Category: Family

Christmas Recap 2014 & Changes in the Year to Come!

We had a great Christmas.  Connor and I left to visit Arkansas the week before Christmas.  We had a great time visiting Bonnie, Vinny, and Jarrett.  We stayed with them the first night we got into town.  Let’s not mention how I drove into the wrong driveway and woke up their next door neighbor at 1 a.m.!  So embarrassing!

I visited with lots of old friends and co-workers.  It’s always nice to catch up with people and see how much has changed.  We headed to the farm on Saturday and celebrated Christmas, ate, slept, ate, slept some more….

Sunday we went to church and then packed up the ginormous amount of toy pieces strew all over Nannie’s house & headed back to Conway.  There is NO PLACE on Earth like the farm and I’m so thankful we have a place like that to retreat to.  Mom and I had a day out together of lunching and shopping.  I always love having special days like that with my Mom.  We headed home begrudgingly on Tuesday.  After a long drive we were back in Texas.

We had an amazing Christmas and I feel so SO very blessed that I have a loving family and more than I ever needed or wished for in this lifetime.

On Christmas day we spent time with Terence’s family and had some yummy food and togetherness.  We’ve had great weather this year, but I hear it may snow this week!  (Always a good excuse for building a fire and making soup right?)

This next year we are hoping to make the big move to Plano/Frisco to be closer to Terence’s job.  We have to sell our house, it’s bittersweet because it’s the home we bought when I was pregnant with Connor.  Having family time and being closer together is something we’ve been striving to do for a long time.  I’d like to get settled before Connor starts Kindergarten next fall.  I ask for your prayers as we figure out what to do and transition during this time.  I know everything will work out and God is ALWAYS in control!

Well, I know this is going to photo overload, but here is a glimpse of our Christmas 2014:

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After Christmas Depression…

Okay I’m going into my after Christmas depression today.  Enjoying one of the last eggnog lattes I’ll have until next season.  (Don’t you DARE think of taking it away #Starbucks !)
I don’t know what it is…but it’s the build up of Christmas more so than the actual day itself.  After I get home from Arkansas I instantly miss my family again, but when I’m away I miss my Texas family too.  It’s hard.
I know this next year there will be lots of changes for the good.  Connor will be starting Kindergarten & hopefully we’ll get a few fun trips in along the way.
I’m hoping on building my photography business a little bit more and I’ve been eyeing THIS beauty for the last few months.  Hoping if I work hard enough I can make it happen.  Does anyone have the Nikon D750 yet and what do you think of it?  I know it’s a fairly new camera body.
I had a great Christmas yesterday and a great pre-Christmas in Arkansas.  I’ll recap on that later…meanwhile you can follow me on Instagram for all the latest and greatest!
(Being on Instagram I feel like a lot of the blogs I used to follow and love ONLY use Instagram now….what happened to the art of writing???  My goal is to keep this blog going.)  Just a thought!
I’ll recap our entire Christmas in a few days…here’s one of my favorite pics of me and my twin sister Bonnie 🙂  Miss you like crazy boo!

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Holiday Traditions & Hospitality

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Charmin. I received product samples and a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

I can’t believe we only have 10 days until Christmas!  This year sure has flown by.  In the midst of all the hustle and bustle comes shopping, eating, and lots of family.  We always have a house full of relatives and everyone is going in different directions.  Kids running around while the men watch football and the gals are in the kitchen slaving away.

The LAST thing you want happening to ruin your holiday is this…

A CLOGGED TOILET.

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Thanks to Charmin we don’t have that problem.  Charmin has Roto-Rooter’s stamp of approval to be clog-free and septic-safe, but it is also used by plumbers more than any other brand.

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We’ve used Charmin in our home for years, it’s super soft and we prefer it to other toilet paper.  I always try to make sure our guest bathroom is stocked full of toilet paper because the worst thing for guests is running out of toilet paper!  Can you say AWKWARD???

Make sure your bathroom is inviting.  It’s okay to add a little Christmas to the bathroom too.  It’s one of those rooms that gets neglected during the holiday season, yet it’s one room that’s used the most.

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For more than 70 years, Charmin has been trusted in millions of Americans’ homes!  If that doesn’t tell you people love Charmin, then I don’t know what will.  You have to try it for yourself.  I compare it to sleeping on 100 thread count sheets or 1000 thread count sheets….which one is softer?  Obviously the one with the most thread count and that’s the bed people want to USE!  Same goes for toilet paper.

With Charmin Ultra Soft and Ultra Strong you can use up to 4X less toilet tissue.  You use less because you don’t need a whole lot to do the job.  It lasts longer and saves me money.

So…after we are done with our Charmin we like to use the cardboard roll on one of our favorite holiday traditions.  Every year we build a gingerbread house.  It’s not always the most beautiful sight, but the point is we are having FUN!

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We take a left over cardboard roll from the toilet paper and roll it in icing.  The cardboard color matches the gingerbread house perfectly so you can’t even tell!  Then we roll on some sprinkles and we have our chimney 🙂D7K_7982 D7K_7983 D7K_7985

I hope you all have a blessed Christmas season and make sure your stocked up and ready to go with Charmin!  Buy less & save MORE!

Follow along on Facebook & Twitter  #TweetFromTheSeat

Fa La La La La!!!

Connor and I met up with Uncle Garry & Aunt Loyce last night to visit the annual Christkindl Market in Arlington.  It’s always so much fun and all the German food and goodies are so good!

Here are some pictures of our visit to Christkindl.  If you live in the DFW area I would highly recommend a visit & it’s free to get in 🙂

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We are almost done with our Christmas shopping.  Connor and I are headed home to Arkansas and I’m so excited to see my family.

Still shopping for your little ones here is a cute idea:

If you have a little girl in your family check out Charmazing custom charm bracelet sets.  This is Connor’s friend who lives next door and we gave it to her to play with and look how much fun she’s having!  So cute!  I would have loved this when I was young.

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Featured on this year’s Toys“R”Us Hot Holiday Toy List and available exclusively at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide and online at Toysrus.com as well as NYC’s FAO Schwarz, Charmazing – offers young designers the chance to create a host of unique charm bracelets to wear and share! Charmazing provides tweens with more than 100 different charms in 11 different themed collections categorized in two worlds, Karma (positive energy) and Nature (powerful energy). And via an inventive new app, girls can scan their Charmazing charms into a virtual Charmazing world, where they can connect with other fashionistas and trade charms with friends!

 

The Polar Express

We boarded the Polar Express tonight and it was so much fun!  In Grapevine they have a historic train that carries you back and forth to the North Pole.  We sang Christmas carols, got a bell from Mrs. Claus, and when we arrived at our destination we met Santa.

The elves greeted us along with a LOT of snow.  We watched a cute show and then got some frosty hot chocolate 🙂

Here are some photos of our night on the Polar Express.  It was so fun watching Connor light up and it’s just as much fun for us to watch the magic happen.

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Thanksgiving 2014

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We had a great Thanksgiving.  Honestly, I can’t believe it’s already Christmas time!  Where has this year gone?  I’m hoping and praying God leads us through this next year no matter what changes may come.  Connor will start Kindergarten next year and we are possibly moving…so lots of things to think about!

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Anyway, I just want to enjoy each day and savor it.  My parents drove in from Arkansas to celebrate Thanksgiving.  That meant so much that they would come HERE to be with us.  All of my family is in Arkansas and I was so happy to have a piece of home with me.

On Thanksgiving day Mom and I rocked it in the kitchen and busted out a great Thanksgiving meal for the five of us.  Afterwards we went and took some family photos and then ordered our Christmas cards to put in the mail.

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We looked at all the Black Friday ads and just relaxed the rest of the day.  We contemplated going out Thursday night….but didn’t get out there with all the crazies.  I felt a cold coming on and I had a wedding to shoot the next day on Friday.  queue lots of Emergen C and cold meds!  It was a beautiful wedding!!!

I’ve been super busy (and so thankful) for all the photography business this season.  Each year this little hobby/side business has grown and grown and I’m so THANKFUL to all of you for your support!  Maybe one day I can quit my job and do what I love full time…but that’s wishful thinking right now 🙂  Thank you for letting me be a part of your lives and capture your precious memories.  I love it so much!  Check out my work HERE.

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Saturday morning Mom and I went out to check out the sales.  We went to the mall, World Market, Carters, DSW Shoes….and some more places.  We shopped until we dropped!

Sunday my folks went home.  I was sad to see them go, but excited I’ll see them again in just a few short weeks for Christmas.

If you haven’t seen this video, you have to watch it.  HILARIOUS!  I’m not going to deny it and say I never act this way….ha ha!

Sparkle, Sparkle, Shine…It’s Almost Christmas Time!

Today’s post is sponsored by Bona, but my love for their hardwood floor mop is all my own!

My parents are on their way here to visit this weekend.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this on the blog before…probably have…but I am a CLEAN FREAK!!!  When people come over to visit I go into my crazy cleaning mode.  I love having hardwoods and I’ve been using a Bona Hardwood Floor Mop for the last 3 years. bona

Bona is a non-toxic and no residue product. The Bona Hardwood Floor Mop takes easy cleaning to the next level. This ultimate hardwood floor mop combines Bona’s high quality, no residue professional cleaner with a durable, premium spray mop (with washable microfiber pad).  Bona Hardwood Floor cleaners are non-toxic and GREENGUARD certified.

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I’ve always been pleased with how Bona has cleaned my hardwoods and now they have a new product for quick and easy clean ups.  These Bona Hardwood Floor Wet cleaning pads are awesome when you need to clean something in a hurry or run out of cleaner.

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I am so excited for the holidays and having a sparkly & clean home makes me feel even better!  I also LOVE the way Bona cleaner smells.  I hate over powering scents and Bona makes my home smell fresh and clean.

Go HERE to sign up for the BonaFide Fanatics mailing list and download the $3.00 off coupon!

Check out @BonaBuzz for some ways to make your floors really shine. #BonaHolidayShine on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.