The Floridans are Cold!

It's amazing what a couple years of living in tropical paradise will do to two native Coloradoans. Just a few minutes into our photo shoot and my twin sister and her fiance were freezing their rear-ends off. They've spent their entire vacation wrapped in quilts, huddled together on the couch. I think they're secretly looking forward to when they feel the warm humidity on their skin in a few days. 

I love how these pictures turned out. The red against the white world looks so beautiful. 

Scenes from Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I've been enjoying my days off from teaching, spending every waking moment with my twin sister before she heads back to Florida. I loved being home this Christmas with my whole family together.  We spent hours staring at my nephew, eating our favorite Christmas foods, and enjoying each others company. 

My mom has her original santa stocking that her mom made for her when she was born and has created her families stockings from the same pattern. The past few years we've added more stockings to the mantel as each of us has gotten married and now even the first grand baby has his very own santa stocking.   

It's hard to believe that Christmas is already over and in just a few days it will be a brand new year. I always feel a little sad when the year ends. But then again we have a fresh start to look forward too...an empty calendar with days that will be filled with more happy memories and new adventures :) 

The Family Tree

My parents started a Christmas tradition before any of their daughters were born and now my sisters and I have continued this traditions with our own families. 

Wherever the year would take us, whether to our yearly summer vacation to Vail or my dad's worldly adventures to Hungry or China, we would make sure to find something special to hang on the tree to help us remember that time.  But the thing I love most about our tradition is that it doesn't have to be your typical Christmas tree ornament, although we do have plenty of those.  We love finding the most bizarre representations from our trips, gluing a ribbon to the top, and hanging it on our tree. 

Each ornament that comes out of the bag has meaning and so many memories attached to it. And we love looking at our odd collection of ornaments, laughing and saying, "You won't find that on any one else's tree!" 

Today I stayed and helped my family put up our tree. We untangled the strings and ribbons and began filling the empty branches with our old memories.  

When we were little, my parents made decorating the tree into such a special evening. I remember helping my mom pour eggnog into the vintage santa mugs. My dad would turn on the stereo and we would listen to our favorite Christmas songs as we began the process of decorating the tree...something we had been waiting anxiously all year to do again.

When we were finished, we would turn off all the lights and the let the tiny colored bulbs fill the room with that warm Christmasy glow. We would sit around the tree while my parents read Christmas stories and on most nights we couldn't wait to play our favorite family games, Parcheesi and Uno. 

Even today I can close my eyes and I can remember exactly the way the house smelled just like Christmas. How the lights on the tree and in the windows made me feel safe and comforted. And how excited we were to be together as a family. 

This Christmas we have a new family member to share all of our traditions with. I know my nephew is still too small to join in on the fun, but I think he'll enjoy laying under the tree looking up at the lights while his family around him laughs, reminisces, and pulls out the old board games. 

Only two more days of school and then I am on my way home to fully enjoy this special time of year.

Showered

My twin sister, Kate, and her fiance, Bobby, are HERE! They made it home to Colorado Friday afternoon and I don't think I've stopped smiling since. Now it feels like Christmas, now we can be a complete family once again. 

This weekend my sister had her bridal shower. It was beautiful and so many of her friends and soon to be new family members were able to come together to help her celebrate her upcoming wedding. 

The groom made a special appearance during one of the games

And of course a Redente shower would not be complete without a beautiful handmade quilt from my mom.

My sister is getting married on Sanibel Island in Florida.  It will be an intimate ceremony on the beach with just our immediate families.

I cannot wait to be a part of her special day.

Did You Know I Had a Birthday This Year?

I did.

I turned the big 2-7 last month along with my twin sister. We seem to be edging closer and closer to 30 every year.  Funny how that works. 27 always seemed so far away, but here it is.

Year 26 was great. I spent so much of my year truly soul searching.  I wish I could say that when the clock struck 12 on my birthday I magically had all the answers...but I didn't.  I do however, feel more at ease with where my life is at this moment in time. 

I was listening to one of my favorite songs the other day...Dream by Priscilla Ahn. I love this song and every time I listen to it I feel like the song was written for me.

I know my soul searching isn't over...is it ever really?  I know that year 27 is going to be filled with incredible things, people, places. I'm excited for this next year of life. I'm always striving to be a better person, a better wife, friend, sister, daughter.  This will be a year of big changes and I'm ready with my new perspective to take on all the challenges that are coming my way. And I might still have to ask occasionally if this is where I'm supposed to be...but that's okay. I know if I take a moment, close my eyes, and take a deep breath things always look clearer. 

I think I'm liking being 27...