Wanna hold my helmet?

Back in November, Kristen asked Josh to visit the kindergarten classes at her school on Veteran's Day. Josh obliged.

Most of the kids were fascinated by the soldier in the uniform and listening to him talk. The stories Josh and Kristen both told from his visit were absolutely adorable.

Apparently all the classes thought it was hilarious when Josh would put his flight helmet on. I guess in a 5-year-old's mind it is pretty funny looking.

Kristen would allow the kids to ask questions at the end of his presentation. Josh found this part particularly entertaining because of the children's vast array of attention spans and abilities to form actual questions. Some kids, he said, would ask well thought-out questions that made perfect sense and he enjoyed answering them. Other kids would ask completely off-the-wall questions that he would chuckle at. And then there were the kids that would raise their hand to ask a question and begin it with, "One time my mom...." And Kristen would had to reel them back in to explain that a question begins with "what, where, why, or how." lol

Then it was picture time. Josh would ask each student if they wanted to hold his helmet for the picture or if they wanted him to hold it. Josh said it was about half and half who decided to hold it or not.

Kristen said Josh did a fabulous job, which I have no doubt. She also said that her students still talk about his visit all the time, and look at the pictures from that day she put on her classroom wall.

He's so great with kids. He and his sister have that in common. =)

Josh, Kim & Abby

The stockings were hung on the stairway railing with care

To piggy back on the previous post topic, I just wanted to share my latest Vera Bradley acquisition: A Christmas Stocking!!!!

This is the very first year they've ever made stockings. It's a pseudo-early Christmas present from Josh. So, we switched around our assigned stockings so that Josh now has the Gators one, I have Vera, and Abby still has her puppy stocking. Much more fitting, really.

By the way, I really miss having a fireplace to hang these on. Next apartment will have a backyard for Abby... and a fireplace. I added it to the list.

Christmas is only a week away!!! Then these stockings will be STUFFED!

Josh, Kim & Abby

Kim's Quilts

I'm a big fan of Vera Bradley. The patterns, the fabrics, the colors, the styles, the versatility... the everything.
I didn't used to be - in fact, I started out with a real dislike of Vera Bradley and all her purses. In college, my first knowledge of these purses was that every single sorority girl had the "tote" version with her respective sorority's Greek letters embroidered on it. I wrote them off as purely a sorority thing, which was not for me.

Fast forward one year when one of my friends at the hotel I worked came in sporting one of these patterned fabric purses... but lacking the Greek letters. It was then I learned that Vera Bradley was not just for sorority girls, and that I did not have to dislike them. Which was a relief... because I secretly loved them.

I now proudly own a bunch of Vera Bradley purses, of all shapes and sizes. Josh's parents usually buy me a new one each year for my birthday, and I also have totes, wallets, a lunch box, contact bag, etc.

Josh calls the purses and totes my "quilts" because of the patterns and stitching. I counter with the argument that because of the type of fabric you can wash them which is a plus, and because of all the colors they go with everything. I don't think he cares, and really he just likes to get me riled up. So this playful back and forth has gone on for several years now, and every time I get a new one, he spouts off with "Oh, you got a new quilt"... then he smirks.

Well... as much as I hate to admit this... my husband may be on to something. While out shopping on Black Friday, I stumbled upon these:

Yep. Cotton Quilt Handbags - knock-offs of Vera Bradley purses themselves.

I still love them. But this certainly doesn't help my cause. At least the sign didn't say Cotton Quilt Sorority Handbags.

Josh, Kim & Abby

Our box of meat

I came home from work last week and found a rather large box sitting on our front porch. Which is odd for a couple reasons: 1.) I didn't order anything that would come in a large box. And I knew Josh hadn't either. 2.) Most everything we order gets delivered to the front office at our apartment complex, not our front porch.

Once I inspected more closely, I saw that the box said "Omaha Steaks" and was addressed to Mr. & Mrs. Touchton. Turns out, Josh's grandparents sent us our Christmas present early: steaks, burgers, twice stuffed potatoes and apple tarts from Omaha Steaks. His mom said they sent it because they weren't going to go out shopping this year... I thought it was just a great idea in general!

I immediately put everything in the freezer like the instructions told me to do and then called Josh. He was in Clearwater, so when I called him and told him about the box of meat I found on our front porch from his grandparents, he was pretty excited.

FYI for anyone wondering what to buy a newlywed couple for an occassion like Christmas... Omaha Steaks is a fantastic idea. And fantastically delicious.

"Our First" Christmas Tree

It's a fake. And it's only 4 feet tall. And I've had it since high school.

But, this is the very first time I've ever set up this tree in "our" apartment, not just in "my" apartment or "my" room.

And it is different, because this time it doesn't just have my ornaments on it that I've been given and collected over the years.

Turns out, my husband and his family had the same ornament tradition as my family. So now, my tree has truly turned into our tree, because it has pieces of both our lives decorating it. Here are a few of our favorites:

this is my "first christmas" ornament

my "grumpy before coffee"... totally me

i made a liberty bell ornament for honors history in high school

go gators

josh's "first christmas" ornament

miami dolphins nutcracker

the gumball machine josh and kristen used to fight over as kids

go gators

josh's tonka truck
starbucks coffee cups ornaments i got for josh and i while he was overseas

I could get really sentimental over the tradition of Christmas trees, like how this one is already becoming a reflection of us and our life together... or how we'll eventually start buying real trees in the future when we have kids and they are old enough to remember traditions...

But for now, I'll just leave you with my favorite, most adorable ornament we were given:

Josh, Kim & Abby

Christmas Lists

(he used her grocery list... lol)

So I don't know if this is a common tradition or not, but it's something we do.

Everyone in my family makes a list of what they want for Christmas. Everyone. Which now includes Josh, although it took him awhile to realize we were completely serious about actually making one and handing it out.

The lists include items, prices of the items, stores where the item can be purchased, pictures of the items, website links to order the items online, catalog page numbers of where item is located, etc. Any and all information needed to aid the purchaser of the items.

I can't tell you what a wonderful tradition this is... not only does it take the guesswork out of what to buy for everyone, but everyone also gets exactly what they wanted. Additionally, it's a great feeling of accomplishment to find something on someone's list that no one else could find, or find it for a fraction of the cost. It's like a big game that starts right after Thanksgiving. Mom and I start on Black Friday, of course.

Our tradition seems to be evolving into an actual event itself as well - The Great Christmas List Swap After Thanksgiving Dinner. This year the kids in my family (my cousins) all brought down their lists and gave copies to everyone after dinner, proceeded to read off everything on their list... and subsequently explain what everything was or why it was indeed "cool". Yes, there were even things on their lists that I was not familiar with. I felt strangely old. lol. The whole thing was fun and funny and something we want to repeat, and expand next year.

Josh and I had been planning on bringing copies of our lists as well, but there is a severe printer ink shortage at the Touchton Residence which made it impossible. No, I don't want to talk about it. That's definitely a story for another time... =)

Next year I am planning to become the Christmas List Nazi, in that I will make sure everyone has their lists done, not just the kids (Josh and I are still considered kids until we have our own kids), and brings it to Thanksgiving Dinner so that everyone can participate in the Christmas List Swap.

By the way, we also do lists for Birthdays. And it's been known to see lists that appear to have been copies of previous birthday lists with "Birthday" crossed out and "Christmas" written in. One guess as to who that was....

My husband thinks he's so funny.

Josh, Kim & Abby

Black Friday

Yep. My mom and I are a pair of the "crazies" that go out on Black Friday. Early. Like, we get up at 4am, she picks me up at 5am, we're at the store by 5:15am, not home until around 2pm....

But in all honesty, we actually shop the day after Thanksgiving more for the entertainment value than the merchandise deals that are out there. Don't get me wrong, there are great deals and we do take advantage of them. But if you've never ventured out on Black Friday, you're really missing out on a great show. The things some people do to save $20 is amazing.

The key is to start the day with the right mind set. We know it's going to be crazy, the lines will be long, and there will be people EVERYWHERE. If you go in expecting it and relaxed about everything, the day turns out to be quite fun. We have a system for how it works: we first make a bet on how long the check-line will take, then alternate who stands in line while the other one shops, all the while making friends with those in line around us.

We went to the mall for the first time this year, which we previously had sworn we wouldn't do because we thought that's where the real die-hards would be and, well, we feared for our lives. However, this couldn't have been further from the truth. I'm not sure if it was because of the economy, or because it was really cold out, but there were hardly any people there at 5:15am. We had already bought our first gift at Macy's and dropped it back off at the car by 5:30am. We even had time to stop and look up at all the news helicopters circling the mall. I waved. Mom laughed.

It started getting a tad busy around noon-time, and when we found out that the Target parking lot was 10 times worse than the mall, we called it quits. Another Black Friday in the books.

If you've never done it, you should try it at least once. You may just get hooked like we did.