My Christmas Wish List

1. Hunter Rain Boots: I've always liked the look of Hunter Rain Boots but their price tag always had me saying "forget it". When Costco rolled out their Hunter Boots for a lower price, my ears perked up and I figured living in Florida, it'd be a good gift. I may or may not know that my mom was able to snag me a pair and I can't wait to wear them!

2. Rocking Chairs: Since we have a little side porch, I would just love a pair of black rocking chairs to fill the area. Nevermind that there's spiders and bugs everywhere (if you have a way to keep spiders away, please let me know!) but I'd love to spend the nice summer nights out on the rocking chairs. I'm hoping my in-laws will get us these :)

3. Lilly Pulitzer Croakies: Mine are completely calling apart and I'll need a new pair to go with my new sunglasses ;) Lilly Pulitzer always has the cutest croakies and with their new design, they seem super durable.

4. Monogram Key Chain: I love this little key chain and realized that my current one is from high school.... time to upgrade!

5. Savor Bible Study: I've been noticing a lot of people doing this Bible study and enjoying it. I'm really looking forward to having a 365 Bible study and continuing it every day.

6. Ray Ban Sunglasses: I actually wanted to ask for these from Stephen's parents last year and really regret that I didn't. I want to change things up and get a pair of sunglasses that look different than my current wayfarers and don't squeeze my head too much. I've never bought designer sunglasses before and I'm pretty good with taking care of my sunglasses so hopefully these aren't the first pair that I mess up ;)

7. May Designs Planner: I love their planners and this will be my 3rd year getting one for Christmas. Now that I'm not in school, I don't need a bulkier planner and this is super light which is perfect for carrying around in my purse all day. And the personalization adds some bonus points!

Shockingly, this year I don't have too many clothes coming my way (that I know of) which is a huge shift from years past. What are some things you're asking for this year?

Linking up with Annie.

Candied Nuts

Or mixed nuts, as Stephen likes to call them ;) This is, hands down, Stephen's favorite Christmas goodie. He asks for it all year and I make him wait till Christmas so the minute Thanksgiving was over, he was ready for me to make them (he actually made them this year - I have to give credit where it's due).

This recipe is actually pretty easy and the nuts turn out delicious! He's been sharing them with his co-workers and they love them!

Ingredients:

- 5 cups pecan halves

- 1-2 cups almonds (you can use any nut you want - we did walnuts and pecans. We also just bought 1 medium bag of each and dumped it in)

- 2 egg whites

- 2 tbsp water

- 2 cups granulated sugar

- 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

- 2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (spray with PAM for extra protection)

2. In a large bow, add the egg whites and water. Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites and water until a stiff peak forms (a few minutes). Add the sugar, cinnamon and salt. Fold together gently until combined.

3. Add the nuts into the bowl with the egg whites and stir to cover completely. Spread the nuts over the baking sheets (try not to let the nuts overlap) and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. You can store the nuts covered, at room temperature for a few weeks.

Linking up with Jessi.

Christmas Card 2015

We sent our Christmas cards out last week so everyone should be receiving theirs any day now so I figured I'm safe to share them here.

We took our Christmas card photos a few weeks ago but we weren't sure exactly what card we wanted to use. I LOVE Minted's cards but they're so expensive and I can't justify spending that much money on a few Christmas cards that will just be thrown out in January. After entering into every Minted giveaway I found and not winning, we decided to look into other options. We received a Vistaprint catalog in the mail with a 50% off coupon and decided to browse their website one night. We weren't planning on buying anything that night, until we found a design that we really liked and could get 30 cards for $16. We were sold and hit purchase. They arrived a few days later and were ready to be sent out!

I'm really happy with what we picked - it's a little different than a typical Christmas card but I love the design and colors. Without further adieu, here's our Christmas card for 2015:

And for kicks, here's our Christmas cards for 2014 and 2013:

Overall, I'm really happy with how our card turned out this year and the shipping was lightning fast!

Linking up with Katie & Jessica.

Weekending

I'm not going to lie, this weekend was hard on me. I like to stay positive on this space of mine, but this is real life and my weekend wasn't all that great - granted, it wasn't all that bad either. Thursday, Stephen was supposed to have his last launch of the year and then we were going to celebrate Christmas all weekend together. Well, the FL weather has not been cooperating (I mean, it's 80 degrees for goodness sake) and constant rain scrubbed the launch Thursday. Friday looked a little more promising, but high winds scrubbed the launch again. Two 12 hour days in a row for Stephen. I am very understanding when this stuff happens with Stephen's work because there's nothing he can do about it and it's the nature of the business he's in, but since this was cutting into our Christmas time, I started getting very upset about it. Let me also preface that I was just super emotional all weekend which did not help one bit.

Friday night I ran a bunch of errands and was super productive. I even found a pair of Sam Edelman sandals at T.J. Maxx for only $35 - thanks for that Christmas gift, Stephen ;) I had really high hopes that they'd launch Friday and we'd get to spend the weekend together, but they scrubbed again for high winds which got me down again. I felt like everything kept going wrong when I was out on Friday - it really wasn't that bad but I just kept noticing every little thing. After getting home around 8:30, we both ate dinner and headed to bed. 

Saturday, Stephen had to go to work around 10 am so we were able to spend some time together that morning. I made breakfast and we watched A Charlie Brown Christmas. After he left for work, I was about to get going on my long to-do list and then the power went out. Everything I could think of to do was out of the question - ironing, vacuuming, blogging, finishing my movie, baking cookies - everything required power! I couldn't even leave the house because my car was in the garage. You don't realize how important electricity is until you don't have it anymore. I decided to wrap Stephen's gifts and after getting the first one done, the power came back on. After the power came back on, I headed back to Target to return some command strips I bought the night before and didn't read that you couldn't use them on windows. After getting home, I put the garland back up (for the third time) but this time I put the strips above the door and not on the frame. It seems to be working so hopefully it'll stay up through Christmas. I also added wreaths to our windows out front and am obsessed with them!

After thinking about all the things I had to be thankful for instead of focusing on all the things that were going wrong, I started feeling better. I was just throwing myself a constant pity party. The rest of the day I busied myself with my long to-do list, finished wrapping all of Stephen's gifts and finished The Holiday and watched A Royal Christmas (super cheesy but cute none-the-less). Thankfully, they scrubbed the launch before fueling and getting ready for the count, so Stephen was able to come with me to our Bible study Christmas party - which I thought I'd have to go alone to. We were about an hour late but I'm so glad Stephen was able to come with me! I didn't get any pictures (fail) but I made crock pot green beans and baked Brie (the Brie was a HIT). After the party, we found out there was a neat Christmas lights display at a nearby park and as soon as we were in line to get in, it started raining. We checked off and headed home to watch Christmas with the Kranks and some hot apple cider.

Our gifts for the Christmas party - got these bags 2/$1 in the $1 section at Target. They're so cute!

Sunday, Stephen had to work again but by yesterday, I was back to my usual non-emotional self. I'm bummed he had to miss out on some of our plans Sunday (which I was most excited for) but I know it's worse for him since he's actually at work and I'm not. I spent the morning ironing and then headed out to the outlets over in Orlando. I found some great deals for Christmas and then ran over to Downtown Disney to meet my friend from NC for dinner. Thankfully, Stephen launched Sunday (yay no chance of a Christmas launch!) and so he was able to meet us for dinner. I'm so glad we got to see Kathryn and meet her husband!

Linking up with Biana.

Five on Friday

First off, I have to point out that there are exactly 3 weeks till Christmas. That's it folks, 3 weeks!!! I cannot believe how quick time is flying and yet, I want it to slow down so I can enjoy every second of this season.

One
Wednesday night was the first night of the season that we sat down and watched a Christmas movie together. We opted for Jingle All the Way which is always funny. I was hoping to watch another one tonight but it's looking like Stephen's going to have to work.

Two
For lunch this week, my coworkers wanted to eat at a Cajun restaurant and I was a little hesitant as I'm not a big Cajun fan, but it was delicious!! I tried chicken and waffles for the first time ever and they were to die for! My friend got alligator tacos and they looked delicious! Definitely won't be turning my nose up at that place anymore.

Three
I ran to Michaels yesterday to pick up some small wreaths for our windows (can't wait to hang them this weekend!) and saw these cute Christmas bowls. I picked 2 up so we can be festive while snacking. Most all the Christmas items were 50-60% off and they had some great decorations. I even grabbed some boxes to put my coworker's Christmas goodies in.

Four
If you're in your 20's, then you probably watched Even Stevens as a kid. Heck, that's honestly where Shia LeBeouf got his start. Well, I found an article on E! that Beans now works as Santa's helper at a mall in CA. He looks so different now and I didn't realize how little he is. I got a chuckle out of the article and figured other Even Stevens fans would too :)

Five

I'm super excited because I get to see one of my friends from high school, Kathryn on Sunday! Kathryn and I met when we did a student leadership conference after junior year of high school and reunited for the 2nd year just before college. We've kept in contact (she lives in NC) and we get to see each other every year or so. Her and her husband are meeting us for dinner - we've actually never met each others husbands (she got married a month after me so we couldn't make it to each others weddings) so I'm really excited to meet her hubby. I'll leave you with these throw back pictures (please ignore how awkward I look - Kathryn looks awesome so I don't feel bad posting these ;))

SLU 101 (2008)

SLU 201 (2009)

Thoughts for Thursday

Today I'm going to do a traditional "Thoughts for Thursday" with some random things...

+ I am so thrilled it's finally Christmas time but I feel like I'm still breaking down the wall in that I avoided all things Christmas until after Thanksgiving so it still doesn't feel real

+ It also doesn't feel like Christmas because it's been hot and gross outside all week. We're supposed to get a cold cool front today so we'll see if that helps

+ Earlier this week, I made Mix and Match Mama's Apple Cider Pork Tenderloin and it was amazing

+ We ordered our Christmas cards the day before we left for Thanksgiving and I've really got to buckle down and address them this weekend

+ I cannot wait to start baking Christmas-y things

+ On a related note, I have been updating our wedding invitation/address list on an excel sheet the last few years but I haven't done an amazing job and keep forgetting if it's updated or not so I decided to go old school and ask for an address book for Christmas. My mom has one and it is so much easier to keep track of everyone that way, in my mind. I asked for this one from Santa ;)

+ I made the bows on our garland using Caitlin's easy tutorial

Linking up with Annie.

Christmas Decorations 2015

First of all, I missed my post yesterday due to some garland that wouldn't cooperate with me so I have to say hello December! I can't believe Christmas is finally upon us and I cannot wait to celebrate Jesus' birth!

via

We pretty much maxed out our Christmas decorating space in our apartment with spending 2 Christmases there. Now that we have a house, my mind is running wild with ideas of how to decorate. I have to remind myself that with this being our 3rd Christmas, our house isn't going to look like my mom's house this year - it's going to take time to accumulate Christmas decorations. We really try to get most of our decorations the day after Christmas since everything is on major sale. For example, we got our Christmas tree for $45 and it's a really nice, full one. I do know that Jo-Ann's has all of their Christmas decorations marked down 60% and will go even higher the closer it gets to Christmas.

This year, we kind of covered the bases and kept things more simple. However, our list is constantly growing with items we want to buy the day after Christmas.

We finally got a fake tree and I couldn't be more happy!!

I was so excited, I snagged this sign from Kirklands after Christmas last year for less than $5!

Stephen's mom made us that cute little basket on top with pine cones from their yard

I love this garland and I'm really hoping it stays up. The other night I had the worst time getting it to stay.

Since this was the first year in our house, we were able to put lights up outside! Stephen did an amazing job wrapping the palm tree and I thing next year we'll add some to the roof. I would also love to put a small lit tree on either side of the door and add some lit garland. I also put red bows on the lights but the bulbs are so bright, you can't see them here.

I found this rug at Target for $10

I'm so glad the decorations are done so that we can finally enjoy them and relax! What are your favorite decorations to put up?

Linking up with Jessi.