Gearing up for Christmas with the Hodgepodge

Linking up with the hodgepodge today. Head over the my mom's blog to join in! 

 

1. 'Tis the season to be jolly....so are you? 

I feel pretty jolly for the season. It has been fun getting to find spots in the new house for our holiday decorations and starting to build some holiday traditions with hubby as this is our first married Christmas. I do wish some of the logistics of traveling and getting to all the people we want to see were a bit simpler but I'm not going to let it deter me from enjoying the season! 

2. Do you trim a tree this time of year, and if so is yours all done? What's something in your home-closet-life that needs to be trimmed in the new year? 

We did get a tree this year! It's artificial which I think is the way to go and I'm very happy with it. I don't do too much in terms of trimming aside from the lights (that it came with) and ornaments. I'm thinking as the years continue I may up my tree game but for this year I was pleased to get it up and working. 

Hm, do I need to trim anything in the new year? Probably. Moving alerted my hubby and I to how much stuff we have and we definitely have been working to trim that down a bit!

3. Are you 'dreaming of a white Christmas'? Is that a possibility where you'll be celebrating? According to this site the top ten places in the US you can count on for a white Christmas are- North Pole Alaska, Crater Lake Oregon, Yellowstone National Park, Winthrop Washington, Aspen Colorado, Ketchum Idaho, Mt. Washington New Hampshire, Whitefish Montana, Duluth Minnesota, and the Lake Tahoe town of Truckee California.

Of the snowy spots listed which would you most like to visit? 

I do love a white Christmas, though it seems unlikely that we'll see one this year- you never know though! Of the top 10 list, I think I would most like to check out North Pole Alaska. I mean, it just sounds like the perfect Christmas destination. But I also think I would like to head to Truckee at Lake Tahoe- I've heard Lake Tahoe is beautiful and I'm sure even more so when covered with a snow blanket.  

4. December 8th is National Brownie Day...will you be celebrating? How do you like your brownies-chewy or cake-like, frosted or plain, nuts or no nuts, a piece from the middle or give me the corner? As a child were you a member of a brownie troop? 

I saw that this was coming up. I may have to go get myself a brownie to celebrate! I will eat a brownie any way it is served to me, but I prefer no nuts, and no frosting and definitely prefer a fudgy/chewy texture but with a crisp top. I am definitely corner piece all the way because I feel like you get the best ratio of fudgy middle to crisp edge. 

I was a brownie as a child and I recall it being a fun time, although with far less actual brownies than the name implied. 

5. Share a favorite line or two from a Christmas carol or holiday tune. 

"A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn."

Oh Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song and I think this line really captures the expectation of the advent season and the joy at the arrival of Christmas. And these last couple of years especially, I think people can truly relate to the idea of a weary world ready to rejoice. And Christmas brings that no matter what is going on around us. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

In my tree picutre above it may be hard to see but the topper for our tree is a fabric angel. And a fun fact about that angel is that it is made from the fabric of my mom's wedding dress. Last Christmas, just a few weeks before my wedding, my mom gifted me a beautiful robe to wear the morning of my wedding made from her wedding dress. Upon receiving it I quite literally burst into tears. Seriously, it was sort of embarrassing how overcome with emotion I was. See evidence below. 

Photo grabbed from my mom's blog, where you can read all about it.

But after recovering from that, I also discovered a beautiful Christmas ornament made of the same heartfelt material which worked just perfectly as a tree topper this year for our first Christmas as Mr. and Mrs.

Photo grabbed from my mom's blog.