Monday, December 30, 2013

A Christmas Recap.


Christmas was really amazing this year! 

This was the first year that D stayed in town and we got to spend the holidays with my family and part of his family (his aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents and brother). We truly had such a wonderful time and I am glad that we got to spend all this time with our everyone. 


Because this was our first year staying here, we went all out with our decorations. I am afraid to look at my credit card bill! It was a lot of fun buying bits and pieces and putting it all together. 

Christmas is such a beautiful time of the year! I love all of it - the lights, decorations, all of it..! I would love it even more if it snowed here during the holidays. We had a tease of snow on the 20th, but it was all gone two days later. 

All in all, we had a wonderful time and I am so grateful for all the presents we received and family we got to spend the holidays with! 

Monday, December 23, 2013

Happy Christmas Eve's Eve!

This was my view of the parking lot at work on December 20th ... a shit ton of snow! I love the snow, so I was a happy camper! 


Three days later ... this was my view today ... a beautiful, sunny (& windy) day. It looked more like summer than December 23. This afternoon, I couldn't help but think how it doesn't feel/look like Christmas, mainly because of today's weather.


This is probably my last post before Christmas ... only 2 more sleeps ... I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and gets spoiled rotten! 

Friday, December 20, 2013

6 Free Christmas Printables: Gift Tags!


I am pleased to report that I am pretty much complete all my Christmas shopping. Believe it or not,  I actually finished the other week! Most presents are even wrapped, but most don't have gift tags! 

The gift tags that I keep finding at the store aren't that nice, so I decided today that I would find some free printables on the world wide web and give that a shot! Thanks to my favorite website, pinterest, I found tons that I adored. It was hard to pick only six...!


Which tags are your favorite? Enjoy!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Another Year Older.



Another year older, another year wiser. Right? Maybe! Anyways, it's my 30th birthday today! 

To be honest, I kind of have mixed feelings about today. I love birthday's (and presents!), but I am not so keen on the big three-zero. The past few days leading up to today has been bit of a roller coaster of emotions. I am pretty sure I have been cranky more times than I would like to admit. I'm not sure why.  

+ I would have loved to have a big sha-bang with friends and family to celebrate this milestone, but it didn't happen (and I seriously doubt it will happen). Last weekend was my boyfriend's brother's birthday and there was a big party / surprise for him. This coming weekend is basically filled with many Christmas festivites. Am I disappointed? Yes, a little. But I'm not surprised because this generally is what happens every year. It is what it is..

+ Along with turning thirty, I am really thinking twice about my life. What I have / haven't accomplished. Honestly, I thought by now life would be different. I'm not saying I am not happy, because I am, but I want more. I really want to be further ahead than I am now. 

My goal for this coming year is to try and step out of my comfort zone and really learn a lot more about myself, and really figure out what it is that I want to do with my life! 

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Music // What I'm Listening To.



My boy, he ain't the one that I saw coming
And some have said his heart's too hot to hold
And it takes a little time
But you should see him when he shines
Cause you never wanna let that feeling go

When you love, who you love
Who you love
You love, who you love
Who you love
Yeah, you love, who you love
Who you love

Monday, December 16, 2013

Whooo.


I know this isn't a great photo*, but its the best I could do at midnight, through the bedroom window... 

* You can see it slightly better in my instagram photo.

At midnight, I awoke to a few text messages from my boyfriend on my cell phone telling me to wake up because there was a large bird on the balcony. He was sitting at his computer and didn't want to move in case his movement frightened it. I ran into the spare bedroom and could see it ... but I could also hear it. "Whoo, whooo, whooo" ... it wasn't just any bird, it was a friggin' owl. It was huge. 

For approximately thirty minutes we listened to it talking to its buddy (we couldn't see the other one). It was quite something because every few seconds it would turn its head and look at us with its bright yellow eyes. Unfortunately it was so dark outside that any photo we took didn't turn out. We didn't want to use the flash as we figured he would fly away.

We are both hoping he comes back tonight!

Sunday, December 15, 2013

A few Decorations.




A few snapshots of our Christmas decorations. You'll notice in the last photo our lack of snow outside. Fingers crossed that will change. 

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Music // What I'm Listening To.



Say something, I'm giving up on you.
I'll be the one, if you want me to.
Anywhere, I would've followed you.
Say something, I'm giving up on you.

And I am feeling so small.
It was over my head
I know nothing at all.

And I will stumble and fall.
I'm still learning to love
Just starting to crawl.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Work. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. And find links!


Five days since my last post. To say that I have been sucking at keeping up with my blog this month would be an understatement. I will apologize in advance because I cannot guarantee that it will get any better. At least not for the next 2 - 3 weeks.

I have all these post ideas, just no time. And maybe no desire to turn on my computer after a long day. Plus, all my free time is being spent getting ready for the holidays. I promise to share some photos shortly - we have been kicking butt at decorating our apartment for Christmas. It looks amazing.

Anyways, for the month of December, this is my life: work, eat, sleep and repeat. Enough about me, here are some cool links that I have stumbled upon these past few days that I wanted to share. 

+ I am loving these photos. Adorable.

+ Ho ho ho, so cool

+ This appetizer looks so delicious.

+ Love is soooo important!

+ Living a healthier life.

+ Am I crazy to live here? Perhaps!

+ Loving all these stocking stuffers.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Top 5 // Favorite Holiday Movies.


The tree is fully decorated. The stockings have been hung. A few presents have been wrapped (yes, I am a keener!). It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! The only thing missing is a few of our favorite holiday movies. 

This week, we have started to make a list of holiday movies that we want to watch during the month. Here is my top five favorite holiday movies, in no particular order...

02 // Elf

What are your favorite movies to watch during the holidays?

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Music // What I'm Listening To.



I miss the way you wanted me
When I was staying just out of your reach
Begging for the slightest touch
Ooh, you couldn't get enough, mmm

Oh, if I could go back in time
When you only held me in my mind
Just a longing gone without a trace
Oh, I wish I'd never ever seen your face
I wish you were the one
Wish you were the one that got away

Sunday, December 1, 2013

December is here!


Happy December 1st!

I haven't quite wrapped my brain around the fact that it's already December. Though I did have no problem eating my chocolate from my advant calendar this afternoon. Delicious!

December is going to be a very busy month, but there are a lot of things I am looking forward to.

+ I am working tons because my supervisor has three weeks of vacation to take this month. While I'm not thrilled about having two consecutive days off, the extra money will be nice. 

+ We are spending Christmas here, which means tons more family to visit with! It's also the first Christmas that D and I will be spending together in our apartment. 

+ My 30th birthday is on the 19th.

+ We have a lot of baking to do! Both of us love baking desserts and can't wait to eat them all ourselves share them with our family and friends.