Five Favorite Friday

In following with the theme of my blog, and my life... I'm going to give you a post that is over a month late. Yup, that's right, I'm about to write about Christmas. Don't judge. I'm a nursing student. I have no life. Plus, I just can't seem to document things out of chronological order, which means I can't tell you about my birthday, or school, or anything else until I get Christmas out of my bloggy mind. I'm just crazy like that.

Soooo, in an effort to get this out of the way so I can continue.... I've narrowed my Christmas post down to my Five Favorite things about Christmas this year. In no particular order....

1. Friend time! and cookies! Yum!!!!

My friends and I got together for a girls night were we ate entirely too many cookies, drank some wine, played some fun board games, and exchanged recipes! Good times :)

2. Evenly dispersed family time. Instead of having to cram time with all of the family into one day, we were able to kind of break it up a little bit this year. The boy got lucky and was off on Christmas Eve, and day! So we did dinner at my parents house on Christmas Eve, and dinner at his parents house Christmas day! Now don't get me wrong, we were still running around all over the place and crazy stressed for 2 days, but at least it was 2 days, and not one!!!

(my little family..)

3. Cheesiness. In the form of matching jammies and goofy family shots :)

4. Presents!!!! (My parents got us an AWESOME waterproof camera!!!! We will be putting this to LOTS of use!!!) and I'm still lovin' my early present from the boy... my Evo :)

5. Decorations. And my mom.

My mom didn't have just one tree this year, she had at least 7... and they were GORGEOUS! She had so much going on at the end of the year, including 2 surgeries, and a holiday party.... but she just couldn't resist putting up all of her decorations.

Love you Mommy!

What's your flavor?

I may, or may not have stayed up until 12:3o the other night re-arranging ornaments on my tree. Am I the only one who does that? You get something new, and then you have to find a new place for it, and then you need a thick branch so you move some more stuff around, and the tree starts to droop so now some things are hidden, so you move some stuff around again...it just never ends. But I love it!

I was told I should open a Christmas present early Friday night, and rightfully so, because in it were 2 new beautiful ornaments from my Aunt Lisa :)

That's what started the ornament shuffling ordeal when I got home. There was no way I was going to wait until the next to put them up, I might be too busy! But while re-arranging/admiring all the ornaments on my tree, it got me thinking about my Tree Trimming Style. You know, everyone has their own "flavor" of tree trimming... There's the Christmas shop display tree type, the "my kid made everything on my tree" type, the "theme" tree, and so on, and so forth....

MY style of course is unique to me, and the boy, and the things we enjoy. I think you can tell a lot about a person by their tree..... Personally, my tree tells the story of our lives together. I don't have any of the ornaments I had growing up (long story), so when we moved into our house 3 Christmases ago I had to start fresh. I bought some plain ol' colored balls (which we NEVER had on our tree when I was little), and a few cute ornaments and went from there. That Christmas my mom made me some Macrame candy canes like the ones we had on our tree when I was growing up.

My little brother made me some reindeer and penguin bell/pom pom ball ornaments

and my mom also crocheted me some BEAUTIFUL snowflakes

which I adore! I got a little creative as well and made some bead snowflakes.

Each year I've added a few ornaments here and there and so our "theme", so to say, developed. Every ornament on my tree has either been hand made by me or someone in my family, a snowman (I love snowmans!!!), career or hobbie related to us, or my favorite - beachy Christmasy.... It's even MORE awesome if I can find a snowman that represents any of those things. Those are usually my favorite! Like my sandy-men and my nurse and firefighter snowmen that I shared with you when I revealed my tree here.

And I can't forget about our Christmas tradition of adding a dated photo ornament with a picture of us in it. I can't wait until our tree is FULL of these!

My tree was pretty sparse the first year, and mostly full of the glass balls. As the years have gone by, my collection has grown, and my tree is borderline "cluttered." The pretty kind of cluttered, but it's certainly full! I like it though, it suits me. It's how I remember my tree looking when I was growing up, but with MY ornaments that are special to ME. The showroom tree is just NOT my style. At all.

So, I guess that's my "flavor"... homemade/beachy/fishy/career representing/snowmen.

What's yours?

The hall's are decked!

With my trusty companion by my side....

(though, she preferred not to be...)

I finished decorating the inside of the house over the weekend!

Not too much... just a few touches here and there....

and most importantly, the tree!!!

With it's new topper!!!

I haven't decided yet how I feel about the sprays of sea-life around it. Too much?

Some of my favorite ornaments this year...

See our new photo ornament? It's so cute!

The outside got some holiday cheer too... but it's not done yet. I haven't gotten out there to hook up my snowmen! Gotta have some snowman's!!!!

Zoey's "Tucker Max incident"

If you've ever read, or seen, "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell", you already know where I'm going with this. If not, just keep reading....

Since I was gone for a week, and the Boy had to work some 24 hour shifts during that time, my sweet Zoey went to Grandpa camp for a week. Thankfully, Grandpa takes good care of her, but he spoils the crap out of her, literally. Someone got a few too many cheap treats and thanksgiving leftovers (neither of which she is ever given at our house), and came home with what I can only describe as a puppy stomach bug. Poor thing was apparently up all night leaking out both ends while the Boy and I were passed out sick in bed. He woke up to her banging against the wall, and I woke up to him saying "Honey, I hate to wake you up with this and leave, but we've got a "stinky" situation." Not even kidding, that's what he said.... That Boy's got jokes I tell ya.

So, I did a little "Fall Cleaning" yesterday. I moved furniture, mopped twice, Swiffered until there was nothing left to Swiffer, washed rugs and puppy beds, and scrubbed the puppy down too. Way more than any sick person should, but I was on a roll and was determined to get rid of the stench that was making me gag more than my usual snotty self. Apparently I over-did it a little with the Swiffer though because my gas detector detected a chemical smell, and the next thing I knew, my house alarm was going off. Whoopsy. I missed the call from the alarm company, called them back, got disconnected, called back again, and I'm pretty sure I finally got the message to the guy that "NO, I do NOT need the Fire Department" just in time.

See? I told you yesterday was eventful! Not much fun, but eventful! I'm happy to report that my sweet Zoey Monster is feeling much better today. She has actually picked up her toys a few times, and continues to try and recruit me to play with her. Unfortunately, I think I over-did it yesterday and I'm feeling pretty crappy.... I'm keeping up on the Emergen-C and fluids though, because I'm ready to kick this cold out and get on with the decorating! Tomorrow is December for crying out loud and the only thing I have done so far is put away my fall decorations!!!

With my little helper by my side... hopefully we can get some Holiday Cheer around here by the end of the week!

Is my puppy really growing?

My IRL and bloggy friend Jess stopped by yesterday to show me her new truck... and we got to talkin' about my puppy dog and how much better behaved she is getting. Jess also commented that she looks bigger. Now, I see my dog every day, so she doesn't really seem like she's gotten bigger to me, but looking back on pictures sometimes I notice that she has grown a tad. I told Jess that when I was comparing our Family Christmas Picture from last year, to this years, I thought Zoey's head looked bigger. We got her a few weeks before Christmas last year, and she was just a few months old and only about 24 pounds. Now she is over a year old, and 40 pounds. So, here is your requested photo Jess.... What do ya'll think?

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2009

Now I know this years is a closer shot, but don't you think her head is a little bigger?

(yes, we have to practically choke her to get her to look at the camera and sit still....lol)

Ta-Da!

After many attempts...

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I picked a picture for our ornament :)

Christmas...

Our Christmas was simply WONDERFUL this year! My Christmas day was spent with my Mom, Step-dad and Step-brother. We opened just a few presents, played some Wii, had a big breakfast, and went to see Sherlock Holmes. Which was pretty good I might add, but a little too long for my taste. After the movie I headed up to the Fire Station to have Christmas dinner with the boy and our department family :) Yum yum! We had our actual Christmas on the 26th because by then Ed was off shift, and my little brother had joined us :) We opened lots of presents

(being on a budget I got Ed a few things including a hand made by me apron!)

(Not being on as much of a budget, the boy got me a Wii!)

We had a HUGE breakfast, and spent the whole day at my parents house hanging out and not doing much of anything except relaxing! We played a lot of Wii with the family, while being entertained by my brother playing with his new guitar

and then had a great big dinner

and lots of yummy dessert. Including my yummy cheesecake, and mom's Twinkie cake (it's just what it's called... a big cake that tastes just like a Twinkie!) and Pecan pie.

For the first time since we've been together, we only had to go to 1 house! We went and visited my dad's side of the family on Christmas Eve, and Ed's family was in Georgia for the holidays. While we missed them, we sure didn't miss having to hop around and eat a million times. Our Christmas day was everything that Christmas should be. A nice and relaxing day with loved ones. And of course some pictures in front of the tree! With my mom and step-dad modeling all their new Dolphin stuff of course!

(isn't the snowman Dol-fan the cutest?!?!?! I got it for them, hehehe!)

I hope yours was just as nice :)

Christmas Yummies!!!

I just realized... I've never posted our family Cheesecake recipe! It's so yummy, and I made 2 of them for Christmas... I even thought ahead and took pictures while baking so I could blog and share the recipe with you! Too bad it took me over a week to post it. Whoops....

Ingredients:

• 2 large packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (use the Philly, it's worth it)
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten whole
• 1 Tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups Sour Cream
• 1 Large (w/2 extra servings) Graham Cracker crust

Directions:

• Bring cream cheese to room temperature
• Cream in 3/4 cup of sugar
• Add 3 eggs beaten whole

(Action shot!!! I love my mixer!!!!!)

• Stir in 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• Fold in 1 1/2 cups of Sour cream
• Add a dash of Nutmeg if desired...

• Pour into Crust and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40 mins.... sometimes up to an hour. Make sure you check it periodically. It's done when you wiggle it and the middle is mostly firm.

• Remove from oven and let sit until room temperature

• Refrigerate until completely chilled and ENJOY!!!

Snowman's!

Aren't these Snowman ornament's the cutest? I picked up a pack of 6 today at Pier 1, and I love them!

The frugal side of me says I might have paid a few dollars more than I should have... but the frivolous side of me says who the heck cares, they are so friggin' adorable!

In case you haven't noticed... snowmen are kindda my "thing"!

Ornament Swap Part 2!

I got my Ornament today from the second swap I signed up for! (I love mail! And bloggers. And Christmas. And Swaps! I was so excited!!!)

This swap was especially exciting, it was a DIY Ornament Swap and Lauren from The Lo Down made me the cutest Snowman ornament!!!

Here is my package from Lauren. She also included a note and a State of Florida cookie cutter!!!

And here is my new little snowman hanging on my tree :)

Thanks Lauren! I love it! You are so talented!!!!!!

Ornaments!

So we all know I've been a little behind on my blogging lately... but I certainly did not forget that I need to share with you the LOVELY ornaments that my swap partner Leanne sent me! I even have lovely pictures of them hanging on my tree now :)

This is my very first Hallmark ornament of my own, for my very own tree :)

And this pretty ornament was hand made by Leanne herself!!!

Thanks again Leanne! It was so great getting to know you, and I LOVE my ornaments!

While Leanne and I were exchanging emails trying to get to know each other a little bit, we got on the subject of traditions and such. I think it's great to have something that you do with your loved ones every year. When I was growing up we used to collect series of Hallmark ornaments, and my parents bought a dated Christmas ball every year that they were married and they hung them on garland in the living room instead of putting them on the tree. All this talk got me thinking that I should share with you a tradition that Ed and I have started. For our first Christmas in our house, I picked up a picture frame ornament on a whim while I was at CVS just because I thought it was cute. Later on, I got to thinking that I really liked the idea of documenting our years together with a dated photo ornament every year! And so, "our" tradition began :)

Last years ornament...

This years... waiting on a picture!

Do you have any traditions?