Friday Favorites!!!

1) Raleigh - We started our Christmas vacation off in Raleigh this year. We drove down last Friday  after work. We only worked half a day, so we were hoping to get to Raleigh around 6. 6 turned into 9 really quick. We hit some horrible traffic! We definitely expected some, but we still underestimated. We had dinner plans that we ended up canceling. We stayed with Anna and John for 2 nights and we had a great time. We caught up, exchanged gifts, went to a basketball game, went out for dinner, and went out with friends. All the while, Bailey got to play with Carter! They were really good together, as always :-).

2) NC State Basketball - We got cheap tickets to the basketball game vs St. Bonaventure last Saturday. I've never had seats so far up in the arena, but they weren't nearly as bad as I expected. We could actually see really well. We had a good game, especially CJ Leslie, and we had a great time. It's always nice to go back to visit. 

3) Dinner with Friends - We drove to Josh's mom's house Sunday morning. We caught up with her for a bit, then met some friends for dinner. We went to Carolina Ale house and enjoyed catching up. We hadn't seen Dan in well over a year I think. Time really flies!

4) Day with Natalia - We kept Natalia for the day on Christmas Eve. I tried to get her to stay the night with us, but she wasn't up for it. She changed her mind around 9:00 that night, but I told her it was too late and that we would just pick her up in the morning. 

First, we went to Josh's mom's. I gave Natalia one of her gifts early and Bailey helped her open it. She got a travel, Hello Kitty version of Connect 4. We taught her how to play and played it with her a few times.

Then she played Old MacDonald for us.  

Next, we went Bowling. Of course Josh won, but we still had fun too!

We played a few arcade games. She kicked my butt at this one.

Hunting with Uncle Josh.

After bowling, we got milkshakes and went back to Josh's mom's. Josh tried to teach her how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She wasn't interested.

After playing Connect 4 and playing the piano a little more, Natalia helped wrap Bailey's Christmas gifts.

Then, we had to take her to get ready for Santa. I would say we had a successful day :-).

5) Christmas Day - We had a wonderful Christmas day. We had 3 houses to visit, and we did it in a different order this year. It worked out so much better! We did Josh's mom's first. She cooked breakfast, then everyone opened gifts. Bailey LOVES wrapping paper. 

She got a couple toys from Nana that she absolutely loves.

Then we went outside for our nephew to get his big gift. 

After playing outside for a bit, we came back in to clean up. Bailey got to play a little more first though.

Next, we dropped Bailey off at my sister's house and went to Josh's Aunt Gayle's house. We got to stay there a little longer than we usually do since my sister lives right down the road from her house now. It makes life so much easier!

We went back to my sister'shouse after a few hours. None of us were hungry just yet, so we did gifts before dinner. I didn't take very many pictures.

Natalia got a LeapPad 2.

Josh and I got a custom made NC State chest, money and gift cards. I'll have to take a picture of the chest and post it at some point.

We finally had dinner a little later. We usually do the same foods for Christmas as we do for Thanksgiving. We mixed it up a little this year and had a cranberry pork loin and beef bourguignon. YUM! 

We had a very busy, but still great day. We got to spend a good amount of time with everyone, which is a nice change. 

6) Short Week - We only worked Thursday and Friday this week. It was really tough to get up early and go to work after having so many days off to sleep in. 

Early Christmas

We open our gifts together before we go to NC to celebrate with family. It's not very traditional, but it's just not worth it to pack all our gifts, drive them down, then drive them back up here. We usually do it the day or so before we leave. This year we decided to do things a little different. We opened our gifts on Sunday! We thought it would be a good idea since we wouldn't have to rush and this week is already busy for us. 

We had a great time! We let Bailey open one first so she would be occupied while we opened ours. 

It's a puzzle. She has to move the red part first, then lift the yellow parts to get the treats that are inside. Bailey prefers to move the red part then turn the whole thing over. Sneaky girl.

 We like to try to guess what's in the box before we open gifts. Josh guessed fishing gear. (Notice Russell Wilson in the background. Haha.)

Bailey wanted to help Daddy open his gifts. 

It was a Dremel tool!

I got a few kitchen gadgets, some of my favorites!

Next, it was time for Josh to work on his big gift. I wish I would have taken pictures of this part, but of course, I forgot. Josh's guess for this one was a gun. I would have loved to have gotten him a gun, but that's something we'll pick out together. Haha. He had to go through 5 boxes to get to this one! He got a new iPod Touch!

Then, it was time for me to open my big gift. I wish I could remember what I guessed, but it was something off the wall. It was a box filled with random things from around the house and this note...

I went to the half bath and found...

SCORE! I was SO excited! I've been wanting one of these forever and I definitely didn't expect one this year. Josh was super sneaky. He bought it when we went shopping on Black Friday. It was in the trunk the entire time we were in NC (of course, I wasn't allowed to look in there). He has been asking me for ideas since then, so I thought he just got something small and still needed to get something else. He even had me change our Amazon account so he would get e-mails when something was ordered rather than me. It has been hiding in the garage this entire time. He didn't wrap it because I would have guessed what it was as soon as I saw the size of the box.

Next, it was time for stockings. I had some more kitchen gadgets in mine. Josh had a fishing lure and some accessories for his Dremel tool.

Bailey had a Wubba!

Friday Favorites!

1) Christmas in VA - This past Saturday, we went to VA to have Christmas with Josh's grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive for us, so we just made it a day trip. We boarded Bailey since we knew it would be a long day. We left our house around 12. Once we got there and caught up a little, we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch. We went back to Josh's grandparent's house after lunch to catch up and exchange gifts. We had a great time with everyone! Josh's grandparents are the only grandparents I have left yet, so I really enjoy the time we spend with them.

2) Giving Back - We started doing the giving tree at church last year. We did it again this year and we delivered our gifts to church Sunday morning. We chose 2 names off the tree, one boy and one girl. For each child, we buy a toy item and a clothing item. We also brought some items in for the homeless for our church's winter relief. 

Camp Bow Wow does something similar to the giving tree this time of year as well. You don't take a name off the tree, but an item. Then you bring it back and they donate it to local shelters. I took a couple items off the tree there as well. All of our items have been delivered and I feel so good about it. 

God has blessed us in so many ways, so I like to give back since we are able. I like to feel like we are making a positive change in the world, even if it is a very small one :-). 

3) Errands - I don't love running errands, but I feel so good once they're done! Since Bailey was boarding, we were able to run errands right after church Sunday. We ended up going to the late service since we got home so late Saturday night, so we had a much later start than I had planned. Other than a couple last minute gifts I had to order online, we finished our Christmas shopping and went out for a lunch date.

4) Early Christmas - I'm SO glad we decided to open our gifts over the weekend. This week has been ridiculously busy. If we would have waited like last year, we would have had to rush through opening gifts between taking Bailey out, cooking dinner and packing. Having it Sunday allowed us to take our time and have a good meal as well. I'm thinking we might make this a tradition, at least until we have kids. I think we'll make some major changes about how we spend our holidays then. 

5) Going to NC - We're leaving after work to go to NC until Wednesday morning! I'm really excited to get away for a bit and spend some time with friends and family!

December Bark Box!

This month's Bark Box came in earlier in the week. Bailey was very excited to get it! I cut the packing tape and let her do the rest...

I'm pretty excited about this box. It has something for both of us :-).

The breakdown:

First, Bailey's favorite...the moose toy from Simplyfido.com.

 It's a little different than other squeaker toys we have tried in that the arms and legs move through the animal. This makes it harder for Bailey to rip them off! It's only been a few days, but that's longer than most stuffed toys last around here.

Next, Puppy Cake, dog friendly cake mix!

 I'm really excited about this! I've been wanting to bake a cake for Bailey for quite some time, but I haven't been able to find a recipe I wanted to make. This is red velvet, how much better does it get?!? I haven't made the cake yet, but it seems pretty easy.

Holiday Feast treats from Bocce's Bakery.

Bailey hasn't tried these yet, but they sound yummy. The combination of chicken, pumpkin, cranberries and cinnamon is the perfect doggy version of a holiday dinner! Bocce's has lots of interesting treat flavors like Truffle Mac n Cheese and Beef Bourguinon. YUM! They're a bit on the pricey side, so this may be the only time Bailey gets to try them!

A 2 oz. sample bottle of Fresh Dog Oatmeal Shampoo.

I saved Bailey's least favorite for last. Giving Bailey a bath is probably the worse thing you can do to her. She hates them with a passion. It is not an enjoyable process, but I enjoy a dog that smells good. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but this shampoo smells amazing!

Simply Fido Moose Toy: $12.99 

Puppy Cake: $6.99

Fresh Dog Oatmeal Shampoo: $11.99/17 oz bottle (so about $1.41 for the sample bottle)

Bocce's Bakery Treats: $9.50
Total Value: $ 30.89

Was this box worth the $10 I paid for it? Absolutely! Was it worth the $17 I would pay if I did another 6 month subscription? I'm not sure since I wouldn't pay some of these prices for the items. 

Christmas Decorations!

I've been meaning to post this for quite a while, but life has been so busy. 

 Our Tree! I decided to go a little more rustic with it this year. I saw a picture on Pinterest with gifts wrapped in craft paper, and I just fell in love. I decided to use the craft paper and one type of regular wrapping paper. I made all the bows that are under the tree (except one, for one of my gifts Josh has wrapped). I had a co-worker make the bow that is on top of the tree for me. I like it, but it didn't turn out quite the way I pictured. I do like it, but since it's not wired, it doesn't hold its shape the way I would like it to. I bought the material to make another one with tails, but I haven't had time to get it together!

 I have several birds in the tree. Some are in nests, and some are like this one. I love the way they look in the tree.

 I have lots of these little birdhouses throughout the tree. I found a small tree at Goodwill and I bought it for the decorations that were on it. It came with at least 10 or so of these birdhouses and just as many birds in nests. Completely worth the $10 I paid for the tree!

 This is one of my favorite fabrics I bought for bows. That is actually my present. Josh wrapped it and I but the bow on the box. I wonder what is in there...

 I made a few knot bows like this one.

 I found these cute reindeer at Michael's. 

 We don't have a fireplace, so this is where we hand our stockings. I hope to make burlap stockings for next year. 

Friday Favorites!!!

1) Holiday Party - Last Friday, we had our company holiday party. It started with cocktail hour (this is the part I had to work for, but I still had a great time). During our cocktail hour, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award ceremony was going on in a different part of the hotel. Josh and another friend decided to go check it out. They got a chance to meet Collin Klein and hold the award. He was super excited, which made me super excited! After cocktail hour, we had a delicious dinner, followed by prizes and dancing. We had a great time with some great friends! 

2) Christmas Decorations - I didn't get everything up that I would have liked this year, but I still love what we have. I bought the supplies to make so much more stuff, but I just ran out of time. I may put a tiny bit more up on Sunday if I'm feeling up to it, but it almost seems pointless since we'll be leaving to go to NC on Friday.

3) Basketball Tickets - We finally got around to buying tickets to the basketball game we'll be going to while we're home for Christmas! The tickets are already here. We got them pretty cheap, which is even better. 

4) Another loan down - We paid off another loan this week!!! Now, we just have 1 more to go. That one should be taken care of in January!

5) Retirement Planning - We're stepping it up with our 401Ks big time next year. I've been contributing very little so far, and Josh has only been contributing a little more than me. Since our interest bearing debt (except the house, which is long from being paid off, and the car, which has an interest rate lower than inflation) will be gone, we've decided to max out our 401Ks for next year. This is an easy decision for Josh, but it's a bit tougher for me. It's hard for me to put away that much money that I can't touch for over 30 years! Even though it's hard for me to not put that money toward something more immediate, like saving for a vacation, a second car or our next home, I still feel good that we are planning for our future. 

Friday Favorites!!!

1) It's Friday!!! - Obviously, but I'm SO glad for Friday to finally be here. It's been an extremely busy and particularly stressful week at work. I do pretty well under pressure, but there comes a point where you just need a break. That time is now. Hopefully, I will get to work a half day or at least leave a little early so I can get ready for our Holiday party! I will also be working part of the time while we're there, but I know I'll still have a blast.

2) Overtime - I mentioned that work has been very busy. Being busy with deadlines means lots of hours. While that has left me exhausted, that means overtime. Lots of overtime=a great paycheck. A great paycheck=one step closer to being debt free. Debt free=happy me!

3) Last Friday - Last week was a busy week at work as well. Josh had a basketball game and I worked on wrapping gifts after taking Bailey out to play. I love wrapping gifts! I bought a bow maker this year and it has made it even more fun (but also much more time consuming). After that, we were just lazy. We had pizza for dinner and watched a movie. Such a relaxing night and the perfect way to wind down after a long week.

4) To - Do List Checks - Last Saturday, we checked off a few things on our to-do list that we have been putting off way too long. I shampooed the carpet in the dining room and caught up on laundry and some cleaning. It looks SO much better and I actually didn't mind it at all. Vacuuming is kind of therapeutic to me, and shampooing is very similar. Josh painted an area on the front of our house that has needed it for quite a while and caulked around our front door. The paint looks great and the caulking is keeping bad things out. Yay for taking preventative measures! Haha. 

The not so good about Saturday...we were going to go to the shooting range then out for dinner after getting so much done. We took Bailey out to play before we left. We had her on her lead and it wrapped around Josh's ankle. He sprained it and got pretty bad rope burn. We decided to put off the date so Josh could ice his ankle. 

We made the most out of a bad situation though. I made sesame chicken for us after helping Josh get settled. Then I wrapped gifts while we watched a Christmas movie!

5) Sunday - Last Sunday, we went to church for the first time in months. I'm glad we made ourselves get up and get ready. After we came home and played with Bailey a little, we went to Annapolis for lunch. I got a crab dip stuffed burger and Josh got Rockfish with crab risotto. They were both amazing and I'll have to try to make that crab risotto sometime! YUM!

The rest of the week really was a blur. I had a productive week at work and a pretty lazy week at home, until last night. We got caught up on some cleaning and got to bed pretty early.