Updates as of late...

Hm. Not too many updates… I've been traveling, wedding thinking & planning, and organizing things around the house. I haven't had many things to blog about, but it's been in the back of head my that I really need to get back at it!

I had a lovely Christmas relaxing at home for a week. Most of my wonderful family was in town to celebrate and spend the days with...  always my favorite! This year was obviously different though. Derek and I split up our time with his family and mine. We drove around a lot and got a ton of congrats over the holidays! So this Christmas, I was thankful for my new family and their traditions! I love the idea of combining new and old when Derek and I create Christmas memories for our kids (not for awhile folks).

For New Years, Derek's parents treated the kids and their significant others to a vacation in Florida! YAY - Sunshine and warmth! It was much need :) and much appreciated!!

Grace has some beautiful photos on her blog.

One of my fave's is the last one, the Burtch family cheesin'!!

{ First time sugar cooking baking' with the Wessels }

{ Chsristmas Eve }

{ Thanks Michelle! }

{ Christmas on Doten }

{ Biking on Sanibel Island }

{ Sand, sun, and rainbows }

{ Parasailing and paddle boarding!! }

{ i love the beach }

{ Many lovely dinners out }

{ Travis & Blythe }

{ NYE }

Christmas Eve

{ Mom & Dad }

{ The usual dinner set up... this seats more than it looks like }

{ New kitchen!! }

{ Mom, Aunt Dini & Meg }

{ Claire, Meg & Sarah }

{ Aunt Suzi & Nene }

{ Dinner time }

{ Dinning room dinner table & kitchen dinner table }

{ K dot C dot }

{ A boy and his beloved pup }

{ Post-dinner naps... sure looks cozy – not! }

These little gems are a continuation of Christmas Eve at my house :) Via this post you may remember that we were all a little stressed about the kitchen being presentable to the family for Christmas Eve dinner; well folks it was beautiful! Now, they have moved on to finishing the kitchen, building the addition, repainting, and redoing the floor in the living room! YAY! My mom said it should be done sometime mid february, so I just have to go home and check it out!

Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend!

Gifting

All my mom asked for this Christmas, was some personal art! She wanted something fresh to hang in the new kitchen... so I crafted up this little trio and framed them for her!

{ a photo of them hung on the wall to come... when all construction is complete! }

2013

Hope you all had joyous holidays and a happy first week of 2013! Let me tell you; 2013 is going to be a great year folks! I have some big plans for this year. Lots of travels and hopefully lots of changes! 

The holidays, as usual, were filled with lots of family & friends. Cleveland for Christmas and Chicago for NYE! Thankfully the construction on our kitchen re-model was complete in-time for Christmas Eve dinner!!

Here are some highlights :

{ my brother and i : Christmas Eve }

{ after dinner chit-chat with the fam }

{ dad & brother sleeping off dinner... not sure why they thought this was cozy! }

{ i love this little girl }

{ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame visit with family }

{ Pocketbooth iPhone App-fun with Meg }

{ puppy-dog getting cozy }

{ check out that snow-dino kids }

{ cousins & brother with our giant snowman, it was a busy day }

{ my dayton friends in chi-town }

{ NYE with my roommates... tradition 4 years strong }

{ NYE: Courtney and i }

Some of my resolutions include; 

1. Understanding more of what I am putting into my body. This means: Splurging on the organic stuff, ridding my freezer of the frozen junk, & drinking more tea ( no I cannot abandon my love of coffee. not a chance – lent was hard enough! )

2. Less couch time, aka watching TV, more reading!

3. Portfolio, portfolio, portfolio!!! Which then brings job searching... in Cali :)

4. Create a web-presence for myself

5. Start selling on Etsy

6. Stay positive!

Christmas

My time at home was a whirl-wind of family love and fun times! I'm sad it all happened so fast... but I guess you take what you can get in the working-world! That's something I am definitely going to have a hard time adjusting to. 

I got home last Friday in time to meet up with my high-school dance team for lunch- which was delightful! It's been a long time since we have all been together and it was so wonderful to see all their lovely little faces :) 

Then I made it home in time for dinner with my family and I spent the evening wrapping my Christmas presents and creating a little something for all my aunts and cousins! It's a super east recipe for hand/body scrub! Found here, it smells eatable!

And finally it was Christmas eve!!! It's my favorite because my whole family of 30+ somehow fits into our house for dinner and a small present exchange. My dad always cooks... and let me tell you – HE IS THE BEST! Ask anyone in my family! haha. Here's a little recap of my very favorite holiday:

1. Christmas table decor      2. Fun gold shoes
3. Cousins 4. A festive red/green Meghan & I      5. Cousins with Santatize APP
6. Cousins: Sarah, KC, Meghan, Me & Claire
7. Meg and our new addition Owen      8. Sleepy baby Owen
9. CHRISTMAS MORNING :) Hot cocoa! 

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with loved ones! I certainly did... I am already excited for next year!

Merry christmas!!

So happy to be home with family for the holidays!! Hope you all had a wonderful evening and Christmas day!! :) enjoy the new year as well... Stories and pictures to come!

Missing the colors of fall

I get to head home to Cleveland today :) yay yay yay!!!

I dont know about Cleveland, but here in Columbus... zero snow! This only makes it feel less like Christmas, it makes me so sad! Today, I miss the beautiful colors of fall as I stare out my very grey window, counting down the hours till my drive home...

I wish the rain into snow and a much happier friday to all!!

Cake Ball - Attempt

Christmas is almost here! I cannot believe how December has flown by... Christmas is in 3 days and NYE is in 10 days! There is a lot of Christmas cheer around the office — decor and little gifts!

Charlie Brown kinda Christmas

Co-workers have also been spreading the Christmas cheer! I've gotten multiple little surprise that have made Christmas this year extra special!

Speaking of crafty things, I decided to bake for the office as my little gift! That is the one thing I am missing the most due to the working world... baking cookies and holiday preparations at home with my family! Every year my mom, brother, and I spend hours baking and decorating almost a hundred cookies... I hope they are doing ok with out me this year :( So I baked as if I were at home! I attempted red velvet cake pops (found here)

The balls them selves went quite nicely... as pictured here in part one

It was the whole putting them on a stick and dipping them where it all went downhill! I'm a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to these things and I was getting flustered as the balls were falling off the stick into the chocolate! I resorted to dipping them solo and adding the stick later.

 I also didn't have enough chocolate to dip them all so some of them are drizzled... should still be good, right? I hope :)

I am happy with the end result, but I need to try these out a few more times before they can be juuuust right!! Happy Holidays :)