O Christmas Tree

"I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love. "
--Linus, A Charlie Brown Christmas

This being Kyle's and my first Christmas together as Husby and Wife, I decided to document every little thing about the holiday season and turn it into a scrapbook. Not a hard thing to do, really, when it involves three of my favorite things (Christmas, scrapbooking, and Kyle, if you were wondering).

I'm getting my wisdom teeth taken out this weekend and will be in no state to go anywhere, so last weekend Kyle and I went to a tree farm out in Ross and picked out the perfect tree! I am not a fan of fake trees -- one of the best things about Christmas is that fresh pine smell a real Christmas tree brings into your home. Here are a few pictures of our adventure at Nieman's Garden Center:



We ended up with a good sized, and affordable, fraser fir. These are probably my favorite kinds of Christmas trees because it has good branches for easy ornament hanging, and they smell absolutely fantastic. Here we are with our first Christmas tree!


Then of course we had to decorate it. My parents gave us a ton of lights (I think they buy new ones every year, because they have lights coming out the wazoo), so we took two strands of the little white ones and put them up. We made a great team, by the way.


My aunt had also given us all kinds of Christmas decorations for one of my bridal showers, and I finally got a good chance to look through it all. It's all gorgeous! She got us stockings and stocking holders, a tree skirt, some ornaments, and some other great stuff. Check out the final product:

We still need a tree topper, but I guess we can go without it one year. I plan on going out after Christmas and buying some more decorations. I do love Christmas. It's the most wonderful time of the year, after all.

Wicked

"Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap
It's time to try defying gravity
I think I'll try defying gravity
And you can't pull me down."
--Elphaba, Wicked

"Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?"
--Glinda the Good, Wicked



Ever since I can remember, I have been going downtown to the Aranoff to see musicals and plays acted out for me. My uncle Randy is a huge fan of the theater and always had an extra ticket or two, so it didn't take long for me to become enamored with the stage. I've been collecting Playbills for years, and last Christmas Uncle Randy got me a special Playbill album to put my collection in. I am very pleased to say that I am getting some great use out of it.

As a wedding gift, Uncle Randy and Aunt Becky gave Kyle and me their tickets to see "Wicked" at the Aranoff last night, the hit Broadway musical I've been dying to see since I was in high school. For those of you who've been living under a rock sheltered from the theater geeks of the world, "Wicked" is the untold story of the witches of Oz, and follows Elphaba (the so-called "wicked witch") and Galinda (later "Glinda," or "Glinda the Good") as they grudgingly share a dorm room in college and eventually become best friends. Born green but good, and with powers she can't fully understand or control, Elphaba dreams of meeting her hero, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. When she finally does, she realizes he actually has no magic of his own and is blinding the people of Oz with mirrors and lights, and a corrupt government intent on forever silencing (literally) the once independent and coherent animals. Elphaba vows to fight the wizard, who spreads rumors of her "wickedness" throughout Oz to easily discredit her claims.

I really loved this play. The leading ladies were phenomenal as both actresses and singers. The set was much more intricate than I expected it to be, and the music has basically been stuck in my head for the last 24 hours (and I'm not sick of it yet, so that should tell you something).

I'm going to sidebar a little bit here. Everyone knows the story of "The Wizard of Oz," but I'm starting to think there are more layers to it than we realize. Let me explain.

Kyle read this thing online a while back that argued that Glinda the Good is actually one of the most diabolical villains in movie history. And when you really think about the story, you can kind of see it. She shows up when Dorothy's house lands on the wicked witch's sister (I won't refer to her as "Elphaba" here because I'm strictly talking about The Wizard of Oz, in which she has no name). She credits Dorothy for this fully and gives her the ruby slippers. The wicked witch then conveniently shows up and gets really pissed off at Dorothy. And who can blame her, those shoes should belong to next of kin, if you ask me. So the witch is understandably upset, and Glinda just lets it happen to Dorothy, even though she's the one who stole the shoes, and probably even caused the twister to land on the sister. Ooh, nice rhyme.

Glinda then tells Dorothy to follow the yellow brick road, which Dorothy does. And she goes through all the trouble with the guards and the trees and the witch and the monkeys and finally gets to the wizard and then, ONLY THEN, does Glinda decide to tell Dorothy how to get home. Turns out she had the answer on her feet the whole time. Is it a coincidence that two witches died under Glinda's watch, leaving her to rule Oz as the only witch in the land? Maybe. But probably not.

Here's another thing. One of the most popular lines in the movie, and in the entire world of cinema, to be honest, is "There's no place like home." It's what everyone remembers about the movie, but it doesn't really fit the story.

Home is a desolate dust bowl in the middle of Kansas where the nasty old lady next door is trying to kill your dog. Whereas Oz is...technicolor. And it has it's problems, what with the fighting trees and flying monkeys, but you make friends who help you realize that whatever you want to be, you already are.

Have you ever watched a movie you haven't seen since you were like six and realize you really had no idea what was going on when you saw it the first time? It blows your freaking mind.

Quirks & Dinners

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
--Helen Keller

I really like being married. It takes some getting used to, and I don't mean that in a bad way at all. Kyle and I dated for seven and a half years before we finally tied the knot, so I thought we knew absolutely everything about each other, but we are still learning and adjusting to our quirky habits. Kyle looked at me like I was a nutjob when I threw all my laundry -- that's colors, whites, and reds -- in the washing machine without thinking twice about it (Don't judge me. They turn out just fine). And I'm still boggled by the fact that Kyle doesn't roll his socks. He just lies them flat in his dresser, right on top of one another. I thought it was the standard that everyone rolls their socks...? Am I wrong?

Anyway, it's not a bad thing. I like that we're still learning about each other. And quite honestly, I don't give a damn how he puts away his socks.

Another fun thing to get used to is cooking. We like to cook together, but we haven't tried anything too extravagant yet. The problem with cooking dinner is that you spend 30 minutes to an hour preparing this lovely meal, and it's gone within a few minutes. It kind of reminds me of planning my wedding. I planned everything to the smallest detail for an entire year, and it went by like that!

(You can't see me, but I am snapping my fingers to demonstrate my point).

Our first meal was your basic spaghetti with meat sauce, cheesy garlic bread, and corn. Check it out -- not too shabby!



Our second meal was lighter -- salad with romaine lettuce, apple slices and grilled chicken:


We haven't had any major cooking disasters so far, so that's a good thing. We've also managed cheeseburgers, chicken pockets, and a lot of cheese and crackers when Kyle was trying to win The Biggest Loser competition at work. He came in second place, by the way. How is it fair that a girl diets for two months and loses five pounds and a guy accomplishes the same thing in a week?

P.S. I thought I had been charging my iPod all day and I just realized it wasn't plugged in all the way. Damn.

P.P.S. When am I getting my wedding pics back?? I'm dying here.

P.P.P.S. I spent most of my afternoon cleaning today. I'll have to post some before and after shots soon.

Dental Work

"You're never fully dressed without a smile."
Martin Charnin

Want to hear something kind of gross? I went to the dentist this evening for the first time in about five years.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one in this boat, so I don't feel too bad admitting that. I didn't have dental insurance through most of college and beyond. I have had a wisdom tooth creeping its way through my gums over the past year or two, though, so a couple of months before we said "I do," Kyle went ahead and booked an appointment for me to see his dentist, giving us plenty of time to get me on his insurance plan.

Like most other kids, I filled with dread every six months when I got that postcard in the mail picturing a yellow face clutching a toothbrush and wearing a toothy grin. Those always kind of pissed me off. No one is that happy after a trip to the dentist, not even with free dental floss.

I never thought I'd say this, but my dentist experience this time around was downright pleasant. I was brought back to a room in the back, I sat in the chair, and the chair began massaging my back. Once I got comfortable, (which didn't take long), my hygienist handed me a a remote control and let me pick out what to watch on the flat screen TV hovering over my massage chair. The only thing on the ceiling at my old dentist's office was Anne Geddes.

So I turned on That 70's Show and made small talk with the nice hygienist, who was smart enough to only ask questions when the metal tools were out of my mouth. She was very gentle, and it didn't hurt at all, not even when she was poking around my gums.

The best part is that after five years or so of not going to the dentist, I walked out of there with ZERO cavities. How rockin' am I?

The worst part, however, is that they highly recommended that I get my wisdom teeth taken out, as the bottom ones are literally pushing against my other teeth and could lead to some serious cavities or even removal of the teeth that were there first, dammit.

They referred me to an oral surgeon and recommended that I go before the end of the year, so I guess I'll be scheduling a consultation soon. I'm not looking forward to this... I have a feeling it will turn me into a whiney pants for at least an entire weekend. At least I have a blog to vent on, right?

The Honeymooners

"May your time be filled with relaxing sunsets, cool drinks and sand between your toes."
--Author Unknown

Kyle and I left for our honeymoon the Monday after our wedding (6:00 from an airport an hour drive away -- so glad we had a day to recover from the wedding before spending an entire day in airplanes and airports). We spend seven nights in Riviera Maya, Mexico, at an all-inclusive resort (Do you know what all-inclusive means? Oh, yes. Free food. Free booze. Free room service. And we took TOTAL advantage).

Check out our room:


It was huge! There was an enormous TV, a living area, a great balcony, and banner on the front door that said "Honeymoon." Adorbs. And it got even better when we explored the resort a little bit.


This is one of the eight or so pools around the resort. One of them had a swim-up bar, but we only got in the water long enough to get a couple of mudslides, as the water was rather cold. The resort also had a jillion restaurants, and we oddly didn't eat any Mexican food. Instead we feasted on French, Japanese, Mediterranean and Italian cuisine. And it was all fantastic. We had dessert for lunch and dinner every day. We had soups and salads and appetizers. Holy shiz, I wish we were wealthy so we could do that all the time.

We didn't just lounge around the beach and drink all day, though (well...not every day). We took a trip one evening to Playa del Carmen and did some shopping and went to a tequila tasting. AND we swam with dolphins in Cancun! When I first created my bucket list in like the eighth grade, "Swim with dolphins" was the first thing on my list. So you can imagine how awesome that was. We bought a video of us with the dolphins, and we've watched it several times with various family members. It's still hard to believe we got to do that.

We also took a side trip to the Mayan ruins in Tulum. Because we had to get up so early, we decided to watch the sunrise on the beach (which, by the way, was another item on my bucket list).


Isn't that gorgeous?! Anyway, it was a long drive to get to Tulum, but it was totally worth it. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable (being half Mayan himself) and we learned a lot. It's an incredible place and we were glad we got to go.


There were iguanas everywhere. I think I counted about 20.


Oh, and another thing. When we booked the side trip to Tulum, we were told we could bring our bathing suits and towels if we wanted to, because there was a beach we could swim at. We just thought to ourselves, "We have a beach at the hotel! We're going to want to look at the ruins!" So we didn't bring our suits. Then we got there and our tour guide is all, "By the way, this is one of the Top 10 Most Beautiful Beaches in the World!"

...CRAP!

No matter, we still had a great time.

The rest of the trip was amazing. At my first bridal shower, my mom got Kyle and me these flip flops that make some pretty cool messages in the sand as you walk:


The week went by way too fast, but we had the best time. It's hard to imagine going to any beach now without having such amazing service. I still find myself looking at the clock at work and thinking to myself, "If we were still in Mexico, I'd be on my third daquiri by now..."


The real kicker is that our last meal in Mexico consisted of goat cheese salad, braised beef soaked in a red wine sauce, and creme brulee. Then we got to the airport in Maryland and paid $8.00 for a handful of McNuggets.

Back to the harsh reality of the real world.

At least we made some great memories!