Holiday Swap Gift

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a Christmas Swap that I had joined from ClemsonGirl and the Coach. It was a lot of fun to go out and shop for my swap partner. Today I received my swap gift from Margaret at Some Like it Southern. I love it! It's a beautiful pewter ornament tray with three Christmas themed tea towels! So beautiful. I had to take a picture of the wrapping paper with it because it was just as precious! Wrapped in a red and black gingham tissue then wrapped in clear cello wrap and tied with red and green rafia! All tied with a beautiful pewter cross ornament! Just gorgeous!

I love it Margaret! Thank you so much!!

Christmas Meme

Ok so I looked at my blog and couldn't think of anything to write about so I figured I'd do this little meme that was sent to me via email. Feel free to join in and do it on your blog. :)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper and some gift bags.........

2. Real tree or Artificial? – artificial with lights on it already--we once had a real tree and it leaked all over my wood floors, not good!

3. When do you put up the tree? Weekend right after Thanksgiving usually........but this year I was sick all weekend so we are doing it tomorrow afternoon.

4. When do you take the tree down? Weekend after new year

5. Do you like eggnog? YUCK!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The Barbie cruise ship

7. Hardest person to buy for? my parents..........not much that they need but I really don't like gift cards so I try to find something unique and personalized for them each year.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Kids

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, usually right after Thanksgiving but with me being sick I am late getting these out too.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? ornaments wrapped individually

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Frosty the Snowman

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Between March and May

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? yep

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Homemade cookies

16. Lights on the tree? Yes, all white

17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night and Tennessee Christmas from Amy Grant

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? yes

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We had an angel for many years but I switched it up to a rustic star last year

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? The kids get to open one present Christmas Eve which is a box that contains their Christmas PJ's. Then the rest we open on Christmas Morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Crowds, I don't like crowds at all!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Santa's.............unique and different!

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? My family’s health, happiness, and prosperity. I also want the same for our country.

Willing to play along???

~A Mighty Delicious Bloggy Giveaway~

Can you believe it's just about Thanksgiving? Wow, where does the time go? I'm thrilled to announce a new giveaway from the fine foks at Pillsbury. The Pillsbury Home is Calling™ giftbasket will be given to three of my readers. The basket includes a coupon for Pillsbury refrigerated crescent rolls (free to you!), a magneticcoupon holder, a house-shaped mouse pad, a pot holder, a cookie sheet, a bread basket and a loveable Pillsbury Doughboy figurine.



How do you get to win this wonderful goodie prize? It's super duper easy.........all you have to do is to leave a comment on your favorite Pillsbury product or to provide a comment on your favorite part of family meals.



The best thing is that Pillsburyis sharing the warmth of home this holiday season by helping stock America’s food banks.



Visit http://www.pillsbury.com/HomeIsCalling/Default.aspx?WT.mc_id=partner_blogs_hic to view the new Home is Calling campaign, which reminds us of how we all look forward to getting home at the end of the day to reconnect with loved ones. And of course we also think about the aroma of something irresistibly warm and delicious baking at home! When forward along the link to friends and family from the web site, Pillsbury will make a donation to help deliver more than one pound of groceries to America’s food banks! Isn't that totally awesome!



So go ahead and leave me a comment and share in the Home is Calling campaign! I will be closing this giveaway on Wednesday, December 3rd and will announce the winners as well!




Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Anniversary to my sweetie!

Today is our anniversary! Craig and I have been married for 16 years today! It's hard to believe. I love Craig with all of my heart and soul. Like every marriage there are ups and downs, but that is to be expected.

We were married in downtown Orlando on a crisp fall day. If you know me, I love fall! I love the color changes, the fall scents, being Thankful for God's riches in our lives, and (especially in Florida) the cooler weather. I was teaching at the time and we opted for a wedding close to Thanksgiving for a couple of reasons. One was the weather and colors. The second was that we were already off of school for three days so I could extend my time off for our honeymoon as well. We went to Oahu, Hawaii................wow! We loved it. Our flight from Orlando took us to San Fransico so we stayed 2 days there to sightsee. In Hawaii, we stayed at a little B&B for a couple of days and then went to the Hilton on the beach. We rented a sporty little blue convertable and enjoyed driving the island with the top down. We visited the Dole Pineapple factory (love the Dole Whip's), went to a Sea themed park, spent the day at North Shore visiting Wyland's gallery there, visited Pearl Harbor (what a grand sight), went to the University of Hawaii, and basically enjoyed every facet of the island. We spent two weeks there. I'd love to go back with the kids.

We usually go away for Thanksgiving every year as a little celebration of our anniversary. I had wanted to go up to Pennsylvannia for the holiday (we love PA........Craig is from York), but with the pool and the economy we decided to stay home. The kids are out of school all next week so we are going to do stuff around the house and enjoy our break by resting. LOL We are celebrating our anniversary by going to dinner tomorrow night at Bonefish Grill. We are also going to the Mall at Millenia to walk around. We usually don't head out to the mall, but I need a case for my iPod so I figured we'd go there to walk around. It's always so nice to window shop in the malls during the holiday's.

Happy Anniversary to my sweetie, Craig!

~Harper's Bloggy Baby Shower~

Jenna, Heather, and Faith are hosting a bloggy baby shower for Kelly, aka Kelly's Korner today for the precious little gift of God that she is carrying, Harper Brown Stamps!

What an exciting time for Scott and Kelly as they prepare and nest for the arrival of little Harper. I found Kelly's blog last year during BooMama's Christmas House Tour. Her blog is very uplifting! In the world of blogs it's funny that even though you don't 'know' someone you actually do feel like you 'know' them! That's how it is with Kelly! I love to stop in and see how things are going with Kelly...........we've followed her journey thru the wait of pregnancy and then the awesome announcement and then the updates.

Kelly and Scott you will be great parents for little Harper and I know that your love of the Lord will shine in Harper's eyes as well! A true blessing! Enjoy every single moment of pregnancy (even the sickness, LOL) as it goes fast. But the ultimate reward is the day that you can hold little Harper in your arms and then bring her home.

Happy Veteran's Day~

Happy Veteran's Day! Just a quick note to thank our Veteran's for all they have done to secure the freedom's that we enjoy today!

ClemsonGirl's Christmas Swap!

Oh, this sounded so much fun so I thought I'd participate! I'd love for you to join me. Visit ClemsonGirl for more details!