Entertaining

Nikkala says that if she had an unlimited (or a much enlarged) budget, she would get so much delight from buying people presents. Not me. I would much rather have people over to eat, play games, hang out, catch up, and enjoy themselves. Entertaining is the perfect balance of being able to cook good food, doing extra touches and cute things and having a good time.

Tonight we had two couples over for dinner and to watch the First Presidency Christmas devotional. It was great. The food was good and they both brought the perfect things. The company was great and the message was completely uplifting. It was a great time. It was so much fun to have people over, the tree and lights all lit up, our house clean, warm and full of good smells.

Not much else can make me as happy as having people over, and then after they leave, realizing that I had a really good time, and knowing that everyone else was comfortable and enjoyed themselves. And having a clean kitchen! Putting the dishes in the dishwasher as you go, the best idea, even if it is awkward for a few minutes. After the party is over there is no undo stress if the kitchen is already clean!

I'm getting really excited for the cookie party on Thursday! I'm making little recipe books out of photo albums, and I think they're going to turn out really cute. They should make fun favors! I'm worried for some reason that people won't come... so I'm hoping I'm wrong. Whatever happens, I'm just excited to have people over.

Chris and I decided that we really enjoy this apartment. It's big enough that we can fit a decent number of people over, our kitchen works [well enough] for us, we have a decent sized living room and it's not awkward to try fitting people in. It makes it all the more fun to have people over! Hooray for not living in our tiny basement apartment! And hooray for being able to turn up the heat here, and not worry about the bill! (One of the couples that came over tonight were our upstairs neighbors at our old apartment. They said the new people that live downstairs were complaining about paying a ton for heating-- and still never being warm. I do NOT miss those days, and I'm so glad we moved!)

Lots of rambling, but I'm just happy tonight. If anyone wants to come stay with us, we would love to have you. It would give me purpose in life and make me super excited!