It Was the Week Before Christmas...

The last full work week before Christmas was a tough one. It was full of meetings, delivering gift baskets, taking clients to lunch, and Christmas parties, but what made it difficult was the inability to focus on anything other than the fact that Christmas is so close!

Last Sunday, Brian and I went down to Provo after church to see my wonderful cousin, Christy, her husband Matt, and their two girls Maddie and Lucy. We had a wonderful time socializing and making dinner, as well as playing with the girls. They’re getting so big so quickly!

Tuesday night after work, Brian and I got a fattening dinner of Five Guys before going to a session at the temple. It’s always nice to take some time and go to the temple because it’s like escaping from the real world and actually getting your thoughts in line. Brian and I are in the midst of lots of planning for things, so it was nice to have some peace to think in clarity.

Wednesday night, we decided to be kids with Randy and Sabra. Brian went to take his last final after work, then we celebrated by sledding behind the four wheelers. It was a beautiful night and the snow was still coming down, so it was fun to get bundled up and go sledding— big kid style.

Thursday night, Tricia dyed my hair! I went over to the dark side, just in time for Star Wars haha. For those of you that know me well, the only time I can dye my hair dark is the winter time. I’m such a natural blonde that as soon as I walk outside during the summertime, it seems as though I’m platinum blonde after an hour in the sun. I guess I’m ok with that though, blondes really do have more fun. ;)

Friday night as I was leaving work, I passed one of my bosses (the founder of the law firm) on my way out. A few minutes later as I was leaving the parking lot, he called me and asked if Brian and I had any plans for the evening. My plans had consisted of laying around in my pajamas with hot chocolate and Christmas movies, so honestly I did not have plans, so he asked if we wanted 2 tickets to the MoTab Christmas Concert at the Conference Center in Temple Square. Ummm of course we did! The concert featured Laura Osnes, a relatively famous Broadway star, and Martin Jarvis, an old British film and drama actor. It was a great performance, and it was neat for me to be able to take Brian. I got tickets to last year’s event randomly through a ticket lottery so this was my second year, but Brian had never been. Christmas time in Salt Lake City is a disaster, especially with the big City Creek Mall downtown, but it sure is beautiful.

Saturday morning, Brian and I cleaned the house and then went to the Megaplex in Ogden for my company’s client appreciation event! We reserved an entire theater for a showing of Star Wars at noon, and it was awesome! It was fun to see coworkers outside of work and get to meet a lot of clients that I’ve only interacted with over the phone. Plus, the movie was pretty sweet.

Saturday evening, we hosted our first annual Baldwin Christmas Bash! We held dinner at our house first, which was interesting to say the least, then we packed hot chocolate and headed to Salt Lake City again. We walked around downtown and saw the lights on temple square, then went ice skating at the Gallivan Center which was a blast as usual! The city is so beautiful at this time of year and there were lots of street performers playing Christmas tunes which added to the atmosphere. When we got back to our house, we had a gingerbread contest that Kate and I definitely won hands down… It was so fun to hang out with friends we don’t always get to see a lot and enjoy the holiday season!

Sunday at church I taught Relief Society for the first time in our new ward! The lesson came from Ezra Taft Benson’s book, chapter 24, A Christ-Centered Life. It was the perfect lesson for the week before Christmas and we had a lot of great discussion! Sunday night we had dinner at Brian’s parents house, watched some home videos of Brian as a little kid which were hilarious, then went to visit his grandparents and saw a few aunts and uncles. 

We are so excited to have Kevin & Amanda and the kids come in for Christmas this week and celebrate the holiday season! Brian and I are looking forward to spending our first Christmas together in our first home. And I’m dying to give him his Christmas presents because I don’t know how much longer I can wait! I’m sure to win best wife award this year ;)