A Christmas Weekend

Christmas season is here! It is finally starting to feel like the holidays here in Dallas. It's actually cold (25 degrees this morning!) and it even snowed a little bit. Feels like Utah all over again. We went to our first Christmas party of the year on Friday night at the Pelfry's house, and it was easily one of the most fun Christmas parties we've been to in a long time. There was even a photo booth with props, and you can see we are both looking good with our hats and mustaches! 

As always with the parties we go to, the food was delicious. We had traditional stuff, like cake, fruit, cinnamon chips, and chips/dip, but there was also some great fondu and raclette. Everything was amazing! 

The white elephant gift exchange was fun, as they always are, and everyone went home with some pretty awesome gifts. We brought a head massager and a suitcase weigher, both of which were successful. Taylor ended up getting a water bottle and some gummy bears, and I got really lucky: Justin Bieber duct tape! Who knew they even made that? There was also "that present" that everyone wanted,  and this time is was a $25 gift card to a gas station. We, sadly, were unable to obtain said gift card. 

What made the night really fun, and unique, was the couples competition that went on throughout. There were different games, including a "Newlywed Game" in which the guys answered questions about the gals, a donut eating contest, and a vote on the best white elephant gifts. Taylor and I dominated the Newlywed game, failed at the donut eating, and then did okay in the gift vote. In the end, it resulted in a 2nd place finish and a reward of delicious treats! Ironically, the winning couple were on a blind date, and they had just met 6 hours earlier. Every other couple had been married for at least 2 years. 

Our second Christmas party of the weekend was with the branch and it was a Hawaiian Christmas. We got to hang out with all our friends for the second consecutive night and got some live entertainment. To make the Hawaiian experience authentic, our branch brought in a native Hawaiian dancer to perform. It was pretty exciting! 

Here's the extent of our Christmas decorations! We need to be more festive! We got this cute little tree from our friends and have put it to good use, but someday we will have a real tree, no matter what Taylor says :) 

The new week started off on a bright note at work when a customer rejected one of our truckloads and we all got a few boxes of free basil! So, naturally, I went to work blending up some delicious pesto, which we now have sitting in the freezer. Thanks National Carriers! 

Thanksgiving Update

It's been awhile since we updated our blog, life just gets so busy! To follow up our last post on Pie Night, we had an excellent Thanksgiving. Taylor was thankful to have Wednesday-Friday off and we were both thankful that we got to drive down to Waco on Thursday to spend the holiday with my cousins. Taylor and I both agreed that the food was the best Thanksgiving feast we've ever had. It was a nice, relaxing day, since we just had to drive, then ate and played some games before driving back. It was nice to get out of the big city for at least one day.

Thanksgiving weekend continued the relaxing trend. Taylor surprised me on Friday after I got home from a long day at work with some delicious homemade bread! I didn't know he had it in him to take on such a task but it turned out amazing! We spent Saturday with some friends up in Arlington and then just had a typical lay around Sunday. The break was so nice, but now we are in the midst of that long road from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

This week felt like it lasted forever but was still fun. Taylor is assisting with the football offseason program while getting the track season started as well. He loves ending every day in the weight room at the brand new Sunset Fieldhouse.

Another high note from this week: Seeing The Silver Linings Playbook. If you're not someone who is really into movies, you probably haven't heard of it, because it's in limited release. But it stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, and is best movie we have seen in a very long time. It's funny, sad, happy, sentimental, and features a moving story, great acting, and a terrific ending. We highly, highly recommend it. And if you're into the Oscars, you should see it, because it's sure to be nominated for quite a few.

We are also now the victims of true Texas-only problems. Our apartment complex has one major switch that turns on the heat or the AC. They just recently switched over to the heat, preventing us from turning on the AC. The problem: The last 3 days it has been around 85 degrees outside, making it nearly 80 degrees in our apartment! We have all our fans on full blast all day, but haven't gotten it to cool down a whole lot. And to think, last year at this time we were battling through the snow in Utah!

TK's Food Reviews

This week the review goes to our favorite place in Dallas, Jonathon's. We've eaten there a number of times but this will be the first of several reviews that come from our favorite restaurant. We went to Jonathon's the night before Thanksgiving, you know, just to make sure we were ready for the big meal the next day. I got a burger called "The Nooner", which is in competition for the best burger I've ever had. It featured a huge, delicious patty, eggs, bacon, cheese, and all the regular burger toppings. Absolutely incredible. There is no other way to describe it. Again, possibly the best burger I've ever eaten, although it faces stiff competition from Chop House in Arlington, which will be reviewed soon.
Grade: A