A December to Remember

December has come and gone along with 2009, however, it will not soon be forgotten. December was very eventful for Leon and me. To start things off we put up all the Christmas decorations right after Thanksgiving. It was really nice to be able to decorate our very own Christmas Tree and hang lights on the outside of the house. The lights didn't quite turned out as planned. To start off with I didn't buy enough lights and then we realized, after opening the boxes, that I had bought one box of white lights and two boxes of colored lights. And the colored lights were very bright, but they still looked good. So we hung the white light strand on the peak of the house in front of the front door and then wrapped the other two colored strands around the posts on the front. It turned out good and we finally looked like we had a little Christmas spirit to go along with that of all our neighbors. Sorry, but I never took a picture of this but you get the general idea. Also, I bought white LED lights for our Christmas Tree. I thought this would be a good idea because they are energy efficient and all that good stuff. Well, once I plugged in the white lights, they appeared blue! I wasn't too happy with their color but they sufficed for this Christmas. Next year I will pay a lot closer attention to the Christmas lights I purchase. The picture to the left is of our Christmas Tree the day we put it up and the next picture of it is in December, once I finally decided on a tree topper. I had a hard time finding a tree topper and then suddenly I realized I had the perfect one! My great-grandmother, Nanny, gave me an angel many years ago and I decided to use her as my tree topper. She fit perfectly and made for a unique addition to the tree.
*Sorry, but somehow I added the same Christmas Tree picture twice and I can't delete it.

In December I also took a tour of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery with my Leadership Elmore County Class. I've been their before but it has been a very long time. Probably when I was in fourth grade for Alabama History. The inside of the building is absolutely beautiful. If you haven't been to visit then I highly recommend it. It is a piece of our state's history and it doesn't cost a thing. The inside dome of the building is absolutely breath taking. Seriously! It has an amazing spiral staircase that seems to go on forever and there are the most beautiful paintings ligning the ceiling of the dome that depict the history of Alabama.

Leon and I are truly blessed to have an abudance of family! This means we get to celebrate Christmas several times through out the month of December. Our first celebration was with Leon's parents, two brothers, Shane and Chase, and his niece, Ally. We had them all over to our house one Sunday afternoon and cooked hamburgers, french fries, baked beans and Leon's mom made some great brownies. The following Sunday we celebrated Christmas with my Dad, stepmom Lori, and brother Chris. Dad and Lori brought over steaks to grill out, Chris brought crescent rolls and desert and I made homemade macoroni and cheese and green bean casserole. On Christmas Eve we attended candlelight service at church and then went to visit my best friend, Landie, and her family for their Christmas Celebration. Afterwards, we went to my Mom's house and ate dinner and watched A Christmas Story. (Be careful...or you'll shoot your eye out!) On Christmas morning Leon and I exchanged gifts with each other and then went to my Mom's house where we all had Christmas together before going to my Pawpaw and Grandma's house for lunch with all of the Maddox Family, all 40 of us! Later that afternoon Leon and I went to his Granny's house to celebrate Christmas with his family. It was a very busy day but such a wonderful day at the same time. I always wish Christmas would last just a little bit longer. Oh, Christmas night Leon and I went and watched Avatar in 3-D. If you haven't seen this movie yet I highly recommend it!

And that is not all for the month of December. For my friend Anna's birthday, a group of us girls all went to dinner at the new Italian Restaurant, Sa Za. It is really good! I've eaten their three times and it is just as good, if not better, every time I've gone. There ravioli is very cheesy and tastes wonderful and the Grandma's meatball pizza is different, but very very yummy! Check it out sometime when you get a chance!

I can't forget New Year's Eve either! For NYE Leon and I, along with six of our other friends, ate dinner at The Pub. Rob and Mary Alice arrived first and were told there would be about an hour and a half wait. We figured since it was NYE that was pretty typical everywhere. On the way to the restaurant I realized I had forgotten the gift certificate, so Leon and I had to turn around and go back to the house to get it. We figured we had plenty of time, so no rush. Then, Genie and Danna call me and say they are running late because the key was stuck in the lock at Genie's house. After a long battle with the lock and some cooking spray they were finally able to remove the key. Well, on our way back to our house Mary Alice calls and says they are already being seated! We were amazed. That long wait turned into a 15 wait. Thank goodness everyone's luck turned around. We all finally made it back to the restaraunt, a little late, but our meal was wonderful and we all had a great time! After dinner Leon and I along with Rob and Mary Alice went back to our house to celebrate NYE and we watched the ball drop from Times Square twice, once at 11 our time and then again at midnight! 2009 was a great year and I can't wait to see what all 2010 has in store for us next!