Christmas with my husband

Ha, still weird to say 'husband.'  OK so Karl & I are leaving for Texas early the 23rd so we knew we would have to have our Christmas celebration for two prior to leaving.  I wanted it to really feel like Christmas so I thought waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday would be good and I would totally pretend it was actually Christmas!  Well, apparently Karl had a different idea... he has been working on something in the garage for me for a few weeks now and the second he finished it on Sunday, he began to beg INCESSANTLY for us to do Christmas RIGHT THEN.  Karl isn't much for waiting or patience (I've learned).  I should also add a side note that he claims to hate the surprise of gifts.  I've probably mentioned this before but Karl has pretty much spoiled the surprise of every single gift he has ever given me.  I literally have known every birthday & Christmas gift I was receiving from him at least a few weeks before he gave it to me.  I knew about the following: a TV for my 20th birthday, an SLR camera for my 21st, a lens for my 22nd birthday, diamond earrings our first Valentines, Uggs for Christmas my junior year, and I had a strong idea about my gifts for this Christmas.  Well, I sort of hate that because I LOVE to be surprised with gifts!  I'm horrible at faking surprise and definitely prefer to receive gifts more traditionally (uh, not knowing what it is).  Karl, on the other hand, wants to know EVERYTHING before he gets it.  I totally do not understand this.  He has been trying to tell me what my Christmas gifts are for weeks and has asked me (literally every single day) what he is getting from me, my parents, & his parents.  I always refuse to tell him.  I guess his family are all similar to him with gifts because on several occasions, he has simply asked them what he is getting and they casually tell him.  WHAT?!?  That is totally no fun in my opinion but to each his own :)  Anyways, back to the point of this post: SO, Karl would totally not leave doing Christmas on Sunday alone so I finally agreed.  We each went to one of the spare bedrooms and filled each others stockings and finished wrapping.  Man, it's hard to play Santa. I have a new appreciation for my parents.  Both Karl & I wanted to put others stockings in the living room but without the other seeing it so we covered them with blankets but then that didn't look like Santa left them.  Yeah, what a predicament.  Anyways, to make it feel like Christmas I decided that I would setup my video camera and we would both get in bed and pretend we were just waking up on Christmas morning.  OK this is getting boring.  Climax: I got a BEAUTIFUL hand made (by Karl) 7 foot tall wooden mirror with the most gorgeous detailing! ANNND I got an iPhone4!  WOO HOO!  Bye Blackberry Storm- you've been miserable!  So, Karl & I saw this mirror at Pottery Barn and I really wanted it.  Obviously it was $500 and I wasn't going to be purchasing it... Karl's replica looks perfectly similar but so much better!

This is probably the most priceless gift I've ever been given (Uh, besides salvation, duh.).  It is so so much prettier in person!

AND Karl got a smoker & a beer making kit... I have negative feelings towards the beer making kit (it's pricey and I'm like 99% sure the beer will taste horrible and make our house smell=potential wasted gift).  The beer making kit was like Karl's #1 present wish.  It was a great first Christmas!  Karl & I were at WalMart the other day and just walking thru all the bikes, toys, and play kitchens made me think about how fun it will be when Christmas rolls around and I have kids to buy for!  Karl can't wait for that.  I, on the other hand, can.  OK, I feel like this has been the most boring post ever and full of mundane details but I just want to remember exactly how our first Christmas was!

To spice things up a bit.. heres a short walk down memory lane

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2007
The highlight of Christmas that year was getting to talk to Karl on Christmas Day!  He was in training at the time and phone calls were so precious.  Also noted: not my skinniest year...

On Saturday night Karl & I went and looked at lights & had more Christmas fun!  I'll post on that tomorrow or sometime soon (I've learned to not say things like, "tomorrow" or "everyday," on here as I usually don't follow thru... whoops.)

Merry Christmas Week!

Hannah K.C. Burton