Thursday, December 22, 2011

Jason on Ice

* I have been given permission by Jason to write this post. Permission was necessary based on the content of this post, as it could be considered blackmail.*

Our church small group decided to go ice skating (dressed in our finest tacky Christmas sweaters) as part of our Christmas party.

Jason told me that he was a horrible ice skater, and when I thought about that, I was sure it was true. There is just something about his size that doesn't lend to graceful on ice skates.

Well, when he made his debut, he did not disappoint. It was more than I imagined. Check him out.


While this was the best video I captured, it wasn't his best act...but I'm sure he's glad that this was all I captured.

We didn't last long out there, but we sure had some great laughs (and bruises) along the way!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

The Christmas Stash - 2011 Edition

Well, it is day 1 of 18 of winter break! So looking forward to the extra long break they are giving us this year. I must say that I really have nothing planned for my days off. I do plan on watching many Christmas movies since Christmas is a week away and I am yet to watch ONE Christmas movie. Christmas fail on my part. I haven't even busted out my iPod to listen to my favorite Christmas songs but have rather reverted to the 24 hrs of Christmas music that they play on 96.5 KQUIT, which just isn't the same (because it's not as good as my personal selection).

It's sad, but I feel like I just haven't had the time to get in the Christmas spirit this year. Jason and I have been so busy during this window between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Jason just finished his second term of grad school, which was a crazy class on political economy and required tons of reading and many papers. (We are both very glad that class is over as of last night). This class also just happened to coincide with his busiest time at work, so he spent many evenings and weekends trying to juggle work, grad school, and all the other activities that go on with life. We started leading a college group at our church, which has been so great, but is another night out during the week. We also chose the *best* time of year to try and buy a house, so we've been squeezing the house hunt in as well! All really great stuff, though.

To go along with last year's post, I thought I would give you a preview of my 2011 student stash (gifts from my students). Jason definitely looks forward to this more than I do. When he called me after school yesterday, the first thing he said was, "What did you get?" I think Linkhe is beginning to question how good of a teacher I am though because the stash this year was much lighter than in previous years. But it is always so thoughtful of students to hook their teachers up during the holidays. So, here is what I came home with.
The theme of this year was probably home baked goods and scarves. Lots of treats that my students (or their parents) made. I also got three scarves, which is pretty fun.
I did get some chocolate, but not the 6 pounds worth that I came home with last year, which is probably a good thing.
A handful of coffee gift cards, which came at the perfect time, as I only have a few dollars left on my last card from the end of last school year.
There is always a selection of bath gels and picture frames, too. I love the little hiker ornament that has 'Mrs. Baker' written on it. It's hanging on the Christmas tree! No jewelry this year, though. Or taj mahal replicas.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Fall into Christmas

Well, it is officially post-Thanksgiving, which means...it is now the Christmas season.

The day after Thanksgiving is the first day I allow myself to do anything Christmas related (besides celebrate Jesus, of course). So, the fall decorations went away and the Christmas ones came out! Here is a preview of my Fall to Christmas decor...






Since this is the first year I actually I had my 'own' place to decorate, I was quite exited about it. I did have to go out and buy a few more decorations - thank you Target, Ross, and Marshalls :)

Jason and I went to cut down buy our Christmas tree at Home Depot the Saturday after Christmas. This was the first time I had picked out a tree at Home Depot...or anywhere besides the mountains where we cut it down, so it was very anti-climatic for me. (More later on my family tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree).
We went with the first tree the guy un-tied for us. It looked okay, and we figured it would look better once the branches fell and we had decorated it. Well, not so much. Next time we probably won't go with the first tree we see...unless we actually really like it. Home Depot fail.

Jason decided to carry our tree home since we live half a mile from Home Depot. We should have just put the tree on top of our car, as it ended up being heavier than he thought. Again, we

probably won't do that again. Home Depot fail.
Here is our tree all decorated. I'm calling it our bush because I am used to growing up with 13-15 foot Christmas trees. Home Depot fail.
I must say that a bonus of going to Home Depot is that the experience is very fast...and cheap. The whole process took us about 30 minutes and cost us $30. But, I love the experience of cutting down the Christmas tree, so I'm hoping we make that happen next Christmas season!