Christmas Pics

I only had energy for my point and shoot camera this Christmas, so here's what we have.

Dan got a new cookbook.

I got a soft cuddly robe.

Dan's fantastic left overs wrapping job for his parent's gift.

A lemon tree!

Ally and Sam - the matching candy canes.

Best Christmas Gift Ever!

Dan did a fantastic job with the gift giving this year. He got me a digital voice recorder and recorded himself telling our dating story. You might remember the December 6th posting I mentioned that I would love for him to document the story since he remembers SO many more details and tells the story in a very entertaining way. Well, he did and it's the greatest thing EVER! The recording is about an hour long and that's just from the day we met until the day we started dating (Dec. 6). Needless to say, I will LOVE having this.

4am on Christmas morning

It's 4:30am on Christmas morning and I'm sitting on the computer. Yes, I couldn't sleep anymore and No, it doesn't have anything to do with it being Christmas morning. Last night I was feeling crummy (of course-see previous post), so I took a shower and was going to lay down for a minute before going over to Dan's parents house. After dosing off for a while there was no bringing me back so Dan tucked me in and went on his own. Only problem, it ws 7:45pm. At about 3am Dan finally got into bed for the night. An hour later, I got up to find something to eat to calm my churning belly. And here I am. Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope everyone is finding themselves in a good place this Christmas. As for Dan and I, we are spending our holidays at home here in Oregon. After two Christmas's in a row with my family, we decided to let Dan have a turn. Dan's sisters are in town and we were able to meet our newest nephew, Samson. He's such a good baby. I'm sure I'll have pictures to share by the time they head back to Utah.

I haven't been sad at all about not being with my family this Christmas, until about an hour ago. However, about a 1/2 hour ago I went and got the mail and found a whole stack of Christmas cards from friends and family. Thank you to everyone who sent us something. I sat down and cried and read cards and felt SO loved. We have so many wonderful people in our lives who we care so much about. I'm grateful to have all of you a part of our lives. Sometimes we feel so far away, but it's nice to know you are all out there thinking of us. We are thinking of you too. (as I'm crying again).

This holiday has been bitter sweet for us. A few weeks ago we found out we are going to be parents! We are thrilled. It's been something we have been wanting for a while, so now that it has finally happened, we are having a hard time keeping it a secret. So there you go, it's out there. It's definitely way too early to be shouting it for all to hear but we are too excited. And, heaven forbid, if something tragic were to happen with this pregnancy, I'll be glad to have all of your support.

Now for the bitter, I have been horribly sick (I know that's a good sign). We were supposed to leave after Christmas to spend a week with family and friends in Utah, then my parents in Rexburg; however, I'm not going to be able to do it. Spending 13 hours in the car feeling the way I do, is not going to be pleasant for anyone. The most disappointing part is not being able to see my parents. I've only been able to see them a total of 3 times this year. One of those being a 2 hour crossing of paths as they were on their way to China. I guess, with them being on a mission I should be counting my blessings that I get to see them at all, not to mention the phone calls whenever I want. I'm grateful for what their doing and the sacrifices their making (I guess the sacrifices we are all making). I'll also be very happy when they have a little bit more flexibility.

So here we are, a 2 week break from work and I'm staying put. It's hard for me to believe. As soon as a holiday break is mentioned, I'm online booking a flight to see someone, somewhere.

Hopefully we'll be able to find some things to do to make the holidays special. Dan and I have been talking about working on a project to fill one of the many blank walls in our house. Hopefully I'll be feeling well enough to do at least that.

Once again, Merry Christmas. We love you all and hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Introducing: The Photo Blog

I decided to make a photo blog. It's going to just be photos, no commentary. We'll save that for this blog. I put some of my favorite pics on it already. The link is on the side, if you're interested. It's definitely a work in progress as I try to figure out what I'm doing with my camera.

ENJOY!

December 6th

December 6th is an important day in the history of Dan & Annie. For some couples, the onset of their relationship is a gradual process. Dan and I have a precise moment in our history together where our relationship began. That moment was December 6, 2003 at about 11:30pm. I guess I should say, that's the moment I fell in love with Dan, thus beginning the relationship. Dan's moment was about a month prior to my moment. However, as we all know, a relationship can only begin when both parties are involved.

I wish I could get Dan to sit down and record our story. He has such a fun way of telling it. I love hearing it from his mouth. He's a natural born story teller and can somehow tell the story in such a way that is incredibly entertaining. I'm not so sure it would come out the same in writing as when he tells it in person, he can get rather animated. Plus, he's not one to start in on the story unless the setting is right and the audience is interested. So, I guess if you are truly interested and have an uninterrupted block of time, I'm sure Dan would be glad to entertain.

Back to our evening... Dan & I decided to celebrate with a nice candle-lit steak dinner. Dan cooked up some great steaks with a blue cheese and walnut sauce, sweet potatoes, an amazing salad, and topped it off with a little Martinelli's Sparkling Cider. We sat and talked while being serenaded by Colbie Cailet. Nothing like the perfect music to top off a great dinner.

We then ended the evening by going over to Dan's brother's house and watching Survivor and Grey's Anatomy. This has become our standing Thursday night activity and we LOVE it. The Office is usually in the line-up and we've missed it dearly these last couple of weeks.

So, December 6th 2007 marks 4 years since Dan and I have been inseparable. What a difference 1 person makes. About 90% of my happiness in life rides on this one man. Sometimes I wonder how I could have possibly made the decision to spend all my life and all my happiness with a person that I only knew for 8 months. The confidence I had in my decision at the time must have been divinely guided because that kind of foresight and peace does not come from anything mortal. Here's to 4 years and many, many more to come!!! Love you babe.

Winter Morning

I'm sitting at my desk this morning watching the snow fall out my front window. This is a big deal since it doesn't snow more than about 1 week during the winter here. When it does snow, it's an icy mess, so I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere today. Poor Dan has to drive the scouts around all morning to pick up canned foods. He's not as happy about the snow as I am. For right now though, it's beautiful and very peaceful.

Dan got back last night from a company retreat at the coast. They came home a day early because of the weather. When he walked in the door, I was laying under the tree taking these pictures. I'm sure I looked pretty awesome.

We don't have very many Christmas decorations, but we do have a fantastic tree, thanks to Dan's mom. Every year while her kids were growing up, she bought them a Christmas ornament. When Dan and I got married, she gave us a box of all his ornaments. They are adorable. My favorite is the skier. I also love the swirly balls we bought our first Christmas in Salt Lake.
I especially loved picking out our Christmas tree this year. We picked it out from a Christmas tree farm about 3 miles up the road. Guess what, THE TREES WERE STILL IN THE GROUND!! Talk about fresh. We walked through a forest of perfect little Christmas trees, picked one out, and drank hot cocoa while they cut it down, shook out the needles, bound it up, and put it in our truck. The woman at the farm said if we watered it everyday, it could last until February. That's a little different story than the trees we had in Arizona where, by the day after Christmas, we were leaving a trail of crispy needles from the living room to the dumpster.

Well, let the holidays begin. It's definitely looking a lot like Christmas (...except for the snow, of course, because that definitely wasn't a part of my childhood Christmas experience).