Day 13 of 25 Days of Christmas: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

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!

Talk later!
Crystal

Day 12 of 25 Days of Christmas: Holiday Drink and a Book

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. 

Talk later!

Crystal

Day 11 of 25 Days of Christmas: Make a Hearty Winter Meal

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 hope you enjoy!

Talk later!
Crystal

Day 10 of 25 Days of Christmas: Hiking with Our Dogs

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.

Talk later!
Crystal

Day 9 of 25 Days of Christmas: Christmas Photo Day and Singing Christmas Tree

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!

What a perfect day for Christmas activities!

Talk later!
Crystal

Day 8 of 25 Days of Christmas: Cookie Decorating

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. 

Talk later!

Crystal

Day 7 of 25 Days of Christmas: Design Christmas Card

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.

Can't wait to do the big reveal!

Talk later!
Crystal