Lots of things - and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year's everyone!!!  In the interest of being the old ladies that we are (if you've read our blog before now, you know we're grandmas), Crissy and I spent New Year's Eve inside our house in comfy clothes and watching movies.  My brother and Clare did stop by for a little bit before they hit the town....in their fancy clothes and shoes.  I, for one, definitely felt even more like a bum in comparison.  Oh well.  Crissy and I had a good night and appreciated how low key everything was for us.  We did discuss getting pretty next year and actually going out....

To start off the year right, we slept in, made breakfast at home, had Kristy over during our breakfast time, then went to my parent's house for Christmas time with my grandparents and Aunt Karen.  I know we didn't spend as much time at my parent's house as I'm sure they'd like...but we'll be back again for the whole weekend in a few weeks.  My dad has some "installation" thing where he becomes the Monarch of some secret society.  Really....this is about all I understand about it.  I know that when I ask questions, I frequently get "I can't answer that" types of answers from my dad or my grandpa.  Here's what I do know - this is a big deal to my dad and even though I don't understand the whole secret society business, it's cool that my dad gets to be a Monarch.  Which really just makes me think of butterflies...and how easy it is for me to turn things relating to my dad into something really cheesy....but makes me laugh.  Like Monarch making me want to say that he's becoming a butterfly......and his middle name being Ronald and me always calling him Ronald McDonald as a kid.  Okay, enough of my lameness....

On the topic of dads, Crissy and I have had this plan for ties for our dads for the wedding.  We haven't disclosed it, but our idea changed today when my dad opened a Christmas present from my grandparents - a Jerry Garcia tie.  My dad LOVES Jerry Garcia ties.  I don't remember when he became a tie snob and began only wearing Jerry Garcia ties, but it definitely happened somewhere along the way.  He got this great tie today in colors similar to our wedding.....which made me suggest to Crissy that we maybe just buy her dad a matching tie.  So, this then got me to looking at other Jerry Garcia ties.  You know what I figured out while doing this?  They're not lying when they say Jerry Garcia ties are limited editions....I can't seem to find two of any of the ones I really liked, like the one below or this one Jerry Garcia Courtyard Performance, #43:

Here's what else happened today:  my grandma tried a Corona; ate my salsa cheese fondue that contained both Corona and tequila; and, tried a jello shot.  Oh, and she almost threw up the jello shot.  Oops.  :-(  For some back story, my grandma doesn't drink.  I don't really know why....I don't know if she's opposed to it for some reason or if she doesn't like it....or what.  But, I know she doesn't drink it.  And, after today's experiences - she's probably not likely to ever eat any type of jello I ever make again - alcoholic or otherwise.  She tried one of the jello shots made for Christmas and spit it out immediately.  Sorry, Grandma!!!

Crissy and I also discussed what we'll do in the event of rain, a bit more today.  She made a suggestion that she must not have heard suggested at some point in the past.  Though, in the past, it was more of a joke....on our drive home, it became more of a legitimate conversation.  More on that later...we have some more things to talk about.  Plus, we're still waiting to hear back from Venue (the place we'd really like as a rain option) and need to talk to my dad about a few of the things we're thinking about.

Now that all of the holidays have passed and our lives can go back to something resembling normal, we get to "get back on track" with our diet and losing weight.  We also start an 8-week "Biggest Loser" competition at the gym on January 10 that includes things like "homework" (aka 1,000 steps - like up and down the stairs kind of steps - in a week) and challenges on Saturdays.  Hooray for losing weight!

ps - Check out the polls to the right - and give answers, please!!!!  :-) Thank you!

Merry Christmas, Part 2

Bright and early Christmas morning, Crissy and I drove the 2-ish hours from my parents to hers.  While leaving the house by 7:20 to try to make it to her grandparents' by 9:00 seemed early, we were grateful that her parents had changed their mind about us needing to be at their house by 7:30 Christmas morning (which would have meant a 5:45 departure time).  Now, keep in mind that the weather between Washington and Farmersville can be a bit different.  So, while to all of Crissy's family it might have seemed like driving would be a piece of cake, it wasn't that way to me (let's disregard my complete paranoia about driving in winter, k?).  It was a little like this at my parent's house before leaving:

And, in comparison, it seemed like this when we arrived to the Springfield/Farmersville area:

We did, however, finally arrive - albeit late.  Christmas is definitely different between our two families and it was a new experience for me to have the "full" Brockmeyer Christmas experience this year.  You see, even though Crissy and I have been (mostly) together for the past 4.5 years, we've never split holidays before.  We've always done our own thing - and frequently, I've driven down to see her sometime on Christmas day (or whatever holiday is in question).  This was the first time that we attempted to spend holidays together - and with each of our families.  Honestly - it worked out pretty well, I think.  Christmas Eve is a much bigger deal in my family (and to me) and Christmas day is a pretty big deal to Crissy's family....so it was easy to split.  Plus, it was really nice to be able to have the full Christmas experience with each other - and each other's families. 

So....Christmas with her family typically starts with gift exchanging at her parents house; however, since we were late that portion was postponed until Christmas night.  The whole family extravaganza starts at 9 (or when we arrived) at her grandparents house - with everyone sitting around in a circle in the garage (with heat) to open presents.  This includes her grandparents, their three kids (which includes Crissy's mom), and the grandkids and significant others/spouses.  The biggest difference I noted between our families is how gifts get distributed.  I'm a big believer in the "one-at-a-time" method, where one present is handed to someone, they open, then a gift is handed to someone else, everyone watches while that person opens, and the cycle continues.  Crissy and her family are of the "pile" mentality - where each person has a pile of presents and they open all of them at once, then move on to the next person.  They also do it in order of age - youngest to oldest.  It's interesting how different families are, you know.  It's also interesting that however we were raised is probably what seems "right" to us.  Needless to say, there were lots of gifts exchanged Christmas morning with her family and I got to be a part of it.  I've always been invited to things before this year and while I've often received something small from people - I typically felt like the "weird friend" who was just always around.  Now that has nothing to do with how Crissy's family has ever treated me - because they've always been fantastic and amazingly welcoming of me.  I've never felt like an outsider....but holidays left me feeling weird.  Until this year.  I didn't need gifts - and I had no expectation of them, honestly.  But, that little thing of gift giving and having my name on gifts with Crissy that were ours, jointly.....that left me feeling very much included.  Her family knowing about me and that we're getting married...makes a big difference.  I'm really glad they know, that I get to be a part of her family too - and that I got to experience my first family Christmas with all of them.  :)

Crissy has always referenced the different stages of gifts in her family...."morning presents," "stockings," "afternoon presents"....  There are definitely stages - the opening of presents as mentioned above, followed by stocking gifts for each family member.  Then, it's time to start on things for lunch - which apparently allows most family members time to nap or play games on the XBox (which included some pretty hilarious dancing).  Then it's lunch....and napping (because how can you not with as much food as they have?)....and then afternoon presents.  Afternoon presents, it turns out, is when gifts are exchanged with Crissy's great aunt and uncle, Joanie and Wendell.

Following ALL of that, we headed to her parent's house for gifts between them, Crissy and I, and Jennifer and Jeremy.  We had some pretty exciting surprises for them, as well....and surprised Jennifer and Jeremy with their wedding gift.  Since I never blogged about Jennifer's wedding, the short version is that it was lovely.  I took lots of pictures so that Crissy and I could give a really great gift.  Remember several posts ago about Blurb, the website where you can create books?  Well, that's what we did for them with some of the 850 pictures I took.  And, we decided that her parents would want one, as well....so we made a smaller version for them.  I think they were a pretty big hit...

As a result of Christmas, part 2....we now have barstools in the kitchen and new bedding in our room.  We're pretty excited about all of it.  Check out how our room looks now with the new bedding:

Merry Christmas, Part 1

Christmas began with some time at my parent's house in Washington.  Crissy and I headed over on Thursday evening after she was done at work and we had sufficiently wrapped presents and packed for several days away from home.  Our holiday weekend started off well with my dad's famous (well, famous to us) homemade pizza, movies once Bill and Clare arrived and the start of jello shots.  Yep - our family celebrates holidays festively....with alcoholic jello.  It's nearly shameful for me to admit how much Peach Schnapps and Vodka I went through Thursday afternoon making the jello.  So, Christmas with my family resembles something a little like this picture of Crissy above.  Though, she only busts out the affro at Easter....not for Christmas.  haha.

We got some quality time with my parents, Bill and Clare - and eventually Kayla and Kyle, too.  There was lots of tasty food, aforementioned jello shots, wine, laughing, joking, relaxing and of course, presents.  It certainly wasn't all about the gifts, though we did get some great stuff.  More than that, we were pretty excited to give our gifts to my family.  Every person got something unique to them - and my dad, whose present hasn't arrived from Ireland yet, got a lovely hand-drawn picture of a sad elf explaining his present wasn't here, compliments of Crissy.

Best present given (aka the funniest)?  Definitely the one we gave to my brother.  You see, Bill is a HUGE Nine Inch Nails fan.  Even more than that, he LOVES LOVES LOVES Trent Reznor, the lead singer.  Bill claims to not be the least bit interested in guys....but I'm pretty sure that, without a doubt, he'd leave Clare for Trent if ever presented with the opportunity.  So, after a big misunderstanding about what type of "album" Bill really wanted for Christmas and the number of days dwindling, I suggested that Crissy sketch a picture of Bill and Trent.  I mean, that's a one of a kind gift...how could he not love it?!?!  Crissy did a great job - and I framed and matted it, so it was a legitimate gift.  Now, more than giving great gifts to my brother, I LOVE driving him crazy and irritating him.  For instance, I know exactly which nicknames tick him off the most.  So, I figured putting "Boyfriends" on his frame in blue glittery letters would do exactly that.  Instead, he found it as hilarious as I did.  But, hooray for him enjoying it and finding the humor in it!  Here's a pic of his picture all framed and ready to be wrapped:

Perhaps one of the most meaningful gifts received?  The Little Prince (pop-up version!)....from my brother.  I really love all of the gifts people got me and am beyond appreciative.  A lovely turquoise peacock graces our Christmas tree, a peacock vase sits on the hope chest in our room, our bed is far more cozy due to the new down-alternative mattress topper, Date Night has been watched and laughed at, my fun green coat has been worn and kept me warm, plus lots of other goodies.....  But, The Little Prince will always hold a very special place in my heart.  Somewhere is the version I read for the very first time - my mom's.  I remember reading it very young, perhaps around age 8 or so....and then probably several more times as I got older.  I read the original French version in 4th or 5th year French in high school....and have thought of it very few times since then.  When I pass it in a bookstore, I often look at it - and wonder if I know of anyone I should buy it for to spread the goodness of such a wonderful story.  To be honest - I remember few details of the story and only can recall the beauty of how it's written and the amazing life wisdom imparted by Saint-Exupery.  Now I get to re-read the story and check out all of the fun pop-up pieces in this new book.  Crissy has never read the story (shocking, right?!?!) and it's exciting to be able to share this with her, too.  Plus - as Bill mentioned when he gave it to me....it's something that can be shared with our kids, too, one day.