Necklaces for New Years

Those of you who know me, know that I like BIG jewelry.

So when I found Shoplately I was instantly in love.

I ordered two large necklaces.

I want to wear one of them for New Years,

but I'm having trouble deciding which one to wear.

Take a look and see which one you think I'll choose.

Sorry for the boob shot, but I had to get close to show you.

This one is gold and has clear crystals.

The second necklace is much larger and has yellow stones.

 

So which one did I pick?

Guess you'll have to read my upcoming blogs to find out.

Lovin' the Holidays

I hope you had a fantastic Christmas.

I couldn't believe it was sunny and 70 degrees.

It felt like a beautiful spring day

instead of the middle of winter.

 

The food was fantastic and the company was great.

My family actually got to celebrate

Christmas Eve with my parents,

and Christmas Day with Todd's family.

 

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect holiday.

Family, they may be crazy, but you still gotta love them.

 

Here's hoping that you had a wonderful Christmas.

AND

have a fantastic, stupendous, excellent weekend.

Merry Christmas

 

Smiles, love and blessings to you and your family.

Here's hoping you are surrounded by those you love.

Merry Christmas

Hallelujah

May you have a blessed Christmas.

~Kisses~

Brenda

Unique Christmas Trees

Are you a procrastinator like me?

Do you wait until the last minute to go buy your Christmas tree

only to find that the lot sold out?

No worries.

Here are some ideas that you can use to improvise.

Keep in mind,

I'm not saying they're good alternatives, but they are options.

Via

 String some lights on your step ladder, 

put a couple ornaments on the strings, and

Voila, instant tree.

Via

Have some recycling that you haven't turned in yet?

Perfect, make a tree out of it.

(Kind of reminds me of college, and all the beer

bottles/cans we used to stack up).

Via

We could have actually done this in our house

when the kids were younger.

Lexx had so many stuffed animals, 

there was almost a constant pile like this anyways.

Via

If you save up your egg cartons throughout the year,

and have a painting party, you could have 

this little beauty in YOUR house.

Via

And last but not least, the book tree.

Although, I'm not so sure the setup is fire safe.

Light bulbs and paper probably aren't a great combination.

So I hope this got some creative juices flowing for you.

It just goes to show with little time and llittle money,

you can always come up with tacky alternatives.

The Countdown Begins

Via

 

Are you getting excited for Christmas?

Can you believe there are only 5 more days to go?

Say whatee what!

 

I'm not really stressed because I have

all my shopping done with the exception

of  three things.

 

I'm going to take this weekend to wrap gifts,

get my hair trimmed, rotate my tires, and try

to get caught up on chores.

 

Do you have any big plans for this weekend?

Super Talented

Todd was looking at kinetic sculptures

on the Internet the other day.

He decided that he liked them

and told me, " I'm going to make one"...

so he did!

 

He made an entire sculpture from scratch, not a kit.

He cut each piece in his workshop and spent

about two weeks assembling the sculpture.

 

 

Here he has the cut out pieces that he is assembling

to a board so that he can see if the sculpture

actually moves.

 

More pieces to the puzzle.

 

The assembled sculpture.

 

A different vantage point.

 

Believe me when I say that

the sculpture is really cool.

I can't believe I'm married to somebody

who is so utterly talented.

I guess someone has to be,

and it sure isn't me.

 

Watch this to see the sculpture move.

 

Winter Wonderland It's Not

We got some snow the other day.

Not a lot, just a little.

Enough to make everything cold and icy.

 

 

Looking out from our house,

this was the view.

 

I was happy to get some snow,

but I wish it was a little more.

 

 

Did you get any snow?

If so, how much?

Christmas Tree, Lights and a Parade

The Big Guy and I got our Christmas tree this weekend.

It was a beautiful sunny day,

and we had a fantastic time.

 

 

We had a couple little helpers.

Thor and Loki always accompany us.

They get super excited as soon as we pull out of the driveway.

 

Thor told me he wanted to get dressed up,

so this year he wore his leather jacket and Loki

wore her little "I love Santa" dress.

 

 

While Todd went back up to the car

because dingbat here left the paperwork,

I tried to occupy myself by taking a selfie

of me with the dogs.  This is as good as it got.

They sure move around a lot!

 

It usually takes us about 45 minutes - 1 hour to find a tree.

This year, about 5 minutes. 

 

Bing, bang, boom!

Tree.

 

 

We tried to take a picture at the tree farm

with the beautiful mountains

in the background, but it just didn't happen.

I just wanted to post this picture because

I have a handsome man!

 

We finished our errand so quickly,

we decided to go out to pizza.

My parents met us, and after dinner we decided to

go back to their house and rest until the light parade started.

While we were at the pizza parlor some firemen

told us that the parade started at 6 PM.

So we had plenty of time to relax and watch some tv.

We left my parents at 5:30 PM

 

Right as we arrived back in town, we saw the last float drive by.

WHA?

 

 

There she goes, the very last float with Santa on it.

 

We were given the wrong information and only got to

semi enjoy the very end of the parade.

Boo for misinformation.

 

Because we missed everything,

we decided to walk around town and see

if anything was going on.

 

We did manage to see one other parade entry,

the "Corner Kitchen" van.

 

 

Here is the town Christmas tree.

It's pretty large, and apparently only half  lit.

Hmmmm.

 

 

We took a selfie because this was about as close as

we ended up getting to lights this evening

(see they're behind us).

 

After we decided we had seen enough and started to head home,

this pulled in front of us.

 

 

And with that, we had our own little light parade.

Huzzah.

Hallelujah It's the Weekend

Via

 

Sorry for the lack of posts this week

but I've been battling a migraine all week,

and I worked late three out of the five days

(got home at 9 PM on Thursday).

As you can imagine, I am SOOOOOOOOO

looking forward to this weekend.

 

I think Todd and I are going to go get our

Christmas Tree and watch the Parade of Lights on Saturday. 

 It should be fun, assuming it's not 20 degrees out.

Sunday I'm reserving for rest and relaxation.

I've got my Christmas shopping done -

and I'm not planning on leaving the house!

 

Hopefully you had a better week than me,

and here's hoping you have a

wonderful weekend.

Christmas Decorations

Have you finished all your Christmas Decorating?

I haven't.

Not even close.

I had the long weekend (4 days off),

and I decorated exactly half of our mantel.

 

Now that I think about it,

I should actually finish decorating, instead of

messing around on the computer.

BUT...because I am a slacker,

I'm not decorating, I am playing around.

 

So, here are some decorations I found on the internet

that I liked and wished I was motivated

enough to make.

 

Via

 

I liked that they made a tree instead

of a wreath with extra ornaments.

Via

 

How easy would this be to make.

Piece of wood & two different paint colors.

Simple

 

Via

 

If your looking for a project that's a little more challenging to make,

this "Merry & Bright" sign might be fun.

Via

 

The last decoration I thought was cute

was this 3D frame filled with bells.

Or, if you don't like the bells, you could

add paper snowflakes, confetti, cotton balls,

anything your heart desires really.

You could either paint the glass,

or use vinyl decals.

 

Have you decorated your house yet?

Did you flex your DIY mind muscles,

and come up with any awesome projects?

Do share.

 

 

 

 

It's a White Weekend

Via

 

It's snowing.

Not hard, yet.

It's supposed to really start storming

later tonight and into tomorrow.

 

I have to say I'm a little excited for this weekend.

Not only do we get snow, but I'm going to

a Christmas craft fair and a light parade

(if they don't cancel it due to the weather).

 

Then on Sunday,

a warm fire, cocoa and a book.

Doesn't that sound like heaven?

Celebrate Good Times, C'mon

We did a lot of celebrating last month.

My mom and Todd's dad both have birthdays in November.

 

We celebrated Dennis' birthday first.

Everyone gathered at his house, and ate too much.

Of course I didn't get pictures of the food because -

well I'm a bad blogger.

I did manage to get a couple of other pictures, however.

Dennis, the birthday boy.

 

We had cake, and Dennis blew out his candles.

And it got really, really, really smokey.

 

When the smoke cleared, we took a couple of other pics.

Awww, so cute.

And of course, what would be a family get together

without a picture being photo bombed.

 

I don't have many other pictures, and

I really needed one of my mother-in-law, Anne.

She is the one who cooked the meal,

and it was DELISH!

 

Because I'm not a good cook like my

mother-in-law, I decided to play it safe

and invite my own mother to lunch.

We went to the Auburn Alehouse Brewery.

 

Cheryl, the birthday girl.

 

We talked and ate.

And because everybody loves a

picture of them eating posted for anyone in

the world to see, here you go.

 

She ordered a yummy sandwich.

 

Lunch was pretty good.  It didn't seem

like much food, but everyone seemed

satisfied enough with the meal.

 

It was a fun couple of birthday celebrations.

I love getting together with family,

and eating way too much.

 

What about you?

Have you been to any celebrations lately?

Do you always eat way too much as well?

Yo Dog - What's Up?

Todd and I had a little shopping to

do in town this weekend.

While driving to one of the stores

we needed to visit, I saw this

driving down the road.

 

Now that's not something you see every day.

I have to say he looked mighty dapper

in his cool shades.

 

Have you seen anything unusual while out shopping?

Little Drummer Boy

I thought I would kick off December

by combining two things I love...

a cappella and Christmas.

 

This group really is amazing, you have to listen.

 

What are you doing to get yourself in the holiday spirit?

Happy Happy Friday

 

Hopefully you had a great Thanksgiving

and a fantastic Friday.

Anytime I don't have to work on Friday,

its fantastic!

 

The kids left this morning, and will be back

in a couple of weeks. 

I got up early and made Chicken and Dumplings

for them to take home.

They left pretty happy.

Other than that it has been a wonderfully

relaxing day at home.

I did a little cyber shopping.

(I prefer computer shopping over a crowd any day).

Todd worked in his shop.

A perfect day off!

 

So how was you Thanksgiving

and

did you have the day off?

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving.

My hope is that you relax

and take time to enjoy your family.

 

Crazy Little Flower

I swear, everything at our house is crazy:

animals, people, plants.

Look what was blooming the other morning

 

 

The stinking flower thinks it's spring.

It's been 40-60 degrees,

and it thinks it's spring.

 

 

Pillow Attack

So you know how pillows normally look, right?

Something like this.

 

 

Well...the other day I was not feeling well

so I went to bed fairly early.

When I woke up,

this is what I was sleeping on.

 

Apparently I tore the pillow case off,

shredded the pillow cover, and proceeded

to shove my hand in the middle of the pillow.

 

When I showed my kids what I had done,

my son said, "Whoa mom, you skinned the pillow.

We're gonna have to call you Buffalo Brenda."

For those of you who don't get the Buffalo Brenda reference,

you have to watch Silence of the Lambs.  There's a

villain in the movie named Buffalo Bill.

Look it up.

 

So it looks like I will be buying myself a new

pillow here in the near future.

On the bright side, now I have stuffing for

any Christmas crafts I may want to make.

Cuteness Explosion

Via

 

Now that is one BA puppy!

 

Thanksgiving Decorations

I want to add a little Thanksgiving flair this holiday.

So where is the first place I headed to?

Pinterest, of course.

 

I had two requirements -

1.  Cheap

2.  Easy

 

Three projects caught my eye.

 

Via

 

This first picture caught my eye because it looks extremely simple.

I believe the pumpkins aren't real, but that's the beauty,

you can either buy a fake pumpkin and cut a hole in the top,

or you can buy a real pumpkin, cut a hole in the top and gut it.

Personally, I think I would go the fake pumpkin way and

either arrange flowers in a vase and place in the pumpkin,

or buy a potted plant

 

Via

 

I thought this would be nice because all I would have to purchase

to get this look are a couple of tea lights.

I have several fallen branches and  pine cones on my property,

and I thought this was a cute option.

 

Via

This final picture is probably my favorite.
I could picture these drilled pumpkins sitting on a table
in a dimly lit room.  If you did one like the middle
pumpkin, drilled the holes, cut a hole in the top and then
place a cup with a flameless candle and then place a
cup/vase with flowers on top of that, it could
 be an attractive centerpiece.

What are your plans for jazzing up the
 table this holiday season?