Professor Newton

Newton doesn't own any clothes... well at least he didn't. We weren't those people... but then we saw the perfect cordouroy jacket at Target for $2.50 and we couldn't resist. (it even has pockets!) And guess what? He loves it. (We treated it like it was a treat/privilege to have... and one time when he got in trouble, I took it off.. so now he thinks it's the best thing ever.)

Hearty equation...

+

=
hearty, yummy, delicious food.

I received the cookbook from a blog contest I entered for a great Polynesian Porkchop recipe (will share soon) and the Kitchenaid Mixer for Christmas. :) Sorry for the crappy cell phone quality pictures.. I lent my mom the cookbook for the week (she loves it too!) and I was too lazy to take a real picture of the mixer.
I'm really excited about all the possibilities.... yum.

Note: I bought the cookbook for my MIL for Christmas and would have done the same for my mom if I hadn't already purchased her gift. It's amazing.

2010 Holiday Craft

Each Thanksgiving, Aaron's mom organizes a family craft. Luckily for me, the years we are with my family, she always saves some of the materials for me, so I can make my own. This year we spent Thanksgiving with Aaron's side of the family, although many were missing. We made a much need Christmas card holder.
Check it out.

See 2009 and 2008 crafts

Deck the Halls!

Well I got pretty much all my Christmas decorations up this weekend. I've still got the kissing ball to hang. (Well, that task is for Aaron... ) and I also want to get a Christmas wreath to hang on the window pane I have in the dining room, since I decided to use mine on the mantle this year.

So here it is:

Our view from the couch... also where most of the Christmas decorations are. This year was the first year for me to hang garland on the mantle, and I love it.

Our stockings, hung by the chimney with care.

My Christmas decoration purchases for the year. I love them. Thank goodness for Hobby Lobby and their 50% off. :)

Found these glittery pine cones in my Christmas box and decided to add to the mantle with the garland.

I change out the items in my mantle vase every once in awhile... and this is what I decided on for Christmas. :)

Early Christmas present from my mother-in-law. Proudly displayed on the coffee table.


The table all decorated.. with berries, a mini tree, and table confetti.


We are "those people" that have a coordinated tree... so I haven't been able to display some of my special ornaments the past few years. This year I decided to purchase a small tree dedicated to the cause.

Some of my special ornaments:
Harding University (where Aaron and I attended college); Africa, with Mozambique outlined (Aaron's oldest brother and his family are missionaries in Mozambique. Africa also holds a special place in my heart, as I went on 2 mission trips to Ghana with my church back in Memphis when I was in college); and a wedding ornament from my Grandma for our first married Christmas.

Growing up, my Grandma gave each of the grandkids a special ornament each year. My ornament was rocking horses. Now the rocking horses have a new tree to hang on. :)


Last but not least, our tree and tree topper.



Our tree is not living up to the splendor of 2008:
I've got to work on that... maybe fluff some branches or something.

Happy Decorating
and
Happy Holidays everyone!

Cutie!

Isn't he just a cutie??
I got to take a few pictures of my precious nephew and his parents over Thanksgiving. Even though the little photo session didn't go as planned, I still think we got some great shots. :)

a black friday to remember...

Just thought I would document my black Friday experience... although it's not too crazy, considering other people... just crazy for me.. and definitely not what I had planned on.

We decided to stay at Andrew and Krystle's new house on Thursday night, so we could check out the new place, spend some quality time, and get up early to go black friday shopping together...
After playing a round of Monopoly Deal, it was about 12am or so and we decided it would be good to go scope out Target and just see if there were a lot of people waiting. We loaded up in the car and off we went. We got to Target and there was NO ONE in line! Though there were 2 cars waiting in the parking lot. Of course, we had Andrew get out of the car, so we could document via photo.


Andrew and Krystle were wanting a new tv and Target had a killer deal. So we decided, instead of going home, and hoping to get back in time for Target's opening (4am).. we'd just hang out in the car at Target. Of course, first we needed snacks, games, and blankets to keep us occupied and ready for sleep, if need be.
We ran back to the house. The guys did their thing, then hopped in the other car and headed back to Target while Krystle and I got changed into comfy black friday shopping clothes, packed snacks, games, etc... then we headed to see if by any small chance McDonalds was open for some food... no such luck. After pulling out of McDonalds, we got a call from Andrew saying that when they got back to Target, there was already a line! Looked like we were camping out for the rest of the night. Krystle and I went back to the house and gathered 2 camping chairs, 2 sleeping bags, and 2 blankets and headed on to Target. We joined the guys in the freezing cold. The guys were nice enough to let us sit in the chairs and use the sleeping bags. I'm not quite sure how they survived with thin blankets out there.
At one point, Krystle and I created a fort with our sleeping bags and watched some of High School Musical (the only movie I have on my iPhone!)... until Krystle fell asleep that is... Sleep didn't last for long, since the Target manager came out with some information and had us organize the line.


At 3:55am, we rushed in, grabbed the tv and other goodies, and headed on to Walmart, then McDonalds. We hit the hay at 6:30am.
All in all, we had a great time, even though it was FREEZING outside. Thankfully, they got the tv!

A Shutterfly Christmas

I love Shutterfly! I share a lot of my personal photos on a Shutterfly share site and so does Two Girls and a Camera. I've also used Shutterfly to create fun photo books and photo gifts (mainly calendars). However, my one of my favorite things to create on Shutterfly is my Christmas card! I've used Shutterfly for the past 2 years and I have been very impressed with the style options, quality, and speed. The past 2 years I've used matte card stock cards, and I love them. I'm planning to stick with them again this year.
Here are our past 2 cards.

Somehow, over the past 2 years I've convinced my friends to take our Christmas card photos.. and this year we were able to meet up with the Tarpleys for a photo shoot. I took their photos, and Lauren took ours. Worked out real well! We found a random park not too far from our apartment that was just what we needed. :)

Can't wait to share this year's card with you...

Happy Holidays everyone!

Check out Shutterfly's products here:

Christmas photo card: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards
Cute calendars! : http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars
and they even have cute invitations!
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-invitations

Miss Me?

Have you missed me?
Sorry I've been MIA. I've been locked up in a windowless room in Midtown working on an audit for the past few weeks. It's almost over.. and then maybe I'll return to blog world.

Since my last post, I...

Went to Nashville with my photography buddy and awesome friend, Lauren, for a few photoshoots and to visit friends and family. While we were in Nashville, my brave sister took on the job of being a photographer for photographers. Whew. Lauren and I have very few pictures together, since we are always behind the cameras... so Rachel snapped some fun pictures of us.




We also joined one of my dearest friends, Laura, my sister, and another friend, Allison, and headed downtown for dinner.. and potential line dancing, which ended up not happening.



Instead, we went back to Allison's and did some Wii dancing. So. much. fun.
also, I am terrible.


Well I've done more stuff besides that... but my eyelids are starting to droop... so I'm signing off. Night!

If, I don't "see" you again before Thursday, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!