christmas 2009 continued

bella and i drove to raleigh on christmas eve. traffic wasn't too bad..we made it in just about two hours. ;) my lesson learned for real? to shut bella in the spare room until we are really ready to go. she ran out when i was on the last load and went on an adventure all the way up to the front of the complex. dang dog! she continued that streak as she squeezed past my legs and ran into my parents' house--a big no-no! ugh! i had half a mind to put some coal in her stocking!

my dad was already at church, caring for rebecca so her parents could go to the 5:30 service; so, i drove my mom over. paul and paige joined us. after the service, we went back for our traditional swedish christmas eve dinner (white fish, white rice, candlelight). this year, my mom broke tradition and let my dad and paul open a gift on christmas eve. and what did they open? matching yellow remote control helicopters to fly outside on christmas. they were so cute (paul & dad, not just the helicopters)!

christmas morning, instead of rushing downstairs to open our stockings to see what santa brought, my parents and i got ready. we gathered all the gifts and headed down to paige & paul's. i drove separately because bella got to come too! paul used to have a dog and they love her. unfortunately, it was raining most of the morning/afternoon, so she couldn't enjoy the fenced yard. and, with her long, excited tail, she had limited roaming ability (particularly in the dining room with all the liquor bottles and glassware exposed), she spent most of the day in the spare room--the "man room/music room". ha.

we stayed at paige & paul's until about 2pm, rounded up our unwrapped gifts and headed back to my parents' house--to leave the newlyweds the opportunity to prepare for the next round of guests (his dad/stepmom and sisters). Once we got home, we opened our stockings to see what santa brought! then my mom brought out the puzzle. every christmas, mom gets a new puzzle; but, this one was hard!

originally, i was going to stay home the whole weekend, but i decided to go back saturday evening. and that's how my christmas went. :)

christmas 2009

christmas was quite a bit different this year. i got a tree this year, albeit a 2' tree. i got one for my office, that i set up with clear and silver ball ornaments with a green glitter star topper. it sat on my little bookcase, on a box and my tree skirt was leftover candy cane print fabric i've had on hand since my days in pirate's cove. i couldn't figure how to get lights on it so it remained unlit. having an unlit tree wasn't all bad--i didn't have to remember to unplug it after work each day!

for my tree at the house, i did get a string of mini lights from wal-mart (for under 2$). i strung and restrung the lights many times before i got it close to right..the theme for my home tree was red, white and silver. my mom sent me some teeny red & white ornaments from crate & barrel. so i picked up some silver ornaments while at wal-mart. i used a red glitter topper for my tree. i used more of the candy cane fabric for the skirt.

i rewrapped my garland with a couple strings of lights for the fireplace and hung my lighted wreath on my front door (at least that part was the same).

so, the photo above is bella in front of our little christmas tree. :)

can't help but share

when i picked bella up from suite paws (for the wedding), i also picked up this super cute bandana. it's pink (so she won't be mistaken for a boy!) with hearts and skulls (for the pirate in her!) & so cute. isn't she pretty?!

my parents just e-mailed me photos from our christmas card photo shoot from thanksgiving weekend (my batteries are dead, so i have yet to pull the ones off my camera). i'm not sure which one will win, since i haven't seen them all, but here are a few that i think are particularly cute (of bella..). :)

getting set up...she really only poses if no one is in the picture with her.
her grandma (my mom) bought her the harlequin collar at ps. :)

Really, Mom? Another picture? I just want to play!

I love when she smiles. :)
This one might be the winner...

I have decided, however, that I won't be making my cards this year. My parents are coming this weekend (Sat-Sun), I'm in Raleigh/Greenville the following weekend (Thurs-Sun), and then it's Christmas. Poof! Just like that! The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas just seems to get shorter and shorter every year!

3 hours...

For 3 hours on Saturday, I anxiously watched and waited (and yelled) until the final seconds ticked off the clock before I threw up my hands and said, "YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" ECU beat Tulsa to claim the title of Conference USA Champs! The Pirates will be headed to Memphis, TN (hmm...roadtrip?!) to play Kentucky in the Liberty Bowl on January 2nd. I am so PROUD to be a PIRATE!

Saturday morning, I took Bella to the Reedy Creek dog park for her first time. She was so cute. She was petrified for the first 5-10 minutes, hovering in the corner with her tail between her legs while the other dogs came up and sniffed her. After awhile, the fear went away and she found her legs. We stayed for an hour or so (had to get back for the game!), came home and I put her immediately in the tub for a much needed bath. I promised her if it doesn't rain this week, we can go back next weekend. :)

I am anxiously awaiting PAY DAY so I can get our picture printed and buy/make our cards and get them mailed. That'll be the project for this weekend...I'll let you know how they turn out.