Ornaments from Christmas Past

December 16, 2011 By 2 Comments

The lights have been strung, the ribbon wound with care, and the ornaments dangle from the bottom limbs to the top.

 

 

 Our tree is a work of art.

 

 (OK so maybe its more like Picasso than Rembrandt but it’s still art!)

 

 My favorite part of this tree is that the good majority of the ornaments are special to us in a lot of ways.

 

 Alex has a number of ornaments he loves, but I know that this cradle ornament is super special to him because it reminds him of his Mom. She’s not around anymore for him to visit with over Christmas time so having this ornament brings her a little closer during the holidays.

 

 

 I have lots of ornaments I love too. (I mean who wouldn’t love an ornament that says “Brings us your loons and holly.”) However, like Alex I have a few that are extra special to me like this pickle which reminds me of my brother. He’s also no longer with us in body, but he’s definitely here in spirit.

 

 

 (Especially when we send my “baby” brother, who is six feet tall, diving under the tree for more gifts.)

 

 Holidays are so fun, and so are ornaments. Which makes the little things like ornaments that remind us of loved ones who we’ve lost to things like cancer, which is the case for both Alex’s mother and my brother, seem all that more precious.

 

 What about you, do you have a special ornament or two on your tree? Why is it special?

 

 This post is sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

 

Filed Under: Family, General things about our lives, Marriage Adventures Tagged With: , , ,

Rambling, Tumbling, and Stumbling

December 13, 2011 By 3 Comments

My brain is so darn busy right now. I can’t seem to focus on anything, but I’m sure this will change soon as the new meds kick in. 

This past weekend was just slam full of things to do. I went shopping with my Momma at Garden Ridge and managed to find the perfect holiday sign.

This really would save Santa a ton of time!

The main reason we went to the store though was for flowers for my Brother’s grave. Rather than go with the pre-made flowers I wanted to make a bouquet which is what I sat and did Sunday evening. 

The entire weekend the cats would not leave us alone. Harley insisted on chilling with Daddy and well Beezle. I think he had an issue with me taking a private bath and as such climbed right on into the tub!

On an update note, per the doctor the meds were what was making me darn near looney! However, quitting cold turkey was not my smartest move either. I had thought I was getting the flu since I was dizzy all the time, achy, so darn tired and just plain ol sick feeling but that was just me coming off the meds. YUCKO! Word to the wise, do not cold turkey quitting unless you give yourself a few days to get off them.

Other than that we’ve been prepping for Christmas. We were able to start wrapping gifts since we’re done shopping. Well Alex still has a gift to buy, but that’s on his “to-do” list not mine! Plus, despite being on vacation yesterday I worked from home for a while just to ensure I didn’t lose my mind when I went back to work today. 

All in all it was a great weekend, if only I could FOCUS!

Filed Under: Family, Marriage Adventures Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Driving Down Memory Lane

December 2, 2011 By 6 Comments

It’s the holiday season (:: music notes :: the holiday season :: no more music notes ::). That means traveling and road trips for a lot of people.

Not that Alex and I are traveling OR going on a road trip any time soon.

Still whenever we each think of road trips we have some pretty fun memories. Memories such as singing “WAY DOWN UPON THE SUWANEE RIVER!” (My singing voice is beautiful. Promise. Kinda.)

Anyway, for as long as I can remember whenever my family crossed into or out of Florida my Momma would sing “way down upon the Suwanee River” no matter what time it was. Even now as we are grown adults, she’ll call both my brother and I and sing the song to our voicemail if she has too. I try to keep up the fun tradition by doing the same to her whenever I travel.

click for source

However one distinct memory stands out of this traveling. I was a senior in high school, on the annual band trip. We were heading down to Disney World where we would march in a parade among other things. Very exciting times. Like any self-respecting senior teenager I was sitting in the way back of the bus with my friends snoozing because it was pretty late at night. I vaguely noted we were crossing the border and then those of us awoke to hear the bus microphone flip on.

There in front of my friends, the band director, other parents, and THE UNDERCLASSMEN (seriously, how would i get any respect now) my Momma stands up in the front and says “Stephie I love you” and then proceeded to SING!

It’s a great and very happy memory now, but at the time I was mortally embarrassed and yet my heart was shining in love because my Momma was going to keep up the memories no matter what.

Alex has memories of going to see his grandparents and their amazing brick home “Whirlwind”. He and his brother would spend summers there growing things in the garden with his grandfather, observing military training fly-by’s, and practicing their shooting. I wish I had some photos so you could see this place, but I will scan and see if I can’t add some this weekend.

What travel memories do you have?

Filed Under: Family, Marriage Adventures, Vacations Tagged With: , , , , ,

Thanksgiving Recap

November 30, 2011 By 6 Comments

Thanksgiving this year was just lovely. Thursday morning the alarm went off at 9 a.m. just in time for Alex and I to grab coffee and cinnamon rolls while watching the Macy’s Day Parade.

During the commercials I prepped and then slid into the oven my apple pie using some apples that I had frozen in a mix from when we went apple picking earlier this year.

After that went in I grabbed more coffee (which on later reflection I probably did not need) before starting in on the green bean casserole. Alex was a huge help because he scrubbed, peeled, diced, and later smashed all of the mashed potatoes. (I mashed a little too but only because I really wanted to say I helped!)

Around 12:30 after we had gotten all spiffed up we headed over to my Mom and Dad’s place. My father had the traditional role of carving the turkey.

The table was loaded down with a ton of goodies which we all quickly demolished. (Ok so this isn’t the best photo but I was drafted to help load the table not take photos. By the time all the food was down I was more concerned with eating thank you very much.)

After dinner we all gathered to watch shows on the t.v. with Alex and my Grandparents talking about guns from WWII of which the rest of us remained slightly clueless.

Its my PopPop and Grandma!

We ended the night by watching Punkin Chunkin 2011 which is becoming an annual tradition it seems. I absolutely loved being able to spend time with family, especially my Grandparents whom I don’t get to see that often.

I hope y’all had a great Thanksgiving Day as well!

How are y’all doing in moving from Thanksgiving to Christmas?

 

Filed Under: Family, Marriage Adventures Tagged With: , , , , ,

Getting Organized

November 18, 2011 By 3 Comments

I can hardly believe its halfway through November, but ready or not here it is. Of course that means that December is almost here which means I have already started itching for a brand new day planner.

I have one right now and it is my life. MY LIFE. I rarely leave home without it, unless its date night with Alex because well I don’t want to have a planner on my dates. Otherwise though, it stays in my black briefcase bag always available to me at a moment’s notice.

This planner is great as it has a hard cover with a magnetic flap that I can use to tuck unpaid bills in so that I remember to pay them. Plus it has the weeks separated out so I can look at my week in a glance. Lastly it has monthly “notes” sections and blank notes sections where I can keep track of what bills I should be expecting and how much they were / are so I can plot our finances for months at a moment’s notice. In other words I use it to keep track of our bills, our activities, doctor appointments, and everyone else’s birthday. I also use it to keep track of work related dates that I might otherwise forget.

Now I have an iPhone that I love and which keeps me pretty darn organized most of the time but I can honestly say that I could not function without my hard day planner. Next year however, I want to be a tad more organized with the blog.

As such I’ve decided I need not one, but TWO day – planners to function. One for my life and the other for this blog.  Which leaves me undecided on what to get for each one. Clearly with a blog I need enough room to jot down ideas and topics for posts, but I don’t need a ton of extra space beyond that. However for the everyday planner I need weeks, months, AND little notes sections. Plus I sorely abuse these so they had better be durable.

Do y’all utilize planners for blogging or real life organization? What have you found works best?

Filed Under: Family, Marriage Adventures, Our House Tagged With: , , ,

Happy BirthWeen!

October 31, 2011 By 15 Comments

Happy Halloween Y’all!! It’s time to get spooky right?

How do you celebrate this day? I’m sure many of y’all are dressing up, gathering candy, eating candy, and attending parties.

Me? I made 53 Bats and then snuck over to my parents house in the middle of the night because I love my Daddy.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: , , , ,

MommyPage {Dot} Com

October 26, 2011 By 1 Comment

MommyPage {dot} com was kind enough to interview me recently about my blog and more specifically Alex and I’s journey into infertility. You can check out my interview HERE.

Y’all should totally check this site out because they have a TON of coupons just for Mom’s. And quite frankly, a lot of great ones even if you aren’t a mom. Like Me! In the meantime, I’m gonna let Sarah Abfalter from MommyPage tell you a little more about this place.

We’ve just launched a new site, MommyPage, to bring expectant moms, new moms and veteran moms a single source to all of the deals, coupons and savings opportunities offered online!Our goal at MommyPage is to scour the internet to find and consolidate the latest free samples, coupons, and special offers from some of the best name brands that moms like us love!  When the brands we love most aren’t offering something special – we have a team of moms that reach out to those companies to encourage them to offer something great to our MommyPage Turners!   MommyPage currently has found and posted offers such as VTech Kids, Kellogg’s, ThredUp, Baby Talk and American Baby!

Beyond our offers and deals, MommyPage helps all moms navigate their way through parenting.  Our community of moms share stories on buying maternity clothing, healthy eating for two, baby behavior, first day at preschool and more!  Being a mom is about managing a home and a lifestyle.  With our tips on parenting and access to savings, we hope to help moms make parenthood a successful adventure!

We hope that you allow us to join you in your adventure in parenting!  Visit our Mommy Page today.

Thanks Sarah! Y’all should go check it out, and don’t forget to read my interview!

Filed Under: Family, infertility, Marriage Adventures, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Taking the dare. . .

September 29, 2011 By 9 Comments

Have y’all seen the movie “Fireproof”? It’s rather good, but yes heavily Christian based. I originally watched because well the Duggar family members are extras and I heard about it watching one of their shows. (Yes. I like the show. Get over it. I don’t agree with everything, but for the most part I like the show.)

Plus I was engaged at the time and Alex had heard good things about it as well so we watched it. We felt great about. We vowed to live a Fireproof marriage.

Ha. Haha. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HA.

Life happened. We um, failed, at our goal in a lot of ways. HOWEVER – we have never given up, so in that sense we are living the life.

This year, following a series of really great blog topics that I cannot blog about (I know I know…how annoying of me to even mention this) which is driving me LOONEY and major life stressors, Alex and I had our second wedding anniversary. My gift to him was a gun cleaning mat. So he would quit using our bath towels.

He gave me the “365 Love Dare: Wedding Edition” so we could begin a year of daily devotions and weekly dares to get back to a place where our lives and our marriage are Fireproof. (Clearly he trumps me in the gift giving area this year.)

click for source

So far we’re 11 days in and it has gotten harder. Not harder to read so much as harder to fulfill the tasks set aside. After a long day at work and then coming home to laundry and / or dinner all either of us wants to do is veg out. Taking the 10 minutes to read the daily devotion isn’t the hard part. It’s the journaling and the weekly dares that are tough right now. But they are building blocks to a better him, a better me, and ultimately a better us which is awesome.

Also awesome? We’re praying together every single night. That’s a HUGE improvement over well 1. Not praying at all and 2. Not necessarily taking time to connect every night. Even if we don’t reconnect at any other point of our night, we both know we’ll have devotion and prayer time together.

I’ll be straight up with y’all, it’s not the best. It’s not 100% where I want to be, but at least it’s moving in the right direction. I’m curious, has anyone else heard of The Love Dare? Completed it? If not, would you be willing to give it a go with your spouse?

What were your overall thoughts?

Filed Under: 365 Love Dare, Family, Marriage, Marriage Adventures Tagged With: , , , , ,
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