a Friday flashback

I have always loved Christmas trees. They are so very cozy and warm.

Don't you agree?

Well, this Friday flashback is all about Christmas trees.

Let's flashback to...

1987-1992...

When I was little, we lived in upstate New York. Right around here:

We lived on a mountain. My great grandpa Haight owned a lot of land. He gave my dad some to build a house on.

And that's where I grew up.

My dad built our house. We had four-wheelers. My dad hunted. We lived in the middle of nowhere.

I sure wish I remembered it better.

We used to take a trip every winter in the snow to cut down our own Christmas tree.

I have a vague memory of doing this one time in my little pink snowsuit. It was cold.

After Christmas each year, when it was time to take down the tree, my dad and I would head off into the woods. He would have the tree in tow. And we would take that year's tree to our secret "Christmas Tree Fort."

My mom didn't know about our fort. Only me and my dad.

It had decaying trees from years passed. All stood leaned against other trees in the forest to surround a clearing.

And that was our secret fort.

My dad had a couple logs set up as stools for us.

We would go there and sit, and my little Piglet and Pooh stuffed animals would often join us.

My dad was great at making me laugh with funny voices for Piglet and Pooh.

Sometimes we would find long sticks and "fish."

Or we would walk to the edge of the woods where you could look down on the road that ran up the mountain. If you waited long enough, a car would drive by sometimes.

I don't remember much besides just always being insanely happy when I was with my dad and we went on our adventures all over the hill.

I wonder if there are any remnants of our Christmas Tree Fort 20 years later?

in memory of Thanksgiving

Last week around this time, I was sitting down to enjoy this magicalness:

But life goes on. I will instead enjoy my average-life food today and look forward to another Thanksgiving feast next year and what goes along with it:  family, naps, and doing absolutely nothing.

in pictures

I love living in Raleigh.

about getting ready for our non-existent child

First, I promise I'm not pregnant. Promise.

Second, Lord willing, we will be having a baby in the next year or so.

Third, we have purchased a crib.

Fourth, call us crazy. Just not to our face.



Actually, we are super excited and thankful to the family I work for. They were going to sell their basically brand new crib and mattress on Craig's List, but are instead selling it to us for an AWESOME good deal.

So, we do not have a baby.

Nor do we have one in any sense yet.

But, by golly, our future baby sure does have a nice crib all ready for it one day.

And a toddler bed.

And a full-size bed.

You gotta love convertible furniture.

Thanks, Rodney and Sherry! (and Keyen) :)

about a Christmas concert

Hello blog friends.

I have missed writing to you this weekend. It was a good weekend. Relaxing.

And, we ended on a fun-filled note of Christmas cheer...

Last night, Aaron and I attended "The Surfjohn Stevens Christmas Sing-A-Long Seasonal Affective Disorder Yuletide Disaster Pageant on Ice."

Yes.

To further clarify...

Last night, Aaron and I attended a Sufjan Stevens Christmas Concert/Sing-a-Long.

Yes.

If you still are not clear, and who would blame you, check here.

Anyway, Aaron loves Sufjan Stevens. I enjoy listening to most of his music as well, but I especially LOVE his Christmas CD. So, I was totally onboard when Aaron asked if I wanted to drive an hour to Saxapahaw, NC to see Sufjan in a Christmas concert.

Yes. Saxapahaw.

The concert was actually in a really awesome ballroom.

Siri found it fairly easily for us, and besides waiting in the freezing cold for twenty minutes, we didn't have an awful time getting there.

The thing about seeing concerts in some kind of "hall" or "ballroom" is that there are not really chairs. There are a handful, but they go fast.

My sweet, sweet husband was determined on finding me a chair so I didn't have to stand for three hours. We ended up scoring a pretty decent seat on the first balcony.

The show was fun. There was a Wheel of Christmas. There were inflatable Santas. There was confetti. There were Christmas sweaters and twinkle lights galore.

It was totally worth the long drive and late night (we got home waaaay past my bedtime).

about Vinylmations galore

Well, the Vinylmation madness has now reached a new level around here.

We have purchased our first entire case. That's 24 Vinylmations. It's the only way to ensure you get the coveted "Chaser." There's only one Chaser per case, and if you don't happen to get that one by luck, it's money, money, money on Ebay.

Now, there were rules to this purchase, because a case of Vinylmations is around $300.00. Insanity, I realize.

1. Aaron had to save up gift cards which he received for his birthday.
2. Aaron had to sell half of the Vinylmations at cost.
3. I got to help open the Vinylmations.

So, anyway, Aaron had his heart set on the new Disney/Pixar collection of Vinylmations which came out at midnight pacific time last Friday. That's 3:00am here.

He woke up at 2:50am (now, mind you, I was sound asleep) to make his long awaited purchase.

Unfortunately for Aaron, before he could enter in all of his gift cards, the Disney Store removed the case from his shopping cart and it sold out, all within ten minutes.

Sad day for him.

But, don't worry. He awoke with a renewed vigor and headed to our local Disney Store an hour before they even opened.

I was at work when I got his triumphant phone call:  he had scored the very last case they had, beating another lady by mere seconds.

To make his day even better, the Disney Store threw in a FREE case of the Circus Vinylmations. We had turned up our noses at those, but hey, they were free!

He waited patiently for me to get home, and we embarked on our first Vinylmation opening party.

Excited! Penny was too...

The Pixar case was up first. That's 24 Vinylmations:  2 sets of 11, plus 1 chaser, plus 1 "filler" (a third one of something)

Opening the first one...

And wouldn't you know it...it was the chaser! If only we could be so lucky when buying them individually at the store...

We took turns, making our way through the box.

I had fun too.

And there they are!

Nemo is my favorite.

We went on to open the Circus case, which is also fun.

And, to make it all a really great time, Aaron's Vinylmation buddy Adam was very excited to purchase the other half of both cases. So, we ended up with 24 Vinylmations for about $50 because of the gift cards. And, that, my friends, is actually a very good deal, considering Vinylmations run at about $12 each.

I can also assure you though, we will not be buying cases willy nilly now.

Hear that, Aaron?

a Friday flashback

Sometimes, Aaron has trouble sleeping at night. It comes and goes with no rhyme or reason.

A couple weeks ago, it was one of those nights...

Let's flashback to...

A couple weeks ago...1:00am

I had been sleeping soundly for about three hours when I was stirred awake by sighs of frustration next to me.

"What's wrong," I mumbled half asleep.

"I can't get to sleep. I haven't slept at all."

"I'm sorry. Turn on the light and read or something..." and with that I drifted back off to sleep.

A couple hours later, I heard him again messing around in his nightstand drawer.

"Aaron?"

"Sorry. It's almost 3:00am and I still haven't been able to sleep. I'm going crazy. I'm going to go downstairs."

"Oh..." I was half asleep and wasn't quite sure how to help him at this point. "Ok."

"Sorry for keeping you up."

"You're fine." I watched him leave the room. Penny came up and took his spot.

Well, now I was awake.

A couple minutes passed, and there was no way now that I could sleep alone in the bed. I grabbed my awkward turtle and headed down the steps quietly.

"Aaron?"

"Geez! You scared me!" He was camped out on the couch with his headphones in.

"I'm sorry. I can't sleep upstairs without you." I grabbed a blanket and went to the other side of our L-shaped couch.

"I didn't mean for you to have to sleep down here. It will hurt your back."

"I'll be fine." I settled into the couch. It definitely wasn't as comfortable as the bed, but at least I wasn't lonely.

Penny, on the other hand, was not happy to have been woken from the bed and brought downstairs.

While Aaron and I drifted off, we heard sighs of frustration from Penny over on the love seat by herself.

It was a short few hours until morning.

Thankfully, we haven't had to have a couch sleepover again since.

a thank you list

Happy Thanksgiving!

I haven't been keeping up with that "30 Days of Thankfulness" thing. It's pretty cool though. I have a hard enough time keeping up with my photoaday.

But, I am very thankful for many things. Here are 15 of them because that's half of 30 and it seems like a good start...

1. My Jesus. He is the only One who is always, without a doubt, never failing, always there. He is the most perfect part of my life. Always forgiving, always the storywriter, always blessing me. He is the One I am really writing this list to.
2. My Aaron. Oh, how I love him. My best friend. My companion. My Disney buddy. My shoulder to cry on. My encourager. My sweet, amazing husband.
3. My family. They are my favorite people to hang out with. I have the best parents, in-laws, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and niece and nephew. I love my family.
4. My church. The church is a wonderful thing when it carries out the mission Jesus left for us. I'm so blessed to be a part of Journey and serve with a church body that exists solely to help people follow Jesus.
5. My job. I love, love my job. I am so thankful to have found the absolute perfect job for me over the past two years. I love my sweet Bensen and Keyen and I love taking care of them. 
6. My Penny. Sweet Penny girl is such a joy in my life. She can always cheer me up and she is the perfect dog for us.
7. My friends. I have old friends. New friends. Girl friends. Boy friends. They are good friends. I will definitely keep them around.
8. My house. Cozy, warm, comforting, lovely home.
9. My state. I love living in North Carolina. Beach? Sure. Mountains? Why not. Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring all show up. It's a great state.
10. My country. Everyone has their own opinions about America right now, but you can't argue that it's a pretty great place to live.
11. My car. I've had the same car since I was learning to drive at age 15. Ten years later, it's still kicking and driving really well. Now, that's something to be thankful for.
12. My clothes. I have so many clothes. Too many, probably. 
13. My iPhone. It might be shallow, but I love my phone so much. It is a luxury I do not take for granted.
14. My MacBook Pro. Well, I can't leave it out now, can I? It is writing this whole list after all...
15. My blog. I sure do enjoy writing the randomness that is my blog. It is quite relaxing and comforting to write out my thoughts and memories. 

Well, now it's about time to eat too much food and sit around with family for the day. Thanksgiving sure is wonderful.

more about my grandparents

My grandparents arrived yesterday!

After work, they, along with the rest of my family, came over for dinner. My parents brought pizza, and I provided salad, drinks, and dessert.

It was so wonderful to see my grandparents. I've missed them so much!

When I was little, and we lived in New York, my grandparents were only a few minutes away.

I spent a lot of time with them.

When we moved to Florida when I was five, I remember being so, so sad.

My grandma and I were driving around one day, and she said, "Whenever you look at the moon, you can know I'll be looking at it too. And we'll think of each other."

To this day, my grandma will send me a text when the moon is extra pretty. And every time I look at the moon, I think of her.

Good grief, way to make myself cry right there.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun hanging out and showing them our house. Penny was excited to meet them too.

We will be spending more time with them over the next couple days. 

Also, my grandma brought me some amazing ornaments that were made by my great grandmother. I love them!

a weekend recap

Happy Tuesday!

It's been a great last few days.

Friday night:  we had our friends, Adam and Kaitlin over. They are fun and we like them. And to make Friday night even better, they brought their puppy over. Crowder and Penny hit it off and played for three hours straight. They were both exhausted at the end of the night. It's so wonderful to have friends to relax with after a long week.

Saturday morning/afternoon:  we had a LEADsmall training at Journey for our Journey Kids and Journey Students leaders. Aaron co-led this with our student pastor, Smooth. It was a five hour training, and I'll be honest, I was not exactly looking forward to spending most of my Saturday doing that. I should have known by now that whenever I feel that way about something at Journey, it's just a lie from the enemy trying to get me down. It was a GREAT day, and the five hours flew by. It was so nice to be reminded why we do what we do every weekend. I would do it again this Saturday in a heartbeat. Oh, and did I mention why I was almost late to the training? Well, there was a house in the road, obviously.

Saturday evening:  we had an early Thanksgiving dinner with Aaron's family. My in-laws, as well as my niece and nephew were there. We had SO much food...I can't believe we usually have that much food the same day that we eat at my parents' house for Thanksgiving. This year, it worked out nicely to have the Bauer Thanksgiving early since my grandparents are coming to town (today!). We ate, ate, and watched a short Christmas movie with Samuel. I love time with family and wish it was all the time.

Sunday morning:  back to Journey we went this weekend, which was wonderful since we weren't there last week. I led worship with MiNi CiTy first hour, and second hour I had a worship team meeting. In our meeting, we had a refresher of our calling as worship leaders and the responsibility we hold when we are on the stage. It was great to hear from our worship pastor, Josh. 

After that was over, I swung by and picked Penny up from the groomer. She looks so pretty when she's clean and brushed.

Sunday afternoon/night:  we had Chinese take-out for lunch while we watched Friends. Then, we proceeded to sleep for two hours. Two, wonderful hours of napping. It was much-needed. After a nap, we watched TV, and The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D. We got a scary phone call from my mom that they were taking my little brother to the emergency room for chest pain when he breathed. They thought it might be a cracked rib, but after a lot of X-rays, the doctors said it was most likely just muscle spasms. He is doped up now and sleeping a lot. We are glad it wasn't anything serious!

Monday morning/afternoon:  it was back to work for me. I had a good day with the boys and then headed straight to get my haircut. Then straight home to cook dinner, clean up the house, make some cookies, and get ready for my grandparents who are coming over tonight for dinner. Yay!

So, if you didn't want to know all about my weekend, sorry. There it was. Now, if I can just make it through one more day of work, the Thanksgiving festivities can really begin.

about Regular Grandma and Grandpa

It's Thanksgiving week!

I love Thanksgiving.

It's so wonderful and cozy.

Plus, I love any day that I get to hang with my family ALL day.

This year, we had Thanksgiving dinner with Aaron's family early. They are headed off to the beach this week. I wish we could join them too! If only we could be in two places at once.

I am working today, tomorrow, and Wednesday.

After that, it will be a nice little break to hang out with Aaron.

The thing I'm most excited about this year is that my grandparents are coming!

We, unfortunately, live far away from all of my grandparents. Two live in Florida. Two live in Tennessee.

I haven't really seen my Florida grandparents since the summer of our wedding.

I haven't seen my Tennessee grandparents at all for two years.

And, it just so happens, my Tennessee grandparents are coming TOMORROW!

Yes!

My Tennessee grandparents are actually named "Regular Grandma and Grandpa."

I know that sounds kind of sad.

But, when I was little, we lived five minutes away from them. So, I started calling my grandparents in Florida "Florida Gramma and Grampa." And somehow my mom's parents got stuck with "Regular Grandma and Grandpa."

Weird, I know. But, it stuck. And that is how we refer to them to distinguish which grandparents we're talking about to this day.

So, I am super excited to see Regular Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow after work.

They will get to meet Penny, see our house, maybe meet Bensen and Keyen, and hang out in Raleigh for a few days.

It's going to be great!

about Operation Christmas Child

Today at Journey is the last day to turn in boxes for Operation Christmas Child.

I have been blessed to have played a small part in Operation Christmas Child ever since I was in middle and high school.

One year, when I was on Student Council, we got to go to Charlotte and help pack boxes into big boxes that would then ship all over the world to give boys and girls a Christmas present they wouldn't otherwise receive.

Very, very humbling to be a part of!

We are so very blessed here in America.

Aaron and I LOVE picking out gifts for our boxes. Last year, we switched it up, and he packed for a girl and I packed for a boy. This year though, we stuck with our own gender.

We went to the Dollar Tree in Wake Forest and shopped for almost an hour.

We got the required stuff first:  soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, combs, etc.

After that, it was time for fun.

Candy, toys, crayons, puzzles, books, games, balls, whistles, washcloths...we definitely filled half a cart.

As we were checking out, we thought we were going to have to pack three boxes because we had gotten so much stuff.

Somehow, it all fit.

It's exciting to know that a little boy and a little girl will get such a fun surprise in a few weeks.

I sure hope they like Batman and Disney Princess!

to Chick-fil-a

Dear Chick-fil-a,

First, I love you no matter what. You make delicious chicken. You have the best dipping sauces ever. You have waffle fries. You give free ice cream in return for your lame-ish toys. You are closed on Sundays. Your owners and founders love Jesus. We eat at you at LEAST once a week.

With all of that being said, why, why, WHY did you get rid of the Chick-n-Strip Salad?

It was my favorite salad. I loved it so. I may have picked off the broccoli sometimes. And the tomatoes. I'm sorry.

You didn't give me any warning.

I would have enjoyed the one I had a last week just a little bit more.

I am so very sad.

I don't suppose you'll bring it back. 

I suppose you force me to order a couple side salads, an order of Chick-n-Strips, and some ranch dressing.

Yeah. 

It won't be the same. But I guess we'll make do.

I still love you, Chick-fil-a. But really, why?

Why?

Love your faithful customer,
Whitney Lynne Bauer

a Friday flashback

You are reading this on Friday, but right now it is Thursday evening. I have been itching to write for a few days now. Vacation ended Monday morning and life hit again with full force. Days have been filled with Bensen and Keyen, nights have been filled with plans and to-dos. Monday night I had dinner with dear high school friends. Tuesday I was going to have time to write, but then we remembered that Disney/Pixar's Brave came out on 3D Blu-Ray. So you best believe that took priority Tuesday night. Wednesday night we had REFUEL at Journey. And here we are. Finally.

Aaron and I just finished shopping for and packing our boxes for Operation Christmas Child. We have now decided to skip going to the gym tonight in favor of relaxation time. Because the weekend sure won't provide any of that. 

So, here we are, Christmas tree aglow, mantle lights softly twinkling, Christmas music on Pandora, candles lit, and MacBooks open.

Aaron is looking up Vinylmation things.

I am going to share a Friday flashback.

Let's flashback to...

a few days ago, Monday, November 12, 2012...

Monday was my first day back at work in a few days. The boys were thankfully, wonderful, and had no trouble getting right back to our daily routine. 

Monday was also wonderfully warm for the middle of November. We headed to a nearby park without even needing jackets over our light long-sleeve shirts.

The park we went to, and have gone to before, has a big playground next to the parking lot on a big hill. The hill has a path winding down it. At the bottom, there is a little creek and a bridge that crosses over it. The creek is down between two fairly steep banks. The bridge is about 10 feet above it. 

We can never play on the playground more than 15 minutes before one of the boys will spy the "wa-wa" and bridge down below. So down we go. Slowly. Because they are easily distracted by rocks, leaves, grass, bugs, other kids, etc.

Monday we made it down to the creek just fine.

"Bensen, let's get some rocks and we can thrown them into the water and watch them splash!"

This was joyfully received. Keyen soon joined in. This entertained them for a good 30 minutes. Which is a pretty big deal.

There were a couple other families that were down at the creek. They actually went down the bank next to the water.

Bensen was quite intrigued by this idea, but I quickly cut that idea.

"No, buddy, not today. I can't take you and Keyen down there by myself. We need to stay on the bridge. Let's go get more rocks!"

Distraction successful.

Awhile later, we were the only ones left. The boys were still throwing rocks, leaves, and sticks into the water below.

Bensen saw the sippy cup in the bag on the stroller and got it out to take a drink. I bent down to get more rocks.

When I looked up...that's when it started.

Bensen was no longer holding the cup. Nope. It had been passed to Keyen.

And there was Keyen holding the cup out of the railing over the creek below.

I didn't want to scare him and make him drop it. "Keyen. No, sir."

He looked at me. And his eyes met mine. And as he stared at me. He let go of the cup.

I sighed.

The three of us peered over the edge. The cup had landed just on the edge of the bank somehow.

"Uh-oh." said Keyen.

"Uh-oh is right."

"Keyen trouble." Bensen piped in.

I sighed.

"Yes, we do not throw cups off the bridge."

I debated what to do.

1. Obviously, they have like 20 sippy cups. I don't HAVE to get it.
2. It's not IN the water.
3. Other people went down the bank fine.
4. I can get it easily enough.
5. I should try to get it.

The boys were just staring down at the cup still. I picked Keyen up and strapped him in the stroller.

"Bensen, stay here."

I walked to the end of the bridge and started to carefully descend the hill. In my Sperry boat shoes with no treads, of course.

I glanced up at the boys. They were just frozen in place watching me.

As I got to the bottom of the hill, the ground started to get squishy. It was sandy squishy. Not muddy squishy, thankfully.

It got squishy enough that I had to stop. I reached towards the cup. It was JUST out of my reach.

I looked back at the boys. Still staring.

I glanced around for something I could hold onto.

This little branch might as well work. 

I held onto it and reached the cup.

And just as I had the cup in my hand, the branch snapped. Obviously.

All in a split second I thought, hold the cup, fall in the creek. 

I decided to flail to catch my balance instead, sacrificing the cup.

It flew up in the air, and into the water it went.

I caught my balance, looked at the predicament the cup was in now, looked up at the boys, and sighed yet again.

"Whit-ee drop cup wa-wa" Bensen stated.

"I know, Bensen. I know."

I was still holding onto the branch that had failed me once.

I decided to give it a second chance.

I fished the cup out of the water, traipsed back up the hill, put the cup in the bag, emptied the sand out of my shoes, grabbed Bensen's hand, and started pushing the stroller.

"Come on, boys, we're done at the bridge today."

"Keyen trouble," Bensen muttered one more time as we headed back to the playground.

New rule:  no more sippy cups around water that is not inside them.

about Christmas decorating

Sunday we skipped going to church and continued our vacation. This was pretty much our last free day in a very long time, so we wanted to get the house decorated for Christmas.

I insisted we needed a bigger tree than the one we had used in our apartment.

Saturday night, we went to Walmart, and after deeming their trees not quite acceptable since you couldn't see all of them out of the box, we went to Target. Target had the tree we wanted on display, so that was nice.

Sunday, we slept in a little bit and got to work around 10am. We had to move the furniture around a bit first. Penny enjoyed that.

Assembling the tree took an hour or so. Aaron is not a fan of shaping branches. He got better at it as we went along...

After the branches were shaped and the tree was all together, we strung the lights. 600 lights, to be exact. Christmas trees sure do look better with lights on them.

Then it was time to go up in the attic and retrieve all of the Christmas boxes and ornaments. We have so many ornaments already and we've only been married two years. Goodness.

We hung all of the ornaments, pushed the tree back, put the skirt on, and then it was time for Aaron's favorite part:  the star.

Ta-da! Our pretty Christmas tree.

Then we decorated the mantle.

And we put out the smoker man.

These Santa figurines are very old. Aaron's grandmother passed them down to us.

Since it's Christmas, I let Aaron bring a couple Vinylmations in the living room. These little guys are from Prep and Landing.

We put up our Nativity, which is also from Aaron's grandma.

And set the Christmas table.

Jonah needed some Christmas cheer too.

And our Gingerbread boy sits in the kitchen.

That's the extent of our indoor Christmas decor. When it's dark, I'll have to take a picture of Aaron's hard work:  the icicle lights outside!

 Merry Christmas!