Christmas Party

Juan and I love to throw Christmas parties and it's almost a tradition to have one for close friends every year. This year, the party was very similar to that of 2006, so for those of you who were there for that one, you'll see many familiar things.

Here's how the evening went down:
7:15- guests started arriving and we all mingled until more people arrived.
7:30-someone was finally brave enough to eat
(the hors d'oeuvre/dessert table included: cherry berry cobbler, delicious apple pie cheesecake, chocolate-caramel coated pretzel loghouse, gingersnap and ice cream tarts, carrot cake balls covered in white chocolate, pineapple cheeseball, roasted red pepper rolled green olives, bruschetta, tofu-stuffed mushrooms, hazelnut flavored hot chocolate, and ginger ale with blueberries.)
8:30- we played some Christmas song Pictionary.
9:00- Unwrapped Game (where you have to roll doubles with a pair of dice to see who gets to unwrap the mystery present with oven mitts.)
9:30- White elephant gift exchange
10:00- Toast (MadLibs style)... Okay, this almost was like toasts in high-society--we didn't have champagne glasses; plastic cups worked just as well.
10:15- People started heading for home with a Christmas cd favor.

Thanks to all who could make it! We hope next year is just as fun!

It's Not Easy Being Green

Tristan gave us some neat-o reusable shopping bags this past Spring. They have come in really handy at our particular grocery store. The main thing that bothers me about grocery shopping is the millions of bags you have to carry out to your car and this store magnifies that pet peeve. This is how ridiculous it is: they put only one box of granola bars in a bag, then double bagged it!

Anyway, I finally got myself into the habit of bringing these reusable bags along. Who knew! I am able to fit most of my groceries between the two bags (they are big enough to carry two gallons of milk!,) and we no longer have an exponentially-increasing plastic bag pile beneath our kitchen sink. The best part is that I feel like I am making an environmental difference, albeit slight.

Okay, now I have this on my conscience:

Someone left their white elephant gift from the party at our house. This white elephant was very humorous and left everyone laughing; it was a bundle of about nine phone books. Now, I learned in my Environmental Science class that one of the worst things found in landfills are phone books. Why? It takes much, much longer for them to break down and decay because they are so compact. I feel horrible about this: I just took the whole pile of them right out to the trash. So because of that lack of effort, I am dedicating myself to being more "green" this week.

Not Allowed:

• Showering (out of the question... what a waste of H2O)
• Food (which leaves only our neighbor's ornamental kale to raid because it is definitely pesticide-free)
• Electricity of any kind (which means no clean clothes)
• Cooking with the stove (because is natural gas really natural?)
• Hydration (can't have a tall glass of water anymore because of all of those chemicals)
• Modern clothing (because everything we own is made from synthetic material. Yes, that means we're going back to sheepskin.)

Allowed:

• Bicycle trips with Greenpeace and the Sierra Club
• Walking to Lancaster for some organic food
• Cooking with solar-powered frying pans
• Juicing wild berries to satisfy our thirst
• Protesting outside the local Tyson chicken plant
  

Can't wait until Juan gets home to tell him all the new rules!

Bloggled

Thanks to Lizzy, this blog is now being preserved against any future damage/deletion. Go to this awesome website to find out how I did it. (And you can enter the contest, too :^)

Making a List and Checking It Twice

It has been a "List" week in the Chavez home. Juan checked off a few "Finals". I checked off a "Christmas Party". Siena checked off "Sneak a candy bar" and "Learn how to say bebe (baby) and ojo (eye)", plus a couple of other words--I still haven't figured out what they mean.

We have just a little over a week left here on the East Coast this year. We'll get to visit our family for the holidays. There are many things to get ready, but I think we'll manage to get it all done in time.

I've been thinking of traditions a lot lately... especially Christmas traditions. Maybe it's because part of me wants to remember the years past because they were filled with good memories, family being closeby, and always having more than enough. When I was preparing to go to a ward recipe exchange the other night, I was struggling to find a recipe that "represented a Christmas tradition". I thought that since I couldn't think of any, we must not have had very many traditions; I later realized how wrong I was. Juan helped me think of something about an hour before the exchange. It's the simple butter-herb spaghetti his dad always makes for the Christmas Eve dinner. Just the thought of it conjured up the memories of the last three Christmas Eves I have spent with Juan. All good memories (even the year I was throwing up in a Mexican bedroom with sounds of clinking wine glasses and "Saluds" resonating down the hall. Morning sickness.)

Anyway, the first time my father-in-law made that buttered spaghetti, I am sure he wasn't planning on it becoming a tradition; however, it made its way to the table year after year. Food does not have the human capability of giving someone a comforting hug, but it sure can symbolize a memory that you don't want to lose, which is just as warm. That's why it is a tradition, and that's why we love butter-herb spaghetti.

Other traditions that my family has are cutting down our own Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, doing a jigsaw puzzle on Christmas Eve, enjoying a deluxe waffle breakfast on Christmas day, and exchanging gifts. They are all traditions that we look forward to every year, and when the time comes to make them happen once again, we will remember and be grateful for the good memories of past Christmases that we've been blessed with.



p.s. My wonderful Juanito surprised me with this:

Lately

I have been:

• hearing a constant beeping every 30 seconds from the neighbors house for about 72 hours. I am about to rip my hair out!
• working on Christmas presents, and stressing that I'm not going to finish on time.
• trying to get some Christmas decorating done. Wow, it's hard to make it look "Christmas-y" without a tree.
• wondering how everyone is doing because I haven't had time to check any blogs.
• preparing for two baby showers this weekend. I'm not hosting, I'm just helping out. Note to self: never hold a baby shower on a Friday or Saturday night; it will make people mad, and that's not a good mood to be in for a baby shower.
• nailing strings of lights to our front window frame. Hope the landlord doesn't mind.
• teaching Siena where her panzita (tummy) and orejas (ears) are.

Juan has been:

• studying
• studying
• studying
• studying

Siena has been:

• babbling incoherent words
  
• wandering around the house with her arm looped through purses, lunch bags, pants with belts, etc. like she's shopping in a high-end clothing store.
  
• Pointing to and counting everything, but especially the paint texture on the walls.

Thanksgiving Day

On the bus ride to NYC - 6:00 am

Getting psyched for the parade

9:00 finally rolls around...

The Turkey is the Grand Marshal...of course

Siena's boyfriend... David Archuleta

...and all her BFFs from Sesame Street

Speaking of BFFs: NYPD!
(These officers were great; they took pics of us, we took pics for them--and of them.)

Ask me about the story behind this picture...


Did I mention our friends hooked us up with front row "standing areas" in Times Square for this thing?

Juan's BFF: Miley Cyrus

Snuggling to keep warm

Here Comes Santa Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus, Right Down Broad-way....

We had such a good time. Thank you for those who waited under that scaffolding since 6:00 that morning (you know who you are....) The next day we had a nice Thanksgiving Feast, but those pictures didn't really turn out, so Joy if you are reading this, could you ask Lindsey if she could send some of her pictures our way? Thanks!

Saturday

Patiently waiting for the car ride to be over....

Last Saturday was the Spanish Branch's Temple Trip to the Washington, D.C. Temple. We had quite the drive there; the normally 2-hour drive there ended up taking almost 4 hours!

Instead of thinking ahead and getting cash for the toll roads, we jumped on in the car and started driving. Once we realized that we didn't have cash, we optimistically decided on taking the scenic route which would tack on another half an hour. Well, we followed the GPS and "avoided toll roads" at the cost of driving through some pretty obscure neighborhoods in Baltimore:

Yes, our GPS took us through an alley about 35 minutes from the temple! Crazy directions.

Once we got there, it was a wonderful experience and we were glad we made the trip.

The annual Christmas Tree display was set up and Siena could not help but try to pick-off every ornament from the trees. We have proof of that as well:

Smith Memorial Playhouse

This is where we went yesterday with Jen and Olivia. Siena had so much fun, if not just because she got some social interaction.





What else?

Siena's mood of choice:
And...

We've got words!

• "Ah-wa-wa" = 'agua' (water)
• "Ba-Ba"= 'papi'
• "Ma-Ma"
• "Uh-Oh"= 'Mom, I know I did something wrong'
• "Wow!"
• "No, no, no!"= 'Mom and Dad, you say that too much to me.'
• "Yeh"= 'Yes' (though not spoken as often as the previous word.)
• Sign language- "por favor" = 'please'
  

On-deck for the blog:

1. Siena's animal sound impressions
2. Video of Siena
3. This Saturday's adventures

Anniversary

Yesterday Juan decided to stay home from school because he wanted to spend time with me... Awww. It was a simple day, but relaxing and sweet none the less. I guess looking back, this year our anniversary was all about memorable food. (Yeah, that doesn't sound weird.) We reminisced about our honeymoon to Mexico with molletes for breakfast and shrimp cóctel for dinner (which we ate almost every day of our honeymoon.) The night before, we made Thai/Chinese fusion pad thai, chicken satay, broccoli with black bean sauce, and fried rice; this was to tribute the night of our first date after his mission when we went to Thai Siam.

I made this in honor of our anniversary, but we (and when I say "we", I mean "I",) got too anxious and cut into it the night before for an "Anniversary Kickoff"... at least that's how we justified it.

And here are the rest of the pics:

molletes

cóctel

chocolate-cinnamon layered cheesecake

Anyway, ummmm.... I don't do "mushy" for the blog too much anymore, so: "Yay Us! Three Years Baby!"

"A House of Order"

Since life here has been pretty boring, I have been jumping at every opportunity to find something to blog about; I have felt devoid of anything scintillating enough to relate in type. So I guess we're scraping the bottom of the barrel right now:

For FHE last night, Juan and I decided to organize the basement office. I will spare you the "Before", but here is the "After":

I had to do something with my wall, so I bought cheap frames at IKEA and a yard sale, and cut fabric to fit each one. The biggest "fix-er-up-er" was the organizing grid. This has been ransacked nearly every day since we've moved here because Siena is fascinated with what is inside and can't help herself from pulling everything out. It holds my ribbon, paper, felt, Sunday manuals, batting, quilt tops, envelopes, paper cutter, scissors, sewing supplies,... EVERYTHING! I'm sick of cleaning it all up every day, so last night I decided to use some fabric (that was going to be used for certain Christmas presents) and made a cover. "Desperate times...."

The Sad Tale of a Seamstress' Daughter

I happen to have a close connection with a clothing designer who has been "in the thread" of sewing for her entire life. She is my mother. When I was younger, she would take pains in teaching me how to sew. I would complete a small quilt occasionally, and maybe a piece of clothing, but nothing ever gave me the same satisfaction as making a simple satchel. I have a theory for this: I hated following patterns and bags were simply easier to produce. In short, I was lazy. But my mother would not let the tradition that was passed down from her own mother stop at me. She tried very patiently to spark an interest in sewing in me, but alas, I threw aside the needle and thread and went for the rake and trowel to pursue a different kind of "sowing".

Now that I am the keeper of my own house, I realize that a knowledge of sewing is actually quite beneficial. Not only does it fulfill its primary purpose of being useful and self-reliant, it also keeps me from boredom on the cold days when one does not want to go out of doors. The tragic part of the story is that I have forgotten many of the methods and techniques that my mother worked so diligently to teach me. Any time I sit down to the sewing machine, I make sure I have my #1 tool by my side: the seam ripper.

Habits are not usually dropped once one reaches adulthood. Sloppy sewing is a habit I thought I would lose once I was a mother, trying to teach my own children how to sew. However, I now realize that I need to practice more in the "slow and neat" style rather than the "Let's get it done" style. Hmph! Too bad the magical mommy fairy does not exist because I could really use a dose of "Instant June Cleaver" right about now.

Some Things New, Some Things Old

• Siena drew on the wall today for the first time (I'm thinking about framing it)
  
• I made my first child's apron
  
• Juan took another test
• Siena is still teething (she's up to four teeth now)
• I tried to clean up after Siena, but it never stayed clean (yep, we're there)
  
• Juan is upstairs wondering when I am going to stop blogging
• Siena is constantly saying "Uh Oh" with this expression on her face:
• The Pennsylvania leaves are rapidly disappearing