It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas

...It's no surprise that I LOVE Christmas!  On top of loving to decorate for all seasons, Christmas is my favorite.  Last weekend, I finished everything except for our tree - which we will pick out and decorate this weekend! 

Love this little guy in our bedroom <3

Love the black tree in the craft room!  Perfect back-drop for all of the crafting that's happened lately



The Christmas mantle!  This year I put my beautiful Christmas village on the mantle and instead of stocking hangers, we did cup-hooks - I'm in love!!

 

Happy Thanksgiving 2k12

Yesterday was such an amazing Thanksgiving!  As Josh Groban sings, "There's so much to be Thankful for"


On Wendesday night, instead of Annabeth & Ashley coming over for our traditional baking session, we just ordered pizza, shared Brewsters and watched a movie.  Fortunately, there wasn't too much I had to make and prepare for the two meals we were attending the next day.  It was so nice & relaxing :)

I had extremely high hopes of sleeping in on Thursday, but my body decided 6:30 was a perfect time to be awake.  Ugh.  Anywho, I took advantage of the time by myself allowing Daniel to sleep, and I worked out.  I have never exercised the day of Thanksgiving, and I'm glad I did.  It made the massive amounts of food on my plate seem not so bad!  We had Daniel's family at Grandma Stella & Buddy's at 1pm and my sister hosted my family at 5pm.  We all really enjoyed spending time with our families, and most important - we have a new addition to Thanksgiving this year!  This was Abby's first Thanksgiving, and we just love our little turkey.  She has brought so much joy into our family, and we are so thankful for that.  Here are just a few little memories of our day, and obviously they all include our little Abby Cadabby:



Gobble, gobble



Abby enjoying her first Thanksgiving dinner

 

Thanksgiving is a day that everyone sits back and really evaluates the blessings in their lives - this year is no different.  This past year has brought so many new situations to us - an incredible niece, the loss of a job & starting a new one, working hard together to make our house a home, and making our marriage the absolute best it can be to prepare for now and the future.  We have a home, health, great families, jobs that provide, and so much love.  I hope this spirit of Thanksgiving carries throughout the year.

Daniel went out Black Friday shopping late last night.  I woke up this morning to this-

A very long, very sweet "Happy Thanksgiving & I Love You" letter with a set of 10 Honora pearl bracelets!

I have been eyeing these pearls by Honora for years - ever since we gave it to Annabeth as a HS graduation gift.  I noticed they were on a huge Black Friday deal at Kohls for less than half the price at Fink's.  Now, I'm sure they quality is much less, but beautiful nonetheless.  Daniel went out before midnight to stand in line (#1 at Kohls) to get me a "you're beautiful" gift.

Right now we love listening to the new Matchbox 20 album.  And to quote "I'm gonna be there always" - that's how I feel right now.  No matter what happens - good or bad - we are going to be there for each other always.  It may not always be easy, or pretty, or fun - but we have each other and that's what counts.  We have come a long way in the eight and a half years we've been together, and we both know this will last forever. 

Thank you to my amazing husband - not only for this act of love that means so much, but for being there and for loving me all the time and constantly challenging me to be a better person.  I'm so in love with you, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what's in store for us!  PS

A Very Thanksgiving Weekend

Wow, what a fabulous weekend! 
On Friday - Daniel and I went out to dinner with our neighbors to Howlett's.  The plans were very last minute, and we were able to purchase a Groupon last minute, and we really enjoyed ourselves.  The food was good - the company was even better.

Now onto Saturday - our Chesterfest 2012 Friendsgiving.  The good food-even better company continued.  I spent the morning cooking/prepping, the afternoon watching Hokie football, and about 4pm everyone started arriving.  We had a total of 16 1/2 (Abby was the half!) - and it was so much fun.  I'm looking forward to this being an annual tradition.  After dinner, Daniel got busy with the firepit - and we enjoyed S'mores and lots of laughs!

Sunday was the Trevillian Thanksgiving at my parents house.  It's the first Thanksgiving we've had since my grandma passed away, so we had to do things a little bit different.  My parents offered to host Thanksgiving, which means Kelly & I are volunteered to help.  I think that's the best part - spending time with family and helping to host a fun meal.  There were lots of little feet running and crawling around, and it's amazing how that family just grows and grows.  33 Trevillians in attendance total - my mom surely was exhausted!  Daniel & I finished off our amazing weekend with the perfect night - Dexter & snacks in bed.  I woke up this morning feeling blessed beyond measure - and Thanksgiving hasn't even arrived!

P.S. on a fun note - Abby's latest trick is to bark like a dog.  Isn't that just the cutest!?  I'm sure it gets old for Kelly & Derek, but I really enjoy it haha :)

Kitchen Backsplash

So back a few months ago when we had to paint out living room & kitchen (because they are one big room), I had ambitions of doing a backsplash. You see, the crazy previous owners did really strange things, but had good intentions (I think?). For instance, they installed beadsboard in the breakfast nook and around the kitchen sink/bar area. It looks good. The bad? They installed the same beadsboard behind the counters and stove as a "backsplash". I mean really, who does that? It is so strange. Anywho, I decided it would look much better as a tiled backsplash. We purchased about 12-15 12x12 pre-patterned tiled squares. With the help of my family, we finally picked one we liked! Now fast forward a few months - I decided we need to get this done. Daniel informed me he didn't want to have anything to do with this project because the other beadsboard "looks perfectly fine". So, I called my ever-so-faithful Momma, and she agreed to jump right in and help! She looked up "how-to's" and printed out instructions, and we took a deep breath.

Before

About to start! We had to say a few prayers first

working hard "icing the cake"

look at that! we did it! tile is up - before grout

So we are at the point where the tile is up on the wall, and it needs to cure at least 24 hours before we grout. My mom is coming back with her work clothes on in the morning, so we can tackle the last step of the project. It looks so much better, and I'm so proud of where we've gotten. Can't wait to show you the finished product!

..... and here is the finished product folks

love, love, love!

What an improvement, right? And here's some even better news - the total cost!
$35 - tiles PLUS
$72 - supplies EQUALS
$107 - can you believe that!? This gorgeous transformation was a measley $100. Woop woop!

Happy Birthday Banner

I just love my Silhouette.  I love all of the fun things I can make with it.  I also love when others ask me to make them something - and how both of our ideas can make something so gorgeous.  Here is the latest banner I did for Kendall at work - her daughter, Chandler, turned one!

Happy Birthday Chandler - pretty in pink

"I'm One!"

 And what was the best part of the whole banner???

The best glue-dot helper ever!  Thanks, Daniel! xoxo [yep, this is a first]

Give Thanks

If you know me, you know that I must decorate for every season.  As soon as Halloween was over - the scary spiders came down, and autumn was in full swing.  Here's a peek at the new Thanksgiving mantle.  I LOVE my mantle and how versatile it can be!

Give Thanks <3

RVA2NY

I work for a really fabulous agency.  Earlier this week, we had a producer who lives in NY and was currently in Richmond say - hey guys, instead of taking a flight home, why don't we rent a Uhaul and fill it with donations, and I'll take that home.  Well, that one small suggestion literally exploded.  There was a facebook page and flyers and some quick thinking on a core group of people.  The result is incredible.

I asked our family and friends and was able to fill up my trunk -

full trunk!  so thankful for our family and friends

Penske (our client) donated the truck - and I spent much of the day helping sort & box

That truck is FULL!

.... so what happens when you have a full truck and tons of additional items?  you get a donated TRACTOR TRAILER!  RVA2NJ - up next! 

My faith in humanity has been restored.  It's been a long couple of weeks, and this is just what the doctor ordered.  It was fabulous to get away from my desk and do some good.  I'm proud to work for a company that cares so much about its community - and those in need.

Improving the yard

I think I've said it no less than 20 times, we had strange owners that lived in this house before us.  We have been doing lots of work inside, and we had to take some time to focus on the yard.  I have always loved hydrangeas, and have wanted to replace some ugly basic green bushes that are unruly with beautiful hydrangeas.  Lucky for me, our next door neighbors have them in their front - and our back door neighbors have them in their back, so I figured they would thrive in our front.  We set to work removing the existing bushes (hard work!) and planting our new "endless summer" hydrangeas.

before with those unruly bushes

working REAL hard to get bush #1 out

tada!  after much hard work, we got bush #1 out, and planted the first hydrangea (and pansies!)

I came home from work and was surprised with the second hydrangea planted!  Thank you Daniel, you are amazing.

Here is our first bloom!

Key West - paradise

Our beautiful friend, Wanda Bear, is turning 50.  Woo hoo!  What better way to celebrate then spend time in Key West?? 

We had a BLAST! I decided at the last minute, literally, how unusual for me? We arrived in paradise - where it is HOT and HUMID! We stayed at a beautiful resort called the Parrot Key. It was originally built to be condos, but for whatever reason was turned into a hotel. We had a beautiful room that had a backyard full of sand, right on the water. Gorgeous. We ate breakfast every morning at the bagel shop we could walk to, and frequented the Walgreens right next door (for junk food and sodas!). The first night we spent on a pub crawl - so much fun.  Lots of laughing and drinking.  We spent lots of time relaxing, shopping, and eating delicious food. 



Our beautiful "backyard" - paradise!

before the pub crawl - fun night :)

Jimmy Buffet's recording studio

typical - looks like we are back in college, glad nothing has changed!

xoxoxo

Robin TRYING to blow into a conch with our fabulous tour guide

Group shot with our tour guide.... and a couple of random people

The famous Sloppy Joe's Bar - Robin spent all of her money on margs here ;)

Madison Square

roommates

The "Southernmost Point" of the US!

my view from pool #1

these things are EVERYWHERE!  just strutting around cock-a-doodle-dooing

A HUGE thank you goes out to Robin & WB for making this trip possible for me.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for a fabulous time with awesome memories!

What's new?

I've been procrastinating on blogging since I didn't know what to do about the photo space issue.  So here's a fun update...

Key West was AMAZING!  Since I have lots of pictures and fun stories, I'll save that for its very own blog post.

Derek had a birthday - we celebrated by surprising him with an early-morning Krispy Kreme run with this cutie. 

"Daddy is under my spell"

He ended up not feeling well for our Cap Ale dinner date, so we post-poned that two weeks.  Happy 31, Derek!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love the agency I work for?  Let's start by playing this song.  Remember Lifehouse?  From high school days?  Yep.  They came and played a four-song concert for our agency.  How cool is that?  They did a fabulous job.  What a nice perk :)

Because it's you, and me, and all other people - and I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you.

Abby tried little cereal bites for the first time.  It may take a few more tries...

gag

We hunkered down for the "storm of the century" - Hurricane Sandy.  It was a category 1 storm combined with a noreaster.  Huge.  The agency closed at 12pm on Monday, and reopened late on Tuesday.  Fortunately, we had very minimal wind & rain.  Unfortunately, more northern states like NJ and NY were hit so very hard.  The damage is unreal.  From horrendous flooding to fires that took out whole communities and not to mention the wind damage - it is a good reminder of how blessed we are.  We came out unscathed on that one.

unreal the size and strength of this storm.

Our Hurricane Sandy dinner - breakfast and alcohol! :)

We had a fun Halloween! It was a beautiful crisp night, so we had a firepit in the culdesac with our neighbors. Everyone - even the trick-or-treaters seemed to enjoy it - so hopefully it will be an annual thing. Maybe we can be more prepared this time - with hotdogs, smores, and apple cider! Our favorite trick-or-treater was the cutest little zebra! 

Yep - this little diva had TWO costumes! 

Daniel & I have spent LOTS of quality time in the yard pulling out bushes and planting hydrangeas.  We also cleaned up a record-breaking amount of acorns, and I planted four crape myrtles by myself!  Pictures to come!  I also spent some time decorating for Thanksgiving (while listening to Christmas music, of course) - here's my "give thanks" mantle!