the story of our wild mountain pine : part two {the trimming}

every year my christmas wish is the same thing: to find a "charlie brown" tree.
there's something so heart-warming about finding the skinniest, most withered, lonely tree in the lot.
these days with tree farms all the rage, and the fact that it's illegal to go out to the woods
and cut my own tree makes it difficult to find an imperfect tree. sometimes i get so exhausted
of our obsession with perfection, you know?


so we found this skinny little tree, the most imperfect in the whole lot.
it grabbed our hearts, and we took it home with us.


our trimming party of course involved listening to our favorite holiday tunes,
and the hanging of my grandma's ornaments from the 1960's.
but this year we had some new traditions to add to trimming the tree:


first of all, ceej surprised me with a lovely snowflake ornament he picked
up in germany at the christmas market in munich.
he also surprised me with a tasty gingerbread treat from germany: lebkuchen.
once all the ornaments were in place we sat down to drink some
hot millk from our finnish wooden mugs (a gift from this lovely lady),
and i enjoyed my first bite ever of lebkuchen. i definitely think this will be a tradition.


we ended our night dancing with ella. does it get more magical than this?


{p.s. ceej made those ornaments he's holding when he was three! so cute!}

the story of our wild mountain pine : part one

it's so great to have ceej back home again. what relief.

we spent our day together yesterday looking for a christmas tree

in the freezing cold weather...it was one of those days where the sun

tricks you into thinking you don't need your thickest coat.

so, our looking for a tree was sped up by my need to get warm.

luckily, we found a nice wild-grown tree that a nice farmer had grown just for us (right?).

this is why i enjoy christmas so much. christmas day is not, actually, my favorite...

all of the festivities that lead up to it are such a joy:

finding a tree, trimming it, listening to the songs we always listen to,

making the cookies and candies i make every year,

walking up and down the streets to see everybody's pretty lights.

christmas day is lovely...but not as lovely as the entire month leading up to it.

so glad i get to spend most of this month with my favorite person ever.

more of our christmas tree shenanigans tomorrow.

Issue 2: Let Go

This is not my typical "issue" for Friday. But I think it is an important issue for all of us who live in such a "go, go, go" world. There is no time to observe, and notice what is really going on. We must take time to notice those around us, and to celebrate with them the wonders of life. I read this excerpt from Meditations from the Mat to my yoga classes this morning.

We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For

The Yoga Sutras will set the course as, in our travels, we explore each tributary of the eight-limb path. The daily readings that follow are an invitation to get into the canoe of your practice and flow down the river of yoga. You may go deep, into uncharted waters; you will surely encounter challenges and delights along the way. But first you must get into that canoe and let go. In class I say, Let your practice be a refuge from the need to control. And I suggest the same to you: get out of the driver's seat for a while and enjoy the scenery. Let the river of yoga take you where it will. If you hit whitewater, stay in the canoe and keep paddling. When you enter calm pools, do the same.
At a Native American gathering in Arizona for the 1999 summer solstice, a Hopi elder said: "There is a river flowing now, very fast. It is so great and swift that there are thoes who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and suffer greatly. Know that the river has its destination. The elders say we must push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves, for the moment we do that, our spiritual growth comes to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves; banish the word 'struggle' from your attitude and vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred way and in celebration. We are the ones we've been waiting for."

So, take a deep breath, and push off from the shore. Let go. Be still, and watch the scenery.

Read more about our classes this morning here.

Christmas Tradition: Miracle

Last night we watched this hilarious show. There's so so many good lines! You know, the old-fashioned kind of lines that make you laugh. Anyway, this movie is always a real treat. Remember when Fred Gailey says this:

Look Doris, someday you're going to find that your way of facing this realistic world just doesn't work. And when you do, don't overlook those lovely intangibles. You'll discover those are the only things that are worthwhile.

Christmas Tradition: Wales

One of my favorites. We cuddle up with this little book, A Child's Christmas In Wales, and listen as the author, Dylan Thomas, reads us this story in his lovely Welsh accent. The woodcuts from this original printing are fantastic! Scroll down some more to see some of my favorites.
Here's Thomas. He wrote poems, short stories, and plays. He died, unfortunately, at the age of 39.

Christmas Tradition: For Laughs

"A Christmas Story"

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Homemade eggnog (don't worry, the eggs are not raw!).

Every year I am truly amazed at how well this movie captures what Christmas time feels like as a kid...especially the scenes of Christmas morning with new fallen snow, and Christmas night when all the hooha has settled down. It reminded me that Christmas Day really feels different from every other day of the year. Now I'm all excited to wake up Christmas morning...though we don't focus on presents as much any more (it's much more fun to have a yummy breakfast and to laugh with family).

A few lines from the movie to remind you how good it is:

Mr Parker: [after Mother "accidentally" breaks the Old Man's leg lamp] Why did you touch that? You were always jealous of this lamp.

Mother: Jealous of a plastic...

Mr. Parker: Jealous! Jealous because I WON.

Mother: That's ridiculous. Jealous. Jealous of WHAT? That is... The ugliest lamp I have ever seen in my entire LIFE!

Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Now it was out.

Holiday Misc.

We've been oh so busy these past few days with holiday activities and fundraiser/protest organizing. Here's some photos to document some of it. Above, me with wreaths I bought at Apple Hill. They are oh so pretty and oh so cheap! One of you lucky readers will get one of these wreaths...you'll find out who it is in about 4 days!

Here is where we took a lunch break: apple cider doughnuts.

Can you see all that sugery goodness?!

Doing a little grocery shopping...hooray for pears!

Clementines for me, please.

We had this yummy treat while we watched the movie below:

My double chocolate caramels worked! Phew! They are pretty darn good.

My little fruit display...my grandparents are known for taking pictures of their fruit organized in pretty ways...I thought I'd keep the tradition alive.

My cheddar twist rolls. I can taste 'em now...they melt in your mouth!

A little bouquet for me!

I just thought this was pretty (and yummy!)

Lemon Poppyseed shortbread. I've made these twice in one week now. Soooo good.

Last night we had a Christmas Extravaganza party at our little apartment with a few of our neighbors. Homemade eggnog, twice-baked potatoes, mulled cider, and Abelskivers were served. We had a lovely time laughing and eating.

I sent a few of these lovley postcards off...will be sending more soon.