Chrismon

So.... this year at my church, as a congregation, we are decorating a Chrismon tree. A Chrismon is a handmade ornament with a design that symbolizes Christ. The name is derived from the words Christ and Monogram. Originated in 1957 by Francis Spencer, the daughter of Lutheran missionaries, Chrismons are used by churches of several denominations to decorate their sanctuaries.

I started out with my pattern, a fleur-de-lis, some left over white polar fleece and gold lame.



My first attempt failed miserably. I tried to use my serger to put two pieces of fleece together, but I couldn't really get into the curves, nooks, and crannies like I needed to. My serger has a knife that cuts the fabric as it is being stitched, so my fleur-de-lis started looking more like the Bat-Man symbol.



Attempt number two only yielded slightly better results. Stitched on my old trusty cheap-o sewing machine, it looks more like it is supposed to, but the fleece was too stretchy and the cut aways made it all janky looking.



The third time's the charm - well, sort of. I ditched the fleece and found some old craft felt. Using a slightly more stylized pattern, this (what I'm calling successful) Chrismon has the handmade feel, but also adheres to my secondary world view of going over the top (my primary world view being hospitality).



There's always a huge mess after unbridled creativity (I so totally need a dedicated "project room" in my house).

Stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

So.... along with my spectacle of a Christmas tree, I decorated the mantle with greenery, lights, decorations, stockings, and collected figurines.



I bought new stockings this year (because I needed three that coordinated, instead of just two).



So Santa would know who's stocking was whose, I personalized each with a small photo frame ornament. Hopefully, Santa would have figured out that the high-heeled boot stocking was Rachel's without the photo, but he's awfully busy on Christmas Eve.



I love the little frame I found for Rachel's picture, and the picture of Travis is pretty cute too (especially on that stocking with all those sequins).



Here's a close up of some of the figurines on the mantle. They are Byers Choice Carolers. The boy was given to me by my friends Patrick and Monica. A caroling Jack Russell Terrier sits next to him.

Nostalgic Spectacle

So.... I'm essentially finished decorating for Christmas. The past few years have seen the big tree in the living room with gold decorations, but I was inspired a couple of months ago to change things up. I'd move the gold decor to the smaller (dining room) tree and use the big tree as a backdrop for my more sentimental ornaments. The idea was to have a nostalgic tree, one similar to my childhood. Of course, I sometimes cannot leave well enough alone, and my sweet, endearing, memory-laden tree was transformed into, what else, a Nostalgic Spectacle!



First things first: colored lights! Last year on the big tree, I blew a (non-replaceable) fuse on the extension cord (snaked through the middle of the tree) that was apparently overloaded with too many strands (five days before Christmas). This year, I have 1300 lights on two separate extension cords, plugged into a power strip, plugged into a remote controlled outlet. Yes, you read that right... a remote controlled outlet - no crawling under the tree, no clap on - clap off, no blindly stomping through the tree skirt to find the toe tapper switch, just a simple push of a button and the blinding fury that is my Christmas Spectacle illuminates the living room!



The idea was to make the special ornaments the "star attraction" and just have simple glass (or plastic) Christmas balls as the "backup dancers." Well, a couple of trips to Hobby Lobby with all their Christmas decorations on sale for half price gets you a whole lot of "backup dancers."



At one point during the decorating, I said to myself, "That looks really nice - just enough." Of course, I had yet to add a single metallic berry, shiny pick, sparkle wand, glitter crinkle, or glass grape, and it's not like I can add just a couple of those things. I proudly stand by the fact that the statement, "He just didn't go over the top enough," has never been said in reference to me.

I started collecting Mark Roberts Santas a few years ago, and I usually use one of them as the tree topper; however, in the spirit of nostalgia, I used a not so expensive, not so collectable Santa as the topper, and he totally works to bring the theme together.



Actually, I bought this Santa four Christmases ago at Wal-Mart. He was the very first topper on that same big Christmas tree (which I bought on sale) in my first house during my first year in private practice.

Photo Op

So.... on Rachel's last visit, we conned our friends Lori and Donnie into taking Un-Official Engagement Photos of us. Being the wonderful friends that they are, they happily agreed. We scoured all of Arkadelphia to find the perfect locations. No, the trash container wasn't the perfect location - just an homage to my family (owning/ having owned trash companies).



We started off at Feaster Trail. It was just a little too early in the season to get much in the way of Autumn color, but the pictures looked great. The setting is so good that it almost looks like an Olan Mills background was rolled down behind us.



We eventually made our way downtown to get some "urban" shots (the alley behind the Beehive is as urban as it gets here). We actually got a great picture (not shown) that we'll probably use as a Save The Date Card (which Lori is designing for us).



The old church/dry cleaners at Caddo and 7th made a great location. Donnie has this great little Polaroid camera that does these neat panoramic shots.



Click on the pictures to see them enlarged.



This photo, probably one of my favorites, was taken in the wooded area between our clinic and the hospital.



Thanks for enduring my obvious narcissism, but they're really good pictures! Donnie and Lori do a great job; of course, with subjects like Rachel and me, how could you go wrong?

Autumn Engagement Party

So.... my family hosted the first official celebration of our upcoming nuptials. Rachel came to visit this past weekend, and we thought we might invite some people over. I mentioned this to my mom who turned "might invite some people over" into engagement extravaganza, and I wouldn't have had it any other way! The party certainly gave me impetus to get the house finished, and aside from some neglected landscaping and a couple of janky ceiling fans, the house was complete prior to the party.

I ordered flowers from Mary and Martha's Florists, and the owner David did a wonderful job.

Entry Hall Table (please notice the new pineapple lamp)


The centerpiece for the coffee table was gorgeous (and massive).


Instead of one centerpiece for the dining room, I ordered three small arrangements that we were able to scatter amongst the buffet.


Earlier that day, Mom, Rachel, and I set up the buffet table, making sure there was a platter, bowl or tray for everything.


The invitations stated "6pm Open House." Well, all of central Arkansas poured into my house promptly at 6:02. It was so exciting to see everybody show up to wish us well. Rachel and I stood in the entry hall and greeted our guests as they arrived. My wonderful family did a phenomenal job of "catering" and hosting. Thanks go to Gabe, Rebecca, Hannah and Tyler for dips, snacks, and fruit. Thanks to Ray (Dad) for the fire pit and roasted pork. Thanks to Matt for all of his help and for the photos of the party. Kaitlin and Tricia (Mom) prepared a majority of the dishes and made sure the table was full of food throughout the party.

The friends were many, the food was great, and the energy was palpable.

Friends visit with one another in the living room.


Guests enjoy the opium den... er, I mean the cozy sun porch.


Neal and the college men station themselves in the dining room (right by the buffet table).


Rachel and Lori smile for a photo op, while Donnie enjoys the witty banter of adult sophistication.


The Kears graciously endure one of my boring anecdotes.


Thanks to all of our friends who traveled near (around the corner) and far (Gurdon, Little Rock, Louisiana, the Deer Woods) to help us celebrate our engagement. We hate that some of you couldn't make it that evening (that's okay, it meant more food for us). Rachel and I are overwhelmingly blessed to have you in our lives and enthusiastically appreciate your friendship.

Halloween Fun

So.... we had a little fun on Halloween this year. No maniacal pumpkin killers like last year, but I still gave out full size candy bars. We had about 170 trick-or-treaters - that's approaching my Tennessee Halloweens.

Rachel spent the weekend in Arkadelphia with me. We won't be able to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas together this year, but we weren't missing a Halloween together for anything. We dressed as Fred and Wilma. One kid said, "you're either a caveman or Fred the Flintstone." My sister's boyfriend thought my wig made me look like Clay Aiken, and I agree that the wig looks flat-ironed (but nowhere near Aiken standards).



Travis also dressed up. He was Dino, but only for about 3 minutes, despite the frantic effort that Rachel and I gave to get it ready that afternoon.



Not too shabby of a dog costume for 1.5 hours (with no prior planning or pattern).



Part of the fun with dressing up is having trick-or-treaters recognize you (or wonder who you are because they can't quite place you). I gave an enthusiastic "Hey!" to one Dad, and he had quite a puzzled look on his face until he realized I was his daughter's pediatrician. I was asking one "tween" what her costume was, and her intrigued but repulsed reply was, "You're my doctor!" Our favorite quote of the evening was from an 11 year old boy (with a group of his friends) who stated quite loudly, "Hey, you're the doctor that figured out I had constipation!"

Since Rachel was in town, we celebrated by having an informal party (costumes were of course required). Donnie made his pumpkin head costume from scratch; it was an amazing piece of wearable sculpture. Lori made a wave pattern skirt and came as Leanne Marshall, winner of Project Runway Season 5.



Rachel S. came as Sarah Palin.



My sister Kaitlin and her boyfriend Matt wore camouflage and came as "Upper and Lower GI."



My mom teased out her hair, wore big jewelry, and carried around boxes of butter. You guessed it... Paula Deen.



Rachel even tried on Donnie's pumpkin head.

Meet the Flintstones

So.... Rachel and I chose the Flintstones as our theme for Halloween.



More later... I promise.