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!

m.i.a.

i've been m.i.a. for a week now ... as exciting and wonderful as the holidays were, we've had a lot of catching up to do. i have many, many posts about november birthdays, thanksgiving, and our fabulous Christmas tree find - but real life has interrupted. decorating my home for Christmas, present and grocery shopping, allergies, and just plain exhaustion ruined my plans for extreme blogging last night.

this is just a side note, but, after a saturday trip to the allen outlets, i don't plan on going shopping in public until after the 25th. can't handle it.

shopping online for the next month will include: comfy pajamas, my pups, and coffee in hand!

i'll finish up the great month of november with a few things i'm loving right now:

-this precious wreath i plan to make asap and hang in my dining room

-the new anthro in the university shopping center in ft. worth.

love.it.

-this iphone case

-referring to my new "niece"

-having half of my Christmas gifts ordered/purchased

if you know me, you know i'm not really in to having them all bought before the month of december

-this candle

started burning it two days ago!

-decorating with rosemary

southern living style

-this dress (thanks rachel zoe). we have a wedding on january 1st... think mr. b would spring for it?
get real. it's definitely not in this normal girl's (or her hubby's) budget

-my new Christmas cd.
that's right... i'm obsessed

-Christmas has arrived in abilene! mr. b and i are looking forward to celebrating a new "tradition" with great friends tonight with dinner downtown and the Christmas parade!

we'll be missing our sweet jeffrey's...

hope you and yours have a wonderful last day of november!

it's a...!

this is one of the most exciting blog posts that i’ve gotten to post so far. i’ve been waiting for a few months, and i’m thrilled to announce that…

i’m going to be an aunt!

and…

it’s a girl!

my precious sister and brother in law, rebecca and ryan, are expecting! this is an exciting time in anyone’s life but i feel especially grateful – little baby hunter is the first for the belcher/hunter households (as well as my own side of the family). i’ve been praying for a little niece or nephew for quite sometime and we are all so thrilled about this new addition.

little munchkin will make her way into the world early april. there is no doubt in my mind that many future posts will include sweet little baby girl items, including this pug that i absolutely had to get a few months ago. if you know rebecca, her two loves (other than ryan) are max and mia, the pugs.

i have to admit, i wrote this post 4 days early (before we knew baby's gender) in anticipation…

i'm so excited!

we're traveling east tomorrow. love to all. have a happy thanksgiving!



give thanks

in honor of the approaching thanksgiving holiday, i thought i would do a little post on the things that i am thankful for…

first and foremost, i'm so thankful for reminders that God is always with us... the beautiful blessings within our lives are because of Him!   

i'm thankful for my husband… and pretty much every thing about him.

except when he tries to floss in bed.  :)

the “i’m thankful for my husband because…” post could be a post of it’s own...

i'm thankful for family

i am thankful for the unconditional love that we receive from our families. they are all very precious to both of us and they let us know daily how much we are loved.

also very thankful for online shopping. i live in abilene, 'nuff said.

i'm thankful for my job and my sweet, sweet coworkers and volunteers.

these ladies are SO fun! love.them.

i'm thankful for my charlie and bailey.

i love these little monkeys…

i'm thankful for friendship!

i’m so blessed by these gals!

and this one...

 i miss you!

and I'm thankful for these gals (including the new little pumpkin in the middle!)

i'm also very thankful for God's protection and comfort in our little home!




these are just a few very important things that i am so grateful for; i'm sure i've overlooked some! hope your week of thanks is filled with many blessings, family, friends and yummy food!

happy saturday!

hope your weekend is off to a great start. mr. b and i plan to get down our Christmas items from the attic and i couldn't be more thrilled!

also, we're planning on a real tree this year. any abilineans know of a great place to buy? i would love to cut down our own...

we played bunco on wednesday night at julianna's. the theme was crazy hats. i kinda looked like a hobo.

i'll leave you with this pic:

haha, it was such a fun night.

hope yours is a wonderful, richly blessed weekend!

california part 4

okay, i promise. this is my final post on california. on the second to last day, we traveled along the russian river to the coast. we ended up in the small town of jenner.

this was our view...

balcony view...

this was my awful attempt at self photography. i setup a ghetto makeshift tripod and this is what came out:

the color and angle are awful but i guess it works!

on our last day, we drove through bodega. i love this church -  it's called St. Theresa's. it was the one from the alfred hitchcock film, the birds! 

we toured and tasted at a few more wineries in the russian river valley.

this amazing landscape was from arista winery.

this fun pup belonged to porter creek.

great pinot noir by the way... 

isn't God great? we spent a lot of time reflecting on the beauty that is His!

we had a fabulous trip! i'm so thankful for my sweet husband, and all of the rest and relaxation that we received during this great vacation.

happy tuesday; hope you have a wonderful week!

california part 3

on saturday, we visited sonoma...

which we loved...

buena vista was another favorite. it was tucked away in sonoma.

the trees were huge!

we finished up the day at korbel.

hope you had a fabulous weekend!