Holiday fun

With Nicholas back home the holiday celebration has truly begun at our house. One of my favorite Christmas traditions is the advent wreath. We always had one at my house growing up, and I plan to always have one in my home. Nick and I are sharing the tradition for the first time this year, and it has been exciting to share the symbolism behind the wreath as well as the special time of devotion as the candles are lit. If you don't have an advent wreath, I'd definitely recommend it.

Speaking of advent, Nick and I went back to Shandon UMC yesterday, and we really enjoyed the service. The church was decorated as if for a wedding, with candles on stands at each pew, poinsettias and ivy everywhere, and of course, the advent wreath. It truly felt like an advent celebration! We are going to be visiting this church exclusively for a while so for those of you concerned about whether or not we would find a church home, I'd say we're about halfway there.

Below, you can find some pictures of the SPAliday party we attended on Saturday night. Enjoy!

Nick is home!

Nick is finally home after a 2 week trip to Nebraska! He had a great time, considering he was there for work. Perhaps the highlight was getting to spend a bit of time in the snow. Finlay and I were very jealous.

The Lean-to

A minute ago I told you that nothing of note had happened in a while. Well, I forgot something. Nick and I live in a neighborhood with lots of old houses, and lots of those old houses are occupied by old people. One particularly cranky old man lives at the end of my street; actually he just moved in a few months ago.

The first thing he did when he moved in was to put up a carport. Now, I'm not the biggest carport fan to begin with, but this one only even qualifies under the loosest of definitions. It is made of pvc piping and a few mismatched tarps. Unacceptable. When this went up Nick and I were more than a little miffed. However, since we rent our house we didn't really know who to complain to so we let it ride.

Then came the lean-to. Yes, I said lean-to. This guy actually put up steps, railing, and a deck (maybe 3x3 feet) and then proceeded to box it all in with unfinished, unpainted particle board, a crooked window, and a door that leaned over at a distinct angle. We weren't even sure how it would work. This was the tackiest, sickest thing you have ever seen. Seriously. I mean, this whole thing was clearly not well-engineered, could never have been up to code, and was apparently assembled from junk yard scraps.

So you may be able to imagine my utter elation when, while out walking with Rebecca on Friday, we discovered that the lean-to was being torn down. Half of it was already on the ground, and the ornery old man who built it was sitting in what appeared to be an over-taxed wicker chair, griping to someone on the phone about how he was having to take down his porch.

When we checked back on Saturday the entire abomination had come down and was lying in a heap on the curb. Victory is mine!

Long time, no see

It has been way to long since we blogged, yes, we know. Other than Rebecca's visit, covered below, there has not been much inspirational going on. Fin and I have been hanging out while Nick has been busy at job training. Not much excitement.

However, we did get a visit from Fin's " Aunt Rebecca" last weekend! It was her first visit to South Carolina, and we were so excited to show her around our home. She arrived late Thursday night, and on Friday we took her to see the sights on campus. We had a tasty southern lunch at Mr. Friendly's, did the requisite campus tour, and she even got to work with me for a bit. Friday night we had dinner at the Mellow Mushroom in the Vista. Saturday we spent the day shopping, and discovered the most previous pet store! Three Dog Bakery, in Five Points, actually bakes fresh pet treats in-store. They also have a great selection of pet accessories. I will definitely be going back! Saturday night Bec got to meet some of my friends here at USC when we had dinner at Rockaway's and went bowling. We were so sad to see her leave on Sunday, but all good things must come to an end. We miss you already, Bec! Come back to visit us soon!

O Christmas Tree

Well, we did it! Today we chose, cut, lit, and decorated our very first Christmas tree. It all started with a trip to Seekhaven Farms, just outside of town, where we found our tree. Finlay came along, of course, and absolutely could not have been happier. He had so much fun running around in the fields of trees. He, Nick, and I finally chose one, after much deliberation, and the real fun began! Nick cut down our tree all by himself, and then the folks at the tree farm "shook and baled" it for us.

Once we got home Nicholas didn't waste any time trimming the stump, putting the tree into water, and stringing it with lights. We did have to make one additional trip to Target for more lights, though! This evening we decorated the tree with all the ornaments we have collected over the past three years and a few new ones. We have received so many special ornaments from people whom we love and it was great to finally be able to hang them!

To top it all off, we actually had a gift for each of us wrapped and ready to put under the tree once it was finished. In conclusion I have to say that this may be our first tree in three years, but I wouldn't have had it any other way because this tree is, and this day has been, absolutely perfect!

A Trip to the North Pole

Santa and his little elf went Christmas shopping yesterday at the Southpark Mall in Charlotte, NC. We chose that mall because it is almost a carbon copy of Northpark in Dallas, and one can't truly invest a full day of shopping in a mall with any less than a Neimans and a Nordstrom!

Nick gets serious bonus points for enduring a full day of trolling the mall in search of the perfect gift(s). I, of course, bought him several things as well, but we still have some shopping to do for him today.

Speaking of shopping today, we will be going to a Christmas tree farm outside of town to choose our very first Christmas tree. Yes, it may be our third Christmas as a married couple, but we didn't have a tree our first year and I decorated our ficas last year while Nick was deployed (yes, really). It should be an experience!

We're Thankful!

This year Nick and I are thankful for so many things. Our family and friends who have been so tirelessly loving and supportive through the challenges of the last year and a half (hey, we didn't have the blog to thank you with last year!), our new home in Columbia, Nick's safe return from his deployment, my new friends here at USC, and, in general, always having everything we need. Speaking of last year, we tried to make this year an extra-good Thanksgiving since Nick didn't have one last year. You may remember that he was deployed, and sadly he actually slept through the Thanksgiving dinner at the dining hall.

We couldn't make it back to Texas, but that didn't stop us from being with our families, at least in spirit. We enjoyed the phone calls we got throughout the day to remind us that we were missed back home. We missed you too!

We started off the day with a true Thanksgiving classic, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Nick actually let me watch the whole thing. At around 2 we went to a Thanksgiving gathering at one of my professors' houses, also attended by lots of friends from my grad program. It's so wonderful that people are willing to open their homes to us poor students who can't get home. It was so nice, even for just a few hours, to have the feeling of gathering together with people you love on Thanksgiving!

In the evening Nick and I helped serve dinner at the Salvation Army. We had decided to do this a while back since we didn't want to make a big meal just for the two of us. Things like this really take me out of my comfort zone, but I was really glad to be helping out the homeless population here in Columbia.

Allow me to get on my soapbox for a moment, please. The city of Columbia has zero year-round shelters for the homeless. There are around 1500 homeless people in Columbia, and they are actually forced to sleep on the streets. The only time that they are ever able to sleep inside is when the winter shelters open up. I believe the nighttime temperature must dip below 50 for the city to open these. If these people have nowhere to sleep or wash themselves or spend time in a safe environment, then what does one think that the effect will be on the city? It is obvious when you are in downtown Columbia. You can't escape the homeless and they cannot help themselves. It's a lose-lose situation in the truest sense. Recently there was a sit-in of sorts at the Salvation Army, with about 700 Columbia residents choosing to spend one night sleeping outside as a homeless person. That event helped to raise some awareness, but so much more needs to be done here for these people!!!

So, it felt good to be even a tiny part of some kind of, if not a solution, then at least some assistance. We probably served over 100 folks, mostly men. Most of them were courteous and thankful, and as Nick pointed out, they are great conversationalists. One of the men at the table Nick and I served has family in Harker Heights, and he loved to talk about Central Texas, the Texas Ranger Museum, and his neice who is ten and loves competition cheerleading. Each person who attended the meal received a hot dinner and a to-go box of food as well. I wish we could have given them more.

Tonight will be a bad one out on the streets. We had torrential rains today and the cold front that you all (in Texas) are feeling now should roll into South Carolina later tonight. I pray that what we could give them tonight gives them a little more strength and endurance to brave the cold, damp night ahead.

I guess you always leave a place like that being thankful for what you've got. We certainly did, and I am thankful for experiences like that, how they serve to remind me of how blessed I really am.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!