Singing To The Christmas Music

Yes, I have a slight addiction. Confession is the first step. But I fulfill my hubby's wishes and refrain completely until the Thanksgiving feast is over. Then the flood gates of musical notes, bells, and comforting lyrics pour forth....pretty much non-stop.

Since W's got an iPhone now, we are pretty much listening to Pandora 24/7 around the house. I don't think there is one classic song of this fabulous holiday that I don't love. I also have a playlist mix that I've gathered on my iPod over the years that has some more modern takes. Some of my non-traditonal favorites of the moment...

Definitely a different take on the classical songs and not everyone who loves Jars will love this. But the sound is just so mellow and smooth...and thoughtful. "Hibernation Day"is a great place to start.

K, "Winter Song" by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson is just pure beauty even if a bit sad. It's the only song I bought off this album {although Colbie Caillat has a sweet song on there too.} And I could seriously listen to it over and over and over again. It's just melody perfection. Gives me chills every time.

  Last year, amazon and itunes were giving away free music. The Christmas sampler from iTunes had a few gems in it that I was overjoyed to discover. One of which was Meaghan Smith's "It Snowed". So sweet. And her voice is butter. Pure butter.

Getting my full month's worth of Christmas music already!!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Now that our house is nice, clean and tidy, I've started to get my decoration on. First step: our little nook near the staircase last week...

I made the ornament wreath using this tutorial. I just loved the sass this gal used. And I used this as my color inspiration. I love love love how it turned out. So much so that I e-mailed three girlfriends the links and a picture of mine. I've already received a picture of one's finished beauty. I've also gone with my mom to pick out her ornaments; to go with her house's color scheme. You should make one too!! The best $15 I spent on decorations.

The apothecary jars, their contents and ribbons are from Michael's. I can't even begin to tell you about my huge crush on these jars. I know they've been around for some time and have been enthralled with every blog/picture that uses them. But I've just never had the guts to try them myself. Perhaps this is what guys feel like about a pretty girl they want to ask out. Really really want to, but just not sure if you can do it and work it. 

Well, I took the chance and purchased two with some coupons. One is filled with cinnamon pine-cones, the other with some cheap bows {with the sticky stuff on the back} that were sold in a bag. I just picked out the colors I wanted...kind of like a diva and her m&ms colors. 

The giant ornament is from Big Lots where I bought a few of the larger ornaments for my wreath. It's right next door to a Dollar Store where I got the rest of them. The skinny green tree is from Target.

More decorations to come!

Have you started Christmas-ifying your home yet?

Black Friday

My mom did a great post on our experience yesterday. 

Definitely action-packed and dramatic, for sure. Ezra loved looking at all the people hustling about. We walked away with a few deals, but not much. So maybe it was more of a light charcoal grey-ish as opposed to a jet-black Friday for our personal funding of retailers.

How We Spent Thanksgiving Day...

While most families were relaxing, sipping on some warm coffee, munching on a nice breakfast, and enjoying the slow morning with each other, we were putting our life house back together. 

We cleaned for about 4 hours before starting our Thanksgiving Day festivities. It was quite a daunting task to clean up everything from the DE powder, but our house is now completely spotless...including every corner and crevice {well, we still haven't touched the guest room yet}. Quite the ordeal. Have you ever vacuumed your walls, doors, and mattresses before?

A girlfriend had told me about how she used the pack'n'play during the day with her first born when Ezra was about 3 months. To be honest, I loved the idea, but was so skeptical about trying it with E. But since we were faced with a full day of cleaning, I had to figure out how to occupy the boy who gets into everything. Solution: the pack'n'play! He loved being in there to play and we could actually get cleaning done. As long as we were in the room, being busy in our activity, he was totally content in there.

I'm so sold on this. I'm making sure he gets some p'n'p time daily while Mama completes her daily cleaning quota. One of the keys to its success is to keep p'n'p toys in there so they are still a novelty to look forward it.  

After getting our two bedrooms and the living space back in order, we headed over to my parents' for a delicious feast.

Ezra and I played peek-a-boo with the laundry room door while the final preparation were made.

Papa working on the sweet potatoes...

Grandma on the mashed potatoes...

Grandpa on the turkey...

And Great Grandma just sitting by, watching...

 And us too!

A yummy spread!

Bookie's First Thanksgiving was a hit! He ate all his food and played afterward.

After having a great apple pie and some coffee for dessert, we headed home to put Ezra to bed. We spent the next 2 hours putting the kitchen back together.  It actually looks much better than before all this.

We have so much to be thankful for. A God who loves us, gives us unconditional grace, and promises to care for us. A family who helps during the rough patches in all areas. A wonderful {and clean} home to grow children up in. For each other's deep and tender love, friendship and teamwork. And for our little lad, sweet and spunky. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Our Sunday

We played hooky from church yesterday since E hasn't been feeling well. We're also camping out at my parents during the final stage of de-bugging our house. So instead of church, we headed out for a gorgeous walk in my parents' neighborhood. It felt great to blow some stink off and bask in the short windows of sun that day.

Bundled up!

My parents live around a golf course so our favorite walking activity is looking for abandoned golf balls. We found one!

And another one. Can you see it?

Lots of pretty wooded scenery...

That night, my parents were so generous to let us sneak away for a date night after a delish meal of cornbread and chili. We went to see Harry Potter 7. A great break from our recent stress!!

Memory Line

It wasn't our wedding anniversary {12.28.07}

Or our dating anniversary {09.10.06}

Or the day we met anniversary {09.03.06}

But just an ordinary evening about a month ago. W was working late and I have a fondness for looking back. So, I started to re-read the journal I kept while we were dating. It was my wedding gift to him: a reminder of our dating season and a small view of my thoughts that were tucked away before we vowed to learn, grow, play & laugh together forever. Here are some of the 'safe to share' highlights of our year of dating. ;)

...9/4/06..so totally random, but I met up with a guy named William at this coffee place yesterday. He seems like a cool guy but kinda talked alot. Apparently, we didn't scare each other away though...

...9/6/06..Today was our first official date. It was wonderful. William came with gifts again: a CD for our first meeting, this time the mini french press and pepper spray! I enjoy how considerate William is. Such a gentleman. I had no clue there were men still like this. So we went to MiMi' Cafe then headed over to ice skating. I borrowed his scarf and mittens. He's super prepared. It's nice to have someone who is, since I am never!! :) William looked so good: yellow shirt, slim jeans, and boots (great butt).

9/15/07..Last night we picked Tim up from the airport. William played and sang to the Phatom of the Opera. I can't believe it. He's so amazing. 

...9/16/07...Last night was board game night! Booya! It was so fun. I love the people that William hangs out with. They're great. Before then, we pretty much hung out the whole day. I went to Starbucks, then lunch at his house, and rollerblading at Craig's Park in Fullerton. I love spending so much time with William.

...9/25/06..William basically laid out the fact that 'I'm it'. He wants to stay for good in my arms if I will have him, as he phrases it....

...2/6/07..Well, the interview yesterday didn't go quite so well I guess because they didn't offer me a job. Such a bummer. I was really disappointed last night. William was so wonderful: comforted me, hung out with me, and sacrificed guys night for me. Lord, I don't know what your will is for us. We're going to put our focus on up north now...

...2/12/07..Dad's 56th birthday was today! And his blood test came back clear! I pray that this is true and that he is clean...Kenny got an offer today so he has a new job now! Two prayer requested answered a "yes" in one day! Now, I pray for the pieces to come together for William to move up north...

...2/23/07..Great news! I got the long term 4th grade sub job! I pray that William will get to follow up north very quickly. At this point, I have no clue when we'll get married...

...3/5/07..I'm officially moved up to Pleasanton. William left on a flight this evening back to Orange County. Still no concrete options for his job yet, but some more possibilities. My job is definitely going to be lots of work and quite overwhelming in the start. I think things are going to get harder in all areas of life very soon.

...3/18/07..William has moved to Pleasanton! It has been the best since seeing and being with him again. When I went to see him for the first time, he was sleeping. I could just see his hand. It was so wonderful to peel back his covers to see his handsome face. I got really emotional and started to tear up when he awoke and hugged me. I didn't realize just how much I missed him. I truly love being with him, spending time with him. I love him very much. Thank you, Lord, for opening the door for him to move up here to live. 

...5/31/07.. So I'm not very timely but...I have a CAREER as a 5th grade teacher as of Tuesday 5/29/07 at Vintage Hills. I'm so stoked and it's such a great team of teachers. I think Sarah and I are going to get along grandly.

...6/18/07.. I just bought my very 1st piece of property: a townhouse! A decent price but oh, does it need a ton of work done! Geez! But I'm so excited. A great floor plan and awesome location. Thank you, Lord! Our home for the next 3-5 years...

...7/31/07..My last summer month is coming! I'm leaving for Haiti tomorrow and when I get back, I'll only have two more weeks before my school year begins. I'm sad I'm leaving William. 

...8/7/07..Our last day at the orphanage is tomorrow. I'm ready to go home. It's been good but now I'm ready. I miss my love very much. It's been amazing to be reminded of what God is doing in other parts of the world. This operation is amazing and the stories that Roberta has of what You've been doing here are almost unbelievable. And even though it's cooler to sleep on the balcony, my five bites have turned into 18...

{W had dinner with my parents while I was gone in Haiti. He asked for my hand in marriage then. He proposed 9.01.07}

...10/22/07..Totally been too long since I've written. Ah! Life is way too busy and stressful!! But I'm engaged to be married to William!!! We have since moved up the date to December 28th, 2007! I'm living in the townhouse, waiting for my soon-to-be husband. Teaching is a ball of stress waiting to turn me bald and fat!! Good thing I'm getting married soon.

I still can't believe we're going to pull all this off in less than three months. But it's such good timing for our relationship even if it's not for the rest of our world!! :/ I've discovered {already knew} that I hate living alone. Too quiet and so scary. Wish I wasn't so easily freaked out. But hey, I'm actually doing it though...

Gosh, it's so great to stop and take in the journey up to this point. Like, to just stop and dwell on what's happened. To see how far we've come and what the Lord has brought us through. I use to do this all the time when I was a single nomadic gal. I'd sit on my air mattress, with candles burning, listening to Sarah McLachlan, and just think. Don't really have much time for that now. And I can only imagine that the lack of silence is only going to get worse. ;)

But I'm thankful for the love the Christ has shown me through my amazing husband. I certainly don't deserve such goodness.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."
-James 1:17

Making Apple Pie

This week for our "Homemakers" small group we made apple pies from scratch. I've been so looking forward to doing this for awhile...especially learning how the make the lattice on top. Martha, our awesome leader: mother of 4, quilter extraordinaire, and fabulous homemaker, got the supplies for all of us.

Her lovely hubby gave us all a tutorial on how to use the apple-peeler-slicer-corer machine {hopefully I'll now have more success on W's}

Our resident baker, Em, taught us all we should know in the world of apple pie making. Lots of hard work. And much play.

Becca showing off her lattice work.

Nat playing with apples.

Almost done.

My finished product!

We learned lots of tricks, like the finger-pinch technique for the sides.

I'm freezing mine for Thanksgiving. All that's left to do is the butter, sugar, cinnamon drizzle and baking the whole thing. And I think I could re-produce this again, but at a much slower pace. 

I totally love and look forward to this group! It's a great range of girls: young and single, married with no kids, and married with kid. Martha asked me to be in charge of one session and to show the girls a Christmas ornament wreath I made a few weeks ago. Definitely excited to share and learn more skills to take care of my family!!

Certainty

Just sometimes, wouldn't it be nice to be able to buy a little certainty from Walgreen's for the low price of $19.99?

{found at the park today on a bench next to us}

This week has been one of those where some "certainty" would come in handy. We been fighting some mystery bug bites on Ezra for a few months now. Through process of elimination, online research, dr. visits, talking with others including an exterminator, we pretty sure we're dealing with fleas, but we still have no evidence other than his bites. It's been super stressful and a huge amount of effort to say the least. And it's not over yet. W has basically quarantined his room with this natural powder that kills insects. Plus we're doing lots of vacuuming and washing.

At one point, this week I freaked out and thought I had lice. Talk about overwhelmed and emotional. It just turned out to be a super dry scalp. Thank God!

And maybe its our stress transmitting to E, but he's been boycotting naps almost altogether and getting up at crazy early hours this week. What?! Adding lack of sleep to stress isn't a happy combination. Oh, and he's not wanting to nurse anymore, but bite me instead. It makes me so sad to think he's already weaning. :(

Oh, and I'm still working through that car accident and getting new health care. 

So, its been way tough dealing with this plateful and have an 11 month old. Today was our first 'normal' day in the last three days.  Although we have no certainty about how all these events will turn out, it's been a great testing of patience, perseverance, and prayer. At least our house is going to be super-duper squeaky clean after all this! 

After an awesome small group last night, talking with W, and coffee date this morning, I'm feeling much better at attacking all this. And that lovely little gift on the bench this afternoon seriously made me laugh out loud. Helped put things in perspective. I mean, things could be worst! I might actually have to buy my certainty at Walgreen's.

Must.Make.These!!

Fall Felt Leaves

And the best part: Ezra can actually eat this variety!

Oh, my love affair with all things felt continues....

Stocking Stuffers

Because our anniversary, E's birthday and Christmas are all within 2 weeks of each other, W & I decided to just stuff each other's stockings {speaking of which, I need to finish! eek!} for Christmas. We've gone pretty good in years past with both sweet, silly, and practical gifts. Here's what we've given in the years since we've known each other. 

Dating Year: earrings & tickets to a Charlie Brown Musical

Wedding Year: Long pearl necklace {favorite!} & a laptop computer (major discount from our computer-geek friend)

1st Year: Anthro headband and purple Hobo wallet {fav#2} & much needed Clarks shoes, Firefly series on DVD {fav past tv show}, Serenity {tv show made into movie}

Last Year: cookbook holder with splash-guard & undies and the best adult footed with butt-flap pjs ever {his fav!}

So I'm on the hunt for fun & creative stuffers. I think I may have found some potentials...

Eyeglasses straw

Whiskey Aftershave

Gold Gun Cufflinks

Firefly buttons {his fav. tv show..that's been canceled for awhile} W says "Shiny" all.the.time.

And because Ezra will be ONE next month, this little customized cutie may just have to be an additional purchase!

Wool Felt Crown

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?!

Died & Gone To Heaven

I realize I don't really mention how great MY family is as much as I do W's. I love them just as much, but the Swensons can be overwhelming {in a good way} and I do just loving being a part of that family. It's much like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Have you seen that? Well, my family is so the non-Greek husband's. Quieter, conservative in manners, and uber clean. They are just as great, but totally different. 

With that being said, I must add that my mom is very thoughtful, even in the little things. She's the mom who sent newspaper clippings with cute notes to me while at college. A few weeks ago, a mysterious Amazon.com box showed up on our door step; containing a great book that was right up my alley. She knows me so well. When she found out about a local flea market, she knew I would fall in love. And fall hard, I did. :)

The Paris Flea Market is only opened 4 days out of every month. During the other days, the ladies are on the look out for fabulous vintage finds. They sell everything from home decor, furniture, jewelry, vintage clothing and shoes, and various other knick-knacks. Many of the decor items are Olde Paris themed, but all of it is vintage or vintage-inspired. And very whimsical, girlie and sweet. LOVE.

When we hit up the warehouse 'shop', I found a few great things for cheap cheap cheap! 

A necklace and cake platter.

 A sweet tea party necklace. Some fab vintage black boots and a cute little vintage "Autumn" sign that I gave to my favorite baby girl's Mama. {not pictured}.

I love that the things they sell are one of a kind. They also feature artists and their homemade products {like the first necklace}. My favorite jewelry was there too, selling for half price. Needless to say, I'm already planning our visit for next month with whole new products. I'm hoping to walk out with some frames and furniture for downstairs!

Poor Bookie

Sometimes being a babe is just plain hard!

The day we left SoCal was one of the roughest for Ezra. He was just so pitiful.

He had a low grade fever, runny nose, and was just miserable. And was teething HARD, on top of everything.

Ezra napped on and off for most of the ride home. He even took a few naps on me before we left. That never happens anymore. I must confess that it was really sweet to have that again. I so miss those days where he would sleep on or next to me. But I was so sad for my little guy.

After all that sleep, he seemed much better the following day. He's still not quite 100% yet. The three teeth are almost all the way in now...just in time for that 4th top one. Hopefully, these next ones are a bit milder. The past few weeks were no fun!

Friendship

One of the life lessons that we are excited to teach Ezra is the value of long lasting friendships. It's fun to see the evolution of Ezra's interactions with the few buddies he's been lucky to hang with. While making new friends is fun, we hope he learns how to foster deep friendships where they can rely on each other, be honest, and be an encouragement to one another.

You know, where you're not afraid to cry in front of them if you're having a rough day...

And you'll always be there to lend a helping hand...

A dude-buddy who you can just grab a bite to eat and shoot the breeze with...

Or go on a wild adventure of exploration with...

Someone who really knows you well yet likes you anyway.

"Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!"

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10