Christmas 2014

(I was on Instagram scrolling through random peoples feeds (you know you do it too) on the explore area and I saw a christmas journaling prompt.

I hurried and jotted it down in my notes because i thought it was a brilliant way to organize this blog post.

Unfortunately, I totally forgot who's account I was on. GAH. I've searched high and low so I could give the proper credit but I've failed miserably.

So if it was your idea, THANK YOU! I promise i'm not taking credit for the idea.

rant over.)

CHRISTMAS 2014

WHAT WE DID:

We spent Christmas Eve with my family (both sides).

 We went out to dinner then came home to hang out in our new christmas pjs with just mom, dad, and brad. We laughed so hard that night while taking pictures.

Christmas morning was spent with just my immediate family.

We had the sister missionaries over for breakfast and then they got to Skype their families.

We were ready to Skype Adam at 1 but we got a text at 1:05 saying that Adam wouldn't be able to Skype until 5.

GAH.

That messed up plans a little bit because we were planning on heading to Jordan's side at 3. 

Thankfully, I have understanding in laws.

We stayed at my house for a few more hours and skyped Adam at 5. Man, that was amazing. Just hearing him say the words "goodbye" again had me in hysterics.

We RAN to jordan's house to celebrate with his family.

We had a yummy dinner and played games.

Those smiths really like to play games.

WHAT WE ATE:

My favorite part..

Christmas Eve we had Lucilles BBQ.

I had a tri tip salad and jordan had tri tip sliders.

Christmas morning we had banana pancakes, eggs and bacon.

For lunch we had our Mautz specialty.

It is the weirdest combo of foods but we LOVE IT!

We had oysters, shrimp, "stinky cheese", jalapeño jelly, pickles, oranges, more cheese and crackers, and MUCH MORE.

It is pretty much all of our favorite appetizers. Weird, we know. Jordan is still getting used to it.

For dinner Jordan's mom and aunt made yummy pasta, salad, green beans, etc.

I was so stuffed by the time we got to Jordan's house that I could barely eat...

That was until Jordan's aunt brought out her LAVA CAKE. Holy moly, that stuff is good. All of a sudden i was forcing myself to eat because I would never forgive myself for missing out on that cake.

WHO WE CELEBRATED WITH:

On my side (both christmas eve and christmas day) we got to celebrate with all of my grandparents, my immediate family (except adam in NC). I had aunts and uncles there (Aunt Krissie, Juju, Aunt Katie, Jon, Uncle Larry). I had lots of cousins (Amanda, Blake, Bronson, Callie, Chloe, Cammie, Miles, Tyler).

We weren't able to make it to Jordan's Dad's side for Christmas Eve but we did get to see his mom's side on christmas. We got to see his immediate family (just missing lark in UT), his grandma, his aunt  sherry, his uncles Rance, Royce, Todd, and Arvin, and his cousin Ariana. 

WHAT WE GOT/GAVE:

Poor jordan had a lame christmas. He didn't want anything so I ended up buying him basics. Other people spoiled him tho.

He got a backpack, sweats, cologne, a camera, shoes, LOTS of clothes, money and more.

I felt every loved/spoiled on christmas. Jordan got me way too much.

I got the watch i had been dreaming of, the tory burch flats that we bought back in sept, a tiffany ring (there is a good story behind that one), so many clothes, more shoes, make up brushes, and so much more.

Adam sent brad and I North Carolina gear. It is now my favorite sweatshirt.

Jordan and I were gifted a trip to Vegas. We are planning on going the day after he takes the DAT so we can celebrate his hard work. 

I said over and over that my gift giving was so unoriginal this year for my family and friends. I am determined to do better next year. I get so much joy from picking out the perfect gifts. 

WHAT WE DON'T WANT TO FORGET BY NEXT CHRISTMAS:

It hit me really hard this year that Jordan and I are starting our own family and need to start our own traditions. Thankfully, our families have set great traditions for us to build on. It is so easy to get distracted by the "fun" traditions and forget to center this season around Christ. I have been listening closely to other peoples traditions that help them remember the true meaning of christmas. By next year i hope to make our own. If anyone has ideas I'd love to hear them. 

I love Christmas SO much and it kills me to see it pass so quickly.

I hope you and your family had a perfect Christmas!

We sure had a great first "married Christmas"