A Merry Christmas Season!

Oh I just couldn't resist! If you've read any of my older posts, you must know by now that I kinda sorta enjoy some of these semi-obnoxious quiz questionnaire thingies. -.- And this one is for CHRISTMAS!! :O Ohmystarsitssofluffy!!!! But before I get started...in case you haven't heard, Agnes is the cutest little girl ever. I love her. ♡ Here you go! Meet Agnes! :D



Okay okay okay. Back to the business at hand. Here are some things about Christmas that I love/prefer/whatever. ;) Why do I like these things? Because THEY'RE SO FLUFFFFAAAYY!!! XD

1.) Wrapping Paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper by far. I love getting the variety packs of wrapping paper so it looks like the gifts under the tree are from more than one person. ♡ I like putting big bows with lots of curling ribbon on them too. But I'm not above using a bag for a quick Christmas gift or when I'm just too tired to wrap anymore presents. ;)
2.) Real Tree or Artificial Tree? I love real trees. I have friends who are allergic to them and it makes me sad inside. So I'm thankful that I can enjoy real live Christmas trees and the yummy smell that fills the house for the month!
3.) When do you put your tree up? Well, when I lived at my parents we put the tree up on the first weekend in December, so now that I'm married I can put it up whenever I WANT! :O But I still put it up on the first weekend in December. ;) lol!
4.) When do you take your tree down? When the needles fall off when somebody just walks by. lol! Usually that doesn't happen until after New Years so I'm ok with that.
5.) Do you like egg nog? ::::sigh::::: I do. I love it very very much. And happy day for me: my husband does too! :D ♡
6.) Favorite gift received as a child? Oh mercy, I had so many wonderful gifts from my family. I don't think I have any one gift in particular, but I remember so many years when my parents would sit us down and tell us that they just didn't have enough money to get Christmas presents. We never seemed to mind too much...we were just happy that it was Christmas time! But no matter how terrible it sounded to not get any gifts, they always managed to put something under the tree on Christmas Eve for each and every one of us. Sometimes we just got so wrapped up in our desire to give to each other that we'd even wrap up our own toys in tin foil to give to each other (even though they'd just end up in the same toy box). I'm just glad that no matter what we got for Christmas, we all always understood the true meaning of Christmas, and the true spirit of giving at Christmas time.
7.) Hardest person to buy for? My husband. :-/ The possibilities are endless, but it seems I can never think of something special enough. ♡ I have a couple good ideas this year, but I still wish I could do more. I love this man so much - he deserves the most specialest gifts EVER!! ♡
8.) Easiest person to buy for? My little siblings. :) I know it's way too easy, but they've always been the funnest to buy for too. I remember what I would've LOVED to get as a kid so it makes it that much more fun to treat them to it. :)
9.) Do you have a nativity scene? Nnnnnnooo... :( I need to go find one! I'm a little picky when it comes to nativity scenes though....some of them look a little stwange. :-/ I hope to find one soon though! :)
10.) Mail or email Christmas cards? I emailed a Christmas card when I was single, but I prefer mailing. Which reminds me....I need to start mine soooonnn! :D
11.) Worst gift ever received? Well, I don't like to remember unhappy things, but one year I did receive a basket of chocolate....it didn't seem bad until I started eating the chocolate.....and it tasted like cigarettes. :P gross gross gross. :( But hey, it's the thought that counts, right?? ;)
12.) Favorite Christmas Movie? ACK! Just one??? Okay, I guess I'd have to say "It's A Wonderful Life." It's probably the best of all my favorites. ♡
13.) When do you start shopping for Christmas? Hmmm... Usually around October/November. :)
14.) Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Maybe once or twice, but I can't remember a specific instance..
15.) Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? CHOCOLATE!!! And my new favorite is Mint M&Ms!! :O So yummy!!!
16.) Lights on the tree? I like to switch between white and multi-colored, but I only have white lights in my new house so I'll probably wait a couple years before I go out and buy the multi-colored.
17.) Favorite Christmas song? I have so many (both Christian and secular) so I'm just choosing the first one that came to my mind: "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" And if you haven't heard Judy Garland sing it, you should go out right now and find the movie "Meet Me in St. Louis." It's amazing. :)
18.) Travel or stay at home? Stay at hoooommme! But now that my mom and dad live so far away, I wouldn't mind traveling to Washington to spend Christmas at "home." ♡
19.) Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Probably. :)
20.) Angel on the tree top or a star? Star! ♡
21.) Most annoying thing about the season? Commercialism. "Look, Charlie, let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know." ~Lucy Van Pelt
22.) Open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? One small gift on Christmas Eve. The rest on Christmas Day after breakfast and reading the Christmas story from Luke 2. ♡
23.) Favorite ornament, theme, or color? Oh I like to switch themes every year. the only one I don't care for is the white tree with the red ornaments. It kinda reminds me of those white rats with the red eyes. :::shudder::::
24.) Favorite Christmas dinner? Either ham or turkey with all the trimmings! ♡
25.) What do you want for Christmas? I'm so terrible about this. I'm the kind of person who'd much rather have something somebody thought I'd like, than give a list for people to shop by. ♡ However, there are a couple things that I could use.......


Christmas candies are coming soooon!!
Have Happy Christmas Days everybody! :D
~Juli

Happy Heart, Happy Tummy! ♡

Thanksgiving is past and even though it's officially December and time for Christmas Carols and peppermint mochas, I am still so excited about my first Thanksgiving here in SD with my Chambers clan! :D Aaaannnd our anniversary trip! We had So. Much. FUNN!! :D

Now I'm usually not a big fan of road-trips, but hubs and I drove all the way to San Francisco non-stop. Even though we were super duper tired when we got there, it was probably my favorite road-trip ever! It was kind of a budget trip, but it's really awesome when you can go on a trip and save a bunch of money at the same time. I had packed lots of snacks and our handy dandy cooler bag was set to go with a picnic lunch so we didn't even have to stop the car to have lunch! We got our hotel on priceline.com and saved oodles on gas by renting a Prius (which looked like way too much fun to drive..) ;) Anyhoo, it was just fun to get out of one big city and go to a different one to just hang out and relax away from all the bustle of the daily routines. We went to Chinatown, Alcatraz, Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum, Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39, Jelly Belly Factory, the Presidio, Ghiradelli Square, and North Valley Baptist Church. It was so fun to make crazy awesome memories with my best friend in the whole wide world. ♡

Thanksgiving was a whirlwind of a day with non-stop cooking and preparations, but with the help of my wonderful mother in law and sis in law, things went soo smoothly and dinner was a success! Yay! Soooo...here are a few pics of my Thanksgiving happiness!

First Thanksgiving Dinner all together! ♡

Last minute table decor - turned out pretty pretty I think! ;)

And this was our Herb Butter Roasted Turkey Bird!

Our 20lb turkey bird was huge! Well, not huge for a family of 13. But I forgot I'm not cooking for 13, so I ended up with tons of leftover turkey which means....scrumptious turkey sandwiches, incredible turkey pot pie, and hopefully a few more turkey recipes to come! :D 

Coming next is Christmas time! :O I'm so excited! My Christmas shopping is already all finished so I'm looking forward to starting all of my holiday baking! ♡ I plan to make lots of candies this year, and I'll try to post pics of the favorites! 

Have Happy Days, everybody! :)

~Juli

Nobody Here But Us Housewives! (^.^)/"

Oh my stars, life has changed so much since my last post! (which, yes, was way too long ago..) But I'm now settled into my new home with my handsome husband and life is finally feeling "normal". ;) It's such an awesome feeling to walk into MY house and see MY dirty dishes! :O Okay okay...I know dirty dishes aren't really that awesome, but you know what I mean, right?

And now our 1 Year Anniversary is only three days away! It's gone by SO FAST! It's been the most wonderful year of my life by far. <3 My husband is such an awesome guy - I know I'm a little bias, but I personally feel that he's the most wonderful handsome guy in the world. Don't argue. You know I'm right. -.- He's a hunk, and he's MINE. ;)

So what am I doing with myself as a seasoned 1-year-old housewife? Well, lately I've been scrubbing my house from top to bottom getting ready to leave with my husband for our Anniversary trip! XD It's gonna be aaawwwwsooommmme!! :D My mom always taught us that when you go away on a trip you should leave your house clean. Cuz really, who wants to come home to a messy house? Nobody! And you have to come home sometime sooner or later. So I clean. I'm the type of person though, who doesn't like for my cleaning to get messed up. When all my dishes are cleaned I hate when somebody walks in a grabs a cup for a drink or uses a fork to eat grapes or something. -.- Seriously?? I just mopped the floors people, don't walk! And the room has just been freshly Febreezed, so if possible please refrain from breathing so it stays fresh in here! Fortunately for the world, I do wear clothes even though I'm all caught up on laundry. ;) I'll admit it, I'm just a tad OCD in this area. My coworkers used to tell me that frequently, but what do they know? ;D

But I'm also motivated to scrub down my little house because we're coming home from our anniversary adventures the day before Thanksgiving and my in-laws are coming over for Thanksgiving Day! We're gonna make some memories family style!! :D I've got all my groceries and recipes set to go and we're gonna cook up a storm! I'm so excited!!! :D So hopefully everything is all done and spic and span before church tonight so I don't have to do any cleaning when I get home...I can just come home and celebrate all of the wonderfulness that God has done for me with my sweetie-pie husband and my new family. <3

So anyways, here I sit, with a pile of laundry fresh from the dryer on my left side, my lunch on my right (on a paper plate mind you...), and my computer in my lap. Only a few more checks on my list of chores and I'm set! Oh! A tip for the day! Candles sometimes seem like an empty purchase, but I have a couple sweet cinnamon, autumn scented candles in my living room and I don't even need to turn the heater on for it to feel warm and cozy in there! So go out and get some homey scented holiday candles to cozy up your living room! Hope you all have a happy day and a Happy Thanksgiving!! :D

~Juli