Christmas Decorations Around the Apartment

 I'm only doing a Christmas decorations post because I'm living in a new place this year, so I want to document it here on the blog. I have less surface space to decorate in the apartment, but I was still able to put out all of my classics and favorites. 🎄 

For the first time in many years, I don't have a sliding glass door, but I do have double doors to the laundry closet, so I used them to put Christmas cards on.

David's nutcracker from Germany (the second one from the right) was a welcome addition to the nutcracker collection.

The best I could do for the stockings was the side of the kitchen counter! I do miss having a fireplace mantel or the big, long kitchen sill that I had in the townhouse.

I rarely buy Christmas decorations anymore because I have more than enough, but I've been wanting to get a new Christmas tablecloth for a couple of years. So I finally got this one from Target. It's perfect!

The bed gets decorated, too!

These pictures are so useful for future holiday seasons. I have files of holiday decoration pictures on my computer, and I refer to them to remember where I put things for each of the holidays. It saves a lot of time! (Stay tuned to the blog for more life success skills from Donna! 😄)

Christmas Day 2025

 I'm happy to report that we had a very pleasant and peaceful Christmas Day. It was nice and cloudy in the morning (the only thing that would have made it better would have been falling snow!), and there was golden sunshine in the afternoon. David, Sam, and I opened gifts and had our traditional tasty breakfast of cinnamon rolls, bacon, and fruit salad before I brought Sam over to his dad's. Then David and I spent the rest of the day relaxing. Christmas is the one day a year that I let myself read all day, and I love it!

David made me a flower press and owl door hangers. I'd seen both of these in a shop on our honeymoon and liked them, but I didn't get them because he said he could make them. He followed through with it!  

Stocking goodies

I bought myself a cute bee-print Vera Bradley bag (the perfect size!) and a cross-stitch kit. I want to get back into cross-stitching again, a hobby that I really enjoyed in my adolescence.

Sam drew and colored a sweet owl picture for me, which I will now display every Christmas for the rest of my life. 💕

It fit right in with my Christmas owl gang!

Relaxing on the couch with my five-pack of Christmas Oreos and other festive goodies...

It's Rudolph!

Red and green cream 😋

We both took naps between reading (me) and watching videos and shows on his laptop (David).

I love having a husband again. 💖

My nearly perfect Christmas!

This is the book I read that day. Fitting!

There was a good Christmasy scene on the TV streaming from YouTube all day. We also watched the rest of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms in the evening.

It was a memorable, simple, and special Christmas with the people I love most (except for John, but we got to FaceTime!). 

I'm already looking forward to this year's holiday season...only nine months away! 😄

Christmas Eve 2025

 Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year. This was the first one in many years where I had a loving husband. That made it especially nice and memorable!

We went to my mom's house for a family brunch, presents, and games. 
She had made this cute Christmas tree out of book pages:

Line of presents

I liked my sweater and headband, so a selfie had to be taken. 😃

Me and Sam. I look dorky here but—miracle of miracles—Sam cracked a smile!

Me and Mr. Honey Buns (ha ha)

My brother Nathan had David for our family's Secret Santa gift exchange, and he did some creative editing on the movie case of The Beekeeper, since David is, indeed, a beekeeper. 😆 So neat!

We spent the rest of the day and evening at home. The three of us watched Elf. Mom came over for our traditional pot roast dinner, reading the Christmas story from the scriptures, and each of us opening a gift. 

I liked the combination of Christmas tree lights and sunlight. 

On Christmas Eve, I think a lot about Jesus and the circumstances of His humble but holy birth. He is the true light of the world.

The gift I opened was a Boston Temple-shaped ornament that David made with pictures he put on it. 

I of course love it!

Next year, John will be with us. (Knock on wood!)

I watch one of my favorite movies, It's a Wonderful Life!, every Christmas Eve evening. It was so nice having David to watch it with this year. I fell asleep against his arm for part of it. 😴

I like to take pictures of the tree, presents, and stockings once Santa has come before I go to bed! 

Even without little kids, Christmas Eve night is still magical.

"D" is for David. "Donna," too, but this is David's stocking. 😄

And here's mine. 

I wish I still went by "Josaleen." It's prettier and more unique than "Donna." Ah well.

Sam made me a present that I was excited to open the next morning.

It really was a special Christmas Eve: me and David's first one together, and the last one for the foreseeable future without John (hopefully!).

The Best Gingerbread House I've Ever Made!

 I'm not a very crafty person, so gingerbread houses have never really been my thing. Mine usually fall apart before I can decorate them much. On the other hand, David likes gingerbread houses and is good at doing them. He makes the gingerbread himself, along with a nice, thick icing that is an excellent glue for keeping the house together. He also gets a good variety of candies to decorate them with. 

So, all that is to say that for the first time in many years, I successfully made a gingerbread house that stayed together and was decorated nicely (if I do say so myself). I'm pretty sure it was the best gingerbread house I've ever made!

My mom and Veronica joined David, Sam, and me for our little gingerbread house decorating party.

Here's my house! 😊

This is the back and side. 

David's was very nice (and made mine look pretty basic) with its icicles, front walkway, and log pile in the yard. Cute!

His and hers!

This was Mom's. I especially like what she did with the roof and the path to the front door. 

This was Veronica's.

Sam's was not worth photographing because it was that bad. It was a lack of effort, or because he inherited my (lack of) skills, or was distracted by his girlfriend, or most likely, some combination thereof. 😆

It was a fun way to spend a December Sunday evening!

My gingerbread house-making skills have gone up. Thank you for that addition to my life, David!