Our First Yule In Our New House

Last year was a big year for us: lots of changes and more "firsts" that all culminated in celebrating our first Yule in our very own house! Like 2010, when we celebrated our first Yule as a married couple, we bought a Fraser Fir tree from Whole Foods. We decided to put it in our upstairs nook, where we could see it outside and enjoy its fragrance wafting through the whole house.

Exterior View of Yule Tree

Interior View of Yule Tree

We had many new ornaments to decorate the tree with this year.

Knitted cap ornaments from Robert's maternal grandmother.

My Flower Fairy Collection

We were also fortunate to be able to decorate with Robert's late maternal grandmother's Santa collection.

Christmas Eve day, we spent with Robert's side of our family. We had lots of fun with our nephews and all the grown ups. I prepared a fruit platter, to complement his sister's wonderful brunch of homemade waffles, scrambled eggs,  and sausage.

Yummy Brunch!

Their dog, Mattie, in deep thought

Christmas night, Robert and I went out to the movies to see New Year's Eve. We returned home to some very cute and hungry animals.

Albert and Jak on the stairs, waiting to be fed and given much attention since we went to the movies without them.

We're enjoying an after movie snack of holiday ham. Benny and Jak wanted us to share.

Albert being cute.

It was the Tenth Day of Christmas that we finally built a fire in our new fire place. It was so cozy, especially with the decorations still on the mantel.

Benny enjoying the fire after a cold walk outside.

So Cozy!

Yay! Our first fire in our very own fireplace!

The Kids Are Alright

Well, last night, we had a great night as a family. It was almost as if we all came together with the decision that we had each other, and, by George, we were going to have a good time as a family.
My MaryJanesFarm magazine came in the mail yesterday. Robert happily came upstairs to hand it to me knowing he would hear that happy surprise noise that I make. I think he also knew that it would be a great distraction and tension reliever for me. Sure enough, I finished up the laundry, and Jak and I sat down to enjoy a good read.

 Then, it was dinner time. Jak helped Robert make his mac and cheese.

Benny and Jak both thought it wise to supervise as Robert finished up his cooking and I warmed up some chili leftovers from the big pot I made last week. They know that when I cook, I often drop, and they often get treats. Of course, they see it as their job to help keep the kitchen clean. :)

Last night was the BCS National Championship Game between two SEC teams: Alabama and LSU. Since both Robert and I follow SEC teams (I am, of course, proud to be a Florida Gator while Robert follows that team up in east Tennessee) and are college football fans (me more so, he spends too much time on pro-football, in my professional, yet humble football fan opinion), we wanted to watch this game. Robert fed Benny and Jak before the game began, and he and I ate our meals at the start of the game. I very much enjoyed my meal.

After Robert and I had both finished eating, the four of us piled on the couch, snuggled together, and watched the rest of the game. Girlie even made several appearances-literally my whole stomach would lurch. It was definitely a happy family night that was worth the late bedtime. :)

The Twelve Years of Benny

(In the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas")
On the first year of Benny, my true pup came to me two days after Christmas Eve...
Before he came to live with us, I remember the four of us, my dad & two sisters, riding in the car talking about what to name him. We were thinking of gator names, of course, and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (aka Florida Field, The Swamp) was bantered about. My sister, Erin, said we could shorten it to Benny, and his name was decided.
I was home for the holidays from my freshman year at the University of Florida. My dad drove some distance to pick him up from a Humane Society in West Virginia on December 26, 1999.
That first day, I stayed home with him and Dallas, our first cairn terrier. He was about a year old. He had no tail, which is very odd for a cairn terrier. He hid a lot; he pooped a lot; and he didn't say anything for days. When he finally did talk, he sounded like a tortured bird.
A couple of days later, he experienced his first Florida Gator football game, a bowl game no less, with the Barry family. He was sitting on the couch next to me. We all jumped up shouting about one play or another, as is customary. Well, we scared the poor little pup and he snapped at my hand, which scared me, though it didn't hurt. I think he ran and hid at least until halftime, when I had the first chance to coax him out of hiding. Even though I was the first one he "bit," he and I bonded pretty tightly while I was home from school. We continued to bond each visit home after that. When I had my first apartment in Memphis, he came to live with me. We've been inseparable ever since.

Spring 2000

Benny and Robert, Fall 2000

Benny at 13 years old

We're Having a Baby!

Once again, I find myself feeling behind in my blog posting. Most of the people who read this blog probably already know, but just to point out the big pink elephant in the room: we are having a baby! It's a girl! She's due March 7, which makes me 23 weeks pregnant and happy in my second trimester. The nausea involved in trimester 1 was less than ideal. Combine that with the heavy heat of a southeastern summer and apples (big food craving) being out of season, and you had one cranky, hormonal mommy-to-be this summer. Actually, it's probably for the best that I wasn't posting overmuch at that time. Now, however, it is autumn. There are apples, and pumpkins, and squash. It is cool enough to take long walks outside without the concern of fainting from heat exhaustion. It wasn't just me either. Benny, a long time lover of the ongoing walks, refused to be outside for much more than 10 minutes at a time. Apparently, this summer was too hot for even the dogs. Fortunately, fall arrived, and we are happily out walking again.
Just for fun, I'm posting a picture from my 8 weeks ultrasound. I'll post the newer pictures in an upcoming post.

Kitchen Unpacked!

            The kitchen was my first priority as far as unpacking. I got the majority of it done the first week in the house. However, I left a couple of boxes lingering until May 15 - at which point it was time to finish the job. One month later, in typical "Amberly" fashion, I'm posting about it. :)

Jak was able to enjoy his box tower for two full months. I think he especially liked the crinkling bags on top. I took some pictures, resolved to find a replacement for Jak's morning nap in the kitchen, and set to unpacking. 

See how cute he is? That is worth procrastinating for!

Could you take this guy's box tower away?

Some of the boxes had plastic storage containers, which I loathe and, quite frankly, did not want to find a place to put them in our new house. Thanks to fabulous wedding gifts and diligent saving of glass jars, we have ample storage containers that I love. So, I recycled all the plastic storage containers, and those boxes were easily and happily unpacked.

Benny appreciates that the kitchen, which he considers to be his room, is fully unpacked. As you can see in the pictures below, the kitchen is where he does all of his major work: watch us cook, oversee cat activity, eat whatever food cats may happen to get to the floor, and nap.

Settling down for a nap

Benny overseeing Albert's activities

Our First Yule Tree

The Decision

After much discussion about the environmental impact of different kinds of trees and how to handle the cats and a tree, we finally decided to go with a fresh cut tree. We knew we needed something large and stable enough to handle either of our jungle cats going for a climb. We also knew we wanted to go with a tree that was as environmentally friendly as possible. We ruled out an artificial tree for two very important reasons: 1) the cats eat them despite the fact that they cannot digest them and 2) that’s a lot of plastic for an all natural woman like me to have to handle.

The Tree

One day, Robert was stopping by Whole Foods on his way home and gave me a call to see what I needed from the grocery. I replied, “milk and a Christmas tree.” He purchased a Fraser Fir, which smells heavenly, and a stand that would stabilize it well for possible cat climbers. Also, the tag on the tree said that the farm where it is from plants two new trees for each tree that is cut down. The tag mentioned more about the origins of the tree and the farm, but, sadly, I cannot find it right now. I will add to the post if I find it, but there is a blog post about trees from Whole Foods that can give you more information.

 

The Snafu

A few days later, I was very concerned that the tree wouldn’t soak up the water it needed if we didn’t cut off the bottom part of the trunk as advised on the tag. I took the ornaments down, bought a saw (and led lights), clipped the lowest boughs, and sawed off the very bottom. I sat it back in its stand and stabilized it with the screw thingys and was very proud of my initiative…until I looked at the tree. It was very, very crooked. Fortunately, Robert came home from work early that day and straightened out the…ahem…situation. That evening, we decorated the tree together, complete with lights and beaded garland. It was a fun tradition to start and the tree looked beautiful.

Our Cozy Fire and Mantel Decor

The Holiday

For our first Christmas together, we stayed home and had a nice quiet holiday. It snowed almost all day. There was no accumulation, but it was beautiful to watch. We built a beautiful fire and opened our gifts in front of it. Benny even scored big with his holiday gift…perhaps too big.

The bone that was bigger than Benny.

Benny enjoying his bone by the fire.

Nesting on the Honeymoon

 During our Honeymoon, we acquired a dining room table and chairs and a couch for the living room that belonged to Robert's grandparents. They are true treasures for us, because they hold so many positive memories and transformed our apartment into a home.
Instead of "Where's Waldo," let's play "Where Are Those Pets?!?" If you look closely at the living room pictures, you can find Benny in two and Albert in one.

The Bacchus Stone: Your Barry McGee Family Newsletter

Our Wedding

This blog is designed to keep you updated with our latest news and to stay in contact with family and friends. Why is it called "Bacchus Stone?" Well, bacchus stone is another name for the gemstone, amethyst. Robert has had Bacchus in a screen name or email address for as long as I've known him, and I have a particular affinity for the amethyst as a stone. Interesting, those coincidences, eh? Do you have any significant coincidences in your life?
Robert and I met in high school, thirteen years ago. We dated when we were sixteen, and nineteen, twenty-five...and we finally married each other this September. It was one of the happiest days of our lives.
Now that we are married, I guess it is only natural that we begin to think of children and a family and a house. This blog is the place to follow us into our new journey of marriage.
We have a cairn terrier, Benny, and two tabby cats, Albert and Jak. They are likely to be featured often on this post, because they are part of our home and family and certainly contribute their share...of what, you'll soon discover.

Benny's contribution to "Binder Organization Day"

Albert prefers the royal luxury of purple chiffon to just laying on the floor.

Jak is nestled inside his carrier.