Tell Me About It Tuesday - My Favorite "Comfy" Outfit

I don't know about y'all but cold weather means one thing to me... hibernating! I don't want to do a lot except for bundle up in some comfy clothes and a blanket, pop some popcorn and chill out in front of the tv and a fire. The more I think about it...bears really have the right idea! The best part of a lazy day is getting to stay in your pjs or your comfy clothes. I guarantee you - its not cute. I usually have my hair in a pony tail, no make-up on and my glasses on. And Old Navy pjs pants!

Kind of like these, except for mine are normally a little crazier. I have some with reindeer on them, some with beers all over them, I have some Valentine ones, snowflake ones - they are all really cute and really comfy. I don't know about y'all, but here lately... I really look forward to getting in my pjs and relaxing by the fire. Hope y'all are staying warm and cozy!

Post Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving! We did. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with my family the day before and then we left that night and drove to east Texas to spend the holiday with D's family. As always, we had way too much food but we were able to visit with family and see some friends that we don't get to see near enough. All in all, it was a great time. We spent the rest of the weekend visiting with family and we had a fish fry on Saturday, which was delicous. Now, I'm trying to wrap my brain around the countdown to Christmas! Happy Holidays!

Turkey Toes

Last year, I saw this adorable jar of "Turkey Toes" online at a children's boutique called "Chasing Fireflies". I wanted to get one for my nephew, but I saw it just a few days before Thanksgiving and didn't think it would get here in time, so I made him one.

It was so quick and easy and I really liked how they turned out, so I decided to make a couple of more jars this year.

I just made the little labels on my computer and printed them on regular white copy paper.

I gathered all of my supplies - jar, labels, ribbon, cardstock, hot glue gun (and you'll need candy corn).

I glued one of the labels to the top of the lid.

And then took another label, and glued it to cardstock.

I used a scalloped scrapbook punch to embellish it a little.

Helpful hint: If you turn your scrapbook punch over, you can see exactly where your paper will be and what your "border" will look like - instead of a trial and error thing.

It comes out looking like this. A lot cuter than just a regular label, don't you think?

Then I put a thin strip of hot glue down the seam of the jar and press plain brown ribbon onto it. I leave a little extra so that I can fold the ribbon over the lip of the jar, so that the ribbon will stay in place, even when you go to open it. I really didn't like that about the original version - you have to take the ribbon off to open the jar.

Then, I hot glued the label to the top of the ribbon.

Then I took orange and white polka dotted ribbon and tied a bow around the neck of the jar. I hot glued it in place and then cut the ends of the ribbon so they weren't just straight.

And the label up close. The entire label was made by "hand" in word on my computer. The candy corn feathers are clip art, and the wording is word art - other than that - I made everything. I really like the brown and white polka dotted border right before the cardstock.

Just a note: If you plan on making this craft next year - get your candy corn before Halloween. I did not and D and I wound up going to a grocery store, 3 CVS stores, a Walgreens, Wal-Mart and 3 dollar stores. All I wound up finding was 2 bags of candy corn (hence the half full jar). I talked to my sister while she was at the grocery store and she picked up candy corn from the bulk bins at Kroger. The only problem with that? It's $7 per pound and each of those jars holds a pound! So, if you want to keep this craft cheap - buy the candy ahead of time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you and your families enjoy a wonderfully blessed day!

Wordless Wednesday

Tell Me About It Tuesday - What I'm Thankful For

As we approach Thanksgiving, it's pretty normal to think about all of the things that we are thankful for. Amanda and I decided to share with you some of the things that we are thankful for this year. Here are (some of) mine...

• I'm thankful for Christ and the sacrifice that he made for us.
• I'm thankful to live in a place where I can openly worship him - even if those around me don't believe the same way that I do.
• I'm thankful for my family. They are loud and crazy and each one of them more unique than the next and I am blessed to be a part of them. They are opinionated, stubborn, loving and supportive and I know that they have my back - no matter what.
• I'm thankful for my husband and the relationship that we have and the love that we share. I always assumed that I would get married - but I had no idea that I could experience this much joy with another person and for that, I am especially thankful.
• I'm thankful for my friends. Some of which are more like family and I'm so lucky to know them. They are all so different but the one thing they all have in common is loyalty. Well, and supportive. This has been a difficult year for D and I but we were shown an outpouring of love and support and we will be eternally grateful for the friends that we have in our lives.
• I'm thankful for obvious things that we sometimes take for granted - a warm place to lay my head at night, clothes to wear, and food to eat.
• I'm thankful for my job. This has been a crazy year and we've made a lot of changes but we are really coming over the hill and are better for it. We have a great group of people that are really becoming a family and I'm thankful that I'm a part of that team.
• I'm thankful for my sweet baby girl Coco. She is more than a dog - she is the sweetest little thing in the world and I absolutely adore her. I don't even want to imagine what my life would be like without her.
• I'm thankful for things that make my life easier - drive thrus, electric staplers, post its, the iPhone, and I'm especially thanful for Google.
• I'm thankful for dark nail polish, MAC eyeshadow, Dior lipgloss, Chanel and Gucci perfume and pumpkin shampoo.
• I'm thankful for Mexican food and margaritas and the good company I enjoy while going out for Mexican food.
• I'm thankful for it all - I'm thankful that I woke up today and that I can spend another day with my friends and family and D, worshiping God, working, loving on Coco and enjoying all of the materialistic things I don't need, but I love anyway.

I hope you all take some time to remember all of the things that you are thankful for and how blessed we all are - even though its sometimes hard to remember that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Flowers

Aren't these gorgeous? My sweet husband brought these home to me for our anniversary. He did well - didn't he?

Happy Fall Y'all!

Rough Patch

Two weeks ago today, I had another miscarriage. That's the second one in just a short five months. D and I are heartbroken but are trying to remain optimistic in terms of another pregnancy.

We went in to see our fertility specialist and he recommended having some testing done to see if there are any underlying factors that would have caused this miscarriage. We went in last week to both have blood taken (they took one vial of blood from Darren and 17 vials of blood from me!!!) and it has been sent off to be tested. They are going to perform a series of about 30 tests on it, to see if there is anything going on that they can fix. Their main concerns are chromosome abnormalities, blood clotting issues, un-wanted antibodies in my blood, or hormone issues.

We are trying to be patient while awaiting the results, which should be available in about 3 weeks. Of course, that's easier said that done. In the meantime, we're continuing to pray that we will find some answers and hoping for the best.

I wanted to write this today, because I know that everyone deals with things differently and I know that so many people deal with things like this quietly and privately but I think that sometimes it helps if people talk about it. I know that it's a lot easier for me to deal with this if I can talk to other people about it and hear that I'm not alone in this. The thing that is most surprising to me during all of this, is how many of my friends and family, or friends of our friends have gone through rough patches and dark hours like D and I have. When things like this happen to me, I feel so alone and I think sometimes as women our first instinct is to wonder what we could have done differently or what we did wrong and while talking to all of these women - its easier to understand that there wasn't and we didn't. It's not our fault and that these things are difficult and life and pregnancy is a lot more fragile than we let ourselves believe sometimes.

So, in light of all of that - I just want to put this out there... If there is anyone out there, that ever needs someone to talk to or you know a friend or a coworker or a sister, or whomever that is going through something similar and she needs to talk - send her my way. I would be happy to talk to any of them and let them know that they aren't alone.

Sometimes, we just need to we're not alone through the rough patches.

Happy 3rd Wedding Anniversary!

I can't believe we've been married for 3 years today. Sometimes it seems like an eternity, and sometimes it seems like just yesterday.

I know more than ever, that I married the person that God made for me. I have always believed in soul mates and I know that you are mine. We've been through a lot in our short marriage - especially this year and when things got all dark and gloomy - we were brought closer together and our marriage became stronger. I know that we can get through anything together - we're an amazing team.

You are an amazing person and a wonderful husband. We have our fair share of issues, but there is no one that I would rather have them with. Even when you do something and I'm so mad at you - I can't help but think of all the ways that you are sweet to me and make my life easier - just because you love me.

You are my rock, my safe place, my secret keeper and my very best friend. I can't wait to talk to you every morning and love getting to kiss you goodnight. I'm thankful for all of the blessings in our life and getting to share each of them with you - it makes all of them that much better.

I love you more and more every single day. And I know it sounds so cheezy but I sometimes wonder if my heart can hold any more love for you, because its already so full. I love you more than words can ever express and I'm honored to be your wife.

Happy Anniversary my love!

Tell Me About It Tuesday - My Favorite Thanksgiving Recipe

Thanksgiving is just a little over a week away - already! Can you believe it? We're starting to plan menus and figure out who's bringing what with my family. One of my family's very favorite Thanksgiving Recipes is "Sausage & Rice", for lack of a better name and because its very simply - just sausage and rice. I'm going to share it with you today...

Sausage and Rice

Start with two boxes of Uncle Ben's Long Grain & Wild Rice Just cook the rice according to the directions on the box, which is: Use 4¼ cups of water and 2 tablespoons of butter. Combine them, with the seasoning packet in a medium saucepan on high until boiling.

Then, reduce heat and simmer for about 25 minutes or until all water is absorbed.

While the rice is simmering, open a package of Jimmy Dean's Sage Pork Sausage and brown in a skillet. Break it up as much as you can while browning.

When both are done, drain the sausage and combine them in a casserole dish and wa-lah you have sausage and rice. It's so quick and easy and it's delicious - especially beside some cranberry sauce. You know the kind I'm talking about - that takes the shape of the can!

Delicious! What's your favorite Thanksgiving recipe?

Western Baby Shower

Bridgett's baby shower was Saturday, and I can honestly say - it was a huge success. We got a lot of compliments on how everything looked and how much fun every one had and she received a LOT of gifts so I think all-in-all, we had a great shower.

Unfortunately, I was having camera issues but one of the hostesses, Amanda (of Matthews Photography) had brought her camera to take pictures and she let me borrow some. So, all of these pictures are courtesy of her.

The sign-in table

This is the corsage that Bridgett wore. My mother in law made it. The "roses" are actually baby socks - it was so adorable.

The day they found out Clayton was a boy.

A poem about being a mother.

A maternity picture. We used brown butcher paper to cover all of the tables and then used red and blue bandanas as toppers. We used a couple of hay bales as accents and one busted up hay bale (instead of confetti).

We used the diaper cake as the display on the main guest table. The diaper cake (made by my mother in law, Jackie Fountain)

The favors and the cake. The favors were little coyboy boots filled with red and blue tulle and m&ms. The bandana print gift tags read "Thank you for helping Andy & Bridgett welcome Clayton Robert into the world". Close up of the cake. It was made by Cakes Du' Jour in Center, TX. The top layer was a yellow cake, the middle cake was marble and the bottom cake was chocolate and they were all absolutely delicious.

The boots on top are Clayton's.

Some of the food. We layed everything out on the bar - chili and all the fixings. The high for the day was 62, so everyone loved the warm chili!

One of the maternity pictures, by Matthews Photography.

Another maternity picture.

The glider and ottoman was a gift from her parents. My father in law and husband put it together the night before the shower and loaded it up so that she could sit in it while opening presents.

I think the best idea I've ever had is buying and bringing a laundry basket with me. As she opened, we had one person taking pictures, I wrote down what she received and from whom, her Aunt folded all of the tissue paper (yes, I'm one of those people) and then we had a younger girl folding the clothes and putting them in the laundry basket and all of the hangers in one bag.

That way, when she got home - she could just take the basket to the laundry room and wash them before putting them up and she could either keep or throw the hangers out.

It was nice and easy and it made clean up go a whole lot quicker!

Bridgett made the blanket for Clayton's nursery.

The gift table.

And since we ran out of room on the table, we used the floor. We used jute and then ribbon to make clotheslines for some of the clothes that the grandparents bought. More clothes and a "Cowboy" sign for his room!

I was very pleased with how the shower turned out and I think everyone had a great time! Now, it's time to start working on the next one! A dear friend of mine is pregnant and I've been asked to help with her shower. It's in January so I have some time off before I have to get crackin'!