Christmas came and went...

We're in North Carolina and loving it. The weather's been great - until today. It's raining, but apparently they need rain around here. Personally, I could do with a break from rain, as it hasn't stopped in Chesham in about 3 years. But ah well.

We've barely been out of my parents' house since we got here. We've been doing mostly family Christmas stuff, but as I write this, Cat, Dan, and Simon are taking showers and we're about to brave the roads to head up to Raleigh to explore. I love 777 Miller Road but am ready to branch out now, after 3 days of it!

I tried to go for a run with Dan and Simon this morning but I wimped out a fourth of the way round our block. They finished without me, and I did some walking instead, in the pouring-down rain. At least the extreme weather made me feel pretty hardcore.

Monday - Christmas Eve - we played a pretty fun game that Simon made up especially for the occasion. We all went to Wal-Mart and had half an hour to buy each person a gift for no more than $3. Here are some highlights:
I bought these pretty awesome teeth for dad for 88 cents for four sets! What a deal! He would only wear them if I did too, so....

Dad bought Simon this flaming bandana(sp?). I think Dad also bought Dan a bandana - he must have found them on sale somewhere. Dan won the game cause he only spent a total of $5.64 on gifts for 5 people!!






Other great gifts included:

-play-doh(from Dan to Cat)
-travel tags(from me to Simon - it took us about half an hour to claim our luggage at the airport this time)
-a light saber (from Simon to Dad)

Mom really racked up with things she actually liked, like nice pens, fuzzy socks, and some special binder pencil holder thing that Dan bought her (dorky teachers).

Christmas Eve night we also made a great meal. Mom did a ham and I made macaroni and cheese(Cat's favourite) and my special roast vegetables. Seriously, look how pretty they are:


Christmas morning was fun. Mom and Dad had told us not to wake up early cause Benson is apparently Santa's last stop before returning to the North Pole, but at 7:30 am Dad was already blasting his James Taylor Christmas album.

Highlights of my Christmas present-opening were some really cool boots that Simon bought me and was really nervous about giving me for some reason; and a book from Cat called something like The Original Handy Book for Girls that tells you how to do all kinds of things like decorating a sea-side cottage and making a pilgrim costume for Thanksgiving.






The chaos.
Dad, Dan, and Simon in their matching jean jackets.

What I did on the way to work today.

oh, and another thing

atomicblonde.wordpress.com

Christmas. Brilliant.

Simon and I are just about to explode with excitement. We're going to North Carolina for Christmas and we're counting down the seconds. Last night, I was on the phone with Cat, and I said to her, 'We'll be there in less than 2 weeks.' Just then, Simon let out a huge sigh.

'What's wrong?' I asked him.

'I just got a bit emotional,' he said. 'I can't wait.'

We need a break. Things have been stressful, Simon hasn't had a holiday since we got married, job stuff has been hard, and we've been praying for ages about where we're to go from here. For ages it felt like there was no answer, but now, suddenly(?), I can see a hint of light at the end of the tunnel.

I love the way circumstances very often do not reflect what's actually going on.

I'm so in the Christmas spirit. I went to one of those paint-your-own-pottery places with some friends last week, and made a Santa Claus cookie plate, which a friend at work just told me was the 'scariest' plate she's ever seen. Here it is, in a picture taken with my phone.

Below is another photo I took on my phone. I was walking to work this morning and everything was icy and frozen and the people who run the market stalls were setting up and their breath was steamy and they were wearing gloves with the fingers cut out, and shouting '2 melons for a pound, love..'

Christmas is coming...Faith is getting fat...

Remember how I said I was going to take loads of pictures in NC ALMOST 2 MONTHS AGO and post them on the blog? Yeah...about that...

Things are bubbling away here in sunny Chesham. It is actually sunny today, and -2 degrees Celsius. Which is actually on 20-something Fahrenheit but sounds MUCH colder. I'm loving the impending winter.

Except it makes me eat a lot.

My job is moving an hour away, so at Christmas I'm leaving. I'm looking for something else now, mostly magazine and newspaper jobs, and I'm SO excited about where I'm going next. I've decided I'm going to be ultra picky cause I want this to be a job I can enjoy. One I can grow in and learn in. I'm desperate to learn and meet new people. I was watching the Chally boys go into school this morning in their uniforms, walking down their oak-cloistered pathway...

I miss school. This is the thing that send me back for my Masters, so I'm fighting it off. Because HELLO, we really can't afford for me to do more school now, and I know it's not the time. Maybe 5 years? Then I can become Dr. Dwight. That's hot.

When home becomes a holiday

I (Faith) am in North Carolina. My friend Anna is getting married on Saturday, so I've come home for the wedding. I didn't think I was going to be able to, but my wonderful husband practically made me. (I 'm cheap and he forces me to spend money when it's something really important to me). Anna and I lived together in college in a cute/scary little apartment in an old house. You could always smell pot when you were coming up the stairs - Anna had to tell me what it was (I learned more than Shelley and Keats in college).

There was a gay couple downstairs named Antonio and Charles. They were really nice guys but they had an almost scary obsession with antiques. We went into their apartment once and it was crammed full of old kitschy stuff....

Anna and I were both going through pretty bad break-ups when we lived together, so it's an extra blessing now to see we've both got amazing men who love us very much! Here's mine:

Moving on, I'm sitting in one of my mom's gliders, looking out the front window at my dad's horses. I just watched him throw some hay into the field, cause it's been a bit too dry for any grass to grow.

I just realized I've been here 4 days and haven't taken any pictures, so I'm going to do that today and put loads on. But for now, here are a couple of random ones from the summer:
This is me and my little sister on the train in London...












My (new) brother, Dan.

My ISP S-T-I-N-K-S

I've been trying to upload photos to the blog, but it's not going so well. Our internet - in general - is not going so well. We can't get on gmail, hotmail, or myspace. But we can get on Facebook, which is good, because I am currently addicted to Scrabulous. I think I'm playing about 9 games right now. And I'm not doing too well. I think my problem is that I'm going for quantity and not quality.

Simon has just come home from the pub and is watching Match of the Day...it's a football(Soccer) highlights show, for my American friends.

Top tip: when making soup, chop all veggies to the same size so you get an equal amount of each in every spoonful.

Last night, we went for dinner at the home of our friends Justin and Louisa - and their adorable two-year-old, Elijah. Every time we go there, Louisa has made some incredible dinner. Last time we went it was pasta and salad and garlic bread. Last night it was beef stew with vegetables and roast potatoes. She is good.

When I worked at Riverside Coffee in Smithfield(I love that place), Sydney - the owner/chef/fabulous friend - gave me one of the best compliments I've ever received. I remember thinking I was in trouble when she began, "Faith, there's something I've been wanting to tell you..."

I'm thinking: "What? Did I overbake the cookies? Did I put too much salt in the chicken salad? Was I late AGAIN?"

"You're a great cook. You're going to be one of those women whose grandchildren say, 'My grandmother can really cook.' You're going to be a fabulous cook, because you've got a sense of balance."

Balance. Now there's something I could use more of outside the kitchen. I guess you've got to start somewhere.

Our first blog as ONE.

I've always had a blog. Simon has not. I say always. Always since the internet was invented. Or a couple years after. Always since I was 17.

Anyway, I thought - WE thought - it'd be a good idea to have a FaithAndSimon blog, together, so people can keep up with us. And because we think we're really interesting. And partly because I'd like to have a blog WITH Simon so I can think more about US and less about ME. Although the ME will still be coming through on some other blog, some other place. (Watch this space).

So be excited, the Dwights are back and better than ever.