Christmas Eve

Per tradition, tonight is the night we get out our Christmas decorations and put up the Christmas tree. Before the tree festivities, we always go to some store that is still open (this year Target) and we buy each other things for our stockings. We start at the front of the store with a budget and a time to finish and then we each go our separate ways looking for fun stocking stuffers. The best part about it is trying to avoid each other in the store. When we got home, we promptly broke out the crackers & cheese that my Grandma bought for us. We watched a rerun holiday episode of Scrubs, finished wrapping some Christmas gifts, and then we got the decorations up. I'm really enjoying the fireplace and the view of the tree tonight.

Christmas Eve - Eve

So last night was the Sweigarts/Snows second annual "Christmas Eve - Eve" get together. Last year we went out to eat, then we went around the town looking at Christmas lights. This year my Mom hosted the festivities at her house. My Mom loves to go caroling so we loaded up the cars and went to a couple assisted living homes to sing. It was really moving to see some of the elderly ladies clapping and singing along with us. One gentleman made us a bunch of popcorn. :) I love that something as simple as singing makes them happy. The whole experience really warmed my heart.

And on the way to one of the homes, we got lost and ended up at a day care facility, which coincidentally looks a lot like the assisted living homes. As we were peering in the window from the car, Nona said she saw an old man's head in the window...and eventually everyone in the car was laughing hysterically as CJ was thoroughly creeped out. Later we discovered that the man was actually a teddy bear sitting at a table...and we couldn't stop laughing. It was great!

Next we headed back to my Mom's house for some goodies and to watch the BSU bowl game. I was really disinterested in the game and spent most of the evening just hanging out. The DVR hadn't correctly recorded the whole game, so we ended up missing the final two minutes. Later we found out that it was a good thing because BSU lost the game. We were saved a little disappointment by not actually watching it happen.

So overall it was a great evening. I'm loving this Christmas Eve - Eve tradition. It is awesome to get both of our families together at once. Because Christmas Eve-Eve is not technically a holiday, it feels like we are getting a bonus Christmas Eve. It was beautiful last night with all of the snow...we're definitely enjoying the holidays.

Scrooged

For the life of me, I cannot remember how or why this Christmas tradition came about...but most every year the Sweigarts and the Rasmussens get together to watch the 80's hit Christmas movie "Scrooged". Bill Murray is at his best in this flick and I believe that it might have started due to the fact that CJ and Sean really like Bill Murray...but I am not sure still of the exact origin.
So what usually happens is that we all get together and end up all sleeping during the movie. This part of the tradition started when CJ and I were both working nights and were notoriously known for falling asleep all the time and during most all movies.

So tonight, we resumed our holiday tradition and had a great time. This year was definitely one of my favorites. We had a great time pausing and rewinding the funny parts of the movie and at least twice we got a huge gut laugh from CJ. Also, we discovered some actors in the movie that we hadn't previously known were in that movie. Most notably "Lionel Luthor" from my obsession "Smallville" is one of the main guys in the movie...only much much younger. Anyway, it was another fantastic time with our fantastic friends and the tradition lives on! Here are some pics...

Kendra with "Daisy" before the movie.

CJ and Sean enjoying some laughs just before the movie began.

We lost Kendra during the final part of the movie. This year she was the only Scrooged Casualty.

Chore Day

Today was a good day for chores. We slept in a little (9:45am wakeup) and then headed to McDonalds for breakfast. Next we filled up CJ's parent's truck with a bunch of recyclables to bring to the recycling center. We made $44.17 at the recycling center -- cha ching.

Next we came home and took apart a leaky faucet and went to the plumbing store for some advice and supplies (toilet is also on the fritz). Once we were armed and ready to fix our toilet and leaky faucet, we headed home. At home we were able to fix our leaky toilet. We had a plumber come out eariler this month who wanted to charge us $500 to fix it, but CJ was able to fix it for only $6.00 -- cha ching! Things like fixing the toilet are top on my list of things that I appreciate about CJ. It is so great to have such a handy husband. Unfortunately we weren't able to fix our leaky faucet, but will try that again after Christmas.

Finally we headed outside for some much needed yard work. We spent about an hour cleaning up the yard and bagging up some stray leaves/needles from the tree. We still have a few more hours worth of yard work, but I think we're much closer to being done.

Now we are getting ready to enjoy dinner (Papa Murphys....yum!) and a night of fun with Sean & Kendra. Phew! It's been a great day of chores, but luckily we'll reward ourselves with some fun tonight. And tomorrow I plan on doing nothing but Christmas prep. That includes making some goodies and getting the decorations ready to be assembled...can't wait!

Day 1 of our 11 days off of work was very productive :)

One Week Until Christmas!

We're SO excited for Christmas. Ever since the holiday party at work on Friday, it has felt like Christmastime. I've had trouble focusing on work this week because I am so excited. We're going to be off work from next Monday until January 2nd. Wirestone has a great holiday policy and this year they are giving us this entire week and two days off and only charging us two days of PTO. It is nice to work for a company that allows us to have a guilt-free holiday with lots of time off. And one of the biggest bonuses of working together is getting to have the same holidays together. When Bachelor was a baby pup we both had about a week of time together during the Christmas holiday and I have such good memories of Christmas that year.

So we haven't really planned how we are spending all of that time off, but I know that we'll be spending lots of time just hanging out around the house, which I am SO looking forward to. Also, Bogus Basin (ski resort which is about 40 minutes from our house) is opening on Thursday this week, and our work bought us season tickets...so I'm hoping that at least one of our days off will be spent skiing. I'm planning on cooking a turkey dinner for Ciege and I (yes Bachelor will get a plate too) on Christmas day and I'm also really excited about that.

Today we had a "Tech Team" Christmas bowling function for the last part of the day. So today was a really easy going day at work. Bowling with the coworkers was great. Even better was getting part of the day off and being paid to bowl with friends. I can't say enough how much I love working at Wirestone.

When I got home, I was pleasantly surprised to find a package from my Aunt Lori. I LOVE packages in the mail. We've recently bought a few books for work so I thought for sure that the package was just some boring stuff for work...but was so excited to see that it was a surprise.

Then a little later in the evening the doorbell rang and I received a package from my Grandma Arvie. CJ scolded me for opening the box, but I couldn't resist! He is a strict "not-until-Christmas" opener and will even save all of the cards until that day...but this box said Hickory Farms on it, so I was able to convince him that I needed to check it out and get the perishables in the fridge. :) What I discovered inside was a really great package of summer sausage, crackers, and cheese. This put a huge smile on my face. The day before my Grandma sent this gift to us, I had posted on the blog about how much we loved eating crackers & cheese on Christmas Eve. What a great and thoughtful gift and such great timing :) Thank you Grandma for making our tradition special this year with yummy Hickory Farms. I love you!

And then right as I was beginning to write this post, CJ turned on the Christmas music and started dancing around in the living room with Bachelor. It was great :) I am usually the one who is forcing the Christmas music on the family, so it is fun that he is getting in the Christmas spirit. And I have to admit, I hopped right up and danced with the two of them before coming back to finish this post.

What a cool time of year :) 7 Days until Christmas.

Bachelor's Nightmare

Last night Bachelor woke CJ and I because he had a nightmare. He was crying and howling in his sleep and was making terrible sounds. CJ and I immediately came to his rescue and comforted him, but throughout the day today we've been discussing what he could have possibly been dreaming about. We joked that he dreamt that all of his food was gone. (He LOVES to eat) But seriously....we were very concerned about what he could possibly be dreaming about. What I think is really great is that Bachelor has become such an important part of our lives, that we actually care about his dreams. :)

Bad Sweater Party

Wirestone had a "Bad Sweater" party today at work from 3p-7pm. It was fantastic! There was a crockpot cookoff, plenty of refreshments, and lots of visitors and friends and family. Many of our offices were decorated and we had refreshment/crock pot food scattered throughout the entire place. It was such a relaxing day at work and it was so much fun to get to chat with the coworker's spouses. The best part of it was that everyone was dressed in hideous sweaters :) Craig and I had both bought ours at the Idaho Youth Ranch earlier this week. Mine was super bright blue and was a "Sassoon" brand. It was SO from the 80's and definitely resembled something that I wore frequently in the 2nd or 3rd grade. Craig had a hideous sweater, but he looked adorable in it. That guy is so handsome...he can pull anything off :) It was a great evening of food and fun. I wish I had not forgotten my camera, because I would love to share with you some of the great sweaters of the night.

Christmas Chain Mail

A friend sent me one of those chain mail messages where you have to answer a bunch of questions and then forward via email to all of your friends and family. The letter warns that if I don't respond, I will be a SCROOGE! So rather than responding, I'll just post my answer to the blog. Does this get me out of the SCROOGE curse?

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? We do whatever is easiest based on the size of the gift and the amount of time we have to get it wrapped.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. We bought one when we first got married and we love it. It came pre-lit. It takes some hassle out of the holiday season and we love that a tree doesn't have to die to give us some holiday cheer.

3. When do you put up the tree? Per CJ's childhood tradition, we put it up on Christmas Eve.

4. When do you take the tree down? The plan is on New Years Eve, but I have been known to be a little lazy about this.

5. Do you like eggnog? We both like it if diluted with skim milk. I don't like it enough for the amount of calories it has in it, but will tolerate it in the spirit of holiday fun.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I got a red tent that went over my bed. I was sleeping under that tent for at least 3 years!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Everyone! I really don't like the pressure of holiday gift giving.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Myself of course :) How is that for holiday spirit?

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received? In the interest of protecting the "innocent", I can't divulge. But what I can tell you is that CJ gave Sean the worst present he had ever received a few years back. He gave him a styrofoam head that he drew a face on and glued his dog's hair to. The disgusting thing had a full head of hair! The look on Sean's face as he opened the gift was priceless.

11. Mail or email Christmas card? I don't think I've ever successfully gotten Christmas cards out the door to our family! I have a bunch from previous years that didn't make it out the door in time. This year I won't even try...maybe I'll post a Christmas greeting to the blog or something.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Scrooged (Bill Murray) - We have a tradition to watch it every year with Sean and Kendra. The tradition started when CJ and I first met. It is a lot of fun, but usually ends in us all falling asleep partially through it and waking to the annoying "Put a little love in your heart" song.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? We try to shop all year round. We find some good online deals from time to time.

14. Have you ever recycled/re-gifted a Christmas present? Again, to protect the innocent...I refuse to answer. I can tell you that I've been known to re-gift gift certificates from time to time.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? We love summer sausage and cheese. On Christmas Eve, while putting up the tree, we watch "Its a Wonderful Life" and pig out on cheese, crackers, and summer sausage.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? We have white and blue lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song? I don't have one, but I can tell you what ISN'T my favorite.... "Santa Baby" - Madonna.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? After travelling for Thanksgiving this year, we're excited to stay home.

19. Can you name Santa's reindeer? Rudolph and then I just make up all of the others. (Blonner, Dickson....)

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning....all of you Christmas Eve openers are cheaters!

21. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People leaving their Christmas lights and/or decorations up all year long.

22. Best thing about Christmas? A week off of work! :)

Brrr!

After spending the weekend in sunny warm Arizona, waking up to the 'white stuff' this morning was quite a jolt. It is a pretty view from my desk at work...but very very chilly.....brrr!

Grandma's 70th Birthday

This weekend CJ and I travelled to Arizona to join in on the surprise party for my Grandma's 70th birthday. We flew in about an hour before the party started on Saturday. When Grandma arrived at the party, she was truly very surprised to see all of her friends and family there to celebrate. Her kids rented a party hall, decorated it, and had the whole thing catered. There was lots of great food and it was a lot of fun seeing the family. Since the majority of my family lives in southern California and North Dakota, it is a rare occasion to be able to see everyone at once. Here are some of my favorite pictures...but be sure to checkout the entire album. (Click on the album picture on the right hand side of the blog)

CJ and I in the airplane on our way to surprise Grandma...

Grandma was so surprised to see everyone (she cried)...

Here are all of Grandma's children and grandchildren. (including spouses)

Grandma with her children and grandchildren (I look like I was adopted)....

My cousin Rachel and me....