[love] "It's The Holiday Season!" Recap

"and Santa Claus has got a toy for every good girl and good little boy..."

Gotta love Christmas music (and I am SO sad it is off the radio)!

Nate and I had a wonderful Christmas holiday! We spent a week out of town driving back and forth between Dallas (my family) and Tyler (his family), which are both about 4 hours from our house. It was a wonderful week catching up with friends, family, playing games, shopping, staying up very late, and eating delicious food!

Nate and I also celebrated our birthdays! Our birthdays are four days apart with Christmas Eve and Christmas in between, so it is a c-r-a-z-y five days, in all, for the celebrations! But we wouldn't have it any other way... although fingers crossed we have a baby in a month other than December! Of course, we would be fine with it- but you know what I am saying.

Here are some (er, a million) pictures from our wonderful holiday, celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior! Welcome to our world, baby Jesus!

Road trip! Chloe in her pajamas. Yep, we're those dog owners.

Oliver in his Santa suit!

The pups being introduced to Clara, our three month old niece! Adorable.

They matched in plaid! So cute. Love that big ol' bow!

She's such a good baby. Doesn't mind being passed around!

We built a gingerbread house with our nephew (4 year old), Wyatt! So fun!

Look at that face!

Okay, if you know our pups, you know this picture is impossible. They are both laying down, being still and quiet, amidst the chaos of opening gifts. Wow. We were so proud!

Nate with his grandparents!

Nate and his brother being goofy, laughing about a gift.

The wholeeee gang (from Nate's mom's side): love them and I am so blessed to have married into a wonderful group of people who love one another and put Christ first in their families. So blessed!

Family photo op!

Now to Dallas: a WHITE CHRISTMAS! Forgive my hair, Yikes. Thanks snowy wind.

 

My hair is under control once inside. Geez. And the pups are modeling their new sweaters that Santa left them at my parents' house!

 

The pups experiencing snow! Chloe saw/played in snow three years ago, but this was Oliver's first time (at least with us: we adopted him when he was 8 months old) in snow!

 

Opening, in my mom's' words, "little gifts" because our big gift IS A CRUISE IN APRIL!!! YEAAHHH! So excited! But they cheated and got us presents anyways: we had agreed no presents so we could all save $$$ for the cruise! Sneaky folks.

Birthday time! Me with my best friend, Emily, at Benihana, the birthday tradition for mine and Nate's birthdays every year. YUM. I know it's a chain restaurant, but seriously their filet mignon is amazing.

Us with our daddy's (mine sitting by me, hers sitting by her). We took a picture with our mom's too, but it came out all blurry. Ugh. Love this picture of the four of us though!

Back at my parents house for cookie cake (another tradition for mine and Nate's birthdays)! Emily is back with us, along with Scott & Sam, the newlyweds, and mine and Nate's best friends! Scott is a youth minister, so he and Nate share the ministry bond. Sam and I love to craft/create together and share ministry wife stories with one another. We treasure their friendship! If only they didn't live four hours away! 

So these pictures aren't in order... but look at me with my honey! He's so cute!

And back at the house... best friends!

Make a wish: Happy Birthday to us!

Love us! And Nate and Emily like each other, I promise.

Before we left town, my mom's family came over for chili and a game night. After all the aunts/uncles left, my cousins stayed and we played Boggle! Nate and I had never played: we all had a blast and stayed up until after 1am! Love nights like that with family and friends!

Are you still reading? A million pictures, I know! We had a wonderful time. Love when we are able to get together with family and friends! So how was your holiday? Busy? Travel plans? Do tell.

Happy weekend!

 "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14

[dwell] The Laundry Room...

Yep... a post about our laundry room, I know you are all sitting on the edge of your seats...

So Nate and I have this deal worked out in our marriage. He does ALL of the dishes, and I mean all of them. I can count on one hand the number of times I have done a load of dishes in the 3.5 years we have been married. Isn't he amazing?! In turn, I do ALL the laundry. Sorting, washing, drying, folding, hanging, etc. Nate has nothing to do with any of the clothing, bedding, or towel situations in our house. I mean, he will help me. But he doesn't have to because it's not his job. I know I am so blessed because in some households, the wife has to do everything: dishes AND laundry included, so know that I know how lucky I am!

Anyways, since my "domain" for chores is the laundry room, it would be really sweet if it was a nice, orderly, organized, place to get things done. Our laundry room is connected to our master bedroom, and it is huge! However, there is a catch to our laundry room. It is also our storage space... you know, things that would normally go in a garage... Yep, it's all in our laundry room. Tools. Gardening equipment. Holiday decorations. All of it.

The woman who we purchased our house from decided to turn the garage into a fourth bedroom. It's a beautiful room but we reaaaallyyy miss our garage. As you can see from above, it is a bit of an eye sore to have all that junk up in there along with the washer and dryer.

Eventually, we want to have closed-cabinetry storage where floor-to-ceiling closets can house all of this... crap. Sorry, but that's what it is! But since I do the laundry way more often that we use any of that stuff, I want to revamp that side of the room first. Here are some ideas via Pinterest (source linked at the bottom of each picture: let me know if it is incorrect and/or does not work) that I would love to incorporate into our space!

A huge sink to give the dogs a bath... yes sir!

 

Source: houzz.com via Chrissy on Pinterest

Cabinets and a shelf directly above the washer/dryer. And some art would be nice too!

Source: gusandlula.com via Chrissy on Pinterest

Another example of cabinetry and shelving.

Source: tipjunkie.com via Chrissy on Pinterest

I like this option because it is what I REALLY want: a rod for hanging clothes to dry! I'm having to use rods in our closet and it isn't the best solution.

Source: by159w.bay159.mail.live.com via Chrissy on Pinterest

Look at all of this organization! Stocked up dish washing detergent, extra towels, paper towels, soaps, you name it! Beautiful.

 Source: 123freegiftscardsforu.com via Chrissy on Pinterest

So tell me. Do any of you have a deluxe laundry room? Not that laundry is the most glamorous of jobs, but I would love some more storage solutions and organization in there! Who is with me?

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10