Presents

Christmas is right around the corner! Our family is having our Christmas early due to work schedules and traveling. Since I'm making most of our gifts this year, I've been busy trying to get everything done in time. Just wanted to show what all of my sweet nieces will be getting!

Most of them will get these precious rose barrettes.

And my niece, Bella, who isn't going to be born until February is getting this for her new nursery.



cute, huh?



1st Christmas Tree

Jerry and I went to pick out our tree the day before Thankgiving. I was so excited to pick out our 1st tree together! We searched and searched, examining every tree on the lot. Finally we found our tree...it was perfect...

We decorated our tree, and here are the "after" pictures...

Some of my favorite ornaments...(we got the one below on our honeymoon)

Look! There's even a few presents under it (there's a few more now)

Isn't he sweet?



Our tree is up, the decorations are out, and the stockings are hung. I am working on getting our Christmas cards sent out so that we'll be on our way to having a great 1st Christmas together!





Fill-In the Blank Friday





1.   Holiday spirit  is wonderful! I get so excited for Christmas because it just has a happy feel to it, ya know?
2.  The holidays are incomplete without  real Christmas trees, twinkling lights, special ornaments, sweaters, coffee and hot chocolate, warm boots, homemade candy (from your Grandmother), fires in the fireplace, really soft blankets, watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas songs, wreaths on front doors, sending and receiving Christmas cards, staying in your pajamas a little later in the day, wrapping paper and ribbon, stockings hung in a row, spending time wth friends and family, remembering Christ.

3.  My favorite things to do around the holidays is  to decorate! I love making all sorts of DIY crafts to put up around my house and make it feel cozy. I also love to find somewhere that has really great Christmas lights to go see, because I love them, they're beutiful, I could stare at them all day.

4.  A holiday tradition my family and I have is to go to my Grandmother's on Christmas day and see the ENTIRE family! (it's big, trust me). Also, we get a new ornament every year. We always hang stockings and it turns out to be our favorite thing to open Christmas morning. For breakfast, we always have sausage balls and pound cake.

5.  Holiday music is the best! I loooove Christmas music. I drive Jerry crazy because I start listening to it in November, which he thinks is way too early. I just love the songs, they are so upbeat and heartwarming. They remind me of older times and memories. Our wedding videographer just sent us a Christmas mix CD that I have been obsessed with listening to.
6.  This year, I'll be spending the holidays   with Jerry's family the early part of December and mine towards Christmas. I'll probably go with my family to my Grandmother's house on Christmas day, but Jerry has to work.

7.  Holiday wish list  is this beautiful yellow stand mixer. These adorable slippers from Etsy...and that's all I can think of for the moment.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Here's what's on our Thanksgiving menu...

Turkey
Cornbread Dressing
Gravy
Hashbrown Casserole
Pioneer Woman's Green Bean Casserole
Broccoli Cheese Casserole
Rolls
Buttermilk Pie
Pecan Pie
Brownie Cheesecake

...and this is our Thanksgiving day schedule:

-watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 

-cook forever!

-eat, eat again and eat some more

-go get a Christmas tree

-put up Christmas decorations

-watch "White Christmas" (it's tradition & such a great old movie!)

Christmas Photo Cards with Shutterfly

An item I had left to check off on my "Fall To-Do List" was to start making my Christmas cards. After visiting several different websites, I figured out on Shutterfly how to make some really cute and easy photo cards. I am so excited (with it being Jerry and I's first Christmas together!) to send these out and start a tradition.

They have tons of different styles. Here are some of my favorites:

Shutterfly makes it so easy...all you have to do is upload your picture and select your card template. Order the amount you want and they come right to your door.

 Here's the link for the Christmas Photo Cards. 

If you make an account with Shutterfly, you can also upload any pictures and have them printed and sent straight to your mailbox!

My sister-in-law also made a really sweet photo book of my niece that made a great gift for my mom.

If you want 50 FREE Christmas Photo Cards, then visit this link to see how!

Wishing for a Beach

I love the fall and I like it to be cool weather. It's just fitting. But being a summer girl at heart...I can't help but dream about the beach and basking in the warm sunshine sometimes when the weather is continually dreary.

Here's some of Jerry and I's honeymoon pictures at the absolutely stunning island of St. John. Looking at them reminds me of the beautiful sunshine!



Happy Birthday

This weekend Jerry and I went to the cutest 1st Birthday Party for our friends from church's little boy, Wilson.

It was carnival themed and absolutely adorable since his mommy worked super hard to hand make the maypole, games and snacks! See photos at her blog Evangeline Gifts.

I always have trouble wrapping presents for boys, but I really like what I came up with to wrap Wilson's gift. Maybe I'll use the same idea for some Christmas presents this year...

I wrapped the gift in brown paper and embossed a little message to the birthday boy on it. I finished it up with some brown and blue ribbon, combined with some twine. It's cute but still rustic enough to look like a little boy!





Fill-In the Blank Friday



1.   The most spontaneous thing I've ever done was  go on a blind date...which turned out to be the man of my dreams, my husband!
2.  The best gift I've ever received was  the gift of salvation from Jesus Christ.

3.  A time that I was truly and genuinely surprised was  when Jerry proposed because I was so impressed that he could get such a beautiful ring that was my exact taste by himself!

4.  I can't leave the house without  my wristlet, cell phone, keys and usually my water bottle.

5.  My favorite day of the week is    Sunday because    I get to spend the morning taking care of all the adorable kids at church, and then usually go to eat with Jerry and friends, followed by going to the Arboretum or park to relax.

6.  Something that can always make me laugh is   when my dog, Rocky, starts rolling around in some random pile of objects.

7.  My perfect day would include  waking up late, getting breakfast with Jerry, taking a walk, reading while drinking coffee, having a picnic with Jerry, making some crafts, playing with my dogs, taking a nap, cooking a great meal for dinner, NOT having to do the dishes, planting some new plants on our patio and then taking a bubble bath before falling asleep.

Fill-In the Blank Friday at The Little Things We Do...

Virtual Coffee

If I was really having coffee with you this morning...

I would tell you that I have switched temporarily to decaf. boo. A few weeks ago, I started getting stomache aches due to an overload of caffeine. :(

But on a brighter note...I would tell you that I have checked off multiple items already on my "Fall To-Do List" such as eating lots of candy corn on Halloween (and after...let's be honest), buying some beautiful new brown leather boots, making the fall wreath for my door (which looks adorable) and the fabric pumpkins, and started attempting my Christmas cards. The problem I am having with my Christmas cards is that I am VERY picky when it comes to that sort of thing, and I haven't quite gotten them to look the way I want them too. But I'll keep working.

I would also tell you how I am so excited to be having Thanksgiving at my house this year! I love cooking and it's going to be great getting to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the first time. I have started to gather recipes from various places and this one for Green Bean Casserole, from The Pioneer Woman, looks amazing!

Also, with the dream of Christmas already on its way...I have started looking for some good DIY decorations. Today I found these beautiful projects all from Gifted Magazine.

Virtual Coffee at Lucky Number 13.

Fill-In-The-Blank

1. My Halloween plans this year will include sitting at home with my husband and eating some yummy treats I'll bake OR going to see my neice in her adorable lady bug costume!

2. My most memorable Halloween costume was turning my ballet recital costumes into Halloween costumes and pretending to be a ballerina/fairy/princess. But, my mom also made me several great costumes. Whatever happened to making them instead of buying them?!

3. For Halloween this year I'm going to be just me.

4. I've always wanted to dress up as something really funny and goofy, like a big M&M or something.

5. Halloween free association! I don't know what this is. I even googled it and still nothing.

6. The worst thing about Halloween is haunted houses. I always used to get roped into going to them with my friends and I HATED IT! I finally realized that there's no reason to subject myself to that kind of torture.

7. The best thing about Halloween is all of the cute little ones in their costumes. I just love giving candy out to them! :)

Link up at The Little Things We Do!