CHRISTMAS | 2017

Matthew and I were both very lucky and thankful to have a good bit of time off around the holidays this year. We took the week after Thanksgiving off and then some days before and after Christmas. My last day in the office was on December 18th, and I worked from home a couple of half days. So needless to say, today is going to be rough, getting back into the swing of things and back to our routine!

I am starting to realize that adult Christmas (and Thanksgiving!!) breaks are SO much better than when we were kids! There were a couple of days over Christmas break where I only got out of my pjs to shower and get into a new pair of pj's- the best feeling ever! We watched so many Christmas movies this year and I loved it. Here is a quick overview of our Christmas break...

I spent one day watching Christmas movies and making cinnamon rolls for our neighbors, family, and friends. I ended up making 2 batches of the Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls again and was able to give them to 19 families (we saved a pan for ourselves)!

This girly loved us being home so much.

One morning we went and watched the Pred's open practice. My BIL joined us. It was very cool, but sadly, it didn't last a long time, we only got to watch them practice for about 30 minutes. It was still a good time though!

I didn't do a Christmas home tour this year, but I did remember to snap a few pictures around the house. I LOVE our home decorated for Christmas, I wanted to spend every second at home that I could by the fire and Christmas tree. So cozy and relaxing!

We hosted my mom's birthday dinner again this year right before Christmas and we hosted my FIL's graduation dinner right before NYE!

Ellie and Reagan were hammin' it up for some cheese.

Sister pictures!

We went to church Christmas Eve morning and then back to our house to load everything up and get Reagan before we headed to my parent's house for the day! 

I surprised my dad with tickets to Tim Allen's comedy show that is coming to Nashville in April. He was so surprised and we are both excited for a father/daughter date to see Tim Allen!!

We spent Christmas Day with Matthew's family, and sadly I didn't make a single picture on Christmas day. We did finger foods this year on Christmas Day and it was so good!

We got back home the day after Christmas and finally got to do our Christmas together! Matthew got me a new luggage set and some other things and I got Matthew an away Pred's jersey and some other things.

We spent the rest of the day lounging around before packing up and heading out the next day to St. Louis, MO for the Pred's game. I'll post more on that later this week!

Butterfinger Reese's Cups are my FAV and Matthew had a bag in my stocking, such a fun surprise.

 Christmas wore Reagan OUT.

Christmas 2016 on the left and Christmas 2017 on the right...she has gotten so big!!

And that's a wrap on our Christmas break/Christmas festivities! I can't believe it is all over already. Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year, and I am already on the countdown for Christmas 2018!! I stepped away from blogland over the holidays so I am excited to read and catch up on all of your blogs this week as I am getting back into the swing of everything!

Christmas | 2016

Christmas | 2015

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CHRISTMAS | 2017

DAVE BARNES CHRISTMAS CONCERT

For my birthday Matthew surprised me with tickets to Dave Barnes Christmas concert, that was this past Monday night. I have wanted to go to this concert FOR YEARS. So to say I was excited and counting down the days until the concert would be a complete understatement. 

Monday was my last day at the office until 2018 and I only worked half a day on Tuesday, so the concert was the perfect way to kick off our Christmas break!! I listed to Dave Barnes Christmas CD all day in preparation for his concert that night.

We went to one of our favorites, Maggiano's, for dinner, and as always, it was incredible. We were seated at a table in the corner, away from other tables, in front of double doors that lead to the balcony (the doors were closed, of course) and this was our view. So beautiful!

Matthew got us incredible seats for the concert and I was pretty much in a Christmas-Dave Barnes-music loving daze the whole night. It was absolutely perfect and such a fun night! Dave Barnes is so talented and hilarious! This was the first time I have ever been to his concert and I didn't realize how funny he was.

There were to special guest performers, Matthew West and Charles Esten (Deacon from the show Nashville)! They were really good, too! It was a really fun night and definitely something we want to go to again! 

Thank YOU, Matthew, for the best birthday gift, ever!! 

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DAVE BARNES CHRISTMAS CONCERT

HOW TO MAKE A CHRISTMAS BOW 4 WAYS

If you are wanting to take your Christmas wrapping to the next level, I gotcha covered! 

Erica has created videos to show us how to make each bow, and they are so helpful! You can find written directions and more here.

The classic bow is the easiest to make and always a classic.

Source: How To Make A Classic Bow - PersonalCreations.com

The double bow is adorable and perfect for those smaller gifts that you still want to add a little more to.

Source: How To Make A Double Bow - PersonalCreations.com

The gift bow has some volume to it and will definitely impress your family/friends.

Source: How To Make A Gift Bow - PersonalCreations.com

And last, but certainly not least, the big bow! A personal favorite and beautiful option. This is perfect for those bigger gifts or even to add to a wreath.

Source: How To Make A Big Bow - PersonalCreations.com

Erica, you did a great job on these bow and videos! Thank you for sharing them with us! :)

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HOW TO MAKE A CHRISTMAS BOW 4 WAYS

HALLMARK CHRISTMAS MOVIES

We have been watching Hallmark Christmas movies like crazy this year, and l-o-v-i-n-g-i-n-g them!

They are all cheesy, have most of the same characters, and same story to them, but we can't get enough. Since we got rid of cable last year, we just pull up the YouTube app on our TV and watch them on there. Who knew people uploaded full length Hallmark movies to YouTube?!?! The quality isn't always the best, but it's free, so it will do ;) There are a couple of Netflix originals that are pretty good too. 

Here is a list of some of the ones we have watched so far...

Which cheesy Christmas movies do you recommend?! 

We still have some that we want to watch before Christmas, so send any recommendations our way!

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HALLMARK CHRISTMAS MOVIES

CHRISTMAS CARD | 2017

I am so excited to share our Christmas cards today! By now everyone that we sent them to should have received them in the mail, so I am ready to share them today. One of my favorite things about this time of the year is sending and receiving Christmas cards, I look forward to seeing them come in the mail almost every day the whole month of December. Definitely beats bills coming in the mail. ;)

We went with Mpix this year and could not have been happier! The customer service, quick shipping, and so many options to choose from made it even easier picking out our cards this year.

We had a hard time choosing which pictures to use from our Christmas pictures we had made but ultimately decided on the 4 below. Reagan, of course, stole the show again this year with that smile of hers, and we LOVE it!

I wanted a way to display our Christmas cards from previous years, so with a little twine and mini clothing pins, I hung them on our chalkboard in the kitchen, and love how it looks.

Christmas card | 2016

Christmas card | 2015

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CHRISTMAS CARD | 2017

CHRISTMAS PICTURES | 2017

We had Christmas pictures made a couple of weeks ago by, Kate, for our Christmas cards and we LOVE them. 

We were crossing our fingers and hoping Reagan would cooperate for pictures, and she did!

 Fun fact: We get her to sit still and look at the camera by holding up a slice of American Cheese....so yes, we brought a slice of American Cheese with us to our photo shoot. Works like a charm every.single.time. ;)

Kate had the cutest set up  and it was in her parents backyard. How fun is that?!

After we got some of the three of us my sister stopped by and held on to Reagan for us so we could get some of just the two of us, and I love them!

I'll be sharing our Christmas cards next week!

Christmas pictures | 2016

Christmas Pictures | 2015

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CHRISTMAS PICTURES | 2017

CHOOSING OUR CHRISTMAS CARDS

Now that Halloween is over, my mind is definitely gearing up for Thanksgiving and Christmas. If we're being honest, I am more excited for Christmas, but I'm sure that doesn't surprise you any. ;) We are having our Christmas card pictures taken this weekend, and I am pretty excited about that!

I started looking at Christmas cards last month (can't even help it) and I am so excited about them. There are so many cute designs and I always spend at least an hour (or two) scrolling through them each year. Mpix has SO many cute ones to pick from, so I am going to share my top favorites with you today!

I love that you can add multiple pictures in this card.

This card is just beautiful. I love this one so much! The back is so cute too.

I am a big fan of Christmas plaid, so this one definitely caught my eye.

I love how simple this card is. A classic and beautiful card!

The card below is not only adorable, but it lets your do a brief, bullet point year in review on the back. I love that!

The last card below is so festive to me, again, I love the simple, but cute design.

I'm excited to narrow our search down soon and finalize our order!

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CHOOSING OUR CHRISTMAS CARDS