Easter Decor

I left my Valentine's Day decorations up until last weekend, when I decided that I really needed to move on to something Easter/Spring (even though it was snowing last weekend - not very spring-like).  My parents are here for Easter, and we are having a friend come join us, so I thought I'd get a little festive...

Couldn't pass these cuties up - the only kind of bird I like

I also did a very quick update of the hydrangea wreath I made last year.  I took out some of the flowers that the birds had flapped to pieces (I get chills thinking about how those birds could have flown in our house) and put in some new flowers... GOOD AS NEW!!!

Hopefully as Monday brings April, it also brings spring - I'm ready for it!!!

Valentine's Day Decor

I don't usually get into Valentine's Day, but for some reason this year, my house felt so empty once I took the Christmas decorations down.  AND someone gave me a hard time last year for having a "Christmas wreath" up in February - since when is an evergreen wreath with pines cones a "Christmas" wreath - it's a winter wreath!!!  But anyway, I got a small amount of inspiration this year and came up with some fun stuff...

Simple (a.k.a. cheap) centerpiece

Hobby Lobby purchase - I love that store!

JoAnn Fabrics purchase - another fav store

AND, for the DIY in my Valentine's decor... I wanted to make a wreath, but my door is a deep red so the pink/red/purple I was seeing everywhere was just not speaking to me.  But, I was inspired by a wreath that I found on Take Heart and had to make it.  It was so easy and I just love how it looks!!  

I was going to give my own directions, but her's are fantastic, so if you'd like to make your own, check her out!

Close up of the cute paper flowers!!

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day????

Where did January Go???

I can seriously not believe there are only 9 days left in January.  The spring semester always seems faster to me than the Fall (yes - I live my life in the college semester calendar, not the normal January-December), but this is outrageous!!

When we started the semester, I kept thinking that I wish we would have had one more week before the students came back, but now it seems like they've been back forever and January 6 seems like an eternity ago!

Since I didn't recap Christmas with my family, here's the short version...

• It was so great to have my cousins and aunt home with us (it just wouldn't feel right with out them)
• We had a great "Christmas morning" that was really the day after, but it still felt like Christmas morning to me!
• After a few days in Indiana, we went up to Michigan to visit my other aunt and to go to my cousins' house for our family get together/ugly Christmas sweater party
• We returned to my parents' house for New Year's Eve where it had snowed, so I made Simon...

• New year's even with family, back home on New Year's Day and back to work on the 2nd

Since then, I've recovered from a cold, J has been in the ER with kidney stones and January has disappeared.  We've done some stuff around the house, I've been kind of crafty and I have lots to share, BUT I'm on my way to Chicago on Thursday, so it's going to have to wait until next week.

Just something to look forward to, I guess  :)

Christmas in Minnesota

We had a great trip to Minnesota!

As soon as we got there, we went up to J's grandparents' house.  It was so great to see his grandma with more energy and spunk than this past summer. They live about 15 miles from Canada, which basically just equals COLD, but this year, it also meant that the snow had frozen on the trees so everything was BEAUTIFUL! 

I posted this on Facebook and no one thought it was real

We got back to his Mom's and I finished wrapping while I watched some Christmas cartoons and his sister and her family got there on Thursday night.  On Friday we went and worked out, relaxed a little and went out with his sister and brother-in-law on Friday night. We don't get to do this much and it was so much fun! Not having any siblings, it's hard for me to really get what it means to have a sister or brother, but I feel a little closer to them every time we hang out. 

On Saturday we did a little bit more shopping and then got ready for our Christmas. It was CRAZY and we ended up having to take a half-time to clean some stuff up so we had room for more gifts. I think next year, we should let the kids open the gifts, put them to bed after a while and then open our gifts, hehehe.

J and I only took a couple of small presents up there for each other because it seemed silly to drag them up there and back, but my favorite gift that I got from him this Christmas was this...

 

Infinity ring with our birth stones

I've also gotten tons of compliments on the scarf that J's sister bought me... I absolutely LOVE it!

 



Sorry for the kind of weird picture



Everyone else left on Sunday and we relaxed and read books and just hung out. J and I met some friends out for dinner and drinks and then Monday we relaxed some more (I woke up not feeling well) and went out to dinner before coming home to watch Elf (J's mom had never seen it before). 

On Tuesday, we headed for the airport.  I've never flown on Christmas Day and it was actually busier in the airport than I thought it would be.  We were really lucky to avoid any bad weather, and everything went really smoothly!

We got back to my mom and dad's house on Christmas night and got up the next day to have Christmas - Round 2 with them. 

What's your favorite thing that you got for Christmas?

Oh Crap... Christmas is over

Christmas is definitely my favorite time of year, and while it's still definitely winter in Indiana, it's time to put the Christmas decorations away (maybe this weekend?)

I was so busy leading up to Christmas that I didn't get to post anything that showed the new decorations that were incorporated to what we had last year, so before they go away for another year, here are some pictures of what our house looked like during the holidays...






A modest centerpiece - love the candle sticks!

My grandmother's nativity

Mistletoe  :)

A gift from my mom for our tree

What the nest means...

By the end of the weekend, everything will be back in boxes and back in the garage - I wish they were called "Winter Decorations" instead of "Christmas Decorations" because I'd like to leave them up until the end of February - the lights on our tree create such a great ambiance for our living room!

When did 2012 get here?

Obviously I'm a little behind on my New Year post... the beginning of the semester just drains me and we haven't even started school yet!

I've been catching up on the blogs I follow tonight and everyone did such great recaps of the year and their holidays and mine kind of sucked...

Not my holidays... they were great.  I took a little over a week off work and it was fantastic to get to spend time at my parents'house baking, and hanging out with family and spending just about every day in my pajamas.  It's a great feeling to get up, take a shower and put on some clean PJs.

Christmas was hard... I never would have thought that I would be spending this Christmas without my grandma... despite the fact that her house has been sold and her stuff is all over my parents' house and filling up their garage, it still just doesn't seem real sometimes.

I had to come back to work on the 29th, so my parents, aunt, uncle and a few cousins came down for New Years Eve.  We continued the holiday tradition of eating, watching basketball/football and playing games.  Once again, we spent another holiday in pajamas, but I'm not someone who likes to get all dressed up and go out with the crowds.

On the second, I had some coworkers over for dinner and then I went back to work on the 3rd.  This weekend is a training weekend so there's some extra time in the office.  Next week will be another long week full of late nights and then I get a 3 day weekend because of MLK day, so I'm looking forward to that.

SO, the fact that it's 2012 has not really hit me yet... my Christmas decorations are still up, my suitcase from my trip to my parents' house has not been unpacked and all of our Christmas presents are still in boxes.

Like I said, this week is not going to be much better for me as far as extra time goes, so I guess I just need to plan on MLK day being my day to get stuff done around the house.  It's pretty likely that I won't get any blogging done this week either (maybe a lunch post or two) so I'll put that on the schedule for next weekend as well, now that all of my Wedding Wednesday posts have run out  :-D

Here's hoping that you have a nice, relaxing, quiet week ahead of you... one of us should...

It's almost Christmas!!!

I survived the last few weeks of the semester and now I'm finally on what feels like a much needed break.

I've been so busy that I have not been able to post pictures of our decorations at home.  For our first Christmas in our new house, I wanted to decorate, but I also didn't want to spend a ton of money... we have plenty of time to add to our Christmas collection.  I'm really happy with what we've been able to do this year...

I came up to my mom and dad's house on Sunday afternoon and after some relaxation and a little bit of sleeping in, we got a lot accomplished yesterday.

Decorate Tree - CHECK!!!

Make some sweet stuff - CHECK!!!

Crock Pot Candy... this was really cool!

Peppermint Bark

Melting Snowmen... I love these

Peppermint Sugar Cookies

This is all we really took pictures of, but we got a lot more done... my mom made cinnamon rolls and I made fudge and of course, we also made dinner that did not consist of mostly sugar  :)

Today will be full of shopping.  My dad and I are going shopping for my mom and then when my mom gets home from work, we are going to do some more shopping, mostly for stocking stuffers.

We are going to wrap presents tonight, do a little more baking tomorrow and then my aunt and cousins will be here on Thursday.  Hooray!!!  This is my favorite week of the year!!!

Thanksgiving Recap

Our first Thanksgiving was a success!!!  We had time with family and we are completely exhausted, which means it must have gone well, right  :)

Everyone arrived on Wednesday... J's mom and step-dad from Minnesota and my mom in the afternoon, and my dad late a night after he got done refereeing his basketball game.

We went to a local burger joint for dinner on Wednesday so we didn't have to be in the kitchen and then we went home and relaxed since everyone was tired from traveling.

We got up Thursday morning and got in the kitchen!  My mom brought cinnamon rolls (grandma's recipe) for breakfast and then we cooked all day until dinner at 3:30.  We had turkey, ham, a bunch of casseroles (corn, pineapple, sweet potato), green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and a pumpkin and squash soup that was my experiment that luckily turned out really well!  J also made 2 apple pies and 2 pumpkin pies and my mom brought a cherry pie for dessert.  Everything was delicious and we even used the china that I got from my grandmother to make dinner EXTRA fancy.  Here is a look at our table...

Our Thanksgiving Table

My DIY Centerpiece

Clean-up was quick because everyone was so helpful and then we relaxed and watched football.  The final Texas v Texas A&M game before the Aggies leave for the SEC, started at 8:00 pm (Horns win!!!) and it ended at about 5 minutes until midnight, when it was time for shopping!

J, my mom and I were the only ones who ventured out for midnight shopping, and it was a bust.  Kohls was so full that we didn't even make it to the parking lot... we just U-Turned and left.  We went to Target, where we did find a parking spot, but where there wasn't anything that was worth waiting in line to pay for, so that was kind of a waste, too.  We were home by 1:00 am and in bed by 1:30 am... much different than normal.

On Friday we got up and had breakfast and then went to Brown County... to Nashville, Indiana, which is a super cute little town for of craft shops and tourists.  It was crowded, but not unbearable and we did get a little bit of Christmas shopping done.  We got home and ate (again) and then J, his mom and step-dad and I went to the mall and to Lowe's.  His mom was taking our Christmas presents back to Minnesota for J's side of the family, so we had to get as much of their shopping as possible done.

We got home and I realized that I did not have any gift boxes, so I ran to CVS and got some stuff that I needed and wrapped a bunch of presents (I love wrapping presents) that are on their way back to Minnesota to go under J's mom's tree!  It's actually kind of nice to be done with a few people on our Christmas list.

Saturday, we got up and had another great breakfast and then J took his mom and step-dad on a quick driving tour around campus while my mom and dad and I relaxed around the house and got the Christmas tree put up... HOORAY!!!  When J got home he was so surprised to see the tree up... it was great!

J's mom and step-dad got packed up when they got home and headed out on their log trip north.  J and I went for our run (5 miles... I made it!!) and when we got back, my dad had already left to go ref his basketball game.  I ate a little bit of lunch, despite my upset stomach from my run, and then my mom and I headed out to do some shopping.

She was looking for Christmas gifts, which she found a few of, and I was looking for things to decorate the tree and the new fireplace.  I think I got some really great deals and the inside of the house is fully decorated (minus the tree topper that I wanted J to help me pick out) and the outside just needs some lights!

Our house just works with Christmas.  We have a warm living room with a really deep red accent wall and our dining room and kitchen are a light green.  Those are the colors I went with for my tree and my decorations and I just LOVE how they look.  PICTURES TO COME SOON!!!

Sunday, we got up and made breakfast and my mom got packed up and on the road.  I got the ornaments that I bought, up on the tree and there are even presents under there already (from J's mom and one from me)!!!

The rest of Sunday was spent on the couch for some much needed relaxation and quiet time.  A little bit on online shopping, some time on Blogger and some TV... perfect way to spend a Sunday!

The next couple of weeks are going to be SUPER crazy at work, so I'm hoping to have some really relaxing weekends, with some Christmas shopping and some quality time on the couch, enjoying the Christmas tree!