Grateful

So this post was suppose to go out last week, but it didn't. I'm LAME! Been a little MIA lately, in case you couldn't tell. With Hurricane Sandy coming through the East Coast (no major damage on our end), me coming down will a killer flu (out for 7 days) and a death in the family, I just haven't been able to visit the blog. Sad face.

Luckily I'm starting to come out of my fog and just wanted to share with everyone how grateful I am. I've been watching on the news how devastating Hurricane Sandy has been to other areas and I'm really grateful that we did not see that side of her. There are many who are without homes, without power and/or can't contact their loved ones because of that. It's really scary to think so many are struggling right now.

Even with me being sick this past week, our refrigerator deciding to stop working and other stuff, I'm really grateful for the family and friends I do have. I'm really grateful for the roof over my head and the ability to feed my family. I am grateful for my relationship with God who always looks over me. I saw this sign the other day on Pinterest and I really hit home...

I have contemplated buying (or creating) something like this and putting it in a prominent place in my home. That way it'll always serve as a reminder that each day I need to remember what I have and be grateful. What are you grateful for?

Photo source: Crafty Scrappy Happy

A Man with A Baby

Is a man with a baby the cutest darn thing? I always love seeing my husband, Ryan, with my cute little puppy. They are my two boys and they both hold my heart. That being said, seeing my hubby holding my precious little nephew Camden certainly pulls on the heart strings!

Are they not the cutest darn thing? I wonder how much of me giving them that title is because I know and love the both of them, or whether it really is the 'man & a baby' thing where women are drawn to men holding a baby. I think it has something to do with seeing their, men, facial expressions and demeanors as a way to see how they will embrace children and potentially our kid(s). And I'm sure you can tell that Ryan certainly seems to be "okay" with Camden. I really love the bottom right photo because it shows Ryan's mischevious smile which is totally kid-like itself. ;)

Oh, and just so my other nephew doesn't feel left out, I also want to show my big boy nephew Aiden. He started Pre-K a few weeks ago. I can't believe how big he's getting!!!

I'm so blessed with the best & most beautiful family.

My Grown Up Birthday Wish

Have you ever heard of that song by Kelly Calrkson 'My Grown Up Christmas List'? I love how it talks about how your desires change from when you were younger to when you grow up to be an adult. Now this isn't going to be an entire post about things I want for my birthday (which is next week) like world peace and something unattainable, no there are certainly things I want that can be purchased...it's just interesting the change from not that long ago.

Case in point, I would love to have a maid come in and clean my house again. Yes, again. I had it done previously, since it was on my 30 before 30 list, but I would totally love to have it done again. I hate cleaning certain areas in the house, like bathrooms (eek) so this would be great to have again.....now, do you think the young me would have cared about that? NOPE! ;)

Another thing I would love for my birthday? These beautiful Jessica Simpson flats that I keep eye-balling at Dillard's. They are absolutely adorable and extremely professional...a shoe would certainly be something I would ask for, but (and even though they are super cute) I wouldn't typically ask for professional looking one.

Wine....wine is always a good gift for me. Even when I was younger (talking collage not teenage/high school-just wanted to clarify) I enjoyed wine. But what has changed is the type of wine. I used to only enjoy Arbor Mist type wine. Not "real" wine. Or maybe a fruity white wine.  Now, I enjoy a good red wine that is oaky and has a smooth finish like Shiraz or Merlot. See I'm "maturing"! ;)

Another thing I would totally LOVE for my birthday? Someone to come in and revamp our entryway. Seriously, I saw this one revamp from Love of Family & Home and I have been thinking about it NON-STOP since. I love doing home improvement projects in the home, and this project would not only be functional but also super cute for the aesthetics of our home. Ah...if only! Again, doing projects to the home would have never made the list when I was younger. LOL

Mason Jars. No joke, I would love some mason jars for my birthday. I've been seeing so many DIY/craft projects to do with them, and I've already expressed my love for mason jars in a previous post, so I would really enjoy getting my craft on with some mason jars. Not extremely expensive and I can totally pick them up myself at Walmart or something. But why do that when I have a b-day coming up? ;) Do you think the teenage version of myself would be jazzed to open up a wrapped present filled with little glass jars? Not so much. Me, now, on the other hand I would totally want to use them for so much stuff like organizing, painting & displaying them in the office or as a vase. Possibilities are endless...

Gift cards. Seriously. My mother use to beat into my head that gift cards are the "in-personal" gift for someone. They don't say "I care." Which is true, but does that take away from the value at all? NO! I would love gift cards for places to eat (I don't eat out often, so this would be a treat) or to go get a massage or have my nails done. I think a younger version of myself would have been okay with gift cards, but probably for clothes (which I wouldn't say no to now). Even then, my version of clothes that I want now is WAY different then when I was younger....ahhh, maturing. ;)

Aside from the material items (there are more than the list above, but they are fun little things like jewelery or scarves and hair accessories for my new short hair cut), I would totally be happy as a clam spending time with my family and friends. There-that's an honest to gosh grown-up birthday wish!! I spend so much of my time stressing out about adult things (finances, work, work, finances) that it would be nice to have some time to not stress about the adult things and really go out and enjoy myself. I would love to do an activity like put-put (there's the inner child in me) or go to antique shops; walk around places I don't typically go and explore. Whatever it is, I would just love to spend time with those closest to me. Getting older isn't tough, in my opinion (although I have some bones that would disagree with me). The number is just a number. But what is tough is feeling like you don't have enough time to do the things you really enjoy. Like spending time with family and friends....

This is my grown up birthday wish.

My NEW CAMERA!!!

Yup, that's right...this girl asked Santa for a NEW camera and he delivered!!! Well, at least in the form of my in-laws that is. (I have awesome in-laws, what can I say.) :)

So guess who's in the mood to take more photos with her handy dandy new camera? Just call me the next Peter Lindbergh except without all the mad skills and celebrity clients. So I bet you want me to dish all about my nifty new piece of equipment, well it's a Nikon Coolpix S1100pj 14 MP Digital Camera. It has 5x Wide Angle Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom and 3-Inch LCD and Built-in Projector...that's right a projector built in!! Pretty badass if you ask me. What camera has a PROJECTOR in it! May seem excessive, and in a way it is, but I LOVE it.

Since I can't very well take pictures of my new camera, I've decided to let the Amazon listing showcase its splendor...

It's pretty light weight, weighing less than 2 pounds. But let's get back to the badass accessory it comes with...the projector. This camera allows for instant sharing of both photos and movies! Photos can be projected up to 7 feet 10 inches at an image size of up to 47 inches diagonally. It also has business functionality as you can use the remote to flip through the images or movies. Not sure I'll need that in a presentation anytime soon...but who know, might spice up a meeting here or there! ;)

Again, it's not a necessity for a camera (and certainly one I didn't think I'd love so much) but  I'd like to share a personal story. On Christmas Day while opening up my gift, I immediately began taking pictures. My lovely sister-in-law decided to hold up a finger of hers in my direction disguised as picking her nose.... I was a good 5 ft or so away from her, so an original camera would be able to zoom in on it but then I'd have to pass it around the family for the evidence to be seen. However, with my Nikon that was not the case. A simple click of a button allowed me to project the photo on the wall for all to see. And with simple zoom, everyone could see exactly what finger she was holding up...clear as day!! Not going to lie, it was pretty awesome to catch her in that and we all had a huge laugh at her expense.

I really love this Christmas gift and can't wait to show off all the pictures I've been taking. Watch out Peter Lindbergh, there's a new photographer in town!  

Thanksgiving Prep

I'm pretty excited about Thanksgiving this year. Not only will we be hosting the wonderful feast at my home and seeing as I enjoy hosting that is already a bonus for me, but we'll also be having my in-laws coming into town!! They don't live in the area at the moment and this will be the first year in 7 years that they'll be having Thanksgiving in Virginia!

So like any traditional hostess I'm already starting to make the preparations for the family gathering. This past week I did the necessary fix-it items that would help make the place perfect for their arrival. I painted my hallway a vintage gray to mimic my wonderful friend Shelley over at The House of Smiths color palette. I also painted the side wall in my dining area. It was covered in wood-not paneling-like from the 70s and it needed an update bad! So again, taking inspiration from my friend I painted it a light blue to go with the rest of the house. I've also started the "big" cleaning projects. You know the ones, where you scrub the window panes type stuff. Things most people don't really look at, but if you're having guests for a week you think "why not?" And finally (yes, I'm an overachiever) I rearranged the furniture to give the space a whole new look. :)

This upcoming week I'll be preparing the house in other ways including some little decor items. Now, I'm not a person who decorates for every holiday. I just don't. But since we'll be having a larger crowd this year (and when I say larger, I mean like 8-10), I thought it would be nice to have a few decor items to remind us of why we're eating the amazing food. lol. I took to the Intranet and looked for easy items that I could assemble to give the place a little holiday feel. Here's what I've come up with...

I'm going to print and frame this printable, from Remodelaholic.com, for all to see:

And finally, I'm going to follow the instructions that TheEnglishPea provided for a Thanksgiving Banner to go over the dinner table!

I wish everyone a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving! While I only talked about the trivial things leading up to Thanksgiving in this blog, I'll be posting what Thanksgiving really means to me, I'm truly thankful for, this upcoming week! <3