Thanksgiving Recap

We enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving day with both sets of our parents.

It was so fun to set the table with our wedding china and use it for the first time!

Here was our table on Thanksgiving morning before the feast. :)

 

I must admit that I was a little nervous about all the dishes being finished close to the same time.  

I don't have the most strategic mind (!), but I think it turned out okay.

 

Here is a closeup of our smoked turkey.

 

And here was the rest of our spread. :)

We were so thankful for this meal and most especially for those with whom we shared it.

My mother-in-law brought delicious sausage cheese dip and the fabulous dressing!

 

 

Another special part of the day was sharing a pecan pie from my grandmother's cookbook.  She put together cookbooks filled with family recipes and her own personal anecdotes, and gave them to each of us for Christmas in 2007.  Making that pecan pie from a recipe written in her own hand, was very comforting to me and made me feel like she was still a part of the Thanksgiving meal preparation though this is our second Thanksgiving without her.

 

I do think Muvie would have been thrilled over our dining room drapes that arrived in the mail earlier this week!  G did a great job of installing them and I was so glad they were in place for our Thanksgiving meal.

 

I just love the way they look!

 

During this special day of thanks, I was especially grateful for all of our family and friends near and far who have had such an incredible impact on our lives.  I was also very thankful for this special guy and loved celebrating our first married Thanksgiving in our home. :)

We had such a sweet time getting to visit and before we knew it, my parents had to head back home. 

G and I ended our Thanksgiving celebration by playing board games in front of the fire.  

It may be our new tradition!  I hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend. :)

Thanksgiving Recap

We enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving day with both sets of our parents.

It was so fun to set the table with our wedding china and use it for the first time!

Here was our table on Thanksgiving morning before the feast. :)

 

I must admit that I was a little nervous about all the dishes being finished close to the same time.  

I don't have the most strategic mind (!), but I think it turned out okay.

 

Here is a closeup of our smoked turkey.

 

And here was the rest of our spread. :)

We were so thankful for this meal and most especially for those with whom we shared it.

My mother-in-law brought delicious sausage cheese dip and the fabulous dressing!

 

 

Another special part of the day was sharing a pecan pie from my grandmother's cookbook.  She put together cookbooks filled with family recipes and her own personal anecdotes, and gave them to each of us for Christmas in 2007.  Making that pecan pie from a recipe written in her own hand, was very comforting to me and made me feel like she was still a part of the Thanksgiving meal preparation though this is our second Thanksgiving without her.

 

I do think Muvie would have been thrilled over our dining room drapes that arrived in the mail earlier this week!  G did a great job of installing them and I was so glad they were in place for our Thanksgiving meal.

 

I just love the way they look!

 

During this special day of thanks, I was especially grateful for all of our family and friends near and far who have had such an incredible impact on our lives.  I was also very thankful for this special guy and loved celebrating our first married Thanksgiving in our home. :)

We had such a sweet time getting to visit and before we knew it, my parents had to head back home. 

G and I ended our Thanksgiving celebration by playing board games in front of the fire.  

It may be our new tradition!  I hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend. :)

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

Today has been full of hustle and bustle!  The hubs and I are hosting Thanksgiving for the first time and I have had so much fun doing Turkey Day prep!  It's amazing to think how our lives have changed so much in a year and here we are, about to celebrate our first married Thanksgiving. 

I wrote out our menu, so I could remember how we celebrated this year.

 

I baked the pies today and have the sweet potato casserole all prepped and in the fridge ready for the oven tomorrow.  My sweet mother-in-law is bringing our appetizer and my favorite Thanksgiving side, the dressing!  

We had the best time setting the table tonight and can't wait to celebrate this special day with family tomorrow.

I am so very thankful for the generous gift of relationships that God has placed in my life. 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

Today has been full of hustle and bustle!  The hubs and I are hosting Thanksgiving for the first time and I have had so much fun doing Turkey Day prep!  It's amazing to think how our lives have changed so much in a year and here we are, about to celebrate our first married Thanksgiving. 

I wrote out our menu, so I could remember how we celebrated this year.

 

I baked the pies today and have the sweet potato casserole all prepped and in the fridge ready for the oven tomorrow.  My sweet mother-in-law is bringing our appetizer and my favorite Thanksgiving side, the dressing!  

We had the best time setting the table tonight and can't wait to celebrate this special day with family tomorrow.

I am so very thankful for the generous gift of relationships that God has placed in my life. 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Favorite Things: Stocking Stuffers Edition

 

When I saw this linkup with Cheers Y'all and Down with the Dearmores, I couldn't wait to put together some fun girly stocking stuffer ideas!  Here are few treats that I would not be sad to find in my stocking on Christmas morning. ;)

 

{1} Kate spade gold earrings
I love these sparkly baubles!  Understated stud earrings are my favorite and I think these earrings would work perfectly with any outfit.

{2} Monogram necklace 
Since changing my name this year, I would love to see that new monogram in a beautiful silver or gold dangling from a perfect chain!  These sweet necklaces have been a favorite of mine ever since I started seeing them pop up.  Although this gift may be a little pricey for a traditional stocking stuffer, it might just make for the perfect surprise!

{3} Bath Bombs
These bath bombs are a great gift for the girl who enjoys a bubble bath at the end of a long day.  What a fun treat!

{4} Kate Spade 'Cold Hands Warm Heart' Thermal Mug
I use my coffee travel mug filled with freshly brewed coffee from my Keurig every day and when I saw this adorable one from Kate Spade, I knew adding another mug would be fun to have in my rotation!    

{5} Pigma Micron Archival Drawing Pens Pack of 6 
For the girl who likes to journal and create her own special hand lettering style, these pens are supposed to be great.  I could spend hours upon hours just writing words and letters and these pens would be a special treat!

{6} GODIVA Milk Chocolate Foil Santa
A little chocolate treat in the stocking is something fun to find and how cute is this Godiva Santa?!

{7} Tocca eau de perfume 
Seriously, this perfume in the Cleopatra scent is my absolute favorite new fragrance.  I love its spiciness and think it would be the perfect perfume for the chilly winter temps. 

{8} Kate Spade "Be Dazzling" iPhone case 
A new happy phone case would be a fun stocking find and even better if it sparkles!

{9} InStyle
Another sweet stocking treat is the gift that keeps on giving -- a favorite year-long magazine subscription.  Each month you receive your favorite magazine in the mail is like Christmas all over again!

{10}  Dark Chocolate Truffles

Okay, I had to add one more piece of chocolate to round out my 10.  These dark chocolate truffles are my absolute favorite and I first discovered them in my stocking almost 10 years ago!

What are some of your favorite stocking stuffers?

Favorite Things: Stocking Stuffers Edition

 

When I saw this linkup with Cheers Y'all and Down with the Dearmores, I couldn't wait to put together some fun girly stocking stuffer ideas!  Here are few treats that I would not be sad to find in my stocking on Christmas morning. ;)

 

{1} Kate spade gold earrings
I love these sparkly baubles!  Understated stud earrings are my favorite and I think these earrings would work perfectly with any outfit.

{2} Monogram necklace 
Since changing my name this year, I would love to see that new monogram in a beautiful silver or gold dangling from a perfect chain!  These sweet necklaces have been a favorite of mine ever since I started seeing them pop up.  Although this gift may be a little pricey for a traditional stocking stuffer, it might just make for the perfect surprise!

{3} Bath Bombs
These bath bombs are a great gift for the girl who enjoys a bubble bath at the end of a long day.  What a fun treat!

{4} Kate Spade 'Cold Hands Warm Heart' Thermal Mug
I use my coffee travel mug filled with freshly brewed coffee from my Keurig every day and when I saw this adorable one from Kate Spade, I knew adding another mug would be fun to have in my rotation!    

{5} Pigma Micron Archival Drawing Pens Pack of 6 
For the girl who likes to journal and create her own special hand lettering style, these pens are supposed to be great.  I could spend hours upon hours just writing words and letters and these pens would be a special treat!

{6} GODIVA Milk Chocolate Foil Santa
A little chocolate treat in the stocking is something fun to find and how cute is this Godiva Santa?!

{7} Tocca eau de perfume 
Seriously, this perfume in the Cleopatra scent is my absolute favorite new fragrance.  I love its spiciness and think it would be the perfect perfume for the chilly winter temps. 

{8} Kate Spade "Be Dazzling" iPhone case 
A new happy phone case would be a fun stocking find and even better if it sparkles!

{9} InStyle
Another sweet stocking treat is the gift that keeps on giving -- a favorite year-long magazine subscription.  Each month you receive your favorite magazine in the mail is like Christmas all over again!

{10}  Dark Chocolate Truffles

Okay, I had to add one more piece of chocolate to round out my 10.  These dark chocolate truffles are my absolute favorite and I first discovered them in my stocking almost 10 years ago!

What are some of your favorite stocking stuffers?

Weekend Recap!

Today, I'm linking up with Sami to review our "Weekend Shenanigans".  

Friday, a cold front moved through Central Texas and by the time the Mr. and I left work, it was pretty chilly.  We stopped by a delicious little Mexican food restaurant and gobbled up yummy chips and salsa and some amazing enchiladas!  It was the perfect cold weather treat and a great start to the weekend.  

I decided to go ahead and pick up a few things from the grocery store, so we wouldn't have to go out in the cold too much over the weekend and I was so glad I did.  The store wasn't too crowded and I got to try out my new leopard print gloves I got for my birthday.  They have those cute little fabric patches on the fingers that let you use your phone.  They were also very soft and kept my hands good and warm.  I don't think I took them off in the store until I got to the checkou!

Saturday morning started out like this:

G made our first fire in our fireplace in our home!  It was such a treat because it rarely gets chilly enough for a real fire in Texas and I loved watching the flames flicker and hearing the soothing crackle.

Breakfast was complete with hot cinnamon rolls and lots of coffee!

I had looked all over for this pumpkin spice coffee creamer and lo and behold, there it was in the dairy case in sugar-free -- even better!  It added the perfect touch to my coffee.

So thankful for this guy!

For lunch, I cooked chili for the first time!!  Erin at The Blue-eyed Bride had written about this Chili Kit her mom always used and when I saw some at the store, I decided to give it a whirl.  It was so great because all the spices were pre-measured.  We actually halved the recipe, so I saved all the leftover seasonings in a Ziploc bag to use for next time.  I'm sure it will be soon because It was delicious!  All you do is brown the meet, add tomato sauce, water, and spices.  You can limit the amount of heat by choosing how much red pepper to add.  I just put a little bit in and our chili still had a bit of a kick!  You can also thicken it by stirring masa flour in warm water and adding it to the mixture while it simmers.

We served ours with Frito, tortilla chips and shredded cheese.  We had to run to Wal-Mart that night to pick up a few other things, so we added saltine crackers to the list.  I never realized how much I connected saltines with chili, but as soon as I smelled the chili on the stove, my mouth started watering for them.  My mom always served saltines with our chili growing up and when we had the leftovers for lunch on Sunday, they were the perfect addition. :)

The rest of the afternoon I read the November and December issues of Southern Living and felt that the above Christmas dinner decor was gorgeous!  It was such a nice and relaxing day.  We went over to my sweet in-laws for dinner and had the most delicious King Ranch chicken.  I love that dish so much and can't wait to borrow my mother-in-law's recipe!  We also may have watched a certain football game, but the wounds are a little too fresh to discuss that now. ;)

Sunday, we enjoyed a relaxing morning and a beautiful service at church.  It was nice to head home after church and enjoy another fire in the fireplace.  We tried to be a bit productive and organized two closets while also discussing a return to our post-work gym routine after a several week hiatus.

Some of these conversations filled with initiative were enjoyed over steaming mugs of hot cocoa -- my favorite way to converse!  We also enjoyed catching up on some of our favorite shows. :) 

I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoy the Thanksgiving week ahead.

Weekend Recap!

Today, I'm linking up with Sami to review our "Weekend Shenanigans".  

Friday, a cold front moved through Central Texas and by the time the Mr. and I left work, it was pretty chilly.  We stopped by a delicious little Mexican food restaurant and gobbled up yummy chips and salsa and some amazing enchiladas!  It was the perfect cold weather treat and a great start to the weekend.  

I decided to go ahead and pick up a few things from the grocery store, so we wouldn't have to go out in the cold too much over the weekend and I was so glad I did.  The store wasn't too crowded and I got to try out my new leopard print gloves I got for my birthday.  They have those cute little fabric patches on the fingers that let you use your phone.  They were also very soft and kept my hands good and warm.  I don't think I took them off in the store until I got to the checkou!

Saturday morning started out like this:

G made our first fire in our fireplace in our home!  It was such a treat because it rarely gets chilly enough for a real fire in Texas and I loved watching the flames flicker and hearing the soothing crackle.

Breakfast was complete with hot cinnamon rolls and lots of coffee!

I had looked all over for this pumpkin spice coffee creamer and lo and behold, there it was in the dairy case in sugar-free -- even better!  It added the perfect touch to my coffee.

So thankful for this guy!

For lunch, I cooked chili for the first time!!  Erin at The Blue-eyed Bride had written about this Chili Kit her mom always used and when I saw some at the store, I decided to give it a whirl.  It was so great because all the spices were pre-measured.  We actually halved the recipe, so I saved all the leftover seasonings in a Ziploc bag to use for next time.  I'm sure it will be soon because It was delicious!  All you do is brown the meet, add tomato sauce, water, and spices.  You can limit the amount of heat by choosing how much red pepper to add.  I just put a little bit in and our chili still had a bit of a kick!  You can also thicken it by stirring masa flour in warm water and adding it to the mixture while it simmers.

We served ours with Frito, tortilla chips and shredded cheese.  We had to run to Wal-Mart that night to pick up a few other things, so we added saltine crackers to the list.  I never realized how much I connected saltines with chili, but as soon as I smelled the chili on the stove, my mouth started watering for them.  My mom always served saltines with our chili growing up and when we had the leftovers for lunch on Sunday, they were the perfect addition. :)

The rest of the afternoon I read the November and December issues of Southern Living and felt that the above Christmas dinner decor was gorgeous!  It was such a nice and relaxing day.  We went over to my sweet in-laws for dinner and had the most delicious King Ranch chicken.  I love that dish so much and can't wait to borrow my mother-in-law's recipe!  We also may have watched a certain football game, but the wounds are a little too fresh to discuss that now. ;)

Sunday, we enjoyed a relaxing morning and a beautiful service at church.  It was nice to head home after church and enjoy another fire in the fireplace.  We tried to be a bit productive and organized two closets while also discussing a return to our post-work gym routine after a several week hiatus.

Some of these conversations filled with initiative were enjoyed over steaming mugs of hot cocoa -- my favorite way to converse!  We also enjoyed catching up on some of our favorite shows. :) 

I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoy the Thanksgiving week ahead.

Fall at our House

In October, we started thinking about what we wanted to do to decorate our house for fall.  Since it is our first year in our house, it has been fun/overwhelming at times to think of where to put things.  This fall, I loved sorting through decorations that we already had and moving them around the house until they seemed to be in their home.  Of course, no fall home update would be complete without a little trip to Lowe's and Hobby Lobby! ;)

One sunny October afternoon, the mister and I headed to Lowe's to buy a mum for our front porch and some flowers for our mailbox flower bed.  I had to take a photo of this moment because I couldn't believe I was a part of this little Lowe's trip!  I know I sound silly, but for years I had seen sweet families as they added different decor to their front porches for each season and I, too, enjoyed sprucing up my little apartment, but wondered if finding someone to share these little everyday joys would be part of my life's picture.  I just had to stop for a moment in the garden section of Lowe's and swallow back tears of thankfulness as we found a sweet mum for our front porch and added it to our cart.  

When we bought the mum it hadn't flowered, but was covered in buds and we have gotten to enjoy it for a very long time!  If you don't need a blooming mum right away, I would advise buying one still in the bud stage.  Ours bloomed a glorious yellow.  We'll see how our chilly temps this weekend affect it.

We found these beautiful flowers for our flower bed and I just love the color combinations.  They added the perfect pop to our mailbox.

Inside our house, we were able to use several wedding gifts to coordinate with some fall accents.  The table runner and placemats were wedding gifts and I absolutely love the gold color and pattern.  They work great year-round, but our autumn accents fit right in with the color scheme, too!  One of my precious friends had given me those adorable napkins and napkin rings one year for my birthday and I loved how they coordinated with our placemats.  I guess I tried out the pattern mixing I'm always hearing about!  The silver tray was a gorgeous wedding gift and I loved the way my metallic acorns and the mister's candles worked together on the tray.  I guess our fall decor is a definite merge! (Did you ever watch that show with Lisa Rinna?  I loved it!!)

In the entry way, we found this fall flowering branch at Hobby Lobby and placed it inside an amber Blenco jug we received as a wedding gift.  I added the cute little pumpkin soup toureen (another wonderful birthday prezzy from a sweet friend!  It's really one in a set of four pumpkins in the cutest colors.  I love to fill them with candy during the fall) and G's candle from his bachelor days. :)  I loved the way this combo worked on our entry table and mirror.

Another fun item to style was this beautiful urn we received as a wedding gift.  I had been looking forward to filling it with different decor for the seasons ever since it found a home by our fireplace and was elated that these pumpkins and spheres worked well together here.  A little tip I discovered was to fill the urn with plastic sacks or newspaper, so the seasonal items will fill to the top.  The urn is empty all the way through and this offered the effect I was hoping for.  I've already got some ideas for making this little item more Christmasy!

The final stop on our tour is the fall wreath I made out of deco mesh.  I had always been intrigued by these wreaths when I would see them on Pinterest and decided to go for it and see if I could put one together myself.  We found everything we needed at Hobby Lobby, including the coppery wide deco mesh, a narrower burlap wired ribbon, wreath frame, and the cute fall accent picks.  I leaned heavily on this fantastic video tutorial to make my wreath and had some major assistance from the hot glue for the fall pumpkins, leaves and flowers to stay in place.  The best part was that this fall accent didn't break the bank.  I think we were in luck that most of the items we purchased that day were on sale. 

I had so much fun decorating our home for fall and am looking forward to hosting our first Thanksgiving here!  Hope you are having a good weekend.  Thanks for stopping by!

Fall at our House

In October, we started thinking about what we wanted to do to decorate our house for fall.  Since it is our first year in our house, it has been fun/overwhelming at times to think of where to put things.  This fall, I loved sorting through decorations that we already had and moving them around the house until they seemed to be in their home.  Of course, no fall home update would be complete without a little trip to Lowe's and Hobby Lobby! ;)

One sunny October afternoon, the mister and I headed to Lowe's to buy a mum for our front porch and some flowers for our mailbox flower bed.  I had to take a photo of this moment because I couldn't believe I was a part of this little Lowe's trip!  I know I sound silly, but for years I had seen sweet families as they added different decor to their front porches for each season and I, too, enjoyed sprucing up my little apartment, but wondered if finding someone to share these little everyday joys would be part of my life's picture.  I just had to stop for a moment in the garden section of Lowe's and swallow back tears of thankfulness as we found a sweet mum for our front porch and added it to our cart.  

When we bought the mum it hadn't flowered, but was covered in buds and we have gotten to enjoy it for a very long time!  If you don't need a blooming mum right away, I would advise buying one still in the bud stage.  Ours bloomed a glorious yellow.  We'll see how our chilly temps this weekend affect it.

We found these beautiful flowers for our flower bed and I just love the color combinations.  They added the perfect pop to our mailbox.

Inside our house, we were able to use several wedding gifts to coordinate with some fall accents.  The table runner and placemats were wedding gifts and I absolutely love the gold color and pattern.  They work great year-round, but our autumn accents fit right in with the color scheme, too!  One of my precious friends had given me those adorable napkins and napkin rings one year for my birthday and I loved how they coordinated with our placemats.  I guess I tried out the pattern mixing I'm always hearing about!  The silver tray was a gorgeous wedding gift and I loved the way my metallic acorns and the mister's candles worked together on the tray.  I guess our fall decor is a definite merge! (Did you ever watch that show with Lisa Rinna?  I loved it!!)

In the entry way, we found this fall flowering branch at Hobby Lobby and placed it inside an amber Blenco jug we received as a wedding gift.  I added the cute little pumpkin soup toureen (another wonderful birthday prezzy from a sweet friend!  It's really one in a set of four pumpkins in the cutest colors.  I love to fill them with candy during the fall) and G's candle from his bachelor days. :)  I loved the way this combo worked on our entry table and mirror.

Another fun item to style was this beautiful urn we received as a wedding gift.  I had been looking forward to filling it with different decor for the seasons ever since it found a home by our fireplace and was elated that these pumpkins and spheres worked well together here.  A little tip I discovered was to fill the urn with plastic sacks or newspaper, so the seasonal items will fill to the top.  The urn is empty all the way through and this offered the effect I was hoping for.  I've already got some ideas for making this little item more Christmasy!

The final stop on our tour is the fall wreath I made out of deco mesh.  I had always been intrigued by these wreaths when I would see them on Pinterest and decided to go for it and see if I could put one together myself.  We found everything we needed at Hobby Lobby, including the coppery wide deco mesh, a narrower burlap wired ribbon, wreath frame, and the cute fall accent picks.  I leaned heavily on this fantastic video tutorial to make my wreath and had some major assistance from the hot glue for the fall pumpkins, leaves and flowers to stay in place.  The best part was that this fall accent didn't break the bank.  I think we were in luck that most of the items we purchased that day were on sale. 

I had so much fun decorating our home for fall and am looking forward to hosting our first Thanksgiving here!  Hope you are having a good weekend.  Thanks for stopping by!