CONFESSIONS - CHRISTMAS EDITION

Well....it's not my Christmas home tour like I promised yesterday, but at least it's a post. They have been pretty sparse around here lately. So here we go with some confessions!

...taking a vacation the week after Thanksgiving was wonderful, and much needed. but I feel like I just can't get back on my routine. With all the holiday festivities going on right now, which I'm very thankful for, I just feel like our routine is shot and it's going to be that way until after Christmas. No complaining here, I just thrive on routines, schedules, and a clean house and I'm going a little crazy.

....also, we decorated, for the most part, before Thanksgiving because of our vacation, and we loved it! So we will more than likely be decorating before Thanksgiving from now on. All you haters, it's our house we can decorate whenever we want and we can still celebrate Thanksgiving with our Christmas tree up. I don't mind being thankful and eating turkey with our stockings hanging over the fireplace...aaaaand end rant! ;)

.....we bought Reagan the cutest Christmas dress and I take about a 100 pictures of her every time I put it on her. #noshame

.....it has been absolutely freezing here the past couple of days (it was 18 degrees this morning!) and then I looked at the weather for the next 10 days and it's supposed to be 68 degrees on Christmas Day. Wahhh, the only time I want it to actually be cold is on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and it's going to be almost 70!!!! :( Maybe one day we will have a white Christmas...maybe. 

....every year I pick out the warmest/thickest Christmas outfit and every year I sweat through it. You would think I have learned my lesson by now, but just know I'll more than likely be sweating through my cute outfit again this year. Gross, I know. 

.....the thought of taking down our 12ft Christmas tree is just depressing and I am definitely dreading it. It came in 5 pieces and it's going to be a pain to take down. So obviously that means we should just leave it up all year, right? ;)

....we still have a couple of presents left to pick up...and my goal was to have all of them purchased by black Friday....LOL.

.....There were a few extra Christmas cards I needed to send out this past Saturday, so I made a stop by the post office and waited in the horrific line for them to tell me they were out of Christmas stamps and that the only kind of stamps they had left were animal stamps. I was okay with that, thinking it would be cute puppies or kittens but no, definitely not the case. I sent out a few Christmas cards with a snake, rat, goldfish, lizard and bird stamps. I can't make this stuff up lol. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a rat and snake stamp on your Christmas card ;)

.....I have not made a single Christmas cookie this year and I am incredibly sad about it. 

.....this post left me in a puddle of tears.

.....all year long I see stuff and think "oh I want that" but tell myself to wait until Christmas so when my family asks what I want I can tell them and every year when they ask I can't think of a single thing to tell them.

....just like everyone else, I can't believe Christmas is just a few days away. 

....maybe I'll get my Christmas home tour up tomorrow...no promises though. I'm trying to enjoy all the Christmas festivities that I can!

and because every post needs a picture, here is a picture from the other night when Reagan was about to fall asleep beside us. Those eyes and cuddles...melt.my.heart.

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CONFESSIONS - CHRISTMAS EDITION

WEEKEND RECAP

My weekend started Thursday when I left the office early to go to the doctor. I had been feeling bad a good bit of the week and ended up having a light case of strep throat...ick! So I went home after that and slept most of the afternoon. Matthew picked up my antibiotic on his way home from work and some chicken noodle soup...he's THE best!! Reagan was the best little nurse, she supplied plenty of slobbery kisses and eventually cuddles.

 I stayed home Friday as well and spent most a good portion of the day on the couch with Reagan. By Friday night I was feeling better and was able to clean around the house some. Thankfully we didn't have any plans until Saturday afternoon so I was able to rest even more! 

We hosted my mom's birthday dinner at our house this year and I had been looking forward to it for a few weeks! It was also the first time my nanny was going to see our house, also another thing I was really excited about. Matthew and I decided on the menu a couple of weeks ago and decided to do Caesar salad, spaghetti with a homemade sauce and meatballs, garlic bread and then of course, birthday cake.

Saturday afternoon I ran a couple of errands and Matthew called me and told me our power was out. I freaked out a bit because I needed to start the spaghetti sauce as soon as I got home so that it could simmer a couple of hours. Well, needless to say the power ended up being out for about 2 1/2 hours. So everything got pushed back 2 1/2 hours, but everything still turned out well!

I decided to keep the tablescapre pretty much the same as I had it for Friendsgiving, just because I love that color combo. Gold and burgundy is my new favorite! I did however, change the flowers. I did have baby's breath for friendsgiving but decided to go pick some twigs off of our holly bush since it's Christmas time. I was so happy with how it turned out that I am leaving it set like that until the end of December. Woo hoo for free centerpieces from your front yard!

 I thought about making pictures of the centerpieces after we were finished with dinner so our candles had melted down lol but I still like it!

We gave my nanny and aunt a tour of the house, thankfully it was still daylight outside so we could see since the power was still out, but it came back on at the end of our tour! So as soon as we finished showing them around I started on dinner! I should also mention that it was almost 70 degrees Saturday and very windy, so I think the wind caused the power to go out in our neighborhood and the other neighborhoods close to ours. 

After dinner we decided to take some pictures in front of our Christmas tree since everyone was together.

My family! It has grown this year by two sweet puppies :)

 Sisters with momma

Momma

 Momma and nanny

 Nanny

my dad

And since I knew we probably wouldn't get a good picture in front of our tree any other time...

my sweet little family!

After pictures it was time for cake and presents! I found the best candles for my mom's cake. For as long as I can remember my mom has always said that she is turning 29 again...and again, and again...so this year she did! 

I made my mom a personalized calendar and she loved it, and so did I! I might have to make myself one, it was too cute.

We spent the rest of the night talking and before we knew it, it was time for everyone to go home. They headed home a little early because there was a storm coming and it was bringing strong winds. We were actually under a tornado watch until 3 am and then a winter weather advisory until 6 am...Tennessee weather at its finest! 

We woke up Sunday to ice! I looked like snow but was definitely ice...I realized that when I slid and fell down the slope in our backyard early Sunday morning when I was taking Reagan out :) That will definitely wake you up! Also, one thing we found out this weekend...Reagan LOVES the ice. She kept going to the door all day Sunday after we got back home. She kept whining to go out and when we would take her out to use the bathroom she didn't want to come back in. Definitely surprised us since she hates the rain lol. 

Sunday afternoon was spent in our pj's by the fire watching tv. The best day to stay inside since it was absolutely freezing outside. After church Sunday night we went to Zaxby's and then hit up a sale at Old Navy before coming back home and changing into our pj's as quickly as possible. 

It was a great weekend and I am so excited for another short work week and then Christmas!! 

My Christmas home tour will be up tomorrow...finally!

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WEEKEND RECAP

WEEKEND RECAP

Friday night we went to dinner at a local favorite and enjoyed a delicious dinner! I think every time we have gone to dinner there they have seated us in the same exact spot...kinda funny. After dinner we decided to just head back home and play with our girl and turn the fire on. I saw on Pinterest where you can take a baby onesie and turn it into a dog shirt...y'all know I was all on that! So I tried it after dinner and it turned out adorable. We could not stop laughing at how cute she looked.

Saturday started out really early with Reagan waking us up a little before 5:00am...needless to say, girl doesn't care if it's the weekend and you can sleep in, she wanted to play! So downstairs we went so she could play/eat. I thought it would be a good time to watch the rest of the Gilmore Girls revival since I had only watched the first episode at this point. Around 4 1/2 hours later I finished the final three episodes and was an emotional wreck lol, but my thoughts on that are for another post!

We finally got to moving after watching Gilmore Girls and got ready for the day. We headed to town to sell a couple of things and then grabbed a quick lunch while we were out, and made a quick(ish) trip to Target. We found a really good deal on ornaments for our 12ft tree while we were there so we jumped on it and bought a ton of beautiful ornaments. Saturday afternoon our best friends, Ethan and Rachel came over and we all hung out for the afternoon until it was time for our Christmas party with our church group. Ethan and Rachel hung out at our house to keep Reagan company while we were gone lol. I made the cookie pie I had mentioned on Friday and it turned out really good! So I plan on making that again really soon. The Christmas party was a lot of fun we ate a lot of good food and played dirty Santa with everyone. One really funny thing that happened.....for some reason we thought it was a $10 gag gift for dirty Santa, but turns out it was just a $10 limit on a gift. So you can imagine the shock Matthew and I felt when the first couple of gifts that were opened were CUTE and NICE gifts and not gag gifts....lol #lessonlearned. Thankfully there were a couple of funny gifts in there but nothing compared to our My Little Pony sticker book and Army toys ;)

After the Christmas party we grabbed dinner with Ethan and Rachel and then came back to the house and called it a night. Sunday we all went to church and then met my in-laws for lunch after. We went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and then to the Home Free concert for my FIL's birthday! The concert was fantastic and I am hoping they make it to Nashville next year so we can go again. I have been listening to their Christmas playlist on Spotify all week. My BIL and his girlfriend couldn't make it so Ethan and Rachel took their tickets and came with us. 

We went to Demo's for dinner Sunday night (our absolute favorite!!) and then came home and we all started decorating our big tree. Sadly we ran out of ribbon, two big rolls was still not enough lol so I had to order some more. Once I get that on there I'll share a picture, but for now here is a peak at it from when we were decorating! I absolutely love it. 

It was a great weekend and I am wishing time would slow down a bit, at least for this month! I wish Christmas decorations could stay up longer lol. I just love them. I am hoping to share all of our decorations next week with a Christmas home tour just as soon as I can get some good pictures.

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WEEKEND RECAP

2016 CHRISTMAS CARDS

I set a new record with our cards this year. In preparation for our trip, I got to work on them and had (most of) them in the mailbox before December 1st. I usually try to mail them off the first or second week of December, but this year I dropped them in the mailbox as we were leaving for our cruise, on November 28th. Now let's just see if I can keep that up every year ;)

I am excited to (virtually) send you all our 2016 family Christmas card this morning! This year our girl, #ReaganCoats stole the show! We were originally going to use a picture from our anniversary session we had made back in the summer, but then when we brought our girl home we just knew she had to be in our Christmas card picture. So that's when we decided to have a few fall pictures made and from that we had our new Christmas card picture. I decided to use Minted again, and was once again, very pleased. Their adorable designs, amazing customer service, and extremely fast shipping wins me over every time!

I left the back blank again this year so I could hand write a small personal message. Also, this year I used our address stamp that my BIL gifted me last year at Christmas!

I am so happy with how our Christmas cards turned out this year. You can find our (first) Christmas card from last year, here.

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2016 CHRISTMAS CARDS

FRIDAY NO. 39

The first week back from vacation is always rough, but the first week back from a holiday + vacation is even worse. This has been me every morning this week...

Thankfully this weekend we don't have many plans, and will basically have all of Saturday free! I plan on catching up on laundry, some cleaning, last minute decorating and probably a nap by the fire and Christmas lights with my girl and handsome husband!

- Tonight we are going out to dinner to celebrate some good news (work related) for Matthew and I am excited and so proud of him!!

- This weekend there are a ton of college graduations going on which always makes me think of Matthew's graduations. He graduated in December 2013 with his undergrad degree and in December 2014 with his MBA. We had parties for both and it was a lot of fun each year.

2013

 2014

- Last week we were enjoying the nice weather...sunny and 85 with a breeze and this week it has been FREEZING. It finally feels like December, which I'm glad! I have to admit, I am a little jealous of different parts of the country that are experiencing snowstorms. I always want snow in December but after December I am ready for warm weather. It never works that way and we usually never get snow until late January and February lol.

- One night this past week while Matthew was working a little Reagan and I decided to have a Christmas photoshoot in our living room! She definitely enjoyed all the treats she got during this little shoot of ours lol ;) That white poof of hair on top of her head kills me!!!! It's like a little hair piece lol and most mornings when she wakes up it is sticking straight UP. I LOVE IT...too much cuteness. 

- We have our first Christmas party of the season this Saturday night and we're excited. It's with our class at church and last year's party was a hit, so we know this year will be just as great! I am making a couple of these cookie pies for the party, and if they turn out well I might make them for another Christmas party in a few weeks. 

- While we were in Cozumel last week shopping around I came across a bunch of dog shirts/dresses and knew we had to get one for our girl! I mean what kind of puppy parents would we be if we didn't bring our girl something home from our trip?! ;) So we decided on this little blue dress and sadly, it's too small...so I guess we'll just have to go back to get the right size...

- I have SO been enjoying a couple of lazy nights next to the fire and Christmas lights this past week! We were able to catch up on all of our shows (This Is Us and Designated Survivor) that we missed over the holiday week and week we were gone.

- Sunday we are going to a concert for my FIL's birthday! We are going to see Home Free and we are so pumped! They were on the show, The Sing Off, a couple of years ago and my in-laws loved watching them on there.

- A sweet co-worker gifted these to me this week for our Christmas tree! One for buying our house this year and one for bringing Reagan home this year. So sweet!! 

Check back on Monday, I'l be sharing our 2016 Christmas cards! I hope you all have a great weekend! :) 

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FRIDAY NO. 39

D E C E M B E R goals

Oh happy day :)

You know the drill. Every time I put up a new goals post I can’t seem to wrap my head around how quickly the year is flying by. It feels like I was just ringing in the new year with my loves and now 2013 is coming to an end.

26 days until 2013 is over. Chew on that for a moment.

Here are my goals from November

- Workout 2-3 times a week

 (I am getting a new schedule at work starting next week and I will be getting off earlier so NO excuses y'all!!)

- Start running

- Drink more water I've been drinking more water throughout the day!

- Get the classes I want for next semester

- Have our 1st annual Friendsgiving SUCCESS! You can read all about that here

- Appreciate the small things more This definitely makes for a better day, positive attitude is key friends!

- Pay it forward

- Start decorating my room

(or at least hang some pictures on the walls, it is bare I tell ya!!)

- Blog 3-4 times a week

- Spend more than 2 days at HOME!! Thanksgiving break was wonderful and relaxing :)

(thanksgiving break can't come fast enough)

-Find purple dress for Matthew's graduation I was stressing on this one but Old Navy came through, and it was on sale AND I had a coupon + free shipping....happy Shelby :)

(37 days people 37 days until boo dawg walks across the stage!!!!!!)

- Go on at least 2 dates with Matthew

- Win the intramural volleyball championship with my SOC girls We lost in the first round of playoffs.

- Continue saving MULA$$ :)

-START & FINISH Christmas shopping

(or at least get most of it finished so I won't stress so much in December) 

- Finish all the books I have started

(there are probably about 5 books I have started and I haven't even finished)

- Try 2 new recipes

(Now that I will be getting off earlier I will able to cook for Matthew!! I am so excited I can't stand it)

- Have another social free media weekend

- BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING We got some pretty good deals!

(Enough said y'all!!)

I didn't cross off near as much as I wanted to. November was a crazy month and December is looking to be the same way. I'm not complaining though, I'm blessed to have so much to do. However, I do feel like I set too many goals and I usually am disappointed at myself towards the end of the month (usually when I am typing up the next months goals and realize I didn't accomplish everything) So from now on I won't be setting as many goals, I won't have a set amount each month just not 20.

I will hold myself to a standard of grace not perfection.

With that being said here are my December goals

1. Clean out, get rid of, de-clutter, donate and organize. 

No drawer or closet will be spared. I have stuff just laying around that is taking up room and someone else could be getting very good use out of. Overall I want to be more organized than I am (OCD is kicking in). I want to simplify, simplify, and simplify even more going into 2014. I want to also make out calendars for the upcoming year for meal planning. I would also like to print out a cleaning schedule for the apartment to keep up with weekly.

2. Be a better girlfriend.

I honestly don't think I am a bad one but there is always room for improvement. I want to encourage and support Matthew, even more than I do now, spiritually and mentally. I want to plan fun things for us to do and get out of our normal everyday routine. Also I want to throw in a few surprises for him and cook more :)

3. Finish Christmas shopping and send out Christmas cards 

This is a MUST. This time last year I had everything purchased and wrapped. There are so many things I want to make and get. This Friday and Saturday I plan on crossing this off my list! Since this is my first Christmas living on my own I thought it would be fun to send out Christmas cards to all my family and friends. I am really excited about this and picked some cute ones up last time I was at Target. I want to just really enjoy this time of year.

4. Have at least 2 date nights

I see Matthew everyday now (I don't hate it!!) and we usually eat dinner every night together, whether it be running to Taco Bell or throwing some chicken in the oven we are usually eating together and then just doing whatever, watch TV or study. I want to have at least 2 date nights with something planned. Preferably one date night in and one date night out, where we get dressed up. I believe in dressing up and still going on dates, no matter how long you have been together.

5. Social free media weekend

I wish I would have done this over the Thanksgiving break but I was too excited to see everyone's Thanksgiving pictures lol. I am going to be home for Christmas a little longer than I was for Thanksgiving so I am hoping to be able to that weekend and just really enjoy the time that I am home with my family. 

6. Make some Christmas crafts and blog about them After all isn't that the name of my blog?? Yes, yes it is. There are SO many cute things floating around on Pinterest that I am wanting determined to make. I also want to make Christmas cookies for a few people, this time of the year is PERFECT for baking and of course Pinterest has about 101 recipes to try out so I will be trying out a few, hopefully!
So there ya have it! December is here and is in full force, and things have been a little busy around here with Thanksgiving and having my final the Tuesday we come back from break but I passed and I am on Christmas break!! Woo hoo! Also, I wanted to wish a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Matthew's momma!!  Sending lots of love and birthday wishes from Cookeville today :) 

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D E C E M B E R goals