Happy Holidays!

Since we'll be spending the holidays with our family in Brentwood and Lawrenceburg, we celebrated Christmas a few day early at the house!

 Our Christmas Tree in our living room... a little blurry!

 Knox loving his new dog bed from Santa! I think he'll still love mom and dad's bed more!

After exchanging gifts!

My new favorite ornament! Perfect to celebrate our first Christmas in the house! 2011 Held Together with Love... Merry Christmas to everyone!

Tis the Season!

I love the holidays! It is especially exciting since we are in our new home this year! I couldn't wait to start decorating. It didn't take long to find out that with more than double the space than last year, my Christmas decorations looked a little puny. I've decided to make due with what we have this year and stock up on Christmas Clearance at the end of the season. Here's a little preview of our holiday decor.

Welcome to our home! Will get house lights put up if the weather stays nice this weekend. 

Our living room and tree.

My attempt at being resourceful.

 Cinnamon scented pinecones all over the house. This door hanger is one of my favorites!

A picture of our first Christmas with our new kneeling Santa that I love (Thanks Mimi). 

That's the jest of it...Come see us for the holidays!

Made with Love

Some of my absolute favorite gifts, to give and receive, are handmade things. Unfortunately, I opted for mostly buying instead of making this year for Christmas. But I wanted to share some of the things I made last year.

Aprons
I made these for my cousins and Seth's cousins last year for Christmas! There are so many possibilities with prints and patterns. You can really customize them to any hobby or personality. I didn't actually use a pattern at all. I just traced an apron I already had on the reverse side of the fabric. I cut it about 2 inches outside that tracing. Then ironed and pinned the hems and started sewing. For simple ties around the waist and neck you can use ribbon.

Cookbooks
My Aunt Lea wanted to make cookbooks for all of her nieces, including me. Since I was living with her at the time, she enlisted my help. This was a very time consuming project. We had my mom, grandmother and other aunts send us favorite and family recipes. Then we typed them up and put them in a cute decorated binder! So easy to add to for years to come!

Christmas Day!

I don't think it really occurred to me until Christmas day that I was now going to have 2 Christmases for the rest of my life! :) This is also when it hit me that this was the first time in my whole life when I hadn't been with my parents and sisters on Christmas morning! :( But I do LOVE Seth's family! And his Santa and parents were great to us! One of Seth's favorite gifts was from his brother, a Bruce Pearl autographed UT basketball.

So funny how Christmas with my new brothers is a whole different ballgame than with my sisters - sports and outdoor things vs clothes and jewelry. I was most excited about all the Snow Villages that Seth and his parents gave me. I'm trying to have a Village like his Mimi and my Grammy Margie one day!

Can you tell Ryan woke us up early Christmas morning? After a yummy breakfast, we headed to my house for Christmas #2 for the day! Santa surprised us with a new grill! Even though it's snowing, I very much expect to be out grilling in the next week or so. Cannot wait!

After exchanging gifts, we pretty much relaxed the rest of the day and played out in the snow a bit! What a wonderful day! Couldn't have asked for anything better! So blessed to have such amazing families!

Knox loves Christmas with all his Grandparents, too!

Christmas Round 3

We spent Christmas Eve at Seth's Mimi & Pawpaw's! They have the perfect Christmas house with tons of decorations! Mimi has an amazing Christmas Village display. Love it!

So many Snow Village pieces and still growing!

Mimi & Pawpaw with all their grandkids! So glad to officially be a grandkid too!

The best gift ever! Made with love by Seth's grandparents, our extra large quilt. Each color and the pattern has a special meaning! So sweet and beautiful! It will be cherished in our house for years and years! What a wonderful and memorable Christmas Eve!!!

Merry Christmas EVE!!!

Thanks to AOII, I love pandas!! So this card couldn't be any more perfect for Christmas!

Christmas Round 2

Santa came early to our house this year! So last night we had our own little family Christmas! I wanted to it to be perfect! Everything exceeded my expectations. We had a big Christmas dinner at our beautiful Christmas table. Then we opened presents together! Knox was so curious about everything in his stocking and boxes! His favorite gift, besides all the treats, was his duck slingshot toy from Santa. He broke it about 15 minutes after chewing. Boys! My favorite gift was my new camera from Seth!!!! I am so excited, it is such a better picture than my old one! Cannot wait to use it for the rest of the holidays (and blog posts) to come!

Our Christmas Table

All the presents wrapped under the tree!

From Santa!

About to open presents, thank goodness for self timers! Knox had perfect timing!

Merry Christmas again!

Christmas treat!

One of my favorite things about Christmas is, of course, the food. Seth (and Knox) especially love the desserts. Who am I kidding, I do too! Peppermint bark is something that is super easy and we leave sitting out around the house for the Holidays. Takes about 10 minutes to prepare. Not to mention is is very cheap to make. Williams-Sonoma sells peppermint bark. It's delicious but for $26 a box, I think I'll spend the 10 minutes.

1 pound of white chocolate or almond bark & 1 bag of peppermints - that's all the ingredients. You can also do a pound of milk chocolate for a bottom layer if you want it like WS!

Unwrap the mints and put into a ziplock bag, use a hammer to crush into pieces. Break up the chocolate into big pieces and put in microwave safe bowl. Heat for 2 minutes. Stir and re-heat again for 10 seconds if still clumpy. Continue to do this until smooth.

Spread chocolate over wax paper to desired thickness. Sprinkle with chopped peppermints. Put into freezer for 10 minutes. Remove and break up into little pieces.

All done! Quick and easy! It's great to add some festivity to a plate of cookies or use as a small gift for co-workers!

Christmas Round 1

We had Christmas with my dad’s side in Nashville on Saturday! Yes, these dancing machines from the wedding! So you can only imagine how fun the day was!




The day was filled with yummy food, endless stories from Grandpa, tons of videotaping and pictures, and lots of laughs. Several years ago, we quit giving typical gifts to each other. Instead we draw names and donate to a charity organization or cause for that person. It is truly impossible to give a bad gift! We watched a video Saturday from a Christmas together back in 1988. It’s funny how things have changed (even our Christmas) now that we’ve all grown up!


We had every intention of ending the evening with a visit to Nashville’s famous Wild Horse Saloon to boogie down. But, we ran out of time and opted for Opryland Hotel to see the Christmas lights! It never ceases to amaze me! It looked almost the exact same despite all the flood damage and the $200 million renovation. Opryland really gets me in the spirit! So pretty and very crowded!!

Piling in the Durango with Driver Brooke!

Tight fit in the back seat!

The famous tree in the Delta!

Outside lights, what a fun day! We really don't get to see each other enough!

Christmas Stockings

Since Seth has been out of town for work all week, I've been finishing up everything for Christmas! I am so happy to finally have our stockings complete! Wish that I would have finished sooner so we had longer to enjoy them. Oh well!

Picked up some fabric at JoAnns back in November!

I cut out a pattern and sewed the two sides together inside out. I did the same with the cuff and attached the two. Then I safety-pinned a loop to the stocking. Yes, cheating I know, but it was easiest! Then I used some wire-edged ribbon to tie the stockings up on our staircase!

Here they are - Knox, mine, and Seth's. I love them! Cannot wait for Santa to come fill them up with lots of goodies!

My Grandma

My grandmother passed away when I was in the second grade. She was a truly remarkable woman! She loved the Holidays and I have so many fond memories of her during this time of year. I always miss her so much around Christmas, especially this Saturday as we gather with my dad's side of the family!

I re-stumbled across this letter the other day and found it appropriate to share. My grandpa wrote it about my grandma. It truly captures her big heart and positive attitude! I think everyone can use this article and translate it in some form to their life. Hope you enjoy!

One Woman's Legacy: Attitude Is EVERYTHING

BY JAMES A. HOWD JR.

My late wife, Carolyn, had a fantastic attitude. She was tremendously optimistic and genuinely cared about other people.

She sincerely believed that we, as real estate practitioners and human beings, can---and do---control our own destiny. She felt that we should always look forward and never look back, especially to past events over which we have no control.

In September 1989, Carolyn broke her left leg and had to spend some time in the hospital recovering from extensive reconstructive bone surgery. She used most of that time to call customers and clients---and maintain contact with all the people she worked with and loved so much. She actually generated business from her hospital bed, and some sellers visited her so that she could list their houses.

One day while lying in bed, she discovered a lump in her right breast. The lump turned out to be a large, cancerous growth. Within a month, Carolyn was in another hospital, this time recovering from breast surgery.

In the second hospital also, Carolyn had numerous visitors. Clients, customers, friends, and colleagues came not only to visit but also to discuss their problems and get her advice. Instead of playing the role of the patient, Carolyn was spending her time in the hospital helping others.

The day Carolyn was released, the hospital threw a farewell party. Patients on her floor came on crutches and in wheelchairs. The doctors and nurses and other staff wheeled in a cake. And they partied! Hospital staff told me they had neverneverhad the pleasure of having such a wonderful, positive patient in that wing and they'd sincerely miss her.

From late 1989 until May 1990, Carolyn underwent chemotherapy. Every treatment was followed by a week or more of severe nausea.

Despite those difficulties, Carolyn maintained her positive attitude. Her real estate business actually grew. In 1990 she recorded 36 closed sides; in 1991 she more than doubled her volume to 82 closed sides; and the following year she tripled her volume of 1990 to 108 closed sides, with $7.3 million in closed production.

Based on her performance during the first half of 1993, Carolyn was on track for a record year---144 closed sides and more than $10 million in production. But in May her doctors discovered that her cancer had spread. From then until the end of her life, she was forced to spend most of her time away from the field and in a bed or a hospital.

How had Carolyn managed to be so productive during a debilitating, life-threatening illness? It was her choice. She could have wallowed in pity and despair; instead, she chose to keep going.

Carolyn's doctors were so impressed with her optimistic outlook that in 1995 they offered her an opportunity to participate in a test of a new gene therapy for breast cancer. Without hesitation, Carolyn said, "I have a daughter and five granddaughters. Even if it doesn't benefit me, perhaps it'll make their lives---or other women's lives---better. Let's do it."

Any possible medical benefits from the test didn't come in time to help Carolyn. She died on June 17, 1995, at Vanderbilt University Hospital.

Shortly before her death, Carolyn instructed me to deliver a final message to her clients, customers, friends, and neighbors in Clarksville, Tenn. When I returned to town, I had her message placed on our real estate office marquee: "Bye-Bye. I Love You All. Carolyn."

That was Carolyn's winning attitude.

Christmas Card Holder

This being our first Christmas together, I honestly didn't think that we'd get very many Christmas cards. Turns out most of our recently married friends sent Christmas cards. Here is ours! Sadly, no Knox included like last year but he wasn't allowed in the church!

Since we weren't planning on getting so many cards, I didn't get a card display. I really love the wire displays found in Pottery Barn, but with two weeks left until Christmas I'll just wait til next year to purchase one! Our refrigerator was running out of room so for now I decided to make a card holder. Once again, I found some supplies at home.

Ribbon from the wreath I made earlier this month, small clothespins and a Santa Stop Here sign I received from a friend. I just ducktaped the ribbon to the back of the sign and used the clothespins to hang the cards.

Knox loves this little sign and wasn't quite ready to give it up!

Spray painted the clothespins, of course. Just white.

Here it is assembled and hanging on our wall. A short 5 minute project (plus dry time).

All done! Glad to have this card holder so everything will quit falling off our fridge and we can enjoy them!