Our First Christmas Party

In December, we hosted our first party in our house.  I had my co-workers over for our department Christmas party.  Everyone brought a dish, and we enjoyed the Secret Santa reveal. (In the picture above (L-R), Kayla, Me, Kate.  Kate was convinced that Kayla was her Secret Santa.  Once I learned that I used Kayla to help further disguise the fact that I was Kate's Secret Santa.  Kate was shocked to find out it was me).

We had a TON of work to do before having people over.  JP worked until the day of the party installing the recessed lights (which wasn't necessary for the party but needed to be done before we left for Phoenix a few days later).  I also was sick the day of the party as well as about a week before.  Needless to say we were exhausted by the end of the night.  However, we LOVED having everyone over.  It was SO much fun.  I think we both learned that we will definitely be having more people over to our house AND that our house doesn't have to be perfect in order to have guests.

(you can see our 70s couches in the background of this picture.  Did not have the new one yet).

We really did not have enough seating to have 20ish people over.  Our pastor was kind enough to let us borrow 20 folding chairs, even though the party was the night before our church's Christmas program.  Glad we got them back to the church before the program because the program was packed and definitely needed those seats!

Christmas Adventures in Phoenix

This year we went to Phoenix for Christmas.  We were there for 9 nights and got to do a lot of things that are unique to Phoenix as well as spend a lot of time with JP's family.

Going to Phoenix means there will be no shortage of good food.  JP's mom is always cooking up something good.  Here we are on the traditional dip night where the dinner consists of different types of dips.

Not only is the food in the home great, but there are so many places to eat in Phoenix that Birmingham does not have.  My favorite being In N Out Burger and JP's favorite being Filibertos- both of which we visited several times.

Earlier in the year my mom had sent me a blog that talked about True Food Kitchen which has a location in Phoenix.  Why did I want to visit this place? At True Food Kitchen, we celebrate simplicity. We practice sustainability. We believe that simple, fresh, pure ingredients create the most memorable and satisfying meals. And while our healthy menu is packed with nutritious, good-for-you vegetables, whole grain and proteins, we never sacrifice flavor. You may not notice the difference. But it’s there.

So, I took JP on a very girly adventure in Scottsdale.  JP tried to make the adventure a little more manly by dressing like a cowboy.  This picture does not include his boots.

Our first stop was Last Chance which had tons of discount items from Nordstroms.  He actually got more clothing items than I did.

We then headed to True Food Kitchen.
 


I loved it!  We ate outside on the sunny day.  The restaurant gave off a bright, clean, and fresh vibe.  I got the steak tacos and JP got the raw tuna salad.  JP and I both agreed that it was quite tasty, but he felt it was more like a snack than a meal.



After True Food Kitchen, we headed to Anthropologie followed by Sprinkles.

The rest of our adventures in Phoenix were much more manlier than our Scottsdale adventure.  Take for instance they day we spent on Superstition Mountain.

Michael and his girlfriend Heather asked us if we would like to join them on their hike up Superstition Mountain.  I immediately asked the difficulty and was informed that it was no where near as difficult as the Grand Canyon hike we had done earlier in the year.

As we made our way up Superstition Mountain on the Flat Iron trail, I came to realize that this hike was no hike at all but a climb.  I was using my arms and hands as much as I was using my legs and feet.
This person at hikingarizona.blogspot.com does a much better job of describing this climb than I could:
The difficulty of climbing makes this one of the most challenging trails in the Superstitions. The mile between the waterfall and the top of the mountain gains over 1,500 feet in elevation and is nothing more than a continuous climb up jagged rocks. Although this part is challenging and will get the heart pounding, the rocks do provided a nice climbing surface with plenty of places to clutch as you drag yourself up the mountain.

Finally, after climbing until you think you can go no further, you arrive at a 12-foot rock wall that proves to be the most difficult obstacle yet! Although not impossible this rock wall is by far the most vertical challenge encountered on this trail. Fortunately, immediately on the other side of this wall is the top of the Superstition Mountain and a large flat plateau (and trust me, after climbing for what seems like forever, the flat land will be something to rejoice over!)

I must say that I frequently wanted to give up especially when I would look up at the rocks and saw no possible way for me to get up them.  But, JP was quite kind and stayed behind with me as Michael and Heather were much quicker than I was at the whole climbing thing.  If he had not stayed behind with me there would have been no way I could have done it.  At the end though, I was SO glad that I completed the whole thing.



At the top.

 Heather and Michael, our climbing buddies.
 

Another manly adventure we had was our run/walk around Ussery Mountain.  JP and his brother Matt ran the 7 1/2 miles around and over the mountain while JP's dad and I walked.  I did run the last mile though.  No pictures of that one.

Our final manly adventure was Boyce Thompson Arboretum.

Now an Arboretum may not sound exciting or daring but the Kaal boys managed to make it those things.  We stumbled across some Australian rock formations that created a path.  The Kaal boys decided these would be the perfect race course.  So we raced both of these paths.  Each person being timed as they took their turn.  This ended up being quite an exciting and fun thing to do!

Matt races



Michael races


This man...


managed to make the trip to the arboretum a little daring (or maybe a little scary) when he decided to eat these guys...





As we were walking through JP saw these beans and decided it would be a grand idea to try a Mescal bean.  He chewed it once or twice and proceeded to spit it out, something we would later be thankful for.  Once we got back to the house we discovered that these Mescal beans are highly poisonous and can be very deadly.  There is documentation of someone eating just one and ending up very very sick.

JP had started feeling bad once we got home so I immediately called poison control who looked at some case studies and told us if JP started vomiting to go to the emergency room but otherwise he would be ok since he didn't actually swallow the bean but just got some of the juices.  It all ended up being ok but hopefully JP learned the lesson not to eat random things.

In addition to our adventures we enjoyed some fun Christmas celebrations that I got no pictures of.

One final note, we did NOT go to the Green Cross near JP's parent's house for an adventure.  Apparently these things are all over the place in Phoenix.

Christmas Day 2010

This Christmas definitely was one of my favorites and will be remembered in the future.

The days before Christmas the weather men kept saying we might could expect a white Christmas.  We didn't really take them seriously, especially my sister.  On Christmas morning, JP went downstairs before I did, and I heard him say something to my Dad about snow.  In my mind I pictured a slight dusting, but when I went downstairs I was quite shocked!  I ran upstairs to my Sister's room since she was still asleep and said, "There is a ton of snow outside!"  Her response, "No there's not." She got out of bed and peeked out her window and was proven wrong.

We truly had a white Christmas!  My parent's house looked like a Christmas card or a movie.

Time in the snow would come later.  First, we ate our traditional Christmas breakfast and then moved to the living room to open gifts.

Once we were older we found Christmas was more fun when we went slow and watched everyone open their gifts instead of quickly opening our gifts at one time like when we were kids.  This led to our new Christmas gift opening tradition that we started a few years ago.  On Christmas Eve, I go through the gifts under the tree and place a number on each gift.  I put a corresponding number in a mug.  On Christmas morning everyone gathers their gifts and looks at the numbers they have.  Someone draws a number out of the mug, and if you have the gift what the number, you get to open it.  

 

Once you open the gift, you then draw the next number.  We all really enjoy this tradition and feel like it makes opening gifts more meaningful.

This year my big gift was an iron.  I was very excited because I didn't think I would be getting an iron, and I really wanted a new one because the one we have is really old.  I've been ironing a lot more now that JP is wearing dress shirts to work every day.  Now I'll be ironing with a top of the line, highly rated iron!

My Mom's big gift was a new sewing machine! 

JP and I gave her this eternity scarf.  She liked it, and so do I.  I want one of my own!

It is always so exciting to see everyone open their gifts, especially the ones I picked out for them!

After the presents were opened it was time to check out the snow.  My Sister went straight out the door without putting on snow appropriate clothes. Honestly, it didn't feel too cold at first.

After we all went inside and put on snow appropriate clothes we all enjoyed the snow.

 

 

The best part though was the dog that came to visit us.  My Sister REALLY wants a dog and would have loved to have gotten a dog for Christmas.  Well she didn't, but she did get to play with a dog in the snow.  This random dog came and played with us for about an hour.  We decided my mom rented him from here, a place my cousin uses to get her boss animals for his photo shoots.

He wasn't the only dog around.  Our neighbors, who we are close with, were out playing with us.  Their bulldog joined us as well.  We saw this dog being active for longer than I think we ever have before.

Other highlights of the day included Granny trying on all of her clothes we gave her the night before and this Feta Dip.  It was so good and so easy to make!

Overall it was such a great Christmas!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

JP and I spent Christmas with my family this year.  I love Christmas Eve just as much as I love Christmas Day.  My sister, Mom, and I started the day by going to GiGi's to pick up some cupcakes.  We each picked two flavors, and I chose strawberry and chocolate peanut butter.

 The rest of the day was spent cleaning and preparing for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner.  I also took time to reorganize the gifts under the tree and number each gift for our Christmas morning gift opening game (more on that later).

That evening we went to the Christmas Eve service.  I get so frustrated throughout the Christmas season over how so little of what goes on seems to revolve around what Christmas is really about.  I love spending time with my family celebrating and focusing on the birth of Christ.

Following the service we headed back for our Christmas Eve dinner.  Each year my aunt, cousin, and grandmother join us.  We always have the "ol' hen" and my Granny's yummy dressing.  Seriously, it is the best I've ever had.  

Our napkins were straight from Paris via my cousin who had just returned from a trip abroad.  And the flowers are my all time favorite, gerber daisies, and were a sweet gift to me from JP.

After dinner, my sister, cousin, and I always entertain our Granny while my always Mom puts away the food and my Aunt always cleans the dishes.  When I say my Aunt always cleans the dishes, it's true.  I always offer to do it for her, and she always refuses the offer.

Once the dishes are clean and the foods is put away, we exchange gifts.  We used to all give everyone a gift, but as we have gotten older we each get one gift to open.  This year we all got products.  My sister, cousin, and I both got body wash.  My Aunt, Mom, and Granny all got different types of facial cream.

 So what does a man get when all the women get products?  My Dad got some intense dry skin lotion, and JP got Tylenol Pain Patches.  It was super funny.  He has been playing basketball after work and has had a sore back lately because of it.

 After everyone opened their gift, it was time for Granny to open her big gift.  This year my Mom and Aunt basically bought her a new winter wardrobe.  The gift bag was full of SO many clothes.  I think Granny was a little overwhelmed!  It was fun to see her go through them all, but what was really fun was the fashion show she had the next day when she tried all of the clothes on!

We chatted for a while, and then I went to bed!  I fell asleep as soon as I got in bed.  Complete opposite of my childhood self! It always took me hours to fall asleep with the anticipation of Santa's arrival!

Secret Santa

Each year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, my co-workers and I play Secret Santa.  We each draw a name and once a week  for 3 weeks we give a gift.  There is a $5-8 price limit on the gifts each week.  Trying to figure out who each person's secret santa is and looking at what everyone gets is SO much fun.  We all look forward to it all year long.  Actually, our new employees that started in June were informed on their second day of work by a co-worker that Secret Santa was "just around the corner."

I always have a lot of fun buying gifts for my person.

 The first week, I gave these ornaments.  I actually got them in Phoenix the day after Thanksgiving at Hobby Lobby.  They were all 50% off!

And then I put the ornaments in this cute tin.





The second week, I went to Hobby Lobby again and gave this oven mitt and dish towel. Again, everything was 50% off!




I thought this box was really cute to put them in.

 Finally for the third week, I gave what was my favorite of the three gifts.  I got this really cute teapot at TJ Maxx.

After all of the anticipation over the three weeks, it all comes together at our annual Christmas party.  This year we decided to have it at one of the girl's houses instead of at a restaurant.  We all brought a dish, and yes there was only one "healthy" item at the dietitian party.  

This year because we had it at a home, we decided to invite spouses too.  Not many came but it was great to meet the ones that could make it.  We hear about these guys all the time so it was great to actually meet them.

At the end of the night we do the Secret Santa reveal.  There was much laughter and fun.  I am very blessed to have such fun co-workers that I get along with!