Love Love Love Shutterfly's Holliday cards!

Over the past several years I have used several different sites for our Christmas cards. Those other sites shall remain nameless, by the way. But this year I am going to try a new site, Shutterfly. www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards It's not that the other sites were bad, hard to use, or anything like that. Its just that, after reading a blog by a friend of mine about Shutterfly, I decided to check it out. I have had a lot of fun looking at all of their product. Mostly the holiday cards, but the entire site has tons of cool things. I love that you can make personalized children's books with Dora, Diego, Sponge Bob, and others. I know my nephews would LOVE that!


I love that you can make your own calendars. And that you can put your own personalized dates with photos and text. I cant figure out how to post the link for the calendars (or any other link for that matter) without the whole website posting too, but here is that link: http://www.shutterfly.com/calendarsI actually think this would be a great idea as a Christmas gift for family and friends. I'm pretty sure I know some people on my list who like coffee so this might be another good idea: www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs


I have spent, so far, a lot of time looking through all the different holiday cards...and let me tell you there are tons! I think I have it narrowed down to 10 different designs. Maybe. I think this one is my very favorite though: www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/vintage-noel-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93496

But I like this one too: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/hopeful-holiday-livestrong-holiday-5x7-folded-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93476&fc=2 This one you can also put a picture on the inside also. But, what I like the most...is that 10% of the sales of this card go to livestrong.org
I have a big decision to make...this one...or that one...or wait, what about this one. Jake, where are you when I need you :O) Oh, and one more thing. Shutterfly is doing a promotion for all of us bloggers' out there. You can get 50 Christmas cards FREE! Here is the link too, check it out: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Is it Christmas yet?

Christmas is my very very favorite time of the year. I'm not sure why, but it is magical. Its a time when family and friends gather. A time when, no matter what is going on, I can't help but feel happy, hopeful and full of love. One of my most favorite things in the world is sitting in the living room with all the lights off except for the Christmas tree lights while listening to Christmas music. That is actually what I'm doing right now. This time of year reminds me that we can do anything if we set our minds to it. We can achieve our dreams. I told you, it's magical.

On this Sunday, after my parents drove back to Spokane, I got to work putting up the Christmas decorations. I have been looking forward to this day for months now. I'm not really sure if there are words to describe how excited I was to get our house decorated!

While shopping on Saturday with my mommy I found this garland to put on the shelf in the living room. I wasn't sure how it would turn out...but I love it and couldn't be more please with it. It definitely looks festive in here, even with just that up.

Merry Christmas, Peace, Wish, Hope, Noel, and Seasons Greetings are all around our house. Great words to describe this season.


One of the things I had my mom do while she was here was to put some hooks on the back of this Christmas quilt she made several years ago for me. I really love being able to display the quilts that she has made for me in our home. When I took the previous quilt down to hang this one, the wall looked so bare. It was strange walking past it, not touching a quilt. Every time I walk down the hall I gently drag my hand down the quilt and think of my mom. I love my mom! She rocks!
While I was decorating the tree, which I don't have a picture of, I decided it would be fun to paint some of the balls. I have left over gold puffy paint from making Twilight shirts, so it worked out perfect. And what better then gold and blue? Apparently I belong in Burlington with the Tigers :O)

When I took these pictures the paint hadn't dried yet. So it will look a lot more gold when done. I think they turned out really cool. I also think I found a great gifts for some friends in Burlington, including our neighbors who have been very nice to us. With only a few changes of course. Just what I was looking for :O) Very excited to make these, and I promise to post some pictures of those too.

I look forward to the next month of getting home from work to the lights of our Christmas tree, being able to relax and read a book, with Christmas music playing softly. As much as I miss my husband when he is at games...it gives me time to enjoy some tree time alone :O)

I love this time of year!

Might switch to Sutterfly

I was reading a blog that Maggie posted about Christmas cards. And she posted a link to Shutterly's website (I don't know how to do that yet) and I am having lots and lots of fun looking for a card to use this year. I absolutely LOVE that I can also put pictures on the inside! The site seems really easy to navigate as well.

I love sending out cards for Christmas and would really love to do a letter to, but it just takes up so much time. And then to print them all. It gets very overwhelming. I am now looking forward to doing them again this year. I'm also looking forward to receiving letters and cards from friends and family..hint hint :O)

Happy Holiday's everyone!

Here is their website: www.shutterfly.com

Early Thanksgiving Dinner

Last weekend we had an early Thanksgiving dinner with Jake's family at our house. It was the first BIG meal we've had in our home. It was crazy, erratic, hair brained, hectic, crowded, I could go on forever. But most important it was fun, and amazing, and something I will never forget.

There were 9 of us in our house, our 1200 sq ft house. Jake's parents, Marc and Chiere, stayed in a hotel near our house, otherwise there is no way we would have all fit :O) We built a fort out of sheets for Noah and Nathan in the middle bedroom. I was a little worried that the boys wouldn't be able to go to sleep but it seemed to work out great! I loved making forts when I was little and I hope it is something we can do each time they visit us. Something they look forward to doing at Uncle Jake and Aunt Chelle's house.

Steve, Noah and Faith hanging out in the fort on Saturday while Trena and I slaved over the hot stove and made our first Thanksgiving dinner together.

Milo and Bella were a little scared with all the extra people and noise. But Milo still made it a point to sit in his chair with Marc for a little while. Milo sure loves attention :O) Poor Miss Bella was so scared she really didn't come out from under our bed all weekend.

For the most part everyone, except Trena and I, lounged around the house for most of the day.

I am actually surprised Jake

stayed awake all day. The week before this was the first week of Burlington-Eddison Tiger Basketball practice for the 2010-2011 season. Jake worked 14 and 15 hour days that entire week. Along with going on the Varsity Retreat Friday night and Saturday morning. I know he had tons of fun with basketball that week, but I also know he was existed after such a long week.

I did manage to get a picture of Jake and I in while taking other pictures :O) Jake sure looks sleepy in this one!

I wanted to get a picture of the "destruction" in our kitchen. It is amazing how many dishes you can use when cooking! I know I did the dishes 3 times just because we ran out of dishes to use. These pictures don't really do it justice. This is nothing compared to what it was a few times. Trena did most of the cooking and I tried to help as much as I could but with my limited amount of cooking experience I'm not sure I helped a lot. Trena was very patient and helped me out a lot. For our kitchen being what I call a "one butt kitchen" I think we did a great job!

Our table all ready for dinner. Cant even tell we rescued this table from our neighbours lawn with a FREE sign on it, can you? It cleans up really well :O) I am sad that I didn't get a picture of all of us at the table. Nor did I get a picture of any of the food. Things to remember for next time I guess.

Note to self: get more matching place mats.

We did a little Christmas with the kids. Trena, Steve, and the kids are going to be in New Zealand for Christmas so they wanted to do our gift giving early. It is amazing how excited little boys can get when you mention presents :O) Faith even got in on the excitement.

After a long day, I think we were all a little tired.

All in all it was a long day and a long weekend. But it was a good weekend. It is always good to be surrounded by family, especially during the holidays!

The Night Before Christmas Pt 1

This cartoon from the 1960's is one of my all time favorite Christmas movies. I remember watching this in the banana chairs in the t.v. room at my parents house. There are 3 parts to this cartoon on youtube, don't miss any of them. I love this show! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Now all I have to do is find it on DVD.

Still Unpacking???

In trying to get ready for all of our guests in the next few weeks I decided it was time to start cleaning and organizing. We STILL have boxes!

I moved all of my scrapbook things, well most of them, into the front bedroom. It was a perfect fit! I was actually rather surprised it worked out so well. There is even room for Jake's desk. Impressive if I do say so myself :O)









I also found this sticker and put it up above the closet in the front bedroom. I think its a perfect fit.

The other thing I did was empty the last few boxes. I know, I know. Boxes. It absolutely amazes me that even after more then a year we still had boxes. I got things into big plastic containers and even labeled them.

Jake and I spent the first part of the day running around town. The new Nike store, Bed Bath & Beyond, lunch, and Michaels. While at Michaels I got a new container and rocks for my bamboo plant I bought myself for Valentine's day maybe 9 years ago. I think it is one happy plant now.

We also got covers for the chairs for our dinning room table. They are a really rich red and they are going to look fantastic when we set the table for our turkey dinner next weekend.

First Turkey dinner at our home

This year Jake's family is going to visit us for a weekend. His entire family minus grandma. His mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law and their 3 children. It is going to be a full house here...but I can't wait. I am very excited to have someone visiting us for a change.

And if all of them visiting wasn't enough...we are going to celebrate Thanksgiving a weekend early. This means I have to cook for more then just Jake and I. 7 more people to be exact! I'm not the best cook in the world and for the most part I have really no idea what I'm doing in the kitchen. So this should be interesting to say the least.

Jake and I would like turkey, pie, rolls, green been casserole, fruit salad, ect. I am open to any ideas or family recipes that anyone would like to share.

So with less then a week to get things figured out I have a lot to do. That, and I also have to move my scrapbook things into the front bedroom to make room for expanding the table. With that I'm off to organize and move the scrapbook supplies while Jake watches the Cougs possibly win their 2nd game of the season...GO COUGS!!!

Dear God...

God, grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Patience for the things that take time. ...
and the STRENGTH TO GET UP AND TRY AGAIN
EVEN WHEN I FEEL IT IS HOPELESS.

Forever love

I've always believed love could last forever. Movies, fairy tales, poems, and so on tell us that is does. That true, real love is out there. Today, while helping a customer at work, I got to hear a real life love story.

I don't know how Sam and Sara meet, I don't really know much about their life. And actually, when Sam would visit our office I always thought he was a little bit weird. He would walk from bank to bank with small checks trying to get the highest interest he could. Turns out he had accounts at over 19 different institutions and lots of money.

But this isn't about how much money he had. Sam had battled and won the fight over several different types of cancer in a very short period of time. But in the end it became to hard and he passed away. Sara and Sam had been married for just over 49 years when he passed away.

And while he was lying in the hospital bed dying he called all his daughters. It wasn't to say good buy it was to set up a 50th wedding anniversary for him and his wife. It wasn't suppose to be just a regular anniversary, but a big shindig. He wanted the best for his wife of 50 years, even if he wasn't going to be there. He picked the day, the place, the decorations. Everything. And he made sure that all his daughters understood that they would be there with their entire family no matter what. They were also under strict instructions to never let Sara be alone that entire day.

At this point in the story I have tears streaming down my face. I know my telling of this is not the best and does not do their love story justice. But I am still getting emotional thinking about it.

Another thing he did before Sam died was to give his oldest daughter a lot of money to take Sara on a 2nd honeymoon cruse any where she wanted to go, for as long as she wants. Sara has picked a cruse to Hawaii...where Sara and Sam had always talked about going.

Just the way she talked about him was just...I don't know, amazing. They had known each other for over 50 years and you could tell just how much she loved him still to this day when she talked about him. And you could tell how much he loved her by everything Sam did to make sure their 50th wedding anniversary was exactly how they would have wanted it.

It was amazing to hear their story and about their love for each other. I can only hope after 50 years of marriage Jake and I love each other even half as much as Sara and Sam loved each other.

True love does exist.

**Being that it is a real customer I am going to them Sara and Sam**