Have Yourself A "Beary" Little Christmas

Hi, friends!

It's officially the most wonderful time of the year! That's right: IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!

Okay, okay. Katie told me that some of you might yell at me for saying that, but let me explain.
It's only officially College Christmas time. Real Christmas doesn't start until December, but because Katie and my other friends will only get to see each other for a few days in December, she decided that they needed to decorate now, AND SHE LET ME HELP!

I love spending Christmas with Katie, because she always has so much to do: shopping for presents and baking cookies and decorating the dorm and making ornaments and taking pictures; she basically IS Christmas spirit. When you're around her, you can't help but get excited, too!

Katie's Freshman Year
ornament

Katie's Sophomore Year
ornament--a snow princess!

So this weekend, Katie (and I helped, too!) decorated the dorm room for Christmas!! It was a lot of work--we had to move furniture and build a Christmas tree and unpack boxes--but it was SO worth it! Katie and Katie's Mom even made new Christmas ornaments for all of Katie's friends. Katie makes them a new ornament every year so they'll always remember all the fun they had in college. The first year was a little red cup with a lime wedge on it that says, "Baby's First Christmas" on it. (She made these ones before I knew her!! That's so weird to think about!) Then last year's was a snow-filled ornament with a snowman on it that was themed around her friends' favorite things. Tall Girl's snowman was holding mallets, because she plays marimba, and Glasses Boy's snowman was wearing a fez and a funny scarf, because he really likes this TV show called Dr. Who, and Short Girl's snowman was carrying lots of books, because she likes history, and Curly-Haired Boy's snowman was wearing a teeny tiny replica of his favorite tie, and Bearded Boy's snowman had a beard! And now this year, Katie and Katie's Mom painted little canvases and put pretty Christmas stickers on them. Tall Girl says they're fancy!! All of her friends really like their ornaments, and I know that Katie likes making them for them and making her friends feel special.

Katie's Junior Year ornaments!

"Don't get your tinsel in a tangle!"

They put allllllll those ornaments on the tree, plus more! Katie kind of has a thing for tinsel (because it's like glitter but less messy), so their Christmas tree is ALL silver tinsel! I think it's pretty cool. But they put MORE tinsel on it! Red and gold tinsel! Plus red and gold jingle bells and fake candy canes (you CANNOT eat these!! I tried!!) and a blue crab covered in Christmas lights and a cat with reindeer antlers and a nativity scene and a Santa head and all of Tall Girl's ornaments that she made! They're called "sat dough ornaments," and you kind of make them like you would make cookies, only the dough isn't yummy, and then you let them dry and paint them. Tall Girl has one that's shaped like a sloth, and it's really cute!

"The stockings were hung by the futon with care...."

Even Johnny Depp is in the Christmas spirit!

And Legolas, too! He's wearing an elf hat....
get it?

Besides the Christmas tree, Katie put out lots of Christmas signs, and she put tinsel around the lamps and TV, and she hung their stockings over the futon, and she even has ornaments that she's going to hang from the ceiling later!! Our dorm room is super Christmas-y, and I'm so excited about it!!

Christmas is my favorite time of year, because I get to send extra special time with my extra special friends! For a few days, we can all put aside our really busy schedules and have fun as a little family. They all make me and Katie feel so loved, and I'm so glad they stole me out of the trash can two and a half years ago.

"Welcome to the Island of Misfit Toys"

I know it's a little early for "Real Christmas time," but I just wanted to wish all of my friends a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah and a Merry Kwanzaa and a Happy/Merry/Wonderful/Fun/Whatever-Holiday-or-Holidays-you-celebrate right now!

~Trash Bear (and Katie)~