Merry Christmas

We wish you a very Merry Christmas! 

Carson's Birthday

Happy Birthday Carson!

Carson's birthday is six days before Christmas, so if I can, I like to try and make it special. Since it's in the middle of a rather busy time, it's fun to squeeze in one day of birthday fun. 

I wanted to throw a surprise party, but with all the things we had going on this year (last year we didn't know people; this year we know too many and are too busy), I decided not to. Instead, I had a just-for-Carson surprise party, which mostly involved blowing up balloons. 

I blew some up before he got home from work, and later that night once he was asleep I blew some more up in the bathroom with the shower running to mask the sound (the squeaky sound balloons make when you tie them sounds VERY similar to feet squeaking in a wet shower).

Then I got a little crazy with my Dollar Store balloons and streamers and decorated the door to our room (sneaking back in without him noticing was an art) and our dining room.

There's a Christmas tree in there too because it is that time of year after all.

He woke up and was VERY surprised when he opened the door to streamers. He just stood and looked sleepily at them, confused.

Once he woke up a little more, it was time for presents.

A Christmas Carol (Barnes and Noble has this pretty leather version)

His parents sent a Tshirt and sweatshirt from his favorite sub place in Olympia and Carson couldn't have been happier. He's been wearing them often since.

I found these tasty peanut butter chocolate cupcakes at Trader Joes, and they worked for a birthday cake.

And then I made breakfast. Bacon, and eggs with pepperjack cheese on top.

For lunch (Carson worked on PhD applications in between breakfast and lunch because he is diligent even on his birthday), I took him to a Mexican restaurant we've been wanting to try. They have a lunch buffet and given his great love for buffets (anytime we pass one, he gazes longingly out the car window), he chose that.

It was mostly empty, since we came for a late lunch on a Thursday afternoon, but the decor was very loud.

We finished off Carson's birthday by going to work. We both closed that night, but since I usually work mornings, I was so thankful to have gotten time to spend celebrating Carson!

Christmastime in the City

 We don't go into the city very often. It seems fun enough, but we don't know where anything is, parking is a challenge... but those are not good excuses, so we recently decided to brave the unknown. We went to Tower City, which is just a mall, but full of Christmas cheer and right there in the middle of hustle and bustle. Christmastime is the perfect time to go down there. We both love malls during Christmas. 

It was cold and snowy, but we found decent street parking that was also free on weekends, so it was all worth it. We walked through this building to get where we were going. It was full of Christmas decorations, but there was no one else inside the shops or walking around. It was strange. 

We walked to the Old Arcade, which I'd heard about but not yet experienced. It's beautiful inside though. Google somehow made this picture glitter, but it really was quite lovely. Two weddings were going on there and we did our best to stay out of the wedding photographer's way.

We passed by this window. Did you know that the movie A Christmas Story was filmed in Cleveland? Both Carson and I hate the movie, but in honor of Cleveland, I want to get a leg lamp ornament before we leave and maybe even drive by the house - there are even tours of it!

We walked to Tower City and passed the Hard Rock cafe on the water.

And finally made it inside where it's warm. The tree was covered in ornaments and nutcrackers. We didn't have any shopping to do, so we walked around and then went out onto Public Square.

We walked outside because we saw all kinds of lights from the windows in Tower City. This square is decorated every year for Christmas and it's so fun! Behind me in this picture is the huge Christmas tree that's at the center of it all. And it's a real tree! The tree was supposed to be in the picture too, but we had a miscommunication :)

The flash pictures capture how really snowy it was that evening. Very seasonal, I thought.

Carson liked this sign.

I made a snow angel. I think the cold weather made me impulsive.

East 4th. Mom and I walked down here in July when they visited and I took a similar picture.

We thought about eating down there but decided against it and headed back to the suburbs. We ate at Yours Truly, a local favorite and a favorite of ours. After our meal, we got back in the car and drove around looking at Christmas lights. There were some excellent displays in the neighborhood we chose.

And we happened upon some reindeer... er, deer in someone's yard.

Although it looks much later, it was only 7pm by that point (I KNOW) so we came home and watched a movie and went to bed early. It was a lovely night exploring Cleveland, and because of this adventure, I think we'll make more trips there very soon!

Of White Elephants

For our very last 2013 Community Group, we had a White Elephant exchange. If you don't know what it is, some have different rules, but ours went with the rule that you had to wrap up something basically silly/unwanted. If you bought something, you could only spend five dollars. If you didn't, anything went. Our group didn't disappoint, and there were lots of ridiculous gifts.

To play the game, everyone draws a number. Number one picks a gift first, then number two and so on. When it's your turn, you can choose to pick a gift from the wrapped pile or to steal one from someone else. Gifts can be stolen three times before they remain with the thief, and the person they are stolen from has to choose a new gift.

Carson took pictures of the hilarity. It was fun and festive because like a big family Christmas, there was paper everywhere and every person seemed to be loving it, even though we all got terrible gifts.

Malea got some unwanted DVDs

Chris ended up with a Hawaiian themed gift... someone's stolen street sign (the street was "Hula"), a can of SPAM and a bag of kale chips.

Danielle got a mug with tea and hot chocolate. Not a bad gift

Austin stole Danielle's gift

Lana was out to steal something... Bryan tried to offer his "Chillow" but she had something else in mind

She took Jason's gift

And Jason ended up with the bacon lip balm that Ben (right) brought. Bacon was a theme in two gifts. Someone else bought bacon toothpaste. A bunch of people tasted it. Carson said that it tasted like bacon gristle. A lot of people liked it and went back for more tastes. Gross.

Claire ended up with old books of Carson's and a marshmallow shooter (sorry Mom... he would have loved it if he had someone to shoot back)

We divided into pairs (and one group of three) and played Apples to Apples. It was going to be too challenging to play with that many people. It was fun, but we only made it around the circle once before people needed to go and we broke the party up.

Before everyone left, Lana suggested a group picture. Our group has really grown in the three short weeks since our Thanksgiving group picture. Oh, and the four of us standing in a row were sitting on the couch when suddenly we heard a loud "CRACK" and realized that we had broken the couch. It still doesn't look or feel broken, so I don't know where it's cracked, but OOPS.

Top: Bryan, Claire, Lana, Malea, Bryce, Ben, Cassie, me, Andrew

Bottom: Jason, Chris, Danielle, Jen, Heather, Evan, Austin, Deanna, Carson, Tanesha 

We were talking about the highlights of 2013 the other night, and one of the biggest things has been being a part of Community Group. At our last church, we weren't able to be involved in a group like this schedule-wise, but at this one, we've been a part of two (we went to one on Thursdays and then we were asked to host one on Mondays). Both have been such a blessing in our lives. 

We are thankful for the people we've been able to meet and call our true friends as well as brothers and sisters in Christ. We love that we're able to have them in our house each week, even if it is, as you can see, filling our house to the brim. We love spending time discussing the Word with them and love the accountability they bring in our lives. Each person in this group has different thoughts and insight to add to the discussion which makes it that much more meaningful. We're looking forward to our third semester of Community Group in 2014!