Common to People Caught Up in Revolutions

It seems like I have done nothing but work, sleep, and wrap presents the last few days.  Because I requested days off around Christmas, I was scheduled to work long, long opening shifts this whole week.  It will be worth it after tomorrow though and I am off for FOUR days!!  Today I found someone that wanted hours so I was able to leave a couple hours early, which was nice.  I just got up from my nap and am having a cup of coffee by the window.

After this I have to dye my hair so it'll be nice and vibrant for all the festivities, run an errand or two, pick up something for dinner, straighten up the apartment, and finish wrapping the last few gifts.  To match my tree, I went with a white, blue, and subtle green color scheme for the wrapping paper.  Looks pretty good, don't you think?  Andrew and Juliana get in tomorrow night so today is really my last day to get everything done before Christmas time is really here!  Hope you all are caught up on your to-do list before things get going for you!

(photos by e.hunt)

Festive Festivities

Christmas is officially less than a week away!  I finished up my Christmas shopping today and am in the middle of the wrapping storm.  This is good because today was my last day off before the festivities start on Friday.  Andrew and Juliana will arrive that night and then it's Christmas Christmas Christmas!  I'm thinking about packing a bag and just staying at home for those few days and get the full family experience.

Isn't that a great picture?  Mom posted it on Instagram today.  So festive.  Speaking of festive-ness, I'm starting to think about what to wear to Christmas Eve with the Hunt side of the family and then Christmas dinner at our house.

I could go the super-holiday route and wear some plaid.

Or choose something more sparkly.

I have a few already that would work: a winter white shift dress with a flower print on the bottom, a loose black dress with cool gold detail on the sleeves, and a red velvet skater dress.  I'm thinking the last two would look good with belts, or maybe my flower headband with the red one.  I still have a few days to decide though so we'll see.  It'll be a surprise!

(photos by r.hunt, collected from flickr, bloglovin, lecanardivre.fr, collagevintage, and by e.hunt)

Sapin de Noël

Christmas is now only a week away!  Are you all ready?  I've found gifts for most everyone on my list, now I just have to find time to wrap them.  I did put up my 21st century style Christmas tree in my apartment though.

Look Ma, no tree!  You may remember I did a similar one in Nashville, but I added some blue ornaments to this year's version.  I think it really adds that final holiday touch, don't you?

We trimmed the homestead tree as well.

We kept up the tradition of white lights outside, colored lights inside, and placed all the favorite ornaments in prominent spots.  It's always fun to get out the really old ones, and especially the collection of handmade ones from our elementary school years.

I also started another apartment project that's been on the docket for a while now.  One of my Mom's friends had some extra fabric after a project she was working on and it ended up in my possession.  I thought the cute grey and white arrow design would be perfect as a cover for these two bonus chairs we found at a thrift store.

Since sewing it seemed a little complicated, I decided to pull out the old glue gun.  I think they turned out pretty well, even though cloth-crafting isn't really my thing.  I need to get wrapping presents, the space under my tree looks a little lonely!

(photos by e.hunt)

Hillshade Mapping

To continue in the festive Christmas activities, we got our tree!  I met up with the gang at our local tree lot right before sunset on Tuesday where we wandered the aisles.

We narrowed it down to two.  The one on the left that Dad is holding was in the 6-8 ft section, and Taylor's is an 8-10.  We were pretty set on that left one until we held it up next to the 8-10.  It was really no contest.  Look how much healthier the big one is!

The tree-guy and his pack of middle-school boys trimmed a little off the bottom, helped tie it to the roof of the truck, and we were on our way!  I remember one year when we were little, Dad didn't have the top on the back of the truck so the tree just laid in the bottom.  Andrew and Taylor and I hid down along the sides of it to hold it in place while Dad drove and we were SO excited -- ahhh the little things of childhood.

We got home and sent it through the window right into it's spot and the house immediately smelled like a happy, winter wonderland forest.  I think we'll probably do the lights and ornaments sometime this weekend.  Now, time to think about decorating my apartment!

(photos by e.hunt, and t.hunt)

"Didn't I Ever Tell You About Bumbles?! Bumbles Bounce!"

-The Greatest Prospector in the North, Yukon Cornelius

Last Tuesday I stopped by the house on the way back from class.  Dad and Taylor were outside cutting the grass and getting ready to put the Christmas lights up.  I ran upstairs to find the box of lights and started testing them out to make sure they all worked.

We figured out how many strands would go on each section of bushes and separated everything out.  I was in charge of getting the next strand ready and plugging it in before Dad reached the end.  We ran into a few missing bulbs, causing half the strand to be out, but luckily we had a few of those extra bulbs that come with the lights so problem solved!

We ended up having an extra strand and I thought it would be neat to go along the top of the porch like we used to do.  Mom and Taylor didn't approve though.  I thought it would've been cool, but oh well.

After the front two bushes we were finished!  Next up was dinner, followed by a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer viewing.  What a Christmasy evening!  Check out the lighting before and after.

(photos by e.hunt, and r.hunt)

As Leaves in the Winds of Autumn, and in Winter as a Star Upon a Hill

We celebrated Taylor's birthday the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  I came over early to help make molasses cookies.  Andrew and Juliana have made them in years past, which is where we got the idea, and we texted them our progress.

We got out all the ingredients and followed the recipe, adding a bit more cinnamon for added deliciousness.  When everything was all mixed together we started pulling out little balls and rolling them in sugar before putting them on the pan.  Then we had to wait 8-10 minutes while the wonderful smell kept increasing while they baked.

Mmmmmmm they turned out great!  After dinner we had a little gift-opening and cookie-eating.  Happy late Birthday, Taylor!!

(photos by e.hunt, and t.hunt)

Going Beyond the Information Given

Happy December, everyone!  It's been a busy last couple weeks.  The Sunday before Thanksgiving we had the Grandma's over for a Thanksgiving warm-up dinner, complete with turkey and pumpkin pie!

And then the real Thanksgiving came.  My favorite, the sweet potatoes, did not disappoint, and there was lots of merry drinking and pie-eating.  It was fun to catch up with the family, all of whom were in town except for Andrew.  Taylor and I unveiled our many memberships (YPEC - Young Picky Eaters Club, YCC - Young Curmudgeon's Club, and the MQAA - Movie Quote Appreciation Association) and the cousins were all fascinated.

After a peaceful, turkey triptophan-induced sleep, I worked a nine-hour shift the following day.  Afterwards, I went to Target to figure out my wifi router issues and was pleasantly surprised.  Because it was the latter half of Black Friday, I expected it to still be extremely crowded but I was determined to figure out my wifi.  They gave me a full refund on the router even though it was opened and used, and I found a (hopefully) good replacement.  I also ended up buying a tv!

I just couldn't resist those Black Friday deals.  The rest of the items in the cart are all the necessary accessories: a Roku streaming stick (for Netflix and other channels), a DVD player, and the new wifi router.  Taylor came over to help me set everything up, and I have to say, it works beautifully.  For the inaugural viewing we chose an old favorite: A Knight's Tale.  And there you have it; another big apartment item knocked off the list!

(photos by e.hunt, and g.hunt)

So Hip to be a Square

Hello my fellow weekenders!  I have this lovely day off work.  As you can probably guess, I slept late, stayed in my cozy bed for a bit catching up on the social media, and now I am sitting at the table drinking coffee and eating a little pumpkin bread for breakfast.  I have a few errands to run this afternoon, as well some homework to do, but in between those plans I will be catching up on blog posts!  I had some wifi issues earlier this week, and have been working long, stressful shifts almost everyday, but I have some great pics from the past couple weeks to share!  Hope you all had a marvelous Thanksgiving!

(photo by e.hunt)

The Coffee District

Yesterday was the beginning of the Christmas season at Starbucks' everywhere.  That means Christmas merchandise, Christmas espresso, holiday decorations and pastries, red aprons, and of course, red cups.  Last year there was quite a controversy over how plain the red cups were without any illustrations or holiday imagery, but they used that to their advantage.  Customers started drawing their own designs on the blank red canvas, and Starbucks chose a number of them to feature on this year's red cups.  They're pretty neat.

We had a lot of disgruntled customers remark that it is too early for Christmas, but really, Thanksgiving is now less than two weeks away, and most stores started their holiday campaigns the day after Halloween, so Starbucks is actually late!  I also happen to think that a little Christmas cheer could do us all some good after Tuesday's events.

Even though it's still in the high 50s-low 60s outside, I played some Christmas music while dying my hair yesterday.  A little Frank, Dean, and Bing was all I needed to improve my mood.  And because our store is packed with Christmas coffee now, I used my free weekly pound of coffee to get some Christmas Blend instant packets!

(photos collected from Starbucks, and by e.hunt)

SaveSave

Chaos

I have experienced a range of emotions today: disbelief, disillusion, sadness, fear, anger.  I am in disbelief that I am writing this somber article, rather than one of excitement for our first female president.  I am in disillusion in that there are so many people in this country who support these backward ideals and abhorrent behavior.  I am sad that these people felt that this was the answer to our country’s problems.  I am afraid for friends and strangers alike who will feel the brunt of the hatred.  And I am mad as hell, for all of the above reasons.

To all of the people who voted for Big Donny, I have yet to hear or read an eloquent reason for your vote, or an explanation as to why you turned your back on people different from you.  I, and the rest of the world (who are laughing at us), am waiting.  In all of this though, I am trying to continue to have hope.  Hope that good moral conscious will outweigh the upcoming hatred towards women, minorities, people of non-Christian faiths, the disabled, the poor, and the LGBT community.

In my confusion, I look to the thing that gives me comfort: movies.  In movies, hope is everywhere.  In all of my beloved fantasy world epics like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry Potter, the evil always wins in the second part.  Frodo falls to darkness while Sauron’s orc army grows, Luke’s hand is cut off and Han is frozen in carbonite, and Voldemort gets closer and closer to Harry.  Even in stories that don’t spread over two or three movies, the protagonist always suffers a setback before rising up and defeating the evil.  We are experiencing that Part Two right now.  Evil has prevailed today, but good will overcome.  We have to push through and believe that all people deserve better, and eventually we will see Part Three.  Good always wins.

I will not stand united for this country because clearly, we are not united in our beliefs that all humans deserve respect.  We all have to live in this world together (which may not survive much longer thanks to our environment-hating new leading party), and I would rather see a world of understanding, rather than hate.  I will stand with those who renounce bigotry, racism, sexism, xenophobia, and assholism.  And in the end, it is us who will win.  Because after all, this is only Part Two.

(photos collected from starwars, goodreads, and funbuzztime)

In a Way I Wonder

This is my setting for the morning.  Catching up on blogs and emails, drinking coffee, and looking out the window.  Doesn't the table look nice?  Dad finished it up last week and Taylor helped deliver it on Friday after a delicious dinner at Dewey's.  I love the color of it.

I can't wait to start an art project or two at the table.  And you know what will be really nice?  I can leave it out for days at a time, along with all the supplies and everything!  Although it may have to wait until after the semester is over; the homework mountain just keeps building.  It will be so nice to have that month and a half winter break.  And this year Taylor and I will be home rather than gallivanting around Europe.  It was a trip of a lifetime, but it will be nice to be with family.  Although we kindof were, digitally.  Remember our Christmas family portrait?!

(photos by e.hunt)

Day Dreamer, Night Thinker

Good morning, everyone!  I hope you all had a lovely week.  Mine was busy, as usual, but good.  I worked the last four days and because we are short on baristas, it was stressful every day.  We survived though, and I found out that our manager just hired three new people and is planning to hire three or four more.  Hopefully I won't be working 30-35 hour weeks every week anymore, although once the semester is over I can work that much through the holidays, so we'll see.  More people is definitely a good thing, but it will be tough because this is kindof late to start training people for holiday madness (I was hired for the holiday but I started training the beginning of October!), but any and all extra bodies will be so helpful.  Come on in and enjoy a festive latte!

School was boring this week, and the homework never ends, but I've found that if I do a little bit every day or every other day (some days I just don't want to look at a textbook!) it is easier to stay on top of everything.  There's only five weeks left!

Speaking of five weeks left of school, that means there's only seven weeks left until Christmas!  Time to start brainstorming gift ideas!  I think I'm going to hang paper snowflakes from my ceiling as part of my Christmas decorations, and after Thanksgiving I'm planning on getting a little Christmas tree so the apartment will smell like winter goodness.  Now all we need is for the weather to start acting like winter.  Or fall, at least!  

This is the first Saturday I've had off of work in a while (moving day didn't really count) and I am reveling in it.  I slept late, made some coffee, and have a full afternoon planned of errands, visiting Mom's first craft show, unpacking another box or two, and probably a little homework.  And tomorrow it's back to the opening, eight-hour shift grind.  Hope you all have some fun things planned for your weekend as well!

(photos by e.hunt)

Say Hello to my New Address

Welcome back, everyone!  I've been on hiatus for a pretty good reason, but I'm back now, with pictures galore.  Last weekend I moved out of my parents house and into a perfect-for-me-sized one bedroom apartment!!

Here's my front door.  I was delighted to find out that my apartment is on the second floor near the front of the complex.

This is the view from my balcony door.  The church next door has a pumpkin patch!

I spent most of Friday taking a few loads of boxes and smaller furniture over in my car.  Mom met up with me for the last load, and it went much quicker!  After organizing and planning where some of the big furniture was going to go, we had beers on the veranda.

I'm so glad to be on the backside of the building, facing the church instead of another apartment building.  It's so peaceful and relaxing, and I get morning light instead of squinty sunset light.  After that I locked the door for the night and we went home to get dinner and wait for Andrew to get home from Nashville.  He decided moving weekend would be a good one to come home, and I sure was appreciative.  I'll also take this time to give a shout-out to my Starbucks co-workers who helped me cover my Saturday and Sunday shifts!

Andrew got home around nine or ten and we stayed up late talking about movies and stuff.  The next morning we all went to Kaldi's for much-needed coffees before loading up the cars.  Dad was able to get a bigger van since ours was laid to rest a few months ago (remember the crazy hit-and-run?!), so he and Mom left to go pick up the couch I had bought a few days earlier at a thrift store.  Andrew, Taylor, and I loaded up three cars-worth of stuff and caravanned down Lindbergh to meet them there.

Dad left shortly after to go get the bed while we unloaded the three auxiliary cars.  When he got back we set up the bed and decided to go to Amigo's for a late lunch and margaritas!  We got a spot on the back porch because the weather was so lovely.

After that we split ways for the afternoon.  I stopped at Target for those last minute move-in necessities like trashcans, a shower curtain rod, silverware, a starter set of dishes, and other such items.  I also found a throw blanket on sale to cover the couch!  By the time I got everything taken in and unpacked, it was time to go home and get ready for dinner.  

Dad was playing music so we ended up just going down to PJ's, our standby bar-food place.  We went home and hung out for a bit before going to bed.  We all slept in until about ten the next morning and hung out for a couple hours before Andrew got on the road.  It was really fun having him home, and I'm glad he got to see my new space.  He and Juliana will be back for the holidays so they'll get to see it all set up too!

Taylor came over on Sunday to help hang the curtains in my bedroom.  It was difficult because the plastic shade apparatus above the glass door was so big, and the studs weren't so easy to find, but we figured it out. That was my first night staying over, and I slept really well!  And over the last week I've slowly been getting things more organized and unpacked.  Between work and trying to keep up with homework I can only do a little here and a little there, but it's starting to come together.

I have really great closet space, which I am taking full advantage of.  This one is in the hall and is a walk-in with hanging bars on both sides!  And I have another double-sliding-door closet in the bedroom.  So far I have most of my clothes in this closet but kept my work clothes separate in the other one.

Here is my make-up area in the bedroom.  I decided not to bring a dresser and try this square shelf thing I got for my downstairs summer room at home.  So far it's working pretty well.

This bookshelf and stool were thrifted.  Don't they look great next to the Middle Earth map?

And it wouldn't really be my apartment without lots and lots of little Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling.  

I found this really awesome table at a thrift store but the top looked like it belonged to an artistic fairy because it was covered with little stains and splotches of glitter.  Andrew sanded down the top so Dad could stain it a nice new color.  I can't wait until it's ready!

The other day I went to an antique mall and found two french-looking velvet chairs: this dusty pink one and the blue-green one in the bottom picture.  And of course I hung lights in the living room too!

So far I am absolutely loving the apartment life.  I can't wait until everything is unpacked and set up so then I can start having people come visit.  I'm planning a holiday party or two.  Ooh!  That's another thing that will be fun; Christmas decorating!  I hope you all had a nice last few weeks, and that the shifting weather isn't making you sick.  The guy from Charter is supposed to be out on Wednesday to set up my internet, so hopefully there won't be such a long delay before the next post!

(photos by e.hunt, r.hunt, and g.hunt)