domestic goddess.

please - try and hold your applause until all accomplishments have been listed. (but if one or two YAY!'s slip out prematurely, i wont be upset)

this being my first holiday season as a wife and a homeowner, i've been feeling an odd sort of pressure to really do everything "right" as far as the holidays go - cause after all, its the FIRST TIME we're doing all this as a couple. and like in any good marriage, it hasnt been exactly a cakewalk, but i'm pretty proud of the things we've accomplished.

1. i made a pot roast. in my crock pot. while wearing an apron.

2. i also made the sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving with Mark's family this year. you know, Gramma Rita's recipe. the good kind with the crunchies, not the weird kind with the marshmallows. it turned out fantastically and was complimented by all. i made a lot. we still have leftovers. (the pic is of the egg that did NOT break on my floor when it tried to run away as soon as i turned my back)


3. we put up our skinny little Christmas tree and decorated it! i felt a little bad since most of the ornaments on it are mine, but Mark added the two we've gotten so far already, and (top ten things i never thought i'd say) even Wolverine has his very own place on our tree. our fireplace room has never looked so festive.

4. we put lights on our porch!!! YAY for those last-minute wedding lights that i just HAD to have! i probably have enough left over to decorate all the porches in the neighborhood, because our porch isnt all that big, but maybe we'll just save those for when we get really ambitious in years to come and decide to line our entire roofline!!!



5. Mark painted our bathroom and hung up our new accessories (towel bar, toilet paper holder, hand towel ring, hook on the door) its just about ready to become useable, as soon as we get the blinds and clean all the construction related mess out of the shower.

6. we cleaned and organized our entire house to the point that it was ready to invite our small group over for a pre-late-night-bowling party last weekend. its still not quite ready for the family to descend en mass, but have no fear - painting and re-hanging all the doors is next on the to-do list.

i'm a little bit nervous that we're overdoing it - that we're setting the bar too high too soon, and we are only going to be disappointed with everything from here on out... but hey if thats the case and the awesomeness of these few months is just setting the stage for a major letdown, then at least we will have the satisfaction of knowing that we came close to getting it right at least once!