Merry Christmas!!

December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas!!

Sunrise from our bedroom window.

The view from our bedroom window.

Buon Natale!! I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas day. I know that Patrick and I have. This morning we got up early to see what Santa brought us, it was a little sparse under our tree this year since Egypt was our Christmas present to each other, and some other packages haven't arrived yet. Though Patrick (the sneaky guy) bought me a Le Creuset pot I had been eyeing at the NEX. After opening our gifts I popped a breakfast casserole (the same one my mom used to make on Christmas mornings when I was growing up) into the oven and we watched 'Polar Express'. After that I made a pecan pie (my first) to accompany the pumpkin pie I had made yesterday to bring over to our friends.

We went over to our friends house and celebrated Christmas with about 50 other people, with 85% of them being Italian. And we had a wonderful time. The food was delicious, and our plates were brimming. My pecan pie turned out quite good, however, the Italians were a bit skeptical. Some did venture out and try a piece though. I'm not a huge pecan pie fan, but I thought it was quite good, if I do say so myself. When we returned home I forced Patrick into watching 'Love Actually' with me (one of my favorite movies, not just for Christmas), but I think in the end he ended up liking it.

We knew that we were going over to our friends house today, so yesterday was our big meal. I think I may have gone a bit overboard. I made two pumpkin pies (crust from scratch), homemade rolls, roasted my first turkey, made Patrick Swedish meatballs, green bean casserole (another Patrick request), sweet potatoes, dressing, and mashed potatoes. We were planning to eat around 4 so that we could make a pit stop at our neighbors before heading to church at 7. Best laid plans, right? We ended up eating (or shoveling) around 5:45 and I rushed to get ready for church, with a short crying spell thrown in for good measure.

My first turkey, it turned out pretty tasty.

Mini gingerbread cookies I made earlier this week.

All in all we've had a wonderful Christmas. We miss all of you, our friends and family, but feel so fortunate to have another Christmas together. We know there's a chance that someday Patrick will be away, so we try to cherish every special moment we have together.

I thought I'd throw in some pictures of our place. We don't have many Christmas decorations, but we put up what we had. I was talking to my girlfriend Kim the other day and she wanted me to send some pictures of our place so that she could imagine where I was when she talks to me, so I'll throw in a few extra. She doesn't read my blog though, so I may have to bribe her with the pictures on here.