Christmas Recap

First of all, Merry belated-Christmas to everyone! Justin and i enjoyed out Christmas wwek/weekend. We wish that we could've spent our holiday with all of our family, but living in a different state, it's hard. So, we're hoping we can switch off every year, kind of like divorced parents. lol.

Well, we started off our holiday week/weekend on Thursday. We traveled up to Lava Hot Springs with Justin's parents, brother and sister-in-law and their kids, and Justin's 2 other nephews. When we got there, it was about 6:00 so we got settled into the house that we were staying in, and then headed to the springs. The water was nice and relaxing, and it was so different than when we went for our honeymoon. There were so many more people than when we were there, and it was different for us to be there with our whole family. After the hot springs, we went back to the house, relaxed, had dinner, and then went to bed. The house was really nice, it had 2 bedrooms upstairs each with a queen bed, and a bedroom downstairs in the basement with a queen bed and a full size bunk bed. We got a room upstairs, Justin's parents were also upstairs, and his brother, sister-in-law, and the kids were all downstairs. On Friday, we went to the hot springs in the morning then packed up andd went home. It was a short trip but we really enjoyed it. When we got home, we were surprised by our Christmas present from my mom! we got matching footie pajamas! Justin claims he doesn't like them, but as soon as I opened up the box he grabbed them, ran to the bathroom and put them on. That doesn't sound to me like he doesn't like them. I had to work on Christmas eve, luckily only till about 8:30.

Christmas Day, I woke up at about 7:30, hoping there would be a miracle and there would be snow. But, there was no Christmas miracle of snow. I was so excited to wake up and make Justin our first Christmas breakfast, so I got up, made cinnamon rolls and bacon, then went and woke him up at about 8:00 so we could open presents. We opened presents and Justin was so excited about what I got him! I got him a new hunting game for his xbox, and a new shirt. Justin got me this cool beanie thing, and a BEAUTIFUL heart necklace. The necklace is very similar to one that my dad got for my mom on their first Christmas, so it means a lot to me. After presents and breakfast, Justin played his game before we got ready to go to his parents. We were planning to stop at Wal-Mart and get the last minute presents that Justin forgot to get, but Wal-Mart was closed. Luckily Walgreens was open, so we got the stuff we needed there. Christmas was pretty good over at Justin's parents. There were a few comments made to me by his sister-in-laws, that made me wish that I was in California with my family. But, all in all, it was ok. After Justin and I left, we went home and decided that we were going to start a new tradition for Christmas. We were going to go to the movies that night. So, Justin played his game and I watched A Christmas Story until we left for the movies. It was an amazing night, and Justin helped me to forget the drama that happened that afternoon. And, he made me remember that my family isn't only in California, but that he is my family and will always be with me.

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas, and may this upcoming year be as amazing if not better than this one was!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

So, Justin and I will be spending this Christmas in Utah. Initially I was a little sad that I wouldn't be spending Christmas with my family in California, but then I thought... 1. I will still be with family, because Justin's family is my family now and 2. I'll get a WHITE CHRISTMAS! Now that it is 2 days before Christmas, I am a little disappointed in my First Utah Christmas. Justin's family is wonderful, and I am so excited to spend the holiday with them, and for Justin and I to start our own traditions, BUT it looks like I will not be getting a white Christmas after all. The forecast for Saturday (Christmas) is: Partly Cloudy with the high in the low 40s. In case you missed it, it does not call for snow, it does not call for rain (which could turn in to snow), basically, I feel like it's just going to be a colder version of a California Christmas, minus my family.

I'm excited to take part in one of Justin's family traditions. Since Justin's dad was young, his family always went to Lava Hot Springs, ID right before Christmas. Justin went when he was growing up, and now he is going to be sharing that tradition with me. Justin's parents are taking the whole family up to Lava Hot Springs on Thursday afternoon, we will spend the night and then come back Friday afternoon. It'll be a short trip, but it will be fun to spend time with everyone up there! Justin and I went there on our honeymoon, and it was so quiet and relaxing, we're really looking forward to this trip!

In case I don't get on here again before Christmas, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white!

one month and one day

As of today, Justin and I have been married for one month and one day. It's kind of crazy to think about it. And, it seems just like yesterday we were at the church getting married. But, here were are, one month and one day later.

Some things that have gone on in that one month and one day:

-we went to Lava Hot Springs

-I worked my last week at In-n-Out store 244 in Riverton

-we went to California for 3 days

-I started at my new store, In-n-Out store 237 in West Jordan (less than a mile from our apartment)

-Justin got in a fender bender

-We bought our first Christmas tree

-Justin and I are able to carpool to work now (since we work across the street from each other)

-Our family of 10 became 11 (we got ANOTHER frog)

I know that there's more stuff that we've done in this first month of being married, but 1. it's 7:30 in the morning right now, and 2. my brain doesn't function properly until after 9:00. I loved our first month of marriage. It was full of silly bickering (which is typical Terri and Justin) and full of so much love. May we have hundreds of more months together! I love you babe!

Christmas Decorations

here are our very few Christmas decorations. We have a tree, a nativity, a stackables, and a snowglobe. We also have Christmas lights out on our balcony too, but I don't have a picture of those. They are icicles, very fitting I might add!

a few pics to hold you over

oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree!

so, after much begging and pleading, justin finally gave in and let me buy a real christmas tree! it is PERFECT! it is a little over 6 feet and the shape is perfect, it's pretty full all the way around and no big "holes". it's a noble fir (which i'm pretty sure is the same kind i always got as a kid) and the smell is fantastic! justin only had one request for next year (and i'm ok with the request), that we go chop down our own next year (and the many years to come). i would've been fine doing that this year if i had known that was allowed. in california, you're only allowed to chop down one at a christmas tree farm, and those are usually super expensive. i guess here, you just have to get a permit and then you can go chop down your own. so, next year starts that tradition, i guess.

as for decorating the tree, i feel like my tree is so naked. it has probably close to 40 balls on it (of different colors) and i think like 5 "centimental" ornaments, but that's it. it sounds like a lot, but comparatively to the size, it's really not that much. plus i always compare it to my mom's tree that is full of ornaments, no room for any balls, and there are barely enough branches to fit all of the ornaments. also, growing up we always made sure our tree had lots of lights. i remember being little and my dad would sit and plug the strands of lights together and make sure they were all working. well, as of now, we have one strand of lights on the tree, which in my opinion isn't enough. justin says it's fine, but i say the more lights the better! but, now that it's all decorated (or at least it's decorated with all of the stuff we have), we now just need the top and bottom for our tree, the star, angel, whatever (i told justin he got to pick what goes on the top of our tree) and our tree skirt. target, here we come! i'm really hoping that justin picks something "traditional" and not like a deer or elk or something like that. but, lets face it, would that surprise anyone if he did pick something like that? i don't think so!

despite what i said about our lack of ornaments, i really enjoyed decorating the tree. it would've been a lot more enjoyable had my husband helped more, but he's a boy, what can i expect. he hung i think 3 ornaments, and he'll be the one who puts our tree topper on. but, decorating the tree made me think back and remember decorating my family's christmas tree every year with my brother and sister. mom would sit on the couch and separate all of the ornaments, who's was who's and who got to put up what of mom's ornaments and family ornaments. she would lay out the ornaments on the couch and coffe table, and each of us had a spot and she'd put the hooks on so we could just grab and go. our christmas tree always looked perfect, and mom was always super anal about where ornaments went on the tree. so, we'd get a lesson when we were little on how to hang ornaments. you don't hang them toward the trunk of the tree, and you don't hang them on the tip of the branch. you go in about 2 inches and... perfect. also, no hanging 2 ornaments on one branch and we were never allowed to hang ornaments right next to each other. i know, this all sounds super crazy and ocd, but it was always so fun as a kid, getting excited to be "allowed" to put the ornaments on the tree, and making the tree look beautiful and perfect!

i hope that when justin and i have kids, i can continue on with some of my family's traditions. justin's never been big on holidays, but i love them. i love the family time and traditions. hopefully someday we'll have a house where we can fit a big tree, like we used to have growing up. but, whatever size the tree, it doesn't matter, as long as we are together, carrying on traditions, celebrating as a family, and remembering the reason for the season, i will be happy!

merry christmas everyone, and look forward to more "first christmas" posts throughout the month!