obsessed...

with this...

 i have ALWAYS wanted a poster bed but our ceilings are not tall enough and our "master" is too small. when i was home this weekend, i opened my mama's issue of southern living and about died.

i want it all; the fabric, the monogrammed pillow, canopy and gorgeous settee.

thank you, southern living, for encouraging me to redo my bedroom (of only 3 1/2 years).

i also don't believe it would be a-go with mr. b, so i can only hope for it someday.

i had never heard of heather chadduck until now, but i'm officially obsessed with her.

r & r

i had intended on catching up on my blogging a few days ago but instead spent several days baking, cooking, cleaning and passing out heading to bed early. the holidays can be so exhausting! sadly, i forgot to document the majority of the weekend, but mr. b caught random snapshots like this one with the new camera...

a few things that made my Christmas vacation a little brighter include:

spending a relaxing time off with my man

homemade pup treats from bailey & charlie to all of the "cousins" 

and of course, these guys...

this was just too funny - bailey likes to hang out under a blanket when it's cold...

by the way, i didn't get a picture, but this sugar cookie recipe is wonderful! both families enjoyed them all weekend long.

they didn't look this perfect, but you get the drift!

hope you and yours had a merry Christmas!

Christmas wishes!

sweet sharon albright at redbud designs did our Christmas card this year... i am beyond happy with her work! little mama jess used her for june's birth announcements so i thought we'd try her out as well. sharon was so sweet, easy to work with and went above and beyond to get us what we wanted! she provided exactly what i had in mind at a great price!

ta-da!

make sure you check out her designs, she's fabulous!

these are a few of my favorite things...

i've been fighting a sore throat and cough with all of the recent west texas weather changes... blah, it makes for a crummy friday on the couch. in between netflix movies, i decided to put together a list of a few of my favorite things - if i was asking for Christmas gifts.
since i decided on the canon rebel for Christmas this year, it is my ultimate Christmas gift. but, because i think that every gal needs a super fantastic wish list, just for fun, i’ve created my own.

so these are a few of my favorite things…

photoshop & a tutorial 

new running shoes for the 5k mr. b persuaded me to do in february…
i’m realllllly not a runner

this ring
i think it would be fun to collect a few!

a swell ruana

i can really see myself wearing it here (also on the wish list)

the new vegetarian cooking light cookbook

a funky strap for my new camera


a new year's sequin gown like the one that rita hayworth wore

maybe in navy,

or black,

and this one is super fun 

the end. time for a snooze. hope you have a pleasant weekend!

let's say thanks

i received an email a few weeks ago entitled, Let’s Say Thanks. it is an opportunity to say “thank you” and Merry Christmas to our soldiers overseas. it’s really easy and super fast… just visit www.LetsSayThanks.com and pick out a thank you card. xerox will print it and send it to a soldier currently serving in iraq. I did one from mr. b and myself and it took just a few minutes.

it’s a great way to express our appreciation and hopefully make someone’s day a little brighter.

crafty christmas

i've been trying really hard to be crafty lately by making my own wreaths over the past few months. first, i made this little gem for the fall...

and i've almost completed this one for my dining room:

as you can see, i need to finish the inside of the wreath. there is also quite a bit of straw wreath showing on the outside rim.

and these are coffee filters. such an easy, great idea for a different look! go here to see how to make it.

hope you're having a happy monday! i've got mr. b enjoying the mariah carey Christmas special so my evening is beyond delightful!

dear alma mater

my parents came in this weekend for the hardin simmons physical therapy graduation dinner. my step-father, dwight, was the guest speaker at the event. he spoke at mr. b's graduation dinner 2 years ago.

i'm so proud of all that mr. b has accomplished. he's been a working boy at hendrick for almost two years and has learned so much! time flies so quickly...

i, along with a few of my fabulous, conflict destructing classmates, "officially" graduated this weekend. i skipped out on regalia and walking, though.

sister in law brought this home for me

i would have gotten to sit by my sweet friend diana!

congrats to all of my sweet friends that graduated this weekend! i'm so proud of your hard work and achievements!

also, thanks mom and dwight for spending an extra night in abilene. we enjoyed you both so much!

it's the most wonderful time of the year...

finally finished decorating our tree last week...

we're enjoying our living tree & it's yummy Christmas-y scent.

we also opted for fresh garland...

thanks, eddie ross

photo from southern living

ours is a little more like this:

and this,

and i love it!
i think i'll display our Christmas cards along the garland...

also, i'm taking my wrapping paper back to the basics... love the kraft paper and red wrapping from pb:

and this wrapping and gift tags from jones design company

love this time of year! very busy, but oh so fun!

birthday blessings

i apologize in advance for another lengthy post, but this one is very important.
the month of november was a whirlwind. between our vacation, the holiday and multiple birthdays, it flew by very quickly!

three very special women in my life were born in the month of november.

november 2nd is melissa's birthday

awesome scanned photo from freshman acu sing song haha

melle turned 27 this year. i'm a bad friend and totally missed it because we were leaving for our trip. sorry, love. happy (belated) birthday and thank you for being you!



next, my little sis turned 25 on nov. 25! happy birthday, k. so glad we were there to spend it with you!

kaleigh is the little monkey on the left

happy birthday sis! i'm thankful for

your honesty,

your sweet heart,

that you follow my blog :),

your cooking (i know kevin is too!),

your ability to keep me focused (and help me remember things),

your love and dedication to your family,

your relationship with kevin,

the fact that we don't have to share clothes anymore (haha)

your love for Jesus

i love you and i'm so proud of you.

happy birthday, kk.

finally, we celebrated my mom's birthday. it was on sunday, november 28th.

 my mom is such an amazing woman. she has a great faith that i learn from daily; she's strong, honest (thats where kaleigh gets it from!), supportive, and possesses an unconditional love for each of her children. i am beyond thankful to have been raised by her and my father; she continued to be the best mom, even after he passed away.

she has become more like a close friend as i've gotten older, but i still rely on her for all of her expert, motherly advice. often, mr. b and i talk about how God 'chose' our parents for us, and how lucky we are that they were the ones we were blessed with. i hope and pray that someday i can be the fabulous, Godly mother that i was given.

happy birthday, mom! i love you! 

new tradition

we have started a new tradition with our pals in abilene... last year, we all got together, enjoyed dinner downtown, and watched the annual christmas parade together. we enjoyed it so much, we thought we'd do it again.

sorry boys, you didn't make the post

please ignore my light purple, springy shirt. i know it's winter...

 last year:

this year:

this year, fab abb replaced momma jess - wish we could have had our 5th little friend for the photo op. next year, you'll all have to come back and take pictures with us downtown!

o Christmas tree, o Christmas tree...

while in east texas...

 we went to a little Christmas tree farm

it was the same place that we bought trees from during my childhood!

we found a suitable perfect tree...

and mr. b cut it down himself!

he really didn't want his photo taken :)

more pics of our finished Christmas tree soon!