Deck the Halls!

Jenny (randomramblingofaragingraven.blogspot.com) tagged me with this survey, so let's give it a whirl! :)


Eggnog or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate. I like eggnog, but hot chocolate with whipped cream is so much better

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree?
Now that we're older and get "smaller" gifts, they're wrapped. When we were younger, our "big" gift (playhouse, bike, etc.) was usually sitting under the tree.

Colored lights on tree or white?
Colored, although when I have a house and I can do more than one tree, I think I'll do one of each.

When do you put your decorations up?
The weekend after Thanksgiving.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
My grandma Eleanore's creamed corn. So yummy.

Favorite holiday memory as a child:
My brother and I would always look outside our bedroom window, hoping to see Rudolph and Santa. If we ever saw a red dot, we were sure it was Rudolph!

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I think I just kind of figured it out when I was 8 or so. I asked my mom, and she wouldn't tell me. So I asked my dad, and he did. My mom wasn't too happy with him for that :)

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Sometimes; it's usually pajamas, if we do.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
We have the "traditional" tree with multi-colored lights and brightly colored ornaments.

Snow! Love it or dread it?
I love the snow! Absolutely love it!

Can you ice skate?
I'm certainly no Olympian, but yeah, I can ice skate.

Do you remember your favorite gift?
My grandparents got me Super Nintendo when I was 8; I LOVED that. Also, since I'm a huge bookworm, my parents would always get me lots of books ever since I was little, and those invariably ended up being one of my favorite gifts. And, when I was 9-10, I was really into Barbies, so those were always a big hit :)

What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Being with family. I love being with my parents and brother, and Dan's sister and her husband. I just wish we could be with Dan's mom, too; then it would be complete!

What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Probably my mom's pinwheel cookies. They are SO addicting!

What is your favorite tradition?
We have dinner on Christmas Eve and then go to the 11:00 candlelight service at my parents' church (Lutheran). Even though Dan and I are not religious, we love going to this service and hearing the Christmas carols sung. Then we come home, hang up stockings and read The Night Before Christmas while sipping hot chocolate. We usually get to bed around 1 am.

Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
Giving. I love giving presents. There's something so wonderful about picking out the perfect gift for someone! I always get so impatient, wanting to see them open it, that I'm tempted to give it to them ahead of time! I always hold out, though ;)

What is your favorite Christmas Song?
What Child Is This & Oh, Holy Night

Candy canes! Yuck or yum?
They're ok, but I can really only eat one at a time.

Ever recycled a Christmas present?
Never.

Don't Be A Scrooge! Tag your friends to Deck the Halls...
I tag:

robnangiew.blogspot.com
nancycoatesjournal.blogspot.com
mulling-it-over.blogspot.com
soggycheerios.com

Our weekend

We had a typical December weekend--filled with holiday parties and yummy food. On Friday, Dan and I went to my friend Liz's apartment for a holiday dinner. She made the BEST chicken picatta I've ever had, Meghan & Drew brought some delicious butternut squash soup, Dan & I brought a mandarin orange and sugared almond salad, and Melinda and Steve brought homemade cheesecake. Everything was so good, although with my luck, I've probably gained back the seven pounds I've lost ;)

Saturday was my work's Christmas party. As usual, we were picked up in limos (so fancy!) and went to Marll's (one of the owners) house for dinner and drinks. The food was absolutely delicious! After that, the limos took us to Frida's, which is this cool Mexican restaurant/bar downtown. Since we're a fairly small company, I always enjoy our parties because it's not like there's a million people you need to try and talk to; instead, you can converse with everyone and their dates. It's nice :)

So all in all, our weekend was great!

Congratulations, Austin!

I know, I'm doing two blog posts in a row, but I thought this deserved its own post. My little brother (he'll always be little to me, even though he's almost 25) is graduating from Weber State University today! Congratulations, Austin!!

I am so proud of him; he is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in History with a minor in Legal Studies, and he's graduating magna cum laude. I really, really wish I could be there, but sadly, I don't have enough vacation time to go (especially since we'll be out there next week anyway). I am just so incredibly proud of him; it's been a long road (for awhile after high school, he didn't even think he wanted to go to college, and now he's graduating with honors!)

So, CONGRATS!!!

I love living in Wisconsin

I really do. The other day (Tuesday, I think it was) we had a snow day from work. A snow day from WORK!! In my entire 12 years in the public school system in Utah, I think I had one snow day ever. And now living in Wisconsin I get a snow day off work? Heaven, I tell you!

I got so much done, and it made me realize how much easier it would be if I didn't work outside the home (but we'd also be a lot poorer, so it's a tradeoff ;D). I got three loads of laundry done and put away, my bedroom was cleaned, my Christmas tree got put up, my living room floor was vacuumed (which, in hindsight, I should have done after I put up the tree, since now there are needles all over my floor again. Oh well), and my kitchen was cleaned. Oh, and I was able to work out for over an hour. I loved it! Ok, ok, I probably wouldn't want to be home full-time (until we have kids, that is--then I'm definitely being a stay-at-home mom) but if we could swing it, I would love to only work part-time. My home would be so much more orderly!

Tonight we're going to my friend Liz's house for a little holiday party. That should be a lot of fun; I don't get to see my friends as much now that I don't work with them, so I'm looking forward to it! Dan and I are bringing a mandarin orange and sugared almond salad (yum) and I spend last night baking (in between watching The Office and 30 Rock, that is) so I'm bringing cute little tins of frosted sugar cookies, toffee, and white chocolate and peppermint popcorn. I made that for the first time last night, and it is SO good!

Our weekend

We didn't really do much this weekend, but that's ok. We have plenty of stuff coming up with holiday parties, etc. in the next couple of weeks! Saturday was Tracy's birthday, so we watched the girls while Dan took her out, and then we met them for lunch at Paisans. Afterward, Rori and Kirsti were kind enough to come to Target with me (ha, like they needed convincing!) and help me pick out the toys for our Angel Tree girl. She's 9 and wanted a Barbie car, so we got her that, two other Barbies and some cool Barbie outfits. Rori didn't seem to get it at first; she kept saying, "Now who is this for? What's her name? How do you know her? Why are you buying her a gift?" :)

Oh, and Dan put up our outside lights last night. They look good; I'll upload a picture when I get a chance. And we still don't have our tree up......*sigh*.

OH, and we have a freaking mouse in our house! Ick, ick, ick. We had suspected it for quite awhile, and then the other night, Dan was sitting on the floor putting away the laptop, and he opened the flap on the laptop case, only to have a freaking mouse leap out of the bag and over his shoulder! Ewww. I'm so glad I wasn't there when it happened (well, I was there, but I was in bed). That would have scared the you-know-what out of me. So now we have a trap in our kitchen, so when I get home from work, I will not be able to go into our kitchen for fear that I will encounter a dead mouse. It's just not my cup of tea.

I'm back

Well, not that I really went anywhere; I just didn't feel like blogging during Thanksgiving break :) I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We sure did. We went to Tracy and Dan's, like we usually do, and oh. my. gosh dinner was absolutely wonderful. We had the standard turkey, gravy, stuffing, and all that jazz, and it was wonderful. Dan H. is certainly a great cook :) Our contribution to the meal was Chex Mix (me) and apple pie (Dan). Dan seriously makes the best apple pie EVER. It's so yummy. Afterwards, we hung out and played Monopoly, which has become our Thanksgiving tradition. We jokingly call Dan "Old Man Potter" (from It's a Wonderful Life) since he just wipes the board with us. He should go into real estate in real life, then I could quit my job! (Although, with this economy, maybe not!)

Then, on Black Friday we actually went shopping. Yeah, we're crazy. And we know now to never do it again. On Thanksgiving evening, Tracy was asking me if I wanted to go to Boston Store and Kohl's, just to see who was out and about. I said sure, and then she said, "Ok, I'll pick you up at four." FOUR?!? Who in their right mind goes out at 4? Well, we did, and it was a freaking madhouse. The stores were just crammed, the prices weren't even that great; we honestly don't understand the hype about Black Friday. We even tried to go to Target at 5:30 (a half hour before it opened), and there was a line around the store! What the hell, people? It's November in Wisconsin, and you're standing outside? So needless to say, we just went home.

When Dan heard me come in (he stayed home to sleep, since he had to work that day) he just mumbled, "You're back already? Did you guys even go?" Yes, we went, and it was our first and last time :) Don't get me wrong, it was kind of fun to see who was out that early, but it's definitely a one-time thing.

On Saturday we saw Four Christmases. It was SO funny. I literally laughed out loud numerous times. I love Reese Witherspoon, and Vince Vaughn is freaking hilarious (plus, he looked a LOT like Dan in this movie--Dan gets told all the time that he looks like Vince). It's one of those movies I'd like to own.

We still didn't get our tree or lights put up, but we'll do that this weekend. Dan was actually out of town in Milwaukee on Tuesday and yesterday for work; he didn't get back until late last night. So I figured we could wait until Friday or Saturday to start the decorating :) I'll get pictures up when we do!