It's Christmas Time in the City

I know I got a few weeks behind in my blog. Here's the low down on the past month or so...

1. Thanksgiving was shared with our friends and our next door neighbors ... Megan, Zachary, Kai, Lucia and Pandora (our favorite furry friend in the building). Megan and I combined our efforts and made a lovely meal but it must be said that her half of the meal was the better half of the meal. She is a foodie and a very good cook so we were well fed. As for my portion of the meal, lets just say the I brought the traditional green bean casserole and jello concoction along with a few other things but none of my recipes came from Bon Appetit (as in the gourmet magazine). I learned a very valuable lesson, always surround yourself with others who love to cook yummy food and you will never go hungry.

2. Jackson and Nathan converted our bedroom into the "Man Cave" (Jackson's words, not mine) for the past four Saturdays and a few week nights as well. I have mentioned this before, but Nathan and Jackson are HUGE BYU Football and Basketball fans (sorry women's team, only Men's basketball are on their radar). When the Cougars are playing, they stream KSL over the computer and either watch the game on TV or on the Web. Sometimes, they have our TV, desktop computer and Nathan's iPad all going at the same time while noshing on popcorn. Audrey and I have learned that it is better to leave the apartment when this is going on and head to the mall. Oddly enough, Jane seems to enjoy game day enough that she chooses to hang out with the boys over us girls.

3. Finally joined a gym. Nathan and I are not those kind of people that can just eat and eat and never gain weight no matter what they do. (Hate those kinds of people, try to avoid them as I just cannot empathize with them no matter how hard I try) Jane enjoys playing with the kids in the kid club in the mornings but those places are just crawling with germs. I try not to dwell on this fact too much as I run like a hamster on the treadmill.

4. Found my mecca - G Street Fabrics. Fabric stores make me happy but they make my kids sad, angry and impatient. How can one place be a sanctuary for me but a torture chamber for my kids? Such a shame they have no appreciation for the finer things in life.

5. Visited the National Geographic Magazine Museum with the kids. Fabulous! Gecko exhibit was awesome and the music exhibit was even more awesome. Recommend it to everyone.

As you can see, we bought a tree (our first real one in years) and made homemade paper ornamates. But I felt the tree was lacking so I bought a roll of ribbon at Costco and put ribbon all over it. Very original, I know but honestly, who doesn't love a Christmas tree with ribbon and paper all over it?? I think even the Grinch would come and take my tree 'cause ya just feel festive looking at it.

To give my apartment that real "oh, la, la" factor, I fashioned some large paper stars and paper chains out of decorative craft paper. As you can see, I gave this photo a fuzzy, softening effect just to portray to you, the warm, happy feeling we feel sitting under this festive canopy. Who says you need lots of money to make Christmas special in your house? Well, actually, I don't think you need money however, I do think you need to be tasteful vs. tacky and this is just me saying this but I think I crossed the line a little bit this year to the tacky side! Hope you're all enjoying this wonderful, yet chilly time of year!