Last hours of 2011

I thought I would save my end of the year musings for

next week

I thought instead I would give you a recap of what went on during this

whirlwind few weeks of Holidays

and lots of work!

took my first long road trip in a while

to visit my bestie - Esta in Asheville, N.C.

(still another post to come)

Completed my largest stocking stuffer gifting yet...

50 children and 40 adults...

(also another post)

Made lots of Christmas goodies...

Lots of Christmas run around with the family...

Fun with new games...

although I have to admit,

the new Operation is not as thrilling as the old.

Did you have one of the ones that shook so much it rolled aorund on the table

and made the most obnoxious buzzing sound ever?

It used to scare us to death yet we loved playing it.

Set up Grandpa's childhood Lionel set and gave it a good run!

This is definitely going to become a tradition between my dad and my son.

We set it up a lot when I was a kid

but for my son I think it is a definite must now!

Engagement surprise!

and

baby Keeper just turned 4!

This whole month has just flown!

There were so many other moments I wish I had captured

but I didn't want to tote the camera everywhere

and I have to admit I forgot my IPod for phots most of the time...

Oh well,

it was a good time

but too fast!

How was your December?

Any reflections or resolutions you have decided on yet?

Hope you all have a great New Years Eve!

 

Now can I relax?

So something weird happened this year.

I was so committed to

this year being non-rushed and relaxing.

Somehow it felt the opposite,

even though I stuck to my guns on the non-retail run around.

However,

since I became my own boss

I am learning that I have to take work when it comes

because you might not have any for a while...

The flood gates opened with work 3 weeks before Christmas and is still going strong.

The lesson is -

I either need to be prepared early

or

let things go in order to not stress and drive myself crazy.

SO....

when the tree wasn't up and it was 3 days before

I simply said

either you guys do it or it doesn't go up.

(I was working 10-12 hour days)

When I came home this is what I found...

(used my I-Camera)

A tree with all the decorations at the height of my toddler!

Not to mention several on one branch.

I remember it used to drive my mom crazy when we

tended to put the ornaments all in one general area

(of course having artistry in your genes you want everything proportioned correctly)

But I went with this and decided it was funny

and left it!

I think that whole

"Life gives you lemons make lemonade of it"

phrase applied for this Christmas.

I had been asked to optionally make a casserole but to please make deviled eggs for Christmas dinner.

The parent of a 3 year old is discovering Christmas and Santa's visit take a whole new set of skills.

So after one day and two half days of finishing 
the stocking stuffers for the shelter,
working 3 almost 12 hour days,one day of mad clean up,

last minute grocery shopping, a messed up order of gifts that did not get printed,

a lost RedBox rental and 3 hours worth of back and forth driving to visit

relatives Christmas Eve.

I decided that optional casserole was out the window,

I let my husband make our Deviled eggs as I finished

our Christmas Day gifts for my family and another 2 hours of round trip driving.

He added Taco seasoning because he is always trying to "improve"

everything....

I would have thrown a fit before

but rolled my eyes and said

"Fine,

You have to explain that one at dinner to everyone else"....

and after dinner he actually asked why no one tried them?

( there were half dozen regular one too thank goodness)

It was a great laugh for everyone!

But they may stop asking us to cook I'm guessing...

This will definitely be a memorable Christmas for many reasons...

especially for another wonderful reason.

My little sister....

got engaged!

My son has a new Wii buddy....

Congratulations Erin.

Peace to you all.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Vintage Christmas fun....

Feeling like sharing a little

Instagram fun from our Christmas decorations around the house...

Our family had one of these when I was a kid...

I was giddy to find an unopened bag which contained three

on a recent trip.

Made in the 60's.

Brings back a lot of memories as it sits in my home now.

A new addition to my Putz collection

none of my other homes have this printed on design

and I am in LOVE with this style now.

This one has an original price sticker on the bottom for .29 cents!

Then a week later I found this...

An adorable pink one of the exact same styling!

I think I have a new addiction...

This cutie snowman is a candy holder.

I'm not sure if he would have had a broom of some sort or probably

a candy cane in his hand.

Hope you all are having a great time readying for the holiday!

Happy Friday!

Rack'ed?

While I was out last weekend

finishing up a few last additions to the stocking stuffers gifting.

I got an unexpected surprise....

I decided to buy two boxes of crayons to split up

and put a few in each gift bag

(there were 50 bags)

I picked up a box off the shelf

and felt something on the back

I turned it over and this is what was there

It was odd how it caught me off guard.

I looked around and no one was near me.

Then I had this thought,

this person was paying it forward and I was purchasing this

to donate to the shelter.

What a great thing!

Just  think how that one random act could have such a domino like

effect in such a good way.

I really should not have been spending the extra money

but I just had to add a few things to make the bags complete.

And then this.

It put such a smile on my face

and the cashier I showed it to.

I hope you experience the spirit of giving this season.

Happy Thursday!

Where does it go?

Time....

Most days lately I wonder where it goes.
A few months ago a friend encouraged "keeping it real"
and at that moment I felt like it was aimed at
what it is like to really bear your soul.
To let people see your flaws and your feats.
Keeping it real right now
feels like even though I said I wasn't going to let Christmas
turn into a crazy busy month
 it has.
Have you ever felt this way?
I'm not talking running to the mall and battling
crowds or going out after the perfect gifts.
I have totally managed to accomplish that goal
of no major retail this year!
But
I have been overloaded with
WORK (10 hour days - 4 days a week)
Trying to get too much done at home
and not relax
I have just finished my Stocking Stuffer donations
I have to admit I was
a bit disappointed to not have too much help this year
but then I thought
"Hey this is your idea! Your thing! So if you can't handle it, don't whine!"
I have learned it will be better to have a cutoff date in an earlier month
and to start the prepping before December...
Life lessons...
I will be keeping it real in that I admitting that yet again my house looks like
an episode of Hoarders...
we FINALLY finished emptying out the large storage space
into a smaller one.
Whatever was left wandered home until I can convince my
significant " Whose name we do not speak" right now
to get rid of it!
I actually stood and cried over it last week in my back yard.
I want to live my life and accomplish my goals and all this
STUFF is keeping us from doing it.
When you spend every free minute working on a task like that
and then a week is gone and you feel like
you did not get to relax one bit as you fall asleep
sitting up...
you wake up the next day saying
"Where did my week go?"
SO
I am pledging to keep chipping away at getting organized
and to not let the THINGS
in life keep me from living a life.
I will continue to search to find balance in all of this
over the next few days of Christmas.
Thanks for being here and listening to my reality right now.

I find we learn from our mistakes and we don't always get everything we want for
a reason.
Sometimes the worst of experiences provide the
most wisdom for us later in
TIME.

Getting ready....

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Thought I would share some of my

favorite Winter and Christmas themed music

to help get you in the mood....

 

Enjoy....

Ten Thousand Villages fun.....

While I was in Asheville, N.C.

we made a stop at

Ten Thousand Villages

My bestest of friend took her ladies group

from her church there for an outing

since they have been discussing Fair Trade

and what that means for those that it benefits....

Even if you don't have one in your area

you should definitely visit the link above

and find out what they are about

of course there is online shopping

but they have  wonderful  displays in their stores

and the place even SMELLS lovely

and not in one of those perfumy ways...

Love the writing on the wall....

They had a wonderful natural feel to all the Christmas items

and they still managed to mix earthy tones and brights very well...

I am on such a budget...

I thought these cuffs were so awesome!

Pieces of needlework from all kinds of things like the trims from Mexican Wedding

dresses etc....

I took this photo because I thought the display was so neat.

A few minutes later one of our ladies had one and was

ooohing over how cute it was...

It is actually a push toy!

His little legs move so fast on that little bicycle!

They are pieces of Aluminum wire wrapped in many different types of silk ribbon .

Very resourceful and the adorable factor made it worth the mere $8

I did get this one for Baby Keeper for Christmas...

Happy Family in a "Bunny Bag"

Lastly

I love all the nativity themed items they have

because the are so unique

I purchased one years ago for

the same bestest buddy that was inside of a real egg shell that

could be hung on the tree!

I really likes these two

because they also remind me of my honeymoon...

When we were in Mexico we bought a free standing nativity that

was handmade on an island we visited...

I have not put it out for display yet

but will definitely share it when it gets unpacked.

Hope you are all having a good time getting ready for the

holidays.

Remember this time is not about stress and running around

it is about giving and loving.

Happy Friday!

Christmas Button Swap...

I've been away for a few days

because I went on a little road trip to Asheville/ Canton N.C.

this week....

Story for another post!

I wanted to finally share what I created for the

Christmas Button Swap over at

Button Floozies

I exchanged with three other ladies

and after much inhaling of glue

a glitter sneeze incident

and a lot of tweaking with tweezers

this is what I created for them...

I used the spools you get with ribbon for the base

and hand glittered all the buttons

to give them a Christmasy sparkle...

I also decided to sparkle up the reindeer

and chose a color theme for each decoration...

I wanted to make them a bit Kitschy cute.....

I had a lot of fun creating these and hope they made

it to their destinations in one piece...

I found some great colorful tags on Etsy

that I just had to order after I started this

because the colors fit so well with my theme

so then I created these to accompany them.....

I have so enjoyed all the swaps I have done so far

with this group!

Special thanks to Laurie for encouraging

me to start and for being such a wonderful

host!

Black Friday Thrifting....(a week late)

We spent Thanksgiving

with my husbands family

out of state

They live in a pretty small town

and when we go

I like to stop in to their local Goodwill

and a small antique store that

is located in a former Civil War era hospital...

I found some amazing goodies at the antique store

but the best buys were at the GW!

I went on Black Friday while everyone else was fighting over

towels at Wal-Mart!

I love going to thrifties in other cities

because sometimes the types of things you find seem to vary

from state to state...

I found this set of Santa salt and pepper shakers for .49 cents

they aren't perfect but they are tiny and cute!

Will set well on the kitchen shelf for Christmas...

The paper streamers are old Hallmark...probably from the 80's

.49 cents each!

This nice little hand stitched napkin was ?

oops. I don't think I even looked....

I think I paid .25 cents

The green tablecloth was $1.99

kind of 60's-70's but I like the green

will fit in well with vintage but otherwise I think could look pretty tacky out of the right setting..

does that make any sense?

I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it to make into something else

or if I want to sell it ...

We shall see...

This turquoise honey pot was .49 cents

I have a green and a pink one already

The linen dinner napkins and towel were $1.99

they are definitely older and maybe hand stitched...

they are very well made.

My grandmother had one of these Orange juice jugs

I found a heavier one earlier in the year

this one is a lot lighter

no marking

$.99 cents

The sugar and creamer were $2.98 for the set

This glass Christmas tree was $1.99!

They had 10 or 12 in all different sizes!

I put the dish with it because I almost got rid of it a few months ago

but it had not made it to the donation box..

so glad I didn't!

These 70's candle rings were .89 cents for 3

and the armless guy was a freebie!

I'm thinking of using him in an art project!

(I know my sister is laughing at that)

Lastly this paint by numbers was .49 cents

I don't collect these but I know a lot of people do

this is the first one I have seen that was decent

I'll definitely be selling this to someone who collects...

Not bad for a Black Friday haul huh?

NO shoving people or long lines...

and I didn't have to get up before the chickens....

How is that for some Thanksgiving love?

What did you find?

Head on over to

Her Library Adventures

to see what everyone else has found!

Happy Sunday!

Update on Stocking Stuffer donations....

I just wanted to give an update

on the Stocking Stuffer donations.

I was graciously given all the adult and most of the

children's dental supplies this week

by

Dr. J.S. Oglesby, D.D.S.

he is truly an amazing,kind,generous soul

who has been on a life changing journey of his own

not to mention he IS the best dentist ever...

(I'm not just saying that because I used to work for him either)

I almost was not sure if this was going to work well this year

because my funds have been greatly limited due to my job change.

Thank You so much from the bottom of

my heart to Dr.Oglesby.

I have purchased all the candy we need.

All of the children's small items have been purchased

with the exception of the final toothbrushes and toothpaste which I hope to have donated.

 Most of the women's items have been purchased

some more than others.

I have had some nice larger toiletry items donated

like perfume and even a few purses.

Those lucky ladies will get a purse with goodies!

I am very lacking in the mens department.

We have a few toiletry items like nice colognes, etc.
but not much else.
Last year we gave new socks or gloves
playing cards,etc.
Anything we could think of for a young man or adult.
But even if all we get for them this year are the journals and some candy
that will still be good...

During Thanksgiving

instead of going out for the early Black Friday deals

my family worked on Christmas projects..

decorations, etc.

and I started working on the children's journals...

It was so relaxing and a lot of fun.

We listened to music, ate leftover dessert, laughed a lot!

I think we may have found a new tradition.

If you are interested in helping there is definitely still time!

I can use any help you can offer!

Especially with the Journals

that I wrote about

here

Thank You so much.

I will continue to keep you posted....

Happy Friday!



Help spread the wonder of Christmas ....