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!