wil and kris (and gracie and ava)

…is fantastic.

i am in a very odd state of limbo right now…i have lived in christmas mode for the past month, and as of today, it feels over, but it’s not.

i took down all the decorations in the house (since i didn’t want to have to do it after the 8th), and besides the boxes stacked at the door to go back into the attic, the house is a clean slate. surprisingly and refreshingly bare. it feels really good to put it all away, but it’s weird to be done with christmas.

i guess what puts me in the middle is that we haven’t really “done” christmas, so in a sense, it’s not over. the 24th and 25th were nice, but it just felt like a couple of days of going to church, being with friends and opening a couple gifts. the minute we head home i’ll be content and satisfied…that’s christmas to me. and this is no disrespect to wil’s company over the holiday- we just haven’t established our own traditions and way of doing things. every year will continue to be different, and we’ll probably be in a different home at different times each year. i guess that’s what happens when you get older.

there’s not much of a point to this post…just a weird observation i have made. i feel very much ready to get on with the new year when i walk around our house, but i know in a couple days i will step right back into christmas mode, just by seeing all the faces of our wonderful family.

merry christmas everyone…we really miss being with you all, but know it will be just as festive and wonderful in a few weeks when we can go home for a visit!

hope everyones’ christmas, wherever you may be, was wonderful and Christ-filled. we love you!

here’s a shot that’s not necessarily christmasy, but i hope will make you smile…wil caught her dead asleep like this…and i have no idea how this was comfortable.

wil’s techy-ness totally amazes me sometimes…

so, we may pay a few hundred bucks to buy an iphone, but we’re too cheap to pay $1.99 for a ringtone… : ) itunes does have a cool thing though, where you can make your own ringtone, for only 99 cents, but alas, you have to have already bought the song from them to make it into a ringtone- but that’s still jumping you back up to a few dollars. anyways, wil found out a way (not illegally, he says) to edit your own music file, upload it to itunes, sync it to your phone and voila, make your own free tone.

i don’t know how, but after an hour or so, wil has now “rocked out my phone” (his words) and given me a couple of my favorite songs, one for his calls, and one for regular (all the rest of you) calls. woohoo!

let me know what your favorite song is…i could have him put it on my phone for when you call! (yes, i realize that only benefits me, since if you are calling me you aren’t with me, thus you aren’t hearing the phone…oh well)

ever so often gracie works her front paws onto our lap, basically getting half of her body onto the couch. (more often with me because i am too soft with the dogs…) this time wil allowed to have a few moments of snuggle/watching tv together… (sorry for the lack of quality of images…they were quick snaps with the webcam on it’s lowest settings)

in the midst of all the happy christmas spirit, i have to take a moment to get a few things off of my chest. i am getting burnt out on the following:

*seeing cars with antlers and red noses (yes…seriously…rudolph cars)

*cheesy christmas music that has been way overplayed (cassie and i have actually really enjoyed working in silence this week at work because we are not forced to listen to a few particular cd’s that have been repetitively played way too much)

*still not being able to figure out what to buy for a few people on our list…why can’t their gifts just magically appear?

*traffic getting home from work because of shoppers (it really shouldn’t take me an hour to get home some days!!!)

but, there are a few things that still make me happy:

*charlie brown and sufjan stevens christmas cds (now those i could listen to over and over and never get sick of)

*the way overdone yards with way too many lights, giant blow up things and critters made of lights all over the lawn (somehow that could actually be on both lists)

*sharing meals with friends and new friends (and they all seem to be connected to starbucks somehow…)

*the non-stop goodies that are delivered to our work from clients and vendors (that somehow i get to hoard all to myself since carolyn is gone through christmas and cassie can’t eat any of it)

*stopping work midday and spending quality time with the special people we work with

*the thought of going home soon to see all our beloved family

*being able to buy gifts for some needing families

a long long time ago, our wedding photographer offered us a free print from our wedding pictures…seriously months and months and months ago. and just now i am sitting down and taking him up on that offer and going through our pictures to find the ultimate shot that i want hanging across from our bed to look at every day.

i have a stack of cd’s 15 high (not joking)…about 8 from the photographer and the rest just from other people, and other events from the entire weekend. i’ve really enjoyed going through these this evening… it feels like seeing some of them for the first time since i doubt i really took the time to really go through them in the post wedding whirlwind.

it’s interesting the things i notice- what people are wearing, how long my hair was, facial expressions people were caught on camera with, the idiosyncrasies of that day. but there are definitely overall things that have caught my attention…i loved my dress (gosh i wish i could wear it again!); i felt so pretty and special. it’s great to be able to see the faces of so many people that shared that day with us. i loved revisiting all the little details wil and i worked on too. the colors, flowers, the beauty of our hometown. wil and i look so happy (of course we were happy!)…the looks we have in our eyes and smiles on our faces carry through every image.

coming back to today, i have to stop and think…that was over a year and a half ago. i cherish the fact that i am in love with wil just as much as on that day. and he continues to be even more of my best friend and companion as each day passes. it feels like we’ve been married for a really long time already (in a good way), but then again…it’s only been a year and a half! we have gone through so much life together already. jobs, graduation, traveling, house, dog/kids, friendships…and yet we have the entirety of our lives to look forward to!

a lot of people think you should wait and ‘live life’ a number of years before you get married. i am so happy we married when we did…at a ripe 20 and 21. i can’t think of trying to accomplish and experience and enjoy what we have thus far alone. i need and want wil at my side. he is an outstanding part of me.