Christmas Party

Juan and I love to throw Christmas parties and it's almost a tradition to have one for close friends every year. This year, the party was very similar to that of 2006, so for those of you who were there for that one, you'll see many familiar things.

Here's how the evening went down:
7:15- guests started arriving and we all mingled until more people arrived.
7:30-someone was finally brave enough to eat
(the hors d'oeuvre/dessert table included: cherry berry cobbler, delicious apple pie cheesecake, chocolate-caramel coated pretzel loghouse, gingersnap and ice cream tarts, carrot cake balls covered in white chocolate, pineapple cheeseball, roasted red pepper rolled green olives, bruschetta, tofu-stuffed mushrooms, hazelnut flavored hot chocolate, and ginger ale with blueberries.)
8:30- we played some Christmas song Pictionary.
9:00- Unwrapped Game (where you have to roll doubles with a pair of dice to see who gets to unwrap the mystery present with oven mitts.)
9:30- White elephant gift exchange
10:00- Toast (MadLibs style)... Okay, this almost was like toasts in high-society--we didn't have champagne glasses; plastic cups worked just as well.
10:15- People started heading for home with a Christmas cd favor.

Thanks to all who could make it! We hope next year is just as fun!

It's Not Easy Being Green

Tristan gave us some neat-o reusable shopping bags this past Spring. They have come in really handy at our particular grocery store. The main thing that bothers me about grocery shopping is the millions of bags you have to carry out to your car and this store magnifies that pet peeve. This is how ridiculous it is: they put only one box of granola bars in a bag, then double bagged it!

Anyway, I finally got myself into the habit of bringing these reusable bags along. Who knew! I am able to fit most of my groceries between the two bags (they are big enough to carry two gallons of milk!,) and we no longer have an exponentially-increasing plastic bag pile beneath our kitchen sink. The best part is that I feel like I am making an environmental difference, albeit slight.

Okay, now I have this on my conscience:

Someone left their white elephant gift from the party at our house. This white elephant was very humorous and left everyone laughing; it was a bundle of about nine phone books. Now, I learned in my Environmental Science class that one of the worst things found in landfills are phone books. Why? It takes much, much longer for them to break down and decay because they are so compact. I feel horrible about this: I just took the whole pile of them right out to the trash. So because of that lack of effort, I am dedicating myself to being more "green" this week.

Not Allowed:

• Showering (out of the question... what a waste of H2O)
• Food (which leaves only our neighbor's ornamental kale to raid because it is definitely pesticide-free)
• Electricity of any kind (which means no clean clothes)
• Cooking with the stove (because is natural gas really natural?)
• Hydration (can't have a tall glass of water anymore because of all of those chemicals)
• Modern clothing (because everything we own is made from synthetic material. Yes, that means we're going back to sheepskin.)

Allowed:

• Bicycle trips with Greenpeace and the Sierra Club
• Walking to Lancaster for some organic food
• Cooking with solar-powered frying pans
• Juicing wild berries to satisfy our thirst
• Protesting outside the local Tyson chicken plant
  

Can't wait until Juan gets home to tell him all the new rules!

Bloggled

Thanks to Lizzy, this blog is now being preserved against any future damage/deletion. Go to this awesome website to find out how I did it. (And you can enter the contest, too :^)

Making a List and Checking It Twice

It has been a "List" week in the Chavez home. Juan checked off a few "Finals". I checked off a "Christmas Party". Siena checked off "Sneak a candy bar" and "Learn how to say bebe (baby) and ojo (eye)", plus a couple of other words--I still haven't figured out what they mean.

We have just a little over a week left here on the East Coast this year. We'll get to visit our family for the holidays. There are many things to get ready, but I think we'll manage to get it all done in time.

I've been thinking of traditions a lot lately... especially Christmas traditions. Maybe it's because part of me wants to remember the years past because they were filled with good memories, family being closeby, and always having more than enough. When I was preparing to go to a ward recipe exchange the other night, I was struggling to find a recipe that "represented a Christmas tradition". I thought that since I couldn't think of any, we must not have had very many traditions; I later realized how wrong I was. Juan helped me think of something about an hour before the exchange. It's the simple butter-herb spaghetti his dad always makes for the Christmas Eve dinner. Just the thought of it conjured up the memories of the last three Christmas Eves I have spent with Juan. All good memories (even the year I was throwing up in a Mexican bedroom with sounds of clinking wine glasses and "Saluds" resonating down the hall. Morning sickness.)

Anyway, the first time my father-in-law made that buttered spaghetti, I am sure he wasn't planning on it becoming a tradition; however, it made its way to the table year after year. Food does not have the human capability of giving someone a comforting hug, but it sure can symbolize a memory that you don't want to lose, which is just as warm. That's why it is a tradition, and that's why we love butter-herb spaghetti.

Other traditions that my family has are cutting down our own Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, doing a jigsaw puzzle on Christmas Eve, enjoying a deluxe waffle breakfast on Christmas day, and exchanging gifts. They are all traditions that we look forward to every year, and when the time comes to make them happen once again, we will remember and be grateful for the good memories of past Christmases that we've been blessed with.



p.s. My wonderful Juanito surprised me with this:

Lately

I have been:

• hearing a constant beeping every 30 seconds from the neighbors house for about 72 hours. I am about to rip my hair out!
• working on Christmas presents, and stressing that I'm not going to finish on time.
• trying to get some Christmas decorating done. Wow, it's hard to make it look "Christmas-y" without a tree.
• wondering how everyone is doing because I haven't had time to check any blogs.
• preparing for two baby showers this weekend. I'm not hosting, I'm just helping out. Note to self: never hold a baby shower on a Friday or Saturday night; it will make people mad, and that's not a good mood to be in for a baby shower.
• nailing strings of lights to our front window frame. Hope the landlord doesn't mind.
• teaching Siena where her panzita (tummy) and orejas (ears) are.

Juan has been:

• studying
• studying
• studying
• studying

Siena has been:

• babbling incoherent words
  
• wandering around the house with her arm looped through purses, lunch bags, pants with belts, etc. like she's shopping in a high-end clothing store.
  
• Pointing to and counting everything, but especially the paint texture on the walls.

Thanksgiving Day

On the bus ride to NYC - 6:00 am

Getting psyched for the parade

9:00 finally rolls around...

The Turkey is the Grand Marshal...of course

Siena's boyfriend... David Archuleta

...and all her BFFs from Sesame Street

Speaking of BFFs: NYPD!
(These officers were great; they took pics of us, we took pics for them--and of them.)

Ask me about the story behind this picture...


Did I mention our friends hooked us up with front row "standing areas" in Times Square for this thing?

Juan's BFF: Miley Cyrus

Snuggling to keep warm

Here Comes Santa Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus, Right Down Broad-way....

We had such a good time. Thank you for those who waited under that scaffolding since 6:00 that morning (you know who you are....) The next day we had a nice Thanksgiving Feast, but those pictures didn't really turn out, so Joy if you are reading this, could you ask Lindsey if she could send some of her pictures our way? Thanks!