Christmas festivities..

Christmas is fast approaching...only 17 days!!!

Saturday night Chris & I went to the Carolina Ballet's performace of the the Nutcracker & this afternoon we went to hear Handel's Messiah performed at the fabulous Duke Chapel (what an awesome place for a concert!). Both were great performances & we had a great time!

Tomorrow night is my 1st Christmas party. It'll be the only Christmas party I'm hosting this year, so I'm super excited. My Bible Study ladies are always such fun guests & I can't wait for all of the great food & fun we'll have. I'll have to share recipes for the delicious treats I'm making too!

We got our first Christmas card of the season (from Chris' grandmother) on Thursday, the same day I started making our Christmas cards. I'm hoping to have them all finished by Tuesday & in the mail. I love sending & receiving Christmas cards!!!

I love Christmas!

Thanksgiving recap & Christmas countdown

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in GA with our famililes.
We have so many things to be thankful for, not just at Thanksgiving but every single day!

On to Christmas...the inside of the house is decorated & we're hopefully going to get our outside lights up this weekend. I can't wait to set up the 2 4-foot lighted trees in urns I bought (both for $24!!!) on Black Friday. I'm going to sit one on each side of our door. My wreath should be finished this weekend too so I can't wait to see how it looks on the front door.

Can't believe it's only 22 days until Christmas...

I don't want to...

...go to bed! It's 10 p.m. & I should go to bed, but I'd rather stay up & finish tidying things up around here (& writing more on my blog).

But, I have to work for the next 3 days, so I should head to bed.

3 more days & then we're headed to GA for Thanksgiving...can't wait!

Good night!

good day

It's been a good day & here's why...

• I got up early & got some errands accomplished.
• I found the perfect piece of carrot cake for Dad's birthday at Foster's Market this a.m.
• I had a peppermint mocha from Starbuck's...I love the holiday coffees!
• Mom & Dad stopped by on their way to Washington, N.C.
• Mom & Dad took me to lunch at one of my faves, Elmo's Diner.
• I had an afternoon nap under my favorite down throw.
• I had a date with Harry Potter this afternoon & now I am just 200 pages shy of finishing the 7th book!...then I'm going to start The Shack.
• I'm about to snuggle up with Chris, my down throw, & some hot apple cider!

We're decorating our house for Christmas tomorrow...can't wait!!!

I can't believe...

it snowed today! We had snow flurries off & on this morning. Nothing stuck to the ground, but it was pretty to watch the snowflakes fall from the sky. I couldn't get any pictures because I was at work :-(.

It's crazy that our 1st snow this year has come before Thanksgiving.

It's just another sign that winter is getting ready to set in & that Thanksgiving & Christmas are nearly here...yeah!!!

Operation Christmas Child

Since high school, I have contributed to the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child project.

Chris & I went shopping today to fill our shoebox with gifts for a boy between the ages of 4-9. We have no idea where our box will be going, but we know it will go to some child who will need some extra Christmas cheer.

This year we're enclosing a card with our address in hopes that the little boy that receives our box will write to us so we can know who & where he is.

For me, this little project epitomizes the spirit of Christmas giving & ushers in the Christmas feeling around our home!

Check out the website for more info on how you can help.

I can't wait...

for Thanksgiving! It's now less than 2 weeks away...yummy!

for Black Friday shopping! It's been 3 years since my mom, sisters & I have gotten to go together, so this year will be super exciting.

for Christmas!!! We're going to get down out Christmas decorations next weekend & start decorating so when we come back from GA after Thanksgiving everything will be all Christmas-feeling!

for the craft fair tomorrow at the Raleigh Farmer's Market! I'm going after church with some friends of mine. I'm hoping to find some great Christmas gifts.

to climb into my nice cozy bed with my husband & get a good night's sleep...good night!

Halloween pictures at last

I finally loaded the Halloween pictures onto our computer.

We didn't get many pictures on Halloween night & they were taken in Chris' lab so they're not the best, but atleast it captures us in costume...

Thanksgiving season...

in honor of Thanksgiving being a few weeks away, I found this new background from The Cutest Blog on the Block. It's a bit busy, but it'll be cute for a short while.

I love the Thanksgiving season. It gives me such an opportunity to begin to look back on each year and reflect on all of the blessings, joys, and struggles I've encountered over the last year.

I also love Thanksgiving because it mean's Christmas is just around the corner too...I can't wait!!!

history in the making...

Such history is being made right now...although the N.C. polls are about to close, voters on the West coast still have hours to cast their votes & make their voices heard.

I feel so blessed to live in a country where we can make our voices heard & vote without fear.

We soon will find out who will become our 44th president of the United States...God bless the U.S.A.

sweater weather...

Today was definitely sweater weather...my favorite time of the year!

It was also a perfect day to enjoy some coffee. I met a friend for coffee this afternoon at the most adorable independently-owned coffee shop, Hammock's. Thanks, Catherine, for introducing me to such a sweet place...I love local restaurants and coffee shops!

I'm making a rubbed pork tenderloin, baked sweet potatoes, & fresh green beans for dinner...yummy!

I'm off from work until Friday with the exception of continuing ed classes tomorrow from 8-4. I'm so enjoying my time off...

fun website...

I recently discovered this great website...Goodreads!

It is a free site that allows you to open "bookshelves" with books you have read, are reading, or want to read.

You can see what other people are reading and how they rate certain books. You can also invite your friends to join so you can share opinions about books and find great new reads!

You can also upload your "bookshelf" onto a website or a blog.

How fun!...check it out.

cute cookies

Look at these most adorable ghost cookies...

I made some yesterday for the bake sale at work today.

This picture is from Kraftfoods.com because the pictures I took didn't do the little things justice!

They're cute & incredibly easy.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween fun...

I'm looking forward to Halloween tomorrow.

I've had to work on Halloween for the last 2 years so I'm happy to be off this year!

We'll be spending our evening in Chapel Hill with tens of thousands of other crazy adults in costumes. I've never had the "Franklin Street Halloween experience" so I feel the need to do it one time & this is it!

I've already told Chris though that next year I want to host a Halloween party at our house.

Pictures of Chris as Indiana Jones & me as Wilma Flinstone to come!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

how cute is this???

Over the weekend Chris & I attended wedding festivities for a friend of ours. We had the opportunity to spend time with a lot of our friends & enjoy lots (&I mean lots) of delicious food!

At the wedding on Sunday, while I was in line getting some food, Chris took baby Cady so Chad & Mandy could eat some lunch.

I wish you could see the look on her face in the picture too. They both were too cute.

P.S.-The wedding was termed a "hat party" so all guests wore a hat, hence Chris' Indiana Jones hat & Cady's baby beret!