How was your Christmas? As you know we hosted for the first time this year and it was a success! Family, friends, food, dogs, Christmas Fettuccine, movies, and laughs. The works! We hope you had a merry Christmas, too, friends.
We documented our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the video below, if you'd like to check it out:
It's Christmas Eve and we are checking off last minute items from our to-do list in preparation for hosting Christmas for the first time at our house. Luckily, there's not much to do. Clean a few bathrooms, change the sheets, sweep and vacuum. Easy right?
No matter if we are doing Christmas at our house or another family member's, we always make sure and keep one tradition going each and every year. We are big on movies in this family, have we mentioned that?
There are some movies we go back to each year like The Holiday or Love Actually, but there's one we look forward to more than the others and have seen at least three million times. We watch The Family Stone every year on Christmas or Christmas Eve. Thomas and his family have done it for years even before us, but we have kept it going and it never gets old. Have you seen it?
A lot of people are divided on it (for reasons unknown to us) but it's the perfect representation of what a big family is like when everyone gets together around the holidays. There are some fights, lots of hugs, tears, laughs, great food, deep discussions, and plenty of love. Not to mention THE HOUSE. Oh man, don't even get us started. It has to be our favorite movie house of all time. It's old, warm, inviting, cozy, cluttered, comfortable. It's done in browns and oranges, with tons of wallpaper (swoon) and old oriental rugs. It has been the biggest inspiration for us yet as far as movie houses go.
We highly recommend it if you haven't seen it! What are some of your family's Christmas traditions? Maybe you watch the same movie every year or go see a play or ride around to look at Christmas lights? We would love to get some ideas! Merry Christmas Eve, y'all. xx
Because he was just too dang cute not to post. Happy Friday everyone.
-T
For the past 2+ years we've made our coffee every morning with a Keurig. We received it as a gift from a good friend for Christmas and we loved how fast and convenient it was. You pop in the K-Cup and in 10 seconds you have a steaming cup of coffee and you're on your way out the door.
For the past couple of months, though, our coffee has been tasting funny. We tried switching coffee brands to see if that would help get the burnt, stale taste out but nothing was working. Then one day PJ discovered an old coffee pot we had that had been packed away years ago and decided to plug it in just to try it out. We haven't looked back since.
We decided to do a little research into why our coffee was tasting so bad and we came across this article from Business Insider that put what we were tasting into words. Did you know by the time the K-Cups get to you they've already begun to go stale? Also, the machines themselves don't get the water hot enough for optimal extraction and taste, which is another reason coffee from a Keurig doesn't taste as good. Not to mention, the K-Cups are terrible for the environment, unless you use the reusable kind.
Plus, there's just something kind of charming to us about making a big pot of coffee in the morning and the smell of it waking you up. We get really excited and actually look forward to waking up and drinking our coffee and relaxing first thing in the morning. We haven't really noticed a difference in the time aspect of it. It doesn't take much longer to make in the coffee pot, and what we lose in convenience we make up for in taste, which is so huge for us. We can't believe we've waited this long to make the switch!
What about you? Do you make your coffee from a coffee pot or a Keurig? Have you noticed any differences? We would love to know!
PJ has had a dream for about 10 years and we finally took the first step in making that dream a reality. We have been looking for a very specific type of land for around two years now and we found the exact land we've been looking for a few months ago.
We documented it in a new YouTube video below, if you'd like to see the process from beginning to end. We can't wait to tell you guys what our big plans are for this piece of property! Stay tuned.
How is it that we both get sick at the same time? Usually one of us doesn’t feel well while the other takes care of him, but this time we’re both feeling pretty crappy.
It’s the sore throat, stuffy nose, achey everywhere, sinus draining horrible feeling that makes you just want to plop down on the couch and watch season 2 of The Crown. So we ordered soup from Panera and ate it in front of the fire in an attempt to feel better.
After we ate, there was a bath to further help with the achiness.
And now we will be spending the rest of the night on the couch and hopefully feel better by this weekend because we are closing on an exciting piece of land tomorrow!
PS- while "man flu" isn't technically a real thing, there is a reason us men whine and complain about being sick more than women do. Apparently, we have weaker immune systems than women! You can read more about it here.
• A messy, cluttered house - guests won’t care what your house looks like anyway, they’ll just be happy to see you!
• Feeling guilty about eating too much - that’s what New Years resolutions are for and life is too short not to have cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning 😊.
• Buying the perfect present - it’s the act of giving that’s the most important.
• Comparing yourself to others - nobody is perfect and what you see online is just one tiny square of an entire life made up of many mistakes and imperfections. But that’s life and that’s what makes it so beautiful 🎄.
Last night we went to a friend's Christmas party, which was our first one of the season! There's something about getting dressed up in a nice sweater and coat while it's freezing outside and going to mingle with friends. Bonus points if the house is pretty, which it was last night.
Our friend Jen's home is absolutely gorgeous. Not only that, she's an amazing hostess, with the best food, seasonal decor, and music. She had her fireplaces going, a million little tea candles, and lots of lamps on, creating such a cozy atmosphere.
In a weird turn of events, Thomas' brother's girlfriend works for Jen's husband. So we were all strangely connected before we even realized it. Small town, huh?
Us with Thomas' brother Taylor
Our best friends The Kyles, who actually introduced us to Jen, were there too. We hadn't seen them in SO LONG so it was nice to catch up over our favorite pastime: stuffing our faces with food.
Can we talk about her foyer? Swoon.
Such a fun night meeting new friends, catching up with old ones, and enjoying everyone's company in this festive season. Because isn't that what Christmas is all about? Being thankful for each moment you have with the people you love most.
It was late and we were tired, but her tree was too beautiful to not get a picture in front of.
The Property Lovers is a daily blog by PJ and Thomas about our adventures as husbands and dads living in our small hometown, life in our 100 year old Craftsman, and fixing up our farm. Welcome!
To learn more, click here.
We may earn a small commission on some of the products we link to on the blog, at no cost to you. We appreciate your support and understanding, and would never recommend a product we didn’t love. Thank you.
Powered by Squarespace.
