This is the life

I'm off work this whole week, and I feel downright spoiled in the luxury of this delicious time--Especially coming off a vacation visiting family in Oklahoma. There are many days when I crave simplicity, and for the past few days I've been basking in the sheer joy of some very simple things that make me very happy.

My apartment is clean, and it isn't a chore to keep it that way because I have plenty of time to tend to it.

I stayed up playing Greg's new video game with him last night and didn't once think about bedtimes or work the next day.

I'm getting quality time in with friends and with my husband.

This morning I made some coffee and took a hot mug back to bed where I read a good book for hours. (HOURS. Reading for hours. Bliss!)

I'm working on projects around our home that give me such satisfaction. Hanging shelves, choosing pictures... I love this home that Greg and I have made and it makes me so happy to nurture it.

We went to a movie last night and I didn't feel selfish with my time. (I normally don't like going to the movies because of the time that is "wasted" at the theater, and it also reminds me of work. Movies aren't fun when you HAVE to go see them.)

I've been listening to music while I putter around the house. Ben Folds and Ingrid Michealson energize me and soothe me and keep me company. And I still like the Dixie Chicks, I don't care what people say about that!

I feel rested. I don't feel like I'm juggling a million things right now. It is so sweet. I'm going to enjoy this time off for as long as it lasts, and I'm sure that when it's time for me to go back to the office I'll be nice and refreshed.

Bookended

Yesterday was spent entirely in pajamas. Greg played his new videos games while I cooked, napped, cleaned the kitchen and read. The only time one of us left the apartment was when Greg ran next door to buy a bar of dark chocolate when we decided to make hot chocolate on our stove top. It was the perfect lazy day of doing "nothing" and just being together on Christmas.

I'm currently sitting in the house at church listening to Greg and the band warm up before today's service. The last time I was here was for the Christmas Eve service on Friday evening. Candles, carols, cookies and cider...

Somehow, I feel even more cozy in the realization that our quiet Christmas was bookended by worship and fellowship with our LA family.

Very blessed.

A very merry Christmas to YOU

Merry Christmas!

This morning Greg and I woke up a little before 9am and had our first Christmas morning together, just the two of us. I made some coffee and Greg popped some apple turnovers into the oven for breakfast (a tradition in his family).

Then we took turns opening gifts and pulling goodies out of our stockings. It was really fun-- I loved watching Greg open his gifts that I was so excited to give him, and he gave me some great gifts as well. This boy knows my heart!

I called my family once we'd eaten breakfast and opened our presents. It sounds like they're having a nice time in Georgia as well.

Greg and I are going to take it easy the rest of the day. We'll play Greg's new video games and cook dinner together later on. I'm also going to try a hot chocolate recipe that we found a few weeks ago-- hint: the secret ingredient is cardamom pods (which I received in my stocking!)

I'll let you know how it turns out!

Merry Christmas! God bless us, every one.

Oklahoma Christmas

Greg and I returned last night after a lovely visit with his side of the family in Oklahoma.  I am so thankful to have the in-laws that I do.  We got to go to Oklahoma for almost an entire week and that allowed us to have some good quality time with people, even though we did a lot of running around, we still had delicious moments of just sitting and talking and being together.

Stockings, hung with care at my mother-in-law's house.

Greg and I relaxing to the Christmas songs playing on the TV at my father-in-law's house.

I really love to see Greg with his family.  I like to see him wear all the different hats: son, brother, cousin, grandson, bro-in-law, etc.  He is a man of such integrity and I love the way that he cares for those nearest and dearest to his heart. 

I love that he is still a good person even when he is most comfortable-- which may sound weird to say, but I simply mean that he is still kind and considerate around people who would love him even if he acted like a jerk.  I love his character.

Flying out to Oklahoma a week ago, we were delayed in Denver because our initial plane had mechanical difficulties and we missed our connection.  It was okay though, because it gave us time to sit and eat this:

Yum.

But then on the way home yesterday, we left Oklahoma early in the day and arrived in Denver only to learn that this time our connecting flight had been cancelled (!!!)

Our gate.  With no plane.

It made for an adventure-- upon landing we were told that we couldn't get a flight until 8am this morning-- however, a really nice Customer Service rep named Jesse was able to get us on a flight back to LA yesterday at 6:15pm.  I was SO thankful that we didn't have to spend the night in Denver and then race back to LA just in time to be good and late to work this morning...

Also, while we were gone, our car got broken into.  It was unfortunate, BUT at least they didn't steal the car!  Am I right?  (Can I get an "amen!")

The rear window got smashed in and the interior is really wet from all the rain that SoCal got while Greg and I were in sunny Oklahoma.  All the papers from the glove box were strewn across the front seat, but it doesn't look like they took anything (I think whoever did this was looking for cash...)

So, while replacing a broken car window isn't necessarily convenient, Greg and I are happy that we're in a place where we can afford the unexpected expense.  And we're counting our blessings, because we feel very protected and provided for-- it could have been way worse:

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to dry our car's interior?  I would hate for mold to start growing, and the weekend is supposed to bring even more rain...

Anyway, we had a great trip and it's good to be home.  Stay classy, Los Angeles. (wink, smile)

Only 1 more sleep until Oklahoma!

In about 20 minutes I will be leaving my office to go home to pack for our trip to Oklahoma!  We will be there for nearly an entire week visiting Greg's side of the family and I am so, so, so excited.  We'll have to leave our house at around 3:15am to get to the airport, so we'll have to do a lot of our sleeping on the plane.  But I'm too excited to sleep anyway :)

And you know what will be keeping me company on the plane if I can't seem to catch many winks in the air either?  My January 2011 issue of Real Simple:

If that wasn't perfect timing, I'm not sure what is! 

Way to go, Real Simple!  You somehow KNEW I'd need some excellent reading material, didn't you..?

It's beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS!  Woohoo!

These little guys are snuggly tucked under our tree:

(Beautifully wrapped, if I do say so myself...)

Greg and I attended 2 Christmas parties this weekend, which was fun since we'll miss any parties this weekend.  (...Because we'll be in OKLAHOMA visiting FAMILY!!)  On Saturday a friend from the Actor's Co-op opened his home and we gathered around his fireplace for hours chatting away and eating a million cookies. 

Then last night we went to the Christmas party for Greg's work. It was at a really nice restaurant with a stellar view of the city just a little drive up the mountain.  The food was great and Greg won a gift card to Best Buy in the raffle.  Plus on the way up to the restaurant we saw this:

One awesome little house that went all out...

(Our jaws dropped when we saw it.  I found my words in time to holler: "Pull over!")

Merry and bright. 

(That little mailbox opened and closed revealing letters to Santa inside.  Amazing.)

Also, there's this:

If this doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will!

Gift wrap party with my husbuddy

Yesterday evening was so wonderful.  Greg made dinner for us, so when I walked in the door our home was warm and smelled delicious.  He made this amazing homemade mac 'n' cheese with smoked cheddar and tomatoes, it was so tasty. 

Then we moved our coffee table out of the way and spread out on the living room floor because we both had projects to work on.  I had to wrap the presents that we're sending to my family because I needed to get them in the mail this morning.  (Um.  I LOVE wrapping presents.  Am I alone in this?)  Walgreens had a Buy 1 Get 1 FREE sale on wrapping paper so I grabbed a roll of primarily red paper AND a roll of primarily green paper so that I could wrap the gifts for the girls in red and the gifts for the boys in green.  (I'm a nerd.) They looked really pretty all wrapped up together.  And I went crazy with ribbon curls as well -- which I'm sure will be nice and smooshed by the time they arrive, fitting the gifts in the box was a bit like playing tetris, but maybe my family can fluff the ribbons a bit before they get placed under the tree.

Meanwhile, Greg was writing out cue cards for his Rigor Tortoise sketch show tonight.  So he had giant sheets of poster board and a fat squeaky sharpie and he legibly wrote lines across all the cards.  He has excellent handwriting.  If I ever needed cue cards, I would want Greg to write mine.

We decided to watch a movie while we worked.  BAM:

Anastasia

Oh how I love this movie!  Greg put it on and when I noticed I shot him a huge smile because I knew that he put it on for me.  He knows I like it :)

Then I made us hot chocolate topped with peppermint whipped cream (What?!  YES.  I said peppermint whipped cream.  YUM.)

It was a perfect evening together full of relaxing creative activities, good food, and quality time with my best friend.  I am so glad that I get to spend the rest of my Christmases with Greggers, he gets me.

Christmas special bloopers

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas was always one of my favorite Christmas specials growing up. 
Imagine my delight when I found this little gem on youtube:



It's behind-the-scenes bloopers!  Ah!  Enjoy :)

My non-wish list

Greg dropped me off at work today so that he could take the car and get Christmas shopping done. (And some of that shopping is for ME!!)

When my brother and I were kids we used to make wish lists for Santa. I can remember watching cartoons and hollering “I want that!” whenever a coveted toy flashed across the screen during a commercial break. I have a feeling that my brother and I probably wanted everything. We were the suckers of every marketing campaign geared towards children.

Funny but as I get older, I find the question: “What do you want for Christmas” more challenging than I did when I was a kid. I don’t really need anything.

At least, nothing immediately comes to mind.

Hmmm…

Of course, once I really sit and think about it, I realize that Greg and I have been sharing a car since April, and our computer takes about 30 minutes to boot up once you turn it on (not to mention that it sounds like an airplane taking off as it beeps to life), and we still have a few bare walls in our apartment, and our salt and pepper shakers melted when I accidentally left them on the stove top while something was baking in the oven…

And then my list of wants seems to go on and on (and on) forever:

…I’d like some new clothes that update my wardrobe a bit, and matching bedside tables, and additional magnetic spice canisters to hang on the side of our fridge so we have more space in our pantry, and a Starbucks gift card so that I don’t feel guilty when I splurge on a schmancy latte thingy…

But as my list of wants grows, I feel my quiet satisfaction melting away and I long for that content peace I had just a moment ago before I started thinking on all the things that I don’t have.  Not that it's evil to make a wish list, but I think I can take it to the extreme if I'm not careful.  It makes so much more sense to list my abundant blessings instead – after all, that list seems to go on and on (and on) forever as well!

Whatever I get for Christmas this year, I know I’ll enjoy— but not because of wish fulfillment. Whatever I'm given will be something unexpected, and I'll know that whatever I receive won't have been given simply because I named it as a want.  And I’m thankful that now that I’m older I’ve learned that I know better than to make lists when anything I could possibly write down would be but a loss.

I consider all things a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. --Philppians 3:8

Long day

I welcomed Monday as an early bird and after a good full day I was left dog tired in the last few minutes before it turned Tuesday.

Sitting in my cold car in the parking lot waiting to pick Greg up once his shift ended at midnight, I could barely contain myself at the thought of my soft pillow and warm snuggly husband.  We made it home and into our pajamas in about ten minutes, and I'm sure I was soundly in dreamland by 12:15...

I have no memory of actually getting into bed last night, and once I nodded off I slept the sleep of the dead.

Tuesday arrived sweetly, with gentle cuddles nudging me into the land of the living once again.  A hot shower and new bar of soap washed away any crankiness I had been carrying with me from the day before.  Greg drove me to work today and kissed me goodbye in the driveway.

Happy Tuesday, all!

Greg and me circa 2005

Officially an old married couple

This very day I was an ass to my husband because he has a habit of shedding his socks in random places (do other boys do this?) and I'm constantly finding little sock puddles all over my house...


It. Drives. Me. CRAZY.

I'm sure I have plenty of habits that drive Greg nuts too, but this sock thing is definitely one of his tendencies that get under my skin.  Especially since I really cleaned the whole place this past weekend and I'm in the mindset of maintaining that cleanliness. Little things like socks strewn across the floor kill the "doorbell ready" atmosphere that I worked so hard to create and I start feeling really defeated.  All that effort and then in an instant: my living room looks like a bachelor pad (well, to me anyway).

It's like he absent mindedly steps out of the things and they just lie there like cotton foot prints across my carpet.


Annoying?  Sure.  But then I come along and blow this habit way out of proportion by taking it personally because I think to myself: "Greg knows I just worked hard all weekend to make this place really clean on my days off and he doesn't even appreciate it..."
 
And that is where my head was when I met Greg at home for lunch this afternoon and spotted a pair of socks under our ottoman.  I made an exasperated noise and made a big show of picking his socks up in front of him.
 
...Aaaaannndd then Greg marched into the bathroom and picked up my pile of pajamas that were still hanging out on the cold tile floor after being shed before my shower this morning.  (I could have sworn I had dropped those things in the hamper before I left for work...)
 
Soo... yeah.  I guess we really are perfect for each other.