Christmas Eve

Tonight is Christmas Eve and I've been reflecting on our holiday season so far. I just returned from the Christmas eve candlelight service at our church and an open house at the home of the associate pastor and his wife. My favorite part of the party was listening to the partygoers' (church members') old stories. And the Baby Jesuses in a Blanket.

We've been keeping ourselves pretty busy preparing for the holiday and hob-nobbing with friends all over town. Our friend Kevin hosted a winter frost party so we frosted ourselves (meaning we wore white, blue, and silver outfits) one evening--there was a show and everything! We went to see Ice at the Gaylord Palms again this year, this time with our friends Jimmy and Becky, the newlyweds, and Paul and Missy. We all had fun and Eric and I wore our Smittens (mittens that allow two people to hold hands inside), except when we were on the slide (once you're in the mittens, you can't rightly let go).

A few Young Alpha Chis from our alumnae chapter got together for sushi, sake, and singing at good old Kimonos, and I got to spend a lot of time with my friend Rachel, but unfortunately I had to cram in the time because she is moving to Washington, D.C. to pursue a civics career. We connected very well and really enjoyed spending time together, so we'll have to reconnect sometime in the near future.

On Sunday afternoon we left for Waycross to have Christmas there and spend a few days with my family. We had our usual traditions of caroling to a few friends, having Christmas breakfast together, and reading the Christmas story. And opening gifts, of course. I got Photoshop from my parents, and Eric and I got a karaoke machine. Party at our house!

Let's see, what else? Our little holiday party was a success. We had lots of jolly guests and even more food. I'll be performing at the Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach with my friend Dick on New Year's Eve next week, but more on that in a later post. We performed together at the church's Christmas dinner as well. Tomorrow we each have to work on Christmas morning, but hopefully we'll each be done in time for lunch. Then we'll unwrap our gifts (the ones Eric hasn't opened already), watch A Christmas Story, and go out with Paul, Missy, Jimmy, and Becky to the China King for dinner. We'd host dinner at our place, but the kitchen's a mess and the fridge is in the living room. (It's a long story but the short version starts with the dishwasher leaking, continues with mold growing in the kitchen, and ends with the bank paying to have all the walls torn out and cabinets replaced, the epilogue being that the fridge is currently in the living room. So now I'm sitting here watching In Bruges (it's technically a Christmas movie) eating Christmas candy and waiting for my husband to get home so we can snuggle and cuddle in front of the fireplace all night long. A very festive way to spend our Christmas eve, I'd say.

ICE! Update

ICE! at Gaylord Palms was really cool (haha). All volunteers from Give Kids the World qualify to purchase the special VIP charity preview tickets, so we headed to the attraction and exclusive VIP gathering.

The hotel in itself is beautiful, but we were so excited to see the ice sculptures that we decided to head straight through the resort and go back to visit later. We were met by a little party featuring the thickest, richest hot cocoa I've ever had (and hot cider, eggnog, and cappuccino for my thirsty husband).

Inside the attraction, we walked through a lovely foresty Winter Wonderland, the colorful Hall of Ornaments, the delicious Candy Land, Santa's special elfy hideout, a beautiful sparkling Nativity scene, and Santa's Magical Flight, featuring four frigid slides made entirely of ice, and finally Penguin Pointe.

We followed up the experience with more hot cocoa because it was--holy cow--NINE degrees inside! Good thing they provide the parkas!

Below is a sample of the amazing artwork we experienced. Follow this link for pretty pictures!

EDIT: Almost forgot about the video! Of course there's a video. :)