Christmas 2010

It never really "felt" like Christmas to me this year, so I can't believe it has already come and gone for another year. I guess it just never felt like the holidays because there has been so much going on! We still had a wonderful Christmas though, don't get me wrong!

Our Christmas celebration began a little early this year due to the fact that my Dad had to work Christmas day (as well as the week around it). Since my brother & Nicole were already going to be here for my graduation weekend, we decided that that was the winning "Christmas" weekend!

That Saturday night after my graduation was our "Christmas Eve"...we had a yummy dinner and just relaxed and played games!

Sweet little Natalie even came over to play :) Angel girl.

Rob and I spent the night at my parents' house, and we got up early Sunday for presents and breakfast!

Mom may have gone a little overboard on the stocking stuffers because they turned out to be a bag full of goodies! I'm not complaining though ;)

This picture makes me laugh. Mom always gets us Christmas jammies, but Rob's turned out to be a little bit snug!

I must have been a good girl this year because I got a lot of fabulous stuff! My first pair of Tom's was one of my faves! I've been wearing them just about every day since I got them. I think I might have to get another pair...these?

Of course, we all are so thankful for material things, but being together was the best part of our early Christmas weekend!

On the true Eve of Christmas, we celebrated with Rob's mom. I don't have any pictures to prove it, but we had a fun time with her and Rob's brother, Will!

Christmas day was definitely different from any of my past Christmases. This was the first time in my 23 years that I have not seen or been with my family on Christmas. It was a little sad, but I got over it once we went to Rob's grandparents' house that morning.

We enjoyed a leisurely and relaxing morning with the Galusha's!

And I gathered quite the loot there too...not pictured is a beautiful cowhide rug that I will show you when I post more house pictures!

Rob & Will with their (our!) precious Nanny...Popo must have been playing with his presents!

On Christmas Eve, we started this puzzle, and it turned out to be our entertainment for most of Christmas morning/afternoon. It was incredibly frustrating, but we finally managed to get it done!

The finished product...I think we decided we put around 30 man-hours into it. Ridiculous. I think we've all had our puzzle-fill for awhile!

I'm thankful that I got to spend Christmas day with my "other" family! It was nice to be able to relax in one place all day rather than rushing around town trying to see everyone. My mom did make it back in time to have dinner with us though, so I was glad for that!

I'm also grateful that I know that Santa is not the reason for the season...

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger..."

-Luke 2:10-12

Merry Christmas Eve!

I believe these have hit mailboxes by now, so I wanted to share our Shutterfly card with you! I couldn't figure out how to save it off of the site, so a wonderful iPhone picture will have to suffice. Oh well....I really LOVE the way they turned out!

I hope y'all have a Merry Christmas and get to spend time with the ones you love!

Sneak Peak!

Man oh man, am I ever behind with the blog! We just got our internet up and going at the new house today, so I haven't been able to post or read your blogs! It's funny how "lost" you feel without social networking, but at the same time, I can get a lot accomplished when I don't have the distractions ;) I've missed it though, glad to be back!

So I'm sure you're all DYING (wink, wink) to see our new house!!

here it is...

We are slowly, but surely getting it all done! Rob doesn't get out from school until Thursday, and I have been working a lot at the restaurant, so our schedules are kind of crazy which makes the moving process a little slow. We are also trying to keep the old house "staged," so it looks good to buyers! Fingers crossed for a contract on that soon, please! We had one, but it fell apart over the weekend...but that's life! I'm not stressing yet :)

Anyway, on to the inside "before" pictures! I didn't think to take these until we had moved a little bit of stuff over, so excuse the piles!

the entry way...

to the right of the entry way is the "formal" living room & dining room on the back side...

same room(s), different angle...

through the dining room is my favorite part, the kitchen!

isn't it lovely? so excited about it.

the utility room/pantry is just off the kitchen...

with the den open to the kitchen on the other side...

you can see how they are open to each other below. also, the den is straight ahead from the entry way. trying to give y'all an idea of the "flow" of the house....hope it's not confusing :)

there's a little space off of the den that i keep calling an "office nook"...we'll put our computer here & use it as a little office area...

the hall way...off of the den...

to the right is the guest bathroom (aka MY bathroom ;))...

bathroom pictures are hard to take!

also to the right is a guest room...

to the left is the master bedroom...

master bathroom...aka Rob's bathroom!

across from the master is another guest room...

here's the back yard...

with a beautiful patio/pergola area!

the garage is also in the back of the house...

And there ya have it! Our new digs! I can't wait to show y'all the "afters"...heck, I can't wait to see the afters myself! It is beginning to feel more like home everyday, and I am loving it so far.

Hope all is well with each of you! Are y'all ready for Christmas?

This year is just so different from previous years, I still can't believe Christmas is upon us. Of course, it doesn't help that it was 85 degrees here today!!

Graduation

The last several days have been a whirlwind! I feel like I've been going non-stop...because I have. Except for Sunday...I did nothing on Sunday, and it was AWESOME!

Saturday was the big day! Graduation!! WOOHOO! Just wanted to post a few pictures for my documentation more than anything because I know it's not all that entertaining for y'all!

Walking across the stage...

You can see the happiness in my double chin face!

My wonderful parents...thanks for EVERYTHING! Couldn't have done it without their love & support!

Thanks for coming to celebrate, KB & Nicole!

Thanks for being my rock for the last few years, babe...love you to "infinity & beyond!"

YAY - I did it!

Hahaha, emptied out that puppy!

Mug-shot.

SUCKERRRR!! ;) Kidding, of course.

And that's, that! I'll try to update again soon!

We closed on the new house yesterday, so I was over there cleaning all day yesterday, and I'm going to start moving things over there today! So much excitement!

Nail Obsession & Other Things

I've mentioned before how much I love to have "seasonal" toes, and I've now decided that I like to have festive fingers as well! Don't worry, I'm not getting little snowmen on my fingers or anything...at least not yet ;) Since glitter is all the rage this season, I had to get in on that action! Here's what I found: Pink Rockstar by Sally Hansen...

I layered it on top of a deep plum polish, and I love the result, so I just had to share!

And although I may not be getting snowmen on my fingers, I certainly have no qualms with getting ornaments on my toes! I'm cheesy. I'm okay with it.

In other, un-nail related, news...I'm graduating tomorrow! I'm sure most of you will be thankful for this, so I will QUIT complaining blogging about school/studying!

We're also doing "Christmas" with my family this weekend! I'm really excited but also kinda sad about it. I'm excited because HELLO?! Christmas if fun! But I'm kinda sad because this will be the first year in my entire life I won't see any of my immediate family on Christmas day.

Thank goodness for the Galusha's!! :)

And last, but certainly not least....we close on our NEW HOUSE on Monday!! Woohoo! Again, this is another bitter-sweet occasion. It is SO sweet because I (we!) LOVE our new house, and we will have plenty of room to grow in the future! It's going to be sad leaving "our first house" though. We got a contract on it yesterday, so it's starting to set in that we'll be leaving this adorable abode behind soon. Ahhh. I have to fight tears every time I pull into the driveway because I know it will be one of the last times I do so...why do I have to be so sentimental?! Rob thinks I'm a crazy person. Maybe he's right.

I'll be back to blog about all of these happenings soon :)

Have a great weekend, y'all!

TGIF!

Are y'all excited it's the weekend?! I know I am!

Tonight our sweet friends are coming over for dinner & games!

I'm definitely looking forward to hanging out with them & gabbing with Julie about decorating our new houses...(Yep, you read that right! ;))

Hopefully we'll play my favorite game...and beat the boys!!

Tomorrow I'm headed to the DFW area with my mom for some serious shopping! I'm hoping to check the remainder of my Christmas list off and get lots of "house stuff" for our new digs here...

Do y'all shop at Home Goods? Ahh, I looooves it.

Awesome stuff at great prices...can't beat that!

Hope your weekend is happy!