For the Geek in your life (or in yourself)

I couldn't help but laugh when I checked the mail today and saw a catalog from ThinkGeek.com. I had never heard of it before but apparently Mike had and was excited to see what they had. We looked through the catalog during dinner and I had to share some of my favorite items. :-)

This reminded me of the episode of The Office where Jim hid Andy's cell phone in the ceiling. Oh the fun that could be had.

I'm not sure how you can smell like Star Wars but apparently this will do it...

This takes the air guitar concept to a whole new level:

There are so many other fun and HILARIOUS things at this website - you have to go check it out!

A Very Happy Thanksgiving

Our house is SO quiet now. My brothers were here for a week and my parents had been here since Wednesday but they all left this morning and Mike and I are relaxing and trying to get over the sniffles that we have before we go back to work tomorrow.

We had a wonderful week with our family here. Between the food and the Wii my parents brought with them, family pictures, seeing friends, and just enjoying each other's company - we had a blast.

Here are pictures of the highlights! (I can't get any of the pictures to rotate for some reason - sorry!)

The new candle holder my parents brought us from Chicago.

Breakfast on Thanksgiving morning - pumpkin bread!

The centerpiece on the table.

Ready for Thanksgiving dinner.

My parents and I got up at 5:30 on Black Friday to get 99 cent poinsettias at Lowe's. (that otherwise would have been between 4 & 8 dollars each depending on where we got them) We got 18 between our homes. Yep, we're funny like that.

The wreath I decorated for our front door.

We got our Christmas card from Aspen Boutique this weekend too!

And finally - a little late but here are the flowers Mike got me for our anniversary. :-)

Thankful Thursdays

How appropriate that Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday:

I'm thankful for:

• my husband
• my family
• my friends
• my home
• food on my table
• my, and my family's, health
• my job
• Mike's job
• laughter
• MY SAVIOR

Happy Thanksgiving!

Whew!

I really need to work at taking more pictures to put on here but for right now, oh well. :-)

My brothers got here Sunday. We've been going non-stop ever since. We've spent time with my grandparents, shopped for groceries, checked on a friend's house that we're watching (and found out it had been broken into), cooked, talked, laughed and now we're all ready for my parents to get here in a few hours so we can celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Whew - I'm going to need a vacation after this vacation! :-)

One of my favorite things

One of my favorite little things during Christmas is the Christmas cards we get from Aspen Boutique (formerly Aspen Traders). This store is just two blocks from the house I grew up in and they have always been known for their amazing Christmas cards.

The guy that designs the cards had this post on his blog last year - it brought back so many memories of the cards we got when I was growing up. Last year, I got one addressed to me and it put a huge smile on my face.

Here's to the little things that make Christmas so magical.

Show Us Your Pets!

We're showing off the furry part of our families at Kelly's today!

Mike and I have two. We consider the cat, Pepper, his - since he's more of a cat person than I am.

We got Pepper when we went to the Humane Society to get a dog. Yep, went for a dog and came home with a cat. We saw her bouncing off the walls in the cage they had her in and we loved her spunk so home she came.

Lily was my Christmas present last year and she has been so much fun to be around. I don't think I'll ever be able to have any kind of dog other than a bichon. My family had one for 15 years and now Lily is the perfect fit for us. The first picture is from the night we brought her home, the second is a few days later after Pepper got used to her being around. :-)

Thankful Thursdays

This week I'm thankful for:

• mistakes that aren't really mistakes but that help you learn
• having all of next week off
• my family coming next week
• God knowing what I'm going to need before I even have a clue
• Christmas music on the radio 24/7

Happy 2 Years!

To the man who:

-makes me laugh

-puts of with my quirks

-supports me

-takes care of me

-loves me

-makes me feel like I can take on the world

Happy Anniversary! Here's to two years and MANY more to come!

Thankful Thursdays

SO SO SO much to be thankful for (as always)

• sweet neighbors who cut our prairie grass down for us. We didn't cut it down enough last year so it was a bad mix of green and brown for most of this year but won't be this year!
• Mike - a given but yesterday he made dinner and twice rubbed my neck and shoulder down with Icy Hot because my neck was in serious pain for some reason
• getting everything done at work when I wasn't quite sure I was going to (and wonderful coworkers who are AMAZING help)
• God taking care of this sweet little man. Never met him, or any of his family for that matter, but people all over the world have raised him up in prayer. I can't wait to see what God has in store for him!
• relaxing nights at home, laying on the couch, enjoying the sight of our Christmas tree lit up and our new rug on the floor with Lily and Pepper running around providing entertainment
• our first holiday at home. My family will be at our house this Thanksgiving and I'm so excited (and anxious and nervous because I want everyone to have a good time and because I'm going to do a lot of the cooking!) :-)

Happy Early Anniversary to Us!

Our anniversary is still a week away but our gift to each other came early - we finally got our rug! We think it looks great and it makes the upstairs feel so much cozier and sound so much quieter.

Yay! :-)

A Home Run

As MckMama said in her post, Stellan, his Doctors and our awesome Heavenly Father hit a home run today.

Please continue to keep this family in your prayers!

28 Years

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful parents. Thank you for teaching me how to love the Lord, be a good daughter, sister, friend, wife, and so much more.

Love you guys!

(I really need a picture of my parents on their wedding day but this will have to do) :-)

Bummer

You know those times that you wait so long for something that when you finally get it and it doesn't meet up to what you expected it to be?

After 4 or 5 years of waiting to get this coat, or at least something similar, that's the feeling I have right now. The search continues. :-)

Thanksgiving Traditions

I can't wait to see what recipes and traditions everyone has at Kelly's this week!

No picture for this one but believe me, you'd go running to the store to buy the ingredients if you could see it.

This is my Great Granny's cranberry salad and my brothers and I will riot if it's not on the table at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Great Granny always asked us for some "sugar" (kisses and hugs) when we saw her and this recipe fits the idea of sugar very well. :-)

Great Granny's Cranberry Salad

1 bag of cranberries, chopped

1 cup sugar

1 pint of whipping cream

1 bag of marshmallows

The night before you plan to serve the dish, mix the chopped cranberries and sugar and chill over night. The next day, whip up the whipping cream and add it and the marshmallows to the cranberries and sugar. Mix it all up and enjoy!

We usually double the recipe because it gets better in the days after Thanksgiving and Christmas and we eat a lot of it! :-)

Thankful Thursdays

I'm thankful for:

• the fun weekend Mike and I had with my family
• the fun weekend we're going to have with Mike's brother, Jeff
• the opportunity I had to go see Wicked on Sunday (might be silly to be thankful for that but it was fun)
• the little things
• good laughs

A New Kind of Christmas

Yep, my Christmas decorations are up and in honor of that, I wanted to share something that has helped me remember what Christmas is truly about.

I had the honor at working at an amazing church in the St. Louis for almost two years after I graduated from college. The job was a blessing in so many ways - I learned how to "do conflict" in a healthy way, I was blessed to make friends young and old that I will hold near to my heart for the rest of my life, and I now get to say that I had the opportunity to be a VERY small part in an amazing way to remind people of CHRISTmas as it should be.

You've got to check it out!

Advent Conspiracy

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