Christmas in November

I guess it's my turn to blog, now that Byron has put me to shame with his natural flair for all that is blogging.

This blog has a moral: you never really know someone until you have decorated for Christmas with them. I'll explain: Byron has a WONDERFUL family, who I could not possibly love more than I do. However, they have ruined him in one very significant way. Because his mother and sisters are so darn incredible, he grew up with the very distorted view that all women are wonderfully creative, artistic and artsy-craftsy. Case in point, Byron's nativity--handmade by his family and sent to him on his mission. I just love benefitting from the skills of others, as this is now in my livingroom, making me look crafty.

Now, I never once perpetuated this myth of womanhood and creativity going hand-in-hand, in fact I was very upfront regarding my artistic deficiencies. However, when I informed Byron that I didn't have any grand plans for decorating our apartment for Christmas, I honestly have never seen him more disappointed. I was shocked to realize that for the entire 4 years that Byron has known me, somewhere deep down he thought I was just hiding my secret domestic skills. And as most of you know, that is simply not the case.


So, Byron and I agreed to set our expectations aside and decorate for Christmas together. This involved hours in the scrapbooking room in Henderson. Byron decorated cards and tags like his life depended on it. All of the following were made by Byronikins himself.



And I learned to become a bow-making-maniac with the help of a little contraption called "The Bow-dabra!" (and the patient guidance of my mother-in-law!!) And after hours of bowmaking and then hours of tree assembling (miserable!) we have succeeded in turning our little apartment into something that feels like a home.

But, before you get too impressed, just know that the beautifully wrapped gift you see in the photo is our Christmas tree box, because our apartment is so small we have no other place to put it.

And, as surprised as I am to admit it, I had such a fun time getting all the Christmas stuff made. And I have some serious pride when I look at my apartment now. Who knows, maybe there is hope for the domestically challenged after all. Come to think of it, I went and bought holiday handtowels for our kitchen today -- I've come so far!!


I guess I'm lucky I have a husband who peer pressures me into Christmas decorating, I suppose it could be worse.



And what would this blog be without a little picture of our new pet?!

Say hello to Charlie.