traditions and other holiday goodness

There's no doubt that Mr coming home has been the coolest thing to happen all year..as expected. It's safe to say that marriage has shown itself pretty 'round this little apartment. Lucky for us, Mr came home just in time for the holiday season so our family traditions shined their way to the front. Traditions hoped for, and those unexpected too. Remember when we were little and didn't understand why friends couldn't come over on holidays because that was designated family time? Not so when you create your own traditions. We started our annual "Thanksgiving Eve Sleepover" thanks to a few of our best friends.. who are like family to us.

Okay so there was a little alcohol involved, but it was their first time seeing Mr so obviously we indulged in some fun. Our plan was to have "spontaneous fun" so naturally I suggested we spontaneously watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade come morning. I guess that isn't what they had in mind as far as spontaneous goes. Whatever..I tried ;) But as the night progressed and sobriety kicked in we were all able to experience some powerful bonding through our God. Yes, I'm being real with you, alcohol and God all in one. That's the cool thing about being a Christian..we don't limit our spiritual experiences to a setting and time. God sets up the time, surroundings, people..everything. Our only job is to go with it.. respond. Our discussion went deep that night..and we all prayed together, spur of the moment type prayers..when you feel God tugging at your heart asking you to gather and kneel before Him. Don't get caught up in the rules of Christianity, it's the relationship and experiences with Christ that matter. Who says you can't drink a beer and talk about Jesus? He turned water into wine you know!

After our successful new Thanksgiving Eve sleepover tradition, we had a lovely Thanksgiving split between Mr's family and my own. We sat at the counter because there weren't enough seats at the tables, but it was next to the food, so obvs we weren't upset ;) Sitting at the counter was always a privilege when we were younger because the adults "couldn't see us" so as I engulfed my sparkling apple cider (I can't ever seem to get enough of that stuff) and took in the smells of our German Thanksgiving meal, I was content and so happy. Absolutely nothing compares to spending the first holiday after a deployment together and mine happened one week later.

Between the hours of New Girl, Call of Duty, paper writing and holiday familyness we found time to decorate for Christmas. My hope was to spend black friday listening to Christmas music, smelling the scents of cinnamon and pine tree candles while wearing Santa hats and decorating. Not super unreasonable, right? Three problems, work, schoolwork, and we don't own Santa hats. But we managed to decorate at around 10 p.m...still ringing in the holiday season on black friday just as I'd hoped :) Here's a sneak peek of our apartment, Christmas wonderland.

Nothing makes me happier than a house full of red, green, sparkles and Christmas garlands. And let's not forget the amount of baked goods that accompany the holiday before us ;)

Here's to

traditions & Christmas

<3