decorating the apartment

I can't believe it is already the 3rd Sunday in advent! Wow :) I thought you might like to see a picture of some of our apartment decorations - Matt took some the other day to show in class (he's been teaching some English classes again recently, but not on a permanent basis, just off and on for a teacher friend of his).

Every year I try to create some sort of advent wreath, and this is my most successful attempt ever. I managed to find some pillar style candles, but the store only had 9 - 6 red, 2 green and 1 purple. I settled on four red as the outside candles, and put the green one in the center. (It doesn't really follow the traditional color patterns, but, hey, it works.) The greenery is fake, and here's a little secret: the black "base" that it sits on is a piece of cardboard covered in a scrap of black fabric. It's all about working with the resources you have....

The nativity is sitting on our dish cabinet and I really like it there - this photo was taken early one morning. It looks like it's raining outside, but it basically never rains here except for during the rainy season (summertime). The moisture on the windows is condensation. Our windows aren't double paned, and the warmer temps inside cause moisture to form. We have water running down the inside of our windows almost every morning in the wintertime. The windows on the sunny side of the house dry up first, but the windows on the north side are often wet until late afternoon.

Yep, that's a Wake Forest stadium cup sitting on the end of the table. Go Deacs!