Something to think about...

Emily at Chatting at the Sky posted this on her blog a few days ago and I wanted to do the same. It makes you really think about this time of year and what Christmas means to us.

'Twas the month before Christmas and all through the house...

Well, it's Christmas again and I have been busy decorating our house for the first time ever! It is much more fun to decorate a house than an apartment let me tell you!
There are little nooks and cranies and SPACE for decorations and I am so excited I could Pop!
Here is my fun sparkly tree! Thanks to some advice and a wee bit of push my friend convinced me I could be bit daring with my tree! I ran with it and now she (yes, my tree is a girl!) is decked out in glitter and as gorgeous as ever!

Meet Holly: (What?! You don't name your tree??)

I found some fun new ribbon and sparkly ornaments at Macy's last weekend (for 50% off!) and then I stumbled on the pieces in the top at one of my fave decor home stores Z Gallerie. I had to stop by Crate and Barrel for their funky ornaments too! Sooo exciting!

Lots more fun to come as I get some garlands and little nooks vamped up in holiday style. So stay tuned! And next week I hope to share a fun furniture redo with a piece I found last weekend!

"In everything, give thanks."

Wordless Wednesdays

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!

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Who me?

Liza from A Diva and A Princess gave me this Fabulous award yesterday!

Here is the meaning of the award from Liza's blog and the award creators blog.

"This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Thanks Liza! I am honored!

Holly Holidays

Well, I am officially IN HOLIDAY MODE! Apparently all it took was some Christmas shopping this weekend and then Zing! Bang! Boom! I am pulling that tree into the living room and unwrapping my ornaments from their tissue paper hibernation!
Fall Schmall you guys! I know it's not Thanksgiving yet but the tree is hanging out in my living room and my wreath is anxious to get on the door to welcome in December. Maybe it is the fun of having a house for the first time to decorate or maybe it's just that the seasonal holiday bug has bitten me!
The mall was decorated this weekend and I perused the ornaments and thoughtfully dwelled on my tree's personality and decor for the year...I am so excited!
We got the tree set up last night and tonight I am gonna slap some gorgeous on it and hopefully post some pictures soon!
I am super excited - BONUS! maybe I am just so hyped because there are only 3 (COUNT EM" 1..2....3...) days of work this week and then a GLORIOUS 4 day weekend with my hubby!

Have I filled you with the holiday spirit or zapped it out of you with capital letters and exclamation points?

I can't help it! I am soooooo ready for this Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something New!

1. The last band I saw live was Kenny Chesney.
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is Food, Family and The Parade!.
(if you don't celebrate thanksgiving, insert your favorite holiday)
3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is at the beginning stages - the list is made but the shopping has not happened.
4. Thoughts of Fall and cinnamon and the Holidays fill my head.
5. I wish I could wear a warm cozy sweater and pajama pants with fuzzy slippers.
6. Bagpipes are not my favorite instrument.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hanging with my husband, tomorrow my plans include a yard sale or two(?) and some holiday shopping and Sunday, I want to put up my Christmas Tree ( I know I know..it's not even Thanksgiving yet.)!

Check out more participants here
This was a new and fun idea. Go to the link above to get the fill in template and play along if you want!

Thirteen Things I am Thankful For

There is something in every season, in every day, to celebrate

with Thanksgiving.
-Gloria Gaither

1. I am thankful for my husband and our life together

2. I am thankful for my little puppy, Harley who has brought so much happiness to us both.

3. I am thankful for my family and the people who love me

4. I am thankful for snickerdoodle ice cream by Blue Bell

5. I am thankful for cool fall days

6. I am thankful for music - it has such a powerful effect on my mood.

7. I am thankful for a good job and a good career

8. I am thankful for the friendships we have been blessed with here in Florida

9. I am thankful for blue jeans and casual fridays

10. I am thankful for SPANX

11. I am thankful for this blog and the connection it gives me to my friends and the ability it gives me to make new friends and the outlet it gives me to express myself.

12. I am thankful for the health and safety of my family and friends

13. I am thankful for online shopping

Yes, some were serious while others were funny but they were all true. Have a great day!

What are you thankful for?

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Wordless Wednesday....Coffee anyone?

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How I Feel

I finally had my appointment with the other surgeon for a second opinion on my back.
Just now I sat trying to explain it to someone and my eyes weld up with tears again.
February 16, 2008 the day that changed my life. No one has been able to help my pain
and it has been almost a year. This surgeon agrees with the other that due to my age and the type of problem I have that although I need surgery to fix it - in fixing it the scar tissue created will either provide me with no relief from my original problem or might create bigger problems. Simply put? I could come out no better or far far worse. I am thankful for the opinions and I am relieved that surgery is not in my future. However that still leaves me where I have been since the accident. In pain. The doctor suggests I see a Rehabilitative Specialist. So I will go. But in all honesty after this year of doctors and appointments so extensive that I have used up all my vacation and holiday time and thus will not get to go home for Christmas and will not get to see my family. This first year of marriage that in brutal honesty isn't what anyone ever thinks their honeymoon phase will be (wow that is brutally honest). This year of watching everyone else do the things I can't and of chomping down pain pills just to get through the day. This year of hurting without relief....
I am tired. I am so so tired.
On my way back from the appointment today I heard this song. Its kind of desperate. It has some essence of hope. I guess that is how I feel...

Stand by Rascal Flatts

You feel like a candle in a hurricane
Just like a picture with a broken frame
Alone and helpless, like you’ve lost your fight
But you’ll be alright, you’ll be alright

‘Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you’re made of
You might bend ‘til you break
‘Cause it’s all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you’ve had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe your hands, shake it off
Then you stand, then you stand

Life’s like a novel with the end ripped out
The edge of a canyon with only one way down
Take what you’re given before it’s gone
And start holdin’ on, keep holdin’ on

Every time you get up and get back in the race
One more small piece of you starts to fall into place
Yeah then you stand
Then you stand

"It's about being comfortable with the Yucky Love Stuff" - My Best Friend's Wedding

Yeah - that quote has nothing to do with the post. Except I was listening to the soundtrack from that movie when I was inspired to blog.
I was sitting here cruisin' my songs on my new IPOD Kyle got me for our anniverary (thanks honey! yeah, he is awesome - it is the touchy screen one!) and I am just sailin' thru memory lane. My first move was to load all of my CD's on this thing. So it has about 800 songs from my high school days till now. We are talking Tory Amos, RENT, and then a splash of Shania. It's been really fun. But it got me thinking as waves of nostalgia crashed over me - isn't it funny how music can just completely transport you back to different memories? So here are a few of my little memory moments:

Aretha Franklin -Respect
This was soooo our warm up song when I took acting classes in HS. We had this great acting coach and there was a whole dance...geez..I totally still know it!

Brittany Spears - Lucky
There is a homemade music video of me and like 5 of my best friends singing this song and yes there were costumes and bad hair. No..No...it is under tight lock and key. Youtube will never see it - I swear. Yes. I had on a toga and was walking and singing on a treadmill...Wait! That was too much info huh? Ah to be young again...hee hee

Tracy Chapman - The Promise
OMG! Favorite Song of all Time (Second is Ben Folds - Luckiest)
This song transports me back tooo..you guessed it - my first broken heart. Sigh. If it wasn' t for that song I might have got over that boy a lot earlier.
Don't worry though - the song has been there for me for years...in fact I walked down the aisle to it. When it shuffled to it a few minutes ago I seriously had a tear.

Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing
(sigh) Give me a glass of wine, candles and bubble bath. This song has relieved a stressful day more than once. I don't know if I can listen to it without wanting to go draw a bath.

Leave me a comment with a song or songs that take you back! And share your memory if you like! Come on.......it'll be fun!!! Have a Fabulous weekend!

P.S. I am having a jewelry party tonight and I will be annoying and taking pics so I can blog about it! I wish all my OK friends could come! I miss you girls! Wanna hop a flight for some artichoke dip?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Kyle and I celebrated our one year anniversary last Monday. He surprised me with a sweet and thoughtful gift and then I received a gorgeous bouquet at work which had about 8 star gazer lilies that continuted to bloom throughout the week. I brought it home on Friday and it is still beautiful today! I love when flowers really last and you get to enjoy them. Thanks Honey! We exchanged our main gifts on Saturday but on the day of Kyle took me to dinner and afterwards I gave him a gift basket that I had put together and a list of things I loved about him. We had a really wonderful and special day. Here is Kyle with his gift.

I had a custom label made for a bottle of wine to celebrate the day. It turned out really great and Kyle thought it was really cool. It says I Love You and then our names and anniversary date. The picture doesn't do it justice - it came our really neat and we plan to save it and drink it at our 50th anniversary or something like that. After opening gifts we followed the old tradition and unearthed the top of our wedding cake from the freezer and shared a piece of it. It was coconut cream and it was still really wonderful. We drank from some champagne glasses we had got on our honeymoon in Hawaii and leftover Champagne from the wedding. It was really romantic!

I had my doubts about the cake being good but apparently the fondant really helps preserve it!

Yum!

The Theatre! The Theatre!

Did I mention that we went to The Phantom of the Opera on Tuesday? A bunch of us has bought tickets in August and the anticipated day finally arrived on the also anticipated election day! We got all gussied up and headed to the Performing Arts Center. Kyle even wore his suit for the occasion - there is just something about a man in a suit. He looked so handsome.

The play was good too. (hee hee)

In all honesty, it wasn't the spectacular show I had expected. The vocals were actually kind of mediocre although in the second act they started to hit their stride. The costumes and the set were very impressive all the way down to the crashing chandelier it was pretty amazing.

I guess overall it wasn't the most exciting part of that night but it certainly was a highlight!

Party Pics

I know it has been a week but I have just got around to uploading my Halloween pics! I had to show you pics of my little firefighter puppy! We had friends over to our house for a little Halloween party. We handed our candy to mobs of children who were trick or treating and had a good time visiting and munching on our party fare.



Here is Brandon with our little costumed pups. On the left is my Harley and on the right is Sadie who came as a prison inmate. She was sooo cute!
Here is my dessert I made for the party in my new trifle bowl. It was a Creamy Pumpkin Trifle!
It had cheesecake filling and a pumpkin spice cake with whipped topping. Yum!

Here is my pumpkin stack! I saw this on Martha and mine wasn't as cute as hers but I liked the idea and had fun carving it out!

We sipped some Spooky Cider and munched on Cider Cheeese fondue . Harley and Sadie had a lot of fun but then we found little Harley snoozing on our bed. I guess all the company just wore him out!

The boys were entertained with the playstation. We kept looking over at them surprised out how involved they all were in the games. Boys are sooo silly.

We had fun with some girl talk and Liar's Dice, Yahtzee, and then our favorite: NERTS!

It was a really fun night and were so happy to finally have our home filled with friends. We can't wait until the next gathering that we get to host! Good thing it's the holiday season! Hope you enjoyed the party pics!

A Quote from a Friend

My friend Tracy at Miller Manor wrote the few paragraphs below on her blog today and I loved her wording and her meaning and the purpose behind it and I just had to share it because it hit home for me and helped me to deal with some of the judgements and ill will that are going on in my life and around the country as well. I encourage you to go visit her blog and read the rest to see the context in which she wrote these words. I hope they will touch you the way they did me.

"God is a God of choices. He allows us free reign to make the decisions in our own lives without interference or force. He is really the only one we are called to answer to as adults, not friends, not ministers, not even parents--although we are to honor them. Yet, He is never forceful, but always wooing. He is never condemning, always loving. He does not manipulate us through circumstances, but is always giving us ways out of our troubles should we choose to take them.

So next time you cast your opinions on another, assuming you are right and they are wrong, please consider whether you are wiser than a loving God who gives them freedom of choice and the Holy Spirit to steer them toward a life filled with His love, grace and mercy. And perhaps you might ask yourself why it even matters to you what another does and whether they should have the same freedom to make mistakes that you do."

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 ""

Thank you Tracy for sharing you thoughts today. I hope it's okay that I quoted your wise words.

Election Day

I totally sniped this pic from Emily over at Chatting at the Sky.


Well, after two years of insane and annoying campaigning and commercials and chaos the big ELECTION DAY has finally arrived. I could write a 30 page post about how this election has changed how I feel about voting and elections and how I found out how much I really DO CARE while before I didn't even bother to register. I voted last week and I was proud to fill in that circle on the ballot with my informed and thoughtful decision. I won't go into who I voted for or why because I think it is a personal and private decision and people are emotional about it so it is best left alone in such a public forum at least for myself that is how I feel. If I had a blog devoted to politics then that would be different. But I would never have a blog about politics...that is so not me.

Anywhoo - I hope that you go and vote today because it is out right as Americans to have a say in the outcome of this election today. I think we all know that no matter who is selected this will be an election that will never be forgotten and the next 4 years will be equally interesting and rough for whichever candidate wins.

At least Saturday Night Live is hilarious again.

Just for laughs....

"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." - Emily Bronte

Today is Kyle and I's One Year Anniversary. I cannot believe that one year ago today I was standing on that beautiful beach getting ready to marry my best friend. This year has flown by! I hope the next one goes by a little slower so I can savor it more.

Happy Happy Anniversary honey!! Love you!