New Blog Design by Priceless Design Studio!

Thanks so much for visiting my new blog design by Priceless Design Studio! We went with a modern layout, using minimal graphics, blocks of fresh color, and clean lines. This is the color paletter we selected from Design Seeds:

Image source: http://design-seeds.com/index.php/home/entry/crafted-hues

Put Down Your Drink and Blow Out the Candles..

Well my friends, today marks my 21st birthday! We went out to dinner with Dad last night, and he got me a cake! :) Tonight the husband and I are going to dinner, low key is the way we like it :)

Our Christmas Recap!

We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve because my Dad was going out of town the next day! :p

We got Dad the first and second Home Alone movies!

And a blue-ray player too! 

The Husband got a movie, a video game, and a coupon book from Datevitation!  He's also getting an iphone 5 this weekend :p 

I got candy (of course), a Bath and Body Works gift card, and my favorite, a Sea Shepherd replica ship!
I am pretty dang excited to put it on my desk! Dad also got us gift cards because he rocks :)
I also got a passport holder because my mom and stepdad are taking the husband, me, my little sister, little brother, and his girlfriend on a cruise in March! 

The three of us went out to dinner Christmas Eve, love my Dad :) 

After dinner The Husband and I went to his Grandparents' house to see his Mom's side of the family.
Next year, we're going to be spending Christmas with his Dad and step-mom, I'm excited! 

We got both of our little sisters socks and nail polish, simple but fun! 

My little sister opening her's on Christmas morning at my Mom's. Miss her lots and lots! 

Our Christmas dinner! 

Merry Christmas From Us to You!

Last year for Christmas Cards we just sent out a wedding picture because we had just gotten married.

This year though, we decided to take some Christmas pictures while we were out of town for Thanksgiving.  My little sister took them, and they turned out pretty great :) Here's what we sent out this year:

(I took out some personal stuff I don't really want around on the internet, like where we work..)

{click to enlarge}
Year in Review Newsletter from: Polkaprints Etsy Shop

Christmas Photo Inspiration 

And just for fun, here are some behind the scene photos!

And my lovely little sister..

I hope you all have a great Christmas!! :) 

"Tangled Lights" Cupcakes

This weekend we had Tanner's little brother and sister over for a sleepover! The Husband and I pre-made some of these chocolate cupcakes because we wanted to decorate with the kids :) The best thing about these cupcakes, sloppy is better :P Super easy to do with kids because it does not have to be perfect! 

I still haven't found a frosting I'm super crazy about, I am really picky. So we just did the easy thing, and bought frosting ;) Then we used a hand mixer to incorporate the icing color into the frosting.. I would have liked for it to be a little darker, but it's okay :) And then we used round sprinkles for our "lights"! 

And our "bite in the cupcake" makes its usual appearance ;) 

Inspiration: iambaker.net

Here Comes the Baby

Emi Jean

Born November 26th at 11:50 pm.

8 lbs. 3 oz. 

20 3/4 inches long. 

Last week my older sister brought this beautiful little girl into the world.

My sister and her Husband live in Seattle, and I don't know when we'll make it up there to meet this precious little one, but soon hopefully. 

I've always really admired my older sister, and I am so happy for her and my brother-in-law! I know they will be amazing parents in every single way. So congratulations you two, and thanks for bringing this wonderful bundle of joy into the world :) 

I cannot wait to see her grow up and spoil her with gifts, ALL.the.time. 

Sunday night we even got this little photo of Emi wearing 

what we bought her and sent the day she was born :)

Oh , those eyes..and that little nose... She's just too cute :) 

Wonderful Weekends: Thanksgiving Edition

My sister's earrings // Watching football on Thanksgiving // Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Christmas Ornaments! :) 

Our cute little Christmas tree.. ;)  and our engagement ornament.. Hopefully will get a cute wedding one this year, last year we waited too long and the ornament place was closed :(

We also bought some Christmas books and a few more Lemax Village buildings! :) Is it weird to shop for our future children even though we won't be having any for at least 7 years? We buy books and Christmas decorations when they're on sale. We usually buy ornaments and stuff like that AFTER Christmas because the sales are awesome. We figure if we buy a little as we go, we'll have a lot for our kids by the time we have them :)

Wonderful Weekends: Birthday Parties and New Beginnings

Saturday: 

Saturday was my little sister-in-law's birthday party. She turned 11 on Friday, so ya know, we're appreciating the days before she hits full teenage-dom. ;)

This is her opening our present... Seriously, her face in the picture on the right, gets me every time. 

The easiest thing to get kids, is money. But I wanted something a little more special, so all I did was get her money in $1 bills, and tied them up. It's so much fun to just give ones, because it always looks like so much more ;) She loved it, and we were really happy she did :) 

I wish I would've gotten a picture of all the different kinds of cupcakes because her mom made some super cute ones :)

 Sunday:

Like our usual Sundays, today was full of watching football and being lazy :P Today was a little bit different though, because tomorrow I start my new job. I know I've mentioned it a little bit, on here & instagram, but I thought I would mention a little more about it. The Husband works at a very large insurance company, and now I work there too! :) It honestly works out so perfectly because we share a car. We are in two different buildings, and down the street from each other, but it will be super easy to have just one car, and will save us a lot of money too ;) I'm not fully sure what my job entails, but I'll know tomorrow. I'm freaking out with anxiety, and I am ready to get my first day over with, but I'm also really excited to get into the routine of working. I'm also on salary, so that means paid time off ;) And I'm off weekends too, I am a very lucky girl :)  I'm going to try as hard as I can to stay on track with my blog schedule, but don't get mad if I miss recipe posts in the next couple weeks ;) 

I have a small obsession with animal USB drives, they are so cute! Office Max has so many of them. I have a turtle, a monkey, and now a penguin! I got this so I don't have to take my laptop to work. Whatever files I need from home, I'll keep on this :) 

These are all the things that will be going in my cubicle :P It looks like a lot, I know. But I like to be prepared, and don't want to have to ask around to get company office supplies, I'd rather just bring my own. And the less I have to carry between home and work, the easier life will be! I even have band-aids and Advil  just because.. I know I will need them at some point ;) 

I needed a cute bag to take to work that would fit my planners inside.. I found this one and they fit perfectly! It was like $30 at Charming Charlie, I love that store, and if you have one by you, I'd definitely check it out :)