New Music Wednesday #1

Welcome to Wednesday!  

On my list of favorite things in life, music is near the top.  Music has helped me study, write my 30 page capstone, tolerate my two (sometimes three) hour commute, make memories, recall memories from times past, clean my house, celebrate the holidays and the list goes on.  I think I also love music so much because I lack, in every way possible, any sort of musical talent.  That being said, the thing I enjoy most is discovering new music.  There’s just something about discovering an amazing artist that isn’t on everyday radio.  It’s new, it’s fresh and it’s not overplayed.  For the artists’ sake I hope it eventually gets overplayed on the radio but I like knowing I heard it on my own first. 

  

So, for my fellow music lovers, I’m introducing New Music Wednesday’s.  I’ll share my top 5 new music picks of each week and the tracks will be added to a Spotify Playlist as well for those who want to follow.  Speaking of, did you hear that you can now listen to Spotify playlists from your mobile device without a Premium subscription?! Yep, it’s all available on the free version now, so check it out! 

New Music Wednesday #1

Tag! I'm It!

Hi friendly reader!  Last Week Tabitha from over at Wandering Java Lover tagged me in a Christmas Questionnaire and since I didn't want to miss out on the fun (and because the questions were almost ALL different from last week's post) I just had to participate! 

1) What do you love most about Christmas time?  I love all of the gatherings, which probably sounds crazy if you know me personally.  During the week of Christmas Aaron and I typically visit 5 homes within seventy-two hours, 3 of which are all on the same day.  It’s madness but every celebration is so much fun we wouldn’t want to miss any of them!

2) Do you celebrate the holiday in style or is it Bah-Humbug for you?  We celebrate in style.  Decorations go up the day after Thanksgiving and come down around New Year’s Day.

Are you leaving anything out for Santa this year so he remembers to leave your presents?  Probably not.  Odds are Marley would try to eat whatever we left out and then we’d spend Christmas at the emergency vet.  Hopefully Santa understands!

3) What is the one gift you are most looking forward to giving?  Probably the gift we got for our youngest niece.  She’s getting to the age where she understands more of what is going on and she tends to get very excited about things which is really fun to watch.

4) What is your all-time favourite Christmas movie? I really can’t pick one but my top five are : Christmas Vacation, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch, Elf and Miracle on 34^th Street

5) What is your all-time favourite Christmas song? It Came Upon A Midnight Clear by Josh Groban

6) If given the opportunity, would you participate in an "Ugly Sweater" party and what sweater would you wear?   We usually go to at least one ugly sweater party a year but sadly we missed ours this year because we were buying Aaron a new truck (more on that another day).  If I went, and had to buy a sweater to wear,  I think I’d sport this one:

{Via}

7) Have you started any Christmas traditions this year that you plan on carrying forward?I  We haven’t started any traditions this year but we’ve carried a few on.  When I started dating Aaron I learned about his Christmas Tree tradition.  Every year his family would go to the lot and Aaron would just pick a tree.  You don’t unwrap it from the netting, you just pick it and get what you get.  Giant hole in the back and all.  Well, we’ve carried that tradition into our home for the last four years and this Christmas was no different.  Amazingly enough we’ve never ended up with a really terrible tree!  We also make it a point to give our niece (now nieces) and nephew at least one book with their gifts. I'm always so worried that in this technological world paper books will go extinct, especially for their generation, so it's our little attempt at keeping them alive.

8) It's Christmas morning...what does it look like outside where you live?  It will most likely be sunny and 75*.  Ugh, so annoying.  I’m probably only one of a few Southern Californian’s who say this but come on people, it’s Christmas!  It should be at least cold enough to wear appropriate winter attire.  Really.

9) You just found yourself under the mistletoe...who comes up to give you a kiss first? Probably our oldest lab, Maya.  She has this compulsive liking that I don’t think we’ll ever be able to train her to stop doing.  She needs water, she licks you.  Needs to go outside, she licks you.  It’s a half hour until dinner time….well you get the idea.  So, odds are she’d be right there trying to lick my hand for something.

And on a final note, remember last week when I said I was waiting for our Christmas cards to arrive from the printer so I could send them out?  Well......they finally sent them to me.  Only they did not send the seventy-five I ordered. They sent 2! 2?!  Who orders 2 Christmas cards?!!!  So, since I have to order new cards from somewhere else in order to get them in the mail in time for Christmas, I figured I'd share with you what our original cards would have looked like:

Word to the wise,  avoid ordering custom products from a company whose name rhymes with Frazzle. 

Happy Tuesday!

High Five for Friday!

Friday, oh how I welcome you with open arms (even if you are a friday the 13th).  Linking up with Lauren for my high five of the week:

1) I had Tuesday off of work this week for some appointments and was home early enough to take the girls on a walk.  When Aaron's home he usually walks them before I'm home so it was nice to get out with them.

2) My little sister's birthday was on Tuesday!  Since she's away at grad school filling her brain with science and medicine related knowledge she couldn't be home to celebrate.  We decided to ship her a birthday box to celebrate from afar.  I always think it's fun to wear something brand new on your birthday so I decide to pretty much dress her for the day.  An outfit for school, some new shoes, an accessory and pajamas.  There's nothing better than crawling into bed after a long day dressed in new pajamas.  I think she liked it:

She's going to love me forever for posting this!

3) I'm hosting my own Christmas Favorites link party on the blog!  If you're a fellow blogger and would like to join in you can find all the info here.

4)  I narrowed down our wedding photos to about 380 favorites. Oy!  But really, being able to relive that day through our pictures has been such a blast and I'm so grateful to have them.

You can see our montage video here

5) Last but not least, we're truck shopping this weekend!  Okay technically we've been shopping for some time but today Aaron is actually stepping foot on a lot to do some scouting while I'm at work.  Here's to positive thoughts that we find a good fit for us.  I'll be honest, truck shopping has been a chore.  There are SO many options and SO many mechanical aspects that go into them, it's definitely overwhelming but I think we've made our decision....if we can find it......maybe.

Happy Friday!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Christmas Favorites Link Up!

Hi everyone!  I had been wanting to put together a Christmas Questionnaire for the blog sometime during the holiday season but never found one that I would have wanted to answer entirely.  SO, I compiled some of my favorite questions and created my own.  If you'd like to join the festivities, write your own post answering the questions sometime between now and Christmas and Link Up below!  I'd love to hear about your Christmas favorites and traditions!  

Wrapping paper or gift bags?  Both.  Aaron is really good at guessing his gifts so I’ve found that if I put some in bags, they are harder to guess.  

Real tree or artificial?  Real tree!  I can’t imagine us ever having a fake tree since the outing to get our Christmas tree is one of our biggest holiday traditions.  When I was growing up we had a fake tree in my parent’s home for years but eventually we somehow converted my parents to go with a real tree and it’s stuck ever since.

Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes.  I think it is one of my favorite Christmas decorations in our house.  However, Marley has tried to eat a Wise Man and Baby Jesus so we might be in need of  a newer one in the next few years.

Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail.  I absolutely LOVE receiving Christmas cards, especially ones with photos!  I’d like to think that other people feel the same so going through the effort to send out our cards each year never really seems like a chore.  Mind you, I’m still waiting on ours to arrive from the printer so we can send them out, nothing like last minute!

Favorite things to eat at Christmas?  My grandma’s Magic Cookie Bars.  The recipe comes from the back of a sweetened condensed milk can.  They are so stinking delicious and simple to make!  You can see the full recipe here.

Clear lights or colored on the tree? This is a funny one.  Aaron and I have always had colored lights on our tree.  I figured it was because that’s what he liked so I just let it be.  Well this year, it was time to replace the tree lights.  Aaron replaced them with colored lights because it’s what we have always done.  When we were decorating the tree I confessed that I actually like white lights better.  Well guess what, apparently he does too!  Looks like this year’s colored tree lights will move outside next year to make room for white ones!

Favorite Christmas song?  My all-time favorite is Josh Groban’s version of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, BUT, I saw this video going around Facebook and I have to say I really love it too.

"A Hallelujah Christmas" by Cloverton from Ross Wooten on Vimeo.

Angel on the tree top or a star?  I’d love an angel but for now we have a star.  Maybe when the star expires we’ll replace it too.  

Easiest person to shop for?  My husband, hands down.  A) He’s always commenting on things he thinks are “cool” or “would like to have” and B) If it’s weird or out of the ordinary, he’ll probably love it.

What is your favorite Christmas memory? A few years ago my grandma, who is now 93, gave my siblings and I scrapbooks that she had made.  Each one had photos of us from childhood until now, cards we had given my grandparents over the years, and letters she had written to us on the day we were born.  It is something I will honestly treasure forever.

It’s a Wonderful Life or Miracle on Thirty Fourth Street? Miracle on Thirty Fourth Street.  I’ve actually never seen It’s a Wonderful Life (hangs head in shame).  I know, I know.

Gloves or mittens?  Glittens,  also known as hobo mittens in our house.  They’re fingerless gloves that have fold back mittens giving you full use of your hands when you need them and then the warmth of mittens when you don’t.  Ideal.  

J. Crew Factory

Shopping, at the mall or online?  I’m a big online shopper.  It seems like an oxymoron that people are the most rude during the “happiest time of the year” but it’s the truth.  The further away I can stay from the cranky shopping crowds the better!

Christmas Morning, Sleep in or up at crack of dawn?  Up at the crack of dawn.  We’re so crazy we even woke up one Christmas morning and drove 30 minutes to my sister-in-law's house to wake our nephew up on Christmas morning.  

When it comes to decorations, are you a Griswald or a Grinch?  We are Griswald’s at heart but currently limit our decorating because of the dogs.  As it is, our Houdini Marley escaped from the backyard into the front and gnawed through one strand of Christmas lights and an extension cord this year.  Everything was unplugged of course, but I’m sure any cute lawn ornaments wouldn’t stand a chance. Our poor apple tree knows all about that!

Link up and share your responses below!

Katie Lately

Well hello, it sure has been quiet around these parts lately!   
When I started this blog I made a pact with myself that I wouldn’t let it take time away from being fully present in my “real” life.  Not that the blog isn’t “real” life, but there is a lot of thought/time and editing that goes into each post for a social media world and there are moments when the time it takes to do all of that needs to be spent elsewhere.  I suppose that's what has happened around here recently. So what exactly have I been doing while away from here over the last week? Well:

I’ve been wearing the heck out of these polka dot J. Crew Factory pants.  How I love them so:

We sold Aaron’s truck and have been on the hunt for a new one.

We hosted Thanksgiving for the second year in a row:

I shipped a Happy Birthday box to my sister:

I ordered Christmas cards.

I changed my name.

I got the attachments for my braces off! Not the most pleasant experience having them drilled off with freezing air blowing on my teeth but definitely worth it:

I’ve resent Thank You cards that our post office oddly returned to us.

I’ve watched our wedding photo montage about a million times: 

 Smart Phone Friendly Version 

 Desktop Version

We went to a Chargers game.

And we’ve decorated for Christmas.

There have been many full days of real life going on, all of which I have been making more of an effort to be fully present for, leaving less time to sit and write.  I hope to get better about post planning for 2014.  That way I won’t be leaving my kind readers out to dry while I’m busy with life things.  Here’s to goal setting, thanks for sticking with me, happy Monday!

Thankful 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope each of you are enjoying your day, the friends, the food, the family and all the things you find yourself thankful for.  This year, of all the things I have to be thankful for, I am most thankful for people. 

I am thankful for my family and my in-laws.  For the love they have shared with us and the endless laughter they have provided.

I'm thankful for our nieces and our nephew.  For letting me see life through their eyes, for constantly reminding me to find joy in the little things like frogs, lady bugs and pine cone collecting, and for those toddler and young child belly laughs.  Those are, hands down, the BEST.

I am thankful for my Grandparents. For making it to our wedding despite their year of battling pneumonia, the flu, bladder cancer, two heart surgeries and rehabilitation.  Seeing them at our wedding as I walked down the aisle , when there were times we weren't even sure they'd still be with us in this life, is a memory I will never forget.  Ever. 

I am thankful for our friends.  For the adventures we've shared, the late night campfires, the memories they helped us make on our wedding day, and again for the laughter.  Some we see often, others not as much, but each hold a special place in my heart.

I'm thankful for each of you who read this blog.  For giving me a reason to continue to write and for being loyal even though I'm the worst blogger ever.  Seriously.  My turnaround time on replying to comments is months sometimes.  The worst.  I'm sorry.  New Year's resolution #1? Wait, I don't make resolutions. 2014 Goal #1.  That sounds better.

And last but not least, I'm thankful for that guy I call my Husband.  For always, always believing in me, even more so when I don't believe in myself.  For having patience (so much patience).  For always working hard to help create the life we have.  For dreaming dreams bigger than my imagination can handle and most of all, for the lifetime he has promised me.   

Eat, Drink and Be Thankful friends! 

Happy Thanksgiving!  

Christmas Playlist!

Hi there it’s, me here!  Happy mid-week to you all and half day to me!  Most wouldn’t celebrate spending their afternoon at the Dentist but I love mine, and it’s just for a routine cleaning in preparation of getting my braces off on Monday , so celebrate I shall!

No meal plan again this week, but it’s not because I was being lazy (really), it’s because I honestly have not had to cook much.  Monday we had dinner with Aaron’s family and Tuesday I made chicken Fajitas.  We’ll probably have some variation of leftovers tonight because I’ll be busy prepping for Thanksgiving at our house tomorrow! 

It is no secret that we LOVE Christmas in our house.  The Christmas decorations will come out of the rafters on Friday and we’ll probably get our Christmas tree sometime during the next week.

This adorable print can be ordered through SignsOfFaithCreation on Etsy HERE!

Some of my most happy childhood and adult memories have been made at Christmastime:  going to church on Christmas Eve with my grandma, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins, playing with the train my Grandpa sets up every year, drinking big glasses of water with my sister so we’d wake up early on Christmas morning because we had to pee (too much information?), going to see The Grinch with Aaron at the Old Globe, picking out our Christmas tree and endless holiday parties with our much loved friends.

In honor of the upcoming holiday I thought I’d put together and share a Spotify Christmas playlist.  To listen from your Computer you will need to have Spotify.  If you don't the widget will walk you through how to download it when you try to listen to the first song.  If you are trying to access it from a mobile device you need the Spotify App and a Premium membership.  If you have both you can listen by clicking HERE!  I included some classics as well as some more modern songs by artists you may or may not have heard before.  I hope you enjoy!.........unless you’re a Scrooge…….then kick rocks......just kidding (but not really).  XO friends. 

High Five for Friday!

High Five for Friday friends!  This week has been a complete whirlwind and I can’t believe it’s already almost the weekend!  Linking up with Lauren for the standard High Five shenanigans:

       1) On Tuesday night I had dinner and caught up with one of my best friends.  Our friendship is one in which we can go extended periods without seeing each other but when we meet up it’s like we were just together yesterday.  It’s the best and added a boost to the beginning of my work week.

  

   2) We also had dinner at our house with some, new to me-old to Aaron, friends.  You know when you meet people and you can tell right away that they’re just really great people?  Well, that’s how these friends are.  Plus, they made Pioneer Woman's Knock You Naked Brownies and they were amazing! 
  

Photo courtesy of the Pioneer Woman website

     3)  Candy Cane Green Tea is back at Trader Joe’s.  I hoard this stuff in my desk at work and I’m looking forward to replenishing my stockpile over the weekend.  It is just SO good!  

      4) These pants are on their way to me and should arrive tomorrow!  Originally I had ordered a different pair but when they arrived I realized that even in regular length, they were far too long.  The best part though, is that I had been eyeballing these pants for months and when it came time for my exchange, they were on super sale.  Bonus!

 5)  Now that fire season has ended Aaron has Saturday’s off!  I never know how long it’s going to last but aside from the time we both took off for the wedding; we haven’t had a weekend day off together in almost a year.  We don’t have any specific plans but since we’re hosting Thanksgiving next week I’m sure we’ll start a house project of some sort.  It just wouldn’t be us if we didn’t.  Last year we had our new kitchen counters installed the week of Thanksgiving and were painting the cabinets the night before.  Just last week Aaron was talking about putting in a new light fixture over the dinning room table.  You know, the usual pre-holiday hosting kind of projects I’m sure everyone does. Right?

This weekend I have a six mile run on my half marathon training schedule.  I hope to get it in tonight (while watching episodes of BBC's Sherlock Holmes) so I can have Saturday open for whatever adventures the best half and I decide to embark on.  The rest of my weekend will likely be spent prepping for Thanksgiving rounded off by dinner on Sunday with some of our other wonderful friends.  Happy Friday!

And just because this post is a bit lacking in photos (fail).