Our First Christmas

Much like our first Thanksgiving I really dropped the ball when it came to taking pictures. At this rate we probably wont have a single picture of us together on any of our first holidays. As soon as we moved into the apartment the first thing I got ready and unpacked was the Christmas tree and decorations.

I'm sure Ross thought I was absolutely crazy, but he went with it, and I loved that our little home really felt like Christmas! 

On the morning of Christmas Eve we went to Ross's parents for breakfast and spent some time with them and Ross's brother and his wife! Then we headed out to Rockwall where we spent Christmas Eve with my family. We made pizza and opened one present-pajamas- the way its been as long as I can remember! We stayed the night there instead of driving back and forth, and woke up early for presents and monkey bread. It was so nice to be able to spend the morning with my family and not have to drive for hours to get there. After breakfast we headed back to Arlington to spend the rest of the day with Ross's family! We had a great Christmas lunch and opened more presents and spent the rest of the day watching Christmas movies. And I don't have a single picture to show for any of it- but we'll get to that when we get to New Years resolutions. Whether I have the pictures to show it or not, it was an absolutely wonderful Christmas and I'm so thankful for the family I have and the time I spend with them. I think Ross and I are still in denial that we live so close to our families, but I'm sure it will sink in very soon.

Honeymooning!

Our honeymoon was to DIE for. Imagine the best vacation you could ever have, then whatever you pictured make it ten times better because you're with your best friend. We went to the Excellence resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking to get away. The beaches were beautiful, the staff was so nice, the food and drinks were delicious, and it was SO relaxing. We didn't end up doing any excursions, but we were perfectly happy to lay on the beach, lounge in the pool, and enjoy the shows put on by the staff! It really was the perfect trip to celebrate our marriage and we are so thankful and lucky to have enjoyed such a wonderful trip!

Our room-yes that is a Jacuzzi in the room

Waiting for us the day we got there

Beautiful view off our balcony

 

Loved spending a whole week with this guy

 

We had a special dinner planned one night with rose petals and champagne

We really had the absolute best time and can't wait to go back!

Look who graduated!

He did it!! So proud of this guy and all his hard work!

My parents were able to come down to watch Ross graduate!

And Lee drove all the way from Kansas-unfortunately Megan got sick and couldn't make it to CS :(

Love the family that I'm so lucky to be a part of now! And so unbelievably proud of my number one guy for all of his accomplishments! 

Fort Worth or bust

Oh my gosh, December is busy. We move to Fort Worth on Saturday, as in 4 days. Have we packed? Not a single box. But we do have an apartment lined up- baby steps people. Last Wednesday we drove up to Arlington and stayed the night with Ross's parents, then Thursday we hit the road bright and early to start checking out some apartments. Of course I had a spreadsheet of every complex ready to go, so that made everything a little less painful. We also got to check out downtown Fort Worth for lunch and they had it decorated for Christmas so that was a lot of fun.

Disregard the look of pain on my face. This was right before the ice storm hit DFW. It was COLD.

But SO cute.

And best of all-we found an apartment!! Great location, newly renovated, and perfect for our little family. It was such a relief to get that taken care of and actually know something. We've had a whole lot of unknown going on so this was a very nice change of pace! I know the rest of December will fly by. Ross graduates on Friday, we move Saturday, hopefully get everything unpacked Sunday and Monday and then Tuesday morning we are flying out to the beautiful Dominican Republic for our honeymoon and we couldn't be more excited or READY. It'll be so nice to have that week together to just enjoy and relax and be together. Hopefully I do better than Thanksgiving and remember to use my camera!

The stockings were hung...

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we headed out to First Monday at Canton with my mom and Ross's parents! If you have never been you HAVE to plan a trip. Its basically a giant craft fair ranging from flea market junk to beautiful high end furniture. They have everything you could possibly need-except for stockings that is. I had expected to have endless options-aisles and aisles of stockings. WRONG. There were maybe two different burlap stocking options. So I did what any sane person would do-bought a sewing machine (thanks for the early Christmas present, Mom!),

picked out some fabric and made my own!

Up until this point my motto had been, hot glue can do it all. Well. I was wrong. Sewing machines are awesome. Super easy to use-my mom gave me a quick tutorial and helped me finish the first one, and then I was good to go! 

Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty darn excited with how these turned out. I plan on taking them to an embroidery place to get our names or initials put on them, and I still need to finish them with some red and gold tassel ribbon, but for now, I love them. And yes I made one for Cricket-how could I not when they make Christmas scottie dog fabric?! I love that they're modern but classic, I love that I can add more (in the very distant future), and I love that they were made by me. My mom made our stockings over 20 years ago and they're still the ones we use to this day and I love that I'm joining in on the tradition!

PS. I used this tutorial and pattern and would absolutely recommend it, it was super easy to follow, especially for a beginner! 

Our First Thanksgiving!

Well I successfully managed to not take a single picture of our first married holiday- I guess we were just too busy having such a good time! Since all of our family had just flown in for the wedding, they weren't able to make it down again for Thanksgiving so we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our parents. And food for DAYS. It really was perfect. Great food, and spending the day with the people I'm most thankful for. We even managed to roll off the couches and head out for a little Black Friday shopping!

I'm so thankful that we live close to our parents and were able to spend our first Thanksgiving with both of them. I'm so thankful for my supportive parents and in-laws and the time we spend with them. I'm extra thankful for my husband who dives right in when his crazy wife wants go to Home Depot at 5 in the morning to get a Christmas tree. And I'm SO thankful that in just a couple of weeks we will live even closer to our family! Ross accepted a job with the company he interned with over the summer and we are moving to Fort Worth! I'm applying to graduate school at Texas Women's University and am hoping to get my Masters degree in speech-language pathology! It is SO nice to know where we are going and to have a plan! Tomorrow we head off to find an apartment, next Friday Ross graduates (so proud of him!), we move to Fort Worth the next day, and the following Tuesday we head out on our honeymoon and come back just a couple days before Christmas! This December is going to be crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way and can't wait for the next stage of our life!