Christmas Letter 2009

If you are an avid reader of our blog, then reading our Christmas letter is quite unnecessary, but for those of you who don't have a daily subscription to The Rampy Chronicles, here's a recap of the entire year to the tune of "Carol of the Bells". It's a lot more fun if you sing along in your head...or out loud, whichever you prefer. Oh and I have linked everything I reference in this song to the posts with which they correspond...

New Years was fun. With everyone.
Moved in with Granny, Brittany had a baby.
Kojies won Sing Song, GSP did too.
Preston got a job, I got the flu.
Love this improv dance, Then came my chance.
Interned in the Spring, Let me see your ring.

Hoppy Hoppy Hoppy Hoppy Easter. We're 200 dollars richer.

Nicaragua trip. With Preston's mom.
Byron, Rangers, FC Dallas. Cowboy stadium is ginormous.
Preston had a birthday. Risked our lives for yogurt.
2 year anniversary. Florida trip to celebrate.
Pool party
In the outfield
Of the Rough Riders game,
Mom and dad turn 50.

Happy Happy Happy birthday dad! Happy Happy Happy birthday mom!

Three Friends got hitched: Lees, Chens and Millers.
I got a job. We ALL got the flu.
Made it on the kiss cam. With my best friend's husband.
Glee is a hit! It's Halloween!
I'm Taylor Swift!
Preston's Kanye West.
He FINALLY agreed.
(It was for the best).

I promise this song's almost over! Here's what happened past October...

I turned 25. Got a Starbucks cup!
Cowboys vs. the Redskins, barely beat them up.
Thanksgiving at the game. Cowboys win again!
Cut down our tree. In the pouring rain.
Planned a wedding,
It snowed in Dallas!
12 days of presents,
Colorado Christmas!

Merry merry merry merry Christmas. MERRY MERRY MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Ding Dong Ding

DONG

On the 12th day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

I asked for this skirt from Anthropologie. I thought it would be a good "work" skirt. "Work" as in wedding planning. You can't tell from the pictures but it has some silver weaving in it too.

I gave Preston...

Tickets to a Straight No Chaser concert next year! Now, if you don't know who the Straight No Chasers are, please, allow me...



And this is their new song...I think it's hilarious. It's called the Christmas Can Can and it reminds me of a Sing Song act...



More pictures from today to come! I tell you what, technology is amazing. We were able to ichat with The Todd Bonneau family and Preston's parents and the Hayden Rampy family today! It is so fun to be able to connect with everyone from hundreds of miles away! And we're hoping to chat with the rest of the Bonneaus later on today for Christmas lunch/dinner.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! Our Christmas letter will be my next post. :)

On the 11th day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

A pair of tights to go with an outfit that's coming later...that's all I know. :)

I gave Preston...

Wireless headphones! They work with everything from your tv and dvd player to an ipod or computer! Since we live in a one bedroom guest house Preston is often having to turn the volume up to hear over my hair dryer or down when I can't stand listening to whatever he is watching (Jon Stewart) or playing (Call of Duty). Yay for no more gun noises!!! Now he can not only listen at whatever volume he wants, but I don't have to listen to his shows! Of course it works both ways. I'm sure he won't mind letting me borrow the headphones when I want to watch Gossip Girl or Say Yes to the Dress. He can also go inside the main house and still listen to his shows/podcasts/music since the signal can translate up to 100 feet away from the transmitter. I came up with this gift on my own and was very proud of myself. I just hope it works.

Merry Christmas Eve everybody! I am so happy for all my Dallasite friends and family since it is SNOWING! What a sweet blessing for Christmas.

On the 10th day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

A date to the outdoor ice skating rink in Telluride! I tried to find a picture online since we haven't been yet but there are actually two outdoor rinks, and since we haven't actually decided which one we're going to yet, I'll just have to post pictures later. :)

I gave Preston...
A wireless shower speaker and anti-fog shaving mirror! You can plug in your ipod or computer to the wireless device which transmits a signal to the speakers that you put in your shower! Preston needed a shaving mirror but I thought that would be a lame gift so the wireless speakers add some pizazz don't you think? Plus, if you know Preston at all you know he takes A LOT of showers...so he will use this.

And because it is the Christmas season and I do happen to work in retail, I think everyone should read this new book I saw on the CBS Early Show this morning while we were waiting to get our lift tickets. I have been wanting to post something regarding how we should all be acting as we shop this holiday season, but I think this guy puts it better than I would. Supposedly the book is really funny. I'll get back to you on whether it's worth the read or not but for now, here's what he had to say this morning... (you'll have to watch a small commercial before the interview plays)


Watch CBS News Videos Online

On the 8th and 9th days of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

A Vera Bradley wallet!



I gave Preston...


A 2010 calendar for his desk at work that is based off the "Stuff White People Like" website. It's pretty funny. I also gave him...


The Touch and Brush! Preston always brushes his teeth in the shower and is always looking for the toothpaste (since I tend to take it out of the shower to brush my teeth) so we'll be installing this baby in the shower when we get home! Speaking of not being home, we are now in Telluride, Colorado until December 28th! We drove all day yesterday and all our gifts were crammed into the back of the truck bed so we weren't able to exchange gifts until we unloaded today.

On the 7th day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...


An armband for my Iphone! I have been wanting one of these so that when I work out I don't have to worry about keeping up with my Iphone.

I got Preston...


New shoes for work! He asked for these.

Preston actually cheated and got me two gifts today. In fact, I had been planning to cheat too but my gift hasn't worked out yet so he has one upped me this year (so far). I am actually writing this post on my new gift:

A new mini Dell laptop! I have been using Preston's computer quite a bit ever since he got it because my old laptop is SO SLOW! This gift was a complete surprise for me and I love Love LOVE it!

On the 6th day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...


Nail polish pens!!! YAY! You have no idea how much I wanted these. I saw them at a craft show last year and have coveted them ever since! They are nail polish in the form of a pen so that you can draw cute little flowers, snowmen, etc. on your nails AND they also make French Manicures MUCH easier to do. Now I don't have to pay $30 every time I want a mani/pedi!

I gave Preston...

He LOVED this movie when it came out and I thought it'd be fun for him to have it today so he could watch it with his dad and brothers since we are in Austin for the weekend! I haven't seen it but I've heard it's a great "guy" movie....action, death, blood and no romance. :) Notice our differing taste in movies: The Proposal vs. Taken.

On the 5th day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...
These cutie patootie hair pins! There were more but I couldn't find pictures of them and didn't feel like taking them out of my hair to take a picture.

I gave Preston...

A Belkin cushtop laptop stand! We like to watch movies and tv shows in bed on Preston's laptop and his computer tends to overheat when it's sitting on top of a pillow so I knew he'd like one of these. It is also great to take on road trips to sit in your lap!

On the 4th day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

White Rhinestone ski goggles!!! I have been needing some new ski goggles and put these on my wish list as soon as I found them! This is one of my bigger gifts from Preston but he had to give them to me today since we are packing tomorrow. I am so excited to use them next week!

I think this would be a good time to mention that all my gifts were requested (aka on my Christmas List). Preston didn't ask for hardly ANYTHING for Christmas so I had to come up with all his gifts on my own. I just thought I needed to explain myself since his gift today doesn't even come close to comparing to mine....

I gave Preston...
I would consider this more of a gag gift, but every time the commercial for these comes on or Preston sees them at the store he says "I really want to try those to see if they work." So I was at Bed Bath and Beyond, saw them and thought...why not? I told him he could take them back if he wants but he insists that we try them first. If they work as well as the commercial says they do we might just keep them!

On the 3rd day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

I LOVED this movie before it even came out in theaters. I knew it was my kind of movie when I saw the first preview. Then when we went and saw it with the Lees I laughed nonstop throughout the entire movie. It's a great movie to have around. I just love Sandra Bullock.

I gave Preston...

A shoe shine travel kit! Preston is a businessman now with businessman shoes that get pretty scuffed up when worn almost every day. Now if only we could figure out what all these brushes do...

Queso

All you Southerners out there will get a kick out of this...my best friend Annie lives in New York and we have discussed before how many Northerners are not familiar with the term "queso". If you know anything about Annie at all, you know she is no cook. She'll be the first to tell you that BUT her New York friends seem to think she is an incredible cook! Read this email she sent me this morning: (I changed the name of her coworker seeing as I don't know her)

Hahaha I brought queso to the company holiday pot luck today. Not even kidding you- this is the third e-mail I’ve gotten like this- not to mention all the people who asked me in person. Everyone is going on and on about how amazing it is… If they only knew…

---

From: Jane Doe
Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 11:50 AM
To: Gasparro, Annie
Subject: Queso

Your queso dip is pretty much amazing. Yum!! Do you ever share the recipe or is it a secret?

Jane Doe

The secret to Annie's amazing queso dip? Velveeta and Rotel. I told her she better tell them her recipe is a secret...they might not ever eat it again after seeing an unwrapped block of Velveeta cheese.

On the 2nd day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

This shirt but in red:

I might have known about this one and I might have picked it out. :)

I gave Preston...

(He loves these)

and

I'm not a huge fan of Egg Nog but Preston decided last year that he loves it and has been asking me about it for at least a month now and since Promised Land is his favorite brand of dairy products I figured their Egg Nog must be the best!

Has anyone else noticed that the first two days of Christmas have been material things for me and food for Preston?

12 days of Christmas

So I had this bright idea last month that Preston and I would partake in the 12 days of Christmas this year. You see, we still have Christmas with both our families and don't really have a Christmas of our own so there isn't really a good time for us to open our gifts for each other. Plus stockings are really one of my favorite parts of the Christmas morning and there are at least 12 things in a stocking right? AND neither of us really had any bright ideas for a single "big gift" to give to each other so this seemed like a fun idea. We have a budget that I have desperately attempted to stick to though I take after my dad and normally go overboard because gifts are my love language. I truly enjoy giving gifts just as much as I love receiving them. In fact, in many cases I get more excited about someone opening my gift than I do about opening my own. As was the case tonight....

On the first day of Christmas my True Love gave to me...

A set of these beautiful Champagne glasses from Anthropologie!

I love these glasses and can't wait to use them for a party! Now I was under the impression that we were starting small and building up to bigger gifts but Preston was under no such impression so our gifts are in no particular order. :)

I gave Preston: dinner at Ghatti's. Now let me explain myself. I know this sounds lame...but here's why it wasn't. Preston absolutely loves Ghatti's but we never go because normally I absolutely hate it. BUT a new Ghatti's opened close to our house and I decided that my gift to him would be giving Ghatti's a second chance. Part of the reason I have despised the restaurant in past was because the few Ghatti's I have visited have been, for lack of a better word, trashy. THIS Ghatti's, though, is very nice and clean, has a well-stocked salad bar and the pizza is actually good! SO my gift to Preston will be a gift that keeps giving because I have promised him we will visit this Ghatti's much more often. Luckily, my husband thinks dinner at Ghatti's is equal to an entire set of champagne glasses...

Superman

I heard this story on the radio and have listened to it about 5 times since then and cried every time. It was sent in the form of an email to one of the radio personalities, but since I don't have the email, you'll just have to listen to the audio from the radio podcast. The podcast will cut off at the end but the story is pretty much over at that point. If I find the email in the near future, I will post it as well as the picture.

I couldn't figure out how to put the audio file on here so you can just play it, so you have to click on this link and download it. It will automatically open in iTunes.

http://www.mediafire.com/?uwy2mndyyzn

Hot Cocoa and Apple Cider

It's Christmas Party time! I have four Christmas parties this week people. FOUR! Last night I hosted our book club Christmas party at Granny and Granddad's house, which you can check out on Mindy's blog because I am too lazy to blog about it since she already did. :) Tonight is Preston's work Christmas party, which I am actually really excited about because I get to wear a party dress. Friday night is our small group Christmas party, which we'll be late to because I am coordinating a wedding rehearsal for a wedding that will be Saturday night! And if I weren't coordinating a wedding Saturday night I'd be going to two other Christmas parties! Good grief! I love parties though. You can never have too many parties.

Now for the real reason I started writing this post...if you happen to be hosting a Christmas party, or if you're not, I have two excellent, EASY recipes for hot cocoa and hot apple cider.

I got the recipe for the Hot Cocoa from my mom and on an email from Market Street. Market Street says to do the following...

Spiced Hot Chocolate

Servings: 4

Ingredients:
*1 quart (4 cups) milk
*1 pkg. (4 oz.) BAKER''S GERMAN''S Sweet Chocolate, finely chopped
*1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:
Mix milk, chocolate and cinnamon in medium saucepan; cook on medium heat until chocolate is melted and mixture just comes to boil. Pour into serving cups. Serve topped with spoonfuls of thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping and Chocolate-Dipped Cinnamon Sticks, if desired.

Now for the extra tips: I melted my chocolate in the microwave before adding it to the milk. Just follow the instructions on the package of chocolate on how to melt it if you decide to do it that way. Also, Mom told me to add Coffee Mate creamer if the hot chocolate is too rich. I did this last night and it worked like a charm. Also, I use real whipping cream rather than Cool Whip because I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to whipped cream. Cool Whip is faster.

Now for the Apple Cider....

Servings: 19 cups

Ingredients:
*1 Gallon of apple cider
*11.5 oz. can of apricot nectar (found in the juice aisle or at the Mexican grocery store)
*2 cups of sugar
*2 cups of orange juice
*3/4 cups of lemon juice (NOT lemonade...lemon JUICE)
*4 cinnamon sticks (or you could just add several dashes of ground cinnamon)
*2 tsp. of Allspice
*1 tsp. ground cloves
* 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Mix it, heat it, serve. This is the best apple cider you'll ever taste so just prepare yourself.

Dance! link

Here is the link to the video I posted in my previous entry because my blog seems to be cutting the video off on the sides and I don't feel like figuring out how to fix it right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

Dance!

As you may have assumed from reading previous posts of mine, I love spontaneous acts of dancing. It seems that there's been a dancing "movement" (if you will) in our culture, from dancing down the aisle to dancing in a train station, Dancing with the Stars to So You Think You Can Dance...it's all over the place. Well my dear husband, knowing me VERY well, sent me an email this morning with the following video that he had seen on Dr. Beck's blog (who is a professor at ACU). It's a little long but well worth watching in its entirety.



I think Matt, the main dancer in the video, put it best...

"Well, what I'm doing is fairly universal. It's one of those things that all humans do and all humans enjoy watching. Music and dancing. Those are two big ones. Sex is a third. I left that out."

And on a totally unrelated note, I figured out how to make it snow on my blog. How cool is that!?

*Snow*

I can't believe Dallas has already seen it's first snow AND it might see it's second snow tomorrow!

Yesterday morning I received a call from my best friend Brittany Gauntt at 7:45am. Of course, I was too asleep to get to the phone on time (I had worked a closing shift the night before) but I'm glad I checked her message because she was calling to tell me it was snowing! I hopped out of bed and opened our windows to reveal a cloud of enormous fluffy white snowflakes encompassing our view. Not one minute later, Preston's phone rang and Granny was also calling to tell us it was snowing! I love how excited we get about snow in Dallas. People in the north take for granted how beautiful and rare snow can be for us southerners. (Yeah yeah, I know it gets annoying when you have to shovel it, drive in it, etc...bla bla bla). ANYWAY, by this point we were wide awake (Preston's alarm was set to ring at 8am anyway for work) so we hustled out of bed and headed inside to find one of my favorite babies awaiting us on the couch: Ella. Ella and I went outside for a while to play and it was so much fun to watch her recognize what "snow" was and learn how to say it. She was in her pj's but she did NOT want to go back inside. Here are a few pictures I got while the snow lasted:

Ok seriously. Someone find this kid a modeling job. PRECIOUS!
As for me...welcome to my "hopped out of bed" look. Good grief, someone find me a curling iron.

She was trying to catch snowflakes...I was trying to take a picture with both of us in it. I think she probably succeeded better than I did.

If you look closely you can see Kendra on the other side! She was taking pictures too!

Fall isn't over yet for Dallas, so the snow looked so pretty on all the brightly colored trees.

By this point it the snow had turned to rain so I tried to catch a picture of our house before it melting but was unsuccessful. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow if it snows again. **Fingers crossed!**

I was on-call this day and didn't end up having to work so then I just watched Ella watch cartoons...


And organize Granny's Nativity set...