eye candy...

Here's a little bit of something gorgeous to look at. My in-laws gave me several Fiesta Ware place settings for Christmas. In addition to my existing set of red place settings... This Fiesta Fan is in love.

full...

I think this is the first Christmas of my adult life, where I feel truly grateful. (Although, I'm sure my smattering of gratitude isn't nearly enough for all that I do have.)

Here are the things that I'm thankful for this Nativity season:

This list goes without saying: I'm thankful foremost that God became a man.

1. My wonderful husband. I am so excited to spend our first Christmas married! We're both excited to be together on Christmas. But, Brandon is most especially thankful for the logistics of our marriage! He's going to save many hours of extra driving to and from on Christmas day.

2. Sweet friends. Although it doesn't seem like I ever have enough time to spend with them, they're still there. I am so grateful for friends who are willing to always pick up where we left off!

3. A beautiful tree full of gifts. I'm so very thankful that we are able to have gifts to give. It's such a wonderful feeling to have a tree jam-packed with handpicked gifts for all your loved ones!

4. A refrigerator covered in Christmas greetings. I get so excited to see photo cards and the sweet sentiments on everyone else's cards. This is my very first year to be able to make a photo card. Hooray for wedding photos! Also, we did a card for our puppy Peppercorn to send to all her buddies.

5. A refrigerator full of food!

6. Feasting. While we haven't been able to feast just yet (the Nativity Fast is still in full swing) I have begun my preparation for the feasting. We feast for 12 days. And, I've started the baking and making. I'm baking homemade croissants for Brandon. He loves a croissant. And, he's quite the connoisseur. I can't believe I agreed to tackle this baking giant. But, I can't wait! I started a test batch of mini croissants this morning to see how they turn out. I'll freeze these and enjoy them next week. I'll make a batch of full-sized croissants on Friday to serve on Christmas day.

7. Spiced Tea Mix. This mix has saved the day multiple times this season! Some of you may be familiar with this, it was really popular back in the 1960's. It's sometimes called Russian Spiced Tea Mix. Because, the mix contains Tang drink mix and, during the space race, Tang was associated with Russian astronauts. I don't think it really has anything to do with being Russian.

I plan to give this away as Christmas gifts. I've also been drinking this like it's been going out of style. I think the high concentration of vitamin C has helped keep me well this fall. I accidentally bought twice as much of the mix as I needed, and was able to share the recipe with my mom for gifts. This recipe has saved the day so many times!

Instant Spiced Tea Mix:

1 1/2 C Instant sweetened iced tea mix. (I use lemon flavored tea.)

1 Container Tang orange flavored drink mix

1 C Instant lemonade mix

2 C Sugar

3 Teaspoons Cinnamon

3 Teaspoons Cloves

3 Teaspoons Allspice

Mix all the ingredients together. Add 3-4 heaping teaspoons of mix per mug of hot water.

Here's hoping you have a wonderful week leading up to Christ's nativity. And a very full Christmas!