Our Gracie Girl Tree

It's podcast Tuesday, and I'm not sure we've laughed this hard (at ourselves or each other) in a while. It's a good story week. Hope you can join us!

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When Ryan and I got married, neither of us had ever (in our adult lives, anyway) had a real Christmas tree. We thought it would be a fun tradition to begin, so that very first Christmas, when we had something like fifteen days between coming home from a honeymoon and the arrival of Christmas, we carved out time to visit a Christmas tree farm and choose a tree. That year, the selection was so picked over, and I think we actually got a half price discount on our tiny little tree, because we could only enjoy it for five minutes or so.

In the years that followed, we continued visiting farms, but we learned when you go early enough that you have to pay full price, it's not a cheap endeavor! And we're frugal people. 

Three years ago, our attempts to visit a farm were stifled by bad weather, and in desperation, we drove to the pre-cut lot at the local grocery store. That's where we found we could get twice the tree for half the price. So while it makes for a less picturesque memory-making experience, this has become our new live-tree-dition. (ha!)

We went this year after dark, so it was even harder (and more awkward) to get photos for the scrapbook, but I tried. We got some weird looks.

 We like to choose a tree bound up in a net, because it's easier to get inside the door of our house. But it's a total guess as to whether or not it's a well-shaped tree, because you know: net. We tried to get one slightly smaller than last year, because that tree was a bit on the big side, even for our big living room. We had to guess based on the height, so Ryan finally picked this one.

 He put it in the truck and then went inside with the tag to pay. The entire time, I was terrified we were going to get dragged off to Christmas tree jail for attempted theft.

We brought it in the house that night and cut it out of its net so it could dry for a day before we decorated it.

We also name our trees each year, and this year we went with Gracie. She started out as Grace, because we thought that best summed up our need for this season, but Grace seemed very classy and refined. Gracie felt a bit more informal and our style, so she became Gracie. And she turned out to be a pretty perfect tree. Not girthy Gracie. :) 

The live tree is the one we put in our living room, and it's also the one we decorate with the ornaments we collect throughout the year on our travels. Our memory tree. I take pictures of all our ornaments, write the stories of each one on the backs of the pictures, and then we read the stories while we decorate the tree. Another of my favorite traditions.

 Can't forget the topper!

She's simple but pretty - and in the nights since she's been up, we often leave all the other lights off until we absolutely need them to read something. We just bask in the glow of her twinkling. So pretty. 

And that's our Gracie Girl Tree!

Fun on Black Friday

I don't do Black Friday shopping. It makes me far too nervous to be around that many aggressive shoppers. LOL!

But Ryan took Black Friday off this year (which is unusual) and we had the best day together. He felt so bad about how upset I was with myself for not getting proper pictures of the two of us on Thanksgiving, so before we left for our day of fun, we got a picture with our tree. Or part of it, anyway. :)

We stopped for coffee on our way out of town. (Had to complete a star dash.)

We stopped at Lowe's first, and we happened upon a deal we didn't even know we would find while we were there! (Got the very last one...floor model! No, we don't open and unpack boxes in the store.)

We also went in search of new ankle boots for me. My hand-me-downs from about five years ago lost a heel recently. So sad. We found brand spankin' new ones for TEN BUCKS!

Then we went on a new-to-us adventure: the Carmel Christkindlmarkt. We went in the late afternoon, when it was dusky enough to begin to appreciate the lights, but not so dark that it was cold and crowded.

The event is free to get into (and free parking, too!) but if you want to skate, you do have to pay a fee. You also have to reserve a skate time. Skating (especially publicly) is really NOT a good idea for me, so we just enjoyed it from the sidelines.

We walked around and enjoyed seeing the displays and items for sale. (They had all kinds of German-inspired things for sale. We almost gave in to a coffee cup.)

They also had many food options! :) Some lines were long...over a half hour wait for some kinds of food. But we found short lines and enjoyed some random kind of wurst (the best wurst, I called it) and an amazing soft pretzel with cheese. (We shared both.)

While we ate, we also enjoyed live music! This guy was really good. Freezing, I'm sure. But a great musician.

We didn't stay a super long time, but we had fun. It was a good date. We always like to try something new!

The Shafferland Shuffle

Greetings from a very decked and happy Shafferland!! Hope you've had a good week - and hope you're recovering from the turkey/carb/dessert overload of the week! Here's a look at what we've been up to this week.

* I awakened last Sunday morning to find that someone had been supplementing the décor in our home. (Or else the spaghetti squash came to life overnight. I'm not sure which.) Ha! We weren't sure if Ryan's mom would be coming back to stay with us that evening (after a weekend at home) or if she would come on Monday, so that afternoon, we hurried to finish decorating the house for Christmas. We had just finished when she called to say she'd just be staying at home, and the family had come up with a rotation of people to help stay with her. So I guess we didn't need to hurry, but we were glad to have the decorating done.

* One of our friends stopped by on Monday with a big batch of Scotcharoos (or as Ryan calls them: smoochies) for us. She wanted us to feel loved in the midst of our caretaking duties, and even though they had just ended, she still let us have the treats. She ended up staying for lunch with us, which I loved! That evening, Ryan got to kick back on the couch for the first time in a couple of weeks, and he was so happy to relax! I was busy in the kitchen - making a trifle for his work Thanksgiving lunch.

* Tuesday was the aforementioned work Thanksgiving lunch. Ryan got the turkey leg. LOL! He was pretty excited about that. We went to his mom's house that night to see her and take the remainder of her things that were still at our house. Ryan's brother and his family were there when we arrived, so I ended up hanging out with the kids, helping to build a Lego ambulance. Believe it or not, this was my first time to build with Legos. Yes. I am 40.

* I had a hard time getting motivated on Wednesday. I tried to crank out the work, but there was also a lot of coffee and Hallmarking happening. :) I worked out that night and DETERMINED to complete three miles, even though I wanted to quit after one. I had told my sister I was running three, so I stuck with it JUST so I could send her this picture. Whatever works, right? Braeya? No three miles for her. She's found her little Christmas nest. This is where she spends most of her time now.

* Thursday was Thanksgiving, which you already read about. A busy day with stops at three gatherings! We started out at my parents' house for lunch, stopped by to visit some friends at their Thanksgiving, and ended the day at Ryan's extended family extravaganza. It was a good Thanksgiving!

* Ryan had Friday off work, and we actually had a FREE day. What?!!?!?!? We don't do Black Friday shopping on account of my fear of being trampled by overzealous bargain-hunters, but we did wait until the afternoon (when we hoped crowds would have died down a bit) and headed out in search of a few deals. (And we found some!) Then we went to the Carmel Christkindlmarkt (more on this later) for a date! It was our first time to go, and we had a fun time.

* Ryan worked yesterday...and so did I! I have a big writing project due soon, so I worked on it...along with the help of my trusty sidekick, Miss Phoebe. She stayed with us for just a few hours yesterday. When Ryan got home from work, he assembled the impromptu Black Friday decoration deal we found, and our house looks even more festive now. If we lived in Florida, I'd be sitting on the sidewalk staring at it with adoration. A good way to wrap up the week!

The Saturday Six

One.

Found this photo on Facebook and thought it looked like a great project for anyone: single, married, family, you name it! It's a reverse advent calendar, with ideas of pantry items to put into a box each day in December. On Christmas Eve, donate the box to a food pantry!

Two.

I learned about the aforementioned photo via the Facebook page of the Passionate Penny Pincher, which led me to explore her site, which led me to share it with you right here! If you're looking for deals (anytime...but especially in this season) she does all the hard work for you. Just take a peek and find all kinds of gems!

Three.

I know Thanksgiving was over two days ago, but this article by Shannon Popkin has some really great advice about being thankful even when circumstances are less than ideal. And given that the presence or absence of a Thanksgiving holiday has little bearing on whether or not we should live in gratitude, I thought you might benefit from her words!

Four.

Earlier this week, one of my friends stopped by on her lunch hour to drop off some snacks she'd made for us. I'd made a big pot of soup for lunch, and cornbread had just come out of the oven, so I asked her if she'd like to stay and eat with us. Much to my delight, she did! We talked for a long time, and both of us had full hearts when she left. I loved it that she felt welcome - even on the fly - and that might be why I loved this hospitality-themed article so very much!

Five.

Does your Christmas wish list include a castle? If so, here's one for sale! (Maybe everyone you know could pool their money...for the rest of time...to buy it for you?)

Six.

I don't normally get all bent out of shape over Black Friday sales, but I have to tell you about this one (because it's still going on until tomorrow night...and I think it's a winner)! How many million times a year do I mention the Dashing Dish site? I cook probably 95% of my recipes from her site, so I'm clearly a big fan. I read yesterday on Instagram that through Sunday evening, they're offering half off your first year of Dashing Dish Membership! (And you can give this as a gift, too, so if you're already a member, but you want to help someone else get started, you can!) You can go to this page, and you don't even need a code. The discount is applied at checkout. Reminder: you do have to be a first time member to qualify. I think her monthly membership fee is reasonable and well-worth the cost, so check it out!

Thanksgiving 2018

Well, I'm mad at my own self. My memory-making skills failed entirely yesterday. I am usually really good about over-documenting, but sometimes I just don't do a great job, and then the day is over, I can't fix it, and I'm sad. Such is today.

We had a good day yesterday, despite my kick-my-own-shins failures. Ryan didn't have to work, we got to sleep in a little, and I had extra time to do my hair! Win-win-win!

Ryan is not a parade fan, so we watched some classic Andy Griffith episodes yesterday morning. (I still laugh every time. Never gets old.)

We went to my parents' house for lunch, and I was designated the official macaroni-and-cheese maker, so I made one of my best-ever batches and put it in my Grandma Kesot's mac-and-cheese bowl. This was the one she used every year for that.

We packed up and headed out for the day. Sadly, this is the best picture of the two of us I got throughout the entire day.

My Mom's table looked beautiful, and her food was delicious! And I saw the first of this year's homemade Christmas candy, so YAY!!!!!!!

Since I don't like turkey, I cleaned up on the shrimp cocktail my aunt brought! :)

Another selfie attempt:

I did set up the good camera and tripod to take a group picture of this year's participants:

And I got a really good one of Mom and Dad!

And then this imaginary one of Ryan and me:

After we left my parents' house, we stopped by to see some friends, which was so much fun. This whole Friendsgiving thing is a great idea.

We ended our day at Ryan's mom's extended family gathering. It had actually been a lunch, so by the time we got there, quite a few of them were gone, but we still got to see a few!

Aggravation is the big game of choice, and there were two games in progress when we arrived:

I don't like to brag or anything, but I made a friend:

Her name is Lucy. I think she wanted to come home with me!

Ryan's mom came for just a short time:

It was good to see her! She'd had a long day (his family has a LOT of celebrations) and was very tired, but it was good to see her.

Then we came home and launched into our food comas!

Hope you all had a great day wherever you were and whatever you did! And for those of you out shopping today: GOOD LUCK! May you find good deals and be spared major fights.