It's Official. . . We're Christmas-ing This Weekend!

That's right boys and girls, our house will be Christmastized this weekend! Since we've never gone all-out decorating until now, we really don't have a theme. J

is convinced that we really don't need one, but what does he know? Nothing, I tell you*.

So, you ask, what is our theme? It's woodland with a hint of kitsch! Yeah, I know we have two themes (don't tell him!).

Source

About a month ago, I bought these for my sister as part of her gift. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I'll have to go back to Ikea to get some for her, since I'm using them for our woodland Christmas.

*I am not normally against my husband having a say in things, but it's Christmas and I needs me a theme!

The Dreaded Name Change

I've never been in love with my last name. It was something that the other kids used to make fun of me about. Honestly, it's pretty bad. That being said, we've been married for almost 4 months and I still haven't changed it, but Mr. L considers me to have his last name.

We were originally planning on going to Mexico in the first week of January for my birthday. I was terrified of not having all of the paperwork taken care of before then, and being left by myself in a foreign country because of mismatched documents. Ridiculous yes, but I'm not planning on moving south of the border anytime soon (not that he would dream of leaving me there).

There was the other issue of thinking that we weren't legally married. Sadly, the gentleman that married us passed away a few days after our wedding. As selfish as it sounds, we really hoped that we wouldn't have to re-submit all of our paperwork to become legally married. During our time of being unsure about our marital status, we ran into the man that interviewed to marry us at the Renaissance Fair. Weddings are not his only specialty. . . he dresses in Renaissance clothes and even has a booth! We told him our story, and he offered to marry us for free.

Luckily, we received a certified copy of our marriage license. We are officially a married couple. Although, I do have to admit, I would have thought it was fun to be married at the Renaissance Fair.

Today the panic begins. You know, the final rush to get all of the last minute work on projects in before finals are due. I also have to worry about the craziness at work. What the hell happened to a bad economy?

In other news, we've decided we will be hosting Early Christmas this year. It's a tradition that my family made up in order for everyone to get together for the holidays. Rather than scurry around the whole state trying to meet up with everyone, we do Christmas the week before. Everyone can make it, because it's not as busy and it really does take the stress out of the whole day.

I haven't decided what we'll be making yet, but Real Simple had some wonderful make-ahead appetizers that looked extra yummy. There were some grilled cheese sandwiches with fruit preserves and fancy cheeses that looked fun and delicious, but I'm not sure our family is that adventurous.

I'm Melissa, 25, a newlywed, a pretend homemaker and the mother to a wonderfully square shaped beagle. We also have a cat, but she's just our cat.... not like our beagle son . Yes, we sound crazy, but we don't care.

We're also in the middle of cheaply (and sanely, might I add) trying to do a rental renovation. It's really a made up term, but it means that we're trying to make improvements on a house we're renting. Yes, we realize that normal people don't do this, but we're planning on staying here for a while, have ridiculously cheap rent, and a landlord who has given us the a-okay to do it. We plan to buy a house in the next year or so, but we're waiting for my husband to graduate and for me to start my bachelor's degree.