Oh how lovely is the feeling when December is around the corner! All my life, December 1st has meant the first day of the beginning of a month-long holiday! Shopping, love, trees, presents, and so much fun! But for the past three years, I've been exposed to one feeling in particular that mixes up all these wonderful feelings: finals. Instead of smells of cinnamon, pine, and vanilla, I've been smelling pencil shavings, eraser smudging, freshly printed paper, and the wonderful smell of an old book. (The last one was actually not quite sarcastic. I really do love the smell of an old book.) These are of course everyone's dream Christmas smells, right? Well, to our relief, there are only two more weeks until Nic and I are off to California and Oregon to enjoy the sun, rain, and family.  |
| Nic doing all the lights! |
This is our first apartment together for Christmas here in Idaho. It is SO much fun to put up a REAL tree. (In my family we used to always use the pre-lit fake trees.) Nic's parents brought up a tree from Oregon so we could have a traditional Oregon tree. It's not what I'm used to, considering I like a full bushy tree, but I'm warming up to this new one. Although it's not the fullest tree, it's definitely the best smelling and looks pretty dang good with some lights and ornaments on it. Nic just sawed off the top of the tree to fit in our apartment and the bottom so it would soak up some water, and that was that. We officially have a Christmas tree! Yay Christmas!
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| Putting the Ornaments on |
Nic and I have had a crazy couple of weeks, with a fun one celebrating thanksgiving! We had two thanksgivings this year, one with my family and one with Nic's and let me tell you what, two thanksgivings is two too many. They were both amazing, containing my favorite recipes. I love my mom's yams and stuffing. They are soo good! And Nic's mom and dad made some awesome mashed potatoes and a great bacon turkey. Although the turkey had some difficulties, the bacon was amazing! We also got to get together and take some Barnes family pictures with the growing Barnes clan. Kelia, my friend and an awesome photographer just happened to be near by and took some great photos! I can't wait to see them! It was just fun to get together and see our families, including nephew Miles and soon-to-be niece! I wish we had family here in Idaho with us because we sure miss everyone like crazy!
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| Barnes Family Picture |
Now I need to get back to mask making, book reading, and some classroom discipline studies and I'm sure Nic has math like crazy to somehow complete in 2 weeks. I don't know how he does it! I know I talk about how great he is in almost all my blog posts, but I can't help it! If you don't want to read it all over again, you can just stop here. But he is so kind and caring. After almost nine months of being with him all day, every day, he's showed me how to be forgiving, considerate and patient. I just can't get enough of him! I couldn't have asked to marry a better man and I love him more than anyone could ever understand. Thanks for everything you do, babe.
