Baby's First Christmas Ornament

Christmas ornaments are pretty special to us, so when it came time to pick out the traditional 'baby's first Christmas' ornament, I was a teensy bit stressed. 

I loved so many of the beautiful, dainty ornaments in porcelain, but that always makes me nervous because...hello...breakable. Then there are ones you can personalize with names, plastic ornaments, wood or clay ornaments. Or I could just make it myself. Too many choices!

Here's a round up of a few of my favorites, I especially like the little deer family in the upper left corner. And the flower ball, because it looks like our wedding flowers :) 

Deer Family | Bell | Wooden Snowflakes | Stamped Aluminum Snowflake 

Baby Prints | Flowers | Wire Stroller | Penguin | Holly Fawn

After searching and searching, this is the one I decided on. 

It's porcelain, but we'll just have to be extra careful- after all, we're the parents now!

Things To Do Together this Holiday Season

Photo: Flickr (modified)

Bonus- most of these are free!
 
1. Bundle up and walk in the snow, take your dogs with. 

2. Go out for a drive on the back roads during a snowstorm, crank the holiday tunes. 

3. Find an awesome sledding hill. 

4. Decorate cookies (or invite some friends and have a cookie decorating party).

5. Ice skating!

6. Chop down a tree at your favorite tree farm. 

7. Take a walk or drive through a neighborhood lit up with Christmas lights. 

8. Volunteer a day or night to a cause of your choosing... maybe a soup kitchen or animal shelter.

9. Snowball fight! 

10. Build a nest on the floor, then watch movies & play games all night. 

11. Skeetching. You know, with the sled or tube behind a car. We did this all the time as kids and always had so much fun. (No, it's not entirely legal, be careful!) 

12. Build a giant snow fort. 

13. Take a horse drawn sleigh ride through the country side.

Finally...Christmas Season Is Here!

How was your (hopefully, long) weekend?

Besides a minor, pregnancy-induced hormonal fit that I had on Friday, our weekend was great. I'm going to blame it on being overly tired from all the festivities on Wednesday & Thursday...that's okay, right? 

I've always loved the weekend of Thanksgiving because it is always filled with family and friends, everyone is so laid back and relaxed. It's just a good time! 

The next best part is decorating the house, inside and out. And we always end up getting our tree. 

We didn't see our favorite photographer this year, so these are Kelly's mad skills with an iPhone :) Here is our tree from last year. 

It's been funny these past few weeks, we've spent a lot of time saying "This is our last time ever doing this alone!" 

And nothing is more official than having stockings for the whole family, right? I got one for each of us last month at Hobby Lobby when they were having their 50% off Christmas sale. They ended up being only $6.00 a piece - score! Since we don't have a fireplace mantel, I'm going to screw some hooks onto an old piece of barn wood and hang it with the stockings above our pellet stove. 

When do you put up your tree? Real or fake (no judgements, it's the Christmas spirit that counts!)? To be honest, we have one real and three, small, fake ones :) 

Hope you have a wonderful day.

PS.

Don't forget, it's Cyber Monday. Make sure to check if there's something you've been really saving for! 

Happy Thanksgiving

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, 1937. Photo: Walter Kelleher

Good Morning!

Can we just take a moment to appreciate that nose? 

Will you be watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? My sister and I are going to be baking pies and dinner rolls while it's on. It's one of my favorite traditions, the smells of fresh cooking food and baked goods while the parade is on. And being dog lovers, we never miss the National Dog Show either. It always seems to set the festive mood for the rest of the weekend.

Lately I've been saying that our little girl can arrive anytime now. While talking this morning with Grandma L, I told her that now baby can wait until next week to come because we've got too many fun plans this weekend. She just laughed as we talked about how I have absolutely no control over it. It's hard! I'm realizing that I really like to have control over things in my life - more so, things going on with my body. So for the next couple of weeks, I'm going to try and not think about when she's coming. (yea, right)

Thank you for following along on my blog, I always look forward to hearing your comments. I really enjoy creating this little space and appreciate you following along. 

PS.
Here's some history on the Thanksgiving Day parade (see if you can spot some of the oldest balloons!)

Holiday Gift Guide: For the Hostess (When You're Not Sure What They Might Like)

Welcome to the first installment of this year's Holiday Gift Guide! 

Holidays are full of parties and different social events. You might not always have a personal relationship with the hostess to know her style, but here are some unique gifts that could work for anyone...

Holiday Gift Guide

Can you believe it's that time of the year again? Tomorrow I'll be starting my holiday gift guides, which I'll be posting every Wednesday. I have so much fun compiling these lists, I hope you enjoy! 

Psst...

You can find last year's gift guides here, here, here and here.

Happy Holidays

I have the next four days off of work I am just so excited to be able to relax and spend this Holiday Season with our loved ones. I'm wishing for lots of laughter and new memories. Whatever the Holidays may entail, I hope you enjoy them!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

 

 

Gingerbread Houses

I slept like a rock last night...actually, I'm pretty sure it was a sugar-induced coma.

 

The culprits? A couple teenage girls and gingerbread houses.

 

Kelly's sisters came over and we watched movies, ate popcorn, and got crafty. We built the houses using chocolate graham crackers and hot glue, which Honey was very upset about because, "How am I going to eat them if you hot glue them together?!"

 

We watched a few different movies, but my favorite was Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas. Kelly's mom has been talking about it we were finally all able to watch it together, it was hilarious. Madea is one funny lady.

Nicole made hers have a barn roof- and how cute is that little flower box?

 
And Allison's (yes, another Allison- we go by Thing 1 and Thing 2) gumdrop roof and necco walkway- adorable!

His grandma had been at his mom's house helping to make candles and when they were finished, they came over to visit.

You can't see Kelly, but he is sprawled out on the couch next to his mother. See, he likes to gripe and complain about the chaos- having to hook up the DVD player for us, moving the kitchen table into the dining room, us making a mess with all of the sprinkles, the dog's stinky breath while he's begging to be pet, his mother and grandma stopping over when all he wants is peace and quiet... but really, it's all pretend. He loves it. He had big manly plans to be out working in the pole barn, or upstairs wrapping presents, but where do you think he was all night? On that couch, watching movies and hanging out with us girls.  He gets all of the attention from all of the ladies in his life. He gets to pick on all of us and in return, we pamper him. And we just laugh because we've got his number.

When I took the girls home on my way to work the next morning, his mom sent me with a warm, fresh baked loaf of beer bread and homemade jam to share with the office. I tell you, between three of us we had that loaf gone before the end of the morning. Isn't that horrible? It was so yummy.

Christmas Ornaments

We started our first Christmas tradition last year while we were dating.

Confession: I stole the idea from a Hallmark movie.

We decided that, for a Christmas Gift each year, we pick out an ornament for the other person. The ornament has to represent a memory that we made together in the previous year. We open them together on Christmas Eve and hang them on the tree.

Last year was so fun. I loved opening this:

And remembering one of our first dates. We went with friends to an outdoor concert where they shut down the main four-way intersection in the middle of the town and set up a big stage. My cousins were there and they met Kelly for the first time- he also gave me one of our first kisses. You see- I hate PDA, so I should've known something was happening in my heart when I didn't even flinch!

From there, we all went on to the casino for gambling and a little 3am breakfast. I don't even know what time we ended up getting home, but I'm pretty sure everyone but the driver was asleep for the ride!

Then for his ornament:

Kind of weird and not very Christmas-y, I know. This represents the giant, thunderstorm-of-the-century that we got stuck in while on the lake that summer. Our pontoon was anchored next to my mom's out in the bay and we were all lounging in the water on our floats. All of a sudden out of nowhere, the wind kicked up and it started to sprinkle. As we doggy paddled back to our boat, the sky went black started pouring buckets. I hid under a towel while someone pulled up the anchor, then we booked it across the lake- rain pelting us like airsoft ammo. All of a sudden, my mom's pontoon comes speeding by us at mach 10 and we're all looking at eachother thinking how the heck are they going so fast? Turns out, we didn't have just one anchor down- we had two.

So we laughed and laughed and that summer, it kind of became the norm that most of our best times together happened in the rain. It was funny to take out the ornament this year, decorating our first tree together, and realize that on our wedding day, one of our best days, it rained and poured the entire day. I guess rain really is our thing!

I already have his ornament wrapped and ready for Christmas Eve... I can't wait to see what he picked out!

Until next time,
xx

Festive, Simmering Potpourri Recipe

Scents are one of my favorite things about the holidays. The smell of pine needles and mistletoe. Peppermint sticks and hot chocolate. Sugar cookies and cinnamon pine cones. All of it. As a young girl, when our family decorated the house we always had a pot of potpourri simmering on the stove.

This year I tried my own recipe. It was kind of a 'find-anything-you-have-in-the-kitchen-that-smells-festive' kind of recipe, but oh did it smell yummy!

First, I peeled some Cuties, then added a couple cinnamon sticks. Then I cut two sprigs of evergreen from our Christmas tree and sprinkled in some allspice. I usually like to throw in an apple cut in half, but there weren't any at home and I wasn't all about running to the store for an apple.

Heavenly, I tell you. Honey came home and the first thing he did is ask what smelled so good.

To leave it simmering all day, I suggest making your potpourri in a small crock pot and leave the lid off. Just remember you'll need to add water at different intervals, please don't forget about it!

Have you tried this before? What do you throw in your pot?

Our First Christmas Tree

Together, that is.

I've always had a Christmas tree because I'm a normal, Christmas tree loving kind of gal. Kelly, on the weird other hand, was a nice mixture of Scrooge and the Grinch (I can say was now because his heart has grown three full sizes).

During the first year that we became friends, Christmas rolled around and he told me that he didn't plan on getting a tree. I understand maybe that's normal for a bachelor, but I went on to tease him about being a Grinch. So much so that one day he asked me to stop over. He met me outside and covered by eyes while he walked me inside. As soon as I stepped through the door, I could smell it. Greens! Not of the medicinal kind. I opened my eyes to a beautiful, freshly cut Christmas tree! That might have been when I started to fall in love.

Last year we were still living separately and went tree hunting with a few of our good friends. We cut one for my house and one for his. But this year, this year, we had the full tree-hunting experience, horses, bonfires and all!

Meg Day Photography

After we (Kelly) cut our tree and they shook off all of the loose needles and tied it up, we waited for the horse and wagon to load up our tree and ride back to the barn to pay. As the wagon pulled up, who should jump off but our wedding photograher! It was so nice to see her and her mom, and she was sweet enough to take a picture of Kelly and I to remember our 'first' tree cutting.

 

 

I try not to compare myself with others because I think it can be a nasty habit to get into, but sometimes it's so hard! On Instagram, I'm seeing all of these beautifully decorated trees with tree skirts and lovely wrapped presents underneath. Well, this tree has been up and decorated since Thanksgiving weekend. Notice the lack of tree skirt and wrapped gifts underneath? So that's on my to-do list tonight because this poor tree just looks so sad underneath! I am so very ready for a quiet night at home and I think a little spicey spiked eggnog will hit the spot and keep me nice and warm :)

 

How is this Holiday Season treating everyone so far?

 

 

 

 

  

**PS.

I am sorry for the lack of posting lately. Life has been crazy busy (hello holidays!) I've been at the barn overtime lately and have finally started teaching! More on that soon....

Until then...xx

Gift Guide: Your Kind-Hearted, Outdoorsy Husband Who Can Fix Just About Anything

Today's Holiday Gift Guide is for the lucky men in our lives. Not just for husbands or boyfriends, most of these ideas fit for brothers and friends as well. Take a look and you'll see why I say most...

Making Memories

Hello Lovelies :)

I hope you all had a wonderful, meaningful Thanksgiving weekend. I was not ready to go back to work Monday. A nice, relaxing, four day weekend then Monday rolls around and I can barely open my eyes.

Remember this post about Thanksgiving traditions? A few suggestions were game playing and watching old home videos. By no doing of mine, we did both!

After we stuffed our faces with turkey at my moms, we played the name game. It's where each person writes a name on a piece of paper and you put them all in a bowl. It can be any name. Some from this past time were Rumpelstiltskin, Blues Traveler, Kim K., Snuffalufagus, Kevin Harvick...you get the picture. Then someone reads all of the names and each person gets a turn guessing who is who. If you guess the correct person, they are on your team and you get to help eachother. It gets a little tricky at the end because sometimes a name will get forgotten and there's no re-reading the names.

I will have you all know that for the final game, I won. I had everyone in the house on my team and Kelly was the only person left. Who was he? Bill Cosby. Winner Winner Turkey Dinner.

 

From there, we went on to Kelly's Aunt & Uncle's house where we got to see all of his family, dogs included. They have a German Shepard, a Mastiff, a three or four month old mini Austrailian Shepard and a Hound dog... I sincerely apologize right now for not photographing of all of that cuteness to share!

When we walked in, everyone was snuggled cozy in the family room watching old videos. They videos started from when his grandparents were dating, through them getting married and all the way until their youngest daughter (Kelly's Aunt) was born. There was no sound to the videos, but you could just feel all of the love by simply watching. It was so sweet to watch their interactions and the progression of life over so many years.

On the way home, Kelly and I were talking about the videos. I'll admit (although I blame it on one too many drinks) I was a little tear-eyed because they were so touching. We were talking about how the videos weren't about the clothes they wore. They weren't about how their houses were decorated. Not about how many hours per week they worked or getting that promotion. Not about having the best toys for their children, or buying the latest and greatest iPhone.

They were about family and love. Flirting with your husband while your kids play in the garden hose. Visiting your sister while her husband is in the service. Worrying that your daughter is going to topple off of the hammock because her 17 other cousins are also piled on. And okay, maybe a little bit about your grandpa's favorite old car in the driveway.

I think those family videos were the perfect reminder of what Thanksgiving is all about. Loving the people in your life. Being happy with what you have. Making memories that will last for generations to come.

I think it's safe to say that this has been the happiest Thanksgiving yet!

History of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

 Macys, Inc.

          
I'm so looking forward to watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Here are some random facts and history, if you're interested...

Gift Guide: Your sister who loves a fresh new outfit and makes you laugh when you want to cry.

This week's Holiday Gift guide is aimed at that shopaholic, socialite sister who has your back no matter what. Check it...

Holiday Gift Guide: Your friend who just cannot bring themself to walk past that puppy.



Ready for the first installment of my Holiday Gift Guide? This week's gift guide brings us my personal favorite... Animal Lovers! Click on to see what I came up with...

Let's get into the filling...

I'm talking pies, people. Thanksgiving Day pies. Last year was the first time my mom has ever let me bring anything to our Thanksgiving Day dinner. I always ask and it's always, 'No, no need to bring anything, just be there with bells on!' What does that even mean, mom?!

It's very sweet, but in the past few years I have realized that I really adore cooking and baking. I love it. So after begging last year, I now get to bring the pies! All but pumpkin, because that's her man's favorite and she likes to bake it for him (I secretly think she's afraid I'll ruin it!).

Anywhoo, I must have done a good job because she's letting me keep up with the new tradition!

A Beautiful Mess

This Carmel Apple Cheesecake recipe from A Beautiful Mess was my one complicated 'pie', then I didn't even get to try it! I used the caramel sauce that we bought when we went apple picking at Crane's Orchard. My sister vouched that it was yummy, so I'm definitely making it again and tasting it this time. I don't care if Kelly has to roll me out of the house.

Any guesses for this one? I'll give you two hints...it's my absolute favorite, and it's also a song by Warrant. Yep. Cherry Pie.

And for the life of me I cannot remember the other one I made. Oh well. So cherry pie and the caramel apple cheesecake are on my list again this year, then I'm going to try and swing a raspberry pie along with Kelly's request for chocolate.

Which brings me to the predicament of transportation. We're just two of us, so we travel to our families houses for the holidays. Do you know how hard it is to transport a bunch of pies in pie plates? And if you take a corner a little too fast- forget about it!

Pie Box

My solution? I ordered this adorable pie box. It will save at least one of our pies from splatting against the car window. And I'm super excited to use our new Thanksgiving pie plate that we recieved as a wedding gift from Kelly's grandma!

I'm already salivating thinking about stuffing and mashed potatoes. What are your favorite dishes? Do you have any specialties or family recipes?

Holiday Gift Guide

Hello Dears!

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be posting gift guides for the Holiday Season. Make sure you check back every Thursday- they'll be full of creative ideas that fit most every budget and personality. Not only for the big holiday itself, some could dual as hostess gifts for gatherings with family and friends.

I've had a lot of fun putting them together, I hope that you enjoy!

Costume Round-Up

Happy Thursday everyone! 

Tomorrow is Halloween, so if there's anyone out there who has party plans that popped up, here are some cute last-minute costume ideas floating around the web.

AlexaKatherine

Here's a simple, sweet Scarecrow tutorial.

A Beautiful Mess

Or how about Princess Buttercup and the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride? You could dress your kids or dogs as the Rodents of Unusual Size! 

Cheap Frills and Thrills

This deer-like tutorial doesn't seem too rough.

I can't even explain the love I have for these girls rocking Wayne's World costumes. Party Time. Excellent. 

 

Love This Pic

Here are a couple tutorials from one of my favorite Halloween movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Love This Pic

Because you can't have Jack Skellington without his lady love, Sally.

Runway DIY

And this one is so easy, all you have to say is "Pretty please...with a cherry on top?

Wherever your night may take you, have fun! 

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84% of the year I'm not big on watching the news, but this all changes when the Holiday season rolls around. There is usually an abundance of positive stories, shopping adventures and all around joyous moods that are quite infectious.

Take today for example. I heard that Target is offering free shipping on everything. Everything. With no minimum order. As in I could order a $3.00 tube of toothpaste and have it delivered at home for free. That's pretty exciting for a girl who does all of her shopping online.

Also, Amazon is offering free 30-day trials of their Amazon Prime for which you recieve free two-day shipping on everything, along with some other perks. I love free shipping for the Holidays!

Do you prefer shopping online or in stores?