I have been pretty bad about taking pictures of my life lately, thus there are no pictures of our first married Christmas in Washington. It was a festive occasion, but also very sad. My Grammy, Pat, passed away about a week before Christmas. We couldn't come right when we heard the news because of job obligations and money, but we were fortunate enough to make it to the funeral.
Our holidays have been tough so far because last year our Brother-in-law Beave died, leaving his wife and two daughters; his year my grandma. This makes me incredibly thankful for the gospel. Not only have I been remembering the Savior and His birth during these seasons but I have been remembering what that actually means for me and my Eternal Family. We will get to see these loved ones again. This gives me comfort. Less than a year with Beave was not enough. And twenty two years with my Grammy was not enough. Both where such kind and interesting people. Both had less than perfect adolescence, but both became fiercely active in the Gospel. These two were such inspirations, and I will be able to continue learning from them when we meet again.
Besides grieving, our family had a wonderful time enjoying each others company. My family can get pretty rowdy, but we love each other and know how to laugh together. We stayed at my parents house until Christmas morning. We got to spend time with my little Nephew JJ. He opened up tons of presents where everyone else opened or two or three. It was so fun. I'm pretty sure everyone had the opportunity to play with some of his toys. We then had a Christmas dinner with my Grandpa, uncle, and cousin. That night we drove my sister and the new addition to her family, Audrey, my childhood dog, to the airport to fly back to Houston.
After parting ways with her we stayed in Seattle for a day and half, spending time with our good friends Morgan and Tyler Zentz. Those people are just good for the soul. Even though we don't get to see them that often I always thoroughly enjoy the time we do get to spend with them. After Seattle we made our way to the little Bavarian town in Washington called Leavenworth. This place is just the most adorable place in Washington. Nestled in the Cascades sits this little village with a ton of character. We walked through the shops, grabbed a bite to eat, surprisingly didn't do too much shopping, and then made our way back to Yakima.
We spent the rest of our time in Yakima with friends delegated more time to the family. All in all it was a pretty exhausting, but well needed trip. We were glad to get to our new home in Rexburg though! Which is weird considering how mediocre I find this place, but I needed to nest like a little bird into my new home.
We now live in the Mesa Falls apartments. They are the newest married housing complex to come about in town and they are pretty nice. They have a nice kitchen, a laundry room (yay!), a pantry/storage room, two bedrooms and a nice living room and patio. This place is definitely big enough for the two of us. I just don't know how we're going to go back to slumming it after being so spoiled here!
This gem is a picture of Forrest and I spending new years in our new and empty apartment. We did have a couch though, and pillows that I adore. It was a quiet evening, but we did watch the ball drop. I also shared a new years kiss with a special someone, but a Lady never tells... ;)
Time for the tour of our humble abode!
This is our living room. Notice the leather couch (got that for 40 bucks in Phoenix), the yellow shabby couch (got that for 30 bucks at DI, don't care how much Forrest hates it), that super cute basket holding our blankets (thanks Bonnie!), those pillows (made the grey, and arrow ones), and the pictures on top that seal the deal! It all came together nicely. I was going for a less is more look. I'm pretty happy with it.
This is our dining room. It is way too big for our tiny little table, but I'm pretty happy with it as well. Note that I found a good place for my mustard herringbone rug! Now if only I could get Forrest to make a little "entry way" table to put on the back wall...
These little lovelies are my DI finds from this year. I got a pretty good variety in good shape for an awesome price! I had bought the silver tray to transform into a chalkboard sign, but I like it this way better. Please also note the lovely coasters my beautiful other half, Stephanie Christianson, made for me. We have yet to use them, but we'll get around to it.
This is out little bookshelf. I'm sure there is more we can do with it, but this is as far as I got. Notice all of the books (most are cheap ones from DI). I eventually DO plan on reading them, but job hunting as kept me a bit preoccupied. Also note the adorable deer book ends that I got. My sister-in-law got them for me and are probably one of my favorite Christmas presents. Oh, and check out that huge Love and War book... I got it because it looks awesome. Forrest takes pleasure in making fun of me because he doesn't think I'll read it. I will. I'll show him.
Those are the exciting parts of our new apartment. I've become quite the homebody. Thus me taking the time to blog? I promise I'll be better.
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