It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Now that the sickness is finally gone from my body....for a few months, it's time to get ready for Christmas!

We put our first tree in our house up and it was fun to have our own ornaments! :)

I took pictures of a few of my favorites!

This was a wedding gift!

This was an ornament that my grandma made me a long time ago!

I bought this one for John this year.. I want to start the tradition of getting an ornament each year to celebrate something we've done in the past year.

More to come later... my coffee cup is empty and it's almost time to go to work!!

Sick of being sick...

Well it's Sunday evening and I've been sick all weekend, and I'm sick of it! My husband passed on his cooties and I now have his cold. Luckily, he took care of me all weekend which was so sweet of him. I was able to lay on the couch and recoop for most of the weekend, making sure that I'll be able to go back to work Monday.
Friday was my dad's retirement party at work and I was so completely proud of him! He has worked at the same place for 37 years and has made such a difference in many people's lives! It was great to celebrate with him. Friday night we made personal pizzas with Emma, Leah, and John's mom. Saturday morning my brother and my niece came down and dad made pancakes. It was nice to see family even if I wasn't feeling the greatest.
So this evening I got a bit antsy...as much as I love being taken care of by my husband I'm not one to lay around! So, I got up did some cleaning and then made an outdoor craft and some pumpkin muffins. For my craft I found some pinecones from my backyard and glued them onto some decorative ribbon and hung them outside my door. Then the pumpkin muffins were the easiest most delicious thing ever. The recipe was passed on to me and now I can pass it on to you, ready... a can of pumpkin filling and a box of yellow cake mix!!! That's it!!! :)


So, now I'll reclaim my spot on the couch with my hot tea, pumpkin movie, and husband.

Today I'm thankful for
my husband who also makes a nice nurse
the simple things in life
Christmas movies
upcoming holidays! :)

Happy Friday

Well, I made it through the week...barely. It seems that I have picked up the cold from my loving husband. We had parent teacher conferences last night from 1pm-8pm, which turned out good even though it was a long evening! So this morning I'm taking my time, enjoying my peppermint flavored coffee, and catching up on my DVRed tv! In a little bit we are getting ready to head to dad's retirement party at work! He has worked so hard the last 37 years and he deserves only the best!! Next Friday is his last day and I know he is going to celebrate :) I'm looking forward to seeing our nieces Emma and Leah tonight to have a personal pizza party! :) Then tomorrow Kameron and my brother Keith are coming over to check out the house!

I'd like to report that I have gotten a good start on Christmas presents. Everything is homemade this year and I'm excited to see some of the finished products. I don't know that I can really share since some of the recipients might be reading this....sneaky sneaky :)


Things I'm thankful for on this fall Friday:
1. My wonderful family that makes my heart happy
2. Peppermint flavored greatness
3. Friends that leave me fun messages that make me smile
4. Radio stations that are already playing Christmas music
5. The fact that I have a savior who loves me even when I don't deserve it
6. My husband who tucks me in at night

Song of the Day

This song is stuck in my head and my heart.. but that's a good thing! I can't help but sing and dance to it whenever I get the minute. I think it was a good thing for me to sing and dance around the living room this morning before heading to work! Sometimes I need to remember what life is all about. It's not about the frustration that comes with my work day, or the things on my to do list... it's about loving and showing others God's love. As long as I make sure I'm doing that, each day will be a success! :)
So, enjoy and take a second to dance around! Trust me, your heart will enjoy it! :)


Verse 1:
He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

Pre-Chorus:
And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Chorus 1:
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.

Verse 2:
We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
Chorus 2:
He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.

Verse 3:
Well, I thought about You the day Stephen died,
And You met me between my breaking.
I know that I still love You, God, despite the agony.
...They want to tell me You're cruel,
But if Stephen could sing, he'd say it's not true, cause...

Chorus 3:
Cause He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us.
Whoa! how He loves us.
Whoa! how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.

Fall Happiness :)

There is something nostalgic about fall. The smell of cool air, the bright colors on the leaves, and pumpkins everywhere just make me giddy:)
Last Saturday Bre and I worked the farmer's market. We sold mums and asters from Dickerson's Greenhouse. It was a great time and we met some amazing people. If only we had made more of a profit, we might become professional farmer's marketers :) Our neighbor vendors were so sweet to us, we ended up getting some melon to eat and some daylilies to plant! They really were great people.

This week has been super crazy as everything is getting back to the school routine. It had been stressful and I wasn't handling it the best way. I came home Wednesday night and neither John or I had anything planned so we decided to grill and enjoy time together. I didn't open my computer and I focused only on my husband. We decided to take a walk down the neighboring street and we had a great time holding hands and just talking. I wouldn't trade that night for anything in the world. John also planted my black-eyed susans and we checked on our growing apple tree in the backyard! It was a great fall evening :)

My friends and I started taking a bellydancing class this week and it was absolutely amazing! The atmosphere was great and it was actually a great workout. We learned a few of the steps and formations and danced around shaking out butt! The good news is that next week the belly dancing scarves will be for sale! It's just not as fun if you're shaking it and not making music! :)


Here's to a great weekend......

Spring break lists

I know that I haven't been posting on here very often. I'm going to try and get better. So, this week has been Spring Break. And even though the weather hasn't been absolutely amazing a lot has been accomplished! With the wedding less than 2 months away and the house needing so much work it's obvious that this week wasn't going to be relaxing!
So far lots of wedding stuff has been done. I had a great afternoon with some of my favorite ladies who helped me make favors :) Grandma came and did my dress altering and promised that if I gained or lost any weight in the next 2 months that I would be in trouble!!
The house looks completely different than it did the day we bought it! It's hard to believe how much it's come along already! I finally took the icicle lights down! John has been working so hard on the house and I'm so excited for all that he has done. I will have to upload some of our demo pictures. I had lots of fun knocking down walls with the sledgehammer. John's favorite story is when he was telling me about the dream closet that he wanted to build me complete with purse hooks and everything! Then as the day went on he got more and more tired and said he wasn't sure if he wanted to knock out the current closet to make the new one...it was going to be a lot of work. So, as he battled it back and forth in his mind I took the sledgehammer and knocked a big hole in the current closet and stated, "DECISION MADE!" :) Don't play with my emotions about closets! :)


More demo to come.....

Home Sweet Home

Well it's hard to believe that we are officially homeowners! We closed over a week ago and have started making plans and spending money to build our dream! Our home is a foreclosure that we are in love with. Of course our house has a story, why wouldn't it?! We came across it while my dad and I were looking for a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. He was cutting down a tree in the yard while I looked in the windows. Then I saw it...the J on the chimney! It was meant to be. So I showed John the house online only to find out that he had showed it to me a week earlier and I had responded, "Eww, you really want me to live there?" So, we checked it out and long story short...GOD IS GOOD! He worked things out and we own the house now!
We've been to Menards and picked up our first supplies. We have tools in the house and we're just waiting on some heat to get to work. Today we replaced the locks and I put together the mailbox!
We are so excited to get to work. John has some amazing dreams and I can't wait to seem them come into play! :)
On top of house work we are still planning the wedding. 90 days and counting! I am so excited and cannot wait to be married to the man of my dreams. Things seem to be coming together and I just want May 30th to be here! As stressful as things get I have to just remember that in the end...we'll be husband and wife! :) So, deep breath and get back to living :) :)