{Brummels} It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmas is my favorite holiday! I love the decorations, the music, the holiday parties, and time with friends and family. But it's a lot of work! And I'm feeling the effects of a wedding, four sessions, and six parties since the start of the month. And not to mention a bit of exhaustion brought on by toddler tantrums (oh lord have mercy!). I've been tired all day, have had a headache, my eyes are blurry, and it's taking every thing in me to muster up some energy to charge through this week. Only three more days. I'm not complaining, just venting (it's not the same, right?).

So, in an attempt to get myself back in the holiday spirit...I shall blog about the wonders of Christmas. About the ultimate gift we have all received for this awesome season. This is what Christmas looks like in the Brummel home.

I can hardly believe that Dan & I will be celebrating our seventh Christmas together. I love the traditions we continue to make together and sharing them now with our little girl. We did however miss out on our annual tradition of picking out our Christmas tree together at the same place each year. We did not have time and I was beginning to wonder if we'd even get a tree this year. But lucky for me, I received an email in my classroom from the activities office announcing they had a few trees left over from a fundraiser and they were going for $30. I got on the phone instantly and asked them to save me one. I went out to the storage bin and picked out the tallest one. They were all bundled up, so I had no idea what it was going to look like...but I didn't care. We almost didn't have a tree so I took it! Lucky for me, a couple of TA's and Mr. V carried it to my truck for me. And that is how we got our tree this year. And it's perfect!

Our decorations are mostly hand-me-downs from both of our moms. I keep promising myself every year that we're going to get new decorations and buy them after the holidays on clearance. But by that time every year I'm broke and over it. And so I tell myself "next year". I did happen to buy a few cute ornaments at Target this year though....

This is Brookie's idea of helping us decorate the tree, dumping out all the ornaments for us.

Brookie is totally fascinated with the this Nativity snow globe. This one came from Dan's mom...

 I remember being fascinated with snow globes as a child too. They are pretty magical.

My mom has been giving me an angel every year since my days as a PiPhi at WSU. It's evolved into the Willow Tree collection which I love to display at Christmas time.

My sister Jeanene gave B 'The Elf on the Shelf' this year. It's such a cute tradition that we've started. If you have a little one, you gotta get this book + elf. Brookie named her elf Brad and he is currently sitting on top of our Christmas tree. Every day he moves into a new location and watches to see if Brookie is "naughty or nice" to report back to Santa. I think I'll place his hands over his eyes next because it hasn't been pretty round these parts lately. Thanks to Polar Express, Brooklyn is very familiar with Santa Claus. But I'm thinking she doesn't really get the "naughty or nice" deal or her behavior might be a little improved.  

 And our finished tree! I told you it was perfect. :)

And although this isn't part of our Christmas decor (as it hangs all year long), I think it perfectly summarizes the season...."faith, family, friends". 

{Manic Monday} 12th ed.

As you may have noticed, I was a bit absent from my blog last week. My parents were visiting us for the week. I'm really trying not to let my computer/work time interfere with my personal relationships. That may sound silly but there is always work for me to get done and I tend to bury myself under my laptop as a result. So, I took a little break to hang out with my family and it's always a bit refreshing to do so. We enjoyed lots of playtime with Brooklyn, delicious meals prepared my mom, and daily shopping trips.

Grandma with her girl...

It was also nice not to be reminded 24/7 that I may be one of the only few photographers not at WPPI this week. There is so much Twitter, Facebook, & blog buzz from all the attending photographers. They joke that the WPPI convention is the equivalent of a college Spring Break. 10,000 photographers gather in one place to network, learn, and inspire one another....and partake in nightly parties. I have yet to attend and it was just not in the cards for me this year either.

So Dan and I sold one of our cars last week. The lease was up anyways and we were able to sell a month earlier and made a little extra on it since we only had 14,000 miles on it. We had decided that we were going to be a one car family for a temporary time to save a little money. Well, that lasted a whole three days and I already want to get another car again. It is super inconvenient and I am just too accustomed to coming and going as I please. For example, I had to pick up Dan from work last night and had to keep Brooklyn up later than her normal bedtime. So, we're looking into getting another car. I'm considering getting a Mazda 3, which I owned before but ultimately sold after our house was broken into and the keys stolen. I always loved that car and look forward to driving it again.

Dan and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniverary on March 3rd. We've been together for a total of 6 years now and I can hardly believe that much time has passed. I've adored my husband since the moment I saw him in an elevator (sounds corny crazy but true). But there is something magical about sharing a child together that makes us love one another even more! I know that we will be together forever. That we will fight through any obstacle. We have a less than perfect relationship but at the end of each day I know that he loves me and that I love him. And more than anything, he loves our little girl and is such an awesome daddy! For that, I'm grateful!

Thanks to my parents in town, we celebrated by going out! That is such a rare occasion, since having Brooklyn. Our first stop was the AVIA Hotel in Downtown Long Beach to visit our friend Melly and tour the latest in Downtown (our original stomping grounds). What a super cool boutique hotel in our neighborhood!

We then had dinner at the Parkers Lighthouse! I had delish sushi and lobster all in one meal! I could not have been happier and it was a perfect night. The best part of the night was definitely the conversation!

Happy Anniversary babe!

Today is our second wedding anniversary! I can't believe it's only been two short years since we got married. So much has happened in those two years...it feels like so much longer. We brought a beautiful little girl into this world during that time. That is definitely our latest and greatest accomplishment together as a couple. I love you babe and look forward to many more (years and babies)! We will be celebrating with dinner at Le'Opera in downtown Long Beach, which is where we went for our first dating anniversary five years ago. We both remembered having a phenomenal dinner and wanted to revisit it.

I'm continually greatful for the support and encouragement Dan gives me toward fulfilling my dreams with "charla BLUE". It was only a month after our wedding that I decided that I wanted to pursue photography as a career. He has stood behind me and encouraged me every step of the way. I really think Dan has a great eye so I'm looking forward to teaching him the ropes with my dSLR in hopes of shooting together in the future. I think husband wife teams are awesome because you get the male female perspective. Not to mention he is such a likable guy with a great sense of humor, I would love to have him be the "personality" behind the camera.

 

Wedding images by Red Loft Studios. I look at my wedding pictures and album often and I'm reminded how important wedding photography is to couples. Red Loft did such an amazing job with my photos and have provided a lot of inspiration in my photography. Thank you!

This is still one of my favorite memories from our wedding day...

I'm alive!

Okay, so I know I have been MIA for a while!!! My poor blog feels so neglected! Well, I have been busy with my day job (teaching) and getting geared up for a crazy next month. I'll be leaving for Europe in only 20 more days! For those of you that don't know...I go every year with my students and teachers. I believe this will be the seventh student trip I've lead in the past 10 years. We've gone every where from Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Peru, Spain, France, & Italy...to name a few. Some people think I'm crazy to travel with my students but it's actually a great time. It's unlike any other vacation you'd ever take. It's non-stop action, in a different hotel every other night(and sometimes every night), site seeing from sun up to sun down, and the ever eventful bus rides from city to city. I'm super excited for the shots I'll get this new year with all my new equipment. The hard part will be to decide which camera and lenses to take with me. Hmmmmmmmmm. These are the city highlights of this year's trip: London, Paris, Loire Valley, Sanites, Bordeaux, Archachon, Biarritz, San Sebastian, Pamplona, & Barcelona. I LIVE for trips like these!

In other news, Danny and I will be celebrating our ONE year anniversary on Monday, March 3rd. I really can't believe this past year went by so incredibly fast. We'll be celebrating tomorrow night with a nice dinner at a new restaurant on Naples. I'll let you know how it goes!