Coutdown To Christmas {Linkup} || CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS ||

Morning, pretties. Before we get to today's post I wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU for all your kind comments yesterday. I was  *this* close to not posting because I felt like such a ninny fussing about being sick, but dang it I was so frustrated I just had to put it out to the universe. I truly appreciate each and everyone of you and it seems that yesterday started the upswing of events and I'm on my way to normal. Hopefully I can fully kick this thing before Christmas Eve. Please keep up with your vitamins friends, I don't want ANYONE catching this nasty virus.

Moving on, today is our LAST Countdown to Christmas linkup and I honestly can't believe it. I've had so much fun writing my posts and reading yours, it has been such a great peek into everyone's holiday. The gift guides, decor inspirations, food inspirations and tradition posts have boosted my holly jolly spirit and I'm so sad the fun is almost over.

For my last post I'd thought I'd share some of my favorite traditions. Originally I was going to post about ALL of our Christmas traditions, but since this is Christmas week I'm just going to focus on our Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

Christmas Eve Pizza Dinner: This is new tradition that Le Husband brought to the family. Growing up he always had pizza for Christmas Eve dinner so when he celebrated his first Christmas with my family we did so too to give him a bit of his tradition. Mama B enjoyed not cooking so much we've created a new family tradition and it is one I quite enjoy now. #cheerstopizza

Christmas Eve Service: This service is my favorite service of the year. The church is beautifully light up, the music is gorgeous and message is such a joyous one to hear year after year. Sometimes I sing in the choir, but the past few years I've sat with the family and just enjoyed the service. Our first year of marriage, Le Husband and I were asked to light the Advent wreath as a couple and it was such a special moment to share together. Singing Silent Night by candlelight moves me to tears every year and is the perfect send off to Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve Photo shoot: The Kardashians have NOTHING on the Brady Bunch. Okay, well they have money, but we have the funnier poses. And outfit combinations. And zombie dance parties. We usually start off with the silly pictures then do our best to get a sweet family one for the next year's Christmas card. There have been some incredible gems over the past few years and I know this year won't disappoint. #welovepicturesyeswedo #lookatthebabyfaces

Christmas Eve Movies: Our last Christmas Eve tradition is watching A Muppet's Christmas Carol & A Christmas Story while preparing food for Christmas Day. There are quite a few sing along moments and giggle fests during each showing and it's fun to hang out in pjs with my favorite people. I also mix up a batch of Ina Garten's hot cocoa to sip on and it is quite possibly the best hot cocoa in the world. #lightthelampnottherat #tistheseasontobejollyandjoyousfalala

Christmas Morning Stockings, Brunch, Presents & Dinner: Every Christmas morning we get up [now later than in the early years] and sit at the top of the stairs while Daddy and Mama B start the coffee and the breakfast casseroles. Then we process down the stairs [order changes every year] and start the morning off with stockings from Santa. After stockings are done we take a break for brunch with mimosas and then we open up presents from under the tree. Once that's done it's time to prep the PRIME RIB for dinner and relax with A Christmas Story and football on in the back ground. We used to dress up for dinner, but recently we've just enjoyed being in our festive clothing and had a delicious casual dinner. Being a Mrs. now means Le Husband and I leave Christmas night and go home to exchange our own presents in our apartment, with a nice extra pop of bubbly.

Now it's your turn to join in the fun! Also linking up here here & here today!

For It All, I Give Thanks

I am {THANKFUL} for: My Family

I am {THANKFUL} for: My Husband

I am {THANKFUL} for: Kickball

I am {THANKFUL} for: SISSYS

I am {THANKFUL} for: Friendships that keep me sane and happy.

I am {THANKFUL} for: My Health

Thankful to be fit!

I am {THANKFUL} for: Our military who protects us at home and around the world. #becauseofthebrave

I am {THANKFUL} for: MY BEAUTIFUL AND FABULOUS BLOG FRIENDS!

Wishing each and everyone of you a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday. Whether you're with family, friends or celebrating away from those you love, please know I'm sending you a hug and loves of pink love.

Happy Thanksgiving, sweet friends!
 

I Hope You Had The Year of Your Life

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Today is the last day of 2014. Can.you.believe.it? Honestly, I can't believe it. 2014 was our year of nonstop go,go,go and it's so crazy to think that the year is over. Since I've already recapped my year, I won't bore you with another list. Don't get me wrong, I love reading people's top tens and I loved creating mine last year. But, I've already looked through the trips so I thought I'd sit back and think about what 2014 meant to me.

2014 was the year of travel and growth. It was my first year as a wife so it was a year of learning. I learned how to live with a man. I learned how to balance my new family life. I learned how to be patient, compromising and more loving then I imagined. I learned how to grow friendships, while being married. I learned how to be someone's person while also remaining true to myself. I learned that so much changes when you get married and that having Le Husband by my side, through life is the most amazing blessing in the world. I'm so thankful and happy he chose me as his wife.

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Le husband and I grew a lot as athletes this year. We both literally GREW because of the gym. I put on three pounds of muscle and moved more weight than I ever thought possible. I've maxed out at 140 pounds on the bench and 150 pounds on the squat rack. My back is stronger, my core is stronger and my legs are more diesel than when I played soccer in college. You'd think I'd be happier with my body, but I'm still growing in that aspect, and not in a good way. I'm more muscular, but I'm not as lean as I'd like and 2014 was the year of trying different eating styles, none which have given me the outcome I wanted. But, I'm thankful that there were no huge injuries, so 2014 was a win in my book.

We struggled a lot with our kickball team in 2014. Mostly with the lack of passion other teammates shared. We struggled with coaching decisions, play time decisions and friendships taking precedence over talent. We almost quit and walked away, but instead we fought through the tough and we stayed with our commitment to the team. I personally struggled with my women's team, but also saw my sisters grow in their kickball knowledge and talent. The four of us traveled and learned about each other on each trip and enjoyed the vacation even if the team outcome was horrible. I'm still incredibly geeked out on kickball and very thankful for the sport that brought me my husband, but 2014 brought more struggle than I ever anticipated. But, there were a lot of great memories this year and I can't wait for 2015!

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There were a lot of ups and downs this year, both at work and in my personal life. My work situation changed drastically in the summer, but it's proven to have worked out for the best. I had a bunch of fun travels, which were followed by health scares and drama. I learned what I value in friendships and what I really can do without as well. Dealing with hypocritical people that enjoy lambasting others just is no longer on my to do list. I cut out the bad and nurtured the good and am incredibly thankful I listened to my inner voice.

This year I met my BOFF and created and grew so many new friendships because of this blog. I personally have grown it more than I ever imagined and didn't just take the easy copycat route. Finding new blogs and forming connections has been so incredible this year and I honestly am inspired by all you amazing women. Thank you for reading, thank you for listening, thank you for reaching out and thank you for being my friend :)!

Personally, I loved 2014 as a whole. 2013 was MY year, but 2014 was pretty fabulous, too. 2015 proves to be one of the most interesting years yet and I have BIG plans. Some that I'll share soon and some that I might just surprise you and myself with one day. The page turns tomorrow and while I'm sad to leave such an incredible year behind, I'm stoked to start fresh.

Cheers to the ending of 2014 and the beginning of 2015! Stay safe tonight, loves!

What was your favorite part of this year? What are you looking forward to in the new year?

Christmas Time Is HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE {Linkup}

Morning, y'all! Today I'm linking op for the last installment of the holiday linkup! Come play, won't you?

Like most, Christmas is my favorite holiday to celebrate. I love all celebrations, but I adore Advent and Christmas. Everything twinkles a lil more, sparkles a lil brighter and people are kinder than normal. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas truly is the best time of year :)! Below are some of my FAVORITES of the Christmas season!

{ T h e  F e s t i v e  D e c or }
Homes are so pretty when they are decorated for Christmas. I'm obsessed with Christmas trees, sparkly lights and beautiful, rustic touches. I can't wait to have a big home to decorated. Below are some of my favorite decorations.

*Wooden Signs*

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*Sparkly Entryway Tables*

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*Nutcrackers*

*The ornaments*

*The lights*

{ T h e T r a d i t i o n s }

Our family is big on traditions. We have special things for each holiday and growing up I remember all the fun that Christmas brought to our home. Le Husband and I have started a few of our own, since we began dating, but they are all the more special now that we are married.I can't wait to start my own family traditions when we have kids. What are some of your favorite traditions? I LOVE MY TRADITIONS OF:

{Family Photo-shoots}

 

{ Binge Watching of A Muppet's Christmas Carol }

{ Children's Pageant at Church}

{ Wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery}

{ The Nutcracker }

{ Yearly Date Night at the National Tree }

 

{ T h e M u s i c }

Christmas music is the best music of the year. Whether it's Christmas Carols at church or Christmas music on the radio, everything sounds so beautiful. I love listening to the classical station, along with the secular radio station for all the fun music. What are some of your favorite songs? MY FAVORITES OF THE SEASON ARE:

Oh Holy Night 

Silent Night

Where Are You Christmas?

Carol of the Bells

Baby It's Cold Outside

This Gift

O Come O Come Emmanuel

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Joy To the World

{ T H E C O O K I E S }
Who doesn't love to eat cookies? If you don't, I'm sorry, because you're missing out this time of year. I can't pick a favorite, they all are soooooo tasty. I'm a big fan of sugar cookies and of course, anything chocolate too.

Sugar cookies with caramel kisses and hugs!

*Snowballs*

*Candy Cane Kisses*

*35 Festive Christmas Cookie Recipes*

{T h e C h r i s t m a s C a r d s}

I love Christmas cards. They are one of the bestest things about the season. I love mail in December, because every day I'm getting a new card. I sent cards out, before I was married, but man I love designing our cards, as a wife.

I adored our card last year, as it was our first card together and included the Married Christmas tagline. We have it framed now, and will display it each Christmas as part of our decor.

2014 was our year of travel and I really wanted to highlight the different trips we took. I included pictures form our Alaskan adventure, our honeymoon in Canada, various kickball tournaments, Easter here at home and of course our one year anniversary in DC. I loved how the mountains and majestic views still came across in the card and the silly kickball pictures are soooooo us! Without further adieu, here is our 2014 Christmas card!

Front. Wishing you a blessed Christmas season and a Happy New Year! < 3 Pinky & Le Husband!

Back. Each card included a hand written message about the places we traveled and a blessed Christmas wish.

WOW! This time of year is packed, isn't it? Thanks for hosting such a fun linkup, ladies! Nine days, who's ready?!

*****

 

My lil bit of cheer today, is an impromtu dinner date I had last night with my daddy. Mama B was out of town this weekend, so the three sisters made sure Papa Bear was taken care of when we could. ;)! We had a great dinner full of yummy food and good conversation. I'm a lucky girl, indeed!

1 Weekend Down, 2 to Go

The first weekend in December is over, 

does that strike anyone else as INSANE!?!

Only two more weekends until CHRISTMAS

WHOOP WHOOP!

As you can imagine, most of my weekend was spent

doing fun Christmasy things.

Top L - R:

*Our Kitchen nook all decorated.

*The Alligator ornament I gave to C for our 3 month wedding anniversary.

*The Choral concert my family sang in for Sunday worship.

*My glitz&glam tree.

Bottom L - R:

*Married couple at the Crismon tree at church.

*We got SNOW! I'm working, but I still love snow!

*The family after decorating the tree at my parent's house.

*The Christmas tree at our apartment.

Overall it was an incredibly busy weekend.

I even attended a baby shower for a close friends

that there are no pictures of,

but it was so much fun celebrating her and

her lil bambina.

How was your weekend? Anything fun happen?

***************

My little bit of cheer this weekend

was putting up the tree in our apartment

and adorning it with our FIRST together ornament,

that we bought on our mini-moon.

Crazy how I was 'single' last year

and this year I'm married!

What a difference a year makes :)!

Linking up with sami, meg and leanne

Christmas Cheer is Here

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Not the season to be stressed, grumpy or complainy!

Christmas time is the time of family, happiness,
joyfulness, the coming of our Savior
and being kind to everyone.

I am f u l l y in the Christmas spirit
and I'm here to make sure y'all get into it too.

Full disclosure, I'm usually that girl that EEEEEEEEveryone
looks down on because I start celebrating the CHRISTMAS
season after Halloween.

Yeah, I admit it...I'm a Christmasaholic


But, since this year was my FIRST married Thanksgiving,
I did what I could to quell the CHRISTMASSEASONATTACK
and thoroughly enjoyed the Thanksgiving season
to it's FULLEST!

I am happy to say I did just that,
so now it's time to move on and have some
CHRISTMAS CHEER!

I'm so ready to be wrapped up in a chair,
with hot cocoa, with *this Pandora station playing*
while I'm nestled on the couch with my husband
basking in the glow of our tree.

Sounds wonderful huh?!!?

This is the season to let the little stuff go
and just be happy.

As mentioned before, I'm usually a happy person
but use Christmas season as a time to really, truly, try
to be joyful at all times.

 Often people think of this season as stressful
and lots of work, but I wish I could tell them
how off-base that seems.

THIS is the season of digging a lil deeper
and finding the goodness in everyone.

This is the season of love, birth, family and joy.

This is the season where you let the little things go
and stop the lil complaints.

Obviously the world doesn't stop and people and things
are still annoying, traffic is a mess and lines are long.
BUT, instead of complaining out loud or in our heads,
let's try something new this season.

Let's try to find the good and the cheer in the everyday
and enjoy the happy moments we are given.

I'm going to make a CONSCIOUS effort to keep
my complaining or whining voice silent
and I challenge YOU to do the same.

Instead of letting small annoyances frustrate and trouble us,
I think we can ALL count our blessings
and look for the good.

Speaking of good, I'm going to do my BEST this month
not to slouch on looking good at the office too.
When the weather turns dreary and cold so does my wardrobe,
but I want to try and stay festive this time of year
even if it means getting up a few minutes earlier than normal.

 I do understand for some the holidays isn't always a happy time.
People are dealing with grief, sadness, loneliness and valleys
of their own.

For those of you dealing with your own battles
my heart goes out to you and I truly hope
that the sun shines again soon in your life.
I'm sending you a big hug right now < 3 !!!

I hope that the rest of you will join me in this effort

of loving/enjoying more and worrying/complaining/stressing less.

Sending a hot cocoa cheers from me to you :)!

Linking up with Jessica for:
 

My bit of cheer yesterday consisted of a dinner date with a very good friend

of mine at the Melting Pot. 

We go there often and it's such a decadent treat. 

Who doesn't love cheese and chocolate?!?

Linking up with Kristen today too!

A Week of Thankfulness Fun

Happy December ladies!

Wooohoo, it's time for the BEST SEASON EVER!

SERIOUSLY
CAN'T
WAIT!

Buuuuut, before we get all Advent up in here,
it's time to recap a wonderful Thanksgiving week.

Yes, I got a whole week off this year whoop whoop!

Since I'm married now [cahrazy] this was my
FIRST holiday with my NEW family.

Aka my FIRST time away from
my family for the holiday season.
[I called first Christmas about one year into dating haha].

I never was the girl that chose to
travel away from my family on holidays
for a boyfriend. Just wasn't my thing.

So this year as excited as I was for NEW traditions,
there was a part of me that was a bit sad to be
away from my family for the first time.

However, it wasn't as heartbreaking as I anticipated.

There was way too much that went on last week for me to do a normal
recap post, so prepare for a wordy post today :)

We left DC Saturday morning and enjoyed a leisurely

drive to Ohio and arrived at C's parent's house 

a lil after dinner time.

We originally were going to travel on Tuesday,

but C wanted to make it home for his nephew's

FIRST BIRTHDAY party. 

So, we did!

SUNDAY

After arriving late Saturday night, we passed out because we had to wake up SUPER early, to arrive at his brother and SIL's house a hour before the party. The surprise went PERFECT and we enjoyed coffee and doughnuts with them before everyone showed up at their house.

The lil guy is so loved, they had about forty people show up for 

his first birthday party and he did so well with everyone. 

He was NOT a fan of his michigan smash cake though ;)

It was wonderful catching up with C's family and they were super excited

to see us in town early which was nice to hear. 

I also LOVED hearing how much everyone loved our wedding again,

it was brought up in almost every conversation I had

which made my heart warm. 

The day was perfect for us, but it was SO WONDERFUL

to hear that everyone else LOVED IT too!

After the party was over C and I headed into downtown Cincy

to watch the Cyclones which is the city's AHL hockey team.

For $26 we were able to sit in the FIRST row

and had an awesome view of the action which 

was so different from our season ticket seats to the Capital's.

The team lost but it was still a super fun experience.
After the game we went home for dinner and then
hit the hay early as we were super tired for the late arrival Saturday
and extremely early morning Sunday.

MONDAY
We finally were able to sleep in and we enjoyed being lazy
throughout the morning.
We decided to take his grandparent's to lunch and it
was a lot of fun.

The food was delicious and the company was wonderful.
It was so nice spending quality time with his family
just the two of us.

Once lunch was over we spent time just hanging out
at the house with his nephew.
I mean this face, so cute right?!

TUESDAY

We were up early again because we headed East to AMISH COUNTRY
with C's mother and aunt.

The drive was gorgeous as we woke up to a beautiful snow.
Can I just say how much I love glorious snow?
I'm not one that has to have worked canceled or a foot to enjoy
it's beauty,I just love a good magical snow.

Seriously, how can you NOT love this?!?

Amish country was incredible.

There was AMAZING furniture and delicious food too.

C and I were so taken with the furniture,
that we bought our FIRST married piece, YAY!

We found a beautiful new entertainment center
that is so well made it will last forever.
I told C that we will be budgeting to buy ALL
of furniture from this area when we buy a new home.
It might be a bit more expensive, but it's better than IKEA
stuff that will fall apart in a few years.

I wish I had taken pictures to share, but I was too busy looking
around to take out my phone.
#badblogger ;)

After we were done shopping we headed to the bakery
and indulged in cream horns, banana bread, cookies sandwiches
and doughnuts as big as our head.

SOOOOO GOOOD!

We perused for a bit longer and then we headed home.

When we got home, C's mom surprised us
and told us she wanted to buy us the
entertainment center for our Christmas gift.

SHOCKED! She is just too kind.

There was another delicious family dinner
and another early night,
man I LOVE SLEEPING during the holidays.

WEDNESDAY
Was kind of a chill day. C and I both had to do some work
so the morning was spent doing just that at home.

Once the work was done it was time to bake my
chocolate mousse pie for dinner the next day.

I was invited to a girls night with some of ladies
of C's family and it was such a fun time.
We drank wine and just chatted, like I do with my sisters.
It's nice to REALLY feel like part
of the family now.

I called it a night early since we had a Turkey Trot
the next morning before Thanksgiving started.

Thanksgiving Day aka yummy food and fun family day! 

Originally we had planned to get up early and run the Turkey Trot 10K downtown in the city. We were excited to run, until the night before it was only 20 degrees. We set an over under of 25 degrees the night before and when we woke up it was a balmy 18 degrees with a windchill of 7 degrees. 

YEAH, NO THANKS!

We rolled back over and went back to sleep in the warmth :)!

When it was time to wake up [much later] we started the process
of getting ready while watching the PARADE!
I was able to FaceTime with my family while we
were getting ready and it was lots of fun.

They were able to run a race and were starting the
process of making breakfast.

I expected to be sad when I talked with them,
because I would miss being home,
but it actually was just fun chatting.
I passed them around the house and it was fun
watching the inlaws talk to one another.

Sadly this was the only picture taken throughout the whole day,
but I think it's a winner :)!

After chatting with the family we headed to family #1's for brunch.
It was so much fun, with lots of delicious food.
We stayed there for a few hours, watched football
and I enjoyed some girl time with other ladies in the family.

People started leaving around three so we headed to
family #2's for our Thanksgiving dinner celebration.

The place was set up so nicely and everyone was enjoying
some wine and apps when we arrived.

I chose to save room for food and went straight for the wine. ;)

Dinner was delicious and the company was great of course.
I was completely stuffed when we were done eating,
everything tasted so good.

I took a break from eating to watch my COWBOYS
dominate as usual on Thanksgiving, whoop whoop!

We enjoyed dessert and then it was back home
to try and stay awake during the last football game.
Guess who didn't stay up too late...heehee

FRIDAY

We chose to sleep in and not head out with all the crazies for Black Friday. 

It was nice to enjoy a leisurely morning with is parents too. 

We veneered out around 10am and actually scored some pretty

sweet deals at Macy's, Kmart and the AT&T store.

Honestly, I'm still not 100% what we bought ;)!

However, I'd say we are 90% done with our Christmas shopping

and I'm super stoked about it!

The rest of the day was spent finishing up the first round of 

Christmas cards 

[someone forgot you're supposed to send them out to your wedding list

 and originally didn't order enough originally, oops]

and relaxing before we headed out to the zoo.

The Cincy zoo puts on Christmas lights and we joined 

C's brother, sil and our lil nephew for dinner 

and then went and enjoyed the lights.

It was spectacular, cold, crowded and tons of fun.

Once we got home, we finished packing up

and wrapped presents to leave with his parents

before hitting the hay.

SATURDAY

We decided to head home on Saturday to miss all the nasty holiday traffic that everyone else dealt with on Sunday. This time we took a scenic route home to pick up our new furniture [still so excited about our first married purchase heehee] and to just try something new. 

It was a perfect choice and so beautiful. I was reminded HOW GORGEOUS our world is and how amazing our God is to give us such a majestic place to live. 

Even though we moseyed home, we weren't home too late which was nice. 

There was time to unpack and get ready for Sunday

and watch some football too. 

Sunday was spent doing laundry and prepping for the week.

We are officially back on the eating healthy and working out like crazies

bandwagon and I'm so ready for it.

I've probably gained ten pounds and am ready to 

get shredded again :)!

How was your holiday? What was your favorite part about it?

****************

Linking up with sami, meg and leanne

3 Years

YES THREE!

TRES!

III!

 Three interesting,
trying,
wonderful,
fun filled,
laughing,
smiling,
cuddling,
hugging,
kickballing,
loving,
and
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G
YEARS!

******************************

A quick trip down memory lane.

 

When I first met C, never in a MILLION YEARS did I expect

we would be engaged and getting married

September 2013.

The past three years have truly been the best years

of my life and I honestly

can't imagine my life without him in it.

I've known this amazing man for three years

and in two months I will become his wife. 

This will probably be the last time we 'celebrate' 

this anniversary,

since you know, we have a BIGGER one coming up

in September.

So CHEERS to three fabulous years.

My darling handsome C,

I can't wait to become 'yours'

I love you to the moon and back!