Christmas

I kept waiting to post about Christmas because I wanted to include all the videos I had of lights but I've decided to abandon the videos in favor of getting 2009 posts finished out before Valentines Day comes. :) Guess I better hurry!

Christmas Day was nice and quiet. It's the first time since in a few years where we didn't go to visit family or have family in town visiting us.

Before:

After:

Here are our Christmas traditions (at least the ones I can think of right now):

-Each year we buy an ornament for our Christmas tree that represents something that we did or happened that year.
-On Christmas Eve we prepare Monkey bread (aka cinnamon pullaparts) so that in the morning as soon as we get up we can pop it in the oven and then enjoy it while we are opening presents and lounging around the rest of the day.
-Christmas dinner at our house includes the Honey Baked Ham and Turkey, Michal Thomas’s recipe for Potato soup, and homemade rolls.

Last year we really cut back on Christmas due to Peter losing his job that year. This year, we didn't have the same self control and enjoyed spoiling each other. :)

Peter got me a Sirius satellite radio so I can listen to Howard Stern wherever I go. WAHOO. He also got me a brand new digital camera. I had been using an old digital camera from work that took as many bad pictures as it did good so I couldn't wait to use the new one.

I have always teased Peter about how much I would like him to learn to play the guitar. When we were getting married I teased him and said that the best wedding present he could give me would be to learn how to play the guitar. :) Well recently he has talked about having an interest in learning so I jumped on this and bought him a guitar. (I think playing the guitar is a sexy talent!) It was great because he had no idea and it was a complete surprise. He really liked the present and spent the rest of the day learning how to play a couple chords. Here's a video of his first song:

That night we went back to look at the lights in that great neighborhood and when we were leaving we exited the neighborhood a different way and found an AMAZING house. They had a crazy display synchronized to a large variety of music. We stayed for a long time just watching. My favorite things was these lights twinkled down kinda of like a shooting star or a falling firework. I really wish I could upload the video so you could see it but you'll have to look at the video online.

This isn't that house but it IS the house that won first place in the neighborhood contest. Can you imagine their electric bill?

It was a great, simple Christmas this year with just the two of us.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve started with us fulfilling a few of our traditions. Each year, either 1 or 2 days before Christmas Peter and I make a trip to Wal-Mart to shop for stuff to fill each other’s stockings. Part of the fun is dodging around the store trying to avoid each other and certainly not letting them see what we have in our carts. When we went into Wal-Mart there were even a few snowflakes falling (I thought they don’t get snow in Dallas!?!?!). Well, when we exited the store an hour later, here is what we found…

Crazy right?! We still hadn’t picked our Honey Baked Ham and Turkey Breast (which is another tradition we have on Christmas) so that was our next stop. Of course, the line was way out into the parking lot. Peter was game to just forget it but I didn’t want to miss this tradition. Since I was the one that fought for it, I was the one that got to make it happen. So I stood there for OVER an hour in the snow, wind, and freezing cold waiting to get the meat. Since I didn’t have an umbrella I utilized a big plastic bag. I got some funny looks but hey, I was dry!

We went home and hung out the rest of the day since everything was shutting down anyway. That night I wanted to go look at more Christmas lights. My appetite for lights had been whetted the night before at Frisco Square and I needed MORE.

So we get outside and we are seriously driving in a SNOWSTORM! The roads were covered and slippery and in need of a plow. Everyone was driving 10 MPH. It was crazy (but beautiful). Again, thanks to my co-workers I had an idea of where to go. There is a neighborhood in Plano that is known for their lights and even gives out awards each year to the best houses. It was the perfect night to go. Thanks to the snow and the fact that it was Christmas Eve, the streets were relatively uncrowded and we didn't have to wait in crazy long lines of cars at every turn. There were quite a few houses that had their own radio stations pumping out music. It was awesome to see how many people participated and had gone all out. We spent about 2 hours just driving and looking at the lights. It was FANTASTIC - I tell you, people in Frisco/Plano take their lights seriously!!! Plus, it was snowing while we were out so it really felt like Christmas. I never really missed having a "White Christmas" in California but I won't complain about the beauty and peaceful feeling that comes from one.

(Side moment of real and frank honesty - While the white Christmas was fun, I still am not sold on living in Texas. I am trying here people but I really do miss living in California. It has been really cold in Dallas this winter and I just keep looking at the great weather in Sacramento....ugh! Plus, other than my job I still don't feel like we've put down any roots or made any progress on this feeling like "home". Oh well, I keep reminding myself that it took awhile for California to feel like home, too.)

I was going to post a video of the house that took First Place. The house had the music synchronized to lights theme... The song was by Transiberian Orchestra - "Wizards in Winter". It's obviously my favorite song to see synchronized with lights since I recorded the same song at Frisco Square. I was also going to post a different house with their version of it on my Christmas day post but since I recorded the whole song the files are too large to upload. I guess if I want to post videos in the future, I'll need to learn how to edit them or just take shorter videos. :)

Here's what our balcony looked like thanks to the snow. Peter and I were able to play a little in the snow and threw a couple snowballs at each other.

Christmas Lights

So with all my work travel plus our vacation to Mexico, Christmas kinda snuck up on me and I didn't get to really relish and enjoy the whole Holiday Season like I planned to.

I decided on Christmas Eve Eve (the 23rd), it was finally time to experience some Holiday fun. I had heard from some co-workers that Frisco Square had a pretty good set up with lights and was worth a trip. So me and Scrooge aka Peter ventured down there. It was far better than I even imagined!!!

They had put lights on all the surrounding stores and buildings and then synchronized the lights to music. You could either get out and walk around and hear the music through speakers or tune your car radio to a certain frequency and hear the music that way. The weather was so nice that we only needed a light jacket and decided to get out and walk around.

I have decided that this will be part of our Christmas traditions for as long as we live here. But next year I'm going to go earlier in December and not wait so long. I had a cool video we took but apparently it's too big in size for this site... so, oh well!

Format Frustrations

Okay, this is driving me nuts. I CAN NOT decide whether to put the captions for each picture above it or below it. Each time I write a new post I have to look back at what I've written so I can do it the same way because uniformity and consistency are nice, right? So...I've decided to stop stressing about it. And let me just say "I'm Sorry" in advance for any moments of irritation, however brief they be, that this causes you. For now, since I haven't told anyone about this blog and am still just writing it for myself, it's not a big deal. But, just in case I ever go public with my thoughts and our adventures my apology is now written.

We're Dorks!

At the Barcelo Resort there was a pretty Gazebo lit by this cool blue light so of course we had to go play in it.

Tulum and Xel Ha

TULUM!

During our trip to Mexico, we did go on one formal “excursion”. This was nearly a whole day’s activity so it provided a nice break from the resort. First thing in the morning, all 4 of us boarded an empty bus and proceeded to make 1,000,000 stops as we picked up other people at different resorts that were also going on this excursion. Hours later (at least it felt like that to me given that I had to get up early to just sit on a bus for awhile and everyone knows how happy I am in the morning…) we arrived at Xel-Ha. Xel-Ha is a sort of natural preserve in the area. There were so many activities to chose from there and we didn’t have time to get to them all. I took pictures but they are on an waterproof camera so who knows when I’ll get around to developing them.

We rode bikes up to the start of a fresh water river. I haven’t ridden a bike for 5 years so I started out a little shakey but hey, you never forget how to ride a bike right? By the time we were done I almost wished that I could do it more often. So they we all got a tube and floated on the lazy river through the “mangle” (a jungle of mangrove trees?). It was very pretty and calm. At one point we all got off our tubes and Casen, Peter, and I all jumped off a cliff into the water. I, naturally, screamed like a little girl while falling through the air.

Once back on our tubes, we continued down the river as it widened and flowed toward the ocean. Casen showed his monkey-like abilities by successfully crossing a rope walk (2 ropes suspended between two platforms where you walk on one and hold onto the other with your hands). It was quite impressive to watch as he somehow managed to hang on despite the efforts of people at one end to shake him off. At one point he was completely horizontal!

The lazy river continued a little too long for our tastes but eventually we made it out. We then got some snorkel gear and got back in the water. Overall, it wasn’t the best snorkeling ever but we did get to swim into a cool underground Mayan cave/grotto.

After a fantastic lunch and the best margaritas I’ve ever had, we boarded the bus again and headed to Tulum. Tulum is a set of Mayan ruins right by the ocean. We had plenty of time to explore the grounds and enjoy the sunset. Here are the pictures I took. (You can probably tell the time of day by the lighting in each pic.)

The four of us on the trolley up to the ruins

The biggest ruin at Tulum.

I thought this was beautiful.

You can see the ocean off to the left.

Kallie in front of some ruins.

Peter putting up with another picture.

Shannon and some girl in a bikini(??)

Another view of all the ruins at this one location.

Kallie and Peter

Shannon and Casen

Peter down by the beach.

Hunk and hunks of stone.

Another picture.

Good times. I think the ruins were really cool. Looking back, I just wish we had tour guide that would have even told us more about them. However, at the time I was glad that he didn't share much because I was tired of standing up and listening. :) It's tough to have energy at the end of a long, hot day.

Mexico cont...

I couldn't fit everything into one post so here are some of the fun things we did on our vacation...

The pools were BEAUTIFUL. We spent a good bit of time by the pools. Looking back I wish that we had spent even more time there but I am always so hesitant to overdo it because I don't want to get a nasty sunburn. It was also fun because there was a swim up bar in one of the pools so I felt like we were at one of those really nice, exotic places that you only see on trendy TV shows. I could swim right up and order a diet coke or a pina colada like a superstar. :)

We did play in the ocean once but when you compare the salty, sandy, sometimes rocky ocean to these fresh water pieces of heaven...it's easy to pick a favorite.

Peter in the pool - notice how there are lounge chairs IN the pool? AWESOME!

Casen and Shannon in a cabana by the pool.

One of the pools at night. Sadly this is also the scene of the crime on our last night there where someone stole Peters phone out of our bag while we were off swimming.

We didn't really participate much in the resort planned activities but we did have our own private version of a Spanish lesson where we just asked the lady how to say certain critical phrases such as "where are the tortillas", "can I have a bottled water", and "how much is that"?

Part of the fun of a vacation for Peter and I is to spend our time doing things that we can't do everyday so we work to balance the hang out/relaxing time with actual activities that embrace whatever is available at that location. Most of the time Peter and I just did our own thing and then met up with Casen and Shannon for the meals.

Here is Peter and I engaged in a fierce Bocce Ball Battle. Of course, I was defeated by the master.

Shannon and I went shopping a couple of times. One morning we took a taxi into Playa Del Carmen and did the regular tourist shopping thing. We were, of course, harassed at every stop. We held our own though. We kept getting asked if we were sisters so eventually we just said "yes". There wasn't really an option for "snacking" at the resort so I spent a ridiculous amount of money for snacks like m&ms, Doritos, etc which was the major part of my shopping but I did get some great earrings and a pendant.

Before we left Playa, I wanted to find some yummy fresh salsa since there wasn't anything like I wanted at the resort. I went into a couple restaurants by the shops and one told me they didn't have salsa and the other said they didn't sell their salsa. What?!?! So when the taxi driver picked us up, I asked if he knew of a good place where we could get some salsa on the way back home. He said yes and I got excited. I imagined him taking us to this little hole-in-the-wall neighborhood restaurant where my American dollars would buy me buckets of amazing salsa that we could enjoy by the pool with the tortilla chips I had just bought. Guess where he took me? A convenience store. Seriously? Well maybe good salsa is so common here that they even have it at the local 7-11. So I go into the store and search each aisle looking for the salsa. No luck. Not even a Pace Picante bottle. I go back to the car empty handed but we tried again. This time a hole-in-the-wall convenience store. (Gotta happen this time, right?!) This time the taxi driver goes into the store for me to look for stuff and comes out with hot sauce. Is this what I want? No. He goes back in and comes out again with a canned "salsa". Something I could buy in any grocery store, anywhere...not some yummy fresh concoction with lots of cilantro and jalapeno. At this point I figure, this is the best it's going to get so I take it because I will not accept complete failure at this mission. Funny thing though, when I go into the store to pay for it I see all the ingredients for guacamole sitting there (fresh avocados, lime, onion, etc). So I guess the lesson to learn here is --- Mexicans don't eat salsa but they do eat guacamole. :)

There were also shops at the resort so one night Shannon and I checked them out before dinner. We saw this guy doing paintings on tiles with his fingers. We watched him for a bit and I really liked the piece he was currently working on. I decided to get it but the best part was that because he was working on it right then, I was able to customize it exact like I wanted. For example, I didn't want the dolphins he usually put into his other stuff. And I didn't want it to say "Mexican Riviera 2009", etc. It was really cool to watch him paint my piece right in front of me and now I have a great looking, hand crafted souvenir.

A few nights we went and watched the live shows put on in the theater. We saw a couple that were good. (Below is the show I thought was the best. It was numbers from a bunch of Disney/animated movies. This was the number from Madagascar. Their costumes for this show were so creative!) We also saw some shows that were really bad. We wasted 1 night sitting through a bad one and after that, if we didn't like it after 5 minutes, we left.

This picture doesn't really fit here but I forgot to put it in my previous post. This is a HUGE palm tree. It was more than 2 stories tall.