picnic for two.

My fearless leader guiding the way to a Christmas Eve picnic.




Just the two of us, on the water.



Oh, and these wonderful bits of creation. Subs from Lou's. He's from Cincinnati, I feel kinship, mostly I just love his food.



Epic.

Christmas Past

Since it is December 27th I must call this an archive of our First Christmas together and not Christmas inspiration as I had intended to do. I hope that all of you (Janie and Deanna as my faithful readers) had a wonderful time with your families. The husband and I had a smashing good time, although he was playing the role of Florence Nightingale much of the time due to my illness. He was amazing, not every man could put up with a sick version of myself...

The following are pictures of our home in it's best "merry and bright" state.






Our tree, which I dearly loved, was decorated in aqua and red. Shocking, I know...what an original color combination by me.
All satire aside the following are close ups for my mother of my ornaments since she can no longer receive text pics :(






The bulbs are b-a-utiful!










I sincerely love this little bird ornament.






I will forever remain a "snow hopeful"







More arachnoid love






Others are Peace and Joy, very Christmas appropriate words





And finally the star, which no BJones tree would be complete without.






As I was decorating the bathroom my husband let me know that it was frivolous. He stated that the b-room is the last place one should decorate, I think not!







The tacky shelving that I'm doing the best campaigning of my life to get rid of... But alas my pleas for bathroom decor and style is lost on deaf ears.







This is our Christmas Eve dinner table. We never got around to actually using it because our stocking stuffers were more interesting :)








FYI: I'm really frustrated with Blogger, my pictures are uploading super small , it keeps shuffling my pictures around, and somehow I discovered a blog on my reading list that was very nasty. So if you hated my teeny pictures this week or clicked on WaitintheVan.blogspot.com then I apologize, hopefully everything will be back to normal tomorrow.

Ornaments

In the beginning of December I worked on some ornaments for our first Christmas tree. Here is a picture of the final product.



I really love them. The project while time consuming was really enjoyable.

Christmas Decor

After perusing the stores near and far for holiday decor I became increasingly depressed. I was finding a lot of Santa and reindeer. Well, that is just NOT us... So, in keeping true to our personalities and the feel of our home I spent a day at the craft store last week dreaming up the perfect Christmas decor. I came home with my arms full of packages and I have been quite the busy little crafter. My fingers are sore and my camera is dead... I will post pictures soon :)
Enjoy the Christmas Season and remember Jesus IS the reason!

Mother-in-Law Intimidation

I know you've been there... Those married longer may have forgotten by now... It's our first holiday as a married couple tomorrow, which I should be elated by right? Wrong, I just happen to be married to "Betty Crocker's" son. My mother in law can literally cook/bake/homemake circles around me.

Tomorrow we will gather with close family and extended relatives. I'm sure there will be a lot of food, fun, and laughter. I am just getting butterflies about the dishes I am bringing. This literally shapes our holiday future. If the center is not done on my cheesecake I might get asked to bring the drinks from now on, if someone gets food poisoning because I used bad eggs I might get asked to just not return :)
Ok the fear and trepidation is not that severe, but I am sort of dreading it.

I was not sure whether I should play it safe and just buy my pies, but then I got to thinking... My mother in law may be Betty Crocker incarnate but hey, I'm a Martha Stewart hopeful!!! So with my head raised high I will be taking Pecan Tassies, Caramel Apple Cheesecake, and Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Here is a picture of the Caramel Apple Cheesecake, I have made it one time before. Click here if you would like a game-changer recipe for your Thanksgiving.




As far as decorating for Thanksgiving I do not get the priveledge of setting our table for Thanksgiving but here are some ideas that I like.


                                                 A very natural option from HGTV



                                           Clean and beautiful, also from HGTV                                 




                                          Cozy option from HGTV, seriously I am a fan.



                    
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

House Updates

 I finally am achieving the chill house theme I am going for. The walls have yet to be painted and that one picture looks so lonely on the wall, but it's coming along :) That is a jute rug on the floor, thanks for the advice Janie. I especially love my authentic vintage surfboard that my husband brought to the decorating table!

I'm taking suggestions for coffe tables and lamps. I'm thinking a metal accent would be nice.

The Happiest Girl

So today I am happy. Today I am singing and dancing. Today I found out that I am officially an RN. After two years and a summer of stress, no sleep, and lots of studying I finally achieved one of my BIGGEST dreams ever!

So for now I will proudly wear this:



And never this:



I will do more of this:



And less of this:

But for this weekend and this weekend only I will do a lot of this:

And some of this:

And I will think often of the beautiful lady that inspired me to become a nurse, held my hand through school, sympathized with me, shared gross stories with me, believed in me, and always had my back.