Decking the Halls

There it is. The 2010 Jansen/Pardo Christmas tree. I became obsessive and almost panicked this week worrying about getting a Christmas tree. Mostly because I wasn't sure how we were going to get a Christmas tree to our apartment without a car. That's where Jaap came to the rescue. I've been sick this week and instead of hunting for the tree with him, Jaap ventured out on his own and brought home the tree tied to his bike. It made my day! (I know, I'm a huge Christmas dork).

My homemade wreath

In an effort to 'Deck the Halls' I bought a wreath at the market on Friday and thought I could decorate it myself. It quickly went from a wreath to a centerpiece because hanging things on the walls in our apartment is quite difficult. Above is a picture of the results. Not exactly Martha Stewart, but I'm trying. 

As for today, our original plans were to visit a Christmas market in Aachen, Germany. I was looking forward to drinking some glüwein, eating some good German food, and visiting the cathedral. Unfortunately illness and head colds thwarted our plans. Boo hoo. I was bummed, but it was a good call to stay home. I'm still sick and Jaap is getting the sniffles. Oh well. Aachen will have to wait for another day.

Instead we decorated the tree, enjoyed lunch at a local café, and watched some episodes of a show about zombies. Nothing says Christmas like a bunch of walking dead people. Just kidding. But the show is great! It's called The Walking Dead and it's on AMC (in the U.S.). My friend Susan recommended it. It's so good. 

On the language front my Dutch hit a new milestone today. At lunch, Jaap and I spoke completely in Dutch the entire time. Woo hoo! With my increasing vocabulary each week we are now able to communicate more thoughts than ever. It's really exciting and at the same time exhausting. Usually when we speak in Dutch after about ten minutes I switch back into English because I feel like my brain is fried. But today was different. We were able to speak in Dutch for our entire lunch and even through a quick visit to the supermarket. Yay!

Where's Rudolph?

And in the spirit of Pardo family traditions I also baked some chocolate chip cookies. Every year my parents have a Trim the Tree party where they decorate the Christmas tree and my Mom and Titi Vivian bake dozens of delicious holiday cookies and candy. My mother is an incredible baker and I have tried to carry this tradition on into our household. I also displayed my Mom's homemade stuffed Rudolph head. And since it's hard for us to hang things on the wall he's sitting on the bookcase now. Can you find him?

Now I'm enjoying some milk and cookies while watching White Christmas. How can you not love Danny Kaye? 

I like how the peak leans left. :)