It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

With everything that has been going on lately (broken arm, Alex being sick with a double ear infection, Rusty stressing out over term papers and finals), Christmas spirit has been in short supply around here. Until last weekend, that is. Last weekend, we finally got our tree up, lights hung, and our apartment decorated for Christmas. Holiday candles are filling the house with yummy scents, Christmas music is softly playing in the background, and I am finally feeling a bit more festive. This is the first year since Rusty and I have been married that we have been able to hang all our ornaments on our tree at the same time! We had tiny 3-foot trees for the first several Christmasses of our marriage. When we celebrated our first Christmas "at home" in Japan in 2005, we had a 5-foot tree, but we had left a lot of our ornaments in boxes at my parents' house. Seeing that tree in the corner hung with all the special ornaments we have collected over the years just warms my heart. It's not Martha Stewart, but to me, it's just beautiful!

Last night, Rusty put the finishing touch on our Christmas decor -- he set up the model train that belonged to his dad around the base of the tree. The look on Alex' face was priceless. I think he would have watched it go around and around all night. When Rusty would turn it off, he would say "More choo-choo!"


In other news, Alex gets his cast off tomorrow (hallelujah!), we enjoyed a nice visit with my parents this past week (pictures to follow soon, I hope), and the end of the semester is in sight. Rusty has two finals to take this week and then he is finished (for a couple of weeks anyway) and can enjoy a well-deserved break. We will be heading to Michigan for the holidays this year, and I am hoping for a white Christmas!