Random Christmas Truths

Since we're getting so close to Christmas, I thought I would share some Christmas truths!

• I love ALL Christmas movies - from the cheesy Hallmark ones to the classics. My favorite classics are It's A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. My favorite silly movie is Elf. I cry in all three, every.single.time (yes, even Elf - don't pretend you don't feel the magic when the sleigh starts flying on Christmas spirit...)
• I love wrapping gifts. I'm a ribbon and bow girl - I take my time wrapping, and rarely use the stickon bows.
• Everything needs to be color coordinated (it's the control freak in me coming out). For the last few years, I've incorporated red, green, gold, and cream. This means that no random color like blue can show up in my decorations or wrapping paper!
• I love Christmas baking.
• I love Christmas music! I seriously listen to it for the ENTIRE month of December, and occasionally in June!
• I love Christmas traditions, and can't wait to start some once we have babies of our own. My favorite growing up was Christmas morning breakfast. After we opened our gifts, my daddy would make us this awesome breakfast while we played with our toys. Then we would all just hang out all day. Many Monopoly games were played on Christmas day over the years.
• I love "love" gifts - homemade gifts. Homemade gloves, food, crafts, jellies, soaps - things like that. Someone offering their time to make me something is so special!
• I love the cranberry-orange combo and pomegranates! They both remind me of Christmas.

What are some of your Christmas favorites?!

Christmas Card Carousel

We're slowing inching towards Christmas - are you ready?!

Although we've done yearly Christmas cards, this is the first year that I was able to talk my husband into we decided together that we would be doing a photo card. I absolutely love how it turned out, and thought I would share it with you in Faith's Christmas Card Carousel!

Join in on the fun and come share yours, too!

O Christmas Tree!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

Thy leaves are so unchanging;

Not only green when summer's here, But also when 'tis cold and drear.

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can'st give me;
How often has the Christmas tree, Afforded me the greatest glee!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!
From base to summit, gay and bright, There's only splendor for the sight.

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
Thou bidst us true and faithful be, And trust in God unchangingly.

Happy Bithday To Me!

Yesterday was my 28th birthday, and I still cannot believe that I'm no longer in my "mid" twenties. Other than that smidge of sadness, it's been a pretty fantastic weekend!

Friday night, Josh and I went to see Wicked. It's the prequel to The Wizard of Oz, but it's about Glenda and the Wicked Witch of the West. It's the story of how each of them came to be. It also explains some of the main characters that you know in TWOO. I've wanted to see it F-O-R-E-V-E-R, and it was, by far, my favorite of the shows that I've seen!! And it changes everything about TWOO!!!! I very highly recommend that you see it if you get the chance.

Wicked was playing in Nashville, so we booked a hotel for the night that was close to TPAC (Tennessee Performing Arts Center). It's called Hotel Indigo, and it is pretty fantastic. It's a modern hotel, and all of the rooms have these giant black and white murals on the wall (look to the left). We'd already plopped down on the bed when I took this - it was more neatly made when we first arrived.

We got there a little early, so after we checked in we walked to Demos for some spaghetti - yummo! After dinner, we went back to the hotel for a pre-show nap (one of the things I appreciate about not having children yet!) and then got all prettied up for the show!

I wish I could have taken some pictures of the performance, but of course there were no cameras allowed. The costumes were just beautiful though!

After the show we went back to the hotel and slept for about ten glorious hours   :-)

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday weekend!

It's Fall Ya'll!

Today when I left work it was 55 degrees. Finally, it feels like fall is here!

Last year I saw a table centerpiece for fall in the Pottery Barn catalog that I fell completely in love with! All of the pieces were ridiculously expensive, so I went to Hobby Lobby to recreate the same look on a budget. I loved it last year, and I love it again this year!!!

I found this plaque of one of my favorite verses, and had to include it. I love seeing it every day!

I also added some pumpkins in the kitchen

Josh surprised me last week with some pumpkin butter, and I've been eating it every chance I get! Seriously, who doesn't love pumpkin butter! I'm pretty much going to spend the next six weeks pumpkin obsessed, so you should prepare yourself for some pumpkin posts in the near future  :-)

Chai Tea Recipe!

Ya'll. YA'LL.

I love chai tea, especially the iced kind! So the other day when I was at home, I got a serious craving for an iced chai, and was really bummed out because we don't have a Starbucks in my town. The closest is half an hour away (THAT, my friends, is tragic)

So I hopped online and scrolled through an insane amount of recipes until I found one that I thought would be good. And it was not only good, it was heaven. You may think that's an exaggeration (whaaaaaaaaaa?! me, exaggerate?! NO!), but I assure you, this is no exaggeration.

Trust me, you need to go to the store immediately, and purchase anything that you don't have so that you can make this! If you like Starbucks Iced Chai Lattes - you'll never buy another! You'll save tons of money making your own equally delish drink, and then you can splurge on Kate Spade (my addiction of choice!)

(I'm not sure if you've noticed all of the parenthesis)

(I *really* love parenthesis)

Ok, onto the recipe! I found it at Big Girls, Small Kitchen.

Iced Chai Tea Latte (1 serving)
6 T Chai Tea Concentrate - recipe follows
1 C milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
Ice

Chai Tea Concentrate
This makes 1.5 cups, enough for 4 lattes

3 T sugar
8 cardamom pods (I only had ground cardamom, so I used about 1/2 t)
1 cinnamon stick, snapped in half
1 slice ginger, peeled
5 whole cloves
4 whole black peppercorns
2 black teabags
1 T honey

Combine all ingredients except the honey in a pot. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower slightly and let simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat  and let steep for 5 minutes. Remove the teabags, squeezing out any liquid from them. Let the spices steep for another 15 minutes. Strain, removing all the spices. Add the honey and stir in. Taste, adding more honey if you like.
Cool completely.

I know that seems like quite a bit of time to devote to tea, but trust me, it's well worth all of the steeping time! After we finished the first batch, I doubled the recipe and made a second, and I've had a glass every day! I'm keeping the concentrate in a mason jar in the fridge.

This is one fantastic recipe!!!

Millie Has A Boyfriend

It appears that our new "kitten" has grown-up and gotten herself a boyfriend. I am sad about this for two reasons:

1) She's obviously no longer a baby
2) She is driving us crazy

A couple of days ago, she was yelling so loudly that Josh got up to see what was going on. That's when we found this:

Meet the boy cat that lives next door:

He has been coming onto the porch every single day, and then meowing until Millie hears him. She races through the house knocking over anything in her path, until she crawls into the blinds and stares lovingly into his eyes for as long as he'll stay. It is nauseating really. When he leaves, she cries like her heart has been completely broken.

Needless to say, after a quick call to the vet, Miss Millie will be getting spayed next Wednesday. No baby kitties for us!

Laundry Room Inspiration

Last week at the hotel in Evans, I was flipping through channels and came across a show on HGTV called Showhouse Showdown. Two designers have identical houses, and it's their job to design the entire house. There was this awkward front space, and I absolutely loved one of the designs. I loved it so much, that I think I may want to steal the paint idea for my laundry room.

I think it's time that I disclosed a secret. My name is Kristen, and I'm a stripe-a-holic (I would like to point out that on the first draft, I actually typed "strip-a-holic", which would have been a bold confession to make on the blog, don't you think?)

Anyhoo, earlier this year I painted my bedroom in stripes, but believe me when I tell you that it is super subtle. It's the same color, just alternating flat and glossy. That reminds me, I really need to take some pictures to post because it's beautiful! The issue is, that I can't find a lamp for my nightstand, and I haven't found curtains, and I haven't hung anything up, so it's still a bit unfinished. I'm hunting for stuff though, and as soon as I finish, I'll definitely show you the final product!

This post is totally not about my bedroom, but I've clearly gone there.

Back to the laundry room. Here's a picture of the entryway:

I love the bold stripes, the colors, all of it! My laundry room is small and narrow, and I loved how the stripes made the space feel so much more spacious! Even though he only did one wall, I think it would be interesting to stripe the entire room, yes? I don't know. Still throwing ideas around. I think Josh thinks it's "too much", but my theory is that I'm in there quite a bit more than he is  :-) 

I would definitely want a rug, maybe like this one from Target:

What do you guys think? Do you like the idea of the stripes?

What's For Dinner?

This week was a super busy week for me. So I wanted nothing more than some comfort food to relax with. Pasta and meatballs sounded AH-mazing, but that didn't seem like a good idea since I'm trying to watch what I eat. So I came up with an alternative, which is equally delicious and comforting!

Chicken Meatballs
2 lbs ground chicken
1/2 cup skim milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 t Oregano
1 t Italian Seasoning
1/2 c minced onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 whole wheat bread crumbs
salt and pepper, to taste

First, preheat the over to 400.

Then, start by putting the chicken into a big bowl. Add all of the ingredients except the onion and garlic.

Finely chop the onion and garlic, and then dry sautee (no oil) them together for about 5 minutes. I wanted a stronger onion flavor, so I only did it long enough for the onions to begin to soften. If you don't want as strong of an onion flavor, you may want to cook them longer.

Add the onion and garlic right into the bowl, and then mix everything together with your hands.

Form meatballs that will fit into a mini muffin pan, and fill!

Cook the meatballs for approximately 20 minutes. I used a meat thermometer, and mine were perfectly done at 19 minutes.

This recipe made 30 meatballs, and a good serving size was 3 a piece. Which meant I had plenty to freeze and serve later!

I'm sure there are plenty of ways to serve these, but like I mentioned, I was going for comfort. I cooked up a very basic tomato sauce recipe and dropped the meatballs in for a minute, then served over some cooked quinoa. D-E-L-I-S-H! And super duper comforting - exactly what I needed.

Home Organization Notebook

Although I've been trying to reign in some of the chaos in my life, I'd never considered any type of organizer before. Then I saw Erin's post on her organizer, followed by Laura's. That was all the convincing that I needed to create something of my own.

Initially, I thought I would make an organizer. After all, creating my own would allow me to put exactly what I needed for my particular home, and would allow me to eliminate those things I didn't need since I'm a total control freak I know what I want. I went to work finding lists and links all over, and bought a binder, and some other staples for my notebook. I've been working on it for a couple of weeks, but I needed some dividers, so off to Target I went. While I was searching for dividers, I came across their planners section, and started flipping through for ideas. That's when I realized that most of them had everything that I needed, but packaged more nicely than my homemade notebook. Unfortunately, there were still a few things I wanted, and I also wanted a pretty one, because I'm a girl and I like pretty things  :-)

Enter Erin Condren. After some researching, I've decided that I'm investing in this rather than making my own as originally planned. Although it's not as specific as my original, I can definitely make it work. There are a few things that I LOVE. I love the special dates page. It will allow me to keep track of birthdays (which is a huge opportunity of mine). There is also a Morning, Day, and Night breakdown that will allow me to not only track meals, but also track chores and blogging. The monthly overview will be used for appointments and other important reminders. The notes section in the back can be used for a few different things, but I'm definitely going to be using it to track Christmas cards and gifts received, which will be super helpful during holiday season!!!! It also comes with stickers, and let's face it, stickers rock!

I haven't ordered it yet (since it's such a recent discovery), but I can't wait to fill it up! Once I get it in, I definitely intend on showing you how it's helping me stay organized!

Super Embarrassing...

You know those SUPER embarrassing moments that you feel like you could, literally, just die. Well, I had one of those today. Actually, about an hour ago.

I should first admit that I have a little confession. I sing and dance around my house almost daily. And by singing and dancing I mean wail at the top of my lungs while incorporating a sad, sad combination of old school dance moves with some occasional twirling. That alone, would be mortifying for anyone to witness. Today was a step beyond though.

So, I got home, took off my work clothes, and then just didn't get dressed. I was kindof hot, so I thought I would just walk around in my undies for awhile. I wanted to take some pictures of my home organization notebook to blog about, and I knew the best place to lay everything out would be the dining room table. Of course I go to the side that's right next to the window, because that's where the best light is. So I'm in the middle of my rendition of "It's Your Life" when I realize that there is a woman watching me.

Oh.Dear.

My neighbors are 80 years old, and they never, ever come outside, EVER. I've also never seen anyone visiting them. Lo and behold, they had a visitor today, who must've spotted me when she got out of her car. My dining room has a bay window, which faces the neighbor's driveway perfectly.

See, it's the window to the right, which, as you can see by the turned out chair, is exactly where I was shaking my booty.

There was really nothing to do at this point. Our eyes met, so there was no doubt she saw my performance. She quickly walked inside (probably to rinse her eyes out with bleach...)

I wasn't even in cute panties! Haha. You know the VS cotton ones that you've had for 3 years that are faded? Yep, that's what I'm sporting today.

I guess I can just be thankful that it was a middle aged woman, and not some hunky mail delivery boy   ;-)

Of course, I didn't go anywhere near that window again, so I didn't get pics of the notebook, but I will take them as soon as I get home from work tomorrow (fully dressed).

Some Things I'm Loving

I love fresh tomatoes from the garden.

I love fresh peaches from my peach tree (which I ate before I could get a picture)

I love our newest addition.

I love that fall is right around the corner! It's my favorite season, which leads right into my favorite holiday (CHRISTMAS!!!!)

I love that my trip to Bowling Green, KY this week should be my last trip of the year for work.

I love sushi night at home with the hubby!

I love my new Home Organization Notebook! I'll be telling you all about that this week!

I love that we got some great pictures from my nephew's second birthday. This little guy melts Aunt Kristen's heart.

What are you loving right now?!

Crazy Weather!

We had some bad storms come through Tennessee yesterday! I spent the day in Atlanta for work, so we drove up yesterday morning, and then came back home yesterday evening. On our way home, it started lightening. I'm not sure if those of you up North experience this or not, but it looked like "heat lightening" (and no, that isn't the technical term...).

It was absolutely beautiful for about half an hour, and we ooohed and ahhed, but then the sky opened up. We hit a wall of water, and stayed in it for a good 20 minutes! Everyone had their hazards on, there were cars pulled over on the side of the highway, and you really couldn't see anything at all. Of course it didn't help that by this time it was dark. Fortunately, I was with 2 of my co-workers, so I didn't have to drive in it.

By the time I got home, it had calmed down a little, but apparently came through again. I was exhausted from 8 hours in the car and 5 hours of working in the middle, so I passed out. But this morning I found out that this was happening only 10 minutes away from me.

This is my cousin's house (hi Jenn!). That's her bedroom underneath the tree. Everyone is okay, but there was plenty of damage. Lots of water poured in after the tree fell, so late last night, they were up trying to clear things out of the rain coming inside. I can imagine that's not very fun at all.

We didn't have any damage at my house, but I know it was windy because our trash cans were in the middle of the back yard this morning. Thank goodness that was the extent of it!

Baby Shower Fun!

I've been busy, busy planning a baby shower for my good friend Vicki. We had it last week, and it all came together beautifully! If you guys are ever hosting anything, you have to check out this site. It's seriously amazing and has so many great ideas! We went with the Mod Monkey theme since the baby's nursery will be decorated in monkeys.

We had the shower at our church, so please excuse the music equipment in the background.

The "M" is for Mom, and Monkey!

Our "trees" - glass cylinders wrapped in scrapbook paper, and topped with a styrofoam ball covered in tissue paper.



Mom-to-be had lots of fun  :-)

Only 9 more weeks until we meet baby Cade!!

Did You Know?

Did you know that it is really difficult to good a good picture of a kitten that doesn't sit still and wants to chew on the camera? Well it is. Very. Difficult.

Meet the newest member of our family - Millie  :-)

She chews on everything, including my fingers.

.

But she is a total snugglebug, too.

I forgot how sweet (and destructive) new kitties are. And funny. Oh so funny.

She wants to sleep on top of us. Literally. I assume it's because we are warm, since neither of us sleeps in a shirt, but she does her very best to cuddle at night. Last night, she draped her entire body across my neck and started purring. After insisting that Josh roll over to witness this cuteness, of course I had to move her. So then she kept trying to cuddle on my chest, but she had a hard time getting comfortable on my...eh hem...hilly bits. She settled for right in between us, stretched out so her front feet were touching me and her back feet were touching Josh.

We have learned a few valuable lessons this week:

• We cannot leap off of the second story balcony onto the tile below (oh yes, she did)
•  We do not play in the litter box
• The clicking that results from my typing on the laptop does not mean that we go insanely crazy and must play,play,play RIGHTNOW
• 4 AM is not when we wake up

Obviously there is much to be learned. She is adjusting well though, and we are completely and totally in love with this 2 pounds of crazy!

Sunday Nonsense

Whoa! Who's been away for awhile!
(raises hand in shame...)

This week my head has been all over the place, so get ready for a post that is all over the place, too.

Tuesday was the most awesome show I've ever been to. Ever. Not in terms of talent (Celine Dion still holds that record for me), but in terms of total fun-ness!!!! (that's so totally a word)

NKOTBSB!!!!

Oh yes, people. I was there.

I cannot even begin to describe the noise level. Nonstop screaming for two and a half hours at a decibel that could shatter glass. I could count on one hand the number of men there. All of the women there were between the ages of 25-40, but that's what made it so fun. Everyone got a night to re-live their teenage years. I went with three of my girlfriends, and we screamed and danced the entire time!

I saw my first episide of Toddlers and Tiaras. It made me a little sad. There were 5 year old girls getting acrylic nails, fake hair extenstions, and tons of makeup. What happened to being a kid?!

We got the quotes from our insurance company for a SOC (super ovulation cycle) and IVF. We've been talking, but still haven't made a firm decision on next steps.

I totally love iced coffee. I'm not a hot coffee drinker, but iced coffee is ahmazing. It rocks my world.

Our dear friends Rachel and Michael got married last night, and had a beautiful wedding! Michael is the same age as my brother Michael, and they have been the best of friends since around 4th grade. He's basically a part of our family, so it was an emotional day. The wedding was outdoors, and it was so beautiful, that there wasn't even really a need for many decorations. There was a wooden bridge over a creek, weeping willow trees, and magnolias in full bloom.

Today has been pretty lazy. We didn't get home till super late, so we slept in, and then Josh had to go to work. I've been camped on the couch watching Say Yes to the Dress. Makes me want to go buy another wedding dress. Ten year vow renewal next year maybe???? :-)

And there you have it. My collection of totally random and unorganized thoughts! Hope you've all had a fantastic weekend!

The Time Where I Spilled Paint On My Head...

Remember how I was painting my bedroom? You know, the very quick project that I started 2 months ago?

*crickets*

Wellllllllllllll, I'm finally finished! And by finished, I mean the painting is finished. The cleaning up part? Notsomuch.

(yes, yes, there will be pictures)

And I didn't finish without a disaster. And by disaster I mean spilling paint on my head. Fun times.

Here's how it went down. Josh and I had a fight slight disagreement last night. It's rare in the Lynch household, but it does happen occasionally. While I was pouting folding some laundry, Josh had been finishing up the last coat of paint. I saw him pick up the roller, and so I assumed that he was finished with the ladder, which I needed. I grabbed the ladder, and (imagine this next part in slow motion) the large container of paint that was sitting on the top of the ladder fell. And by fell, I mean it practically exploded and coated my hair, my face, my entire body, my feet and flip flops, the hardwood floor, the ladder, the bathroom tile, and the legs of my new bed and nightstand. I couldn't make this up people.

Remember that I am already mad, so I do *not* find this even remotely funny. I strip off my clothes and shoes, and wipe what is running off of my face/hair/feet/body, then proceed to spend the next half hour cleaning up the spilled paint naked and muttering very nasty things about the person whose name starts with J that left a container of paint on top of the ladder. Because seriously, who looks at the top of a ladder?! (HELLO I'm fivefootONE)

That was followed by the longest shower in history, where I spent, at minimum, a half an hour scrubbing till I was bright red and the paint was mostly off.

Fast forward two hours. We're in the bedroom, Josh asks me if I can see the mark on the wall, I say that I don't see anything, and he says, "It's probably from all of the paint in your eyes", and we both started laughing. Just like that, our fight was done.

Lazy Saturday

This morning I had big, big plans. I was going to do laundry, work on the flower beds that are ridiculously out of control  in need of just a tiny bit of TLC, decorate my dining room table with something, and cook a wonderful dinner tonight.

It's 4 PM, none of those things have been done, and I am sitting in my pajamas watching Meg Ryan in French Kiss. Clearly, my day has been productive.

I feel slightly less guilty since Josh is asleep on the other couch.

Happy lazy Saturday!

Try It Tuesday - Healthy(er) Cupcakes!

This weekend my mom, her husband, my brother and my nephew came over Sunday afternoon for lunch. I recently discovered that I can roast a chicken marvelously well, so I was anxious to show off my skills! I made a broccoli salad and roasted sweet potatoes to go alongside the chicken. The hold up, however, was what to make for dessert. I didn't want anything heavy; I wanted something that was light and summer-y.

Behold, Orange Pineapple Cupcakes!

Ingredients
1 (18.25 oz) pkg yellow cake mix
4 egg whites
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 (16 oz) can mandarin oranges in juice
1 (3.5) box instant vanilla pudding
1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapples in juice
1 (12 oz) container fat free Cool Whip

Instructions
Mix cake, eggs, applesauce and oranges.
Beat on high about 6 minutes (This is a very important step - it will double your batter)
Fill cupcake liners 90% full
Bake 15(ish) minutes at 325 degrees, or until cake is done.
Let cool.
Mix pudding and pineapple with juice, fold in a large tub of whipped topping.
Top cake with this.
NOTES: Refrigerate.

A couple of things. Normally when making cupcakes, you only fill the liners half full or three fourths of the way full. That's what I did with the first batch, and that's when I learned that these cupcakes barely rise at all. This was what the first batch looked like:

The second batch, I filled the liners to here:

PERFECT!

These cupcakes got great reviews from my family, and Josh and I have been eating on them for a couple of days now! They are absolutely DELISH!

Memorial Day Fun in Pictures!

We hung out at my dad's house today. We headed to the lake on the boat, and my nephew Aiden loved it! Of course I had to get some pictures  :-)

This one makes me laugh. My sweet Aiden will be 2 next month so he is finally developing a little attitude. I was trying to get a picture and I told him to say "cheese". He scowled at me instead!

My brother and Aiden on the boat.

Me and the honey!

Aiden after an unexpected BIG splash

Helping Poppy (my daddy) drive the boat

4 out of 5 pics are of the baby. Can you tell that his Aunt Kristen is absolutely in LOVE with him?! That sweet little boy melts my heart!

Hope you all had a wonderful day, too!!!!!