Merry Week Before!

Matt and I haven't been scrooges this month, but we haven't been super "fa-la-la" either. I miss living in a neighborhood and having a porch to deck out with Christmas lights, but apart from our lack of contribution, there is no shortage of decorations outside in the shopping center. Christmas tunes are continually playing, a gigantic tree is lit and decorated for all to see, white lights are on most all the little trees and Whole Foods is selling real Christmas trees.

Our apartment has been spruced (sadly no real Blue Spruce; phooey on Matt's allergies) with a decorated faux wreath, clove studded oranges, stove-top potpourri, cute dishes, and today a fun gingerbread man filled with snacks arrived.




Most days since Thanksgiving Matt has been going in early and staying late at work in order to accrue time for our Christmas and New Year's adventures. (Unfortunately, the hours he started building up soon after starting work in August had to be used when he was out sick in October.) Bless his little hard working heart. That has taken a minor toll on our activity level. He understandably wants to hold he couch down and merely relax once he does get home. Thankfully, he's a hard worker and has a flexible schedule. Such a blessing.

On a work related note, I'm still hanging out with my baby buddy a few days a week and loving it. I'm still submitting various job applications to places within walking distance, but no bites yet.




Merry week before Christmas!

Cherry Blossom

One can't make or meet goals if they don't push themselves into them, right? And variety is the spice of life, so why not try something new, right?? And while I'm blessed with a young body, I should do my best to keep it in shape, riiight??? Oh boy. In light of all that, some peer pressure and a successful lottery drawing, I'm officially on the list to tackle the 2010 Cherry Blossom. I'm not a runner and I don't enjoy running, but I'm going to do this. Get ready pavement. My feet are going to be stompin on you... for 10 miles... at 7:40am...

Oh boy.

Sears Homes

Do any of you know of someone that built, lived in or currently lives in a mail-order Sears home? What a neat piece of American history. If we ever build our own home, I guarantee we'll use this archive for inspiration. I LOVE the cozy, nostalgic look of older homes. And if we're lucky enough to be picky, we'll live in a neighborhood with more than three house plans.

Clothes Swap

You've heard of cookie swaps, right? How about a clothes swap? I thought I had a genius & original idea to have one, but after a Google search I discovered it had been thought of before. That only motivated me more to host one at our apartment this past Monday night. After weeding lots of unwanted, but still wearable, articles out of my closet and helping a friend do the same with hers a few weeks ago, a "clothes swap" seemed like a great idea. Thursday night I tossed the idea around with girls in our Bible study; they ran with it and we all gathered here Monday evening with trashbags FULL of duds to share over a meal of winter white chili, potato soup and Christmas cookies. Eight of us had a ball as we slurped, snacked and shopped. I'm a HUGE fan of hand-me-downs so this was right up my ally! There were designated piles for shoes, coats, jeans, skirts, slacks, long sleeved shirts, short sleeved shirts, pajamas and even some men's clothing. We took over multiple rooms in the apartment and had a blast trying things on until items found just the right owner. Some found more to take home than others, but we all were able to replace old with "new." By the end of the night greed had not surfaced once, no punches were thrown, no clothing was ripped out of anyone's hand... it was a successful and unique girls night in :o)

The aftermath in our bedroom and living room:

IT'S SNOWING!

It's snowing outside RIGHT NOW! It's wet and not sticking, but boy howdy it is coming down!

UPDATE: It's sticking

Dining Table Makeover

Remember the $40 dining room table and chairs I found on Craig's List? Add less than $20 for materials, take away 4 layers of fabric on the chairs, throw in some old fashioned elbow grease and voila:

I'm thrilled that it's done and the price was certainly right! It was, however, a pain to lug back and forth to the parking garage. I don't think we'll be doing any more sanding or staining while in this apartment.