Family meal

As I've blogged before, I'm big on tradition. Maybe it's because I'm comfortable with routine, but there's something about traditions and repetitive action that puts order in my world and maybe even helps me to define part of who I am and from where I come.  From three-hour gift opening on Christmas morning to my sister always being the one to lead our family in holiday meal prayer to visiting Destin every other year, my side of the family has definitely had its fair share of celebrating and honoring tradition. 

Even before I married Mark, I was invited to take part in one of his family's most important traditions -- Sunday family meal.  Maybe a month after we had been dating, I came to find out that every Sunday, his family gathers from wherever they are to share a late lunch together.  It was very special to me to be included in this intimate time with his family from the beginning of mine and Mark's relationship.

Sometimes we go out to eat, sometimes we take turns hosting meals in our homes.  I think it's safe to say that since I've been with Mark, maybe only once or twice has the family not met on Sunday, only because most everyone was out of town.

The tradition comes from my mother's-in-law side of the family, as they all meet every week for family meal, too -- a whoooole bunch of them.  They all live in Idaho, and I've attended this side of the family meal once when we visited for a family wedding.  There were two long, long tables full of family -- maybe 30 to 50 people.  I'm not kidding!

Family meal is a tradition I've been happy to add to my list.  I definitely appreciate the time spent visiting, as sometimes life gets so busy, we might not otherwise find time together if not scheduled in.  Plus, we get to keep a close watch on our niece, Violet, growing up.  Soon Kenna and Baby Crowley No. 3 (Veronica and David are pregnant again!) will be joining her!

Crowley Hill Country Winery Trip, November 2009

25 things you didn't know about us

1. We were certified to scuba dive together and try to dive whenever we can when traveling.  We've dove in Cozumel, Mexico; Destin, FL; Cancun, Mexico; Placencia, Belize; and Austin, TX.  Mark's also dove a few other places.
2. We would love to dive the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
3. We meet Mark's side of the family every Sunday afternoon for Family Meal.
4. Our first kiss could have been on March 1, 2006, but that was Ash Wednesday and Mark didn't want to "endulge" in anything that day because of the self-denial significance of that day of observance.  So he waited until just after midnight to plant one.  Our anniversary became March 2.
5. The movie "French Kiss" was on in the background.
6. Mark told me he loved me for the first time on our one year anniversary.
7. Our first vacation together was to Destin, FL -- Jen's Heaven.
8. The first homecooked dinner we had as husband and wife upon returning from our honeymoon was Italian roasted pork tenderloin. The reason I know this is because every time I make a recipe from one of my cookbooks, I date it, list the occasion and my thoughts on it!  I love this.
9. We pray together every night before going to sleep.  Even when we're apart if one of us is traveling.
10. We take turns leading nightly prayer.
11. Ever since we began dating, we try to read two different books of the Bible together every week.  We're trying to get through Job right now.  Wow, that guy just goes on and on.
12. Neither one of us likes mushrooms.
13. We've both worked for the Catholic Church.  Mark worked for two years as youth minister at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, and I've now worked as the director of ministries at Saint Mary Cathedral and St. John Neumann Catholic Church.
14. We enjoy finding new places to spend date night.
15. We have a shoe rule at our house: Mark's allowed to leave one pair of shoes laying around in any room (if we don't have company coming over).  If there is more than one pair laying around, Jen's allowed to put them up.
16. We co-led a small faith-sharing group in the Catholic 20-Somethings Ministry while we were dating.
17. We really enjoy working on the house and making it more and more our own.  We have a long Google docs project list where we keep crossing off projects and adding on more.
18. I have played with the idea of having four kids someday. Mark says he wants 2.5 kids because that's the average number of kids per American family.  I'm interested to know how he plans on having half a child.
19. 
    
    
    
    We smoke cigars from time to time, usually on special occasions.  Mine are always the little flavored ones.
20. I love going to weddings.
21. Mark is not a fan.
22. We both drive SUVs.  I have a 4runner; Mark has an Explorer.
23. Our legs are the same length.
24. We both blog.  Mark's can be found at http://austindates.blogspot.com.
25. Our last name is pronounced "crow" (as in the bird) "lee" -- "crow-lee."  You've probably heard other Crowleys pronounced "krow" (rhymes with "plow") "lee."  Mark says his ancestors changed the pronunciation because the author of the satanic bible is Aleister Crowley ("krow-lee"), and they didn't want to be associated with him.

Christmas the Crowley Way, Version 1.0

We enjoyed a beautiful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with loved ones from my side of the family in Houston.  It was so special to have someone with whom to share every moment!  Mark's come to Houston for Christmas before, but it was always for a shortened version of it, as he always went back to spend time with his family in Austin.  This was the first time in which he was with me through it all!   Being with him was definitely energizing.

We were at Mom's on Christmas Eve and Morning, then we visited with Mamal at the nursing home Christmas afternoon and ended up at Dad's and Debbie's Christmas Night.  It was a bit of a whirlwind, but we are so blessed to have several loved ones with whom to spend the holidays!

We enjoyed eggnog martinis again at Mom's (we first tested them at the Crowley Christmas with Mark's side of the family at our house last week), and I'm thinking maybe one of our Christmas traditions will be to feature a different holiday signature drink at each celebration?  We'll see.  The martinis were quite a hit!

Making way for our first married Christmas together

I'm all about tradition ... probably always have been.  I appreciate routine and sentimentality (is that a word?).  So, of course our first married Christmas together is a big deal to me!  I feel like we're setting the stage for how it is we'll celebrate Christmas as a family, so I'm trying to do it right.  I know our routine will change over the years, especially if we're blessed with children, but I don't think that's any reason to not place importance on how we celebrate now. 

I was pretty excited to finally finish decorating our tree -- it only took me three evenings. :)

It's right in front of our front window and looks just beautiful at night when you drive by the house and see it lighting up the darkness.  Mark and I went ahead with the red and gold theme. :)  We used the other ornaments in decorations throughout the house (you'll see in a minute when I post pictures of our fireplace how I used other ornaments in a glass bowl on our coffee table).

We also finally got our new LCD TV mounted above the fireplace and got our fireplace all set up with the fireglass.  We've loved the idea from our California family and were excited to incorporate it our own home.  It's lovely!

We'll eventually get a colored topper (colored glass) for the fireglass, but we still aren't sure what colors we want our living room to be.  We plan to buy new furniture so we'll wait to see what colors are dominant before we choose the topper.  In the meantime, the clear glass itself is fabulous!

So what will our Christmas traditions be?  Well, we're not quite there yet.  Mark and I are actually hosting the Crowley Christmas this Sunday, and I want to make it more than just a shared meal and present opening.  It doesn't need to be any extravagant activity, but I do want to do something a little special or extra.  Still running some ideas in my head.  I do plan to make a ham, so I need to start looking for a yummy recipe and sides.

Other than that, we'll be headed to Houston to spend the Christmas days with my family.  I love the three hours it takes us to open presents Christmas morning, going to Christmas Eve Mass and coming home to shrimp etoufee and watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for the millionth time but still laughing our heads off.

Mark's family gives presents by being assigned names ... this year we're doing couples, in order from oldest to youngest (i.e. parents have Peter and Christine, Peter and Christine have David and Veronica, etc.).  This year, Mark and I have his parents (Mark's the youngest twin by 45 seconds).  I enjoy this idea!

I know I can't put too much pressure on us to establish ourselves so quickly as far as traditions go.  I realize that some things will just become traditions because it's what we do every year;  we've only been married six months!  I am really looking forward to seeing what our traditions become as we continue to grow together.  It's a very exciting time!