Sunday is the best day of the week.

I remember as a kid how much I dreaded Sunday, though. It meant 3 hours of sitting still in church, no playing with friends and torturous rides in the ol' J Vanagon (a death trap for someone who got as carsick as I did.)

Now I finally understand that it is really a day to take a break from life. I've been fortunate to have most of my Sundays off of work this month. I come home from church (must say it's still somewhat difficult to sit for 3 hours) and quite literally proceed with my day of rest by taking a 3-4 hour nap. I've also enjoyed blogging on Sunday (I am terrible at remembering to write in my journal and have found that this has sort of become my outlet) and catching up on everyone else's blogs. Also, when S and I are both home he usually makes dinner. If he's not (such is the case tonight) it's leftover night. Tonight I intend to single-handedly eat half of a pizza waiting in our fridge.

So for someone who is always busy doing something, Sunday is the day I give myself permission to do absolutely nothing. And I love it!

~

I am amazed at how smoothly Christmas went this year. I vowed to simplify the whole gift-giving thing and just enjoy myself (in case you missed that sentiment in my two previous posts.)

I usually go nuts when it comes to presents for S. He does so much for me year-round that it is fun to spoil him when it comes to Christmas morning. This year he mentioned that my presents would be few in number due to their nature. I sort of took this to heart and tried to get him things that he would really need. It was so refreshing! I started his main gift in July but couldn't post its progress on here (for obvious reasons):

He needed a better blanket to take with him to the firestation and the one I made him several years ago would have gotten him laughed out of the station. This one is a little more masculine. Luckily he forgot to take it with him this morning so my afternoon nap was spent cuddled up in this thing and I must tell you that it is super-comfortable. I think I'm going to have to make one for myself now.

Thanks to this Christmas, my craft room received some great additions as well!

I've wanted to get some vinyl wall art to inspire my space so when I found this at Festival of Trees a few weeks ago, I knew it was perfect. I waited until Friday to put it up. I've never hung vinyl before. The instructions were sort of confusing but once I figured out that it was a giant rub-on, it was easy!

My parents fulfilled wish #3.1 from my 10/26 post: the ribbon organizer! This thing is huge! Non-crafters may not understand the elation I felt as I neatly organized all of my ribbon the day after Christmas. It was such a high! Although I am now aware at how many spools of ribbon I am lacking and am quite positive that I will be giving American Crafts a lot of business in the next few months.

And the creme de la creme:

We have this "tradition" on the J side of the family to see if we can make my mom cry when she opens her gift (success again this year, by the way.) Don't know why I'm admitting this, but I guess I'm turning into my mom. I've wanted a sewing machine for a really long time but I never expected anything this nice and am incredibly impressed that S picked it out without any help. I think as the tears started to well up in my eyes I choked out, "It's the one that Martha Stewart uses!"

So on my journey to domestication, my goal on my next week off is to pick up a very easy pattern and sew something that somewhat resembles the picture on the front of the pattern. I'm not sure what yet. Maybe a pillow case or something...

S has been at his new station for 8 weeks now.

In that short time he has managed to fight 3 real fires and see some pretty interesting medical calls. He's building a good reputation there and settling in quite nicely. I've even managed to see him while we've both been on the job (I love that our jobs overlap sometimes.)

Other than being concerned that he is happy there, I haven't thought much about it affecting my life. Until last night.

I missed dinner last night at work and decided to reheat some chicken S had made for dinner earlier that evening. He said that he'd take care of it and not to worry so I just went and relaxed on the couch. Pretty soon this incredible aroma filled our kitchen and my previously non-apparent empty stomach started to growl. A while later he brought me this piece of chicken smothered with cheese and some grilled pineapple on the side. I practically inhaled it, exclaiming every once in awhile (mouth full), "This is SOO good!" After I'd finished literally licking my plate and sat there and stared at it for awhile, I thought to ask, "So where do you come up with these ideas for meals?"

He told me that it was something Capt. W had made for them awhile back. You see, all of these delicious meals I've had lately (this wasn't the first) have been replicas of meals they have eaten at the firestation. (Sidenote: I decided awhile back after eating at the station with him one night that if anyone wants an incredible personal chef, they should just hire a firefighter. Better yet, marry one. These guys are pros.)

I have to admit I have been a skeptic about S doing much of the cooking in the past (sorry babe, but it's true.) I was fine owning up to my domestic duties and I like trying new recipes, so I would politely keep him out of the kitchen while I went to work. However, I think the egg-nog french toast he made a few weeks back changed my mind. At that point, I was willing to hang up my apron for good.

Anyway, back to last night. At his old station they mostly ate out so S came home with very few recipes. But at his new station they always make their own dinner. I realized last night that I am the sole beneficiary of it.

~

As if my previous post didn't indicate how much I was in the Christmas spirit, I think today's Primary program did me in. During sharing time, the kids reenacted the Christmas story. By the time the kids were each given their parts there were, like, 5 kids left in the audience and a handful of teachers. I guess the novelty was to be in the program, not necessarily act it out for anyone else. Anyway, I even had a part as a narrator. Here again, I'm not sure who I was speaking to, but it was fun to participate.

As the three wise men (wearing sparkly robes that were 3 sizes too big) knelt down to offer baby Jesus their gifts, we ended the program by singing Away in a Manger. I started to choke up as I was once again reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. These children so innocently portrayed what this special Day is all about and I was so grateful to begin this Christmas week with the true Christmas Spirit at heart. I hope that everyone is able to find a similar moment this week to reflect as well.


On behalf of S, We wish you all a Merry Christmas!!

I Fa La Love Christmas!

It has always been my favorite holiday. In fact, I think it's the season I love more than the day itself.

Most of my shopping is done and the presents are wrapped and under the tree. I have played through every Christmas CD I own for the last 3 weeks and am on the second cycle through. I have the DVR set to record every show with "Christmas" in the title or info. A little obsessed? Nah, I'm just making the most of the season while it lasts! I have felt in the Christmas spirit more this year than in the past several years. I love it!

Here's how we've decked our Halls this year!

(Yes, that is a sheep being rescued off of the top of one my nativity scenes. The hazards of being married to a firefigher.)

I hope everyone else is enjoying the season as much as we are!

What's in a Brand Name?

Apparently, not as much as I once thought.

Who knows what sparked this idea for a post (maybe the flurry of Christmas shopping), but somehow I've been reminiscing of the days when I had to have my Lucky brand jeans and Doc Martens, along with other brand-name items. My mom, who raised me to think more frugally-minded, couldn't understand the need for such expensive things that I would tire of by the next season. The jeans I couldn't really justify, but the shoes were easy. Doc Martens were known for their incredible durability and so, in fact, I was really saving money in the long run. However, I became disinterested with the $80 jeans in a year or so. I do in fact still have almost every single pair of Doc Martens I bought 10 years ago and they are all still in perfectly wearable condition. What I did not count on was that styles change and I might want new shoes every once in awhile. Now I am as frugally-minded as my mom and I can't justify throwing out a perfectly good pair of shoes. The DM's are in my closet, a few reserved mainly for work and the rest collecting dust.

I think I realized one day late in high-school that I could either blow my entire clothing allowance on one pair of jeans or, with some smart and savvy shopping, get an entire outfit.

Since then I have found that I am as discretionary with all of my shopping habits. I have no problem at all buying store brand food or products. I used to buy Charmin and now we buy Target brand and I'll tell you, I can't tell the difference! Their "Swiffer" knock-offs clean our floors just as well, their paper towels are just as absorbant, and the kitties seem to actually prefer the non-Purina cat food. So if I can save a few bucks, I'm going to do it!

There are a few things that I still buy name-brand simply because of trial and error. I occasionally buy brand name clothing, but only because I like how it looks and fits me. And there's the whole VW thing (although I blame that on genetics.) However, I love the department store purse I got for Christmas last year and I couldn't go anywhere without my non-Apple MP3 player.

It looks like Mom was right.

~

We had an adventure on Tuesday that started as this:

And ended with this:

For the past few years we have gone up just south of Evanston to cut down our own Christmas Tree. Such a fun outing and an incredibly cheap way to buy a tree (only $10 for a permit), we have adopted it as one of our favorite Christmas traditions.

I woke up that morning not feeling very well, but knew that it was probably our best opportunity to get a tree on my week off. I nervously watched this storm approach as we made our way to the mountains. We went to turn off the main highway and the dirt road we always take looked pretty decent. Only a few snowflakes were falling at that moment so I felt okay. We drove up further into the forest to our favorite spot. I quickly found this tree but S wanted to look and see if we could find anything better. We ultimately came back to the first tree I found:

By the time we cut it down, loaded it up and headed down the mountain it was really starting to snow. Being extra cautious (as we had seen a truck struggling earlier) we approached this part of the road that was a little tricky to navigate. S was going slow but as the truck started to slide he did what we later learned was the wrong thing: he hit the brakes and we gracefully yet quickly slid off the side of the road that had a 15 foot drop. S yelled for me to hold on. Bracing for the worst I held my breath until I was sure we had stopped moving. The next few seconds I think I sat in shock that we were still somewhat horizontal. We knew the only thing we could do was hike 3 miles to the nearby lodge and call for help (naturally our cell phones didn't work up there).

3 miles doesn't sound like much. I run that distance all of the time. But 3 miles on a sheet of ice covered with newly fallen snow is a different story. I wondered the next day if I was so sore from falling or from trying to keep myself from falling.

We actually made pretty good time, considering we were hobbling along like an old couple, arms linked. (By the way, that first picture of me walking is on the Christmas tree hunt, when the idea of walking through the snow-laiden woods was still somewhat poetic.) We were about 2 miles down when we saw a truck coming towards us. It was at this point I knew that the 100 or so silent prayers I'd just said were answered. It turns out this nice guy Joe actually lives year-round a few hundred feet from where we slid off. So I knew in the worst case scenerio, we'd have somewhere warm to stay the night. We were able to get back to the lodge and call someone up from Evanston to come help us out. This sweet lady even stayed at the lodge past closing time so we wouldn't have to wait outside in the cold.

The tow truck driver showed up just as it was getting dark. When he pulled up in this rickety old Ford 1 ton my first thought was, Great. Now there are going to be 2 trucks stuck on the mountain. When we climbed in and I saw this 70-year old bearded man my second thought was, He's going to pull our truck back up on the road?!?! We headed back into the mountains at a dangerously high speed as this guy was saying, "Yep, been up here before." S and I looked at each other and held on for dear life. As we were rounding this incredibly ice bend I realized I wasn't buckled in. Was it better at this point to be ejected from the truck before it goes over the cliff or go over the cliff inside the truck? Thankfully we made it back up there safely and, obviously, quickly.

I was incredibly humbled watching this old man go to work. Obvious now that he had done this many times in his life, he had the winch hooked up and the truck back on the road in a matter of minutes. S and I stood there in awe.

The only damage done to the truck was a small dent on the license plate. Grateful that the truck was even still operable, we crawled off the mountain with the tow truck nearby in case we had another accident. Once down safely, we paid the guy and he left in a hurry to go rescue someone else. We headed back home with the most expensive Christmas Tree we've ever had.

As we stopped at the grocery store on our way home that night we saw a beautiful tree in their small lot. S made a comment on the $35 fresh cut tree and we started to laugh.

When we got home we were pretty much sick of this tree and opted to let it sit in our garage for a few days. We finally put it up on Thursday and it is beautiful.

After telling a friend our story she suggested we embalm it. My mom suggested we guild it. I definately think we'll be going to one of our local Christmas tree lots next year :)

We've had a c'est la vie attitude about it (our insurance even picked up the cost of the tow), but when I've sat quietly to really think about it, I get this pit in my stomach as I realize how LUCKY we are to be alive and safe. We could have been in real trouble. S told me after we were towed out that all that was holding us up was a little sapling an inch and a half in diameter. We are so grateful for angels seen and unseen that came to our rescue that day.