This Weekend: More Christmas!

Friday's date night led Jonathan and I to Walmart to buy a Christmas tree. I know it's early, but holidays at school seem to be skipped over. If I wait until after Thanksgiving to begin celebrating Christmas, I don't feel like I have enough time to truly get into the Spirit of Christmas. So we bought a tree, lights, some red and green balls, and a star. We forgot to buy hooks for the balls, so they are hanging on the tree by red and white and green and white paperclips that we had on hand. My former roommate NaDene came over for dinner tonight and the three of us cut out snowflakes for the tree with nifty Christmas scissors. We had such a fun night, and the tree has certainly rocketed us further into the Christmas Spirit!

Also this weekend I took the English content Praxis test required for student teaching. I had been studying for weeks, but I still felt anything but prepared. I took an old Praxis test this week and did really well on it; however, the test I took on Saturday was harder. I'm not sure how I did, and I won't find out until December. At least it's over now and I can stop focusing on studying for it and I can concentrate on the miracle that will be passing my classes!

I have really resisted putting a picture of my belly on the Internet. I'm self-conscious about my stomach enough as it is, and now that's the whole point of posting the picture. But Jon convinced me that yes, my middle is getting bigger but that the smaller numbers on the scale are evidence that the baby is growing, not me. We are now at week 16, and in the last week I have felt the baby move a few times. I can also find the baby sometimes when I'm lying down, even if I can't feel it move simply because of how hard it is compared to the rest of my tummy. And so, here is a picture, and here's hoping I at least look a little pregnant and not just fatter and fatter.

Snow is Falling All Around....

As I wrote in my last post, my cousin Nicole came over last weekend to watch Christmas movies. The night kept getting more and more festive, particularly once we broke out the scissors and paper to make snowflakes! It's pretty much one of my favorite things to do around Christmas. I must take this moment to thank my high school Cross Country coach and eleventh grade math teacher Mrs. Thompson for teaching me how to make such nifty snowflakes.

It's Beginning To Look (& Sound) A Lot Like Christmas

I don't know what it is about this year, but I feel so much more in the mood for Christmas than I have in the last few years. I've been itching to watch Christmas movies and bake cookies and decorate a Christmas tree! Jon said we don't really need a tree since we will be in Utah for Christmas, but I say otherwise.... We will be having a tree this year, even if it's only for a few weeks. It's our first Christmas together, and I'm determined to start tradition-building now.

This quilt was a wedding gift from my grandma, Ruth Yukish. She started a tradition many, many years ago of making quilts for her grandchildren when they are born, when they graduate from high school, and when they get married. My mom and I picked out the fabric. She doesn't typically do patchwork, but she was so excited when she saw all of the bright colors we chose. I couldn't be happier with it!

Today Jonathan made the BEST hot chocolate I have ever had. He made Stephen's raspberry hot chocolate and put French vanilla creamery in it. I drank it while watching the snow fall outside and listening to Christmas music. Life doesn't get a whole lot better than that. Tonight my cousin Nicole is coming over to watch Elf. She is bringing taco soup for dinner, and we're going to have more hot cocoa and eat sugar cookies and crescent rolls. I'm pretty sure this is how heaven will be.

Rexburg is already absolutely freezing. Last fall we didn't have snow in Rexburg until after Thanksgiving. This is our second snowfall so far this semester. Pretty good considering we've made it passed midterms without a ton of snow. Now is when the semester really gets crazy. Jon and I are both trying to do well in our classes. Midterm grades are never very accurate, but I'm afraid we still have a lot of work to do if we're going to get through this semester. Most of my classes right now require a large amount of teaching at Madison Junior High. The good thing about this is that it has forced me to become more comfortable in a real classroom. In fact, a few semesters ago I wasn't able to give presentations in my classes because I was too afraid of being in front of people. Now, even though I still get a little nervous, I get up in front of classes all the time with relative ease. I have been surprised at how much I truly enjoy teaching. I guess I'm going into the right field.