Crossroads: 2008

Tonight is one of the last nights Jeff and I have to spend just the two of us during the Christmas season. So I planned a yummy date night for us with his favorite food-King Crab! I also looked up Christmas meals to get festive ideas to go with it. Then Jeff serenaded me while I blogged ;)

The pretty table. Look at all the red and green!

A salad with mixed greens, apples, dried cranberries, walnuts and poppy seed dressing.

A side: Parmesan couscous with tomatoes and snap peas.

The appetizer: cream cheese topped with raspberry chipotle sauce and crackers.

And I didn't take a picture of the crab legs. Because there is nothing pretty about those.

And here I am-blogging about it. So romantic ;P

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper! With ribbons and bows and themes :)
2. Real tree or Artificial? Real! Nothing beats the experience of picking it out and nothing beats the sweet, fresh smell.
3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? Well, I used to take it down the 26th. But now I think I want to keep it up longer. Christmas is too wonderful to end that soon.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but only a little at a time. We’ve been having it almost every night!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Are you kidding? This is way too hard. But I do remember a precious doll Santa brought one year.
7. Easiest person to buy for? Probably my mom.
8. Do You have a nativity scene? Yes.
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Well I love to receive them in the mail, but I’m also an environmentalist, so cringe to think about how much waste we could save by emailing. Maybe next year…
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? There are no bad gifts. (aw, wasn’t that a sweet answer!?)
11. Favorite Christmas Movie? It’s a Wonderful Life
12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Probably usually in October.
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Probably.
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Orange rolls and scrambled eggs! And chocolate oranges. YUM!
15. Lights on the tree? Yes, plenty to make beautiful shadows on the ceiling and walls. This year we have clear lights. Next year we might go with blue 
16. Favorite Christmas song? Snoopy’s
17. Travel for Christmas or stay home? Either! This year we are staying home. Our first family Christmas!
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen and Rudolph!
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? We have a bird.
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning!
21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Consumerism.
22. Favorite ornament theme or color? Anything and everything.
23. Favorite Christmas dinner? tacos
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? World peace.

On one hand, I don't care for Coke or Wal-mart, so this is hard for me to post. But on the other hand, every time I hear it and see it I smile!

(don't forget to stop my music all the way at the bottom to hear this song.)

Lindsey and I accidentally dressed EXACTLY ALIKE for our Christmas party. Oh my. We clearly had to take a picture.

Since The Office is on tonight, what better day than to post about our office festivities. We all have those days and people that we can relate back to the show, don't we? I think it works best for me during the holiday season. We always do this departmental stuff, like having potlucks and decorating the halls as contests and food drives, etc. These times make for many memorable stories. Like the guy who brought in the dancing Santa and then go so excited because someone else brought in the singing Christmas tree and they could be so cool beside each other. Or the awesome Christmas sweater someone wore. Or the dreadfully long-I mean entertaining, time of going around the table taking turns telling what we'll be doing for the holidays. I have to admit, I was extra excited about the office Christmas party this year because I was part of the first annual choir! I'd like to think the other employees were entertained by us. Also, our department won the decorating contest! YIPPEE! We get free bagels tomorrow as the prize! Here are a few pictures that absolutely do NOT capture the amazingness of it all :)

Each snowflake on this wreath has a picture of an employee on it. Stunning.

The aforementioned singing tree and dancing Santa.

A winter wonderland of snowflakes (both hand made and store bought.)

This awesome paper tree is right outside of the presidents office. I think he loves it.

And our cozy fireplace. (which is apparently what put us over the top!) The laptop was showing a "roaring" fire as the screen saver. Very lovely.

I just got my Christmas cards! I mean, they aren't really cards, but photocard things. They are pretty cute. But you should have been there when Jeff's mom, Patsy, was taking the photo. If you know my boys, you know they HATE to be in pictures. I'm not sure if Cade actually hates it, but he pretty much does anything his dad does, so he hates it, if you know what I mean. I knew we would need to be quick and to the point with the pictures, so I said "OK, let's go, let's take the perfect family picture." So we get in front of the tree and I try to make them laugh, but it doesn't really work and the first picture is pretty silly. Then Patsy thinks we should kneel so we can see the tree better. GREAT! We kneel. But Cade doesn't smile. Jeff says "come on, Cade, let's just get this over with." Such happy, joyous Christmas spirit ;) And Cade doesn't appear to be cooperating. I am behind him, but I have a feeling he's rolling his eyes. So Patsy is saying "come on Cade" and I'm trying to smile big for whenever the flash goes off, hoping we'll all be smiling at the same time and Jeff is literally yelling at the top of his lungs "CADE! PLEASE!" Oh dear. It was movie-worthy, I'm sure. We finally got the 2nd picture taken. We're no model family, but it will do. I can't wait for you to see it!

Luigi’s
Downtown.
This Italian restaurant was adorable. Plus it was family owned, which I really appreciate. It was complete with wine bottles all over the ceiling and walls and red and white checkered table cloths. It was also deceivingly big! I really liked the atmosphere and that they offered us more complimentary bread when we finished the first basket. I had the special and it was quite yummy. Jeff had chicken parmesan and said it was “alright.” I’d probably go there again. Once we run out of new places to go! The pricing was decent, so that was a plus. All in all, a 7.5 of 10.
http://www.luigiscoloradosprings.com/

Edelweiss
Downtown
Finally something not Italian! Don’t get me wrong, Italian is delish, but this was a fun change. It was fabulously decorated inside and out for Christmas. Each table had a Nutcracker in the center piece. They even had a large, real tree in one corner. The menu was filled with unpronounceable items and for a meat-eater they all sounded great! When Jeff got his meal he said he had never had one plate with so many different meats on it. I think he had some sort of beef, a brat and some pork. Plus sauerkraut and potatoes. I had spatzle. Basically mac ‘n cheese but MUCH yummier.. I would definitely go back, but they didn’t offer too many veg choices. Maybe I could improvise, though. Oh, and the prices were a little higher than I’d like, but still didn’t kill us. Our waitress was even German! This place topped the list for Jeff. He gave it a 9 of 10.
http://www.edelweissrest.com/

For the record, we are NOT having babies. Now or ever. Just so you know. Make a note.

So, here is what the internet thinks the babies would look like, if Jeff and I ever had them. Umm. Yikes. Thank goodness for cutie Cade!

How funny is this, though? You should try it! I got the idea from Mel. Makemebabies.com.

Last weekend we went to a tree farm in Black Forest with Cade and Jeff's parents. It had already snowed a foot by the time we got there. Too bad we barely had 2 inches at our house :(

Jeff and Cade looking for the perfect tree.

Found it!

Jim and Jeff dragging it to the truck.

This is what the tree looks like in our driveway.

Here is the tree as it's getting set up.

The top just touches the ceiling. Perfect.

It's up at last. And Clarence found his spot. Then Chloe needed to get in on the action.

All decorated! It was so fun decorating with Cade and blending our two families decorations!

On another note. Here are a couple of shots of Jeff coaching. It was his first meet this year. I'm so proud!

Or is it Obsessive?

Cade left early this morning for Idaho :( We had such a great week. And Patsy and Jim stayed with us for a couple of nights and left today, too. The alarm went off today as it usually does in the real world. What did I do when I got up? Vacuumed. Changes sheets. Started laundry. Oh dear. Before 7:00 AM? I think I might have a problem. But I tell you what; I was so happy when I left for work to be leaving a nice clean house that I get to come home to.

Yep. Admitting it is the first step ;P

Jeff, Cade and I went to Montrose to have Thanksgiving with Jeff's mom and dad and sister and brother-in-law and niece. It was a really wonderful time! We have so much to be thankful for :)

Cade and I built a tower as tall as him!