Dear readers, I learned something new about my Hubby. He loves classical music. What?! Yep! So for day 13 of my 25 Days of Christmas, I took Hubby and I to see the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. For their "Christmas with the ASO," they brought the joy of Christmas.
From their website:
"Capture the spirit of the holidays with the Orchestra’s iconic story of Christmas, created by the legendary Robert Shaw. A majestic cast of over 400 musicians brings to life the Greatest Story Ever Told."
In addition to the orchestra, there were three wonderful choirs, The Gwinnett Young Singers, The Morehouse College Glee Club, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. They absolutely blew us away! My favorite part had to be when they played the music from "The Nutcracker," which is my absolute favorite ballet.
To say that these are the best of the best musicians is an understatement. Their talents and dedication to get this far is inspiring. Hubby and I are already talking about going back again!
I love reading. I mean, I LOVE READING! And my guilty pleasure is cheesy, romantic novels. I am talking Harlequin novels where the woman's bust is heaving on the cover. Lol. I was the only 15 year old who had a subscription of Harlequin-type books. My love for the opposites attract or the unlikely romantic are my favorites. Well for Day 12 of 25 Days of Christmas, I decided to grab me a new Christmas themed romance, make me a Christmas drink, and read my day away.
Let's start with the book. Ok, so I did not physically grab a book...lol. More like, I pulled up my Kindle app and started reading digitally. Because I have Amazon Prime, I am able to download lots of romance novels for free. So for today's book, I chose "Unwrapping Her Perfect Match." Not only is it about Christmas, but it has a rugby angle to the story. See, reading and learning about a new sport!
Here is the long summary of the book from Amazon:
’Twas a week before Christmas, and at the auction house...
At six foot one, Gwen Chambers has felt like a giant her whole life. She’s a calm, capable nurse saving lives in a busy London hospital, but healthy men give her heart palpitations. When larger-than-life rugby player “Little” John Sheldon convinces her to bid on him in his team’s fundraising auction, she discovers how pleasurable heart palpitations can be. A rugby player was stirring, with desire no one could douse... John has wanted Gwen since he first saw her, but when he’s injured in a match just before Christmas he suddenly needs her too. Not only can the sexy nurse help him recover, but she might be able to help him look after his daughter—a shy ten-year-old who speaks only French. But will it be a Happy Christmas for all, and for all a good night? From decorating the Christmas tree to ice skating at the Tower of London, Gwen helps father and daughter open up and bond with each other—and she bonds right along with them. But when John's agent calls with a life-changing offer, Gwen has to decide how far she’s willing to go for her perfect match. Will their first Noël also be their last?
Cheesy, right?! Well, so far, I am loving it. I was able to get through about half of the book in an afternoon and will be finishing it in the next week.
Now for the Christmas drink...this one was hard. I just could not find anything that sounded good enough or in small portions that I could drink alone. I did not want to end up with a gallon of punch, you know? Well, I had a bottle of red wine and I thought, Sangria! A red wine sangria is perfect for winter, especially when you add some citrus fruits. Here is the great recipe that I used.
Well that is all. Going back to read more of my book.
There is nothing like a warm, hearty meal on a cold winter day. Well this is Atlanta and it was 73 degrees today, but that did not stop me from cooking a great meal for Hubby and I. So on day 11 of 25 Days of Christmas, I went into my kitchen and whipped up a spicy chili.
Chili is kind of my thing. What other recipe can you go into your cupboards and clear out everything and put it into one pot. Ok, ok, not everything, but seriously, I used a lot of ingredients.
You may be thinking, "Crystal, how is this holiday related?" Well, it may not be directly related, but it has become a tradition in my family that every December, I make my infamous (to my Hubby) chili and since this 25 Days is about creating traditions that can last a lifetime, I am including it. :)
Since I don't measure my recipe at all, I would be horrible at giving you directions on how to make it. However, I did find one that is pretty similar to mine here. The only difference in mine is that I love packing in as many beans as I can...light kidney beans, dark kidney beans, black beans, cannelloni, whatever I have in my kitchen!
I don't know about you, but I love being outside when the air is crisp and the leaves have fallen. When I lived in Frederick, MD, I would take my dogs hiking at least once a week. Just us on the trails, exploring the waterfalls, and getting rid of all stresses and pent up energy.
Since moving to Atlanta, we have not gone hiking at all, so for day 10 of 25 Days of Christmas, I decided to take my bunch on a holiday hike! We went to Sweetwater Creek State Park in Lithia Springs, GA, about 40 minutes from our house. This park was so beautiful! And luckily, the weather was beautiful at 60 degrees with a light breeze.
So I have been working out hard for about two months - one hour of cardio, 4-5 days a week. Well that did not matter because I struggled on this 3.5 mile, moderate to difficult hike. At several times between points 6 and 9 (there were 20), I seriously thought that I would not be able to make it. My legs hurt, I couldn't breathe, and Frankie (my lab) was literally pulling me up that hill. But guess what? I finished! It took us a while and I was sore, but I made it through the rest of the hike and to the car. Woohoo! Here are some pictures that I took on this holiday hike:
We look the labs, Bella and
Frankie along on the hike.
Marker 10, halfway through the hike.
My beautiful, Bella Louise
My handsome boy, Frankie
Away we go! Thanks Frankie for
pulling your mama along.
Yep, this was at the beginning of the
hike before the pain of going up those hills.
My handsome Hubby pondering life. Lol.
I love my hiking crew.
The beautiful river that we crossed
on the bridge on the trail.
After that hike, you know what I did the rest of the day....sleep! I needed it.
So today, Hubby and I did my absolute favorite Christmas activity! On the 9th day of the 25 Days of Christmas, we took Christmas photos!
As I did last year, I took to Groupon and LivingSocial looking for deals for photography studios. Again, I was able to take advantage of a deal from the Picture People for a session, prints, and a CD of our favorite pose. Great deal all for just $22!
Hubby and I were thinking of all kinds of themes and costumes, but in the end, we kept it simple with jeans, white shirts, and Santa hats. We decided to include one of our zoo members this year for the fun. We chose Justice, our most recent foster fail. She is the most well-behaved and wouldn't have been scared of the flashes and the stranger.
Because of Justice, we had to be at the photo studio at 9 am before the mall opened. That meant I had to put on makeup before 8 am. Ugh! It was all worth it as we came out with some wonderful shots. We selected one pose of all of us and one with just Justice to print out. So drumroll please....here are our Christmas photos for 2015!
A little selfie before the actual photo shoot.
The photo of Justice. Ain't she cute?
Our Christmas Photo!
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Lol.
We did a two-for-one day of Christmas activities! On that night, we drove 45 minutes to Fayetteville, GA where we got to see a great production at New Hope Baptist Church called the Singing Christmas Tree. It was amazing!
From their website:
"The Living Christmas Tree is a worship celebration combining music, drama, choirs, orchestra and thousands of computerized lights on a 50 ft. “Singing” Tree. Each year an original story incorporates sounds of the season as well as biblical drama to proclaim the gospel story of Jesus Christ."
At some times during the production, I was crying, while at other times, I was in tears. It was amazing! I even got to see a real life camel! That thing was huge, yet gorgeous! Afterwards, Hubby and I went to dinner where we got to look lovingly into each other's eyes. I love him!
So after giving myself a few days break from sweets, I was ready for this next activity. On day 8 of 25 Days of Christmas, I had a cookie decorating party...with just Hubby and I.
There is nothing better than the smell of cookies wafting through the house. I change that, there is nothing better than the taste of warm, gooey cookies in your mouth. Mmmmm. I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. Hubby loves the peanut butter cookies. After baking them to golden deliciousness, I took out my cookie icing and went to work making stars, Christmas trees, and Christmas sayings. I think from the results that I need to work more on my decorating skills. Lol. Here are some pics of this activity.
The before picture of the peanut butter cookies topped
with a little sugar to make them a little crunchy.
The after with my awesome decorating.
Well, I am off to eat some cookies while they are warm and delicious.
For Day 7 of 25 Days of Christmas, I put on my creative hat to design our yearly Christmas cards. So last year, Hubby and I started the tradition of sending Christmas cards to family and friends. Everyone loved our goofy picture and the handwritten sentiments! So this year, I am taking it a bit further by actually designing personalized Christmas cards!
There are lots of websites that you can use for this, including Shutterfly, but for a more economical solution, I am going through my local CVS store. In addition to them being reasonably priced, they have free same day printing, which we will need since we are going to send these out two weeks before Christmas!
It took me about two hours to find the design that I wanted and to customize it with our name, a message, and the layout that I wanted. In the end, I think I created like five cards, but will let Hubby select the one he likes the best.
Hubby and I have our photo shoot planned for Day 9 and this year, we are including one of the zoo members. Won't spoil the surprise yet.
I will be honest hear, reader. Today's activity was supposed to be much different. As you know from day 3 of 25 Days of Christmas, Hubby and I baked a million cupcakes...ok, more like 48, but still a lot. Well here I am at day 6 and we still have about 24 cupcakes left! I am in a sugar coma to the extreme, then I look at my activity of the day and it said, "Make Christmas Candy." I was like, nope, not happening! My waistline needs to recover from all of the cupcakes that I have eaten and will still have to eat, so tonight, I decided to scrap the candy making and watch the marathon of Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel.
They run ALL DAY LONG. So tonight, I stayed up late watching all of the great romantic Christmas ones. That is all, nothing else planned. Well, that is not true, I am planning on hitting the gym tomorrow so that you all won't see me on TV as they airlift me off of my couch. LOL.
So this morning, I got up very early, bundled myself up, and went out into the cold for my Day 5 of 25 Days of Christmas activities. Why did I go out into the cold, cold world? To see the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Christmas Parade!
When I got into the car, the temperature read 39 degrees. In Atlanta, it was 39 degrees! Add in the fierce winds and the temp had to be much lower. Well I braved the cold as I made my way to Midtown for the parade activities.
I had on MULTIPLE layers and it still
did not keep the fierce wind from freezing me!
The parade was amazing! It lasted about an hour and half and I was smiling the entire time. This definitely got me into the Christmas spirit. I won't bore you with more talking, here are some pictures!
For today's activity for 25 Days of Christmas, I decided to give myself a break and watch a movie! And if you read my list from last year, then you know that I selected "Love Actually." This movie will NEVER get old to me. I even find myself watching it during non-Christmas times.
As an homage to the movie, I will list my top ten reasons why it will always be my favorite Christmas movie:
1) The wedding scene with the surprise choir and orchestra.
Ok, what girl wouldn't love that happening at her wedding. That took lots of planning and coordination. I remember when planning my wedding, I wondered if I could pull that off. Since we eloped, that did not happen. Lol.
2) The romance between the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) and Natalie (Martine McCutcheon).
The reason why I love this romance is that the Prime Minister could have dated some supermodel in the movie, but he fell in love with a real girl. Although people in the movie constantly referred to her as big boned, I thought Martine McCutcheon was absolutely gorgeous. No wonder the PM couldn't keep his mind off of her.
3) Love Christmas is all around
"I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes. Christmas is all around me and so the feeling grows."
OK, who doesn't love an old rockstar trying to revive his career? And when you have one who gives us so many wonderful one liners, it is movie magic. I actually came upon the full music video and it is HILARIOUS!
4) The ever awkward sex stand-ins, (Just) Judy and John.
Why let the fact that you are sex stand-ins for a movie interfere with perfectly mundane conversation about the weather? Every scene with them, I wondered if it could possibly get more awkward...then it did. Lol
5) The scene where Sarah (Laura Linney) does her happy dance in the stairway when Carl comes over.
You cannot tell me that you have not done this before. Every girl out there has had that moment when a crush has taken notice and your happy feelings just can't be contained inside. I literally wanted to do the happy dance with her by this point in the movie because I was so rooting for her and Carl.
6) The Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) doing his sexy dance through his house and getting caught.
I have always thought Hug Grant was a hottie. I have watched EVERY movie that he has made. He exceeded the sexy and cute factor with his little booty wiggle. Again, this is a scene where you know it has happened to you, except it was probably your mom.
7) When Mark tells Juliet his true feelings.
Ok, I know it was so skeevie of this dude to hit on his best friend's wife. I did not applaud that. However, the way that he told her his feelings was so sweet that you couldn't help but feel sorry for him. What girl wouldn't love a guy to do this for her.
8) The scene with Mr. Bean and the gift wrapping.
Once I was in a department store and someone was wrapping up a gift and I had to laugh out loud because it reminded me of this Mr. Bean scene so much. Just when you think the "gift wrapping" is done, he starts doing something else! I was cringing inside from the panic that the guy's wife would show up and catch him.
9) The final musical number of "All I Want For Christmas."
Little known fact about me: I get teary-eyed or cry every time I hear Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas." This is the epitome of the Christmas season and having a Hubby who I long distance dated for so long, I know the longing of just wanting to be with that special person on Christmas. See, I am tearing up just watching this clip.
10) All of the scenes of people greeting each other in the airports.
The beginning and ending sequences of "Love Actually" to me are the most poignant parts of the movie. It shows the happiness that people feel when they meet a loved one at the airport. As a frequent flyer, I always long for someone to give me a hug after a long day of travel. Knowing that someone you love is waiting right outside of the terminal for you is so sweet.
Well that is all. I actually wrote this as I was writing this blog post and so I did not give it the full attention that it deserves. No worries, I will watch it again...and again...and again....
The theme of Day 3 should be blow your diet and kick some butt. Lol. For this activity of 25 Days of Christmas, Hubby and I played our favorite holiday game - Christmasopoly! So far, I am the reigning champion of this game, but Hubby wanted a chance to defeat me.
Hubby and our dog, Bella, selecting the day 3 activity.
She was too large to pick up. Lol.
Before we started playing, though, we needed to get our snacks ready. Since we were both craving something sweet, I decided to make some cupcakes. Within an hour, I had over 45 cupcakes created! Yeah, I went a little overboard, but they are small, so doesn't count as much for calories, right?
Not even all of them! Funfetti cupcakes with vanilla whipped
icing and vanilla cupcakes with milk chocolate icing.
Drooling...
After all cupcakes were ready, we sat down to play the game. Christmasopoly is the Christmas version of Monopoly (as you probably guessed). Instead of houses and hotels, there are presents and Christmas trees. It is super cute and really fun.
So last night as we were playing, the live version of The Wiz came on TV. So I was singing along to the songs, dancing in my seat, and whooping my Hubby's butt in the game.
The final results: I am STILL the reigning champ of Christmasopoly! Lol. I will play him a few more times this season to see if he can beat me.
When I was 14, my mom gave birth to my little sister, Catherine. With her arrival came a new Christmas tradition, selecting a Hallmark keepsake ornament. That first Christmas, the new baby ornament was front and center as we rejoiced in our bundle of joy. Each year after we would make a special trip to Hallmark to select our ornaments. They had to relate to something that happened to us that year that we wanted to commemorate. By the time I left for college, we had a tree full of ornaments. As we grew up, though, this tradition was lost as us kids became "too cool" for Christmas.
When I started this 25 Days of Christmas idea, I knew that I wanted to revive that tradition. I wanted my Hubby and I to select a representation of our years together to display on the Christmas tree. My dream is to one day have so many memories that we need multiple trees to display them all. So on the second day of Christmas, we jumped in the car and went to get our keepsake ornaments.
Hubby selecting the next activity
with our cat, Midnight.
Our lovely model, Midnight
Clearly, he was happy to be selecting our ornaments.
Hubby selected an ornament that represented
his favorite Christmas movie, "A Christmas Story."
I selected this cute little pet shop (that
has adoptable pets, of course.)
