Spell it out

You can find "alphabet letters in nature" photography at most craft shows and even in stores like Hobby Lobby. A couple years ago I shot some letters for a family member.

Last summer, some good friends of ours moved into their first house. What a perfect time to spell out their name- I had been putting it off, because honestly, who has three Gs in their last name?

But once I set out to find the letters while I was out and about, it didn't take very long. Here is a screenshot of the letters while I was playing with the order on my computer.


I ordered the matte at Hobby Lobby (you have to special order for anything with more than four windows/letters) as the rest of the housewarming gift; and the couple had it framed themselves.

Out with the old

Say good-bye to the old website...we are working on getting the new one running!

It's tradition

My mother-in-law gives each kid an ornament every year. Ben has a multitude of Santas in his ornament collection, and lately has been accruing more dental-themed pieces. This year he got two Santa Dentists! The top two ornaments- the first Santa and my Teacup ("spot on", considering my love for tea)- were from the in-laws.



The lower two, including the camera (can you "picture" a more perfect ornament for me?), were from my aunt.

**I hope you noticed the carefully planted puns.

My parents sent me a few sentimental ornaments from home for me to have: ornaments from my Grandma and Grandpa Skelton.


Grandpa worked at Campbell Soup. Aside from this Campbell Soup ornament- every year Grandma and Grandpa would send our family a Campbell Soup ball. We have some awesome video footage from a Christmas when my younger brother was hanging up one of the glass balls. He was chattering away, and telling my dad, "we have to be very careful with this one--" right as he dropped it. Luckily the mustard-yellow shag carpeting was enough cushion so the ornament didn't break.

I love having a variety of ornaments- ones that reflect our personalities, our interests/passions; that remind us of our past and family; and let us share in our today together.

Lone wrapped gift

So I did a cute wrapping theme this year of black and white with red- but of course I only took one picture. I also created some creative tags for some of the gifts, but do I have evidence?


Oh my this Christmas just absolutely flew by! I don't feel Christmas was here long enough at all- so I plan on keeping my Christmas tree and decorations up a little longer. I'll let you know when they come down. I ordered some Christmas movies through Amazon, so it will at least be until the movies arrive and I can watch one or two. But for now I will relish the decorations and plug in the tree lights at night.

Black and Gray

Mostly I wanted to showcase #3- the miraculous jeans that fit perfectly, which were also the first pair that I tried on today.


I bought the following at Kohl's today for less than $40, with an overall savings of about $72.

#1 Mudd Striped Sweater
#2 Takeout Cocoon Sweater Vest (the vest I bought matches the gray stripes)
#3 Mudd 5 pocket Skinny Jeans

I already have black slouch boots from Payless (similar to #6); and my in-laws gave me the flower-embellished hat (#5) and a black scarf similar to #4 for my birthday.

What I became accustomed to

So Ben has been on break from classes for the last three weeks. The timing is great for me because of course the last few weeks have been filled with holidays- Christmas, New Year's, my birthday - and lots of other deadlines at work, in my freelance work, and with other birthdays and celebrations. During the last few weeks I've been really spoiled, as I have been coming home to meals just about every night, and Ben has been packing me lunches too.


Here is one of the amazing meals he fixed me. I don't have a description of the food- he would be way more detailed in the ingredients than I could write right now- but I think the picture says enough.

Ahhh much better

I am not a bad blogger....I am not a bad blogger. Here is a little something to tide myself over. I have posts in my head, and pictures to go along with them. But for now this will do.