shopping with the in-laws

I spent the entire day today out shopping with Steve's grandma, mom and aunt Rose... we had a blast! I was good and didn't buy anything except lunch but it was a lot of fun to just browse and get ideas for Christmas gifts.

My mother in law ended up getting me a super comfy pair of PJ pants because they were on sale and she swears she never gets to buy me anything. I'm not about to argue when cozy fleece pj pants are offered. :)

It was a really nice day and a lot of fun to spend time with my new relatives. I am blessed with pretty great in-laws.

Thanksgiving dinner part 2

Last night my brother and his fiance came over for Thanksgiving dinner part 2. There was tons of good food, home made apple pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert and I actually used my crystal stemware for the first time! After dinner we all watched the Incredibles and the last little bit of the GA / GA Tech game. It was a great night!

In regards to the pie, I found the easiest, most delicious recipe for home made pie crust in my Real Simple issue from last month. It was so light and flaky... I will never buy pre-made pie crust again. You make it in the food processor and it takes less than 5 minutes... no joke. If you want the recipe, go HERE

Apparently I had too much fun last night because this morning I woke up with a cold! It's like a nyquil commercial over here... sneezing, coughing, sore throat... the works. At least I didn't get sick until after the holiday festivities.

I heart the holidays!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Steve and I had a great day with family and ate some really good food.

After dinner was over and we spent some time relaxing at our apartment we decided it was time to start decorating for Christmas! We pulled out all of the decorations from storage, as well as our tree, and got to work. Here is the finished product:

Our adorkable tree with all kinds of fun ornaments. We have everything from home made ornaments from my aunt Kim to vintage Star Trek and superman. The whole thing makes me smile because it is very much a blend of Steve and I.

I had to point out our panda tree skirt. We found this in a box of Christmas stuff at the house the Christmas after we found out about the AOII colonization at CSU and I love it!

Christmas village part one and our advent callendar.

Christmas village part 2! I think the little church is my favorite because it's lit by an actual candle so the light flickers.

There is a wreath on the door too but I can't get a good picture of it...

Putting up Christmas decorations always makes me excited. Between the decorating, the excitement from Thanksgiving today and preping for the mini-Thanksgiving we're having on Saturday with Jed and Nicole I'm just about to burst!

O happy day!

Wow! This week has truly been filled with suprises and blessings... and it's only wednesday!

First off, for those of you who I haven't told yet, I have been offered, and accepted, a job! It is truly an amazing opportunity and I cannot wait until my first day. :)

As if that wasn't enough to be excited and grateful for.... when I checked the mail on Tuesday I found that Steve and I had gotten some presents!

I got a $15 off coupon at kodak.com (thanks to Hayley from deals, steals and heels) and used it to buy a beautiful photo ornament for our Christmas tree since this will be our first Christmas as a married couple. I used a picture of us from our reception and the whole thing came out even better than I imagined!

It is white porcelan with a white ribbon hanger and I love it. I may even display it in the house year round! And, with the coupon, all I paid for it was the $2.98 for shipping. :)

We also received a suprise package from Steve's brother and his wife. They just had a baby and promised to send us some pictures of our neice once they got her portraits back. Well, not only did we get some wallet sized pictures to carry with us, but we also got this:

That is a framed picture of our beautiful neice and her tiny footprint! I was so excited... we haven't gotten a chance to meet little Anastasia Leigh yet (since they live in Alaska) and seeing that cute little footprint just makes her that much more real. I cannot wait to finally meet her and spoil her in person!

Finally, I got the opportunity to earn a little spending money for our trip to Columbus this weekend by helping Steve's grandmother clean houses two days this week. It's not the most glamorous job in the world but it's a chance to spend time with my grandmother-in-law and get out of the house for a bit... not to mention make a pretty decent amount of money!

I can't help but feel thankful for such a joy filled week after spending so many weeks and months stressed out and frustrated.

remembering loved ones

Part of el dios de los muertos is remembering loved ones who have passed away. I have been thinking a lot about loved ones Steve and I have lost since this time last year and, as today is the last day of the holiday, I decided to share a little bit about them with you.

This past spring my great grandpa Smith passed away. I'm sad to say that although I loved him very much I don't know a lot about his life. What I do know is that he was head over heels in love with my great grandma Harriet and that we started losing him very soon after she passed away. I also know that he was in the army and served in Alaska during WW2 and my great grandma trekked across the entire country with a baby just to be with him. I miss him a lot but knowing he is finally with my great grandma again makes me feel better. Here are some of my favorite pictures of him:

In looking through my pictures of my great grandparents I came across this one as well...

Those are my great grandparents on the right but the woman between them and me is my great great grandma Smith, or as we called her, Grandma Nora. She passed away when I was in the 5th grade but I still think of her almost every day. She is in my thoughts today especially. I won't list out all of the amazing things about her here since that would make for a very long blog but I will say that she is one of the most amazing people I've ever met. I was named (my middle name) after her which is a huge part of the reason why I did not change my middle name to my maiden name after I got married. She is also a very large part of the reason that I am bound and determined to get my degree no matter how frustrating it gets. Education was incredibly important to her and if she knew I left school and didn't go back she would probably find a way to come back just to kick my butt.

Finally, as we remember loved ones who have passed on Steve and I find ourselves remembering his dog Spankey who passed away very close to this time last year.

Spankey was a complete sweetheart. He was incredibly old for a dog (passed away when he was 19 and a half years old) but we loved him. The day we took him to the vet to be put down was the only time I have ever seen Steve cry.

These are not the only people I am remembering today... some of my friends have recently lost loved ones too and they are certainly in my thoughts and prayers today. However, I want to be clear that today, and this entire holiday, is not about being sad. El dios de los muertos is about celebrating life and remembering all of the wonderful things about loved ones who are no longer with us.