A Very Busy Christmas

Graduation, wedding, birthday, Christmas and snowy days all packed into one full week. The week started out with my friend's graduation. Ashley plans to move to Las Vegas for an engineering job. I will be sad to see her leave, but I can always go visit!

Me with the happy graduate.

Next was another friends wedding. She is now Mrs. Jennifer Smith, so exciting. Watching her wedding brought back so many great memories of mine and Jesse's wedding.

I did not get my picture with the bride, but I did get a picture with one of my best friends, Chelsea, who I had not seen in months.

The same day as my friends wedding was my nephews 2nd birthday. Jesse and I got
him a tractor or a "choo choo" as my nephew calls it. He calls many things "choo choo's." To celebrate his birthday we went to downtown Guthrie where everything had been decorated for Christmas and people were dressed up like people back from the Victorian age. It was fun. The girls decided to go on a carriage ride.

Mom and Lillian on the carriage ride.

My sister, Amy, and I on the carriage ride. The boys did not want to go on the ride.
Finally Christmas! Jesse and I spent Christmas day with my family this year. We even had a white Christmas, which we have not had in a long time. The snow was beautiful and we all had so much fun playing in it. My mom, brother and even niece had their 4 wheelers with them so we drove them around, we sled and of course through a few snow balls at each other. What a fun holiday.

Dressed in our Christmas best. Mom and I playing an intense game on the wii. Even Nathan wanted to play the wii. He had watched us adults play it all day, so he knew exactly what to do.

Starting to snow.

Lillian on her 4 wheeler. It was just her size.
The giant hill that Jesse made me sled down...very scary, but fun. The hill is bigger then it seems in the photo, just ask anyone who was standing at the top looking down.
Next stop, Knoxville Tennessee. Jesse and I will leave Tuesday so pray for a safe journey. We can't wait to spend more time with family.

Christmas Decorating

Jesse and I went shopping for my first real Christmas tree this morning and it was so much fun! There is a tree farm called Santa's forest close to Ponca City. There were pre-cut trees and trees you had to cut down, of course we chose the tree you had to cut yourself. They gave us a hand saw and off we went into the field to find the perfect tree for us.

The pictures below show the process we went through to get our perfect tree:

The field of Christmas trees.

The lucky winner.Jesse with the hand saw about to cut down our tree.
Here he goes.

Yes, even I got my turn at cutting the tree.

Did you know that these trees are actually yellow when they are grown and they have to spray paint them green to get that beautiful color? I didn't until today, but it does not look cheesy and the trees smell wonderful.

Next we had to decorate.

The finished product!

After we tackled the tree project, I started my own wreath making project. I had bought a lot of the items before Thanksgiving 1/2 off, but refused to start working on it until after Thanksgiving.

I found these great little bunches of decorations. My theme for the wreath is red and gold.

I tied the bunches onto the wreath and added a gold bow. I decided to tie on the decoration with string, that way if I ever wanted to change out my colors it would be easy to do so. It was pretty easy to make and much cheaper then one you would buy in a store.
Hanging on the famous 513.

Wedding Photos

Jesse and I have a few of our wedding photos on my Facebook page. There a lot more great family photos, so if you would like a specific picture let me know.

Thanksgiving Madness and Fun

I spent my first Thanksgiving away from my family this year and spent it with my new family in Tennessee. Jesse and I started the trip out with a bang. We set out on a Tuesday night hoping to drive all through the night to arrive bright and early at Jesse's grandparents house, however the Jeep broke down so we ended up staying the night in Conway Arkansas and spent four hours at a Jeep dealership service center...not fun. Finally we arrived in Nashville and the fun began.

We spent Thanksgiving day at one of Jesse's relatives homes. The house was an A frame house backed into the hills and it was beautiful. There was also a pretty bridge that you had to cross to drive up to the house. Fifty seven is the number of people counted at Thanksgiving. Wow, I have never been to a Thanksgiving that big so of course it was madness, but it was a lot of fun. There is nothing better then being surrounded by family and for me I had a lot of new people to meet.

R to L: Jonathan (Jesse's BIL, Molly's husband), Molly (Jesse's sister), Evan (Jesse's brother), and Luke (Jesse's cousin).

R to L: Chandler (Jesse's cousins son), Cade (Jesse's cousin), Carla Lee (Cade's wife), Me and Kim (Jesse's mom) made the background of the pic.

The bridge you crossed that leads up to the A frame house. It was all lit up at night.

The next day a few of us went caving. Jesse's relatives own a piece of land with a cave on it. I get claustrophobic so I was nervous about going, I had never been in a cave before, but it did not sound like I would enjoy it too much, luckily Kim, Molly, and Jesse's aunt, Missy, felt the same way so we took a separate car and just went a little way into the cave. It was very cool inside, but I am glad I just went a little way in to it.

Jesse and I before we started our caving journey.

I loved this mini water fall I saw as we hiked up to the cave. If you look closer you can see the water falling down the rock.

Jesse entering the cave. The entrance was A LOT smaller than I thought.Molly going into the cave. Again, wow that cave is small...but once I got over the fear of entering the cave, it was a little bigger inside and you could stand up in it.

I forget what the are called, but these were hanging down in the cave and it was really cool to look at.

The holiday week also involved a lot of eating, playing games, watching football and talking, all the things that make a holiday great :)

Weekend Fun with the Family

Jesse and I had another busy weekend, we spent this past weekend hanging out with family in Elgin, OK. The main reason for the travel was because of my nephews first birthday party, but I also wanted to see my family and have some down time with them. We could not have asked for a better weekend of weather, and the leaves were beautiful! I have posted a few pics of the weekend fun.

Lucas (my nephew) in his granddads boots and hat.

Me and the birthday boy! (Nathan, my nephew, could not keep his hat on)

About to blow out the candle.

Digging In!

Me and my niece, Lillian...she was working on a painting project when I snapped the pic.

Jesse, Brent (BIL) and my brother Ty helped make an awesome rope/tire swing. It was a lot of fun and Jesse is already thinking of ways to improve it...we will see. I have video of Jesse and Trace (Brother) swinging on it, but they won't seem to upload, so I will try again tomorrow.

Halloween Costume

Jesse and I went to a church Halloween costume last night and the costume regulations were that we had to go as a famous couple/group/family and it had to be homemade. I gave Jesse several options, but the final out come was Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man. Maybe the costume wasn't the best, but everyone liked the idea. We got honorable mention in the costume contest.

This was my shirt. Jesse's was the same just without the bow and it just says Pac-Man on the back. It is hard to tell but I did iron on a cherry at the bottom.

It took me forever to draw these letters on the back like it is on the game. I am not the best artist.

I never got a good pic of Jesse and I in our costumes, so the t-shirt is all you get to see. We did wear patching shades of jeans and white shoes.

"Witch's Hat"

I saw this cute and easy idea for a Halloween treat online called "Witch's Hat". The ingredients: Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies, Hershey Kisses, peanut butter and orange frosting in a tube (could not find orange frosting, so I just got white frosting, food coloring and a decorating piping kit, which I already had).

First, take your Keebler Fudge Strip cookie and turn it upside down

Second, take a Hershey Kiss and put a little bit of peanut butter on the bottom of it so that it will stick to the cookie

Third, (if you are lucky) just use the orange tube of icing and pipe it around the bottom edge of the Hershey Kiss and then make a bow. If you are like me and could not find a pre-made orange icing, mix yellow and red dye with white frosting and use a small round tip in your decorative piping kit...and there you have it, a "Witch's Hat".

I just took these to a Halloween party and they were a huge hit! Only came home with 3 left...which will probably be gone before I finish this post.

Girls Night Out

Last Friday I finally got some fun time in with the friends. Me, my best friend and my old college roommates (also best friends) went to downtown Bricktown in Oklahoma City to hang out. We had so much fun catching up. They were all in my wedding, but the wedding was so crazy busy that we did not exactly all get to sit down and chat. We went to Zio's (an Italian restaurant) and then to a Dueling piano place which was pretty cool and then we finished the evening out with a late movie, "Couples Retreat." I laughed through the whole movie, but there was definitely some stuff they could have left out.

Ashley, me and Julie

Lauren and Chelsea

I never got a great group picture.

My First Sewing Project

As a wife I completed my first sewing project! I have sewed before, but I always had my mom there to help me so I was very proud of myself when I got out my sewing machine and did everything on my own. A few months ago, Jesse and I opened our new sheets for our bedding and as I was putting on one of the pillow cases I notice a rip down the seam. I was so bummed because they were brand new, but I could not return them because I had just washed them. I finally got around to fixing it. It was not the best stitching I have ever done, but it fixed the problem and now it is as good as new.

This is my craft center in our apartment. I have several different unfinished projects going on at once, but at least now I can cross off the pillow case. I am also working on an engagement photo album, I need to stitch a bead back on my bathing suit and I have a few buttons on coats that need to be sewed back on before the weather gets too cold. We will see how much actually gets done.

A special thanks goes out to my mom for teaching me how to sew over the years...I am glad it stuck with me.

Beautiful Nails

The Kit

The wonderful outcome

I am just going to put it out there...I am a nail biter! I am sure many others share in my shame, but it's just a habit I cannot break. I have discovered that if my nails are painted and look pretty then I am less likely to bit them. I also love to get manicures, but I am not always willing to pay the price. So I started looking for other options. I found at Wal-Mart this 3-in-1 french manicure set and it comes with a tape like guide to place over the tip of your nails while you paint. I have decided to just use tape whenever the guided strips run out. The cost was only about $6.00 and it will last a long time. It is day three and I have only had one chip. The box says it should last six to eight days (which you cannot always trust), but overall I am pleased with the outcome, they really do look professional. To cut back on drying time I used this drying spray for nails, it is just like the stuff you use in a nail salon (again, I got it at Wal-Mart). I believe I paid $3-$5 for the spray, but it is well worth it. This idea is great for all you country gals who cannot reach a nail salon within a 30 mile radius, for busy moms who need some pampering and for anyone on a budget. Try it!