A peek at our Christmas adventure

Well our Christmas adventure is over and I must say it's the best thing we ever did!  Matter of fact, we loved it so much we're doing it again.  There is just nothing like not having to deal with the usual stresses.  I'm not saying it was perfect but it was as close as we've ever gotten and when the most stress you have on a typical day is fitting in all the sledding you wanted to get done before sunset at just after 4pm...then I'll take it!

Here's some pics for your enjoyment...

Our cabin.  It has some "country" quirks and such but nothing we couldn't eventually handle.  We didn't have much time before sunset to pick out our tree after arrival so straight to the tree farm we went!

We found the perfect tree for our space and the Mr got to sawing it down.  So manly!

Then it was time for me to break out my suitcase of tricks.  One of them being one of those vintage folding yard sticks that I wrapped with battery operated fairy lights and hung with pipe cleaner from a nail that was already there.

Our tree was a beautiful mix of all of the ornaments I showed you guys over the month as well as paper chain garland we made while watching Christmas movies.  I'll admit the lantern star topper was a bit of a pain in my butt but it traveled flat and eventually worked. I'd probably do it again.

Clean and Scentsible had this adorable printable for sleigh rides and hot cocoa and since both were on the to-do list, I thought it appropriate!  I was able to turn the little coffee station (bleck!) into a hot cocoa station in no time!

We always have a nativity and since I needed a flat one, I printed this one from Lia Griffith.  I don't own one of those fancy pants cutter machines so let me tell you cutting this thing with an Xacto knife and mat made me apologize to baby Jesus for the colorful language more than once.  But as you can see, with a little battery tea light behind it, it was worth the work!

I also got more fairy lights to line the windows.  I know we were the only ones that would be seeing them but honestly, it was one of my favorite things to look over and see the dining area all lit up and my bunting hanging on the pole to nails that were already there.  It's a good thing we brought battery powered because believe me, that little place couldn't spare much extra power!  LOL

Jones Design Company has this beautiful Christmas Essentials print that I had to use and put on the piano.  I also grabbed a Christmas Carols booklet featuring altar boys that I got at an estate sale and the Mr swears they are the same his family used to go caroling a few times when he was a kid, so double score.  It made him happy to see it there.

I only needed to add the two printables to the mantel, the Sur La Table mitten garland (that they didn't sell this year so I'm SO glad I grabbed it in 2015!) and nativity to make the mantel area the way I wanted it.  The snowshoes were a recent addition and were perfect!  Then I brought a stocking holder (revamped tall candle holder) with us and hung our stockings and we got some poinsettias to round out the look!

The Food Saver allowed us to take a few balls of our favorite frozen cookie doughs so they were at the ready when a cocoa/cookie craving hit.  It also afforded me a "heat and eat" deal on dinners including Christmas Eve/Day of turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes for one and roast beef, egg noodles and taters for another.  You'd never know it was frozen.  (Except for the damn cinnamon rolls AGAIN!  Next time, we're just getting Hannaford's and being done with it!)

The beautiful town of Stowe.

The Trapp Family Lodge was a frequent stop for us.  Once just to scope things out in the fresh snow and given we'd just watched The Sound of Music for the first time ever (yep), it meant much more to us.  One of the original children is still alive but we didn't see him.

We did pay our respects to the Von Trapps buried on site including Maria.

Our anniversary was one of the most fun/active days.  We went sledding on property and hoofing it back uphill (something I'd never have been able to do without PT!) and building a HUGE snowman complete with corncob pipe and scarf.

Later that day it was back to Trapp Lodge for our sleigh ride!

Yes, we did a two horse open sleigh and it was worth it.  We will definitely do this again!

The next day was Christmas Eve and we couldn't help sneaking a smooch before going out for our evening plans.

We decided to do Christmas Eve services...something we've never done as a couple though we both did it as kids.  Now whenever we see the iconic steeple in pics of the area, we'll have a memory associated with it other than just being pretty.

It was nice to sing a few carols and take it all in.  We both agreed while it was nice, we wouldn't necessarily need to do it again.  LOTS of sick people and the message was a little odd and the passage from Luke wasn't read properly so we had to rectify that by going home immediately after and watching Linus recite it properly.

Christmas Day we had nowhere to be so we just did what we wanted.  The weather had warmed up a bit and the snow was crunchy/icy and I wasn't going to suit up to snowshoe without knowing how it was out there.  So the Mr snowshoed while I watched The 1975's Christmas Day release concert (Merry Christmas to ME!)  Later we went out and shoed for about an hour or so.

On our last full day, we decided to get a day pass at Trapp Lodge to shoe to the chapel I'd been wanting to see.  This was our first time on a legit snowshoe trail so we were happy!

The small chapel is beautiful!

We took in more of the beautiful city and were sad that time flew so quickly while we were there.  I think that having the sun set at 4:15pm has a lot to do with that.  You really do miss that hour and if you spend your morning leisurely, it can get away from you even if you don't have a whole lot planned.

Before we left, we saw bear tracks going to the trash can and others of the tyke frolicking in the snow.  I'm only glad we didn't run into him when we were outside a few hours earlier!

One of our pit stops home for the night was Niagara Falls.  It was cold and treacherous.  Now I can say I've seen them in the winter.  Check.

It was a wonderful trip and one the Mr claims he wouldn't mind doing again!  We're already talking about going back and things we'd do different or what we learned to make it a better experience on some fronts.

It was weird because at the end of Christmas Day the Mr asked if I thought about what I was missing at home and I said not once.  I don't want that to sound mean but that was kind of the whole point.  Let's just say, we've been reminded we made the right decision.

If you've never gone on holiday with just you and your S.O. or even by yourself...consider it, especially if the holidays totally drain you.  There is nothing better than being a kid again and doing things that are straight out of a Currier and Ives print.

How was your holiday?

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