Christmas review and looking forward

To keep it brief, Christmas was fantastic.   

The week prior, David and I flew to Texas and got to see his family and have and early Christmas with them.  We even managed to squeeze in seeing a few dear friends, BBQ, and Mexican food.  It was lovely.

When we got back, my family came to Augusta for Christmas weekend.  It was filled with good times, food, laughter, and celebrating Jesus.

What a blessing...

Even the pups enjoyed their time together.

My talented and sweet husband also got me this mirror.  I saw something like this online earlier in the year but it sold out (and was expensive)...so he made one for me!  Watch out Etsy!

Having this break was so nice, and so needed.  The Lord has been gracious to allow me so much time to be able to relax and spend time with loved ones.  As school starts again in a week, and a new year is drawing close, there are a lot of things on my mind.  Remembering all that happened this last year, good, different, and difficult...excitement and anxiousness about the future...many many goals that I have for myself for 2012.  With all of that swimming around in my head, it's easy to let myself become overwhelmed.  But honestly, the only thing that I need to focus on is Christ.  He is the reason I have another year to celebrate, even just another day.  My main goal for 2012 is to glorify the Lord more, with my heart, mind, and actions.  He is the one who has given me everything undeservingly.  And I know that I will fall short of this, even daily....But He has conquered all of my mistakes (past, present, and future), and He is the one who is merciful and loving and is with me every step of the way. 

 

Oh, Christmas tree

I'm a passionate "real" Christmas tree advocate.  I told David before we got married that this was a non-negotiable issue, and the only way I would waver would be if he became highly allergic.  I'm sure as our lives become busier, and our family bigger, this will become a more difficult tradition to keep up.  But i'm sticking to it.  I have such great memories of going with my dad and sister to pick out our tree every year.  It was always "our" thing the 3 of us did, and we would usually buy some poinsettias to bring home for my mom.  We would all decorate the tree and house together that night.

Being that David and I were at my parents' house last year, and this year WE are hosting Christmas, David and I got to pick out our first tree together.  This was a big deal to me, and it was one of the first things we did once I finished my finals.  Two other great things about that day: 1) We went to Waffle House before hand (don't judge, you know it's good), and 2) Trees are much less expensive here than out west!

Not gunna lie, the drive home with a tree on top of my car was a tad stressful

...And the decorating begins!

I love homemade ornaments, or ones that you got from a place you visited, or ones that mean something to you.
This angel is made from a cotton bloom and it reminds me of growing up in Mississippi.  My mom and dad have the same one on their tree too.

These 3 ornaments are ones my grandma MADE and sent us.  I absolutely love them.

We are clearly still very "Texan" in our house too.

The finished product! (sorry for the quality, I think this is off of my phone)

It's perfect in every way.  It makes the house so cheerful.  Continuing on the tree post, I made a tree skirt!   I loosely based my idea from the ruffled tree skirt tutorial that's all over Pinterest, but mine's definitely not as "professional" looking.  I used the leftover fabric I had from the stockings I made for David and I last Christmas.  I'm very happy with it and I love the way it turned out.

(Again, phone photos)

  

What are some of your Christmas crafts?

Tis the season!

Well, I finished my first semester of graduate school!  It's still hard to believe.  It started to sink in when I didn't wake up at 6:30 this morning....mmm, that's the good stuff.  Once I finished my last final, I immediately started pulling out the (small amount) of decorations that we have.

Later this week, David and I are going to go pick out our first Christmas tree....i'm kinda really super excited about this :)  Continuing with the Christmas spirit, here are a list of some of my favorite Christmas movies.

Comedy/Family:  ELF
I absolutely love this movie, and who doesn't?  Will Ferrel just exudes child-like Christmas silliness and happiness, and it can't help but make you smile.

"I'm sorry I ruined your lives...and crammed 11 cookies into the VCR" 

Comedy/Other: Scrooged
So this is another comedy, but I wanted to separate it from ELF because it's not quite as kid-friendly.  Anyway, this movie still cracks me up and we watch it every year.  Bill Murray is always funny to me in anything he does.  This movie is a spin on the classic story of Scrooge, but a modern day version (warning: by modern, I mean 1988).

Bill Murray confronting a ghost: "No, you are a hallucination brought on by alcohol...Russian vodka poisoned by Chernobyl!"

Classic: White Christmas
Uh, be still my heart.  This is my absolute favorite "old" Christmas movie.  Words can't describe how wonderful this movie makes me feel, so I won't even try, just go watch it.

"I want you to get married.  I want you to have 9 children.  And if you only spend 5 minutes a day with each kid, that's 45 minutes, and I'd at least have time to go out and get a massage or something."

What are some of your favorite Christmas movies?