{12 Dates of Christmas} :: Some Rink Time

{On the 4th date of Christmas, my true love planned for me...Some Rink Time}

Date:  Ice Skating, Dr Pepper Star Center McKinney

Cost:  $10 (thank you Groupon!)

Because Texas has mild winters (today was definitely 80 degrees outside), we have to do our winter ice skating indoors. I found a Groupon for the Dr Pepper Star center, so Mike and I headed out for an afternoon of ice skating! Neither Mike or I particularly love ice skating, but it was just a fun and different date activity.

I can't even remember the last time I went ice skating (high school maybe?), so it was definitely a date filled with our fair share of laughs :)

I am proud to say that we both managed to keep our balance and avoid falling on the ice. We may not do too much ice skating in the future...but it was a fun wintery-type experience haha :)

{iPhone Rewind} :: November

November was jam-packed full of friends, family, and events; the end of the year is quickly approaching!

My friend Austen's adorable baby girl Michal is a baby model for Zulily. Of course she is. Her older brother Marc and her mother are both models. :)

Sasha decided to eat her weight in Halloween candy. Thankfully there was no chocolate.

Holiday drinks came out at Starbucks!! :)

Our sweet nephew Luke received a HUGE pooh bear from an aunt. It was really fun because when you press his belly, he talks and laughs!

Of course, we ended up at the vet for a broken toenail. There was a lot of trauma, but she seemed to be ok.

And then Sasha decided to eat our bananas. She apparently didn't learn her lesson with the Halloween candy.

We received a belated wedding present from Mike's aunt. It was really sweet and incredibly generous! I got to make my first batch of cookies in it, and I can't wait to use it more!

I had Baylor Spirit for the football game against #1 Kansas State (all the way down to my fingernails!) So proud to be a bear! ;)

I helped put out Christmas decorations at work...I love this time of year!

We started the {12 Dates of Christmas}!

Mike brought me home this adorable (and delicious!) snowman cookie. Yum!

Mike celebrated his 31st birthday this year; I was able to take off work, so we had a picnic lunch in Erwin Park, went to see Lincoln, and had dinner at Uncle Julio's. Happy Birthday my love!

{12 Dates of Christmas} :: A Fireside Date

{On the 3rd date of Christmas, my true love planned for me...A Fireside Date}

Date:  A Fireside Date, Home

Cost:  Free

It's funny to me that in my last apartment I had both a garage and a fireplace. Now in our rent house, we have neither. Maybe someday ;) Anyway, Mike found a netflix movie that literally is just a camera set up in front of someone's fireplace. So we joke about our little makeshift fireplace...we turn on our little space heater and the netflix fireplace movie, and it's almost like the real thing. At least that's what we tell ourselves...

For this date, we made dinner together, and then spent the evening snuggled up by the Christmas tree and the fire. Simple. But perfect.

Advent 2012

Source

Growing up, I really only remember advent being something that we heard about in church during the weeks leading up to Christmas. We never had a family advent calendar or countdown. That's not a bad thing or a slight against my parents; but it is something that in recent years has made me want to focus on my own personal reflection time during the advent season. In years past, I have followed varying Scripture reading guides that have highlighted verses pertaining to the first coming of Christ.

This year, I decided to use the Advent Guide from the Village Church to walk through Scripture and reflect on the Christmas season. This is one of my favorite times of year, and if I am not careful, I can get distracted by all of the prettiness and fun of the season. My heart can wander and lose focus.

I chose this particular guide because of its purpose:

"to awaken the angst of waiting, longing and yearning for Christ."

I want to yearn for Jesus. To walk through the Scripture and truly understand the longing that the Old Testament people had for Messiah. To see glimpses of God's promises scattered throughout history and His fulfillment of those promises. To awaken that same expectation that Israel had for their promised Messiah as we look ahead to His second coming.

This Christmas season, I want to stay focused. I pray that I will not get distracted and instead spend purposeful time reflecting on the gravity of Christ's coming to this earth.

{12 Dates of Christmas} :: Deck the Halls

{On the 2nd date of Christmas, my true love planned for me...A Deck the Halls Date}

Date:  Deck the Halls, Home

Cost:  Free

This date was set aside for us to decorate our tree and get the house ready for the Christmas season. We would have done this anyway, but it was still fun to make a "date" of it.  We put on some Christmas music and got to decorating!

We bought a new tree and ornaments last year, so we just had to put everything out this year.

Getting out all of the ornaments (it was finally cooler outside and we had no electricity so our rent house can get pretty chilly!)

Pretty Christmas ornaments

Decorating the tree

Ta Da! :)

Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love that our little rent house is ready for the season!

Gotta love Pinterest ;)

Welcome Christmas! Successful Date #2 :)