while the last book was action with some more background information about what was actually going on. Definitely an entertaining read, but I could have done with more character development. The books are almost completely moved forward by dialogue, I would have liked a few more descriptive, thoughtful moments. These were young adult books, and I wouldn't recommend to kids until the older middle school age.  

Divergent, Veronica Roth

I began another post apocalypic young adult series. I really enjoyed this one. The author did a wonderful job painting a picture of a new society and creating memorable characters even if they were only in a few scenes. I'm working my way up on the library holds list, and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. 

40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World, Howard G. Buffet

Great book. Anyone wanting to learn more about agriculture should give this a read. Howard Buffet goes through 40 different stories about agriculture around the world. I pretty much agreed with everything he said and I was very interested in all of his stories. 

Million Little Ways, Emily Freeman

Book club pick for the month. Emily Freeman expounded upon the ways that we are God's art and talked about the ways we can live that out in our lives. Whether we are teachers, bakers, writers, we've all got an art to live out. I thought the book was a little repetitive by the end, but did have a good overall message. The writing style is very poetic. Biggest take home point for me would be: If you are living your life like you are God's artwork, how would this change the way you carry out both the mundane and exhilarating tasks of everyday life?

Thankful

This Thanksgiving was the first that I did not spend with extended family. Normally Thanksgiving is hosted at my parents house and I'll spend the day before and day of Thanksgiving cooking and prepping food with my mom. The day of, we watch the parade and shortly after, family members start to arrive. Then we drink mulled cider, snack on pumpkin bread, and generally catch up. Thanksgiving with family is one of my favorite days of the year.

This time around it wasn't in the cards to fly up to Maryland. We did get to spend the day cooking, parade watching, and spending time with new friends. This was also our first married Thanksgiving. Somewhat of a bitter-sweet Thanksgiving with more emphasis on the sweet.

Oddly, I didn't take any pictures of the food, but David and I made macaroni and cheese, stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, an apple fig pie, and a pumpkin pie. Even though we weren't hosting, I also made a turkey breast specifically so we could have leftovers. We'll finally finish the thing off today.

Now, I have got to share what David was thankful for this year. We were invited to celebrate with one of David's co-workers. I've posted about the banana farming before and it's the same people. Recently for their farm they purchased a fire-weeder. If you are wondering exactly what this is, I didn't know either. But here are some pictures of David fire-weeding on Thanksgiving. He was definitely thankful for that.

Basically, it's a hose of fire that kills weeds

All the cars that passed by slowed down to see what we were doing. I suggested that they should sell tickets to let people use the fire-weeder

David with the assist

I love that he has a huge smile in every picture. Fire-weeding was definitely a Thanksgiving first for us.

Another family tradition is the annual Thanksgiving walk. We do a short stroll around the neighborhood between dinner and dessert. This year after dinner we walked through rows of banana trees. Keeping up family tradition with a bit of a Florida twist!