Visiting California {Christmas}

OK, I better get on with the posting of our California trip. We spent Christmas Eve at Mitch's parents house. See, this is them in their Harley Davidson sweaters we bought them!!!


And you totally can't see the sweaters that good. Oh well! Mitch made them pose for a pic in them, it was sooo cute!

So back to my story. Remember I spent the ENTIRE day wrapping presents and finishing my Christmas cards! Fun!!! Connie made a YUMMY Roast beef dinner. Then me and Mitcheal went to bed in the trailer where we stayed!

I like staying in the trailer. It has privacy. The only sucky thing is that the water wasn't tuned on. So when I had to pee I had to either sneak inside {and risk waking them up in the middle of the night... ummm, no NOT me!} or go pee in a cup. Hahaha. Guess which one I did! Yeppers, I peed in a cup! It wasn't so bad. I do it at the doctors office, and every time I take one of those {many many many} darn pregnancy tests.

Christmas morning more of the family came over, and Connie made breakfast. Plus we had lots of yummy Mimosas, like we do every year!

Then we opened presents!!!

I got a couple pictures of Travis on his little Harley Davidson bike! He even got some gloves, which I helped him put on!



Check out Dennis {my father in law} and Travis making silly faces for the camera!


I really like these pictures of me and Mitch with little Travis. Connie was trying to sneak in a picture of us three snuggling on the couch, but she couldn't figure out how to use the camera. So I had to get up and show her. We ended up with more posed pictures instead, but they still remind me of the sweet moment.



After a while we left for Jackson to have Christmas dinner at my sister Danetta's house. Here is a quick pic of her and her hubby Jordan.


Once again everyone was there but Laura. You'd think I only had two little sisters from all the pictures.

Here is little Sami getting herself some Turkey!


Everyone was starved except me! I was still stuffed from our HUGE breakfast at Connie's.

Izaiah decided he wanted some Christmas dinner too! Uncle Mitchy was more than happy to share his with him.



He is a little cutie pie! I wish I could spend more time with the little booger!


ADORABLE
So, we hung out for a while with the family. I believe there was a fight between me and Sami {what can I say, we are sisters and when we get together and *don't* fight it is simply AMAZING} I stormed out, and was promptly "carried" back inside to say goodbye by Mitcheal. Everyone thought that was VERY funny!

Afterward, Mommy, Josh, Mitch and me went to the Main Event bar for a couple drinks {mine were water, cause I was the designated driver} and dancing! Remember???

Then we dropped Mommy and Josh off, and went back to our *cozy* little trailer for out last night in California! :o)

Pretty Makeup Brush Roll

I told you all I'd be sharing pictures of this pretty makeup brush roll I made for my littlest sissy.

Last year I bought her a set of makeup brushes for Christmas. So in my attempt at a handmade Christmas this year, I decided to make her a roll case to hold her brushes.

Of course I got sooooo busy before Christmas, and Chumba ruined her first present I made, so she had to wait until now to get this {I just made it a couple days ago} but I promised her a handmade present, and I keep my promises!

So here it is!!!



I used my brushes as props for the pictures! :o)


I think I want to make me one now. Maybe not exactly the same, but my makeup brushes would love a brand new pretty home!


So I think Sami will like it!

Hope all you fellow bloggylanders have a HAPPY day!

Lapel Pins Anyone???

My fellow blogger and SITSta Courtney is volunteering at the 2009 Special Olympic World Winter Games along with her husband Nate.

They are collecting lapel pins to give away to the athletes during the games {the athletes love trading and collecting pins from others who are at the games} and they want to have enough to give at least one to each of their delegation's athletes. She went out to purchase the pins, but it turned out the be a bit costly! So she is trying to get the word out to see if anyone has any pins that are "just stuffed away in a drawer" that they might want to donate???

I know I had a handful! And I am sooooo glad they will be going toward something GREAT like this, instead of just sitting in my jewelry box!

If any of you have any pins you might want to part with, or would like to donate to their cause go visit her!!! :o)

Click here to read her post {she explains it sooo much better!}

Thanks bunches for taking the time to read this! Have a happy Thursday night!

Altered Manicure Lap Desk

I bought this Manicure Lap Desk from Pottery Barn Teen a few years back. I totally love it! It is way girlie, and a perfect spot to keep my nail polish and to do my nails!

The only problem was that the top had gotten ugly from me and my sisters spilling nail polish on it. The nail polish took off the cream colored paint, and it looked icky!

So I decided to decoupage the top with some pretty matching paper! Voila!

Here is the Before picture...



And here is the beautiful after shot...

And I know you were dying to see inside! :o)

So here you go!!!



It was super easy to do! And even Mitch thinks it is a HUGE improvement.He seriously thinks I should decoupage EVERYTHING! Kitchen cabinets anyone???

Anywho, I have another project I finished {a pretty makeup brush roll that I made for my sister} but I'll save that for another post! And I taught myself how to knit, so when I finish my scarf I'm making I'll share pictures.

Here are a few more pretty pictures to admire!




Hope everyone out there in bloggyland is having a fabulous day! Thanks for your sweet comments on my previous post! They mean a lot! :o)

Updates and Bloggy Awards

Life happens whether you want it to or not!

I've had a bit of both lately.

First we will get the bad news outta the way. I had another miscarriage. I am OK. I was 5 weeks along, and had just found out I was pregnant a week before I lost the baby. Although I "knew" for a couple of weeks.

It was not as hard as my fist miscarriage that happened at 12 weeks. But it is FAR more frustrating.

My doctor wanted me to come in a talk about possible testing. But I am moving {that's the good news I'll get to in a minute} and will be switching doctors. So I told him I wanted to try one more time before I go down that road.

He says that is fine, as long as I think I can emotionally handle the possibility of another miscarriage.

So we try again!

**********

OK, onto the good news that I did want to happen!!!

We are moving! Yep yep yeppers! We have been waiting for months {ever since Mitch got his job in Sparks} to move to the Reno, Sparks area.

Right now Mitch commutes an hour to work each day. Yeah S.U.C.K.Y.

So, I looked at tons of rentals online, and found a few we liked, but only ONE we really liked and really could afford!

We went a couple weeks ago and looked at the place in person. And we REALLY liked it even more! So we put in an application and waited.

And waited. And waited. Then we had to call them, and ask if we were approved. We were! Someone was supposed to call us and tell us, but they forgot.

We went yesterday, and paid our deposits, and signed the lease. Yay yay yay!!! We move in on February 9th. We are both soooooo happy to be moving out of our townhouse.


And into our new {unattached and bigger} house!


This is the picture from the listing, once we move in I will take more pictures, of course! It is a 1550 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom house. The backyard is much bigger for our little Chummers. And the person who lived there before left a nice swing set. Dylan will LOVE that when he visits!

So if I'm not around much for the next few weeks, it's because I am cleaning and packing, and moving in!!!

**********

Before I go, I wanted to share my two awards I got this past week!!!

First off Stephanie gave me another award! Because as she says "I am the only ONLY only one who understands her right now...really...I do!"

I totally feel the same way about Stephanie!!! She wants to be a mommy as badly as me. We become instant friends through some difficult shared experiences. I am soooooooo glad I have her to talk to!

The BEAUTIFUL Award



I also got an award from Dee! She says "I am a HOOT and so creative!" Totally sweet of her! I used to be on an eBay design team with Dee. She is quite creative herself!!! I left the Making Lemonade Design Team because I have so much other stuff going on in my life, and wasn't able to contribute anymore! But I still keep in touch with some of the girls, they are a great group of paper artists!

The Marie Antoinette Award


There are rules and I am totally supposed to pass these awards on to other people. But I really really need to start packing. And Mitch is gonna want dinner. I just don't have the time today!

But I REALLY do appreciate these awards, both girls who gave them to me are sweethearts! Thank You sooooooo much!!! :o)

Visiting California {Hanging with the Fam}

Our first day in California I visited my family! We hung out at Netta's house.

First Netta made me open my present... it was a birthday and Christmas present, and since it was the 23rd, which falls between the two days, I got to open it early.

Of course we had to take a picture, and little Dylan held my present for me {he tried to open it for me too} hehee!


See! Here is "our" present! The toaster from our Target wedding registry!

I woulda taken a real life picture.... but my sisters Laura and Sami were visiting all weekend, and my kitchen is a BIG MESS!!!

I love my Mommy!


And my 3 baby sisters!

Laura Ysaura {who wasn't there, so no picture}

Danetta Marie {Netta}


and {Sami} Samantha Dawn.


Dylan loves the camera! Little goofball! :o)


He insisted we take a picture of him with each of us.

Dylan and Sami {his Mommy}


a close up with Aunt Kimmy {meeeeeee}


and a cute pic on Aunty Netta's lap.


He also likes to "take" pictures! Josh got him a camera for Christmas!

Check out our jeans and boots!!!


Netta was goofing around! Her and her little baby Izaiah are too freakin' cute!


I had to do some last minute shopping {remember I didn't wrap anything until Christmas Eve!}

So the girlies went with me! In the Christmas section of Wal-Mart, they all put on Christmas hats {Netta's couldn't find one she liked, so she threw on this tree, lol.}


Apparently we are really really LOUD when we are together! Poor Mommy was exhausted after being with us 3 ALL day long! Good thing Laura wasn't there too! We woulda been outta control, {plus when you get all 4 of us sisters together, we tend to fight, A LOT} haha!

Anyways, the day was fun! We didn't do anything toooo exciting! Just lotsa talking and lounging around "together"!!!

I love days like this! Spending time with the ones you love is great! I miss my family!

Visiting California {The Drive There}

I totally need to share my California trip here in bloggyland before it becomes ancient history!

Do you like how I call it my "California trip" instead of "Christmas"??? Hehehe.

There are more pics of family and fun, than of actual Christmas, so I think it is {quite} appropriate! :o)

Soooooo, for my first post of a few, I have pictures I took on the {looooong} drive over. OK, so it wasn't a "forever and ever, never ending" drive, but, it was MUCH longer than the usual 3 hours, due to the snow falling heavily from the sky!!!

To start off I have my backseat passengers number one and two. My little sister Sami and her honey buns Justin. I am the most awesomest sister for picking them up the night before {in bad weather I might add... GO ME!}


Of course they had to share the backseat with our little pain in the butt puppy Chummers. He kept trying to climb in the front with me and Mitcheal, but I'd have NONE of that!!!

He likes road trips, especially the pretending to have to go potty so he can get out and sniff the "new" surroundings for as long as he possibly can!

Oh, and sticking his head out the window, no matter how cold it is, FUN TIMES!


Here's my sweetie pie! I am so VERY very glad he drove. He is a VERY good snow driver! I love that about him. ♥


Let me just say this, I love where I live now. It's not big city, but it's city enough for me with all the shopping and well, shopping nearby.

But I also grew to LOVE the mountains, despite my initial dislike for them {come on, what would you expect form a 16 year old, bored outta her mind???}

Check out ALLLLLL the trees! And snow! I had to take this picture to capture exactly what the weather was like! {By the way, "The drive home" post will have TONS and TONS of scenery pictures. It was so pretty, I just couldn't help myself.}


Do you really know me??? Well, if you do, then you know how very girlie and in LOVE with shoes I am!!! Someday I'll show you my closet, and my fabulously organized perfectly matching boxes and boxes of shoes!

These shoes are NOT very pretty. But they are comfy, and good for a road trip, although, once I got out {for Chumba's sake, and to keep guard for Sami while she peed} I thought that my snow boots would have been better suited for walking in the wet snow.

I survived though! :o)


And finally, we have MEEEEE! And of course I had to take my favorite car mirror pic! No trip of mine would be complete without it!


We finally made it to California! And boy was I sick of being in that car!!!

Be sure to come back soon for some FUN with my mommy, sisters and their little ones!

I LOVE you Mitcheal Young!!!

Dear Mitcheal,

Yesterday was our "we've been dating 8 years" anniversary. And I wanted to tell you how much I ♥ you.

You know the way you *always* make me smile no matter how furiously angry I am with you.. I HATE it when your doing it, but I love that you're the only one who can.

I ♥ your sweet smile, and your pretty greenish blue eyes that look at me with more love and adoration than I ever thought possible {I really love being sooooo adored.}

Thank you for our first dance as husband and wife, even it it was 3 months late and at the Main Event Bar on Christmas night with Mommy and Josh... it wouldn't be us if it wasn't a little different than *normal*..... I LOVED THAT NIGHT!!! It was perfect! ;o)


I love that you don't care one little bit what other people think, you are completely you!

Thank you for letting me be completely me too! Even when you think I'm totally insane! I love you so much for trying to make all my dreams come true! You are amazing!!!!!


You are going to be the worlds best Daddy! It is amazing to look back through the years and see how much you have changed... I love that I got to be there to witness all those changes, they were all for the better.

You have grown up a lot from that 19 year old boy that stole my heart.

I love that I am your first love.

Thank you for becoming a grown up with me! And for being so willing to grow old with me too! We both know you'll be taking care of me and my broken old lady body years form now! Hahaha!


Thank you for saying "I Do" and becoming my husband!

You make me SOOOOOO happy Mitch!

I am so glad I am the lucky girl that gets to spend the rest of my life with you!

I love you

Jiggety Jigg is giving away a FABULOUS prize!

This is a FABULOUS camera strap cover!!!

Admit it, you LOVE it! OK, well I LOVE it! And I have a chance to win it! And you can win one like it too! Just go here to pick your favorite! Then go over to Jiggety Jigg and enter Jenni's very first bloggy giveaway for your chance to win!

p.s. Wanna increase your chance of winning???? Go visit SITS, cause they are giving away one of these fabulous camera straps too!!! They're popular today!!! Must be cause they are so dang cute!

This one's for you Amber!

Hehehe, did I get your attention Amber?

So, you asked me about the presents I wrapped for Christmas, they were nothing extraordinary. Just different!

I started with a piece of wrapping paper that was large enough to go all the way around the gift. Then I folded it over the gift, leaving 3 open sides. I stitched together 2 of the open sides, then stuck the gift inside, and stitched up the last side.

I had to be very careful with the delicate wrapping paper... I'd seen a tutorial for this, using kraft paper, click here to read it. But I couldn't find any, so I decided to try it with wrapping paper. It was fabulous for wrapping oddly shaped gift... without needing boxes.

Plus it made it *really* easy for the kids to open the presents, without the hassle of tape, they were able to really just RIP them open! :o)

Here is a picture of my nephew Travis {I have two nephews named Travis, this is Mitch's sisters son} opening his present! It's not the best picture... I was too busy to take a {good} picture of the presents like I usually would have! Wish I had now though!

Anyways, I thought this was the best way to answer your question! Hope the picture, and link to the post where I got the idea helped!!!

About time I shared these {Christmas Cards}

Good golly.... I have been SICK! On Christmas my little nephew Izaiah was sick, well, he got my hubby Mitcheal sick, and then Mitch got ME sick! UGHHH. I've been in bed for days. But... I am finally feeling a bit better.

And since we are a whole 7 days into the New Year already, I thought I better get on with this Christmas sharing stuff I never got around to. So I'm starting with my Christmas cards!

Remember I was using all these pretty pink papers? Well, here is the finished product!

I didn't finish my cards until Christmas Eve, hehehe. I just got so busy with all the projects I was doing! I finished them at my mother in laws house, and handed them out to everyone on Christmas Day. Which was kinda cool, because I got to watch everyone open them.

Yeah, do they look hard to open to you? Well, several of my in-laws had a hard time getting them open. It was quite funny to watch them. They couldn't figure out that you slide the first part off them pull the picture out. They kept trying to rip the paper, lol!

Oh, and one more thing while I'm on a similar subject.... I machine sewed my presents shut. No tape, no scissors. It was different, but turned out cute! The presents looked like little pillows.

Well, after I was done and put everything under the tree, my father in law looks at the presents, and says "wow, check out that wrapping paper, it's so different, how did you do that?"

And after some coaxing, we figured out that he thought I'd woven the paper on my sewing machine!

Yep.... too funny!!! I used "non-traditional" wrapping paper, he'd never seen it in those colors and patterns. So he thought I'd been in the other room making it! LOL!

We were dying with laughter as we explained that I'd just sewn the packages shut, nothing more! And couldn't resist teasing him Christmas morning as we were opening the presents!

So, I decided that next Christmas I'm gonna have to REALLY wow him with my wrapping job! :o)