A very German Christmas

I'd be lying if I said we didn't know it would be different this year. Neither Jason nor I have ever spent a Christmas away from home our whole lives. That is 51 combined years of being with our families on arguably the most important day of the year! Talk about being blessed. Even though we weren't with our parents and siblings though, we had each other. And now we are our own family. We had such a good first married Christmas.

Jason had a 4-day weekend (which totally has me spoiled since he also only worked 1/2 days all week), so we started out Friday with a trip to the Christmas market down in Nuremberg. It is about 1000 times bigger than the one in Bamberg, so I was pretty excited. Not to mention it's only about a 45 minute drive, so it is a great day trip. It was your typical German day - rainy/cold/no sun - but I'm actually kind of getting used to that. (When I woke up this morning, we had beautiful blue skies, but I didn't get excited...it lasted all of 15 minutes). Anyways, after a little iphone navigation, we found a parking garage that was really close and not very expensive, so we went for it. And then Jason decided to park the car UNDER the wall. Genius, really. Except to leave, I had to get in the car first so that it would lower it enough to clear without scraping. We are really crafty.

I told you. I said there wasn't room for a piece of paper between our trunk and the wall, but Jason disagreed. Then we both agreed paper maybe, but definitely not card stock.

Here are a few pics from the Nuremberg Christmas market:

"to the Christmas market"...I think

SO delicious!!!

There are a bunch more of pics from the trip on Facebook, but I'll try to keep this post a little shorter and stop there!

We made it back to Bamberg in time to Skype with my parents, Lindsay, and Adam for Christmas present opening that night. Lindsay and Adam were leaving Saturday for Cleveland (where his parents live), and Mom & Dad were leaving the same day to head to both of their parents' in Illinois, so we had to celebrate a little early. It worked out really well!

Getting all set up :)

And there they are!

They are so cute. Lindsay's wearing the scarf we got her, and I swear Adam's face isn't normally that grey color. Anyways, here are a few more pics from our Skype date:

Jason opening up his gift from Mom & Dad

Dad so happy about his DGB Mug Club membership :)

Jay & I with our new platter from Mom & Dad! So excited

After it was all said and done, Jason decided to give me one of his presents, too. He'd been going and back and forth about giving it to me all week, but he finally gave in since I didn't have a gift of my own to open that night. Prepare yourself...

My very own pair of fur-lined Crocs! Now, yes. I am guilty of being a long-term hater of Crocs, and every time Lindsay and I see them, we just have to make a comment. Like, "They're PT Cruisers for your feet." I mean they are the worst shoes of all time, right? WRONG. These things are amazing! Jason has a pair he brought back from Afghanistan, and since all of our floors are wooden, he puts them on as soon as he gets home from work. Well, I started wearing them myself when he was gone, especially while I was cleaning, moving boxes, etc. And so he decided to get me my own! I'm kind of obsessed with them. I had actually looked some up on Zappos a few weeks ago and told him about these incredible fur-lined ones. What I didn't know was that he'd already ordered them for Christmas. He thought I'd gotten into his email and seen the confirmation. :) He knows me too well.

Saturday was, of course, Christmas Eve. And we had dinner plans at our friends Jae & Stacey's that night. We opted to bring the deviled eggs and a dessert. So I made them all on my own! (Well, with a few calls to Mom.) Okay, so they are really easy things to make...but just keep in mind I have never cooked in my life until now!

Here was the final product:

The deviled eggs were okay, even though everyone was really nice and said they were good. But the toffee was AMAZING! And really, really easy. It is just saltine crackers, brown sugar, butter, and chocolate chips. That's it. So simple and so delicious.

We had a really great (and huge!) dinner at the Marquis' house with even greater friends. Then it was back to Langestrasse 9 for some How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and we were off to bed by midnight!

Christmas morning was...different. I am so used to coming downstairs to the whole family and tons of presents under the tree. But Jason and I got each other one present, and it was really nice. It felt so much like Christmas, which is what I was most worried about. It's not about where you are or what's around you, it's about who you are with. So after opening our stockings from JB, I opened my gorgeous new watch from Jay, and he got a new Patagonia fleece.

Adorable ornament from Lindsay (we got 3 packages last minute on Christmas Eve night!)

Opening my watch :)

Now I'd been battling off sickness/a cold for a week by the time Christmas morning rolled around, but after opening gifts, I went downhill fast. I passed out on the couch, all stuffed up and with an upset tummy. So my sweet husband cooked Christmas dinner all on his own, and it was incredible. We had brown sugar-glazed ham, green beans with bacon, and broccoli cheese casserole. And a little leftover toffee. :) As soon as I came out of my coma, we ate, and it was DELICIOUS! Check out the final product:

It was a great end to our first married Christmas together. And then start of dozens more to come! 

Here's hoping everyone back home had just as wonderful as Christmas as we did. :)