The Vermont dogs

Upon first arrival to Chris & Mary's, the dogs excitedly greeted us at the door. Sniffing us out and figuring out why we were invading their home. But within a couple hours, they forgot we were there.

Mckayla is a middle-large sized black dog, maybe an old lab. She loved to be touched and scratched. If you started to pet her or show her love, the second your hand left her furry coat, her wet nose would nudge your hand pleading you to love her more.

Good golly that dog had the longest, loudest paw nails I have ever seen. It only took away from her cuteness when we were sleeping. See, we slept on a blow up mattress in the living room which has hard wood floors. And sweet, darling Mckayla would wander around the house, her nails hitting the floors and announcing to everyone she was walking.

Shiloh is the other dog. He is a mixed breed of boxer and something else. He's the sweetest, most mild mannered dog which is a great mix for two curious little girls.

At one point Samantha was playing with a necktie and even though it fit around her head, she didn't think about readjusting the size before dressing up Shiloh. As she was pushing and pulling the tie on Shiloh's head, his squishy face pushed and pulled with her efforts and he didn't show one sign of discomfort or discontent. He just put up with it and let her play with him.

Margaret told me that sometimes Shiloh's lip gets stuck behind his teeth, like he's trying to be tough...but really he's a big, lovable teddy bear.

She was so right. Shiloh was just so lovable, he's lucky he didn't get stuffed into our massive duffel bag and smuggled back to Virginia.

Christmas Day cont.

I took a deep breath and turned down the driveway, unsure of where the gravel road was and hoped for the best.

"OMG I feel like I'm going to run into their house!?"
"...um that's not their house, that's their neighbor's house. Their house is farther to the right."
"To the right?! Where?? In the trees over there?"
"...yeah..."

This is the exact conversation I was having as I was wrestling with the car to get up enough speed to head up the hill, through the trees, and up to Chris's house. The yellow "!" warning sign was flashing on my dashboard like a strobe light, reminding me just how un-experienced I am in snow driving.

At one point I thought we might not make it. The car was struggling and I made a rookie mistake of breaking at the bottom of the hill instead of using that momentum to propel me up the hill. Husband was telling me to ACCELERATE, ACCELERATE! I was flooring it and hoping for some speed.

But by the grace of God, we made it to the house. I put the car in park and jumped out of the car, anxious to stretch my legs and stiff body. The air was cold and crisp and so refreshing after a heart racing drive.

Chris met us outside and welcomed us to his home. We chatted outside until we were cold and then headed inside. A few minutes later Mary and the girls came home. They were at a party next door.

Samantha, the oldest girl, burst in exploding with light and energy. Her younger sister, Gracie, was a bit more reserved.

Gracie came in and ran into me, thinking I was her mommy. Granted we do look similar, what with the dark hair, small stature and asian features. But I guided her little self to her right mommy, Mary. Margaret, Husband and I just cracked up. We had a feeling that mix-up might happen.

We brought in gifts from MamaH and PapaH for the girls. They opened their gifts with such excitement. Paper was flying everywhere. Chris & Mary & the girls gave gifts to us too. We got WOOL SOCKS!!!! Now that might not be an exciting gift for a lot of people, but for a gal who is always cold I was ecstatic. We also got a sweet painting by Samantha.



When the excitement subdued, we skyped with MamaH and PapaH. Then it was bedtime for the girls and time for the adults to relax after a long day.

Christmas Day

When Christmas Day arrived, the car was about 80% packed. We were packing for 6 days in Vermont which means snowboards, snow boarding gear, wool sweaters, some gifts for the nieces and as many socks as I could stuff into our duffel. It looked like we were moving to Vermont, instead of just visiting.

After we finished packing the car, Husband and I headed to MamaH and PapaH's home to have breakfast and pick up Margaret. After a serving or two of eggs and bacon, unpacking and repacking the car, we hit the road.

A whopping 560 miles stood between us and our destination, the home of Husband & Margaret's older brother Chris, his wife Mary and their two adorable little girls.

We drove our way up the East coast all. day. long.

Thankfully Husband burned some stand-up comedy routines onto CDs and we laughed our way north. My favorite stand-up line of the trip: "...sprinkle some fries on those CUP CAKES." Oh how I love Patton Oswalt.

When we finally got to the state of Vermont it was close to 6pm or so and pitch dark. It was an unfamiliar darkness. Living in a metropolis means there's a lot of light pollution that prevents really dark nights. But in Vermont, the darkness is encompassing. It envelopes you and you can't help but look up at all the twinkling stars.

As we were getting close to Chris's house, Margaret and Husband warned me about the driveway. "It's pretty steep, so don't freak out." They were not kidding.

The driveway is a 45 degree angle down off a main road. It was covered in snow and when it was time to turn, I was freaked out. I immediately remembered my car has not driven on snow yet. I said a little prayer that the car would handle the elements so we could make it to Chris's house...

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

Husband and I opened presents on Christmas Eve. He is such a good gift giver. He got me Washington Capitals fleece sweatshirt that's super comfy and vintage looking; I love it. It never ceases to amaze me just how well Husband knows me. He knows my photography love affair began with film and this Christmas he gifted me with the Canon EOS 3 body. He said it's what the professionals were using before everyone went digital. AND the EOS 3 is compatible with the our DLSR lenses! How awesome! Gift giving is definitely one of his love languages.


I got him a super soft, plush, navy robe since it's been so cold this winter. And I got us some house presents, like tall drinking glasses for water (so we can stop stealing each other's) and a little 2 cup liquid measuring cup. It wasn't super exciting but they were things we needed.


The rest of Christmas Eve was spent at my parent's house. It was a pretty relaxing afternoon and I'm glad I got to spend some time with my family since we were traveling out of town. We had dinner and opened presents.

Me and Bubba

AND I got to open T's lovely package of her favorite things. I was so excited! I've already used the gloves and love them. They're way cuter than my plain jane blue ones. And the bag sealer is a big hit with Husband.

Any time we have friends over for drinks, I break out the Lily coozie because it separates my drink from everyone else's and it's pink and girlie. Thanks again T!

Later that night we went to church and afterward had some friends over for drinks. We ventured out to Q-Ball, a billiards bar near our apartment where Husband proposed to me. It's kind of our tradition to have a drink there on Christmas Eve. And I totally kicked butt playing pool - woot woot!

We stumbled home, happy and pleased with the day. We had a long day ahead of us and it was time to get some rest.

Merry Christmas

Pretty star wreath

I'm in the holiday spirit with the cold air, lit Christmas trees, and wrapped presents. The house is warm and smells of bacon and grits. And two days ago I was packed for my Christmas road trip...We're leaving on Saturday, I'm a little excited.

I will be embarking on my longest road trip: 12 hrs to Vermont. Husband and Margaret and I are driving up to see their brother and his family. It'll be my first time visiting Vermont and I'm looking forward to it. Yes it will be very cold, like 12 degrees and I'm bringing my wool sweaters. But that just means I'll be drinking lots of tea and hot chocolate.

Christmas tree bokeh

We'll be in VT for about 6 days before returning to ring in the new year back at home. I'm not sure if I'm bringing my computer or not so I may not be posting. So I'm leaving you with some pretty pictures.

Ornament wreath

I love this

Oh Martha I love your ideas.

If Husband were more open to pink, I would have a tree like this.

I love the pink.

One of my bff's just got Pottery Barn stockings - so cute and classic.

Lovely.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Shutterfly's gift to bloggers

This is the first year I am actually contemplating sending Christmas cards. I kind of feel like now that I’m married I should send out cards, even though I know no one would miss them if I didn’t. But I do love getting holiday cards. I like paper and stationary so I appreciate having pretty cards around. It helps that cards are really cute these days.

I saw that Desperately Seeking Seersucker and City Dreams Suburban Schemes posted about Shutterfly's holiday gift to bloggers. If a blogger posts about their giveaway, Shutterfly will give them 50 free holiday cards.

Shutterfly is offering 50 - 5x7 folded or flat stationary cards from their 2010 Holiday Card Collection. I will probably get the flat photo stationary cards to make this first year of sending Christmas cards as easy and pain-free as possible. I have always liked photo cards.

My mom used Shutterfly to create a photo book of a work trip to Germany and she said it was really easy to create the book. And I must say the quality is nice with clear pictures. I've been meaning to make a book of wedding photos and I'd really like to do that before the end of the year. Shutterfly is where I'll go.

Anyway back to the holidays, here are some of the cards I like.

I like the wordle-like style on the Templeton's card.

I like the gray, it's a little unexpected and the Christmas lights are cute.

I love this icy blue and red combo.

Such cute cards, it's going to be a tough decision.