We're No Scrooges....

Merry Christmas!

As the cheery sounds of "It's a Marshmallow World" dance down our hallways, I am writing this blog post to give you a peek of our very first Christmas at Neverland!

I have immensely enjoyed our decorations thus far. As of today, I am done with tutoring until next year (I think Christmas break is even better as a teacher than it was as a student), and I am basking in the simple pleasures of the season; taking a few extra moments to shake packages under our red and silver Christmas tree, standing under the mistletoe with Stuart (many, many times a day!), and reading my favorite Christmas stories.

I hope you and your loved ones can find time to do the same in this over-too-quickly time of year!

Enjoy the photos!

Our staircase wrapped in Christmas garland...



Our front door Christmas wreath....


A close up. I love the butterflies and the fruit, even though it was a giant pain getting the latter attached!



This is the miniature tree we put up in the office for Stuart. I went up there one day, and peeked in and it made me sad that I was enjoying all of the decorations everywhere else in the house while he was stuck at the desk. So, voila! He has his own Christmas cheer near his desk!


This is a portion of my Christmas library. All of the downstairs windows are sporting their own Christmas titles, including some of my childhood favorites like Madeline's Christmas... it is so fun to decorate with books!



This is Iorek (pronounced "your-ick"), and he actually doubles as Christmas and Valentine's decor. Look at him, living the life on our bed....Stuart gave him to me, because he loves to give me stuffed animals...


Our sophisticated, not cheesy at all, snowman countdown piece.....

Ah...this is my "A Christmas Carol" table. This year most of it consists of snow, because I am slowly building my Jim Shore figurine collection. I have two more to get, and some other copies of the book as well. I just love it though! Especially Jacob Marley's miniature chains....such a great Christmas story! I don't why, but Chuckie D. (I call him that because we're pretty close) just makes me want to cry like a baby....



Here is our first beautiful Christmas tree! We've had one neighbor stop by and compliment us on it and the wreath! And I must admit, Stuart and I are very proud of it. We worked hard coordinating the colors together...well, Stuart told me what he envisioned and I coordinated, but still, it was a team effort! We're thinking about adding other trees as the years go on....huh. It is funny, but I never pictured us as "Christmas people." You know, the ones who have 12 trees in their house and all that, but we have had such a good time decorating together, that I think we might be after all! Maybe next year we'll add a UNC tree for Stuart and a Victorian one for me! I'm also thinking about a Travel tree. It is our tradition to buy a Christmas ornament wherever we go, and we've accumulated quite a few! It would be fun to have them all on one tree as a tribute to our adventures together!


Okay, our stockings were so fun to pick out! We went to Target together and decided to pick out each other's stocking. Our only rule was that it had to "reflect" the other's personality. And all I can say is...wow. Stuart knowingly picked out a pink Shabby Chic stocking for me, trimmed with pink velvet and adorned with a jeweled crown. I was more worried about Stuart's...mine was so obviously me, but his was harder to pin down. Then I saw it! A reindeer stocking dressed in green (a color Stuart is in half of the time), with the little reindeer holding a chalkboard. Augh! Stuart loves chalkboards. Stuart has a chalkboard. I remember when I would visit him at UNC, I would write little love notes on the chalkboard he had for him to see when he would practice his math problems on it. And whenever we made a meal together there, we would make up a name for our imaginary restaurant and I would write it on the board in artistic lettering. Anyway, the stocking was such a perfect representation of that piece of his personality that of course I picked it up and waved it in triumph! We've hung them on our little banister at home...


In short, we're really embracing our Christmas together! We've watched several Christmas movies together, and are making many new traditions together, but trying to keep some old ones as well. Stuart was actually leaning towards not going home for Christmas, but having our own celebration here, and just going home for New Year's Eve, but eventually decided against it because both of our families are expecting us already. So, we're keeping that tradition for now! Also, for those of you who don't know it, Bedford is actually "The Christmas Capital of Virginia." Seriously. We have a sign and everything. We've gone to look at some great lights, but missed the town meeting in the square with the hot chocolate, carriage rides, and the decorating of the town Christmas tree. Also we missed the Christmas parade. We just found out too late because it is our first year here. Next year we'll be there because we love living in a small town and want to show our support!

We're trying to do something Christmas oriented every night, so tonight I think we're decorating Christmas cookies together, and I'm trying to find "Charlie Brown's Christmas" or the cartoon "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" because Stuart hasn't seen either one of them. Sadness. They are two of my favorites! When he first told me that I thought he was teasing me, but no! There are really people who haven't seen these Christmas classics! One thing we do have in common is our love for "Mickey's Christmas Carol." We ordered it off of Amazon last year and love it, it brings back great memories of childhood for both! And of course we both love Patrick Stuart in "A Christmas Carol" as well as "It's a Wonderful Life" and many others!

I encourage all you bloggers to do something fun this last weekend before Christmas! It only comes once a year!

Signing Off,

Typical Staley

This picture sequence pretty much sums up our relationship....

Haley enjoying a book, soaking up a good storyline....


Stuart enjoying a book, seeking intellectual stimulation and very interested in what he's reading....


Haley getting jealous and saying, "Hey, I want to be what you're interested in! I'm intellectually stimulating and cute!"


And as usual, he falls for my wiles hook, line, and sinker!

Evil laugh....

Turkey and Such

I'm just going to give a quick recap of our Thanksgiving week in photographs....

Enjoy!


Stuart relaxing on the couch at my Mom and Dad's before lunch...

Stuart stocking up on the Thanksgiving goodies (especially the potato casserole!)



My fantastic parents! They were also the hosts of our first Thanksgiving dinner that day! When we went around the table and shared what we were thankful for, it was unanimous...Mom's restored health, her safety through her thyroid surgery, and most of all....a cancer free body! Thank you, Lord!


The whole Thanksgiving crew (we missed you Young and Williams families!)

On to Thanksgiving #2! This is me holding my always happy nephew, Michael. What a cutie! I'm only sad that I don't get to see my newest nephew, Matthew Thomas, because he's on the other side of the world from me!

Anyway, this Thanksgiving was held at Stuart's aunt and uncle's home. There were over 30 people there! Crazy!



Apparently, everyone was tired after eating except Mary......


And this last picture is of my niece Zara the day after Thanksgiving. She was helping us decorate the Christmas tree. It was adorable. She would watch my dad unravel the lights and try to help him, which of course, complicated things! Her whole face lit up when we finally turned the lights on for the first time. Here she is with some ornaments.....

All in all, it was a great week! Except for the part where Stuart and Harrison talked me into going to Wal-Mart in Danville at 1am to view all the Black Friday mayhem. I was dead on my feet by the time we arrived there. All that Thanksgiving food sinking into my body no doubt! I'm a night owl at heart, always lurking around until early hours of the morning, reading, cleaning, or, in tonight's case, updating our blog. So imagine Stuart and Harrison's surprise when I, the ringleader of all nighttime activities, zoned out and trudged around Wal-Mart after them like a zombie......When we got back, I slid in between the sheets while Stuart and Harrison went to the kitchen for ice cream. All Stuart could say was,

"I can't believe you're in bed before me!"

I didn't hear the rest.....

Happy Christmas-ing!