A very Merry-land Christmas

Christmas in Maryland is drawing to a close (since we're leaving tomorrow for Tennessee, yay!) so I thought I would share some of the fun things we've been up to for the holiday season :)

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Check out our awesome Christmas tree! And please ignore the partially painted dining room wall.

Shane's parents got to visit the first weekend in December and brought it up here for us. I kinda went crazy decorating and put every ornament ever made on there. Shane's mom went home saying she needed more ornaments for their tree. When I look at it, all I can think is "Holy Christmas that's a lot of ornaments!"

 "Maybe just one more? And another? Well we *have* to hang this one up..."

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Meanwhile, we found some wild animals running around our house one day. Seriously, haven't their owners ever heard of hair cuts? 

Before: 

Being the good people that we are, we decided to take them to the groomer. It was Sheldon's very first trip! Knowing him, that girl really earned her money that day. 

 After, and Christmassy:

I'm probably the only one who finds that funny, but let's face it, those little blank stares on their faces...all they're wondering is "where are the treats?"

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As it turns out, there are a lot of fun things to do in Baltimore around Christmas time.  Like going down to Hampden to see the Miracle on 34th Street. No, not the one where Kris Kringle goes to court for a competency hearing. This is the one with all the lights!

Miracle on 34th Street is a Baltimore tradition that has been going on since 1947. Which is actually the same year the movie came out. I'm sure that's just a coincidence. 

For one block, residents on both sides of 34th go crazy with lights, decorations, plastic Santas and more. It's probably just easier for me to show you rather than tell you. 

That's a lot of Christmas right there.

They had a parade too but it was kinda cold that day. We decided to stay home instead. 

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Shane participated in Tuba Christmas this year with the Ravens Marching Band, which was really fun. Tuba Christmas is a huge concert where the only instruments are, you guessed it, various types of tubas (yes there *is*  more than one kind). The final count of participants was somewhere in the 230s. And they play all Christmas songs! The whole crowd gets to sing along. And then they played one Hannukah song. No one knew the words to that one. 

Aww, doesn't he look adorable in his little uniform? 

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Well I think that's enough blabber, why don't you just check out this super awesome wonderful fantastic holiday video I made?

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And as a gift for all you wonderful people who have stuck it out til the end of this post, here's an early Christmas present from yours truly. You're welcome :)

Happy (almost) Anniversary Shane!

It's hard to believe that this time three years ago, I was near mental and physical breakdown as I wrote myself a list and remembered I still hadn't embroidered the hankies for my mom and soon-to-be mother-in-law. 

That's right. Three years ago today, it was the night before my wedding. I'm not going to lie, planning a wedding is very stressful. Even though I had been engaged for three whole years, and really really planning the wedding for the last year, there were still so many things to get done the night before. Like sewing a table runner for your sweetheart table. And making survival baskets for groomsmen and bridesmaids in case they forget something (funny story, I was the only one who forgot anything, and it was safety pins. Guess what I forgot to include in the survival basket?). And while I did eventually cross that last, very important thing off my list (passed out for three hours on my parents' bonus room couch), it was all worth it, because the next day I got to marry my best friend in the whole world.

 

 We felt very strongly about not seeing each other before the wedding, but we did cheat a little bit and hold hands. I don't even remember what we talked about, probably lots of giggling and "I love you." Shane wanted to sneak a peek at me around the door, but he didn't. And how do I know? Because when I walked down that aisle, this is what was waiting for me on the other side:

It started as a excited, happy, surprised sort of look. Then turned to tears of joy. Lots of tears of joy. Shane might be embarrassed that I put this on here, but honestly it's my favorite moment of the whole wedding.

 Well, the part where we were pronounced man and wife was pretty special too :)

I could post a million more pictures of the cake and the flowers and the decorations and all that other stuff, but I'm not. All of those things are so important to you when you're planning the wedding. And really, those things are all for the guests. This is what is most important to me. Not the fact that my mom and I bought every silver and blue ornament in a 20 mile radius for centerpieces. Or that Shane and I didn't even get to eat our food and had to stop at McDonald's later. The memory I want to hold onto is this one right here, and these smiles on our faces:

Happy (almost) 3 years Shane. I love you so much, and I am the luckiest girl in the world to have you. Here's to 83 more!

P.S. And for everyone else, don't worry, I'm still going to post all those other pictures on Facebook ;)

A fun announcement!

So I'm sure all of you know this already, but I just wanted to say it again! 

Yep, you heard Mr. Carey right! Or is it "read him right?" hmm...must ponder. Oh wait, what was I talking about? OH YEAH, MY NEW JOB! 

If you couldn't tell, I'm pretty excited.  I started the other day as a legal secretary at a law office. The people are fabulous. The hours are great, and I'm guaranteed 40 hours a week (which was practically nonexistent in retail). I actually get time off too! And weekends off, which means that I get to actually do fun stuff with Shane instead of dealing with customers all Saturday and Sunday. As for the pay, well let's just say it's substantially better :)

It's not that I hated retail. It was more a hate/love/hate relationship. I loved (most) of the people I worked with. And I really enjoyed working on things like shipment and merchandising while there were no customers were in the store. But once you added shoppers into the mix, with all their various questions and complaints and coupons, things got a little less pleasant. Plus it was just exhausting. Standing on a concrete floor for 8 hours a day is no fun. Lifting boxes is no fun. Standing out in the weather counting said boxes is no fun. I would come home every day, pretty much worn out and just ready to go to bed, covered in scrapes and bruises. No use in painting your fingernails cause they would be ruined the next shipment. And you would not believe how much cardboard dries out your hands. I could never even dress nice without my clothes getting box dust all over them. 

Retail just wasn't the career path I felt like I wanted to stick to. The hours are crappy, there are lots of difficult people to deal with, and you always feel like you get paid way less than you should. Not to mention, in the six months I was at this particular store, I was never given my set of keys, or the code to the alarm, which were both things that were supposed to come with my position. I was half-trained, and it was getting old, fast. 

I am glad to say that my situation is looking up! I've only been at the law firm for two days and I already have my own key! Today they even threw me a lunch party and bought everyone sushi (I had chicken teriyaki, since sushi and I are not really friends). I am so thankful to have found this job. I know that I am really lucky to have found something so great, and I hope that I love it!

I mean, who wouldn't love nights and weekends off?

Now I'll have so much time for activities! And have the energy to do said activities. And money to pay for the activities! YAY!

P.S. Don't worry, now I will have so much more time for blog posts too! I have so many that I need to catch up on. In fact, I have one in the works about the worst shopper behaviors, and reasons why they make retail workers hate them. Check back soon!