and this Christmas...

...will be, a very-merry Christmas.

And that it was. I love Christmas. A lot. And didn't mind one bit that we had four of them this year. We spend Christmas Eve making memories with my husband's wonderful family. Christmas Day it was my family's turn, and we hosted! Matt and I both really love hosting, and realized after the day was over that we are going to need a larger dwelling place in order to continue doing so comfortably. Especially with Baby on the way :)

We all know that with Christmas, comes gifts. Giving and receiving. And I know everyone loves to do both. But I really LOVE giving. The spending time searching for just the right thing, or making just the right thing, is so fun for me every year. I also LOVE wrapping gifts... but that's a whole other blog post.

 
This year my mom wanted to do something special with her gift giving. My parents divorced this past year, and she wanted to make sure we got a few of the things that made our house a home for the many years we were all under the same roof. The gifts brought back memories for all of us, and some tears as we realized this meant the house would never be the same. But it really made for a good Christmas.

 My hubby also got me some really awesome things... Seriously. The pictures probably don't do justice, but know this. I was so blessed this year by his thoughtfulness. And hope everyone had those feelings while precious time was spent with loved ones.

Here's to a million more!

love & fur,
e.

ponders and presents

It's quiet around here right now. Granted, I don't have kids or a noisy dog, and the hubster is out. But I feel like it's not only quiet in my house- the physical. It's quiet in my heart. In the heavens. I have been so heavily burdened by the news of such small lives being taken today. And feel those "motherly" tugs every time something more comes on the news.

Let us not forget these and their families in our thoughts and prayers.

On a bit of a brighter note, promised.joy is still partnering with E & co. for the remainder of this Holiday Season! And we (both Emily and myself) have been loving all the traffic in my shop and hers! It is so refreshing to see people going beyond themselves this Christmas :)

I've got some joyous goodies like this in the shop:

(link)

(link)

(link)

and here are a few beauties you can find on the E & co. website:

My personal fav- Sunny Day Rudraksha (link)

Cinnamon Spice (link)

Christmas Eve (link)

Stop by {both} and check out what we've got! Remember- 10% of each sale from my shop is going straight to E & co. And I know you want to see them receive a large sum. You can't even lie about it...

love & I believe in Santa,
e.

Time: slow down

How is it already Tuesday? Is it just me, or are the days passing so quickly? Someone, make it stop!

This Thanksgiving I hosted for the first time ever. However, I did not make everything. We have a tiny kitchen and 2.4 other Thanksgiving dinners to attend each year- making it nearly impossible for me to make it all. So everyone pitched in- and it was delish!

I spent Saturday and Sunday with my mom and sister in Sioux Falls. We did some thrifting and eating out. We watched movies and ate junk and drank lots of egg nog. These are my favorite things during the Holidays. The easy, timeless, family-centered things. I have a lot to be thankful for.

love & be merry,
e.

Happy Halloween!

I have a friend. Her name is Katie. But we might as well refer to her as Halloween Costume Fanatic Extraordinaire. She is really quite brilliant when it comes to coming up with group Halloween costume ideas. Usually it's the four of us. We've been friends since high school and we always love getting together to dress up. But as we get older, we move away, get married, go back to school, etc. and it's not as easy to do. Here's a look at some of my past years Halloween extravaganzas!

The year we were Trolls. We didn't really want to look naked (that's not very flattering...) So we went with themed trolls. Those existed too.

Then we were Lawn Gnomes. Seriously. Hilarious. My beard looks so real- just sayin'.

I also like to dress up just to hand out candy. This was an "I already have all the stuff (which also means I was meant to really be this in real life) in my closet" costume. Gypsy.

And remember when I dressed up just to go to opening night of The Hunger Games?! Ok, so that wasn't Halloween. But you get my point.

We start candy festivities this evening, and I still have no idea what I will dress up as... What are you going to be for Halloween? Also, how can they charge so much for a bag of candy?! It's absurd!

love & kit-kats,
e.

America the Beautiful: worth celebrating

I wouldn't call myself patriotic. I'm never really up on anything political- and until recently never really cared. This 4th of July, however, it really hit me how much I take our freedoms for granted. I've decided that I don't want to be that way anymore. Taking my freedoms for granted, I mean. There are people all over our world literally dying every single day fighting for freedoms I've never been without. Thank you, Lord for the realization and help me to be thankful of them every day.

O beautiful for spacious skies.

 For amber waves of grain.

For purple mountains majesties.

 

Above the fruited plains!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee.

And crown thy good with brotherhood.

From sea to shining sea.

hope you had a great fourth and enjoyed a peek at mine :)

Here Comes the Jackpot Question in Advance:

{What did you do on New Year's Eve?}

I had a couple dates- which was very new for me. It's been years, I truly believe, since I've even stayed up to see the ball drop- let alone see it through with friends and family. This year, I did just that. Matt and I had a surprise birthday/New Year's party at our dear family friends', the Iwerks. They have a really big family. Really. Big. So there was tons of food and laughing and memories and catching up. It was fun. Really. Fun.










As you can see in the picture with all the shoes; there were a lot of people there. I loved it. I love large gatherings where you can tell people love each other and love getting together. Thanks! Iwerks' for letting us be a part of the celebration!!

We also spent a small amount of time with a few of my close girlfriends playing a hilarious board game called "What's Yours Like?" A card is picked for everyone except whose turn it is to see. Each card has an item that most people have (i.e. desk, favorite fruit, silverware drawer, etc.) You must give a single clue to what yours is like... and that person tries to guess what's on the card with the fewest amount of clues. Ok. That was a basically the rule book... So hopefully you got it. It was fun :) Lots of laughing there too. And who doesn't want to ring in the new year with laughing?

And the best part of my new year's eve? I didn't have to wonder whose arms would be holding me good and tight when it was exactly twelve o'clock that night :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree

It's Matt and I's first Christmas married! And I am SO excited to spend this most wonderful time of the year with him! We recently went out to find our Christmas Tree.

Growing up, this event was a favorite. We would go get the tree. Let it fall for a day. Then, in the evening we would fill up on delicious appetizers and treats, listen to Harry Connick Jr.'s Holiday album and drink eggnog. Bring out the ornaments and get to work! My parents always bought us a new ornament- every year- so we always have a lot to get on the tree.





This year, it was just Matt and I. We went to pick out a tree. And it was still SO fun for me! I still LOVE this tradition. It ended up falling into a funny, straggly-looking thing, but I think it's the best tree ever! And boy is it FULL of ornaments!



How lovely are your branches!