Happy Festivus to the rest of us!!!

Many of you may know that my husband is a total Seinfeld geek. I, however, am not. More of a Friends type of girl myself. Logan is constantly quoting Seinfeld, and even though I've never actually seen an entire episode start to finish, Logan has explained to me the in's and out's of the show, and I am almost starting to appreciate the humor of the show (Let's be honest, Jerry drives me a little bit nuts).

Max, Logan's best friend, wishes us a Happy Festivus every year, so to Logan and Max, I dedicate this video clip to bring the rest of you up to speed about Festivus.

Until I get my Christmas pictures up...Happy Festivus to the rest of us, and a very happy new year.

Maybe next year I'll be one heck of a wife and throw Logan a Festivus Party. Maybe.

School

Since my husband just made it out of his hardest semester ever with nothing lower than a B, I think I should be allowed to be proud of him.

So there.

My lowest grade was a B too. We did pretty good this semester.

Decking our Halls! Fa la la la la!

Even though this is our third Christmas together, I feel like this is the first one that we are really all grown up for. And now that finals are over, I am really trying to soak it all up, even if Christmas is this weekend.

This is our tree for Christmas 2010. It is little, but it is loved.

Our first Christmas we had been engaged for about two weeks. A few days before Christmas I started feeling weird, and by Christmas Day I had full blown strep throat, ear infections, and sinus infections. I was a hot mess. Logan spent every day during break coming to my house and letting me sleep on him while I snored like an old grandpa because I couldn't breathe. My mommy was so impressed with him for treating me so well being so kind and gentle with me. We had only dated about 2 months before getting engaged, so even though I knew Logan was the best person in the whole entire universe for me, my family just didn't know him as well as I did, and I really think that those few days over the holidays were what sealed the deal for my parents and confirmed to them that I was making a good decision about marrying Logan.

Our second, we lived in the smallest apartment EVER. We had a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree...

Our Charlie Brown Tree, Christmas 2009

My parents gave it to us as a joke. It lived in a little pot of water on our kitchen table. Yes that table is folded up and tucked away next to our couch. Smallest apartment EVER, remember? We tried to put a few ornaments on it to make it festive, but it kept falling over. It was fun on our first Christmas Morning together as husband and wife. Different, and kind of uneventful, but kind of silly. We were both so used to having kids get so excited about presents, and here we were sitting on our bed opening our presents together. But it was so sweet, we had really put thought into the few presents we could afford that year.

Christmas Morning 2009 in The Love Shack

We sure did have a lot of fun that year, laughing at ourselves and the stories we could tell our babies of our first Christmas together. Here Logan is modeling his froggy robe and slippers my mommy made for him. I have a matching set that is pink.

(In the background of this picture you can see a full HALF of our apartment. I never really got good pictures before we moved, but this was the kitchen/living room/laundry room. Off of this was our bathroom, and on the opposite side of the picture was our bedroom)

This year we moved into a bigger apartment. Our first night in our new place, we were almost asleep when Logan said "Hey! Where should we put our Christmas tree this year?!" We are so excited to have more space and to be able to decorate more. We've actually acquired quite the collection for only one year.

It all started with this little guy:

My sissy, Dawniel, gave him to us. He has slinky legs and bells on his toes. We just love him.
Next is our Santa Figurine. He's our newest addition to the decor. Margret and George gave him to us. They are my birthdad's parents. It's been great getting to know my birthfamily this year!

And then these two little treats I found on a RIDICULOUS sale at Joann's. The red berries one is on our hallway door...
And this little guy is on our door outside. I just love coming home to see it on our door!
I love being all "grown up" and decorating our little home. It has been so, so fun. Merry Christmas to all of you! Let us remember the reason for the season--The birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Whoville-ation Celebration

My parents' home ward had their Christmas Party last night, and it was "Grinch" Themed. They had the whole place decorated like Whoville, complete with post office, Mt. Crumpet, Who-lympic games, and a Town Bake-off. They also had a hair contest for the best who hair. My baby (12 year old sister, and not really a baby anymore) sister, Emily, won the hair contest. And you might ask how she came across such an awesome who-do? Well, if you must know...I did it! It was a "who"le lot of fun trying to be all creative and wacky, and we had a lot of fun putting it together. As you can see in the above picture, Emily was doing her very best to try and do a "Who Face" but she ended up busting up laughing about two seconds after this was taken.

I also got to do Dawniel's hair, and it turned out super cute. If I ever am blessed with little baby girls, their hair will look like this on Valentine's Day. Not even joking!! I got her hair to do little hearts all the way down, finished off with a big red bow. Dawniel thought I was nutzo for making her do this, but I had a lot of fun!

Here are Dawniel's hair hearts, isn't she so stinking cute?!

This is the up close look at the Christmas Tree, complete with ornaments, a tree star, and Christmas Lights (that really lit up, this is for reals yo)!!

We also did crazy tails in the back. Yes, those are easter eggs, but its because the ornaments wouldn't fit...besides Christmas, Easter, what's the difference, they're both about Jesus!! And the ribbons looked like candy canes, but my flash went a little crazy and whited out the ribbon, but it was really cute!!

Spinach Soup with Gruyere

I found this on thepioneerwoman.com, which is a website I absolutely adore, earlier today, and noted that I had all the ingredients, give or take. I was in need of getting some dinner in my hungry hubby's tummy, and I decided to give it a go. Result--I actually liked it way, way better then I had expected I would. And Logan loved it too. It has a great creamy, fresh, and yet spicy flavor, and it's super easy to make!

Spinach Soup with Gruyere

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 10 ounces, weight Spinach
• 2 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• ½ whole Medium Onion
• ¼ cups Flour
• 5 cups Whole Milk--I used skim, and it turned out great
• 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
• ½ teaspoons Cayenne Pepper (Optional)--Do it.
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 4 ounces, weight Gruyere Cheese, Grated (other Cheeses Are Fine)--I used sharp cheddar and it was delicious (where do you even buy gruyere?)

Preparation

In a large skillet, heat olive over over medium heat. Add spinach and garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, or until wilted. Add spinach to a blender or food processor. Pour in 1/4 cup hot water and pulse until pureed. Set aside.

In a large soup pot, cook onion in butter over medium heat until onions begin to soften. Sprinkle flour over the top and stir to combine. Cook for about 2 minutes, then pour in milk, stirring occasionally. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in pureed spinach, then cook another 3 to 5 minutes until thickened.

Check seasonings, adding more salt, pepper, or cayenne as needed. Serve in a bowl. Add a little grated Gruyere.

Seriously so good. Pioneer Woman recommends adding creme fresh, or chopped bacon, or shrimp. I think tomatoes would be delicious, and then it would look all cute and Christmas-y. I think it was a great base that you could basically add whatever you think would sound good and it would be delicious. Let me know if you try it!! I wanna know if it turns out for you too!