Really, the problem is I can't decide what to bring for Christmas Eve. The last few years I've made it a point of bringing cocktails to our family's Christmas Eve evening celebration. I have quite a few cousins around my age who can enjoy a nice adult holiday beverage, so we do. Three years ago I had lemonciello, two years ago I had both red and green martinis, and last year I had what was called a blue gimmel (my love of blue drinks lives on), and this year I'm drawing a blank.

My cousin posted on my Facebook wall the other day asking if I knew what I was bringing and I explained, well I just bought some glass candy cane stir sticks so I think I'm going to have to work around that. Yes, that's the way I work. Plan my dishes around the cutesy items I have to use with them. So I ask, anyone have any ideas?

There's just something about these hat-wearing birds that I couldn't resist. While I did receive 1 of them as a birthday gift (can you guess which one?), the other two I bought myself because I just couldn't help it; they were too cute. I suppose that's the same logic I fooled myself with when I was younger and had a room full of stuffed animals...they were just too cute. Luckily these guys are a lot smaller.



Ugh, an owl carrying a lantern while wearing a night cap? I can't. I'm going to be one of those old ladies who has a house filled with cat knick-knacks aren't I?

Not all of my ornaments are sentimental. Some are just plain silly.

This happens to be my favorite kind of donut, a cake donut with chocolate frosting. It just so happens my uncle is the donut maker at our local grocery store and ever since he's been doing it and I moved close to said store, I eat them more often than I should. I swear they vent the "donut air" into the entrance of the place so when you walk in the door the only thing you can think is, "mmm...donut" as you find yourself mindlessly wandering towards the bakery.

This ornament was made by my dad's mother, my grandma Then. I don't know exactly when she made it, but I do know she made a few of them and most of us Then's are now lucky enough to have one in our homes. It was always hard to picture that my grandma made these delicate ornaments because even as a child I remember my grandma's hands being severely crippled. Grandma had one of the most severe cases of rheumatoid arthritis her rheumatologist had ever seen. So now, as my grandma is no longer with us I will treasure this ornament as a link to both her and my dad as this is an ornament we always used to hang on our family's Christmas tree. It was always my dad's job to hang these ornaments because they are heavier and required to be hung towards the top of the tree on the more sturdy branches. For us, it hangs from our ceiling fan's pull chain in the middle of the room where you can't miss it.

So I thought I'd help myself get in the Christmas spirit by posting daily some of my absolute favorite ornaments. While I appreciate some people's monochromatic schemes on their trees, that will never be me. Last night as I struggled over the decision to keep an ornament that I bought or give it as a gift, Mike said, "Well the tree is kind of full." Oh, poor Mike. He has no idea just how many can fit.

You see, decorating the Christmas tree has always been a big deal to our family. Whether it was the days of charlie brown trees that my logger father would never live down, or the days of perfect pine very carefully picked out by my mom, the time to decorate it was always a happy one. Somehow down the road we ended up making it a tradition to invite my aunt over to help and we'd stick in the the movie, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" while we decorated. The sound of my dad laughing hysterically every single year as Clark Grislwold went flying down the hill on his greased up saucer passes through my mind often. We would unwrap each ornament and as we hung it, discuss where it came from, who gave it to us, or make fun of whoever's baby picture was on it (we're sentimental like that). I look forward to passing on to my future family the same enjoyment of the Christmas tree.



These ornaments are some of my favorite. The N was given to me by my friend Holly, a couple years ago. I fell in love with it when I opened it up. Later, I found the same ornaments in my favorite store and bought the M for Mike as the first ornament I gave him. How happy I was to see that the M was in a more masculine color. It was meant to be!

Where packages galore arrive at our door.

Leaving kitties very curious.

Thank you online shopping for making my life less hectic this time of the year.

Anyone else put sad faces next to the things on your to do list that you really don't want to do?

The air filter has arrived!!

Mike and I get very few days off together...very few, that is until it hits about this time of the year and we get to spend our "lazy Sunday" together. November, January, February and March bring us those special Sunday's when the stores I work at are closed on Sundays for the winter. On these days we do exactly what it sounds like. We sleep in, casually make a big breakfast and hunker down with football or whatever else we can find and just generally take it easy. I kind of live for these days. Every other Sunday Mike has to leave for his second job around 4:00pm so I get to continue the progress of the day by myself.

This Sunday I chose to spend my time on the computer...on Facebook....on Lowe's facebook page nonetheless. Weird, right? Let me explain. They were having this big promotion where they were giving away 90% off coupons to random items of their choosing. There were things like Kitchenaid mixers, a refrigerator, vacuums, even a water heater. The way you won these coupons was by being the first 100 or so to click on the link and enter your email address. There were thousands and thousands (10,000 at a time!) of people trying for these and only 100 at a time would get anything. Well, I love a deal and search them out at all times so I spent a few...hours trying to win something. I was texting with Mike as the night went on and told him what I was doing and lets just say he thought it was a little foolish, I guess I can't blame him. The chances were not good.

But drumroll, imagine my surprise (and major excitement) when I got email saying I had a 90% off coupon for this:

What is it?? Ha. Its an air purifier. I can't say that I've honestly put much thought into getting one of these until I had the opportunity to get it for so cheap. Once I thought about it, of course we could use an air purifier. We live in a tiny house with two cats. Why hadn't we thought of it before??? So rest easy friends, next time you come to our home you can breath easier thanks to my non-ability to step away from a possible deal and Lowe's Home Improvement.

So I can quite honestly say the little "vacation" that Mike and I went on over Halloween was the best vacation I have been on in a super long time. It was breath for my soul being able to just hang out with my closest friends without a timetable and relatively stress free. Plus, being able to see my "roomate's" little Quinn for such a lengthy time really made an impression in my heart. What a sweet little Bee he is :) I think he made quite the impression on Mike as well.

One of the things I've always wanted to do in my adult life is have a Halloween "party." Ang was gracious enough to say we could do it at her house while we were visiting. I just really wanted to make some adorable things like I've seen in cookbooks and in magazines. For my own memory I'm going to post the pictures here as almost everyone who reads my blog was at the party.

First up, my favorite. Owl cupcakes that were easy to make and pretty tasty to eat. The directions can be found either in this book, or that one. I can't quite remember which one.


Mikes mummy wieners. What a great job he did. Believe it or not they really did have mustard eyes.


Taco dip with sour cream ghosts


Breadstick bones with blood dipping sauce


And the table:


So thank you again Angie and Dave for allowing us to stay for as long as we did. I came back home feeling refreshed (and maybe a little melancholy about being away from such great friends) and full. I look forward to the day we can all get together again. And oh my gosh. Next time we're all together, there will most likely be two more babies! Wow. Life is crazy.

Naturally, Sunday at work I was sporting my Packers best and a customer asked me, "Want to see a hilarious Packers shirt?" "Of course," was my response. That is when this quiet middle-aged woman pulled out this very worn t-shirt out of her reusable shopping bag. She explained to me how she bought it at a thrift store (she never buys new, she says) months ago before the whole Brett weiner texting thing (my words, not hers). Hehe, weiner. Yes, I'm obviously 12 years old. She said she's never worn it and would have to be totally drunk to do so but couldn't pass the awesome buy up. I'm glad she didn't because I wouldn't have this ridiculous picture. Seriously, that is one nasty fox.

I can't compete with cute baby videos...but there's what I've got. Murphy has found his new favorite thing, Mike's feet. He has realized he can get attention from them and goes for them whenever he sees them, causing Mike some frustration at times. However, sometimes Mike gives in and gives him some "attention." In the video you see one of his special, "ticks." Murphy air licking while he's being petted. Can you imagine how dangerous this is going to become when it turns to the really dry months of winter? I am envisioning the many shocks Mike will be giving me. Just when I thought I was safe because the carpet was gone...

Who knew pictures of cupcakes could make a person smile. Aren't these so sweet, in every sense of the word? Call me girly, but I just want this picture framed. These are from a particularly ADORABLE wedding reception. Loved everything about the reception, from the mason jars of candy on the table, to the lawn games, to of course these cupcakes. Thank you Bitzers, for letting us in on the party!

And one of the two I devoured.

I know, I know. Its been FOREVER since I've blogged. I'm going to say it has something to do with the fact that I've been pretty busy lately. You see, this last weekend was Homecoming here. Its an event that only happens every 5 years and I had plenty to do working at the Chamber of Commerce. One of my jobs was throwing a little kids carnival, which involved ordering all the toys for it (fun? yes.).

This is an item that I bought, and subsequently feverishly handed out to whoever I could once the carnival was over (dated material, people!). 2010 shutter glasses:

I'll be blogging more pictures about Homecoming but I thought I'd do it one subject at a time. All and all it was a pretty great time where I got to see lots of family and friends that I don't get to see all that often. However, I'm excited that its over and I no longer have to worry about how its going to go.

This right here is a charcoal chimney, used to get the charcoal started for the grill. Its hanging on our front porch right above the grill. Early spring we noticed a bird forming a nest and thought it was pretty cool (we have an extra chimney). Well she had babies right away and we think they died when we had a really cold night. Sad face.


But look at this! She had another brood. Four? little heads poking up. Boy are they noisy when mom (or dad!) comes to feed them.

This is Mom, we believe she is a House Finch. Anyone know otherwise? She's a good little mom, even went after Mike a couple times when he was out on the porch. Hehe (because it wasn't me).

That, over to the left, is dad. I was really surprised when I saw him feeding the little ones. I found it kinda heartwarming that they share that job.
And finally, here's a little hard to see video of them all in action :)

Just a couple retail lessons I need to get off my chest. Not that I think any of you do this stuff, I just need to vent (tourist season is definitely here).

• You really, really don't need to unfold every shirt you see. And when you're done with them, you really, really don't need to throw it back down in a ball.
• When knocking something on the floor, it'd be nice if you picked it back up.
• If you make a mess you can't clean up, please let me know so I can take care of it right away before it gets worse.
• If the sign on the store says "closed," don't come in and say, "I flipped your sign for you!" There may be an actual reason for the "closed" sign; also, it does take me a minute to open the place after I unlock the door, so don't ask to follow me in.
  
• Please don't get mad at me if I don't know if that particular shirt will shrink when you wash it. I'm sorry, I don't own and wash every single item myself.
• If I say "hello" to you, it'd be nice if you responded with even just a smile and definitely don't say "just looking" to my hello. I wasn't about to hassle you.
• Don't give me a nasty look when I tell YOUR child not to open the toys. This isn't actually a playroom, we're trying to sell that stuff.
• While some may think I look young, I do actually know what I'm doing and you don't need to look for the older employee to validate you.
• If you ask me what time I close and that time was five minutes ago, please take that as a hint that I'd like to go home now, its been a long day.

Rereading these, I sound a little b-wordy, but believe me, I could come up with TONS more. I'll refrain myself though.

That is all.

Summer Time!! Guess which one is mine....:)

And this my friends is the adorable way in which we open them. Yes they are twist offs, but look at this heavy duty chomping guy! He's a must use. I only wish I had more things to open with him.

Yes, this is our counter top. Yes, that is a very small portion of towel that I was using to iron on. Yes, we had other soft furniture available for her to lay on. Yes, immediately after I found her and took the picture (of course) I made her get down. Yes, she has legs.

Well the hole in the wall officially became a window! Check it out:

I hope to be able to grow some herbs on that windowsill one day when its actually finished.

My favorite peeping tom out there:


Aww, and there's the kitchen curtains I made. I have some adjustments to do to the crooked top but I'm not going to take care of that until the trim goes on and I know exactly where the rod will be. They won't be laying on the counter then either.


I just love the fabric...its not Mike's favorite but he's going with it for my sake. What a guy. Unfortunately, I didn't really buy enough of it...so I had to make them as close to size as possible without much overhang, I've only been able to find it online in one place for much more than I paid for it. So these will have to do the way they are.

Its quite amazing how much that little window opened up and brightened the house. Now we can actually see into the back yard!

"Surprise!" says Jesus.
“He Lives!” Pop-Ups. These “He Lives!” pop-up toys are jumping with the holy spirit! Set them on your desktop, counter or tabletop and watch them leap!

You can find them at Oriental Trading if you must have them yourself :)

This is my new little toy and I <3 it.


The white 3Gs iphone. Does anybody else have one? If so, what apps do I HAVE to have??

Oh and you all have a good weekend! I'm off to go on the annual 4-wheeling trip :D

Yesterday was Mike's birthday. I think he had a pretty good day. He signed a purchase agreement to buy the empty lots next door, got a brand new packers jersey and I think best of all, he got to go see two of his favorite people, Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier do a live Smodcast, which just happens to be one of his favorite podcasts. Btw, if you don't know, Kevin Smith is "Silent Bob." He's also a director and writer, and just a super funny (AND DIRTY) man. With the mention of dirtiness...this is where the live smodcast was held:

An old desanctified church. And its a beautiful one at that.
The smodcast bus parked in front of the venue which happens to be across the street from another church with Buddy Christ looking out. Dogma, anyone???

There was beautiful stained glass all around the place.

Mike got a signed tour poster for his birthday. They only did 6 shows in the country and there were only about 150 people at this one. It was pretty intimate.
There they are. Our preachers for the night. Now when I say the show was intimate...it was intimate. Their little tour just happens to be sponsored by a sex toy. And guess what, they gave some away. They made the people come up on stage and pick out the one they wanted and made us picture the winner using it. Mike said he was glad he didn't put his name in the box. Oh and they ended the show by literally throwing the more "flacid" items into the audience. Sitting in a beautiful old church, I couldn't help but think over and over, "Is this really happening?" Happen it did.

So Mike's been dreaming lately about adding onto the house...its fun to dream right? Well after work the other day he was drawing up plans in bed with a level and tape measure and everything. That night we went to bed, passed out really and awoke in the morning to find we slept with a tape measure in between us all night. I forgot to ask Mike if he really had some pretty realistic remodeling dreams that night.

Mike walked into the living room the other night and said "I finally did it! I stuck my finger in Murphy's mouth when he yawned."

Another reason I find this man so adorable. I'm sure he's going to love that I shared this too :)

While its not completely finished, I couldn't resist sharing some pictures. If you can ignore the mess, you'll notice we have a little wood up on the walls, cedar to be exact.

Creepy cat in the bottom corner also loves our new stools. Another place for her to call her own...sigh.
Ok, this side of the bar was MADE FOR ME. Look at that! A perfect little home for my mixer. And to the left of it there will be two shelves for all my cookbooks. I cannot wait to fill those shelves up!

Obviously all the trim work needs to be done on all the cedar but wow, does it really give the place some character. What do you think?

On a side note, I'm really sick of varnishing (or poly-ing) wood. The smell that fills the house is not so kind to your head and stomach. Also, a point worth noting. Do not stain or varnish anything and then turn on a gas appliance. The kerosene smell will get you lightheaded and make you want to vom. Thanks to the internet we were able to avoid calling the gas company and found out using anything oil based with the mixture of a heated appliance (gas dryer included) creates a very strong kerosene smell. All you can do is let it air out. Lesson learned!