Showing posts with label Girl Chat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Girl Chat. Show all posts

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Girl Chat - Favorite Ornaments

I actually did a post about this the very first year that I started blogging, but we have since added plenty of new ornaments, two of which I felt needed to be added to my list. 

First up is the ornament commemorating Brian’s and my first Christmas together as a married couple!  We were married in December so we received several Christmas ornaments as wedding gifts, and I loved this one the most because it had a place to put a picture.  – 2007


Since we had a December wedding, we incorporated Christmas decorations into our wedding decorations.  We had two live Christmas trees in the hall where we had our reception and we covered them in these snowflake ornaments.  As our guests were leaving, they were instructed to take one home as their wedding favor.  Every year since our wedding at least one or two friends or family members will tell us that they think of us every year when they decorate their tree.  I love that so much.  On another note, the ornaments were all put together by me.  The snowflakes were ordered online and I had custom ribbon made with our names and the wedding date printed on it and I tediously cut and strung the ribbon through each snowflake... all 200ish of them.  It was a labor of love, but it was so worth it in the end.  We had a lot leftover after the wedding, and those now decorate the tree in our master bedroom every year. – 2007

We have a couple of different ornaments commemorating our babies’ first Christmases, but these clay handprints that we made are by far my favorites.  Jacob and I did this ornament together when he was between four and five months old and his tiny little handprint will be forever treasured. – 2011


Olivia was almost ten months old when we made hers, so her handprint is a bit larger than Jacob’s was when he did his.  It truly amazes me that their hands were once that small.  These ornaments are a great reminder of that and they always bring back a flood of wonderful memories every year when I hang them on the tree.  – 2014


This next ornament was one of mine from my first Christmas in 1982.  It was always my very favorite ornament to hang on the tree each year growing up, too.  I always made sure that it received a prime spot, front and center. – 1982


My dog who we had from 1995 to 2008 had to be put down on December 17, 2008, right before Christmas.  I was devastated to the core.  At the time, he had been my only pet (aside from a cat that we had for a couple of years) and he had been with me from the age of 13 until I was 26 years old.  He slept with me every single night for years until I moved out of my parents’ house and he was always there for me for every event, big and small.  After he passed away, my Momma and Daddy gave this ornament to me with his picture in it so I could have him around at Christmastime forever and always. – 2008


This next ornament is a new addition since I last posted about my favorite Christmas ornaments.  The year after I started my blog my Momma had this ornament made for me.  She was able to get my blog logo printed right on it and it’s in the shape of a heart… just like the heart in my logo!  I was truly touched. – 2016


Finally, my Momma had these ornaments made for both of my brothers and me a few years ago and I just love it because it brings back so many sweet childhood memories.  The ornament is in the shape of a house and it basically encompasses our Christmas traditions as a family.  It has our last name (my maiden name) and our address across the top (which I obvi crossed out for privacy reasons).  And underneath are some very sweet memories… our nicknames – Sissi (me), Boo (my oldest brother, Zach), and Peanut (my youngest brother, Alex), and a couple of things that were special parts of our Christmases growing up.  “Home Alone VHS” is on there because we watched that movie every single Christmas growing up, and it HAD to be the version on VHS because it had all of the commercials and previews that we had memorized from watching it so many times – like “Got a Pepsi for me?  Who knew?” from an old Pepsi commercial and “I’m Zak… I’m Crysta.” from the FernGully: The Last Rainforest movie trailer.  It also says “Wait upstairs” on the ornament because every single Christmas morning my brothers and I would gather at the top of the stairs and wait not-so-patiently for my Mom and Dad to go downstairs and turn all of the Christmas lights on, light a fire, and get the living room all cozy before they would let us come down and see what Santa brought.  The whole time they were getting the room ready they would make comments like, “Oh my gosh, look what Santa brought!” and, “Lindsay is going to love that!” and, “Zach is going to be thrilled!” and, “Alex, you’re not going to believe what Santa brought to you!”  By the time it was FINALLY time for us to go down and see we had all nearly died from suspense.  It was always such a thrill to get to walk down those stairs. – 2015


There are so many more treasures on our tree and I could truly go on and on because I have so many favorites, but for the sake of this post I’ll stop there.  We would love to see your favorite ornaments so be sure to link up with us below!


To link up – just grab our graphic, link upand let’s get to chatting!  Make sure to stop by a few others in the link up for an extra bit of girl chat!


And don’t forget to follow your hosts!

Danielle - Bloglovin / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
Emily - Bloglovin / Instagram / Pinterest 
Lindsay - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
Lizzie - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest


Sierra - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

*Linking up with Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.




Thursday, November 15, 2018

Girl Chat – Tips for Juggling the Holiday Season

We are almost in the thick of the holiday season and preparation has been underway over here for a few weeks already.  With so much going on this time of year, it’s easy to drop the ball on something so it’s important to stay organized!  Here are a few tips from me, the organizational queen (as I’ve deemed myself – hehe), to ensure that your holiday season runs smoothly.  Y'all know I love a good post about organizing!  

Keep One Calendar of Events

With school events, Christmas tree lightings, dinners, holiday plays and shows, parties, get-togethers, traditions, bucket list to-dos, and loads of other events to attend this time of year, it’s so important to WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN.  I cannot tell you how many events end up overlapping for us this time of year so it’s of utmost importance to use the same calendar to write down all events so you don’t double-book.  Just the other day I went to write down a new event that we wanted to attend, but when I went to put it on my calendar I saw that we already had an event planned for that evening.  Now we just have to decide which one is more important and make a choice, but at least we didn’t commit to something only to realize we couldn’t attend.



Keep a Master To-Do List & Start Checking Things Off Early

I’m a MAJOR list girl so I have master lists for each month of the year (I’ll elaborate more on this when I do my planner/how I stay organized post soon).  My December list has every single thing on it that I could ever need to remember for the month of December including important to-dos, Christmas traditions, and Christmas bucket list items.  Some of the items on my list include:

-          Christmas shopping
-          Christmas tree lighting at B’s work
-          Christmas tree lighting downtown
-          Watch Christmas shows
-          Watch Christmas movies
-          Visit Santa
-          Drive around and look at Christmas lights
-          Plan annual girls’ Christmas Scarf Exchange
-          New Christmas PJs for kids
-          New ornaments for kids
-          Outfits for entire family for Christmas Eve mass
-          Plan Christmas breakfast menu
-          Christmas dishes I need to bring for family get-togethers

And the list goes on… and on and on and on.  :o) 

I pull this list out each year and transfer all of the events and to-dos to my planner which ensures that nothing is forgotten.  This also enables me to spread stuff out evenly throughout the weeks leading up to Christmas so that way we’re not trying to cram everything in at the last minute.  I love having this complete overview of the season and spreading everything out over the 6-8 weeks before Christmas significantly cuts down on stress. 



Make a Gift List and Check it Twice

I don’t know about you, but we have a ton of people who we buy gifts for every year… parents, siblings, the kids, the kids’ teachers, kids from our outreach program at church, etc.

Each year around September, I make a list of every single person for whom we have to shop.  I leave a few blank spaces in between each person’s name so I can write down gift ideas in pencil, and then when I actually purchase the gifts, I write them down in pen along with a running total in pencil of how much we’ve spent on each person.  Once I'm completely done shopping for someone I cross their name out in pink highlighter.  This method really comes in handy for the kids since we are buying stuff for them for several weeks leading up until Christmas.  This ensures that we don’t overspend and it also ensures that we spend around the same amount of money on each of them. 

I prefer to use the paper/pen/pencil method for my lists, but an Excel spreadsheet would be great for all of you e-list makers.  Either way, just be sure to keep track of everything!  Having a complete list of everything we’ve purchased also serves as a reminder of everything that I have hidden away.  If it’s all written down then Santa knows exactly what he needs to leave out on Christmas Eve and he doesn’t forget anything!  ;o)

Below is an example of my list from last year.  I blocked out how much we spent on each person because there's no need to put our business out there.  ;o)



Set Reminders

Now that you’re organized to the max with all of your lists, you just need to make sure that you stick to the plan!  You can be as organized as you possibly can and still forget something.  That’s why it’s important to set reminders!  When in doubt, put a reminder in your planner (or set an alarm on your phone) a couple of days before something important has to be done and then set one more reminder that day to ensure you don’t forget. 

Anybody else receive visits from that pesky little elf?!  Haha.


ENJOY!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year and it'll be over in the blink of an eye so enjoy it to the fullest!  If you find yourself getting too stressed just try to remember the real reason for the season.  :o) 

I have used this method for several years now and it really works for me.  How do you stay organized this time of year?


To link up – just grab our graphic, link upand let’s get to chatting!  Make sure to stop by a few others in the link up for an extra bit of girl chat!


And don’t forget to follow your hosts!

Danielle - Bloglovin / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
Emily - Bloglovin / Instagram / Pinterest 
Lindsay - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
Lizzie - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

Sierra - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

*Linking up with Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.




Thursday, October 18, 2018

Girl Chat - DIY Craft

Hey, hey!  It’s time for another Girl Chat and today we’re sharing a DIY craft.  Since the holiday season is near I thought I would a few of my favorites that I’ve posted on the blog in year’s past.  I looked back through the ol’ blog archives to see what might be fitting for this time of year, and I came up with three of my favorites ever!

O N E – Seasonal Book Crate

With two small kids, we have collected a lot of books throughout the years.  Some of our favorites to purchase are books for the different holidays.  Because we have so many, it’s easy for them to get lost in the shuffle, so a couple of years ago I made our seasonal book crate to keep them all in one place.

The crate stays in one spot in our living room right by the fireplace and I switch out the books for each season – books about love during February, Easter books in March and April, Halloween books in September and October, Thanksgiving books in November, Christmas books in December, and so on.  I also throw the kids’ birthday books in there during their birthday months. 

This allows all of our themed books to be at our fingertips at the appropriate times and it also encourages the kids to read more often.  I know our time is numbered with this as they are getting older, but this sweet little crate will remain there until they’ve completely outgrown it!  To see more details, click here to see my original post and to see how I dress it up for each of the holidays.


T W O – DIY Wine Cork Ornament

Two years ago, our wine cork collection was overflowing so I decided to try my hand at a DIY ornament.  It was so easy to make, it turned out even better than I expected, and it was so much fun to do!  You can see the original post and tutorial here.



T H R E E – DIY Christmas Card Holder

I have always struggled to find an ideal way to display our Christmas cards, so last year I set out to make something of my own.  This Christmas card holder that I made turned out to be exactly what I needed.  It holds a ton of cards and it’s super cute.  Win win!  You can see the original post and tutorial here.


If you’re feeling crafty, dig right in!  Only a couple more months until Christmas!


To link up – just grab our graphic, link upand let’s get to chatting!  Make sure to stop by a few others in the link up for an extra bit of girl chat!


And don’t forget to follow your hosts!

Danielle - Bloglovin / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
Emily - Bloglovin / Instagram / Pinterest 
Lindsay - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
Lizzie - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest
Sierra - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

*Linking up with Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.




Thursday, September 20, 2018

Fall Bucket List 2018

Yesterday was my fall home tour and today is my fall bucket list… oh what a festive week it has been on the blog!!  Here are some things that we have on our list for this fall!


O N E – Decorate the House for Fall

A given!  This will always and forever be my number one!  I always decorate September 1 so this is already a big check on the list.  You can see the tour here.  And psssst, this year’s décor is my favorite!

T W O – Drink Plenty of PSLs

They’re only available for a few months of the year so I always take full advantage.  I rarely drink coffee the rest of the year, so during September, October, November, and December I get my fix to hold me over through the rest of the year!

T H R E E – Attend the Gala at My Alma Mater

My alma mater, which is also our kids’ current school, is hosting a gala for the school’s 60th anniversary.  The gala is actually tonight and there will be a guest speaker as well as a delicious dinner by one of the best chefs in our entire city.  Everyone is encouraged to wear red (one of the school’s colors) and I just so happenned to have the perfect dress in my closet for the event.  To say I’m looking forward to it is an understatement… date night on a Thursday night?  Well, sign me up!

F O U R – Attend Homecoming Festivities at My Alma Mater

This week also happens to be Homecoming week, so lots of other fun events are on tap… the kids have had themed dress-up days all week, there’s a bonfire, a pep rally, an alumni social, and then, of course, the football game.  Olivia gets to cheer this week and she’s OVER THE MOON.  

F I V E – Fall Weekend Getaway in the Mountains

YAAAASSSS.  This is probably my FAVORITE thing that we do all fall.  My aunt and uncle have a house in the mountains in North Carolina and we’ll be heading up there in just a couple of weeks.  The first couple of years we went the weather was gloriously chilly, and one year it was downright cold.  However, they moved fall break up by a couple of weeks last year so it was blazing hot when we went.  Sigh.  I’m hoping that the weather will somehow throw us a bone and cooperate because we could use some relief from the heat. 

Lord, whatever you’re baking outside, it’s done.  (ß I saw that meme on Facebook the other night and I have not been able to stop laughing about it since then.  Lol.)

S I X – Go Apple Picking

This is part of our mountain trip, but I like to count it as a stand-alone item on the bucket list since it’s just SO MUCH FUN!

S E V E N – Go Wine-Tasting at Our Favorite Vineyard

Another mountain trip activity… we go every year (kids included) and we always have so much fun!

E I G H T – Visit the Top of Brasstown Bald

This will also be part of our mountain trip, but it’s something we’ve never done.  It’s the highest point in the state of Georgia.  We’ve never been but I’m sure it’ll be neat!

N I N E – Spend the Day in Helen, GA

Another mountain trip favorite, this is on our list again!

T E N – Visit Rock Ranch with Friends

Rock Ranch is a place in The Rock, GA that has all sorts of fun things to do.  They have multiple playgrounds, a zip line, a pumpkin patch, a train, a jumping pillow, a corn bin, and so many other fun fall-ish activities.  We went for the first time last year and we loved it so much that the kids have been begging to go back since.

E L E V E N – Watch Football on the Back Porch

Last year we bought a projector and a HUGE screen to watch movies and football on the back porch, but it ended up being a pain to hook up each time, plus we couldn’t see very well during the day when it was sunny.  So, we ended up selling those things and we bought a big ol’ TV instead.  Now we can watch football out there during the day and actually see the screen!  And since it’s easier to set up, I’m hoping that we’ll spend way more time out there doing that… if the weather ever decides to cooperate, of course.

T W E L V E – Watch a Movie Under the Stars

And we definitely want to have another movie night out there under the stars and the twinkle lights!

T H I R T E E N – Introduce the Movie Hocus Pocus to the Kids

I am a child of the 90s so I was raised on the movie Hocus Pocus.  We watched it all the time it’s one of my favorites ever.  Brian, on the other hand, has never seen it?!?!  And we have yet to show it to the kids.  We most definitely need to remedy that this year.  Although I have a feeling it’s going to scare the crap out of Olivia.  She may not be afraid to pick up a beetle and lick it (true story), but she is sure terrified of everything in movies. 

F O U R T E E N – Visit a Pumpkin Patch

Ever since our favorite pumpkin patch closed a couple of years ago we have yet to find one that we truly love.  I’m hoping to find one this year.

F I F T E E N – Carve Pumpkins

We have only done this with the kids one time ever.  Isn’t that crazy?  Time to get to carving!

S I X T E E N – Trick-or-Treat

Neither of the kids knows what they want to be for Halloween yet.  Normally they both know by July what they want to be!  Haha.  We’ll be doing some shopping in the coming weeks and then putting those costumes to good use the last day of October.  :o)

S E V E N T E E N – Go to the Georgia/Auburn Game & Then Ed Sheeran??

This is a HUGE rivalry game that’s always near the end of our season.  It’s the one game that we ALWAYS go to when it’s in Athens.  As a matter of fact, B and I have never missed a Georgia/Auburn game in Athens since we started dating in 2003.  And the Georgia/Auburn game of 2007 will forever be my favorite football game EVER!!!!  Anyway, due to soccer and other activities we are struggling to make it to many Georgia games these days, but we always make room for Georgia vs. Auburn.  This year’s game also happens to fall on the same day that we have tickets to see Ed Sheeran in Atlanta, so we are praying for a 3:30 game so we can go to the game and then hightail it to ATL for the concert.  It’ll be #crazytown but it’ll be worth it.

E I G H T E E N – Fall Family Photos

Gotta be prepared to send those Christmas cards!

N I N E T E E N – Friendsgiving

I’m putting this one on here with every intention of making it work, but I can also say that if there’s anything we don’t accomplish from this list, it’ll be this one.  It is nearly impossible to gather all of my friends at the same time these days because we all have multiple kids in different activities and everyone is just so busy.  However, one of my very best friends is moving away forever this fall and I just want to spend every single possible second with her until she’s gone, so fingers crossed we can make this work.

T W E N T Y – Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

I always end every fall bucket list post with this one and I always will because it is officially the doorway from fall to… Christmastime!!!!

Now let’s get to crossing stuff off of this list!


To link up – just grab our graphic, link upand let’s get to chatting!  Make sure to stop by a few others in the link up for an extra bit of girl chat!


And don’t forget to follow your hosts!

Danielle - Bloglovin / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
Emily - Bloglovin / Instagram / Pinterest 
Lindsay - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
Lizzie - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest
Sierra - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

Happy Thursday, y’all!

*Linking up with Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.