Our First Married Christmas

Our first married Christmas is now over…sad face. 

It was a great Christmas though. On Christmas Eve, we went to one of the services at our church, and then volunteered during the last service. Then we went home and opened our gifts to each other. He got me a new watch, an owl necklace, Sex and the City DVDs, and a new food processor because I broke mine last week. There were also some things in my stocking like candy, a CD, and some tights. I got him a Batman apron, a Lord of the Rings Pez set, and a Batman coffee mug. In his stocking was a Han Solo in Carbonite Chocolate bar, a space gun key chain, a belt, a tape measure, and some candy. 

On Christmas morning we had breakfast at Jay’s grandparents’ house and then opened our gifts. We got Modern Family on DVD, Seasons 3&4 of Sex and the City, a Target and a Chili’s gift card, pajamas, cash, and cookies. His grandmother also offered to pay for a marriage conference that our pastor and his wife are doing in February. We just found out about the conference this weekend and we hadn’t said anything to them about wanting to go, so it was an unexpected gift that we really appreciate. After opening our gifts, we all went to church with his mother.

Christmas afternoon we went to my parents’ house. After eating lunch we opened gifts there. My mom got everyone a Kindle which was cool. I really wanted one, but Jay didn’t really think he would want one. After playing around with it though, he really likes it. We also got a Chipotle and an AMC gift card, an LED flashlight, Lord of the Rings on BluRay, and some money from my grandma. 

We still have our Christmas with Jay’s dad who is coming in from Missouri today and will be here through Friday. Then Christmas will be officially over…sad. But hopefully the new year will bring lots of changes for us, mostly good ones. We’ll see.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Tonight I want to post 3 songs that are my absolute favorite Christmas songs. There is not much to say about them, so I'll let them speak for themselves.

1. Go Tell It On The Mountain by Need to Breathe

2. O Holy Night- I love this song, and there are so many people that sing it so well, but I especially love this version by Josh Groban.

3. I Celebrate the Day by Relient K

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas, and always remember the reason that we celebrate.

I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord. This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”  Luke 2:10-14

Christmas Countdown: Songs Part 4

Tonight I'm going to share 4 songs that I absolutely love. Two songs are written from the point of view of Mary, one from the point of view as Joseph, and the last is a song written as a question to Mary. I love these songs because they always remind that Jesus had parents just like the rest of us, and they knew that he was God's son, but did they really know everything that entailed? I always wonder what it was like for them watching Jesus grow up, wondering what God's plan for him was and when it would take place. I can't even imagine it.

1. "Breath of Heaven" by Amy Grant

2. "You're Here" by Francesca Battistelli

3. "Joseph's Lullaby" by Mercy Me

4. "Mary Did You Know?" by Mark Lowry

It's Christmas Eve...well, it is for 7 more minutes!

Christmas Countdown: Our Card

Over the last 5 days I've been working on getting our Christmas cards mailed out. I know, I know. I got a late start on it, but oh well. I was excited to do our first Christmas card, but the time got away with us. I threw this one together one night last week. BUT I do like it. I like the simplicity of it.

Now I just hope I remembered to send it to everyone who expected one...

(Only 5 days left!!!)

Christmas Countdown: Songs Part 3

It's time for another Christmas music post. Today I have 4 of my favorite songs to share.

1. Happy Birthday Jesus!- I have liked this song since I was a kid. I've always loved that kids sing it.

2. Born on Christmas Day by Brad Paisley- He wrote this song when he was 13 years old, which I think is awesome. I love that the recorded version begins with him signing it as a child.

3. Jesus, Born on this Day by Avalon- I have loved this song since the Avalon Christmas CD came out in 2001, but even more so now, because it brings back memories of an amazing woman and singer from a church I used to attend. She passed away unexpectedly about 3 years ago. I remember her singing this song during a Christmas service in 2005 or 2006, surrounded by the children from the church singing along with her. She was a wonderful singer, and a great Christian woman who is missed by many!

4. Jesus, What a Wonderful Child by John Legend- Great song sung by a great artist!

Only 6 more days!

Christmas Countdown: Secret Santas

This past week at work we did Secret Santas. We drew names the week before, and then we each emailed everyone 5 things we like. Monday through Thursday we brought a $5 gift each day, and then Friday was a $20 gift. The name I drew was Jason. The 5 things he likes are 1. muppets, 2. pipes, 3. naps, 4. apple products, and 5. blues/ black gospel music. It was a little difficult thinking of $5 gifts to take. On Monday, I took him a big bag of Snickers because he is always coming in our office asking for chocolate. For Tuesday, I got a coffee mug, and filled it with hot chocolate mix and marshmallows. For Wednesday, I took him a Christmas blanket with a note that said For Naps, and on Thursday I took him a stuffed Kermit. For the big gift on Friday, I got a $20 Apple gift card, and then made sugar cookies in the shape of the apple logo.

The 5 things that I said I liked were 1. Ferrero Rocher, 2. Starbucks, 3. cooking/baking, 4. snowglobes, and 5. anything related to Christmas.

On Monday, I received a 'K' ornament, with rhinestones on it...love it!

The first gift was wrapped in a gift bag without tissue paper, so I figured my Secret Santa was a guy.

Tuesday I got a $5 gift card to Starbucks...YUM!

Wednesday I received two packages of Ferrero Rocher...delicious!

This gift was wrapped in the Target bag that they received at the store. After that I was positive it was a guy. I figured it was either Brian or Dan.

On Thursday I received an IOU...

I thought it was hilarious! And it totally gave away who my Secret Santa was. Dan is the only person who would give an IOU.

On Friday, I'm sitting at my desk, and Dan walks in with a Santa bag, without tissue paper, and says, "I'm your Secret Santa." I was right! For the final gift he got me Christmas potholders and dish towels, a snowman ornament, and a snowglobe.

He did a really good job picking out gifts for me. I especially love the snowglobe. I collect them and this year I broke one, so I'm glad I got one to replace it.

It was fun participating in Secret Santa. I love giving people gifts. I still have a lot of gift giving to do, and only 1 week left until Christmas!

Christmas Countdown: Songs Part 2

The Christmas songs I've chosen for part 2 are both from movies. One is a silly song and the other is not.

1. The Chipmunk Song (Don't Be Late)- This song is just a fun, goofy song. I love to sing along to it, especially with children. The new version from the movie with Jason Lee is okay, but I definitely prefer the original from the TV show.

2. Christmastime is Here- This song is from A Charlie Brown Christmas, one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies. This song always gets stuck in my head, which is fine with me, because I love it!

I cannot believe Christmas is only 12 days away! It feels like Thanksgiving was just yesterday!

Christmas Countdown: Lunch with the Girls

Today I got together with some girlfriends to celebrate Christmas. We did it early because Anjel and her husband Michael are leaving next weekend for Tennessee and then South Carolina. We went to Anjel's house and had lunch. Anjel made a bean dip, Jen made Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, Jen B brought the drinks, and I made a cake.

A couple of weeks ago I bought some texture plates for fondant. One has snowflakes on it and the other looks like ice cubes. I wanted to make an igloo cake with penguins around it, but I didn't know who to make the cake for. So when we decided to get together this weekend, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to make the cake. I started with a 6 in circle cake and 1 half of a ball cake for the igloo. I decided to make 2 penguins having a snowball fight, a penguin sliding down a hill into the water, and a penguin on top of the igloo with a Merry Christmas sign. I made the penguins out of gum paste, and the water is blue jello.

I love how it turned out! It is definitely one of my favorite cakes that I have made. The penguins are so cute!

I love Christmastime, but there is only 14 days left!

Christmas Countdown: Movies

Tonight we went to the Old Bedford School for their Classic Movie Night. They showed "It's A Wonderful Life," which is one of my favorite Christmas movies. So it got me thinking about other Christmas movies that I like.

Here are my Top 5 Christmas movies:

5. The Polar Express- I have always loved this book, so I was super excited when they made the movie. Here is one of my favorite scenes:

4. Elf- This movie is hilarious! One of the few Will Ferrell movies I actually enjoy. Plus it has Zooey Deschanel, who is adorable.

3. It's a Wonderful Life- James Stewart is an awesome actor. I can watch him in anything.

2. A Charlie Brown Christmas- I love all of the Charlie Brown movies, but this one is my absolute favorite. My favorite scene is where Linus recites the true meaning of Christmas.

1. Miracle on 34th Street- My number 1 favorite Christmas movie has always been Miracle on 34th Street. I like the newer version, but the original one is the best. I love old black & white movies, and it's the version I grew up on, so it will always be the best version.

Now I want to sit here all night and watch each of these movies!

Only 16 days left!

Christmas Countdown: Decorations

All of my Christmas decorations are finally finished!

This is our tree. Most of the ornaments on our tree were given to me as gifts over the last 10 years. I always write the name of the giver and the year it was given to me either on the back or bottom of the ornament. I love the memories that are conjured up as I take each ornament from the box and hang it on the tree. The newest ornaments that I have are picture ornaments. Jay and I have one for each year we have been together, which is only 3 years as of this Christmas. I’m hoping to keep this up for many, many years, adding our children, then grandchildren, and maybe one day our great-grandchildren. Someday, we’ll need a tree for only those ornaments!

Unfortunately, we don’t have a mantle over our fireplace, so I hung our stockings on the bar. I even have one for my puppy Levi! Now I just have to figure out what to put in Jay’s…

I collect snowglobes and nativities, plus people are always giving me random Christmas decorations that I never know where to display. Jay and I have this huge dining table for just the two of us, so this year I thought I would use that space while I still have it. I took those random decorations, plus the tree I made, and arranged them into a huge centerpiece on the table. The items are placed at different heights by placing the boxes that they came in under a snow blanket. It was a simple way to lift up some of the items, and an easy way to store the boxes for the next month. I love how it turned out!

Let’s move outside now. The wreaths I made are hanging at the top of the stairs leading to our apartment, and the Merry Christmas sign is hanging on the door. Our balcony is decorated with lights, a Santa Clause, and a snowman.

Now that the apartment is decorated, I am totally ready for the Christmas craziness to begin!

Only 17 days!

Christmas Countdown: Songs Part 1

Christmas music is my all time favorite music. I count down the days each year until I get to listen to it. There are so many great Christmas songs, so in the next few weeks I am going to share some of my favorites.

This first song is a new favorite. It is by a band called She & Him, who put out their first Christmas cd this year. The whole cd is great, but my favorite song is "Christmas Day."

 

 Only 19 days!

Getting Crafty: Christmas Countdown Edition

Choosing which Christmas decorations to make myself is always a difficult decision. This year I decided to make 3 decorations.

 1. Christmas Wreaths: I decided to make 2 wreaths to hang outside our front door. I wanted to make simple wreaths with not a lot of decorations on them. I purchased 2 wreath forms, some ribbon, and some glitter balls from Michaels. I made a bow for each one first.

There are lots of tutorials on YouTube for making bows. This is a good video to start with: http://youtu.be/B0ZoC1p7lLY. Next, I took the glitter balls and just started gluing them onto the wreath.

 Here's the wreath and the glitter balls I used, and below is the finished wreath.

2. The second decoration I made is a very simple door sign. I found a green and red wooden sign, and some small decorations at Michaels. First, I painted Merry Christmas across the sign, and then I glued on the decorations.

3. The last decoration that I am making is a tabletop Christmas tree made of ornaments. I used the same glitter balls that I used for the wreath, and a styrofoam tree form from Michaels.

I ran out of balls, so I haven't finished it yet. I totally underestimated the amount of balls it would take, and I am having a hard time finding the right ones. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to get some, and I can post a picture of the finished tree, along with all of my other decorations!

Only 20 days to go!

Christmas Countdown- 23 days

We started our Christmas season tonight by going to the Church at the Cross in Grapevine for Journey to Bethlehem. It is an event that takes you back in time to the night Jesus was born. You take the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be counted in the census, just as Mary and Joseph did so long ago. Along the way, you come across the 3 Magi and the shepherds just before the Angel appears to them. They have real camels and sheep along the journey.

As you walk in, you are given a passport. There are passports for boys and passports for girls. They each have a name on the front that would have been used in Bible times.

This year, my name was Leah and Jay was Gedaliah. This is your ticket for the journey, and must be presented every time a Roman soldier asks to see it.

Once you reach the city of Bethlehem, your passport is stamped and you may enter the city. The city is set up like the market would have been back then. There merchants and children singing and dancing. Then you go to the Inn, where there is no room. You are told there are tents being set up beyond the stables. As you head to the tents, you come across Mary and Joseph, and their just born baby, Jesus.

It is an awesome event. This the fourth year I have gone. It is such a great way to start the Christmas season, with a reminder of what the season is all about.

If you're around Grapevine this weekend you should definitely check it out. www.catcfamily.com

Christmas Countdown

So we're married!!! For about 2 months now... Things have been a bit crazy.

And it's December, which means it is time to start the Christmas countdown! I LOVE Christmas! It's such a hectic time of year, with so much to get done. But it's also so fun and magical!

This is, obviously, our first Christmas as a married couple, so I am even more excited than usual. I can't wait for all of the fun to start! I've spent most nights this week decorating our apartment. I've made 2 wreaths and a door sign, and I am working on a miniature tree. Pictures will be posted in a few days, along with many posts about how we are spending our first Christmas together.

So get ready, because the BEST time of the year has officially begun!

14

We are exactly two weeks away from the wedding! WOOHOO!

Today is going to be a crazy busy day. First, we get our apartment today! We are moving to Irving which is about halfway between his work and mine. I'm excited to get our apartment, but also nervous. I've never lived in an apartment before. It will definitely be different. Second, Hadly's bridal shower is at noon. I'm so excited that Adam and Hadly are getting married. Third, my bachelorette party is today. It starts at 2. We are doing some sort of scavenger, then having dinner, and then going skating. It should be lots of fun. So while I'll be partying, Jay will be moving stuff over to the apartment. Not really fair, huh? Everything just ended up happening on the same weekend, but it's okay. I will be able to help finish moving stuff tomorrow. Hopefully, we won't have to move too much more after that.

Hopefully, I will be able to post in the next few days. We don't have internet in our apartment yet, so I'm not sure if I will have somewhere to get online, but I will try.

15

The Caterers

Our rehearsal dinner is 2 weeks from today. The dinner will be catered by an amazing restaurant called Chef Point Cafe. It's a gourmet restaurant inside a gas station. Seriously, it is really amazing food. We are having Chicken Parmesan and Beef Lasagna, salad, and garlic bread. They will serve it buffet style, and I cannot wait. It is such amazing food.

For our wedding reception we wanted to continue with the movie theme. We are doing concession style foods. Nachos, little pizzas, and hot dogs. We are also having a candy bar and popcorn colored in our wedding colors. We are using some people from Harvest Church to cater the reception. They have a ministry there where you pay for the cost of the food and make a $100 donation to their food bank. They have been really excited to do our wedding, so I can't wait to see what they have come up with.

I can't believe we are already down to 15 days! I'm so excited!

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Our Wedding Shower

On May 21 we had our wedding shower. I didn't want a bridal shower because it's Jay's wedding too. He'll be using the gifts as well, so shouldn't he get to help open them? So we had a couple's shower instead.

My sister and my other 2 bridesmaids planned an awesome shower. It was at a pavilion at an area park, so the kids could play on the playground if they got bored. There was also a horseshoe area set up, which was perfect for my dad and my bro-in-law.

When everyone first arrived they were given a paper that they could fill out with things like how we met each other, their favorite memory with one or both of us, advice for us, etc. It was really nice to read what everyone wrote afterward. Some were funny and some made me cry. After that everyone was given a clothespin and they couldn't say the word wedding. If they said it, they had to give their clothespin to the person who caught them saying it. That game went on through the entire shower. We also played a trivia game. Jay and I would say a favorite line from a movie, tv show, or song, and they had to guess what it was from. Some of them were pretty easy, because most of our friends like the same movies and shows as we do. But the songs were pretty hard for everyone. It was a lot of fun though. Then Jay and I had to answer questions about each other. If we got the question wrong we had to put a piece of gum in our mouths. Then we passed out the cake and we opened our presents. We got a lot of great stuff. Lots of stuff we needed for the kitchen, kitchen and bath towels, our bed quilt, money, gift cards, 2 tents, and lots more. We were so grateful for everything, and for the fact that we have such awesome friends and family.

After the main shower was over, our closest friends and our families stayed behind for dinner. Everyone brought a dish to share and we had a great time just hanging out.

My sister, Jen and Maria did an awesome job planning the shower. I'm so thankful that I have such amazing bridesmaids!

17

Our Honeymoon

Planning our honeymoon has been a bit challenging. We are not beach people, so that leaves out a lot of places. Plus, we don't want to spend a lot of money on plane tickets or hotel rooms. I'd rather spend the money on things to see and do.

We have been looking into Tennessee. We wanted to go to Memphis for a few days and then to Nashville. We love music and both of those cities are full of amazing musicians. But the more I looked into it the more I realized that there are so many things I would want to see and do that our honeymoon would be crazy busy. We want our honeymoon to be relaxing and a time to just be with each other.

So then we decided to look a little closer to home and in quieter places. I remembered that I had bought a deal from Groupon for a lakeview cabin by Lake Whitney. We decided we could use that and it would be a nice relaxing night on the lake. Then I saw a deal on Living Social for two nights in the Magnolia Bed and Breakfast in Palestine. It's a little historical town in East Texas. So we got that deal as well. We figured between the two deals we could have a nice relaxing honeymoon close to home.

And then I went to the Bedford Blues Festival this past weekend. I really started thinking about Tennessee again. I really want to go to Memphis. I've been there once for only a few hours. The whole time I was there I kept thinking how I wanted to be there with Jay. I thought it was the perfect place for us. So Jay and I talked it over, and we've decided that we could just go to Memphis for a couple of days. Then we'll come back to Texas and use the deals we have.

I'm super excited. I know we'll love Memphis, and then we'll still have our relaxing days here in Texas. I can't wait!

18

The Cast

This post should have happened a long time ago. Tonight I am going to introduce the cast members of our wedding.

The Bride        Kari Spence

The Groom       Jay Yaws

 Matron of Honor       Tamra Stanley, my sister

Vocalist              Floyd Stanley, my Bro-in-law

 Bridesmaid        Jennifer Majors, my best friend for over 18 years

 Bridesmaid       Snooki, Not!  Maria Wassenmiller, one of my closest friends

 Best Man      Kyle Collins, Jay's best friend

(This is us at his wedding to Mary Cantrell)

 Groomsman       Tim Dieterich, one of Jay's good friends

Groomsman        Adam Gingrich, Jay's other best friend

(That's Hadly. They are getting married Nov 13. YAY!)

 Junior Bridesmaid       Raegan Stanley, my niece

Junior Groomsman       Troy Stanley, my nephew

Junior Groomsman       Tyler Stanley, my nephew

 Flower Girl      Abigale Majors, Jen's niece

 Flower Girl        Jordan Fetch, she loves Jay

Poem Readers      Lindsey Kent &

                            Aubrie Norman, Jay's sisters

Ushers     Philip Kent &

                                       Thomas Norman, Jay's bros-in-law

My cousin Kelsey is also going to be a house party girl, handing out the programs and that kind of stuff, but I don't have a recent picture of her. 

So that's our wedding party. It's full of the people that mean the most to us. We are so excited that each of them will play a part in our special day!

19

Our Wedding Theme

Yes we have a theme for our wedding. First let me explain how we decided to have a theme. I had gone to a bridal show with a friend of mine and some reps from the Old Bedford School were there. I picked up the information and kept it. I researched a lot of venues, but I just kept coming back to the Old Bedford School. We finally decided to go check it out. As soon as we drove onto the property I knew we would get married there. We walked around the property and saw all the rooms downstairs. Then we went upstairs to the auditorium. I loved the auditorium and the old feel it had to it. Then we noticed all of the rows and every chair was numbered. My parents started joking that we could give everyone a ticket with a seat number on it and make them sit there. This got us thinking. Jay and I love to go to movies and theater productions, so it made sense to us to have a themed wedding where everyone got a ticket. We thought we could come up with a title for our "movie," have a poster made up, and give out tickets. It's really is a perfect theme for us.

Lucky for us, Jay's friend Adam is super talented at artsy stuff. It was no problem for him to put a movie poster together for us.

Isn't it awesome? It lists all of the cast members, producers, music supervisor, director of photography, etc. We haven't gotten it printed yet, but I am so excited to it! We also used this as our invitation. Instead of all the names at the bottom, it had all of the wedding day info and where to RSVP. I totally loved them!

I am still working on the tickets and trying to figure out how to do them. I really hope I can get them done because that is what started the whole theme. I have less than 3 weeks to do it...