christmas.

i didn't take that many photos this christmas. my camera is broken and i just felt like"blah". i hope that makes sense, :) 
this is my favorite photo. my niece in a panda hat we got her with a giant panda from her grandparents. 
i hope your christmas was as wonderful as this lady's. that would mean it was epic.

christmas eve dinner.

ah, christmas eve.

here are the facts about what happened:

jonas worked because americans need to shop more than they need anything else.

it was my day off anyway. so i prepared things at home and spent time with my dad. that was really nice and i only felt a little bad that he took me to a restaurant. sorry to those who maybe should have been home with their families (i really do feel bad).

i cleaned up after a water heater replacement, but now we have hotter water. sweet!
i cooked and didn't love how it turned out. i just hate cooking for others because i am self conscious.

we had the missionaries over. a tradition from jonas' family.

we played jenga -it was amazing.

we performed a talent to receive a gift. 

i read a little something, jonas sang in German and the missionaries dominated with 'sweet home alabama'.

 we had too much chocolate.
the cat loved her new toy. his name is Mouseman.

scrooge!

^we couldn't get such a great photo. sigh.

the only thing i wanted to do this season was to see A Christmas Carol at Actor's Theater. Jonas works a lot of late nights anyway, but it seemed worse during the holidays(he is even working today and it is Christmas Eve. it is just wrong how much he has had to be there). For that reason, we could never see A Christmas Carol, i mean, we tried since the first week of December. i have missed him a lot this december... 
 at the last hour, literally, we saw the very last showing of the play, Jonas worked so hard to get those tickets for me. he changed his work schedule, which is hard to do. he went to the ticket office twice and he was willing to find a way. he got the very last two tickets(but it was not easy). it was pretty amazing. a christmas miracle and my favorite gift this year. then, on our way to the car from the theater, jonas gave me his coat. it was freezing and i am lucky. happy happy happy christmas eve!

Merry Christmas.

the last advent. merry & bright.

we lit the last candle for the last advent.

& we enjoyed our Christmas tree. i am so proud of it and i love to cuddle in the living room with the tree. it is such a relief after all the shopping, wrapping, stressing, cooking, mailing, baking, shivering, working, etc.

may your days be merry & bright.

i really hope they are.

a sweet house.

jonas and i created this happy little home together. 
it may not be the most beautiful thing ever, but we did it together(even after i had a breakdown with the icing. i am quite sure it was over more that icing..)
& jonas was very kind about the whole thing and we finished it. gingerbread houses are tough & messy. at least, to me.
but when they are finished, i always feel so proud, no matter what it looks like.

winter days in this deep & dark december.

 ^i love my Katze. i was looking through my phone and camera and found her exploring a box(she loves boxes like a little kid), laying on me while we were in bed watching a Christmas Devotional and brushing her own fur..with my brush :( she actually does have her own but it was too adorable.

^we took a walk in the city. so cold. brrr. now its 65. ha.

^i helped to decorate and set up the funeral home for our Christmas Dinner. i loved how it turned out, but this santa was my favorite :)

^i made sweet potato casserole my favorite way (pecans on top). this did not help my "sugar hangover". i have had one many days this december. we receive an unholy amount of treats at work. when its over, my body will be happy. i feel gross.

^i said goodbye to my calling as primary president...

other things that do not have a photo...

• i have eaten so many of those "Cuties". did you know that you can eat too many!? i read that it is not good somewhere, after feeling a little sick.
• i have tried to stay busy and exercise a lot to keep the seasonal depression away. it still gets to you with the days being so short and dark. annoying!!
• i am ready for christmas and really, i love the lead up to christmas more than the actual day.
• nothing else new for now....

third advent.

^^i lit the third candle.

^^it is almost christmas!

^^we dressed up for jonas' work christmas party at 4th st live. he totally won earrings in the raffle(which means i won new earrings. hehe.)

^^caramel apple covered in chocolate and our christmas tree.

^^catching up on the advent calendars.

^^our tradition of watching A Wonderful Life. this year, in color.

ornaments.

i love adding new ornaments to our Christmas tree every year. we really try to pick them out together, but sometimes i get ahead of the tradition. like the first ornament, which i ordered without even asking Jonas if he liked it. oops. but he really loved having some moments from the past year on the tree, so we may keep having a photo ornament made.  happy happy tree trimming!

a snow!

 

 

 kk

i really miss Germany and their epic winters.

i do not miss being constantly cold, but really, their winters are magnificent.

and the Christmas markets are even better than they say!

i felt lucky that louisville got a dose of snow this past week.

& any season makes Old Louisville look gorgeous.

maybe we will get many snow storms this winter, might as well have it if its cold.

hopefully, not much falling on ice, which has happened to me a couple times already. ouch!

advent two.

 ^^a beautiful church and beautiful snow!

^^our chapel looks so pretty(like always) but we don't get a lot of snow around here, so i thought we should remember it.

^^our weekly dinner with the missionaries. bbq :)

^^jonas said his German advent thing...and lit the second candle.

^^i made the cat super happy today. really, i just can't help myself.

 ^^christmas records playing while we decorated the tree

 ^^our lovely, little tree. tree topper is in the mail !

it has been a great december so far, with a lot more wonderful moments to come.

i'm going to go finish Miracle on 34th street ('47 version. jonas loves old movies. yes, that is old to me)