12 Days of Christmas--Day 2

When we buy a place and have more room, I'd love to have a few trees scattered around the house with different themes, but for now our lone tree, with a hodgepodge of ornaments that carry plenty of wonderful memories, is just perfect. Here are a few of my favorites:

Dave and I like penguins, so a couple of years ago, I picked up a few of these penguin ornaments. Isn't he the cutest, most Christmas-y penguin you've ever seen?

I love to add a new ornament each year, so this was the one we bought last year on our honeymoon. We'd gone to Dutch Village in Holland, Michigan, one day, and I thought this kissing Dutch couple was a good pick for our tree. I also like that it's a shout-out to my heritage.

We received this ornament as a gift last year, but this is the first year it's being displayed. The picture was taken at my company's Christmas party last year. I would've loved to put a picture of us from Christmas Day, but I don't think we took any of just us! That will have to be remedied this year.
I'm pretty sure this little guy is my favorite ornament this year, even though he's made a couple of appearances before. When I was first in Edinburgh in 2006, I found the cutest Christmas shop just down the street from the castle. Of course, when I was back in the city in 2007, I insisted Dave and I visit that shop again, and this is the treasure I found. I love that it has the city and year on it so I'll always remember where I found my hedgehog friend.

12 Days of Christmas--Day 1

Welcome to the first day of our 12 days of Christmas. From now through Christmas Day, we'll be posting something about our Christmas celebrations this year, whether that's Christmas decorations or fun things we're doing this season. Today, we're showcasing our Christmas tree. Enjoy!

I love turning off all the lights except for the Christmas tree and enjoying its glow. The pic below is how I'd like our living room to look all the time, with the white lights giving off a magical glow.

Here's what our tree looks like otherwise. Last year, I had a Christmas tree full of red, white, and blue. This year, we went out and bought some white lights, and I stuck with my silver and red garland. I'm really happy with the way it turned out this year.

I looked and looked last year for a nice tree skirt but couldn't find anything suitable once everything had been picked over in the clearance sales. This year, most tree skirts I found cost at least $30. Crazy! Little did I know the perfect skirt was right in our living room. I used this tartan blanket Dave gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago, and it turned out great.
Ah, my lovely angel. This tree topper is at least 6 years old, and this year she finally decided that her light would burn out. I still think the angel is a nice way to top the tree, but I'm already planning to look for a replacement for next year's tree once the clearance sales begin.
The main feature of our ornaments are silver balls like this one. I like how they bring the tree's theme together and how they reflect the lights (or the person taking the picture). You'll see more of our ornaments tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year's Thanksgiving was probably my favorite. I woke up before the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began at 9 and got started on the do-ahead potatoes I was making for our family's feast at my parents' house. Dave was nice enough to let me hog the TV all morning. Haha! My dad made a turkey in the rotisserie, and it was soooo juicy! Yum! That, combined with green bean casserole, delicious rolls, do-ahead potatoes, and ham wraps and shrimp for appetizers left me stuffed by the end of the meal. I didn't eat anything else, with the exception of apple pie for dessert, the rest of the day.

In addition to the good food and time with family, I think this Thanksgiving was my favorite because of what I have to be thankful for. It's been a tough, challenging year, but I'm so grateful for the simple fact that we made it! I'm more grateful for the way life is today, and I know I wouldn't be so appreciative if it weren't for what we went through to get to this point. Thank you, Lord, for working through the tough times and bringing us through!

Birthday Boy

Dave's birthday was this week. In honor of his special day, the school district Dave works for gave him the entire week off. (Okay, there's this little thing called Thanksgiving that played a part in that week-long break.) As part of our celebration, I planned a special evening for my lovely husband.

Dave's requested Shepherd's Pie since we were married, but I hadn't made it for him until his birthday dinner. It was a hit! We've been enjoying the leftovers ever since.

Since Dave bought an iPod a couple of months ago, he's been forced to use my pink case whenever he's gone out with it. His birthday gift from me was a manly, black case he can use.

I love birthday freebies! We used a coupon for a FREE 2-scoop sundae at Culver's for Dave's birthday dessert. Culver's frozen custard is a yummy birthday treat.

Fall Decorations

Fall is my favorite season for decorating. There is just something I love about the bright orange, yellow, and red colors that make me eager to pull out my fall decorations as soon as the temps start to dip. I'm planning to decorate for the next season after Thanksgiving, but I'll be enjoying my fall decorations for the next week before putting them away until next year.

The flowers are a new addition--and probably my favorite piece this year.

Fall decorating is incomplete without the fall issue of Better Homes and Gardens.
Scarecrow #1

Scarecrow #2

Lovely candle holder

Five Year Reunion

At the beginning of November, we headed down to my alma mater for Homecoming and my five-year reunion. It was fun to go back to campus and see how everything (and everyone) has changed. The day was sunny and warm--the perfect weather for a football game! Unfortunately, I didn't buy tickets because I figured it would be freezing cold like every other Homecoming football game I've attended. Instead, we had fun at my college home group leaders' house, catching up with them and a bunch of friends from my college home group.

Hitting the road with Starbucks

The editor in me was very disappointed to find this spelling error. Can you spot it?
Our home group looks much different with spouses and children added to the group.

Happy Chipotle Day!

Halloween for us means more than collecting candy or attending a costume party. For the Gwynnes, October 31 means a cheap dinner from Chipotle! Dave was reminded of the great deal a couple of hours before dinnertime, so we made sure to head on over as soon as church was done that night. The only catch to the free burrito deal is that you have to dress up in aluminum foil (in other words, like a burrito). Below are our interpretations of that requirement.

My aluminum foil headband

Dave's aluminum foil toupee