honestly, the best word to describe our first married christmas would be lovely. it really was just perfect... relaxing and fun and joyful. we loved every moment of the weekend, even the moments spent in the ER.
that's right, the ER.
on christmas eve chad and i were out "playing santa" and delivering goodies to some friends. we were leaving presents on doorsteps, knocking on the door and running away, off to make the next delivery. well at one of the houses i got a little over-zealous with my "run away" and totally ate it... fracturing and spraining my wrist in the process. yep, i'm just that klutzy. so in addition to the pretty sweaters that santa brought me, i also get to sport this super cool wrist brace.
dear husband, thank you for making every situation better. somehow you made the ER on christmas day an incredibly funny experience. for this (and about a million other reasons) i love you and think that i'm going to keep you around for a little while.
exactly three months ago from this very moment i was getting ready to run through a sea of sparklers and take off to the w hotel westwood and eat room service in my wedding dress.
then came ten days of hawaiian bliss.
then came lots of presents, lots of ikea and target runs, and lots of arranging and rearranging.
and then the beginning of a new life as we know it.
honestly, i feel like we've been married a lot longer than three months, and i mean that in the best way possible. it's just so..... right. it's been challenging. it's been growing. it's been eye-opening and mind-opening. and it's been and so. much. fun.
dearest husband, thank you for loving me the way you do. thank you for making me laugh harder than anyone. thank you for encouraging my soul every day and for the support that you provide me. i can say with no reservations that this has been the best ninety days ever, and it's only just the beginning..
decorating for our first married christmas has been too fun, especially with my new found christmas spirit. we originally went to the lot to pick out a baby charlie brown tree, but got a little carried away and ended up with a tree that reaches to the roof. the cheer got a hold of us big time! woops.
i made this little baby with the help of bleubird vintage. sweet little child chad made it on the tree.. the hot pink disco ball on top of the gingerbread house was really my only contribution.
i'll admit it, last christmas i was pretty "bah-humbug."
actually, i was very "bah-humbug."
which was really hard for me, because there is so much about christmas that i seriously love, yet all i could see was how much was wrong about what the holidays have become... the amount of money spent, the stress, the production that so many churches turn it into (that was a big one for me), the crappy music (sorry everyone) ... it turned me into one big scrooge. (poor mister, i was such a grump.) i couldn't see past all of the hoop-la that we have made it.
however, the silver lining to my bad attitude was found inadvent conspiracy.
now regardless of your religious beliefs, i feel that most (if not all) of us can agree that when americans could cure the world's water problem 45 times over with the amount that we spend on christmas, and yet we don't...
something. needs. to. change.
and i just love the idea of giving your time for christmas. we busy ourselves so much, how special to put all of that aside and just spend good solid time with someone you love. so, that is what i'm hoping to do this year. here's my plan of action:
craft as many gifts as possible, and if my crafty-ness fails me...
buy smaller but more meaningful or creative gifts (i love when you find that perfect gift for someone)... no more buying gifts for the sake of just buying gifts.
bake a lot, and actually enjoy it. give goodies out as presents.
craft and be creative with our decorations, don't just run out and buy up target to make our home look like "christmas."
don't stress it. relax. enjoy. if something doesn't get done... who cares?
open our home to our friends and family as much as possible, even if it's not perfectly clean or decorated.
sieze the free holiday festivities... boat parades and tree lightings and christmas-light touring.
save money by not sending out christmas cards. instead use this awesome little resource we call the internet, and use the savings for something good and important.
make new traditions as a new little family, just chad and i, even if that includes just staying home and sitting by the fire or watching home alone and just being together.
so that's our plan of action. this is how i plan on enjoying rather than enduring, on not playing into the notion that christmas means "buy, buy, buy." and this christmas will be good, i can feel it in my bones.
"This is the Christmas we love. These movements are not just a rant against consumerism but an invitation to renew our minds. These expressions of the true Christmas Spirit are not just about protesting, but protestifying... They are protestifying that the most precious things in life cannot be bought or sold or stolen. And they are a reminder that the best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away … lessons we can learn from the kids, or from our Savior who gave left the glory of heaven to join us in the mess we've made of earth." - Shane Claiborne
(um, and these are beautiful. how could i not love christmas with these babies in the world?)
yes, the festivities did include little child mexican folk dancers, aztec warriors, my husband leading my staff in christmas carols, the roof above us opening up, a visit from santa, and (of course) plenty of fun in the photo booth.
our incredible housemates and dear friends, jesse and elyse.
the young marrieds and soon-to-be-marrieds
what a quirky party and bunch of people.
and the after party may, or may not, have included yours truly learning the texas two step to taylor swift at a honky-tonk bar down the street.
our honeymoon was seriously the best time of our lives.
after the craziness of the wedding process (though the wedding was seriously magical for us) nothing felt better than sitting in that "get-away-car" knowing that all that lay in front of us for the next ten days was laying around on the beach and eating like kings.
dear hawaii, thank you for being so good to us. you were exactly what we needed and were the perfect place to spend our first couple weeks as marrieds.
dear north shore,
you have such beautiful soul about you.
i hope we meet again soon.
dear chefs and cooks of maui and oahu,
and we ate more delicious hamburgers on your beautiful shores...
