Until Next Week..

Ya know the deal, work & real life have taken priority.

I'll be back next week.

Source: greatfullday.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

Until then...happy days & hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Christmas Quiz

With Christmas being right around the corner I thought it be fun to fill out this little quiz that I found over at Meet the Robinson's.

What a fun little way to bring in even more Christmas Spirit!
 
1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate fo sho

Source: favim.com via Megan on Pinterest

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrap them...do people not wrap presents..I've never seen that! 
 
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I tend to like white on a house, but colors on a tree. My family always did the bigger color bulbs. I miss those! 
 
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope. Should though huh?!
 
5. When do you put your decorations up? Psh this year it was like 2 weeks ago. I guess it varies depending on what we have going on. 
 
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Hmmm...I like alot of holiday foods but I think my favorite was my Grandma's Chocolate Mousse! SO GOOD! 
 
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Watching the Muppets Christmas Carole, or finding the pickle on the tree...that didn't start until a little later though.

Find the pickle! 

I had to share. When I googled "pickle ornament" this came up! How does it know that?!

 8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I feel as if I was pretty young when I realized he wasn't real but  I'm not 100% as to how it happened...mom? dad? How did I find out lol?
 
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes. At least with Kev's mom & family.

Christmas Eve at Kev's moms house

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? lights, ornaments, and sometimes ribbon or tinsel! All random...it's not all one color or anything.

This years tree

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Bah this is hard one. I'm going more towards dreading it. I don't particularly like winter or snow because of the coldness....and because of the driving. People act like they've never seen snow before. It's OHIO people it comes every year! But without snow being here like now it just doesn't have the holiday feel. 

This is what happens in Ohio during snow!

 

 
12. Can you ice skate? Yes, but I'm not a pro or anything....
 
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I honestly don't know if I do have a favorite gift. I mean I've had great gifts but there are so many that I've loved I don't think I could pick just one!
 
14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Just being around the family! 
 
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Grandma's Mousse...I alright told you silly! 
 
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I would say decorating the tree as a family. That's something we always did together.
 
17. What tops your tree? An angel
 
18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Giving

 
19. Candy canes: yuck or yummy? Yum but I only eat like 2 the whole holiday season soooo if I went beyond that probably yucky! 
 
20. Favorite Christmas show? Show? IDK! Movies: Home Alone, Muppets Christmas Carole, or Christmas Vacation.

 
21. Saddest Christmas song? What? Sad Christmas Song...I actually had to look this up because why would we have sad Christmas songs...after researching I'd have to say : Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. It's actually about a sad topic...look for yourselves here!
 
22. What is your favorite Christmas song? Okie doke well neither are my favorites are the traditional songs...well they kind of are but with a twist. I bet you can guess. Yep, it's a couple of TSO's songs! I really can't get enough of them. It's a weird obsession I know so sue me (whoa 90's throwback).  Here are my 3 favorites!

 HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU & YOURS! From the O's! 

Twas the Night before Christmas. A different version!

Twas the night before Christmas,

He lived all alone,

In a one bedroom house,

Made of plaster and stone.

I had come down the chimney,

With presents to give,

And to see just who,

In this home, did live.

I looked all about,

A strange sight I did see,

No tinsel, no presents,

Not even a tree.

No stocking by mantle,

Just boots filled with sand,

On the wall hung pictures,

Of far distant lands.

With medals and badges,

Awards of all kinds,

A sober thought,

Came through my mind.

For this house was different,

It was dark and dreary,

I found the home of a soldier,

Once I could see clearly.

The soldier lay sleeping,

Silent, alone,

Curled up on the floor,

In this one bedroom home.

The face was so gentle,

The room in disorder,

Not how I pictured,

A true British soldier.

via

Was this the hero,

Of whom I'd just read?

Curled up on a poncho,

The floor for a bed?

I realised the families,

That I saw this night,

Owed their lives to these soldiers,

Who were willing to fight.

Soon round the world,

The children would play,

And grownups would celebrate,

A bright Christmas day.

They all enjoyed freedom,

Each month of the year,

Because of the soldiers,

Like the one lying here.

I couldn't help wonder,

How many lay alone,

On a cold Christmas Eve,

In a land far from home.

The very thought brought,

A tear to my eye,

I dropped to my knees,

And started to cry.

The soldier awakened,

And I heard a rough voice,

"Santa don't cry,

This life is my choice;

I fight for freedom,

I don't ask for more,

My life is my God,

My country, my corps."

via

The soldier rolled over,

And drifted to sleep,

I couldn't control it,

I continued to weep.

I kept watch for hours,

So silent and still,

And we both shivered,

From the cold night's chill.

I did not want to leave,

On that cold, dark, night,

This guardian of honor,

So willing to fight.

Then the soldier rolled over,

With a voice soft and pure,

Whispered, "carry on Santa,

It's Christmas day, all is secure."

One look at my watch,

And I knew he was right.

"Merry Christmas my friend,

And to all a good night."

via

This poem was written by a Peacekeeping soldier stationed overseas. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable.

PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favour of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to all of the service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed. 

 

My World: Ho Ho Ho Edition :)

I honestly I have no idea.I've never recieved anything awful or like way off. There have been times that my mom put the wrong label on the box so I've opened the wrong present but since it's not mine it's not bad lol.

Muppets Christmas Carol, followed by Elf.  

my favorite song from the M.C.C :)

 

 My Grandma's Chocolate Mousse. It's so good & chocolatey, and of course there is the sentimental value to it. Miss you Grandma!

 

Happy Thursday everyone :)

 

 

 

What I'm Lovin' Wednesday!

Hump Day people, and that means it's time for what I l.o.v.e!!!!

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Bon Iver. Amazing! I love his voice & really any of his songs are soooo good! This is my new fav :) 

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Book Club! I say it all the time but I love my Book Club! The ladies are amazing and books are always...interesting!

Wine is a must with us :)

 Book Discussion! We read The BFG this month :)

Ozzie joined in as well!

Typical Jess :)

We had a book exchange last night for Christmas! Can't wait to read my book, Two Kisses for Maddy from Steph

 

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Christmas is in 4 days!! I can honestly say I'm more excited about giving then receiving. That's how I normally feel but it always nice to get some new goodies.

 

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We got our wedding pictures back!!! WOOOOOO :D More to follow soon :)

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My office during the Holidays. Isn't it pretty!

 

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That it's sushi Wednesday at work. It's the little things :) 

Source: sushilinks.com via Ana on Pinterest

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This guy. As always :) 

Isn't he handsome?!

What are you loving this week?! Link up & let us know!

Happy Wednesday!

Tail Waggin' Tuesday: Holiday Pup

Tail Waggin' Tuesday is back! I just love showing off pictures of Gunner!

Today's Topic: Best Holiday Picture.

I realized...today...that we don't really have a Christmas picture with Gunner or of Gunner dressed up. However, I do have a TON of the little mutt in the snow! He loves the snow so its not a difficult task to get a lot of pictures of him running around and playing.

This one is my favorite!

I think Gunner's missing the snow as much as we are this year! Come on Mother Nature, Gunner's looking to play! Let's see your Holiday Pups :D

Happy Tuesday!

Weekend Fun

This weekend Kev, Lindz, and I did one of my all time favorite things to do in December! We went to visit our best friend Korie! We seem to make the annual trip around the same time each December. We started it because of Christmas time & gift exchange. It's a way for us to go visit Korie & her home town! It's also a great weekend away because Kor lives in the middle of no where. I'm serious...my GPS couldn't even find her town. We don't get much service out there & they don't have the internet because they have no service. It's a weekend with little distraction & sometimes it's nice to put the ole cell-y away for a little awhile!

We had a great time as usually! This visit was not particularly busy compared to some of the others. This visit consisted of relaxing, shopping, of course some drinking, and hunting for the guys!

Friday we got there later so we didn't really do much of anything, but we did get to meet Duke! Duke is their 5 year old Rottweiler and is the biggest sweetheart of a dog ever! The adopted him after last year's Christmas visit so this was the first time we were around him. If he didn't belong to one of my best friends Duke would have been stolen & brought back to our house :)

We also did our little gift exchange on Friday too! Look at some of the goodies I got :)

A blanket made from Alpaca wool (that will come into play later!)

Cute little deer decor :)

Tim Burton. Love!

Someone knows me a little to well. "The Queen" wine decor & glass charms!

Saturday was spent doing last minute Christmas shopping and then hanging out with some of Korie's home town gals! Of course getting a little rowdy :)

Sunday came to quickly as usually but I was looking forward to it because I knew we were going out to Korie's moms & step dad's Alpaca farm! The alpaca's are so fun to go see and Kev's never been there before.

We got to see big old Leo!! He's the alpaca's guard dog from coyotes & other nasty critters. He's probably one of the friendliest dogs you'll ever meet! And one of the biggest!

I love getting to see the Alpaca's.  They are so funny to watch and so soft once you can actually get ahold of one of them! There usually little babies running around too! You can kind of see them in the lower left corner picture!

Remember the blanket present I got! The wool came from these guys :) We are holding Lilly! Not sure who the white one is in the back but I like "HUH?!" face!

Korie's house is always a little adventure and a nice get away from the bus for the weekend! I hope you all had as great of a weekend as I did! Now it's back to the grind until Christmas! Only 6 more days!