top 11 in 2011

12.31.2011

1. spending time with Jesus

2. being with family

3. going on a cruise to italy, greece, croatia and germany

4. going on a mission trip to nicaragua

5. my birthday party. :)

6. my friend, elizabeth's birthday party

7. blog designing

8. taking pictures

9. having school off in the summer

10. blogging

11. and of course christmas!

and happy new years everyone!

Christmas

12.26.2011

I had a very blessed Christmas and it went by oh-so-quickly! To then that we have been waiting and preparing for months for one day that seems like one hour. Today we woke up bright and early (okay, 8:30) and headed to the beach around 12. So, because I that, I am not able to post pictures. :( But I will tell you what I got and include some stock photos if possible.

In my stocking:
Pretzel M&M's ((nom, nom))
Hershey "Drops"
Some Movies (i truly can't remember what they were)
hairbands

Under the tree:
These shoes:

(best. present. ever)
a backpack
an owl planner
Home Alone 2 DVD (my favorite movie:)
nike shorts
socks
nail polish

I believe that is all. :) I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and that you remembered the true reason for the season, Jesus.

Christmas Eve

12.24.2011

eggnog or hot chocolate?

hot chocolate. I've never been a fan of eggnog.

does santa wrap your presents or just sit them under the tree?

"he" just sits them under the tree. :)

colored lights or white lights?

the more color, the better.

do you hang mistletoe?

no.....

when do you hang up your holiday decorations?

when we get around to it. LOL :)

what is your favorite holiday dish?
I honestly don't know...

what is your favorite holiday memory from childhood?

getting a robot puppy and it went to the bathroom on the living room carpet. thankfully, it was just water. :)

what is on your christmas wish list?

TOMS and makeup and gift cards.

do you open gifts on christmas eve?

just one present and it is always.. pajamas.

how do you decorate your tree?

with white lights and assorted ornaments.

snow: love it or dread it?

i love snow!

real tree or fake tree?

real!

do you remember your favorite gift?

nope.

what's the most important thing about christmas to you?

Jesus and giving gifts and seeing the peoples faces when they open something that i knew they would love.

what is your favorite holiday dessert?

COOKIES!!!!!

what is your favorite holiday tradition?

i don't know...

what do you put on top of your tree?

a moravian star.

do you prefer giving or receiving?

giving. :)

what is/are your favorite christmas song(s)?

i love them all!

candy canes: yucky or yummy?

they are okay but not my favorite.. too sticky..

favorite christmas movie{s}:

the santa clause, the santa clause 2, the santa clause 3, the santa trap, its a wonderful life.

what do you leave for santa?

hot chocolate and cookies and we sprinkle "reindeer food" (oatmeal mixed with sparkles) on the grass. ;)

do you have a christmas morning tradition?

not really..

do you prefer to shop online or at the mall?

online most definitely. but the mall is fun....

christmas letter or christmas card?

both

(I found this cute tag/post on this lovely blog)

It's Christmas Eve Eve!

12.23.2011

i love hot chocolate.

i love owls.

i love this website.

i love playing wii.

i love mustaches.

i love the eiffel tower.

i love family.

but most of all...

(christmas 2010)

i love christmas!

Chocolate, Cookies and Crafts

12.22.2011

Of course I had to post some Christmas Tree bokeh....

This is a result of me swinging the camera back and forth... interesting??

Chocolate Chip cookies, yum....

Today we made chocolate covered pretzels with Ghiradelli Chocolate. This is what you get when you have a grandmother who gives you chocolate blocks. Yum, yum, yum...

A "bow" Christmas tree.

Elizabeth breaking the poor chocolate. :(

Bows...

Behold... the marvelous chocolate.

And more bokeh....

Thanks for listening to my ramblings about Chocolate and cookies and such. Hope your week before Christmas is merry and bright. :)

Project Pinterest #1- Owl Smores

12.21.2011

I saw this picture on Pinterest and decided to try this. Here is the outcome:

I think they turned out pretty cute and they are really delicious, too! Here is the recipe that I made up:

Owl Smores

(ingredients are in pink)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Break as many graham crackers as you want in half and lay them out on a cookie sheet.

Put on 2 marshmallows to be the eyes.

Then bake for 3-5 minutes or until the marshmallows kind of puff up.

Then pull them out of the oven and press down the marshmallows until they are kind of flat.

Then dot brown or black icing as eyes.

Then add a jelly bean as the nose.

Enjoy!

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By the way, Dima (read about him here) arrived one week ago and every thing is going great! Please continue to pray that he will enjoy his "American Christmas" here and that he will feel the peace of Christ.

being silly :)

He loves bike riding!

welcome back december

12.03.2011

i have to say december is my favorite months. (okay, maybe i say that every month) i love all of the preparations for christmas. seeing family. getting presents. and remembering the birth of Jesus and not just that, but remembering why He was born: so that he could save us. a Christmas card we received recently from some friends put it perfectly:

Christ's destiny was on the cross..

His purpose was love..

His reason was you.

May your Christmas be a celebration of the Savior.

Isnt' that just beautiful? I think so. Now here are some pictures we took on Thanksgiving day in a field across the street from my aunt's house.