Christmas Memories

This time of year makes me so nostalgic! Lights on the houses, the smell of pine and peppermint, Christmas specials on TV, holiday tunes on the radio... all flood me with thoughts of my childhood. Warm, cozy, joyful, carefree memories. I feel so blessed to have grown up in a 2 parent household, for most of my childhood, with 2 loving parents who truly made the holidays special. So special that 28 years later the memories are so vivid and sweet I love to recount them. Hence, this post.

One of my favorite traditions was getting our Christmas tree, eating lunch at Burger King, and heading home to decorate it. Even the year my dad cut his hand pretty bad with "Old Hickory," a knife (of all things) he was using to cut some of the bottom of the tree off with. Yikes! I bet he still has a scar. Haha! Sorry, dad ;)

Sleeping with my sister every Christmas Eve with the radio on and hearing our favorite song, Transiberian Orchestra's "Christmas Canon." My sister now cries whenever she hears this song.

Watching all of our favorite shows, from the below list, that my mom had recorded off  TV (if you haven't seen any of the below, check them out now):

For Better or For Worse: The Bestest Present
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
Nestor The Long Eared Donkey
Noel
The Wish That Changed Christmas
The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas
Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas
Mickey's Christmas Carol
Charlie Brown Christmas
Rudolph
Frosty The Snowman
Garfield's Christmas Special
The Year Without A Santa Clause

My mom baking Rich Almond Snow Drops, Honey Cookies, Toffee, and Peanut Butter Cups while my sister and I played around the house; not even realizing the smells and sounds coming from the kitchen would someday be the smells and sounds that would take us back to more carefree, innocent  times. Ahhh... how sweet.

Opening one present on Christmas eve (which was always Christmas pajamas). Still do this one :)

My grandma's elaborate Christmas decor that she still puts up to this day! Shelves with different Christmas scenes, a smoking cabin, a walking talking Santa with a bell, a Santa with a list of each and every family member's name on it, musical mistletoe, and so much more!!!

Playing with the tinsel and decor while my mom decorated the house and doing more damage than help. But she never got mad :)

Nothing compares to those times. I suppose as we grow-up, we rekindle this joy when we have our own children. Experiencing the sites, smells, and sounds of the holidays through a child is the best way to to relive those days. I see it when I'm with my niece and nephews and one day will with my own children, too. For any child or adult out there not knowing what I grew up knowing, my prayers go out to you. That you feel the peace and joy of the season in not an earthly way, but in a way only our heavenly father can give you; a peace that surpasses all understanding, a deep down joy, and a love more great than you've ever known! Merry Christmas and JOY to the world!


What are some of your favorite Christmas memories? I would LOVE to hear them!

It's A Girl!

I have been wanting to sponsor a child through Compassion International for quite sometime now. I looked at various programs and Compassion is known to take very little administrative costs and my church works with Compassion, as well. The next step was going through hundreds of adorable babies all needing a sponsor. How the heck could I choose?! Well, I finally had Compassion choose for me! I picked the gender, location, and age and left the rest to God. I decided to pick a young age because I thought it would be fun to watch my sponsor child grow. I am very excited! I already wrote her a letter before I even got the information package in the mail. Can't wait to hear from her! Friends and family meet, Chistie:

Age: 4
Location: Togo

Disneyland Birthday

For my 28th birthday this year the hubs took me to Disneyland! There was a SharePoint conference being held in Anaheim, that Jeremiah was attending for work during my birthday week, so he decided to bring me along to celebrate my birthday at every child's dream location :)

Memorable Moments Include:

- Beignets! Beignets! Beignets! My new favorite delicatessen :)

- Jeremiah eating 1-2 Churros every day.

- The canoes.

- 90 degree weather!

- "World of Color" 3 course meal at Ariel's Grotto and reserved seating for the show.

- My free birthday pin.

- Favorites Rides: Indiana Jones and Haunted Mansion When 2 Holidays Collide featuring "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

- Asimo the robot show! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfaAiujrX_Y

- Riding the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters more times than we could count so I could try and beat Jeremiah's score like I did at Disney World!

- In-N-Out at 1am.

- My Mayor Mufaletta Sandwich that came in a coffin and using any chance I get to say Mayor Mufaletta still.

Yes!

Birthday pin moment.

Romantic lunch.

Probably Churro # 8 or something.

Asimo.

Birthday dinner at Ariel's Grotto before "World of Color."

Haunted Mansion.

International Woman Of Mystery

LONG OVER DUE! SORRY, IF YOU ACTUALLY READ THIS :)

Well folks, I did it! I went out of the country! Only took 27 years! Now, you may be thinking , "Big deal, it was only Canada." But for me it was bigger than "just Canada." It was a stepping stone to bigger places! I want to travel and experience the world! Some, more experienced travelers, are jaded to the excitement of  new places and even familiar once loved places. Unable to see the joy and beauty in all of God's creation anymore. But to me, everything thing is new and exciting! Call me inexperienced, but Canada was exciting and a big deal to me :)

We had planned to be at the coast with family for our 3rd wedding anniversary, but that fell through so we decided to put our passports to use and go to Canada instead! I honestly had questions that Jeremiah laughed at. What language do they speak? Are the outlets standard outlets? What way does the toilet flush? Will my cell phone work the same? Do they accept CAD and USD? I also made sure to know what they called the bathroom. The "washroom" or "restroom" was acceptable. I have to say, I was actually a little nervous.

Victoria, B.C. turned out to look much like Oregon, but was cleaner and prettier... and a little more British looking. I had read it is the most British of the cities in my pre-trip research.

Here are some of our memorable moments:

- Fireworks show at Buchart Gardens and hitting an older lady in the knee with my folding chair after Jeremiah warned me about my chair sticking out. So embarrassing!

- Where we were seated at "The Sticky Wicket" being turned in to a dance floor as we finished our dinner. Apparently, at 10 pm the bar becomes a dance floor. And every restaurant is a restaurant/pub/bar and they all serve baked mac and cheese and rave about fries! My kind of people!

- The AWESOME British Columbia Museum. The coolest museum I have ever been to.

- Seeing 2 IMAX films about whales and caves.

- Going to the vending machine every night to try new Canadian treats.

- Ali Baba Pizza. Enough said.

- Pepperoni Pizza Roll Up at Buchart Gardens. A concoction of cheesy Italian bread stuffed with cheese and a pepperoni stick. Simple, yet delicious. Enjoyed while waiting for the traffic at Buchart to clear out.

- Jeremiah telling border patrol he bought new underwear on the return home.

- Getting the 3rd degree from border patrol on our way into Canada. "Where are you going" How long have you been married" Where you staying" Do you have friends or family here?" I almost confessed to something... anything!

Thanks, Canada, for the memories! We'll be back ;)

Happy Birthday, Sam!

My nephew Samson Luke was finally born on August 22nd after a long wait. You see, my sister had my niece and nephew at 36 and 37 weeks, respectively, and the doctor did not think she would go past that with this pregnancy. At her last few appointments he kept telling her the baby was so low and since she was dilated a few centimeters he didn't expect her to make it to her next appointment. Well, she did. She made it to week 39. We went walking, bounced her on an exercise ball, and did everything we could think of to put her into labor. But apparently baby Sam was comfy and cozy in there and her water bag was like "leather," as the doctor put it, when he broke it! Ouch!

Anyway, her doctor put her on the schedule to be induced on 8/20, but told her to start calling the hospital on 8/18 to try and get in early since he was on call. However, the hospital was full and short staffed so she had to wait even longer. I cannot tell you how frazzled, excited, and anxious we all were! We had never had to wait this long. I do not know how my sister did it. But she did and on that warm, summery August morning the hospital told her they could get her in at 9am. She progressed fast and by 3:30 we had a baby! Yay!

My mom and I had my niece and nephew all day and took them to get balloons and flowers to welcome their new baby brother. They loved him so much! They immediately wanted to hold him or "it" as Harper calls him. It was such an exciting day and a great way to top off the Summer.

If you have seen my niece and nephew you know they are blond, blue eyed, and beautiful! Well Sam fits the bill... but has brown hair! And lots of it! So funny compared to the bald heads Eli and Harper had! Sam has more hair than these 2 did at a year! His hair is beautiful and he looks just like big brother E!

I love him so much! All 3 of these kids are such blessings and I am such a proud auntie. I can't even put into words how much love I have for these kids and how much joy they bring into our lives! August 22, 2011 is another day that I will hold dearly in my heart forever and thank God for.

 Welcome to this big, crazy world Sam :)

Try This!

Arnold Palmer 1/2 Tea 1/2 Lemonade is my favorite over-sized canned beverage. A co-worker had this drink at lunch about a year ago and raved about it so I tried it and have been buying it since. Refreshing, sweet, and what a fun name!

Strap Perfect - My grandma bought me these a few years ago and I wasn't sure if I would really use them. I had some of those fancy bras that the straps can go any which way you need. However, I was always fighting with them to stay in place and stay up! I don't have much to keep them where they need to be. Well, I decided to try one of these one day with a racerback top and a regular bra and was rather impressed. Not only did my bra stay up and the straps in place, my top half looked a little, um... well, let's just say happier ;) I always wear these now instead of messing with hooking, unhooking, and falling down bras. They're so easy to use and poor Jeremiah even knows how to use the things, thanks to me constantly asking him to fix my straps.                                                          

Darigold Refuel Milk - Jeremiah and I rode our bikes to Safeway the other night and were picking up some beverages for the ride home and spotted this chocolate milk beverage. We are chocolate milk connoisseurs and so we had to try it. It contains extra vitamins and protein. There is even a PB Chocolate flavor we have yet to try. Anyway, we both enjoyed this treat! It didn't taste weird and vitamin-y like I was worried it might with the extra protein in it. This is one of my new favorite chocolate milks. Creamy and tasty, but not super thick and sweet like some brands.

Talenti Gelato in Sea Salt Caramel. My sister bought it and told me how good it was and she was not lying!  Fred Meyer sells it.Get it! Enough said!

Oh Those Summer Nights (And Days)

I meant to post this ages ago! Oh well, here it is :)

This weekend was one of those Summer weekends you don't want to end. Perfect weather, good food, road trips, and family fun.

On Friday, we participated in Free Fries Fryday, thanks to Lambweston! Several area restaurants give out free fries on this day and for every free fry given out Lambweston donates .10 cents to Second Harvest. This yearly event is a great opportunity to eat some yummy fried goodness and give back. Jeremiah and I got our free fries from Arby's this year and they were not just the plain old small fries, they were a medium curly fry! I was impressed. Thanks Arby's and Lambweston!

With Our Art Show Yummies

Later that evening, I headed to Art In The Park with my mom, sister, niece and nephew. We strolled through the art, saw some old friends, and topped off the evening with delicious fresh squeezed lemonade and Kettle Corn... that I am still munching on as I type. Love this tradition :)

Drive To Walla Walla

Hubby At Olive's In Walla Walla

On Saturday, the hubby surprised me with a day trip to Walla Walla. Before we went to bed on Friday  night, Jeremiah told me to get up and get ready in the morning... no lounging around (well, he let me lounge a little). Then we were off to Walla Walla. What a sweet boy :) I forgot how pretty the drive is, despite the stinky Boise Cascade paper factory. We ate lunch at Olive's and strolled main street before getting candy and root beer floats and heading home.

Next up, we met my mom, sister, bro-in-law, and of course my angels to watch the Dust Devils beat the Vancouver Canadians. It was a blast watching my niece and nephew at their first baseball game. We ate sweet potato fries, nachos, and ice cream, and even met Dusty the mascot and  got his autograph. The game ended with a great fireworks display. I am like a kid when it come to fireworks. Sparkly explosions in the air excite me.

Eli In His Pirate Gear Enjoying The Game

Harper Enjoying Some Snacks At Gesa Stadium

The Atkins

On Sunday after church, we picked up some milkshakes and drove down Canal to catch the air show at The Columbia Cup boat races. We don't usually pay to go the races themselves, but I always like to see the air show! Diving, stalling, spinning low flying B-15's are just a little amazing! Later that night, I finally saw "Avatar". How I managed to not see it in theaters is pretty amazing, but we had moved it to the top of our Netflix queue so it was time. My review: Eh. Maybe I needed to see it in theaters, but it was a little slow in the beginning and blue naked aliens are really distracting to a storyline.



In Awe At The Air Show



Hope Summer is going well for everyone!