Just the Two of Us

That turned out to be our theme this Holiday season.

The weeks prior to Christmas were filled with loads of work, church, and friendly gatherings in celebration of the holidays. All of them were fun and had games, delicious food, and dance floors. (Yes, I still have amazing dance skills and even got some compliments. Some people were surprised at how good of a dancer I am. White girls can dance and not just ballet.) We had tentative plans with various friends on Christmas and New Years, but we were having so much fun with just us we decided to keep it going that way. I loved it and wouldn't have had it any other way. Most of our holidays in the past have been busy with visiting family and friends. This season was quiet, but content and peaceful. I loved it and it will forever be one of my favorite years celebrated.

Christmas eve rolled around and Lars and I did out hustling and bustling. Even though it was just the two of us celebrating we were going to pull out all the stops. We got all the fixings for our traditional Barlow Christmas Roll Breakfast and some other holiday favorites. I was obsessed with smoked Gouda this year but didn't want to pay loads of money for it from Hickory Farms so we found a good amount for a decent price from our local grocery store and they had summer sausage too. I love holiday time cause sometimes we splurge on yummy food. That evening was spent in the kitchen cooking, dancing, talking, and some kissing. TEHE. This year, Lars was determined to make some fudge. We got a few different types of chocolate to experiment with.

1st batch-semisweet with Andes mint-turned out creamy and good.

2nd batch-dark chocolate with Andes mint-texture was funny on this one, but it was still good.

3rd batch-dark, semisweet, and Andes mint (double batch)-This was the best yet!

Good Job Lars

Christmas morning we woke up, exchanged gifts, finished making out delicious breakfast and enjoyed eating it. The rest of the day was spent relaxing to a few movies, games, and food. This year was special because we got to talk to and see each of our families without leaving our house. Thank you technology. We used our web cams and saw my family via Skype and Lars family via Google video chat. It was so much fun and made a huge difference this season. Talking on the phone makes me miss my family less, but web cam does an even better job.

New Years was a continuation of the above fun. We ordered pizza, watched movies, played games, and video chat with a friend. I wore my New Years shirt. I have had this shirt for an entire century. I would replace it for this a new 2011 century shirt but haven't found one yet. Until then I will continue to celebrate each New Years with this shirt. Duct tape will help me alter the year as always.

Now it is back to normal life. But we are more rested, motivated, and appreciative.

Good times always.