Six Christmases

We've got the Vince Vaughn/Reese Witherspoon movie Four Christmases beat by 2...Winning!

It may even take as long to read as the movie takes to watch...sorry friends!

I am just dying to make the post next year called "Our First Christmas."  I mean, we have already had 3 other Christmases together & this one doesn't really count as a "first"...it's more like a pre-first Christmas. 

Anyway, somehow (I have no idea how), we found time to spend with all four of our extended families this year as well as celebrating with just immediate.  I guess I could just go in order :)

CHRISTMAS #1

We had dinner with Anthony's dad's side of the family (The Camps) at his uncle's house on the Tuesday before Christmas.  One thing that I love about these celebrations is that they never happen on the actual holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.).  For a couple who is trying desperately to work out enough time for each family, that is a life-saver!  My other favorite part about Christmas with the Camps...the games.  When you first arrive, an index card with a celebrity name is pinned to your back & you have to ask questions about the person to guess.  The first year I came, I was Lindsay Lohan (Anthony was Michael Phelps).  This year, I was Cameron Diaz.  I can't remember who Anthony got because I was so focused on the fact that it would have been awesome had he been given the name "Tim Tebow" :)  After dinner, we all go into the living room to play another game.  A large picture of a celebrity is covered up with a bunch of numbered sticky notes (like 40 of them).  As your turn in the circle of people comes around, you have to pick a number, answer the question associated with the number, & if you get it right the matching sticky note gets taken down.  The closer to the face, the harder they are.  I think I only got one right...if that :(  But then Mitchell guessed the person (Bruce Willis) within maybe 10 sticky notes being taken down.  Another highlight of the evening was the fact that Anthony's parents were able to pull Andrew up on Skype.  We couldn't figure out why in the world it kept disconnecting...until Micheal (Anthony's cousin) pointed out that whenever the phone rings it interrupts the Internet.  Then, he showed us how to disconnect the phone (a tactic he learned during Fantasy Baseball Draft) so that it wouldn't disconnect the computer anymore.  (But then when I went into the kitchen & sat on the phone, I thought I had turned it on...he had left it on so it would be off the hook...so I cut it off & they lost him again...oops.)  I also made ornaments (where you put acrylic paint in & shake it up) to give out at the end of the night, but they were a complete failure.  The paint slipped off the glass, wasn't dry, was leaking out the top, etc.

CHRISTMAS #2 

On Thursday afternoon after Anthony got off work, we drove up to Raleigh, NC to visit with my dad's side of the family (The Franks').  I'm not sure if it was traffic or rain or both, but the drive took forever.  I mean, it's normally not a walk in the park just because it's such a long distance, but this time it took us almost 7 hours.  & Anthony was really tired from having to get up so ridiculously early for work, so I ended up driving almost halfway there...did I mention that I'm mildly afraid of expressway driving?  (See picture above of him in my pink blankie sleeping in the passanger seat.)  By the time we got there, everyone has finished dinner (we told them to go ahead) & I could tell my Nana was less than pleased that we were so late.  Never a dull moment.  In my defense, nothing could really have been done to help it.  Anyway, we spent Thursday & Friday night up there with the family & left early Saturday afternoon.  The time inbetween was spent playing Phase10, Dominoes, & MarioKart & watching Gold Rush, another new show that Anthony has loved & gotten me to like (along with anything NFL, Lizard Lick Towing, Swamp People, etc.).  He's pretty happy about getting more control of the TV :)  It was really nice to be able to go up there & spend some time with my family.  I normally only get to go once a year at Christmas, but this year I also went up right after we got engaged in May.  It is truly one of my favorite places in the world to be.  I know things are going to change a lot after Anthony & I get married (& in some ways they already have), but I think Raleigh with my aunt, uncle & cousins will always feel like home. 

Another highlight of the trip was most definitely when my Pop Pop gave Anthony the potato howitzer.  (Basically 3 or 4 feet of industrial-strength PVC pipe...you shove a potato down the top with a broom stick, spray aerosol hairspray into the bottom for 8-Mississippi, close it up, light it & BOOM.  Potato going 500 yards at 300 MPH.  Not exactly something you can take to the park...more like my grandparents' 50-acre pasture land!  This thing gets talked about at literally every family function & is like the men of the family's burried treasure.  There are only about a million stories about it & I honestly never even knew that he still had it.  He pulled Anthony down to the basement for a "talk" which quite worried me at the time, but the next day he summoned him to again sneak down to his workshop (without my half-brother seeing, is the most important part, because he would've gone nuts) & run the howitzer out to my car.  It was a proud moment for me, like Anthony really is such a part of the family already :)  Not to mention Dad came through on his promise to get Anthony his own stocking. 

As you can see, it has replaced mine in the middle & I am now on the left end.  Rude!  Just kidding...kind of.

CHRISTMAS #3

When we got back from North Carolina on Saturday, we were an hour earlier than expected (this time the trip was 5 hours & 45 minutes).  Mom yelled for us, sepecifically Anthony, to stay in the kitchen because she was working on something in the living room.  She got him a stocking too, & she was ironing his name onto it :)  When she was giving us our presents, she also gave us an etched-glass ornament (below) & ordered a Christmas tree for us the day after.  It was 50% off & counted as part of our gifts this year! 

I guess this wasn't really a "Christmas" dinner because it was a grilled steak & we opened Anthony's presents from my mom the next day, but it was the one time that we were all sitting down together.

CHRISTMAS #4

Early on Christmas morning, I headed over to Anthony's house to open presents & have breakfast with his parents & Mitchell.  When I got there, all I could see was Anthony frantically trying to pull every single part for his grill-guard out of their boxes.  In the picture you can see the book alllllll about Tim Tebow my dad got me for Christmas.  I'm already finished with it :)

Yep, that's me hugging the cover.  Haha.  Anyway, so excited about what I got from Anthony's parents!  The stuff that relates to this blog: really super soft, nice Ralph Lauren blanket that I can't wait to put on the couch in our future home, this really awesome set of oversized keys, a "C" ornament for our tree next year, & my very own set of "Santa" ornaments that Anthony's mom makes out of dried okra!  Anthony & I also exchanged our presents at his parents' house...a pretty ring for me & a bunch of clothes for him :)

CHRISTMAS #5

After we left breakfast at Anthony's house, I went back home to get ready to go to my mom's side of the family (The Garners).  Anthony joined me shortly, & we ate a ton even though we were still stuffed from breakfast.  Unfortunately, we had to pretty much rush though eating & opening presents because we had to be at our last Christmas at around 2. 

CHRISTMAS #6

We got to Anthony's mom's side of the family (The Smiths) a little late, but that's okay because we weren't having a full meal (thank goodness!).  We sat & munched on some snacky foods (yeah, we were stuffed by the end of the night), especially the buffalo chicken dip.  So good.  At this point, I was feeling really terrible for Mitchell because he got his wisdom teeth taken out on Wednesday & couldn't eat much of anything. 

At least not much of the yummy stuff.  Not to mention the fact that Anthony hit him in the cheek with a phone...he forgot about the fact that it would hurt WAY worse than usual.

As you can see, the sections on each Christmas have gotten shorter & shorter...because at this point we were totally Christmas-ed out!  Lets move on to the couple of days after :) 

We hit up a sales at American Eagle & New York & Company on Monday to use our gift cards for really good deals on clothes.  I even got a few dresses that I can potentially wear to bridal showers!  Yay!  Anthony got some much-needed jeans & shirts.  I waited until Wednesday when he was at work to go shopping for Christmas decorations!  They were all 66% off at Hobby Lobby.  Needless to say, Mandie & I spent almost 3 hours in there yesterday.  Quote of the day from Mandie: "I'm going to buy you the biggest Mason Jar ever for your wedding present.  You'll be able to take a bath in it!"  I spent probably a little bit too much money, but got way better deals than I would be getting next fall while shopping for our tree.  Plus, I foresee not having as much cash to blow on decorations next year, seeing as we'll have to do grown-up things like pay bills. 

All of my purchases from HobLob.  I plan on painting the C's & making ornaments out of them :) (They were 30% off as well.)

I found these glasses when I went to Kroger for groceries (which I hate. Along with pushing a real cart & going through an actual check-out line).  With my Kroger card (another grown up thing that I've done), they were $1 apiece, so I bought a set of 8.  Looks like we've got our drinking glasses for when we get a house!

Ornaments that I have made using clear bulbs & filling them with feathers or sequins :)

Christmas plates & mugs that my dad gave us when he moved :)

A Christmas candle-holder my Grannie gave me & perhaps the most precious ornament ever that Clint & Mandie gave us a short time after Anthony proposed :)

Some ornaments that I've had for a small tree for a while & a Noah's Ark-themed christmas tree statue.

I also haven't posted about my recent inspirations lately, so here's a couple more pictures before I end this ridiculously long post!!!

Turquoise mirror that was on clearance at HobLob.  I bought it figuring I could get our photographer to take some cool getting ready pictures??

Vintage aqua car that I saw at The Avenue :)  Now if only it were an antique truck!!

If you read this whole thing all the way through, thank you!  You probably deserve a medal or something ;)