December Love

So, in these short 5 days of December I have found many things that we have done that I have loved. Here are things in these first 5 days of Christmas that we have already done that I have really cherished!

1. Decorating the christmas tree with a little christmas music, mainly Louis Armstrong

in honor of decorating christmas trees I thought I would post a picture of this amazingly awesome tree near flower mound. It is about 15 minutes from my parent's house down a long winding road with few lights. All of a sudden out of literally no wear there is this tree that lights of the sky!!! I wish you could see the magnitude of this tree, but it is HUGE! And the entire thing is covered in lights!! It really is amazing!!!

This second picture kind of gives you a better idea of how big the tree is with the house in the background. It is AMAZING!


2. Waking up to a winter wonderland, with a cup of coffee in my hand
Most of you probably experienced the snow also, but I had to blog about it! How cool was that!!! Jackson was clueless about it not to mention he was sick so we experienced snow from a distance. I hope we get some more.
Ok...so our house didn't look quite like this, but cool pic huh?

aahhhhhh...doesn't this make you just want to curl up by the fire with a blanket and a good book?


3.Reading Jackson, The Night Before Christmas book
He still doesn't really get the whole Santa thing, but he does understand that there are presents under the tree and he wants to open them. He just throws them and hopes they pop open. We've been working on this.


4. Making a fire in the fireplace
We've had a few in the fireplace already and they just make everyone happier. Give me that cup of coffee and book and now we are really happy!


5. Decorating ornaments with Jackson
We have been crafting together lately and coloring ornaments and playing with glitter has been very interesting to say the least. We have had a great time though.

6. Shopping...shopping...shopping!!! I love all kinds, the actual getting all bundled up and braving the crazies who want to fight you for a closer parking spot and also the kind where you stay in your pjs surfing the net finding great deals that just magically appear on your doorstep in a few days. Its all just so exciting!!!




And lastly I leave you with a great christmas photo that just makes me happy.

So, thank you to all the fellow photographers out there whose photos I stole to make this blog happen. And all of you do the things that make you happy this holiday season! Merry Christmas!!!

Thankful.

Wow, I am so thankful for so many things! We were so excited to spend thanksgiving with all of our family. We had an early thanksgiving with mom and dad and Jess and Johnny the weekend before thanksgiving that had lots of turkey, dressing, and a fun golf game. We had a great time just hanging out and remembering the many blessings in our lives. We also were able to go up to Longview on thanksgiving to spend a few days with more family.
It was a bittersweet day, having to deal with a death in the family of a dear uncle of my mother in law. But, one of the blessings that came from the visitation and funeral was the large number of people that came to show their love for him and his family. He was a loved man who touched many lives and for that I am thankful. Joey spoke very highly of him saying that he was such a rock within the family.
We celebrated the thanksgiving day with turkey, ham, and a billion yummy casseroles that we got to eat on for the next few days. I love good food!!! Oh, and I didn't mention the desserts! Between the two thanksgivings we had
apple pie
pecan pie
pound cake
more apple pie
banana cream pie
gingerbread cookies
more pecan pie

It was a wonderful holiday! Thanks to all our family who just made our holiday so special!!! We are so blessed.

What are you thankful for?

The Sneak Peek!

Here are a few pics that I have worked on of my precious friend Sarah from her amazing Austin wedding. Thanks Sarah for allowing us to be apart of this special day! We love you girl!




I promise more to come soon!

Crafty Wonderful!

Here are a few iphone pics of our craft fair booth. You can't really see them, but we are turning our art into pendants! They did really well at the show!!!!



So, as you all already know, I love to craft and I love to be around others who do as well. I have found such a fun outlet...craft fairs!!!! I had such a great time meeting people and talking with fellow crafters who create all kinds of fun stuff. There were jewelry makers, christmas crafters, flower arrangers, baby clothing makers, and so many more! I couldn't get enough of it. I think Jess and I were up and about mingling as much as we were at our booth selling. Sidenote: 'thanks Johnny for picking up the slack there.' Anywho, it was like I HAD to find out each of their stories and why they loved making the specific thing they did and if they had an etsy store and blah blah blah... The day flew by, we sold quite a bit of stuff and we handed out a billion business cards, ok slight exaggeration. We did, however have a blast and, we are so excited for our final craft fair of the season in a few weeks!!! If you are in the denton area, we will be at the high school with our fun crafties along with about 177 other vendors!!!

Bring it!

So, as some of you know Joey and I joined LA Fitness about a month ago during our resolve to remain fit and happy. It has been going well for us. We have been going on average 4 days a week and have really loved being able to workout together, and Jackson has LOVED the kids center. In fact there are plenty of times that I have to drag him (literally) out of the room! Ok, well I have been purposely avoiding this one machine with all of my might for the last 4 weeks. The dreaded, the awful...duh...duh..duh...

The Stair Master,
(shrieks of horror are being heard all over the blogging community....or maybe I'm the only one hearing the theme to Jaws, but at any rate...I digress..)
The Stair Master, or as I have lovingly nicknamed it, Satan, has loomed at the club taunting me. Now, the last time that I have been near one of these machines was right out of college, and since the big 30 is looming in the near distance I can say it has been close to 8 years since our last meeting. So, it found its way back into my life and let me tell you, it aint no joke! Joey decided to throw out a little challenge today,
'Who can stay on it the longest'. Well, give me a good challenge any day and I am gonna take it, so I told him, 'Bring it!'
Doesn't it just look evil?

Lets just say, I SURVIVED! I am here blogging to all of you nice people. I thought at some point I might not make it, but I did and WOW I am paying for it right now.
20 minutes, 80 flights, 2,400 stairs....I'm tired, but triumphant!
I leave you with the only piece of inspiration that I could think of to adequately explain how I feel...







da...da..dun....da..da..dun........

BRRRRRRR......Its Cold In Here...

...there must be some Torros in the atmosphere; I said Ohey Ohey Oh...Ice Ice Ice. Its from Bring it On. If you haven't seen it I'm sorry. If you have seen it, I'm also sorry. Lame intro, but catchy little cheer wouldn't you say? Ok, how amazing was the coldness today?! It felt like the first real winter day!!! I bundled Jackson up in his winter clothes and we went outside to 'brave' the elements. We did all the things today that make me love this cold weather. We got a fire going in the fire place, we drank hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows, and we fixed a big pot of chili for dinner. If all that doesn't scream winter wonderland I don't know what does. It was a great day. I had to post a few pics of my little one all bundled up. Please excuse the awful iphone pics, but I can not for the life of me take a picture from my phone that isn't blurry. If anyone could give me a quick tutorial I would be so greatful. Anywho, doesn't the second picture remind you of the little boy in A Christmas Story who falls down and can't get back up? I laugh everytime I look at this picture. He just looks so uncomfortable. Oh, anywho, enjoy these few pics. And enjoy this cold weather!!!!

I Heart _______ ?

Another I heart post and this one is going to be strictly dedicated to a website that i have fallen in love with!
ETSY
So, Jess and I opened a store there under Raspberry Rain Images with some of our artwork. It really has been so cool meeting people on there and learning about the craft business. We have really liked tapping into the craft fair arena. We did well at a craft fair last weekend and have already booked another one in early December. The networking ALONE was fantastic! We met and talked with a ton of people about getting pictures taken. Anywho, I thought I would give you a little taste of the ETSY world which is a website designated strictly for all things homemade or vintage. It really is great for one-of-a-kind gifts and unique quirky goodies. I decided instead of overwhelming you with tons, that I would show you some of the fun things out there, and do it by color. So....here goes....
PURPLE
I have a love affair for all things purple lately, and these things only fuel my fire!!!

ORANGE
I have always loved orange and for anyone that didn't already know this fun fact, I once owned a house with a living room where we painted the floors bright orange. Not as tacky as you would have thought. I digress....
How adorable is that little baby beanie!!! I love orange!!!

Now, I must turn my attention a little from color to individual sellers. These sellers on etsy are amazing and I heart them all!!!
First, All The Numbers She makes the most amazing peasant dresses!!! She also makes DARLING upcycled ruffle dresses from boy's vintage button up tuxedo shirts...too cute!


Second, Belle & Boo, makes the 100% cutest prints EVER!!! I heart seriously every single print in her store. Here are a few of her sweet christmas prints. She also has christmas cards that are way cute!

Last but not least is Morelle She creates handmade leather purses. They are awesome!!! If I could I would have everyone of these bags. They are yummy!!!!


Well, hope you decide to go check etsy out because I really think you won't be dissapointed.