Ahh the Holiday's

Another non-white Christmas is in the books: I remember more snow as a child. Maybe it is global warming, or I just remember what I want to remember as a child, which is also very likely. I also feel that more people put up Christmas lights when I was younger. Not sure if it is the more “PC” Holiday Season era or people are just lazier or once again, I remember what I want to remember.(WARNING, OFFENSIVE MATERIAL COMING NEXT. SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE OFFENDED). I would also like to wish everyone Merry Christmas! I hope that everybody had safe travels and Santa brought them everything they wanted.


Our first Christmas as husband and wife was very nice, thank you for all the nice cards that wished us a good first Christmas! We really enjoyed receiving Christmas cards, it was the high light of our day to open the mail and see the new cards. We proudly taped them up on our fridge. As I have said before, I love Christmas, the songs, the presents, the lights and just the general feel of happiness that Christmas brings. The one thing I do not like is all the sweets and candies that accompanies this season. I have worked very hard to stay in shape and it seems that every corner there is a piece of fudge, or Hersey kiss, cookies or pie. I like a fat kid when it comes to candy, so we just don’t keep in the house, but I think over the past week, I have eaten my weight in candy. If there is candy out, I grab it.


Christmas Eve day found us at the bowling alley with the In-Laws. Emily’s uncle Jerry, his long time girlfriend Mary and Jerry’s daughter Bretlyn always come over Christmas Eve and we play games and have gift exchanges. Over the years I have grown quite fond of Emily’s family and look forward to spending time with them. Not that I ever did not enjoy their company, but in the beginning of our relationship I was just Emily’s boyfriend who she brought home for Christmas and I was still a little nervous about fitting in and hoping the family likes me. Now, that Emily has a ring on her finger, they have to like me, so I am no longer nervous. Ha.



Linda is one of the nicest women I know; she reminds me a lot of my Mom. She is very thoughtful and genuinely cares about people: Emily takes after her Mom quite a bit. Lin is going to be a wonderful help when Emily and I have kids. Her and my Mom are going to make amazing grandmothers!


Russ and I share a love for good music that we can play loud with his surround sound. The women of the house don’t seem to enjoy hearing Dark Side of the Moon for 10 hours, but I sure the heck do. He enjoys a nice cocktail sitting on the couch with the music blaring, my type of night! He reminds me of Justin in the sense that he over analyzes most of his purchases, but always gets the best deal. We spend a week talking about switching to Direct TV or staying with Charter. When I want to purchase something new, between Russ and Justin I feel pretty confident just to purchase what they did knowing that they researched the snot out of it and found the best deal.


This year brought a friendship to Andy and me. Andy is Emily’s older brother, who is a year younger than I am. I have always liked Andy and knew that we had a lot in common, but never really had much of a chance to hang out. This year he flew into town for my bachelor party and really gained a lot of love for my future brother-in-law that weekend. After that weekend Andy and I have became pretty close and I always look forward for him to come in town. I am trying to get up to Chicago to spend a weekend with him.


So, back to Christmas! Christmas Eve night Emily and I went to Justin’s for a little while to see Mom, who was in town. Christmas morning we were back at Justin’s at 6:45 to see Norah open her gifts from Santa. Norah is 2 ½ years old, so this was the first year she understood about Santa. It was real neat to watch Norah tear open gifts. Around noon we headed back to Emily's folks house to open some more gifts and an amazing Prime Rib dinner. It was a hetic back and forth few days, but very nice to spend time with family. Out next step is to take down all the decorations and back up on the roof for round 2 of Josh vs the Roof! We have a few days to get the house in order for our New Year's Eve party, which I am very much looking forward to. It will be a great night with some of our closest friends.


For those wondering: Here is what I got Emily; A coat, a pair of boots, spa treatments, and stuff for her classroom. We tried to keep a low cost Christmas so we can put more money into the house.
A few notable gifts:
A Custom made sign from Justin and Meg. It will be hung this weekend.

A miter saw from Moma. (I am trying to get more into word working).







A Tool Chest from Russ and Lin. This was very un-expected and very much appreciated! I just need some more tools to fill it up.




And Artie Lange’s book from Emily, which I am very excited to read!

Those are just a few of the many gifts I received. All the gifts that I got are awesome! Thank you to all my family who helped make Out first Christmas memorable!
I hope that everyone has a safe and wonderful New Year! In the mean time: Keep on keeping on…mrrrrrrrrrr