christmas eve eve party

december 23, 2009 marked the 2nd annual christmas eve eve party at our house! this year we decided to toss in a fun little requirement of the attendees...everyone must wear a tacky christmas sweaters! we've all seen them, but it was hysterical to see our friends in them! the night also included a 6 pack of beer exchange for the guys and an ornament exchange for the guys....we had a blast and can't wait to do it again next year! here are some pictures...what awesome memories!

it's a sickness time of year...

so after all of the windmueller family christmas festivities this weekend, i ended up sick monday night! i started feeling bad in the afternoon and got worse as the night went on...i knew it was bad when i woke up at 5:45 am with a really sore throat! unfortunately i had to take my first sick day ever from work (i usually get sick on vacation or when i'm already scheduled to be off!), so i went to the doctor first thing yesterday morning! luckily it was a 20 minute doctor visit and then on to walmart i went for prescriptions. i relaxed and slept all day yesterday (except for some baking and laundry last night!), and i felt so much better this morning!

it seems like this is the time of year for sickness...anne and reese were sick this weekend, kris woke up sick yesterday, jon was sick last week, and there have been several people at work who have been out sick recently! i'm hoping since i got it this week and jon was sick last week that we will have a healthy vacation in new york and boston next week!!!!

christmas eve eve party tonight....2 days until christmas....4 days until new york city!!! love this time of year....

time to celebrate...christmas

this weekend will begin family christmas celebrations for jon and me! my mom, kirk, laura, kate, reese, and anne are all coming in tomorrow for the windmueller christmas celebration! i'm super excited about seeing everyone and all of us being together!

my mom and i are going to do lots of baking tomorrow (i chose to bring desserts for christmas dinner on sunday!), once she arrives. i have a few more errands to run in the morning to finish up some last (well i guess not quite last...that would be if i waited until christmas eve!) minute shopping and then the baking will begin! i love christmas time....

making someone's christmas special

this christmas has arrived very quickly! i can't believe it's less than 2 weeks away! jon and i decided to do something we've never done this year at christmas...we adopted two needy children. there are so many unfortunate children that may not get to share in the joy of christmas, and this year was the beginning of a new tradition for us. christmas really is for children, and i can't imagine them not having gifts from santa on christmas morning.

i saw an angel tree at my gym that was sponsored by the salvation army, and i decided to check it out and pick an angel from it. when i started looking at the tags on it though, i was shocked! the "unfortunate and needy" children wanted ipods, wiis, playstation 3's, and wii games...this was not the type of angel i wanted to adopt for christmas! i wanted jon and i to buy gifts for a child who would be excited to just have something to open from santa.

after thinking about it and remembering the many days of helping my cousin who worked for the department of social services and was in charge of the annual christmas project (collecting, buying, distributing gifts for needy children), i decided to contact my old neighbor who works for a nonprofit organization that is affiliated with the department of social services. she was so excited to have us help and immediately sent me information for two young girls, ages 7 and 8. these two sisters wanted board games, uno, and a hannah montana doll...that's all they wanted!

i had so much fun shopping for them...picking out clothes, remembering the games i used to love as a child, and searching for the new character that the kids are raving about, hannah montana! on the saturday i shopped, i had the best feeling about what i was doing and how special these two sisters' christmas will be...and it really reminded that the giving is the important part, not the receiving! i am perfectly happy not receiving gifts this year, and just knowing that these two girls will have gifts to open on christmas morning will make my christmas very special!

on the road again...

in a little while jon and i are hitting the road with katherine and tee to head to litchfield beach for the weekend to hang out with jay, brittany, and will. this is a little bit of a spur of the moment trip which should be a lot of fun! there are always a lot of laughs when jon, jay, brittany, and will get together! (in fact there are moments when i have the thought that i might wet my pants while laughing at them!)

i'm hoping that tomorrow and/or sunday involves shopping in myrtle beach because i have a few more gifts to buy (and a couple things i would like for our new york trip)! the boys are playing in a golf tournament all day on sunday...and the rest of the fun will fall into place as the weekend goes on!

thirty more minutes and then i'm heading out the door and leaving work behind for the weekend...

personal matters...not facebook news stories

facebook is great...as long as it is used for the purposes in which it is intended. unfortunately some people think it is for airing dirty laundry and personal matters. a couple that i am close to is separated and today the husband announces on facebook that his wife has told him she wants a divorce...today - which also happens to be their anniversary. i know that she told him several days ago, but to the facebook world it looks like she dropped this huge bomb today and that he had no clue it was coming. divorce is a personal and private matter...not a facebook news story! it is a sad situation and i feel especially sorry for the wife (one of my closest friends) who now looks like a terrible person to her husband's facebook friends. she is not a terrible person though, and i love her and hope that they both will get through this unfortunate situation.

cookie baking mishap

jon and i decided to make cookies this afternoon, and thanks to my terrible conversion skills they didn't turn out like they were supposed to! i attempted to use crisco and butter instead of just butter, and i added twice the amount of crisco! as we finished mixing everything, the batter just didn't look right and it tasted way too smooth and creamy! after putting some in the oven, i read the crisco container again and realized my mistake! we decided to make the best of it and just add enough of the other ingredients to so that we would end up with a batch and a half of cookies...because you can never have too many chocolate chip cookies or too much cookie dough!!!! in the end they still weren't as good as usual, but they will do for now! next time i think i will stick with butter though!

another awesome weeekend ahead...

today is friday...and i love fridays! they usually go by pretty quickly at work, and i always look forward to awesome weekend activities! this weekend is funfilled...a party with friends tonight, the reindeer run with amy in the morning, my work christmas party tomorrow night, slumber party at katherine's tomorrow night (since the guys will be camping), and relaxing on sunday!

21 days until christmas and 23 days until NYC!!!!