Kinfolk

I have been waiting for this day for a while now. I've been mildly stalking Kinfolk magazine's website for a few months, and Jake surprised me with a subscription for Christmas! I've gone to our PO Box the past few days waiting for it's arrival and it's finally here. Kinfolk showcases people entertaining small groups in a very natural, simple way. They're all about creating community with family and friends through small gatherings. I want to be friends with everyone featured in the magazine. Especially the bee keepers. Oh, the honey...

Christmas, in three steps

Jake and I visited all three sets of our parents over the days before and after Christmas. It was a lot of driving, but also a ton of fun to see all of our parents, siblings, cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. It was most definitely a first Christmas together that we will look back on with great memories.

Stop 1: The Brooks'

Stop 2: The VanDykes (and Seevers')

Stop 3: The Striegels

Ah, home.

Here's my view for the evening. The husband and I are taking it easy tonight after four days of holiday travel. We'll be watching my new Season 2 of Big Bang Theory and eating all of those treats we've picked up this week. Christmas recap will be coming soon!

Merry Christmas!

The first time that you opened your eyes did you realize that you would be my savior? And the first breath that left your lips did you know that it would change this world forever?

And I, I celebrate the day, that you were born to die, that I could one day pray for you to save my life.

(Relient K)

Merry Christmas. :)

Christmas: day 1

Today starts our whirlwind Christmas tour of family. Before our road trip, Jake and I had our own little family Christmas at our house. It was a great start to our Christmas celebration, plus I got a record player from the husband!

My day, in pictures

Today, I...

...wrapped presents and watched Christmas movies with the husband.

  

...visited Indy CD and Vinyl on an impromptu trip to Broad Ripple.  

...ate at Ripple Bagel and Deli during said trip to Broad Ripple (you must do this SOON).

..busted out the uke for the first time in months for Christmas songs.

 ...made Christmas cookies using my new, glorious mixer. I am in love.

All of these are reasons why I wish it was Christmas all year round. I even ate dinner with mom, dad, and Miss Tessie to top it all off. Today was festive and awesome.

Speaking of festive and awesome, it's a very special two-post day on Misters and Misses! Make sure to check out husband's Christmas Music Post below.

Thursday Music Post: CHRISTMAS EDITION

Mr. Jake again here.  One thing I really like to do at Christmas time is listen to Christmas music, but something that helps me REALLY get into it is Christmas music tailored to my personal music tastes.  I'm going to share some of those with you right now.

First off, something by one of my favorite indie artists, Sufjan Stevens.  This song is called "Hey Guys!  It's Christmas Time!"

The next song is an oldie but a goody.  It's "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney!

Here's a band who doesn't get enough credit for being really really awesome.  It's Guster with "¿Donde Está Santa Claus."  I love it.

And last, but not least, here's Death Cab for Cutie with "Baby Please Come Home."  I secretly want to listen to this all year long.  It is SO GOOD!

Well, I hope that gives you something new to listen to on Christmas Day.  There is a TON of Christmas music out there for everyone.  I suggest you find what fits with you best.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Traditions

My favorite Christmas movie of all time is an oldie but a goodie: White Christmas. I make a point to watch it every year during the Christmas season. I was lucky enough to watch it with Miss Aud, who also appreciates older movies. Yes, it might have a few self-indulgent dance numbers. But there's something about breaking out into song mid-sentence that just steals my heart.

Another tradition that I have come to expect every year as an elementary Spanish teacher is the request for the #1 Spanish Christmas song of all time: Felíz Navidad. Don't get me wrong, I like this song, and I see its importance as being catchy enough for kids to remember, but listening to it seven times a day for weeks on end gets a little much. I somehow got away with only playing it a few times this year. Just don't tell my students, they may revolt and demand it if they knew my evil plan...

(Christmas cards from my students, now en route to kids in Honduras)

Christmas-y house

Here's a little peek at the house for our first Christmas together as married folks!

(video made with the 8mm app for iphone)

New design, new guitar

Husband just bought an electric guitar. Doesn't he look like a rockstar?

 

In other news, I spent the better part of last night redesigning the header for my blog. You like? It's all thanks to my rockstar husband and his ability to read HTML. For serious, Blogger, you made that WAY too difficult to change. Sheesh.

If you like the silhouettes of the hubs and I, those are designed by my dear friend, Miss Aud. I think she should take those skills straight to Etsy. Who's with me?! Also mad props to my blogging kindred spirit, Staci, for patiently teaching me the ins and outs of photoshop. I'm looking forward to my time off for Christmas break so that I can have the time to tweak it a little more. 

Crafty time

I've been in a huge crafting mood ever since the wedding. Last year I was really in to knitting scarves. This year, it's yarn wreaths. I made them for a few family members as thank you presents for the wedding, and now they've been popping up as ideas for Christmas presents. There's a good yarn wreath tutorial here at one of my favorite blogs. Happy crafting!

(bunting has also been a crafting obsession of mine...just wait for wedding pictures!)

My weekend, in photos

Late lunch at Lil Charlies, a very Christmas outfit, best breakfast ever, huge IU win, wedding thank yous

Wedding Video

It's here! Our dear friend, Justin, was our wedding videographer back in October for the big day. He put together a wonderful video that summed up our wedding perfectly. He even used songs that were played during the ceremony. It is something that Jake and I will have forever to remind ourselves how memorable and special our wedding was. Thank you so much, Justin!

Jake and Kik's Wedding (First Draft) from Justin Ridge on Vimeo.

The Living Room Tour

We had the great pleasure of hosting Jeremy Spring of Abandon Kansas last night at our house. When he isn't touring with Abandon Kansas, Jeremy plans out an acoustic tour in fans' houses around the country. We were lucky enough to get a spot on that tour. We invited some of our music-loving friends over to Casa Brooks for a night of food and music and celebrating the Christmas season. It was just wonderful to get to know Jeremy and share such a neat experience with our friends. I highly recommend checking out Abandon Kansas. Jeremy, you are welcome back any time!

Did I mention that it was an ugly Christmas sweater party? Super festive.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today was Mom's birthday. We celebrated at lunch with family and spent the rest of the day hanging out at home. It was super nice just to be together for the afternoon. Happy Birthday, Mom. I hope you enjoyed your birthday as much as I did!