It's the most wonderful time of the year

After our Black Friday adventure, and a much needed nap, we decorated for christmas!

Our tree! My favorite one by far that we've had. We went with a country/rustic christmas theme. Just a few red bulbs and lots of antique looking and custom ornaments. Topped with an awesome cute angel we found this morning at Target.

Better look at our angel. She's got so much character! Some of our other notable ornaments in this picture; Our "Night before christmas" book, we write something in this every year. Last year we wrote 168 days! (till our wedding of course), first christmas (married) smores ornament. It's so cute, little graham cracker, hershey bar, and a bride and groom marshmallow on top, and we have some custom made ornaments with our dogs pictures on them.

My dad graciously let us go through his old christmas stuff and take some things! We have some pretty classic ornaments on there, and ones I remember from when I was a little one :)

Dad also gave us this fireplace gate. Our fireplace is very odd shaped and it didn't fit, so we put it around the ficus plant!

Our living room all decorated. We had to rearrange a little, the tree was a lot bigger than we had anticipated, but a great deal at walmart for $78!

Garland up the stairway to the loft...

This tiny pathetic picture (lol) is of my very small (but growing) village.

That book in the back was from borders for 3 dollars, it has some great christmas stories in it that one day we can hopefully read to our kids. But really, I got it because I think it's a beautiful decoration. The cloth on the table is from when I was younger and tried to sew pillows as christmas gifts lol

We bought a gorgeous flannel sheet set at target this morning I love the print and it's SO comfortable!

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care, and the pets stockings are already stuffed!

I don't think charlie is going to be able to wait until christmas!!!

Black Friday Madness!!!

Black Friday shopping was awesome this morning! We went to Target (shown in the picture below), Walmart, Kmart, Petsmart, and Bath and Body works. We got some great deals and had a heck of a time! Jeff was so excited he couldn't sleep last night lol. We pretty much have all our christmas shopping finished now (except for eachother).

Here's a picture of target at 430am, 30 minutes before they opened the door, we were pretty close to the front, but the line wrapped around the back of the building to the loading dock. Walmart was a mad house, petsmart was a ghost town but really great deals, bed bath and beyond kinda sucked, kmart was great especially for christmas decor!

We finished the morning off with breakfast, a nap, then decorated for christmas (to come in next post)!

Another One to Grieve over

This one is a beauty as well. WOW!

Like a Knife Through the Heart

They added more pictures to the website of the house we were looking at

AND YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS...

They lowered the price another 10K. It is now down to 159,000. I am totally heartbroken. I would sell my soul to live in this house... oh well...

Low GI diet= New and exciting recipes?

Due to my recent diagnosis of PCOS, I need to change some of my eating habits. One of the biggest and hardest things is going to be switching to a low GI (glycemic Index) diet. I found a great website though, with some really exciting recipes. I think the biggest issue I'm going to run into is fish... I HATE fish, and it's one of the most important things for me to eat now. So we are going to start with tuna steak, and see what happens...


Soy French Toast- basically french toast, but with soy milk and whole grain bread!

Chicken and Chick Pea Casserole

Red Wine Beef Stew

Lemon and Parsley chicken

Tuna Steak with apricot compote
I will post recipes and pics as we attempt to make some of these dishes. It should be exciting!

Cutest Nurseries Ever

http://www.littokids.com/

Spoiled rotten dogs!

Check out these crazy new products for your pets! What will they think of next?


The Purr Detector is a collor that goes on your cat and lights up as they purr (just in case you weren't already convinced that you cat was happy). Bowlingual Dog Translater- this is insane! It translates your dogs barks and noises into 6 different emotions on the handset. So you can know what your dogs feeling!

Bowser Beer- Hopps and alcohol free beer for your pets. It contains Glucosamine, chicken broth, and malt barley.

Ornament Making Party

We will be having an ornament making party on Saturday December 5th. We are going to make ornaments out of everyday materials, to cherish for a lifetime.

Dried orange slice with ribbon

Glitter adorned pine cones

Clothespin soldiers

More details to come soon!

DIY Christmas Gifts

Everyone around me is broke and depressed. People are talking about "cancelling" christmas because they have no money, and all I seem to be hearing is "Bah-humbug." It's kind of sad to me that people are so stressed out about buying gifts, when that's really not what christmas is about. Of course we all love presents, but to me, it's about being around family, eating good food, and the feeling of wholeness that comes with this time of year.


Jeff and I will be giving gifts to our friends and family, despite money troubles and the economic chrisis. In order to do this, we are getting creative this year. DIY is the way to go for an inexpensive, touching, meaningful christmas! Here are some great DIY gift ideas we are thinking of trying, and for you to consider as well!


Don't let the money stress get you down. Christmas comes whether there are presents, a tree, stockings, or not. Take this time of year to enjoy your family, be thankful for what you DO have. I kind of look at the hard economic times as a good thing. Maybe people will open their eyes, pull together, and find the true meaning of the holidays and life in general. OK done ranting. Here we go!

Sock Monkeys
Super cute, super cheap, and super easy to make! You just take a pair of socks, cut it up, sew a few spots, and stuff! My sister and I are going to make this as gifts this year, and we plan on making some extras to donate to the childrens hospital!

Peppernuts (or any other home baked goods)
What better way to show you care than take time to bake homemade goodies! These peppernuts are a German tradition and the recipe and tutorial can be found at www.asoftplace.net

Monogram Candles
Buy a candle, paint a monogram, wrap with celophane and ribbon and wa-la a perfect and customized gift that is adorable and also provides relaxtion! Tutorial can be found at asoftplace.net

So when you are feeling down and helpless, get creative, I'm sure these gifts will be cherished more than something bought at the store anyway!

Indoor Plant Stand Ladder

Love this DIY project. Great for a sunroom, garden, or just inside a home. Super easy too! You can find it at womansday.com

Tis the season!

Our theme this year is "Rustic Country Christmas" we are going for a heartwarming, cozy, classic feel. Red, gold, and green. With lots of handmade and vintage ornaments. I want to DIY a lot of our decorations this year. It will be fun and memorable, and we can keep the decor forever and pass it down. Here are some DIY projects I'd love to take on