O Christmas Tree

Here it is....our precious little Christmas tree that we risked our lives to bring home safe and sound! Isn't it darling?

Here I am making sure the tree skirt is just right.

And here is Matt making sure it is standing straight up in the tree holder thing.

And here we are enjoying our decorated tree. We mostly just have a hodge-podge of ornaments that have sentimental value to me. My mom gave me an ornament every year of my life that had something to do with something that happened that year. And I also started collecting ornaments from my trips. So when I decorate my tree I get to relive all those fun moments!

We continued the tradition by getting an ornament on our honeymoon in Canada. It's a gold Canadian maple leaf. Oh I love Christmas!

Christmas card

Here is our annual Christmas card. If you click on it, you can see the full-size version. Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas Tree Adventure

The other night we went to go get our Christmas tree. We found the perfect little tree, we bought it and took it out to the car to take it home. Well, the guy who worked there (it was his second day on the job) obviously did not know how to properly tie a Christmas tree to the top of a car. He tied it on very loosely and even though Matt was driving very slowly, the tree started sliding backwards.

Well, we were not about to lose our most perfect tree, so we did the most logical thing. Matt opened the sunroof of the car, and I stuck my hands out the top and held on to the tree for dear life. Matt decided he needed to help me, so he drove with one hand and held on to the tree out the sunroof with the other hand.

I had gloves on, but the space between my gloves and my coat sleeve were freezing! And Matt didn't have gloves on, and by the time we got home, he couldn't move his fingers. So here we are driving down the street holding our Christmas tree onto the roof out of the sunroof. And of course we were laughing hysterically the whole way. It was quite the sight. But at least we got our Christmas tree home safe and sound.

Why are these so funny?

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Bread and Jam

So, all of you who went to high school with me, remember the Bread and Jam club? Well, I got this lovely card in my box at work the other day and it made me laugh!

The Dean's office next door is having their own Bread & Jam event. And it's today! Gotta love it! (Our club's fame must have spread clear down here to BYU!)

I've had a full life

I thought this was kinda fun. The bold ones are things I've done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

59 out of 100. I've had a very full life. And there's still so much more to come! Gotta love it!

Thanksgiving wrap-up

So we are totally lame and didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving. We got up early to run our (my) traditional Turkey Trot 5K race. It was raining, but it was fun. Then Matt went to go play in the turkey bowl.

I spent most of the day cooking. I made a cherry pie that exploded in the oven. (I do have a picture of this! I will have to find it and post it.) I made rolls that didn't raise. I made layered jello, which turned out pretty well. It was mostly a cooking disaster! But at least I tried to be domestic.

We went to Grandma Lively's for Thanksgiving dinner. And it was divine. Matt has been raving about his grandma's stuffing for months now, and it really was quite tasty! We just had a good time with family. It was a little weird for me because there were only 7 people there (and 4 dogs). I am used to having at least 25-30 people for Thanksgiving. But it was a lot of fun.

Later on in the evening, we went to my family's house to play games. Matt got into a long game of Risk with my brothers and cousins, and I played Settlers with my parents and uncle. It was lots of fun. Mostly it was just nice to have a break. The rest of the weekend we pretty much just lounged around. We put up our Christmas decorations. And I saw Twilight. It was ok. And we went to dinner with my old roommate, Shannon from Georgia who was in town for the weekend. So fun to see her! And meet her husband who is from Argentina.

And now....it's time for Christmas!!!! 24 days left! Woo-hoo! I love Christmastime. And, here's a funny story. So in my last post, I said that I wasn't a fan of black and brown together in clothing. Well, I just remembered that I have an adorable swimsuit that has both black and brown on it. Hee hee! So maybe I need to post a retraction. Or maybe not. We still need to get a picture of Matt's outfit that didn't match. But I do agree that you can wear brown pants with black shoes. Maybe Matt's outfit would have been ok if he'd worn a black belt and black shoes with the black shirt and brown pants.