Traditions

Christmas time is a time of traditions. Every year there is something that you have to do or it just doesn't seem like Christmas. My idea of Christmas has been changed quite a bit over the years but it is still fun to look back and see what used to be Christmas to me. Here are a few of my favorite Christmas traditions.

1.) The Christmas Eve Candlelight service. This still is one of my favorite traditions.

2.) Every year my sister and I got to open one gift on Christmas Eve.

3.) When we (my sister and I) were little and were still avid believers in Santa, my parents had a heck of a time getting us to go to bed on Christmas Eve. After we had opened our gifts my mom snuck out of the room with a Santa hat. She snuck outside and shook the hat by the window that we were sitting next to. My dad told us that it was one of Santa's elves and if we didn't hurry off to bed, Santa would skip over our house. I don't think we ever went to bed that quickly ever again.

4.) When the movie Home Alone came out on video it became a tradition to watch it on Christmas Eve.

We kept that going for a few years and then Home Alone 2 came out. We ended up watching that one for a few more years. This is one tradition I was glad to see die.

5.) Breakfast Burritos for breakfast on Christmas day.

6.) Steak, Baked Potato, and Caesar Salad for Christmas Dinner.

7.) Christmas Parties with friends and family.

Rachael and I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. From our family to yours a Happy New Year as well!

I is a kollege stoodent

This will be a short post...

I feel like my friend John here. Taking class after class and final after final can really fry your brain. The good news is that Rachael and I are finally done with this semester. We are looking forward to taking a break for a couple of weeks and enjoy the holiday season.

If you are in classes...congrats for making it though yet another semester. If you are out of college...congrats on finishing and getting your degree.

I'm going to play Nintendo...and turn my brain off for a little while. It was beginning to overheat anyway...who's in?

Frosted Muffins for Everyone!

It is true. Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. Or in my case, I am from a small family and she is from a large family. Or even better, I am from New Mexico/Utah and she is from Idaho. All that to say that our conversations at times are quite funny as we try to understand what we mean.

For example...

I have always understood the word "frumpy" to describe someone who is in a bad mood or is irritable. My mom would use it like "Why are you so frumpy today?" or "You're sure in a frump today." On the other hand Rachael had always understood the word "frumpy" to mean a very old/overweight/moo-moo wearing/sad looking person. Imagine my surprise when, while we were dating or engaged (I can't remember), Rachael was in a bad mood and I asked...."Why are you so frumpy today?" (insert gasp here.)

I'll let those words soak in a bit...

The reaction you are thinking about is the reaction I received. She shot me a look that would cause the strongest of men to curl into the fetal position and cry for their mama. Needless to say she was hurt that I would ask her why she was frumpy. What she thought and what I meant were two different things and it took a few minutes for me to explain what I meant by frumpy. I have since removed frumpy out of my vocabulary and Rachael has taken to pointing out what frumpy is when we come across it in public.

Fast-forward to last night. We were in the store buying some things for dinner when Rachael remembered that she needed to buy some items for her class-mates as she was going to bake a tasty treat for them. She told me that she needed to make muffins so I started to look for blueberry, poppy seed, or cinnamon muffin mix. She then told me that those wouldn't work because they needed to be "Frosted Muffins." When I explained that I have never had a frosted muffin she shot me another look (not as intense as the first one). She couldn't believe it. I told her that I had eaten a cup-cake but never a frosted muffin. To which she replied "That's what I meant! Cup-cakes!"

I have found that in marriage I am bound to be an idiot but as long as I can avoid becoming frumpy by eating my frosted muffins, we might just be able to communicate!

Until next time....Frosted Muffins for Everybody!