Christmas is coming!

Yeah! Time for a new background! 2009 isn't going to last too much longer, so here's some partridges and pear trees!

Its been a very busy week as Christmas is getting closer and closer.

On the 12th, AJ and I headed to Midland for his family's annual Christmas Party. This year, we celebrated at the School for Santa's and even got to meet Santa himself. The school is a non-profit organization where men and women from all over the country come to learn how to be Santas and Mrs. Clauses. They give them tricks on how to get the perfect white beard and a vocal coach comes in to teach them how to do the best "ho, ho, ho's!"
All of the kids got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.
While Santa brought a gift for all of the kids, the adults get to do a little white elephant gift exchange. The game gets a little heated as items are stolen and hop around the room. I've even gotten some heat before from stealing something from AJ's grandma! Everyone hopes and prays to not get the notorious reindeer poop that has been a part of the family game for over 20 years. And guess who got it this year......
AJ!!!!!
The gift wrappers were clever and disguised the poop by wrapping two cans of soup with it. I was lucky enough to steal a fifth of Southern Comfort from AJ's 17-year-old cousin!

On the 13th, it was AJ's 24th birthday! We had a big celebration with my family to celebrate a few other family birthdays as well. Katie turned 4 and here she is holding up some presents.

Cleverly, we wrapped up some clothes in a Victoria's Secret box! Of course she didn't get the joke, but the adults had fun with it!

Greg and the birthday boy!

Brenner opening up some gifts.

Little Joey working on his Zoolander faces!

Katie with Great Grandma and Auntie Mary Anne showing off her new computer.

Two little drummer boys!

Birthday girl!

Blowing out the candle and trying some cake.

Christmas isn't complete without making cookies! I met up with my good friend Lindsey to make Christmas cupcakes and sugar cookies. Our cookie decorating skills are a little lacking, but we had a lot of fun trying!

It seems like just when we've caught up with things, another to do list appears! Have a very happy snowy December!

Decorating for Christmas

Decorating for Christmas is one of my favorite things to do...ever! I didn't imagine that it would take me two days, but all of the hard work and trips up and down the stairs were well worth it. The house looks beautiful and with the snow fall today and what's coming tonight....its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Boxes and boxes and boxes of decorations!

This year we have put up three trees, the first is the green/gold tree.

Fudge ornament!

Green and gold tree.

The second tree was a red, black and silver tree.

Decorating the mantel.

AJ's birthday present!!!

Finally, the last tree is our main tree, Burgundy and gold.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Days

I must apologize for not posting in awhile, but life has become a little crazier!

WSU Swimming and Diving had one of their biggest meets of the year this past weekend. Several athletes made their qualifying times for the NCAA National Championships, on top of that, many school records were broken!

Also this past weekend, I participated in a craft show up in Davison, much further away than I anticipated! I stayed the weekend with my grandparents and had quite a lot of fun being spoiled! Something about being around grandparents makes me feel like a kid again!

Some big big news.....on my last day in Houston, I was offered a job at the interior design firm I had interned with two summers ago. The opportunity is fantastic and I feel that I will not find anything like it anywhere else. So, in January, I am moving to Houston and starting something new and exciting.

I am really nervous and sad to be leaving Michigan, but I know I will be happy with my job.

As Christmas is getting closer, lights, trees, and big smiles can be found all around. Here are some of the best lights I've seen this year....

I wish everyone a wonderful Holiday Season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today Adrienne and company hosted Thanksgiving for the family. It was the first time we had hosted and had so much fun planning and baking and cooking.

Greg's mom, Joan, offered to cook the turkey for us, just one less thing to worry about. So, at 8am Joan and Fred stopped by to drop of the 20 lb. dinosaur of a bird. Of course Boo was up and ready to visit with grandparents.
Setting up the dining room for all of us to eat around.

Aggie fans trying to teach Boo a little about football.

Our entertainment for the night. Adam is trying his best to teach Boo Billy Joel's 'Piano Man.'

Carving up the turkey.

Hungry people ready to eat. We made mashed potatoes that would make Faja proud, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, pistachio pudding, cranberry sauce (that only Erika ate :), stuffing, stuffing, and more stuffing, turkey, pecan pie, pumpkin pie and my personal favorite, pumpkin cupcakes.

Happy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving aftermath!

Dedicated to Boo

The only pictures I have taken recently have been of Brenner Boo, so here's a post dedicated to the Booster.

Here's hangin out with mom and dada playing tennis. :)

This week we are getting ready to host Thanksgiving, decorations, cleaning and of course...the food :)

"Cough cough"

I have been so lucky to be spending some more time in Houston with my sister and her family. I have been working at an interior design firm helping out with designs, drawings and material selections. But in the evenings, we play with Brenner. Of course I have to include pictures of him.

Brenner's new favorite toy is my cell phone. He loves how it opens and closes and lights up. He even accidentally called AJ on speaker phone tonight.

Brenner and I have our own little game we play, he fake coughs and waits intently for me to cough back then smiles. The goofier and funnier I cough, the bigger his smile becomes.

This is part of an interior that the designer I am working with designed and put together. I thought it was an incredibly beautiful entry way and loved how it came together piece by piece.

This is another interior that I am helping with; we are adding original photographs of trains and train yards to this incredible train model collection.

Every day has been new and different and I have been busy every second! My sister and I are also preparing to host Thanksgiving and Brenner's first birthday party!

Recapping a Busy Week

I can only describe this week as crazy! At every moment of every day I had somewhere to be, something to do and someone to be with. I enjoyed every moment of it and now, taking a moment to think about the past 7 days, I think I accomplished quite a bit.

The week began with a big project...painting AJ's parents' basement! The walls are a fake wood paneling and it was time for a change. After thoroughly scrubbing the walls clean, applying two coats of primer, it was finally time to pick out some colors.
After pulling over 50 paint samples from Home Depot, I couldn't chose just one color. So I picked five! Only two of the walls are striped while the rest are a nice light white. The project took over three days, incredibly sore hands, and a coating of paint on myself before it was finished. We still have to do some final touches and furniture moving, then we'll have some great finished photos.

On Wednesday and Thursday, I participated in a Holiday Boutique at Grosse Ile Golf and Country Club. The boutique was hosted by one of my old roommates/teammates and it was so nice seeing her again. I did pretty well for myself the first night but bad timing with bridge closures kept a lot of people from coming on the second day. Although there were only 18 craftors/vendors, the show had quite a variety of things. Painted wine glasses, clothing, candles, cupcakes, and floral arrangements were just a few of the items there.

I was so excited when my Aunt Rose, Uncle Joe and their two kids surprised me at my grandparents house on Thursday night.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner, searched for secret treasure, and ate lots of cookies! I got to hear all about Katie starting school, how big their new puppy is getting and even a little of Joey's singing!

On Friday and Saturday, I headed to Livonia to watch my cousin Nikki swim in the Catholic League Championships. Despite being so close, I had never had the chance to watch her swim before and I couldn't wait to see her kick some ass :)

And kick some ass she did! Not only did she win every race she was in, she broke two league records simultaneously breaking the pool records as well! The record she broke in the 100 fly was 29 years old! Here she is getting her first place medal from her Mercy coach.

Nikki with a winning relay! Mercy ended up winning almost every event and the meet as well. Next they will end their season with the State Championships in a couple of weeks. They certainly have the most supportive and crazy parents in the stands complete with their own cheers, t-shirts, and poster boards.

I can't believe the week is already over! I love being busy and having lots to do, but I am certainly enjoying the vedge day I am having right now! Next, I head to Houston to visit with my sister and her family and work a little at an interior design firm!