Christmas Review
So, what was your favorite Christmas gift? I don't have to think too long before answering that one. How did you spend the holiday? Here's how mine shaped up...then I'll answer my first question.

My family's Christmas Eve was fairly traditional this year. Ever since I bought my house, I always serve Christmas Eve dinner. I guess I'm a central location for the family - not that anyone lives too far away - and I also live a few blocks from church. This year I made it easy on myself. I did a pork tenderloin, garlic mashed potatoes, and my family's baked bean recipe. Mom and I both experimented with desserts which were both flops. Oh well. Mom's was Rachel Ray's quick Fudge recipe. I think I saw it on Oprah a few years back. Mine was a Smores Bundt Cake - a mix from Williams Sonoma. You'd expect both to be good. Thank goodness there was crack and cookies as a backup.

For the Pork Tenderloin, I made a spice rub which was made up of equal parts Garlic Powder, Ground Thyme, Ground Oregano, Cumin, and Corriander. I then seared it in olive oil and minced garlic for about 5 minutes on each side. Then I baked it until done - 30 minutes or so on 350. It wasn't half bad!

After dinner we headed to our church's Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. I always cry when we all have our candles lit and are singing Silent Night. It's always such a beautiful service.

Now on to Christmas! I got up very early as Mike and I exchanged gifts first thing. He's adorable. He's like a big kid at Christmas. I wasn't allowed in the living room as he arranged my presents under the tree. I had already boxed up the ones to take to my parents. So, the only gifts under the tree were his and mine - and the gift Brooke and Ed got me from Pottery Barn (that's an important part of the story). So, once allowed in, I tried to sit on the sofa and open gifts. He wasn't having any part of that. So, we sat on the floor in front of the tree. The pile of gifts for me was larger than the pile of gifts for him, so he suggested that I start.

My first gift was kind of a joke. Because Kmart was open late on Sunday night, I thought it would be fun to go and see what was on sale. I struggled with a snowman pillow from Martha Stewart. I had it in my cart and walked around the store. At the last minute I talked myself out of it. Well, the next day Mike went back and got it for me. The best part??? He was giving a coordinating snowflake throw blanket away at his family's white elephant on Christmas Eve. In the end, he ended up with the blanket and gave it to me on Monday night as an early Christmas gift. So now I had a matched set! Mike and I love cuddling on the couch under fuzzy blankets - so it was an appropriate gift we'll both enjoy. Wow...this is going to be long if I talk about each item for that long.

Next I opened an adorable Mickey Mouse mug. It's a really cool shape. Sorry, can't find an online picture of that one. I think I made him open a gift next. I had one big gift for him and a gag gift. I had him open the gag gift. He seems to love graphic t-shirts. While mom and I were shopping, I spotted a Christmas-themed t-shirt that read "Your rooftop or mine?". Well, I had lost the gift and had pretty much convinced myself that it was accidentally thrown away. I found it at 9pm Christmas Eve sitting in it's bag on the top shelf in my basement - a perfectly logical location for it! He proudly wore the t-shirt all day long!!! He did, however, say he wouldn't have worn it if I had done what I had originally planned - and bought us matching t-shirts!!!

So, it was back to my gifts.....I think the next gift I opened was the one he promised he'd get me - a Pizza Cutter. In my family, we're perfectly content to cut pizza with scissors. Most people think we're weird. But why not use a multi-functional tool instead of cluttering up drawers with tools designed with only one purpose!?!?!?! Apparently I was insulting his Italian heritage - no scissors for pizza (at least in front of him).

My next gift was a coordinating Disney mug. This time it was a Pooh Bear mug. I love Winnie the Pooh. I was down to my last gift. As I felt it, I was pretty sure it was probably Season 3 of Lost on DVD. I was really excited. I love Lost and I'd forgotten to mention the idea to anyone. So, I was flattered that he thought of it all on his own. But, instead of opening it and confirming my assumption, I had him open his big gift. I got him a Navy Peacoat. He had commented awhile back that he'd wanted one for awhile (apparently years). He seemed thrilled with it and wore it proudly over his embarassing t-shirt all day long!!! Well, he took it off in the house. I'll have to post pictures when I have my camera (kinda doing some "personal" stuff at work).

Then I got to open my gift - and I was right - it was Lost Season 3. I was happy. He got me lots of nice, thoughtful gifts. HOWEVER, I had convinced myself that I was getting jewelry for Christmas. Why? He had told me a story about a shopping experience he had with his sister and mother before Thanksgiving where he needed their advice. Now, I pretty much knew about every gift he was giving every family member. Since he didn't go into great detail about this shopping trip, I could only assume that he was shopping for me. And, what else would you need a mother and a sister's advice for but jewelry. Well, I was trying to hold back the tears and convince myself that it was all my fault that I was upset. I had allowed myself to foolishly get my hopes up. Well, Mike was standing in my living room, trying on his new coat, when he pointed to a small, silver bag hidden behind the gift Brooke and Ed had given me the day before. He said something like "looks like Santa left you another gift over there." It was TOTALLY "A Christmas Story" moment - the moment when the kids have opened their gifts and Ralphie hasn't gotten his Red Rider BB Gun! His dad points to the corner of the room and hidden behind a piece of furniture is his most-wished for toy. Well, that's how I was. I opened the bag (and little box inside) to find a gorgeous pair of diamond hoop earrings!!! Now, just the night before I realized that my left ear was pretty infected from wearing costume jewelry. It HURT a lot. But, I couldn't get those earrings in my ears fast enough and suffered through the pain all day!!! I guess by now you've realized what my favorite gift was this year!!!

Okay...that brings me to 9am!!! I have a whole day to go!!! Mike and I parted ways - he went to his parents' house and I went to mine. I like being the only kid on Christmas morning (sorry Ed - you get your day the day before). I got lots of things I asked for - a new Tivo that allows you to record 2 shows at once, a gift card for a new screen door for the front of my house, dish storage containers, some more jewelry, dishes, an alarm clock, an indoor/outdoor thermometer, and lots of other goodies! Mom cooked a delicious lunch of cream of chicken soup and homemade bread. The house smelled wonderful and the food was delicious.

After lunch I flew over to his family's house to celebrate for a few hours with them. Mike has a 2-year old nephew, so it was fun to watch him get excited about gifts. Although, he was getting pretty tired.

We enjoyed a few hours of downtime on our own before heading over to my parents house for dinner. Mom made a fabulous ham dinner. My Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Ray also joined us to wrap up an enjoyable evening.

Mike and I then went back to my house to snuggle up with some Christmas presents and watch the Incredibles. Very cute movie!!! Now I'm back at work and Christmas already seems like it was weeks ago. If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me!!!