Christmas in NJ

Yes, I am behind, what else is new? :P

For Christmas this year we got to drive up to New Jersey to see my extended family for the first time since my best friend's wedding back in May of 2014. I was super excited to say the least! I hate going so long without seeing my family, and even though I didn't get to see everyone this time around, I did get most people, which is a plus. 

The Tuesday before Christmas we drove 2 and a half hours to my parents' house and spent the night before leaving early Wednesday to continue the drive to New Jersey. I got kicked out of my car and Stefan and Ryan drove together where I rode in the van with my parents. I see how it is boys! It took us about 8 hours with a long stop for lunch but we finally got to New Jersey! 

My uncle Dave was visiting from Florida and he had some home made chili and sourdough bread bowls waiting for us and many of my aunts and uncles and cousins came over, so we got family right away. It was so wonderful to see everyone it just made my heart happy. One of the big things about going to New Jersey for me is the food!

I have to get a taylor ham egg and cheese sandwich on a roll, it is a breakfast must that my mom went out and got for everyone the first morning. We also have to order pizza at least once, because lets face it, Jersey pizza is the absolute best! We had that as our last meal when we left. Then the bottom two above are our Christmas Eve and Day meals, which are always fantastic. Since we are Western European (Polish) we tend to do a meat free Christmas Eve with pierogies, fried fish and mushroom soup. Christmas Day we go crazy with ham, smoked turkey, lasagna, beef wellington, more pierogies and tons and tons of cookies. So many cookies! Ah the food. So thankful for such deliciousness!

Another big highlight for us was finally being able to meet our niece Adrianna. She was born on the 4th of July to my oldest half brother Sean and we finally got to visit and spend some time with her. She is definitely a little firecracker, like her fitting nickname suggests! I loved being able to snuggle her and spend time with her and my brothers and their family.

My heart was also happy to spend Christmas Eve mass at my home church that I grew up in. This is the church I attended from the time I was in about second grade on. It is the church I was a lector (reader) in, received my first communion, confirmation, and got married in. I have lived many places over the past ten years since I left home and none have had a church that compares to this one. I hope someday I find one that will, but until then when I return it is like coming home. Everyone still knows us and treats us like family and it is just a tremendous blessing. It felt like a second reunion being there. 

My best friend Sam met us at Mass and then all of us went to our good friend of the family's house afterwards to catch up. We were there until almost 3am on Christmas Eve! My parents ducked out around 2:30am and us "kids" followed not too far behind afterwards. We still had a long drive back to my grandparents' house after that. Needless to say Christmas Day we slept in a bit before the rest of our family descended on us for dinner.

When my extended family gets together every room looks like this. People are setting up and stealing food in the kitchen, talking in the dining room, and watching TV in the living room. Everywhere you turn someone is there and you bump in to a lot of people and it becomes a hundred degrees in the house but it is wonderful. It was a very balmy Christmas in New Jersey, in the 70s most of our visit and the 50s maybe when we left, so the windows were wide open the entire time! All the people tend to drive my husband nuts but he loves everyone so he tolerates being crowded for me!

I was flipping through some old albums and I found this picture of my Poppy (second from the right) from 1928, when we was about six years old. My Poppy was one of thirteen children, but only Ethel, Emil, and Grace are in this picture with hum. For some reason I just loved this picture and had to take a snapshot of it to have. 

I was a little concerned on how the Dup would do with so many people, but she was utterly fabulous. She only almost jumped on Poppy's visiting nurse once and my cousin's aunt another time. Oops. But everyone basically loves dogs in my family so she got a ton of snuggles and treats and food sneaked her way. She was very unhappy with us when we returned home. One, she hates the car and sticking her in there for ten hours made her miserable, and two she missed all the attention she got for three days straight! Rylie literally spent all day Sunday hiding from us and refusing any treats we offered her. 

As always, the trip was entirely too short. Ryan and I had to leave Saturday to get back to North Carolina. We both had work Monday and knew we'd need Sunday to get stuff done. I hate saying goodbye to my grandparents, it always breaks my heart, and I sobbed as Ryan and I got into the car. And continued to sob most of the way down the New Jersey turnpike. It was a rough, long drive back. We left around 3pm and drove through rain on and off and didn't get home until 1:30 in the morning. We stopped briefly for food and gas but had to take a lot of smaller highways as the 95 area and cities were just a mess.

So it was a really terrific trip and I am so happy we were able to go and spend time with my family. It truly was a wonderful Christmas because of that. Hopefully not so much time will pass before we can get up there again.

I hope you and your families had a great holiday season.

Tryon Palace

In early December we met up with my parents and brother and went in to New Bern, NC to see Tryon Palace (aka the Governor's Palace) decorated for Christmas. I wasn't feeling too well but we still had a fabulous time! We went for a really nice dinner at Morgan's Tavern (delicious French Onion Soup for me) and then went to tour the house.

We have been having such a mild winter that short sleeves have been completely common place! The house was beautiful and I didn't feel like interrupting the tour to take pictures inside. They lead you through beautifully decorated rooms and have actors in each telling the story of how the Queen's sister is visiting. You see everything from the lavish gowns dancing in the ballroom to the servants gossiping in the kitchen, it is really neat! After they had gingersnap cookies and hot apple cider for us to munch on. We also watched some blacksmiths working, a slack rope walker, a sword swallower, and a very impressive fireworks display! My mom got us all old fashioned candy sticks to munch on during the fireworks and it was just a supremely lovely evening.

Mostly these days I have been working, trying to get my stomach in order, and getting as much done for the holidays as I can!

Tonight we leave for my parents' house and then tomorrow we all drive the rest of the way up to New Jersey for Christmas. It is our first time back there since my best friend's wedding Memorial Day Weekend 2014, so it has been way too long!

I have been horrible with this blog, but hopefully we will pick up again soon.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year!

PS - Star Wars? AMAZING. I cried during the opening fanfare and I am NOT ashamed! ;)

Mike's Farm

As you may remember Ryan and I spent Christmas just the two of us in North Carolina this year. Christmas Day we were very lazy and the day after wasn't much better. Come Saturday we knew we had to get out of the house and do something. We had heard a lot about Mike's Farm, a local farm and restaurant that is very popular around here, and decided to give it a try. We left around two thirty Saturday afternoon since we knew the restaurant opened at four and they were doing Christmas Light hayrides starting in the evening. It was semi warm when we left the house but I did change in to a heavier sweater thinking it would get colder as the sun went down... boy am I glad I did!

 

We got to Mike's Farm a little after three o'clock and the place was packed. There was a huge line of people, which we naturally got into, not quite knowing what it was even for. We eventually realized it was the line for the restaurant that was not even open yet! As the sun got lower it started getting colder and Ryan and I spent a good bit of time in that line. At four o'clock it started moving. By the time we got to the front the first seating was full and we added our names to the wait list with an hour and a half wait looming in front of us! By this time it was pretty chilly but we made the best of it. We explored the farm store, the bakery, and got ourselves tickets for the hayride for after dinner.

Waiting in the cold to eat

At almost exactly an hour and a half we were called in to eat. The place was packed and absolutely adorable, decorated with old farming equipment, fake store fronts, and other fun things. The dinner is served completely family style and you eat as much as you want and they will bring you more of whatever you desire. Ryan was in heaven! We had our drinks served in mason jars (water for me, sweet tea for the hubs) and instantly had a full table of food. Biscuits, ham biscuits, fried chicken, pork loin, macaroni and cheese, corn, string beans, mashed potatoes, gravy... it was incredible.

The macaroni and cheese was to die for!

 

My full plate

Now I knew with my gall bladder issues I should not eat a lot of this stuff (ie the fried chicken and the macaroni and cheese and the gravy... you get the idea) but I figured I could do small pieces and portions and be ok. Nope. Even before the end of dinner I was six shades of white and deathly nauseous. Thankfully I had my medicine with me (Zofran, you rule) so I took that and sat there trying not to make any sudden movements. I skipped on dessert (banana pudding, chocolate cake, and cheesecake.... yes Ryan had all three) and sipped my water until Ryan was finished. I felt terrible but I definitely didn't want to go home after paying for the hayride and all the waiting we did.

 

So we went back out in the cold and got in another line for the hayride. The longer we stood in line the better I thankfully felt. It also helped the family behind us had two very entertaining kids and an even more entertaining mom. She was cracking us up the entire time we were in line and on the hayride. At one point she had asked us which line we were in, and we told her, and her son piped up "MOM! Stranger Danger!! You can't talk to them! Do you know them??" Hearing her explain how mommys are allowed to talk to strangers more than six year olds had us both laughing. We definitely had great conversations as we all stood in line. Finally we got on the hayride!

 

We had some Christmas music playing on our hay wagon and we rode in the dark for awhile... we were starting to get nervous about there actually being lights on this Christmas Light Hayride but we finally rounded a bend and BOOM! Lights everywhere. It was gorgeous!

 

 

Towards the end of the hayride I noticed a figure walking in front of our tractor. He was in USMC cammies and heading towards a building in front of us. The music changed to Kenny Rogers A Soldier's King, which I had never heard before, and our tractor stopped. During the following lyrics the Marine knelt down and handed over his medal to the baby and I basically had tears in my eyes. It was beautiful.

 

"He stood before the son of God, come to pay our debt
He smiled up at the soldier that the world would soon forget
So he held out his medal and said this for you I bring
There he swore allegiance to the newborn baby king"

 

 

After there were a few more lights and some fake snow (which was the soapy kind but still really gorgeous) and then we stopped again. Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA started playing and then this giant American flag lit up with huge lights going off like fireworks behind it. Then a recording of children saying the Pledge of Allegiance played and the entire hayride stood up and said it along with them. Very patriotic and very touching for a finale!

 

That was the end of the hayride and by this point we were both pretty chilly! We got one last picture in front of the Merry Christmas sign (hey, it was still Christmas weekend!) and then got back in the warm car and headed for home.

 

We definitely hope to at least go back to the restaurant (after my surgery) and maybe even bring my family as it is definitely the sort of place my parents would get a kick out of. We also hope to maybe try to go next fall for their pumpkin picking and more hayrides! Definitely recommend a visit if you're in the area.... just be prepared to wait to eat! It is worth it.

 

Christmas 2014

This Christmas Ryan and I decided to stay home and celebrate with just the two of us. We were expecting him originally to work through the holiday and when we found out he was off we decided to not stress with travel and stick with our original plan of staying home. As much as I missed seeing my family, it was nice to have this memory together. I worked Christmas Eve and then met Ryan at church on base for mass. It was beautiful in the church but outside it was pouring rain all day. At least it was warm, a balmy mid 70s for Christmas... very unusual for this Jersey girl!

 

After mass we went home and had a nice dinner (care of Honeybaked Ham Co to be honest!) that we just had to heat and put out. It was delicious and the Dup was begging at our sides for most of it.

After we ate we watched some TV together and I learned my husband had never seen It's A Wonderful Life. It was naturally on TV so I made him watch even though we missed part of the beginning. That is a classic that must be watched! We then exchanged one present for that night.... mainly because Ryan got me some cozy pajamas he wanted me to wear that night and for Christmas morning. I gave him the tablet he knew he was getting since he picked it out! He spent the rest of the evening adding his coursework to it and being geekily excited about the entire thing.

 

 

Christmas morning we had some left over ham and biscuits and exchanged presents. First we spoiled the Dup who was very excited (if not a little confused) about getting treats and presents. Her giant bone became her prized possession and she carried it around for three days before she realized she could eat it... then it vanished! Her stocking was full of stuff for her to destroy and only one toy survived the Christmas shredding, but she was occupied all day with them at least.

All of that kind of wore her out (overly stimulated much?) and she napped the rest of the day in a sun beam!

 

 

Ryan and I did the presents thing, he enjoyed his super large coffee pot and 24 hour vacuum sealed thermos I got him (as well as socks and exotic jerkey plus his stocking) and I cannot wait for my spa day he customized for me! I also got more pretty pajamas and a stocking with plenty of chocolate in it.

 

We spent most of the day watching A Christmas Story but then watched A Muppet Christmas Carol and White Christmas to break it up. Then my friend Donna came over, we ordered Chinese food and we opened a bottle of champagne to watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special. So it was a different Christmas for sure, but still very very enjoyable. I hope you and yours had a fantastic holiday and have a Happy New Year!

 

 

Tis the Season...

Even at work I'm getting into the Christmas spirit.... All thanks to Pinterest and the fact the library I work at has a lot of green books! Most are (surprisingly or not) on the Vietnam War, golf, accounting and vegetarian cooking! Deck the halls y'all!

 

Christmas Decorating

Last year for Christmas we didn't really bother to decorate. I think I did our mantle, but we didn't have a tree or anything like that. Ryan returned home from Afghanistan last December and we spent Christmas in South Carolina with his family, so it seemed like added stress to get a tree and do all the large scale decorating knowing we wouldn't even be home. This year we knew we had to decorate... or at least I did. Ryan is starting his SDA/B-Billet and we actually were told he would be working through Christmas. I was bummed, especially since we initially planned to go to New Jersey, but then we found very recently he actually can take leave. We did a lot of soul searching and thinking and decided to stay home this year, just the two of us.

 

We had Thanksgiving at Ryan's family's house, but my family was there too, so we saw everyone in our immediate families. We also plan on driving to my parents' house for New Years since it is less of a drive than New Jersey. It was a very hard decision for me since I really treasure any time I get with my Babci and Poppy... but with Rylie I am worried about her knocking them over. Seriously. Plus it is a long drive (11 hours or so) and I don't have a lot of vacation days, especially knowing I need a week or so in the near future for my gallbladder surgery. So, stress and practicality won out and we will be spending Christmas in our own home this year. Now, onto the decorations!

 

Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care.... along with my Christmas village from my Babci and Poppy that I got to take some of.

Our other stockings adorn the picture window. I won the knitted ones last year and they took the place of our little cheap felt ones! I didn't have the heart to throw them away (especially the Dup Dups!) so they are incorporated elsewhere.

 

 

My nativity set... which I love so much. I also sadly broke one of the wise men this year, both his hands broke off, but nothing some super glue couldn't fix.

 

I have had this advent calendar for ages. It used to hang on the door to my bedroom growing up and it is now in our dining room.

Ryan got us some poinsettias and they nicely compliment our advent wreath. Ignore the fact that I still had our fall placemats on the table, they are wintery now!

 

 

And of course, an overall panorama effect. Our tree is up and decorated (now complete with star since we broke our old one two years ago) and our house even has lights up outside. Perfection.

 

All decorations... and fires... are Dup approved

 

Note: I am a bit behind blogging, as per usual, but I feel like not many people are out there reading at this point any way. It is a little disheartening. I will keep writing, even if it is just for me at this point. There used to be so much life and activity here... now I am lucky if I get a single comment on an etnry. So, if you are out there, thanks for sticking around. - A



Merry Christmas

From our family to yours; Have a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, prosperous and happy New Year!

With Love,

Give Away Win

I was very fortunate to win some gorgeous stockings from Jordan at Embrace the Adventure this week. Today a package arrived containing our new gorgeous stockings!

Ryan instantly claimed the red one and was a big fan too. 

Jordan's mom plans to start selling them soon and I encourage you all to check them out when she does! Thank you Jordan and to your mom for the early Christmas surprise :) the card she included was very sweet too. 

Our Christmas Decorations

Before we undecorated I took some pictures of our Christmas decorations. I defintitely wanted to share them with you all before it got too late!

We got a ton of Christmas cards this year and I tried to display them like I did last year... but we got so many! I made our door into a present and then hung all the cards up... and then just kept adding and adding.

I have had this advent calendar since I was a kid. You add all the Christmas-y characters in the days leading up until Christmas and the last one is Santa.

 Our mantle is one of my favorites... we have all our stockings including one for Rylie this year. On top is parts of the Christmas village I got from my grandparents. The had this village under their tree for years and I was so happy that they let me have some of it for my own family.

 A close up on some of my favorite parts of the village.

 Our tree.... during the daytime.

And a shot from when we decorated it. Our star didn't light up this year but we'll get a new one next year.

 Our nativity set. It was a wedding gift to us and a big tradition in our family.

 Outside we put a poinsetta for a little color but we had to make sure the Dup couldn't get near it.

And our wreath. I made this last year in Alexandria and it is a little rough looking. Maybe next year I will get better at the crafty thing and make a better one.

And of course our lights at night. My husband did an amazing job putting these up for us. I will be sad when they aren't up and on anymore!