Christmas Card - 2024

Tis' the Season - and since our Christmas cards have been sent out and received by almost everyone on our list at this point, I figured it was time to share the card here! Ryan and I had pictures made with our dear friend and one of the best photographers in the DMV area, Brooke Lull of Brooke Danielle Photography! Brooke has taken my families' pictures and she took our engagement pictures and wedding pictures - which were all stunning! So when I wanted us to get some updated family pictures since we've been married for two years now - she was the person I turned to!

I knew I'd be using the picture on our Christmas cards and in hindsight - maybe I should have a chosen a color other than orange, ha-ha! However - I love the way the cards turned out and I don't guess the orange matters all that much! 

I chose to put some pictures from our year on the back, starting in the top left corner and moving clockwise we have a wintry walk around Lake Frederick, a gorgeous Norwegian valley, a selfie at the Virginia State Arboretum, the two of us at the top of Pulpit Rock, the day we bought our house and when our house was nearly completed! 

It has been a good year - filled with ups and downs - but mostly ups! We have been blessed and we hope you have been too! Here's to celebrating Christmas and the New Year ahead! 

Merry Christmas!

Just A Bit of This & That

Here we are - halfway into the second week of December and the days are just flying by in a blaze of cold days, colder nights and Christmas events happening all over the place. Perhaps all the places to go and things to do in December is what makes the month fly by so fast?

The past weekend wasn't too full - but did still have plenty of Christmas cheer! Friday evening Ryan and I went on a Costco Date (ha-ha) and got in a little Christmas shopping in the process; I love that we can have fun doing everything and nothing together - he is truly my best friend! Saturday was; for the most part, a pretty relaxed day for us - we cleaned the house and then later in the day, I joined my Mom for a performance of the Nutcracker and dinner at Olive Garden! 

Church on Sunday morning was great and I had big plans to get groceries, make brown butter chocolate chip cookies and white chicken chili and just have a busy little Sunday afternoon - but a headache struck and it took me out! Thankfully Ryan jumped in with an assist on getting the cookies finished, I ended up spending time in the bathtub with some peaceful blue light on and we closed out the weekend watching The Grinch. I am so glad I have a husband that takes care of me so well!

Monday night I joined my Mom and some friends from Abundant Life Church for their Lavish Christmas Tea at Fox Meadow Barn - and it was beautiful! Everything was decorated perfectly, the food and teas were delicious and the Christmas tunes from Brad and Rebekah were so delightful! And my jumpsuit was a surprise "gift" from my little sister; she ordered it from a random Australian company and the sizing didn't work out for her, so she sent it to me - and y'all, it fits perfectly! 

It was such a fun (and comfortable) outfit to wear and since it's covered in Christmas balls, it was absolute perfection for the season! I got so many compliments on the jumpsuit and also on my awesome heels, which you can't really see here - but they were a birthday gift from my husband - they are gold and sparkly and fabulous! The food at the tea was divine but goodness, there was so much of it that I had a completely full box to take home and bring as my lunch on Tuesday! The gift that keeps on giving!

The kittens are growing like weeds - I suppose I can keep calling them kittens until they are at least a year old, right? Spook was born in late April and Maverick was born in early August... so they aren't too old yet! They have become the best of friends; Spook is always looking out for Maverick and they spend most of the time they are awake (they love a good five hour nap) chasing each other and pouncing on one another all around the house!

Our bitter cold snap passed with some rain on Monday night - leaving us waking up to a world of fog on Tuesday. However, the rain has returned today and I fear when it passes later tonight, the cold will be back in full force! I'm so glad it's already Wednesday and that the upcoming weekend has some more delightful Christmas fun planned - I know I don't need to rush the days though, Christmas and the New Year will be here all too soon!

Thanksgiving Holidays

It's December - what in the world? How has this year flown by so quickly? I wanted to pop in and share some pictures from our Thanksgiving holidays! They were a little different from what we'd planned as we were missing some family members - but it was a lovely time of thankfulness and rest all the same!

I got off work on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving at 1 - and headed straight home to get our house cleaned up some and begin Thanksgiving prep! My sweet little cats were only interested in one thing once I got home, using me as a place to nap! I finished up a book I'd been reading while the cats snuggled up to me and took their afternoon naps... and then a bit later, I worked on dinner, cleaning the house and prepping the sweet potato casserole and corn casserole for Thanksgiving!

We started our Thanksgiving shortly after 7:30 - we had to get up, prep the turkey and get it started cooking! The cats were very interested in what we were doing with the turkey but otherwise weren't too concerned! After the turkey was taken care of, we had our coffee and I was ready to watch when the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began at 8:30! It's not Thanksgiving without the Macy's Parade!

Ryan and I hosted this year; our first year in our new home, and I think everything went great! I tried a new turkey recipe that my Mom had shared with me and let me tell you - if I can brag on myself a wee bit - the turkey turned out so great! It was perfectly cooked, tender, juicy and flavorful and I am still enjoying the leftovers, ha-ha! We also had ham, dressing, corn casserole, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole (so many casseroles) English peas, cinnamon apples... and I think that was everything!

My Dad made fast friends with Maverick - who was pleased to curl up next to him for his pre-feast nap, ha-ha! I whipped out the apron my parents brought me from Paris and puttered around the kitchen making sure my Mom had any assistance she needed and making sure my items got cooked to perfection! And I must confess, I also attempted to carry Maverick around in the pocket of my apron! 

Everything turned out divine and shortly after 2:00 - we had our Thanksgiving feast! And the cats were so sleepy, they didn't even concern themselves with trying to come poke around and see what we were eating! Which is good because later on - they went wild for leftovers, ha-ha!

We enjoyed our mornings off on Friday and Saturday - and we even braved some Black Friday shopping on Friday, but not very early because we aren't completely crazy! We found a couple deals here and there that we purchased, but nothing too crazy. We learned that when Thanksgiving leftovers come out - Maverick goes absolutely wild and will scale whoever and whatever he needs to in an attempt to get bites! And I made some adjustments to our Christmas tree, adding some shatterproof ornaments to give it a little bit more color and flair... so far the ornaments have survived the cats! 

We spent plenty of time goofing off with our cats - they are getting along wonderfully now - perhaps maybe a little too wonderfully? They race throughout the house like little wild men, chasing and pouncing and rolling around the house, sounding like elephants instead of little cats that might weigh all of fifteen pounds rolled together! We tried the cat-in-hood method with Maverick; Spook would probably never allow us to tote him around in a hoodie, ha-ha!

Saturday evening we finally made it to the theater to see Wicked and it was just as incredible as I'd heard! I don't know that Ryan was quite so thrilled to see it as I was but he was a good sport and said when all was said and done, that it was "pretty good". Men. After church on Sunday, I really got the Christmas spirit going and finished up our Christmas cards (Maverick helped...) and got some presents wrapped and placed under the tree. I'm hoping that the presents will help keep the cats out from under the tree and keep the tree skirt in place... we shall see.

We closed out our four day weekend with football - of course! Watching the Bills play the 49ers in the snow in New York. As you can see - Maverick was quite intrigued by all of it, the little goose! It was a wonderful break and now we are headed headlong into the Christmas season and all that comes with it!