What We Love Wednesdays - A Very Merry Christmas!!

Hello everyone, and welcome to a very festive WWLW!

I’m sure you hadn’t guessed from our posts over the last month or so, but we LOVE Christmas.
We go nuts over anything festive, over every Christmas song or Christmas snack. So we figure that as
Christmas is only 4 days away, nobody could knock us for doing a little MOTHER OF ALL THINGS CHRISTMASY AND AMAZING POST TO END ALL CHRISTMAS POSTS! Or maybe not ‘end’ them, but make them pale in comparison. ;)

Are you feeling Christmasy yet? If not, then open a new tab, go to google.com and type in ‘let it
snow’. Do it now! … Okay, now that you feel as if you’re walking in a winter wonderland, we can begin.

There are so many things that we love about Christmas, we probably won’t be able to fit it all in one post.  So, we’ve picked our very best bits to share!

Sarah's Christmas Crackers:

• Laura's Excitement....it starts in September and builds and builds until the end of November when it EXPLODES and EVERYTHING and ANYTHING that can become Christmassy gets the Laura touch!
• Advent Calendars - a chocolate a day - yes please! Would it be wrong to have one leading up to my birthday?
• Snuggling - I would snuggle Laura ANY TIME but there is nothing better that when it's cold outside!
• Fairy Lights (Christmas lights to Americans), who doesn't! They make every room look better - our bedroom looks like Santa's grotto right now.

• Christmas Trees - the one place you can put as much Christmas stuff as possible and no-one can complain - as this was the first tree we gotten together we went for IT ALL - tinsel, lights, baubles, decorations, beads, sparkles, bling and stars!

Our first Christmas tree together!

• Wearing LAYERS.....or wrapping up warm - I am a fan of being warm! As I write this I am wrapped up in 4 layers and I LOVE IT! Whether I'm out walking in the fresh air or on a couch watching TV, as long as I've got my layers (and my Laura) I'm happy!

• General jolly-ness - I love it when random strangers wish us Merry Christmas, and people are nicer in their daily lives only at this one time of year!

Sarah jolly in the snow in Idaho!

• Hoping for (and hopefully getting) SNOW - my absolute favourite pre-Christmas event was snow last year! After a year in Australia we headed back to Laura's home town and timed it perfectly for SNOW! As you can imagine, a suitcase of Australian clothes did not cater for the snow, so I spent 3 weeks in Laura's brother's skiing gear. The trip was AMAZING - the highlight was two days skiing and an overnight stay in a wood cabin in McCall. We exchanged Christmas presents, snuggled in a warmed bed and made a gingerbread house (my 1st!) - it was one of my favourite trips we've ever taken!  

Our bear themed cabin, us skiing in McCall, and our first (messy but amazing) gingerbread house!

Laura's Festive Favourites:

• Of course, the FOOD! Everything tastes better at Christmas, and it is the one time of year you can eat almost anything (heck, you can even cook with marshmallows, like I did for Thanksmas!!). We've stocked the house up with cookies, crisps, cakes, meats and gorgeous cheeses from around the world, and I've baked more this month than I have my whole life - so we are eating our way through the holidays! As someone who has an emotional attachment to food, I wouldn't have it any other way!

• On the same note, I also LOVE Christmas markets! My favourite kind of course are the ones that do Christmasy foods, mulled wine (vin chaud, in Paris) and hot chocolate (chocolat chaud)! We love walking around, soaking in the atmosphere, and warming up with a mulled wine. My Mum sent me some mulling spices this year, so I have a ready supply of Christmasy love!

• I also love Christmas music! Whether it's choirs singing carols (or me singing carols!) or the mid-work-day Christmas tune on the radio, there is not much I love more than Christmas music. I start listening to it in November, if not before (it came from when I was in school - I was in show choir, and we'd start learning festive music at Halloween!). I love everything from the old classics to the more contemporary stuff - this year we've heard a lovely bit of Buble and I actually really love the Justin Bieber Christmas album! Yes I know, we're not pre-teens anymore, we can't listen to Bieber, but his album has UH-mazing duets with Mariah Carey (All I Want For Christmas Is You), Busta Rhymes (who I LOVE so much), Boyz II Men and Usher among others! So give it a Christmas listen it's obviously a little cheesy and poppy, but isn't that why we love Christmas music? I wouldn't be admitting to a secret love of Bieber songs if it wasn't worth it! *Rant over*

• Christmas Movie Tuesdays!!! Really, though, Christmas movies on any day of the week will do! My favourites are Love Actually, the ORIGINAL How the Grinch Stole Christmas (see my Christmas apron!), and Last Christmas, an apparently not as good as I think it is (thanks Sarah) movie about a big family coming home for the holidays.
• Finally, my last but not least favourite thing about the holidays is spending time with family and loved ones. For me, Christmas is a time for making memories, coming together and appreciating the people you love. I really miss my family at home in Idaho this year, especially because my usually Grinch-y Dad (er, Grinchy on my terms, probably more like a regular person) has decided to become Mr. Christmas this year, putting up the lights and tree without nagging from me! Let's hope it lasts until next year! I am thankful that next year Sarah and I should be able to be home with them for the holidays. And I'm so thankful for Sarah!

The Smiths in USA, our dog Abby thinking she's a present under the tree, and the love of my life!

We hope you've enjoyed our super Christmasy list of some of the things we love about the holidays. Of course, though we each have our preferences, and the aspects of this time of year we each love the most, there is one thing we can agree on - the BEST thing about Christmas is being able to spend quality time (eating, snuggling, watching Christmas movies, etc) with each other! We wouldn't have it any other way.

Lots and lots of love and joy and SNOW,

Laura & Sarah xoxo