Tallahassee Christmas

Carson and I celebrated Christmas at our little apartment this year before we took off to celebrate with my family in South Carolina. For the last few years, we haven't been able to do a true "Christmas morning" because I work so early, and neither of us are dying to wake up at 2 in the morning just to open presents. So I got off from work at 3 in the afternoon two days before Christmas and we changed into PJs and had a relaxing evening at home, after which we packed for Beaufort and went to bed early because I still had to work the next day.

We've been working on a puzzle, and Carson bought us this neat puzzle mat that rolls up, so we don't have to leave our puzzles out in the middle of things. 

One of Carson's ideas was to have appetizer-y food while we opened presents, so it's one of our little traditions. He made these pigs in a blanket, and we thus discovered that they are way too filling and probably better for a group of people.

Here's the tree, with gifts for ourselves and for family.

Our "Christmas morning" picture. Carson bought me a tripod, so this was our first time testing that out.

A staged present-opening picture, thanks to the tripod. Carson's fake laugh makes me want to laugh for real.

A little more of the Christmas-ness in our house.

We had a great little night, working on our puzzle, making sure to turn Jeopardy on at 7:30, and enjoying "Christmas" together.

Christmas Lights

A coworker of mine mentioned that there's a park in Tallahassee with an impressive and FREE! lights display each Christmas season, so we'd been excited to check that out. We finally made it out on the Saturday before Christmas, which we realized was probably going to make it super crowded. It wasn't too bad, and we both actually love crowds around Christmas for some reason, so it worked out. 

Before we went, we took a picture in front of the tree, because we were dressed in real clothes and not yucky work clothes. 

I'd love to visit this park in a quieter time of year without the lights because it was really neat with little benches and fountains and little walking paths that I'm sure would be really nice during the day for quiet reflecting and exploration. There were tons of little kids running around shrieking while others were dressed to the nines in matching Christmas outfits, unhappy because their parents were there for the sheer purpose of getting that perfect seasonal photo. It was a fun atmosphere and would have been especially fun with little kids.

After that, we drove by the church we've been going to, which meets in another church. I mention that fact because the church our church meets in (confused?) was hosting a live nativity. We could have walked up, but we just looked on from the car and snapped a picture like creepers.

After the Christmas adventures, we came home and watched a movie and went to bed at 9pm. We are really exciting people.

Carson's 28th Birthday

Carson turned 28 on December 19th. 

I picked cupcakes up from a place we hadn't tried before, and they were fantastic. 

We made pizza for dinner, which for some reason, we've never done together before. I used pre-made pizza dough from Trader Joe's, because I've never enjoyed homemade pizza dough, and then we added our preferred toppings on each side of the pizza. Excellent.

We saw Night at the Museum 3 that night; you never know with third installments in a series, but it was pretty good. I'm pretty sure it was the first time we've seen a movie in a real theater together this year (besides dollar theaters). 

I got Carson a checkers rug, like they have at Cracker Barrel, since he mentioned he wanted one, and had my mom make a t-shirt for him to wear on Christmas day (it's a quote from Home Alone 2).

I'm pretty sure the things we did were more suited for an eight year old, but the 28 year old seemed to have a good time :)

Christmassy Weekend

I recently had a long weekend off, and it was marvelous. I woke up at a reasonable time, blissful because I woke up without the assistance of my blaring alarm. When I got out of bed, I slipped into my comfy robe, plugged the Christmas tree lights on, and watched Good Morning America. I don't think I've ever watched Good Morning America before, because I'm not usually home on a weekday morning. As I sipped on peppermint green tea, I finished addressing Christmas cards. Once I was done with that, I wrapped all the gifts I'd had stashed in my secret hiding place, and began to work on little projects I've had for Christmas. It was relaxing and wonderful, because I was productive, but I didn't have a set schedule, just an idea of what needed to happen. 

The following day, I continued to work on projects, while Carson and I had a Christmas movie marathon of sorts. In the middle of the day, we left for a little bit to do some shopping. We finished up the evening by watching the ACC Championship game on TV and holding our breath as Florida State barely won another game.

On Sunday, we tried to catch up on a show we're watching, while I got a little crafty with some nativity scenes (a little post on these to follow). We intended to go to a church Christmas party that evening, but Carson, who was supposed to wake me up from a nap, fell asleep reading in the living room while reading so we just went to bed early.

Slow weekends are so nice and a very refreshing way to prepare for the craziness of real life, all to the background of a Pandora Christmas station.

Decked.

We decorated for Christmas the Sunday before Thanksgiving because we wanted to enjoy the pretty Christmas lights and decorations for as long as possible, and because we knew we didn't want to get home from South Carolina and immediately set things up. 

We purchased a TV on Black Friday, and with the living room set-up that we had, there wasn't a good spot for it. So while we didn't get home and begin decorating the house, we did get home and immediately begin rearranging the living room. This set-up is different for us, but we're liking it so far, and you can see the glow of the Christmas tree from the kitchen now too!

The only problem we have is that we're the only ones to enjoy this set-up. Anyone want to come visit and see our Christmassy apartment?

Remember when I made this wreath a couple of years ago? Here's a tip if you make one: glue the ornaments balls to the tops. It will take you longer, but if you don't, it will somehow break every year and you'll find yourself performing wreath surgery approximately every 365 days. Were I to make this again, I'd not only take the extra glue step, I'd also use E6000 glue instead of just hot glue.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like... Fall?

I didn't think I'd see Fall colors in Florida, but it turns out that they exist! Now that it's December and we've had a few weeks of colder weather, we've begun to see leaves that change colors. It's nothing nearly as great as the colors in Washington or Ohio, but it is fun to see the pretty colors on the trees and to step over crunchy leaves.

On the day I took these pictures from our little back porch, it was also 79 degrees, so there's that. 

It's already started to get chilly again, but again, nothing like the last few winters. 

I'm liking Fall in December.

Thanksgiving Weekend 2014

We went to South Carolina for Thanksgiving again this year. After I got off work on Wednesday, we drove up, missed all the traffic, and got there in about 5.5 hours with two short stops. We arrived in the early afternoon and hung out doing projects with mom and napping (Carson). Granddaddy called to invite us for dinner over there, so Carson, Dad and I went over, ate dinner and played games (Carson played, we observed). 

My parents hosted Thanksgiving for both my dad's and mom's sides of the family. Scott joined me in wrapping the tables with kraft paper and created an incredibly politically incorrect portrait of the first Thanksgiving. 

As with any family holiday, there were lots and lots of pictures taken. Here's one of the four Norman kids and Grandmama's sister Aunt Joan.

Somewhere in there we ate. There isn't a table big enough for all of us (34 this year), so we were spread out in different rooms. I ate in the dining room and enjoyed stories of my dad and his siblings growing up, courtesy of Uncle Mark.

After we feasted, people spread out to talk inside, go on walks, play football and play cornhole.

I joined the group that went to visit my brother's goats. It's like a zoo right there in the woods.

They all have names: Archie, Lucy, Linus, Studly... (can't recall the other one)

The four "little girl" cousins.

The "big three" oldest cousins

All seven of us Norman girl cousins

Aaaand one with Grandmama. I love that someone thought to take this picture; I don't think we have another one.

They were still playing corn-hole when we emerged from the woods.

Then family portraits began. There is never a camera shortage at family gatherings.

Morgan and Caleb tried for some stunning Christmas card pictures; I'm sure these are winners.

Carson and I already have Christmas cards, but I made him do a photo shoot anyway.

Here's Mom's side of the family.

We're now a family of seven, which is strange to think about.

We took a Norman family picture too... mine turned out blurry so here's that.

And here's one from Dad's camera.

Norman family cousins.

My mom and her brother. They were psyched to take this picture.

After everyone left, Scott began to shoot pumpkins, because I guess that's what you do when you live in the middle of nowhere. Carson looked on and admired.

That night, we were going to watch Home Alone, but the DVD player didn't work, so we watched Frozen instead. Dad had me bring Mom's birthday gift down from the attic while the movie started... a disco ball. It seemed super strange to me, but I guess she mentioned wanting one sometime and he remembered. She loved putting it in the sun in different places all over the house to see the reflections.

On Friday, Carson and I went Black Friday shopping with Caleb and Morgan. We were out for about three hours and in that time we also sat down and ate breakfast, so we were clearly not those people knocking down store doors and elbowing people in the face. It was fun to be out there though, and the outlets in Bluffton weren't too crowded. Poor Morgan came down with a cold and couldn't stop sneezing, so we all enjoyed going home early and napping.

We had the annual family oyster roast that night. Scott has officially taken over the role of official fire-starter, and what better way to make a fire grow than to use a leaf blower.

Oyster eating. Grandaddy, Uncle Mike and I think a few cousins trudged out into the marsh to get these little guys, and they were certainly enjoyed by those that ate them (there are a fair amount of family members who don't share the hype).

Scott and Stuart decided to make the fire larger by throwing huge palm fronds onto it, which shot the fire way into the air. Every year we discuss the possibility of catching the tree that hangs over the fire on fire and every year it doesn't happen, but this year it was close. We all stood back because it did get really large.

A video of the second time this went down, thanks to Dad's phone.

We returned in from the cold to enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers, pecan pie and football. I don't know about your family, but pecan pie is the clear favorite in this group of people.

The next day, we took it slow. Mom and I worked on a few secret Christmas projects and Scott and Carson entertained Oscar outside. He was thrilled.

That evening, we hit a couple of thrift stores before meeting Becca and Thomas for dinner at the Mellow Mushroom in Bluffton. We were seated in the perfect spot to watch the Ohio State/Michigan game and the Florida State/Florida game as we ate. Florida State won by the way, ending the season with a 28 game winning streak, which isn't bad considering they didn't seem to be playing well the entire season.

Dad had to work because it was the last day of the month, but the rest of us had a great time celebrating Mom's birthday.

After church the next day, Carson and I met Jillian, Gary and Graceanna for lunch at Fat Pattie's in Beaufort. They'd been before and were correct in informing us that it was great food. After we ate, Jillian and I chased Gracie around while our husbands talked. 

When she was handed to "Aunt Lindsay" for a picture, poor Graceanna decided that she'd had enough of photography.

We headed back after that, surprisingly not hitting traffic at all once again! Had we been heading the other direction, it would have been a different story.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because I get to see so much family and spend time with dear friends who are like family. It was great to see everyone and so nice to be "home" for the holiday.

Want to see past Thanksgivings?
Here's 2013 (Beaufort), 2012 (Cleveland), 2011 (Olympia), 2010 (Spokane), 2009 (Spokane, when we were engaged) and 2008 (first year in Spokane, pre-Carson)