CHRISTMAS CARD

This is what our Christmas card is this year - We went with the postcard idea to be a little unique and to save on postage! We really wanted to have a picture on it that included Molly, but we simply ran out of time and decided that this one would be nice to show everyone what snow looked like in Alabama. Be expecting your copy very soon!

MY DAD

I love this picture of my parents - my dad is actually showing teeth and smiling in this one! Just felt like putting a picture up today; I can't believe that it has already been 6 years. WE LOVE AND MISS YOU, DAD, VERY MUCH!

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS AND CRAFTS

Here is what our Christmas festivites look like this year... we have decided not to put up a tree, which is very sad I know. (The picture you see is from last year as I like to remind myself of how beautiful it was.) We are going to be in Dallas this year for Christmas and then we are pretty much heading straight to Jacksonville after that for New Years so we thought that we would not get to enjoy it much anyway. Plus - all of the ornaments are still in my "china and other things I have no room for in Alabama" closet at my mom's house so we would not have much to put on it. We did put up a few decorations though and they are as follows...


1. Wreath and Candy-striper rug for the front door. The rug I got on clearance from Crate and Barrel after Christmas last year. I was very excited to finally be able to use for the the first time this year. Also, I decided to make a Christmas wreath after I found so much satisfaction in making my own Fall wreath. The girl across the hall and I have a secret battle going on who can put out decorations first - I definitely won with the fall wreath but for the Christmas one, she beat me to it.

2. Christmas serving dishes and Dish Towels in the kitchen. I got these wonderful serving dishes on clearance from Pier 1 after Christmas last year. I was so excited to have a place to display them this year. I can't wait to use them when we bring sweets to all of our upcoming Christmas parties very soon. I found these cute dish towels at target - the snowman one is perfect and looks as though it was made to go with the snowman serving dishes.


3. Christmas Place Settings and Candlesticks. The placemats I have had since our first Christmas together. I absolutely love them. I actually thought ahead and got 6 of them for when we have a larger table in the future. The reindeer bell napkin rings are from the clearance purchase from Pier 1 last year and I was o so excited to use these for the first time as well. The red candlesticks were only 50 cents for the pair from Hobby Lobby - you can't beat that. I mixed all of this with the dishes, chargers, napkins and candlestick holders that I already had.


4. The Willow Tree Nativity set. This is of course an absolute must. We would put this out if nothing else. Sadly we do not have a very good place to put it - so it sits kind of in between the kitchen and living room on the bar. At least it is visible from most places! I have been collecting the pieces for the past few years. I received the Jesus, Mary and Joseph starter kit as a wedding shower gift which I thought was a very neat idea. I love it!


5. Hand-made Christmas cards and Earrings. The annual Calico Corners employee Christmas Party is tomorrow night and everyone is exchanging gifts this year. I work with a bunch of very crafty women so I am guessing that they will be pulling all kinds of neat things out of their sleeves. I decided to try and make their gifts as well - this is what I came up with. I have several pairs of these earrings that I wear to work all the time and get compliments on from my co-workers. (Everyone from Jacksonville knows what I am talking about.) No one around here has seen them before so I decided to make my own. I hope they enjoy them!

That about wraps up all of the Christmas decorating and crafts that I have done so far this year. Hope you enjoyed the pics!

SNOW WHILE THE HUNTERS WERE IN THE HAM

This weekend we had so much fun as our good friends Steven and Laura Hunter made the drive from Gainesville to visit us. Our original plans were to get up early and drive to Altanta for the SEC Championship game on Saturday morning, but some bad weather forecasts convinced us it might be better to stay in Birmingham and watch the game from the convenience of our warm apartment. (After the disappointing outcome of the game, we were all very pleased with our decision after the thought of having to drive back in tons of traffic late at night with all the annoying fans from the other side that will not be mentioned at this point.)

We had a lot of fun during the Hunters visit - Birmingham got its first SNOW of the winter season - very exciting. Although it was not much, it did get these four native Floridians very excited. On Saturday morning we slept in, watched College Game Day and then took Steven and Laura on a condensed tour of Birmingham. We decided to have lunch at Jim N' Nicks BBQ - it was delicious as always. On Friday night and Saturday we cooked dinner at the apartment, attempting to start to pay Laura back for all of the wonderful meals that she has cooked for us over the years on every visit we have made to Gville since we graduated. (She is a fabulous cook!) She made us "Monkey Munch" on Saturday during the game which is a great Chex Party Mix for anyone who has not made it before. Here is the easy recipe:

9 cups of Rice Chex cereal
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on high 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in Vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, sitrring until coated evenly. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on wax paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refridgerator. (We kept ours in the freezer.) Very yummy!

On our tour of Birmingham we made it up to Vulcan park which is at the highest elevation in the city - here are some of the SNOW pictures that we took.


We were so glad that we got to spend the weekend with our good friends - we miss you guys! Perfect timing with the snow - I am hoping for much more!!

MOLLY LIKES TO ACCESSORIZE

Recently Molly has been making several requests for some new accessories. She is feeling a little lost in the "pack" as she looks around at all of the other dogs in our complex. She has become slightly jealous of all of the other stylish pups and keeps requesting and we assist her in branching out in her wardrobe. She needs to feel like an individual - able to stand out from the rest. She asked - we listened. Here are a couple of new additions to Molly's wardrobe...




This first little beauty is a fabric flower that can Velcro right to Molly's collar. She was so excited to find a beautiful black and white pattern that would perfectly match her black collar. She loves that these colors not only go with anything else she is wearing, but they also contract perfectly against her fur. We were able to find this perfect accessory on Etsy - it was actually made by a lady in Gainesville, FL - it must have been fate. The name of her business is Bow Wow Couture. Very cute and very affordable at $5 to $6 per flower. Molly is very pleased.

This next addition to Molly's wardrobe is an outfit. She really wanted to make sure that she was ready for Christmas this year, complete with some Christmas pajamas. She decided to go with an open-footed pair so that it would be slightly cooler for her when she makes the trip back to Florida for New Years. She saw this number at Target for only $3 and knew that she just had to have it.


Molly gives both of these stylish additions to her wardrobe a very HIGH FIVE. She can't wait to model them for all of you the next time she sees you.