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Holidays for the Newlyweds

 Well Christmas was a lot different this year thanks to COVID. I had so much free time on my hands I took a holiday job at Barnes and Noble and then decided to keep it on Saturdays afterwards. I love working with books, the people, and the discounts but it doesn't necessarily pay well. So for the days I got a part time job at a grade school helping kids learn to read. The pay is great and will tide us over until I can make a long term game plan. My old job decided to furlough us and I only work necessary hours, so it's not stable enough at the moment and I'm not sure if I want to hold on to it or find something new. Sooo yeah, doing job interviews during December was a new experience! I haven't done interviews for myself in over 11 years. I colored some fun masks for me to wear to work, so that was fun! On Christmas Eve I wore my Grinch t-shirt and matching Grinch mask.

I was really excited to decorate our house for our first Christmas! Nathan and I started by getting out the figurines and stockings that we owned, but we didn't have a lot. His mom took us shopping to help get us situated so we got a wreath for the door and some ornaments and adorable snowmen. We weren't sure what we were going to do about a tree but in the first week of December my mom texted me to say she found a good fake one for us at Goodwill for only $25! I was sold! She bought it for me and I found a way to fit it into my little car (which was hard!) I brought it home and Nathan and I bought new lights for it and got it all set up in our front room window. We pulled out all the ornaments we owned and I was surprised to find we had enough to fill the whole tree! YAY!


 Nathan and I also had some fun decorating gingerbread houses for his niece's birthday. We didn't win the photo contest, but I think ours were yummier. hahahaha. Nathan was also really excited about starting our own new traditions and got really excited over having Chinese food on Christmas Eve. Sadly, I had to work at Barnes and Noble that evening, so he started that tradition without me. lol. I guess that's what you get when you sign up for a holiday job at a retail place! I also decided he and I should make homemade caramels for the first time since making candy was a tradition his Grandma Cardon did every year. I'd made caramel sauce before so I wasn't entirely unprepared, but next time I want an actual candy thermometer! Mine was barely cutting it. We also decided for our first Christmas breakfast that we would have abelskievers (a kind of tradition from my mom's family), hashbrowns, sausage, and orange juice. I made cinnamon rolls in case the abelskievers failed us, but luckily they weren't needed and made for a great breakfast the day after Christmas! haha. Last minute - like Christmas Eve last minute - I told him on my way to work about how my family did table presents at the demand of us children from my mom's childhood traditions so we decided to do that last minute too! Since he was dropping me off at work Christmas Eve, he just followed me inside Barnes and Noble and found something for me. Luckily I already had a backup. I gave Nathan a book, the Color of Magic, and he gave me a cute Disney Animation kit. 

We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house where I was gifted the family's big sock! I got kitchen things I needed like a silicone spatula, Christmas Tree oven mitt, and a CASE of bacon! They jokingly gave Nathan the bacon because they know he doesn't really like it. I was super happy though! For Christmas Eve dinner, besides doing a nice big cooked meal, we convinced dad we should do the only alternative he finds acceptable. Pizza! After working Christmas Eve it was actually really nice to head straight to my parent's house for pizza with Nathan. Per my own tradition we also managed to watch Muppet Christmas Carol the day after Christmas since I was too busy to watch it that night. Nathan made us a Texas "Yum Yum" pie that he discovered on YouTube and also showed us the funniest video of this man trying to follow old recipes and how he manages to ruin them or make it yummy but ugly. The pie is basically a cream cheese/pudding pie in graham cracker crust.


Nathan gifts to me was a hair-dryer/hairbrush that was pretty nifty, a concert to see Gentry's Christmas Concert (that barely was able to happen), and an ornament that says 2020 to remember our first Christmas. Great minds think alike because I gave him an UP ornament of Carl and Ellie getting married for our first Christmas as well, a Mickey Mouse watch, and a surprise movie box from the Disney Movie Club that had a double feature for Once Upon a Christmas.

We then drove down to see Nathan's Mom, Kathy and spend Christmas day with her. She had a sock filled for us too which was so sweet of her! She likes giving presents because I got even more besides the ones she had sent home with use earlier. I got some lace from England, a nice travel bag, and a female authors puzzle among a few other odds and ends! I had given her a cd recording of the Messiah recorded by the Cambridge Singers and conducted by James Rutter. She was very excited and told me how she loved James Rutter! I got it for her since she was sad she couldn't really do the Messiah Sing-In this year since it was only digital. 

Overall, Christmas was busy but pretty great. and I think it was very memorable for our first year not to mention during COVID! Hopefully we all get vaccinations soon and we can resume some semblance of normal. We saw our parents, but it was weird not seeing other family and friends.


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