The Fight

Jason and I had a fight. It certainly wasn't the first, and I know it won't be the last, but it was more intense than previous squabbles. We both yelled. I cried. I thought about leaving to stay with a friend, but instead I barricaded myself in the bedroom with a new crochet project and old Christmas movies to make me feel better. I was so upset that I couldn't get to bed until 3 a.m. Jason chose to sleep in the living room. The next day I stayed in bed, leaving only to sneak meals and snack on chocolate.

In the end, it lasted fewer than 24 hours. We each had gotten some space after the cramped Christmas holiday and had time to ourselves to do what we wanted. Time apart, that's what we needed. We yelled some more, but this time we listened, understood, and eventually apologized.

I don't like fighting, especially with Jason, but sometimes it's important because it helps you learn things. It helps you learn things about the other person and yourself....

Christmas 2009

Ah, Christmas. I observed your coming with the usual festivities: gathering and listening of holiday tunes, watching all the Christmas movies in my collection, putting together the Christmas puzzle, selecting and trimming the tree, baking Christmas cookies, sending greeting cards to family and friends, and visiting the Magic Tree. But, Christmas really wouldn't be complete without a magical Christmas performance from Lauren...

Good News/Bad News

Jason woke me up with some Good News/Bad News: "Bad news is there's a snake in the house. Good news is I caught it."

Thank goodness for a calm, level-headed husband and a not-so-big snake. If it was going to happen, I'm glad it was a small lined snake and not a long black snake like the one my sister found in my parents' house.

Par-tay!

When we got a Christmas party invitation from Erin Ross, I was super-excited! It had been a while since our scattered group of college friends had all been together. The hostess with the mostest suggested that everyone meet in the middle (Columbia, halfway between KC and STL) and bring their favorite Christmas cookies to share in a cookie exchange.

Erin had warm cider waiting for us when we arrived. Instead of dividing the cookies up straight away, we talked to A.J., who is serving as a missionary in Japan, while we munched on the cookie selection: pistachio, molasses, no-bake and Irish whiskey drop cookies. A.J. had funny stories, as usual, including his experiences with Japanese earthquakes and living above a market and "dollar" store. I sure miss him sometimes, but it was nice to visit with him during the party. It was like he was there!

It's crazy how much catching up there was to do! We didn't watch movies or play any games; we just talked and talked and talked. And we opened presents. Tracy brought the girls some amazing organic bath bubbles and bombs, and Jason and I regifted a few things around our house that we hoped would find a little more love in someone else's home. We took a break to go see the Magic Tree, which is a tradition I developed the last few years I was in town.

I'm so thankful for the friends I have and so indebted to Erin (and Bella the cat) for hosting such a fabulous party!

Let your light shine!

I'm a sucker for lighting displays around the holidays. Probably because I'm too cheap to put up my own lights! Anyway, we're lucky that we have a couple of friends who are familiar with the area to show us the Christmas ropes. Mandi and Jason Holderieath took us to a Blue Springs neighborhood that not only had a display that told the Christmas story of Jesus' birth, but chronicled his life story of learning, teaching, being crucified and rising again. We also went to Christmas in the Park at Longview Lake Park. It took us TWO hours to get into the park (we went on the weekend), but it was the biggest display I had ever seen! Snowmen doffing their hats, skiers on snowy peaks, Peanuts characters ice skating. I'm sad that I didn't get any photos, but next year I'll be prepared!

Operation: Christmas Tree

Personally, I don't feel like it's really Christmas until there's a Christmas tree in my living room. One that's decorated with garland, colored lights (preferably blinking), ornaments commemorating significant events of years gone by, and is topped with an angel. And it has to smell like Christmas.

Because this is our first Christmas in Oak Grove, I had no idea where to buy a tree. I called Brian out of desperation to find a place that sells trees because I hadn't seen them at the Wal-Marts nearby. He suggested Ben's Landscaping in Blue Springs, so Jason and I took the truck.

Now, Jason and I have shopped for Christmas trees together before. Once or twice we selected one from CAFNR's Forestry Club lot to show support for the college. Other times we've grabbed one from the selection at Wal-Mart because it was easy to pick up on the way home from work. These times were spent looking over the trees very carefully before we committed to the one we would purchase. That is why I was very surprised when we arrived at the tree lot and Jason gave me three minutes to pick the tree!

Three minutes! I can't wrap a small Christmas present in that amount of time! How could he expect me to pick the perfect tree that would live in our house for nearly three weeks and be the sole representation of the season?! I had hoped that we would spend time selecting the tree together. After all, he was deployed last year. Nope.

"One tree," he said pointing to the Charlie Brown Christmas trees in the front corner, "decorated at our house would look just as good as the next one." And he pointed to the tall, full pine trees I was trying to decide between.

He almost had me convinced that I was too emotionally attached to the idea of the perfect tree...and then I came to my senses, picked the pine that measured up to my height and fullness standards and fell within our price range and made him carry it to the cash register...all before my three minutes were up!

Now the tree is standing in our front room, decorated with garland, colored lights and ornaments commemorating significant events of years gone by. It's topped with Grandma Mary's angel and it smells like Christmas.

A good husband shovels snow...

...without being asked!

Last night was the first accumulation of any kind, so on our random Wal-Mart run for groceries, we picked up a couple bags of ice melt for the driveway. When we got home, Jason helped get the bags inside and immediately got to work shoveling the walk while I put away groceries and did some inside chores.

This morning, he cleared the way again and cleaned off my car! What a wonderful husband!

FRG family day - Christmas

The 311th HHD celebrated the 2009 holidays at drill this weekend. Soldiers and their families brought desserts and side dishes to go with the meal provided. Captain and commander, Jason had to help serve food.

For the kids, there were arcade games and a bounce house. I also brought supplies to make Christmas crafts, like ornaments and magnetic picture frames. I was surprised at how much the kids enjoyed such simple crafts. I wish I had photos to show you their creations, but we were busy making art! Santa arrived after lunch to talk with the kids, hand out presents and pose for photos.

Ragtag premiere of LIT

My friend and bowling buddy, Brian Maurer, is a budding film director. He recently wrote, directed and produced his first full-length feature film. The premiere was at the Ragtag in Columbia, Mo. He was hoping that there would be a large enough crowd that he wouldn't be embarrassed. In fact, the movie sold out, and they had to turn people away!

The movie, LIT, was produced on a "Velcro" budget, as Brian likes to say, which is apparently smaller than a shoestring budget. Everything was done on the cheap. Actors and crew came from the local community theatre and students at the university. The music in the film was created by Jake Oakes.

I enjoyed the movie and I'm proud to say I got the first autographed DVD.

Thankful indeed!

This year's Thanksgiving celebrations were a little more meaningful as Mom had just gotten out of the hospital. The good news is no cancer! We had fun visiting with family at Meneely Thanksgiving and Schad Thanksgiving. Plus, Lauren, Jason and I found some time to sneak out to the Eldon bowling alley for a couple games.

A visit from the Southern Stapps

Before Thanksgiving, the Southern Stapps came to visit us. David, Stefani, Oliver and Bella stayed with us for a few days as they made their rounds to family and friends in Missouri. We sure kept busy!

Oliver and Bella had fun playing with my Slinky and balloons leftover from Jason's birthday celebration. We watched movies and played in the park. Oliver had fun playing with my high heels, too!






We also baked some cookies to take to the Concordia Fire Station. We visited with Jim and Deb and checked out the big trucks and the ambulances. Oliver even tried on a fireman's helmet!

The last thing we did was go to the mall together. Oliver and Bella got their photos taken with Santa. (Oliver cried.) Then Oliver played in the kids area and Jason and I took him on a carousel ride. (Oliver cried again.)

It was so fun to see the family again!