A Merry Christmas:

Ok it is official, I miss college. I do not miss the exams or group projects, but I miss my winter break; 2 days of official holiday just wasn't enough. I made a last minute decision to use a day of my PTO (Paid Time Off) for Wednesday, to extend our trip just a little longer. I just couldn't bear the thought of leaving home on Christmas day. Here is a family picture we took on our last day home! Glad I stayed!

That being said, it was such a wonderful Christmas. I was worried about Phillip and I having to divide our time between families, but it honestly turned out perfect. We just bounced back and forth between events and our time naturally divided itself equally (sigh of relief). We were able to carry on our family traditions and even share them between families. We made gingerbread houses and it of course turned into a competition with my sister and her boyfriend. If you don't know my sister and me, we are very competitive! But I am proud to announce I was the winner of the 2012 Annual Gingerbread House Competition. There have been some close calls in the past years, but there was a clear winner this year ;). I swear each year they get better and better. This year Phillip and I upped the competition and decided to design our own template, rather than just the normal small house we designed a barn! I have been on a shabby chic/ farm/hunting kick lately, so this just fit perfectly! Here are a few snap shots of the Ginger Bread House Extravaganza!

Rolling the Dough:

Cut and Ready to Bake:

Note all our pieces for the barn! 

 The Decorations:

 

All Ready to Assemble:

 The Final Product:

 

We completed those on Christmas Eve and on Christmas day continued the festivities with both Families! Not only did we get 2 Christmases but it was fun seeing how other families celebrate together on Christmas morning. At my house we each open presents one at a time and watch to see what is unwrapped. On the other hand, at the Munday's residence, "Santa" passes out all the gifts and everyone opens their stack of gifts all at the same time. I guess that is the difference between a family with all girls vs. a family with all boys! I prefer to see what everyone gets and see their reactions to each present, this also allows ample time for pictures! But there was something fun about unwrapping a big pile of gifts at one time!

Side Note: I got a sewing machine! I can't wait to play this weekend :) 

As I mentioned today and in my last post we did a lot of Christmas traditions as a combined family. Phillip and I are blessed that our parents are best friends (our moms actually were friends before we even started dating)! For many years we have had Christmas Eve gumbo at the Munday Residence after our candlelight service at church! And this year we added Christmas Day Supper to list of events. We brought my family tradition of British poppers and paper hats, because the Brainerd Christmas just wouldn't be complete without those funny hats and terrible jokes. It was a hit that both families enjoyed together! It might just become a Munday Tradition too!

 Our Paper hats! 

And that is the Christmas Update! I will try to move on now... but hey who doesn't love Christmas?!?

With Love,

Katie M.

Christmas in 1,2,3:

It is finally beginning to feel like Christmas in North Florida (rainy, and 50 degrees)! While the weather is just now getting in the Christmas spirit, I have been a little Christmas elf since the weekend after Thanksgiving. 

This being my first year to put up my own Christmas Tree, my husband kindly drove to the closest Christmas Tree farm about 30 minutes outside of Tallahassee. Little did we Floridians know traditional Christmas trees don't grow in Florida (this seems quite obvious now)! The cute little farm only grew cyprus trees and something like a fuzzy pine tree. While the experience of cutting down our own tree was quite tempting, those little flexible branches would have never held all of our ornaments! So we both decided we would stick with the classic Fraser, the smell alone is worth it. Lucky for us the farm also carried Frasers and very fresh ones at that! It was easy to pick our tree because when I make up my mind...I make up my mind! 

 (The Cyprus) 

(The lucky tree that came home with us.)

 It wasn't more than 30 minutes before the tree was in the house that we had begun the decoration process! Last year after Christmas I sorted all of my ornaments from my parents because I knew I would be decorating my own tree soon. As a kid growing up I always received ornaments as presents. While it wasn't exciting to open yet another ornament year after year, boy am I thankful now. Every ornament has a memory and I think I reminded my husband of every story as I placed each ornament on the tree!

Ok, So the process may not have been as fast as "1,2,3" but it was fun and having a decorated a tree in your home is such a wonderful reminder of Christmas. It automatically lightens your mood the moment those twinkling light flicker on. From my "experience" here are a few tips to help decorate your tree (if it your first or 100th) and make it an enjoyable experience:

1. Go into the process knowing putting up (and detangling) the lights is the most tedious part, after that the rest is fun! 

2. Write your memories and dates on the bottom/back of your ornament. Like I mentioned each ornament has a story. While I don't remember some of those stories perfectly, a simple reminder of the year or event serves as a fun reminder. 

3. Don't attempt the decorating by yourself! 

4. A Christmas tree doesn't have to be red and green! I love the fact that our tree matches our living room and shows our personality (lots of owls, burlap, fish, and FSU)

4. Always remember the reason for the season!     

                                          

The Final Product:          

With Love,

Katie M.