I know, I know, stop the gushing and tell you what I got!! Wow, that sounded kind of self-centered, didn't it? In my defense there's really no way to share an un-self-centered entry about Christmas. It's almost always about the gifts and fun you had. Okay, enough inner dialogue for one post, onto the gifts!
Matt's been giving me gifts for about the last month, but he still managed to give me something really amazing for Christmas... on Christmas (or pretty close)! He ordered a custom novel for me from UStarNovels! They're a company who take a classic novel that's out of copyright and allows you to put in your personal information to create a personalized novel experience. No surprise, and a testament to how well he knows me, Matt ordered me Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Rather than Miss Elizabeth Bennett & Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy being the main characters, Miss Kristyn Rhodes & Mr. Matthew Hammond are. It changes all of the names, of course, so the Bennett family becomes the Rhodes family, but the story remains the same!
Here're some of the pictures I took of the book, sorry for the wonky angle on all of my pics lately, I can't seem to manage to the flash glare and it's entirely too dark in my house to take pics without the flash, even during the day...
I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear me say that Matt hit it out of the ballpark with this gift! I absolutely love it... LOOOOOOOVE it!! The book is really nice quality, the pages aren't cheap or thin, the print is clear and beautiful, and who doesn't want to star in their favorite novel?! UStarNovels clearly pays close attention to detail when printing these paperbacks, they're really lovely! Matt did have a little trouble paying for it, as he tried ordering it from the UK version of their site and our bank wouldn't approve the funds transfer. He finally did get it paid for (obviously), and apparently their customer service is top notch because he said that every time he needed to email them, they had gotten back to him in only a few hours. Anyway, when the book came, there were two. They had accidently processed the order twice, so now I have two copies! One is in my curio cabinet so nothing happens to it, the other is in my filing cabinet.
He also got me two little plushies, which wouldn't mean anything to those who don't play WoW, except that they're adorable. One is a Griffon Hatchling, the other is a Windrider Hatchling and they came with in-game pets. They are so adorable! He would have saved them for Christmas, of that I'm certain, had I not insisted that he give them to me the moment they arrived! Otherwise, he got me a Sarah Peyton Homes flame-less candle set which is really neat, a little Happy Bunny notebook, a pink wallet, and a magnet with a very perky woman's face on it and says "Surprisingly Enough, I don't give shit." Oh, and all the smaller gifts (wallet, notebook, & magnet) were wrapped in a gift bag and rather than using tissue paper, he used Hershey Kisses! So, now I have three bags worth of Hershey Kisses (caramel, candy cane, & cordial cherry), which I'm working at slowly. Then of course there's Mr. Pretty the Betta and his tank!
My awesome parents sent us gifts in the mail, which we opened late on Christmas Eve when we opened our other gifts. They got us each a Snuggie (which we asked for... don't judge us, they're really warm!) mine's pink and Matt's is camo! They also got me matching slippers, a really cute handbag with matching wallet and scarf, and my little sister Candi got us a sandwich maker, which Matt was especially happy with as he can't cook. He can, however, use the Foreman Grill, so we have the utmost confidence that he'll be able to use the sandwich maker.
Earlier in the week, we had gone out to Melanie and Joey's for cards and Monday Night Football and while there they gave us our gifts. Melanie made me the most adorable vintage apron and a picture with little aprons. I had been saying that I want to make a vintage apron but couldn't find a really good pattern. I love them and have been wanting one, so she made me one. I had the hardest time getting a picture because when you hang it up, you can't see what it is and I don't have a dressform -- although I think I'm going to look for a vintage dressform, I just love them so much. Check this out, pink and brown polka dots...
Cute, right?! Otherwise, my friend Marsha got me a really lovely pink sweater and Nikka got me a pink and white chocolate shoe that is far too cute to eat! My pal Paula got a little mouse toy and some peanut butter filled Oinkies for Anakin and put them in a cute little bag for me. My girly Mayren sent me a whole bunch of homemade bath stuff, including soaps (I LOVE the Energy Blend!!), foot soak, bath fizzy, sugar scrub, lip balm, dry clay facial mask, a lotion stick, and a candle all the way from California! The packaging on that stuff from California was really pretty, too!
On Christmas day we went to Waco to see my in-laws. It was just us and them and it was really nice. We had dinner and desert, and opened presents, of course! My in-laws got us gift cards to Sonic & Subway, a tin of popcorn, a loaf of cinnamon raisin Panera bread, cute little note cards, chip clips, a notepad for the fridge, a nail file with a K on it, calendars for the new year, and a cute red sequin ball cap.
Okay, so I had to include a picture of that magnet, it's too cute. Matt said he saw it and it looked just like my attitude. It's on my fridge and every time I see it, I smile. It never ceases to amaze me that he knows me so well. I never took him for paying so much attention, but it seems I underestimated him!
The day after Christmas I made a post-Christmas dinner, we watched Football, and played Shadowrun. It was really nice just spending the day together, and since I enjoy baking, it was twice the fun! I made a huge ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, pink salad, brown and serve rolls, a 3-layer pumpkin spice pie, an apple-raisin spice pie, and a pecan pie. Dinner turned out amazing and now we have a ton of left overs, both from our dinner and from my in-laws, who sent us home with a ton of food. We've been eating ham and potatoes for days, and I wish I'd gotten double the makings for the pink salad because it got gobbled up in record time, we both love it so much!
All in all, we had an amazing day. I didn't include pictures of everything I got because there would have been a lot of pictures, but also because it would have taken me hours to crop them all down. I've been working on this post for more than two hours now, besides more pictures would have just been overkill. I'm hoping that I didn't forget anything, but I really think I got it all. I omitted most of what Matt got, who cares about that anyway? Ha! I'm hoping we have as lovely a New Year holiday as we did Christmas; I think we'll probably just stay home and spend the holiday together.
Wow... I just realized, reading back over this, that I had a very pink holiday. Almost all the gifts I got, and pretty much all from the people who really know me, were pink! Even the rocks in Mr. Pretty's tank are pink!
One final note, Thank you to everyone who extended a lovely invitation for the holidays. It always makes us feel loved to be invited to share the holidays with family and friends!
