It's beginning...

At the Lundell House, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Please excuse my attempts to make myself look like a photographer, but I did have fun taking all these pictures. First off, my friend Gina and I made these glorious wreaths (that may have caused us a bit of stress, but were fun.) I decided to hang mine indoors because it turns out that it is extremely fragile!

This is a close up of our wreath, just some dollar store ornaments and a wire hanger...yep that easy!
We also decorated our Christmas tree, which I absolutely love! It is my parents old flocked tree, (Eric absolutely HATES to put on the lights...I don't blame him!) it is a beautiful tree and I really can't believe it still looks so good after all these years.

I bought these big ornaments this year at Tia Pan, and I love them! They add so much.

Here are some more close up shots of the tree, I'm loving the bright greens and reds.
Here are some more of my the decorations that I use to keep my home warm and happy for Christmas. I love my apothecary jar, I use it for all seasons...for Christmas I fill it with ornaments!
Candy cane candles! I used to have a fireplace with a mantle so my bulb garland would go on that, this year I had to get creative with it so I put it on my entertainment center... it works!

This is a close up of my "garland"

I had some extra ornaments from our wreath so...I put them in a dish.
That is most of it! You have pretty much been through our house now, well you missed the nativity, and our stockings are hung, etc. I love the Holidays and it was so enjoyable to spend this weekend with family. Thanksgiving day was amazing filled with so much food and so much family. On Thanksgiving day we went to my Aunt Lorraine's and watched Up (great movie, i recommend it) we followed the movie with a fabulous dinner. After feeling like huge pigs we rested for a bit, played a little pool and ping pong and then we went to visit the Lundells where we ate wonderful pie, had a Fifa tourney, and watched The Passenger. Fine Holiday Fun!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I would like to express that I feel so grateful for family and to have so much family so close to us. I am also so grateful for friends, I feel like I have the most wonderful friends that would really do anything for me and are always there to help me out or just be there to enjoy time together. Most of all I am super grateful for my husband, he works so hard at school, his classes get harder and harder and he never gives up, he also continues to keep a job while juggling school and homework and I'm so grateful for his commitment to his family.

Visitors and Visiting

Last Saturday one of my very best friends Stephanie and her adorable baby girl Ella came to visit! It was a short visit, but it was so exciting to finally meet Ella and finally see Steph again after such a long time. We got to chat, I fed Ella her bottle, and we played a quick game of Blockus (Stephanie and I are very avid game lovers and are very competitive, so it really wouldn't be a reunion without a game of some kind!)

After spending such a short time with Stephanie and Ella I quickly realized...that was not enough! I decided to make the long, lonely trip to Logan despite my driving anxieties for a special visit on Monday.
As you all can see, Ella is irresistible! This is Ella enjoying some "tummy time" and trying to find her thumb!
When I arrived on Monday evening we took a moment to catch up again...two days is a long time! Then we played a game...surprise! Wackee Six, I swear every time I see Stephanie she has a new game to teach me...love it! Then we went to New Moon with one of Stephanie's neighbor friends and enjoyed some Mexican food afterwards.

Oh doesn't Ella look so cute! Stephanie sure is good at dressing her so well and her nursery is so cute too! We had fun getting her ready for the day on Tuesday, making her smell nummy with baby lotion! We played the rest of the day and met up with Jace (Stephanie's husband) for lunch, it was his birthday.
When I was leaving, Ella was ready for a nap and she was getting really cuddly... it was so hard to leave some of my most favorite girls!
I really had a such a fun trip and it was nice to have some fun on my days off I had to take! Thanks so much Steph and Jace for always having such a nice welcome home for me, you guys are always so sweet and thoughtful. You did too much for me for sure and I miss you! I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful friend!

Project Runway picks a winner

Yes, Charlotte is right, for those of you who went to New Moon last night, you missed out watching Project Runway to find out that Irina was chosen to win! The link takes you to my favorite design of her collection (the back is awesome!), it's all good though...check it out!

ANTM picked a winner.

Nicole.

Happy Veteran's Day.

I love this picture, and would some day love to see it hanging in my home. Maybe it is more appropriate for an independence day post, but I still feel that it is fitting. I feel so grateful to our Veterans for making the sacrifice to protect the freedoms these men worked so hard for.

I hope that everyone was able to remember something or someone this Veterans day. I know that in elementary school it was so much easier to be reminded of those who served for our country. We would have a huge assembly and the adorable old men would speak to us about their experience. Today, it seems we go about our normal day.

Since I work at a financial institution, we are closed for this holiday, and Eric's Birthday always falls on Veteran's day (maybe that is why he is so patriotic) so I am always able to be more aware of this day. I feel blessed to be reminded, it gives me a chance to really think about our Veteran's, and also about our current armed forces who are protecting our freedoms this very minute. I have great respect for each and every one of them. It also gives me a chance to remember my grandpa who was in World War II and my two cousins who serve in the National Guard now.

I am proud to be an American and I grateful for the freedom that comes with that.

Recessionista!

Shoes, Jewelry, and Purses! I absolutely must have this bag! Check out this site, everything is amazing. http://www.recessionistaparty.com/

Have You Picked Your Favorites?

ANTM...I choose Nicole.

SYTYCD...I choose Kathryn.

*update for Charlotte. Project Runway...I choose Irina.