December: The Shortest Month of the Year

I think December should be about ten days longer. Let's just shorten every other month by a day and add it all to December. Maybe then I'd have time to enjoy the shopping, baking, and party-going. Of course, I'm sure I'd find plenty of Christmas-y things to fill the extra days, making me just as exhausted come January.

This December was just as short as all the others. I feel like it was just a few days ago that Matt and I were waiting anxiously for the UPS package that held our fancy new Android phones. That was December 2nd -over three weeks ago!

Angry Birds!

Since that day, we've had birthdays to celebrate, multiple Christmas parties, a couple of ski days, lots of shopping, some crafting and baking, and Christmas Day itself! And now I'm tired. But it was a good month, with a lot of fun events.

A few weeks ago, my family gathered to celebrate some birthdays. My mom (November 27) and two of my nieces (November 25 and December 5) shared their party this year.

Presents and cake. As usual, most of the focus was on the little one. She turned two, and the older birthday girls let her have most of the attention.

But it was not just birthdays that we had to celebrate. December is always a month filled with holiday parties. I attended four work-related gatherings and Matt had a big work retreat/happy hour at our house.

Kids' art from our school special education parent night, and Matt's work party in our living room.

The multiple events left little time for one of my favorite things about the days leading up to Christmas: working on various crafts and projects. In fact, as soon as the weather starts to turn colder, I get in the mood to cross-stitch, sew, or make cards. Back in October, I spent many nights working on little felt zombies that I gave away at my Halloween party.

Rawr. A few of the zombies I made.

But once Halloween is over, I start thinking of ideas for Christmas cards, which I finished just in time to get them out before Christmas.

This year's Christmas card. The picture was taken by Dave when we went snowshoeing in February.

And just like that, December was almost over and Christmas was here. But more about that another time.

Gobble Gobble

Before I get into this way overdue post, I have some exciting news: I am officially done with grad school classes!

I still have student teaching in the spring, but I don't think that counts as a grad school class. I mean, I could have the graduate degree without student teaching. I couldn't do anything with it because I wouldn't be certified, but technically I have all the requirements for a graduate degree.

So, that's cool.

What's even cooler is that I have nothing grad-school-related until my student teaching starts in January. That means one whole month of reading, baking, watching movies, sleeping, and reading (plus work, of course). I'm pretty thrilled.

But back to the point of this overdue post.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. This is a pretty recent discovery for me, maybe because it's just so simple a holiday that it's hard to imagine it being better than the elaborate, craziness of Halloween and Christmas. But really, the whole point of the holiday is to be thankful, and it's celebrated by spending time with family or friends while eating tons of food. How awesome is that? There is no stressful gift-giving nonsense and (though waste can still be high with all of that food) there's less materialism associated with the holiday. The only preparation is cooking. And I like cooking. And of course, there is no post-holiday let down because everyone just starts looking forward to Christmas.

So this year, I was pretty excited for Thanksgiving. It was even more fun because I wasn't stressed about having it at my house. But I contributed a fair amount to my eldest sister's beautiful dinner. In fact, I spent most of Wednesday cooking. First, I had to practice my catering skills for my sister's wedding in February. Yep, I'm "catering" the dessert reception. It's a little frightening, but I'm sure I'll share more about that later.

Anyway, one of the desserts we'll be having is a mini-cheesecake.

Yum. I think they went over pretty well on Thanksgiving, so now I have one recipe down with two or three more to go!

I also contributed my awesome mac n cheese, opera fudge, cranberry sauce, and strawberry/feta salad. Delicious alongside all of the yummy turkey, mashed potatoes, and other trimmings.

It was a fun day of food, family, and fun!

Salem getting into the wine, kids having fun, dinner time, and post-meal exhaustion/relaxation!

I always feel a little sad after holidays, but I fought that melancholy by making Matt put up our tree as soon as we got home from dinner. We didn't decorate for a few days, but just having it up got me looking forward to Christmas.

Christmas tree!

The weekend after Thanksgiving was the perfect time to light the lights. Matt worked hard to put up some pretty lights outside, while I decked the halls inside.

Matt working hard and the fruits of his labor.

Now we are officially ready for Christmas! The decorations are up, I'm done with classes, and most of my shopping is done. Bring on the parties and holiday fun!

The U.S.S. Enterprise, wishing you a happy holiday season! (Maybe this should be my Christmas card pic...)

Back on the Slopes

Well, folks. It's here. The moment Matt has been not-so-patiently waiting for has finally arrived.

It's ski season.

Being true ski freaks now, we've already made it up to the mountains twice. The most important thing we've learned in our couple of ski trips is that I am truly awesome at skiing.

Ok, I must admit, I'm still on the easy greens and I don't anticipate jumping on any blues any time soon. But when I think about how horrible I was on my first day (I still blame my awful instructor for most of it), I'm pretty proud of how well I'm doing. Matt, who is still fearless, may not be too far ahead of me for much longer.

Well, that's probably not true. I think there's a pretty big motivation difference between us. Matt would ski everyday if he could, while I'm content to ski a little and read a little. But at least I don't feel like I'm slowing him down too much.

Anyway, the other important thing I learned (thought not as important as the fact that I rock) is that ski pictures all start to look the same once you've gone a few times. Especially when you only have one pair of snow pants and one jacket. So the following pictures may look an awful lot like last season, but just imagine me going a lot faster than in last season's pics.

I actually didn't get any pictures of our first weekend at Keystone, but it was snowy and cloudy anyway. Last weekend we headed up to Breckenridge.

On the mountain at Breck. Beautiful day.

Matt.

Matt again.

Me. Zoom zoom.

So pretty.

We already have plans to go back up on Friday. I'm telling you, we're ski freaks now!

On a side note, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. I've been cooking (and finishing homework) today so that I'm ready to enjoy the day!

The Things We Do For Football

I don't like the cold.

Ok, that statement doesn't really impart my feelings about the cold. To be truthful, I cannot stand the feeling of being cold. I hate the cold. I loathe the cold.

So, why do I ever leave the house in the winter? Well, if I must admit, there are some fun things that can only be done in the colder months. Things like skiing, snowshoeing, and watching live football. Fortunately, I live in Colorado, where the weather in fall and winter is often more warm than one might expect. Unfortunately, the weather was not unusually warm when we braved the elements for a couple of fall football games over the last couple of weeks.

Now, if I must be honest, the only element we braved was air, but I like to be dramatic.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago our nephew was playing in the "Super Bowl" for his youth football league. Of course, our entire family had to gather to cheer him on.

Football!

His team, the Giants, did really well this year; they only lost one game! Unfortunately, their only defeat came against the team they were playing during the Super Bowl. And those other kids were huge! But the Giants played really well, and we were yelling and cheering for them the whole time - despite the cold!

The baby was a minor distraction from the action. But a welcome one.

Yay! Go Giants!

So intense.

Some of our family was less interested than others. The girls cheered on their brother, but they also did silly dances and texted a lot.

As the sun went down, we got colder and colder. We had to bundle up under blankets to keep warm.

Toward the end of the game. Things weren't looking too great.

Sadly, the Giants did not win. But I was so impressed with their discipline. The other team was getting tons of penalties, including multiple personal foul calls. The Giants kept their cool and played hard. So good for them!

After getting warmed up at the little football game (figuratively, of course - I was still freezing!), we were ready for the BIG game. Last weekend, we headed to the Broncos/Chiefs showdown downtown!

In case you don't know, my silly husband is a HUGE Chiefs fan. He has been his entire life. While I'm not as enthusiastic (... or obsessed...) as he is, I've been a Broncos fan my entire life. It's amazing we've been able to make this relationship work.

Twice every year, we enjoy cheering on our teams as they go head-to-head. This year, Matt finally decided to brave the Bronco crowd to see his Chiefs in the flesh. My dad (huge Broncos fan) came along and we met up with Matt's boss (huge Chiefs fan) at the game.

Heading into the game.

Pregame fun. Parachuters dropped into the stadium.

Parachuter!

The Broncos band and cheerleaders.

Go Broncos!

We were all hoping it would be a close game with intense action. Unfortunately, the 2-6 Broncos somehow destroyed the 5-3 Chiefs.

Football. The Broncos are winning!

While I love that my team was winning, I was sad Matt was having a crummy time. I don't think any of us would have been upset if our team lost, but to have them suck majorly is not a lot of fun. Matt used to go to lots of games when we lived in Kansas, but he hadn't seen the Chiefs live since we moved to Denver. It would have been nice if his return game had been a little more exciting.

Matt's not thrilled. I'm feeling pretty ok.

The score just before halftime. In case you can't see, it was 35-7.

We tried to have fun during the rest of the game, even though things started to get a little boring. And really cold.

The CSU band. I like them.

Our team's winning!

The Chiefs fans, being good sports.

It was a fun game... kind of. Before we went to the game, Matt was talking about making this game an annual tradition for us. I wonder if he still feels the same way...

So, I guess I had a good time at my football events, despite the freezing cold temperatures. I've found that the cold is more tolerable when I'm doing fun activities. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't grumble and complain every time I go out in the miserable, winter world!