New Year Wishes

May your 2013 knock your 2012 out of the park! Wishing you tons of happiness, and an unbelievable amount of luck :) You guys are the best and deserve every little bit of sparkle that comes your way!

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2012 in Review

It's hard to believe that the end of another year is here. Time flies by way to quickly, no matter how busy things were or even the times when I tried so desperately to hold onto every single moment. Those very moments fly by us and are replaced with memories and photographs.

As I write this my thoughts are especially filled with emotion. Truth be told that we never know when this precious little life will be over. Thankfully I have everyone around me that means the most. Some of you do not and for that I can not even begin to comprehend. Christmas can be such a hard time for those that have lost loved ones, and so when I'm sitting around soaking up all the happiness, I can't help but feel a little guilty.
I truthfully live in a very safe and happy bubble. Even through the tough times, my bubble is still in place. My troubles barely scratching the surface of things that other people have to deal with. For that I am grateful and also sad as I wish I could break off pieces to hand out...

Time is so short...

So as we say goodbye to another year and start to welcome in the new, I thought it might be nice to take a look back on 2012...

The beginning of the year started with major changes, both in our home and in our lives...a kitchen reno was planned and supposed to be completed within a few weeks...the reno actually lasted a few months though once we found out the the roof in the adjacent sun room was rotten...looking back at the photos, it makes me sick to my stomach...but I am very happy with the outcome :)

Some other note worthy events this year...

Westyn mastered the stairs {who by the way was very bald early on! Too cute!}
we made some teething biscuits{my most popular post of 2012!}
Westyn celebrated his first birthday!
My Kitchen Reveal
DIY Chicken Wire Lamp
meeting my new neice
DIY Bird Mobile
discovering dirt and nailpolish

As we headed into 2012, I had a huge turning point in my life. Decisions had to made, life was probably going to change and I had no idea what I wanted to do! I really didn't know the answer to the 'what do you do?' question and had no idea what was in store for myself professionally. Looking back, I truly believe that 2012 was about finding myself, or at least building a solid foundation to build on. Inside and out. I struggled with the meaning of TIME.  I struggled with finding my place. I struggled with learning to balance professional obligations with family time. Actually, if I look back at what I just wrote it looks like 2012 was about struggling for me, lol! Through it all though, things worked themselves out. I opened my own business. I made myself more of a hands on mom. I learnt over and over again that I need to relax and enjoy life. I have no idea why I needed reminding, but it seemed like it happened a lot! I learnt how to fit my blogging into my life, instead of fitting my life into blogging. Again such an easy concept, but difficult to do. I learnt more about myself, what I liked, where I saw myself in a few years and what my goals were. I think I built a pretty good foundation for myself this year. Although not complete, I am looking forward to what the next few years bring as I build walls and carve out ME.

Some more goodies...

Gray celebrated his 3rd birthday
Mike and I celebrate 9 years of marriage!
I opened my handmade business
we had family pictures taken at the beach
my turquoise painted pumpkins
I attended my first craft show
we made homemade peppermint patties
our christmas

Life in itself is the journey. I'VE always been there, I just wasn't aware of who I was.

Thank you for all of your support this year! You guys have been so great, your comments and suggestions...I love them all! I am hoping to be a bit more consistent in my writing in 2013 and I hope that you'll join me! Check back later on this week for my resolution list of things I'd like to accomplish in 2013 and also for some changes coming to the blog!

Happy New Year!

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It snowed :)

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Christmas Recap

Three days~Three houses.

So happy to have spent time with family~So happy to finally be at home.

Two boys fighting over toys~Two boys that are finally sharing again.

Four full bellies with leftovers in the fridge :)

How was your Christmas?

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas friends! 

I hope you have tons of magical moments this week and create fabulous memories!

With love from my family to yours...

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Wrap it up! Kraft Paper with Pink accents...

My house is full of boys. Tractors, dinky cars and forts. BLUE stuff.  For gift giving this year, aside from our Dads and the two little men that light up my life, my shopping list was full of girly things. So it was only appropriate that I wrapped everything in PINK with a hint of turquoise. I pulled out my rolls of kraft paper and got to work. Grayson and I had a fun time with some paper rolls and a potato, stamping circles and trees onto the paper. Ribbon and fluffy tulle finished everything off!

Pretty yarn wrapped stars courtesy of Kelly's easy tutorial!

What do you think? What colors are you wrapping in?

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Swooning for Snow

Normally, I would not swoon for snow. In fact, I'm not a winter person. But it's almost Christmas and it looks like Spring out, so yes, I am wishing for some fluffy white stuff because we don't have any. Probably as soon as we get it {or at least a few days after} I'll be wishing for Spring. I am one of those people. 

 In the meantime, I can fully appreciate the beauty and magic that comes from snow falling...


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Do you have snow yet?

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Christmas Home Tour 2012

I don't think I am ever completely finished decorating until the day before Christmas. There always seems to be a project on the go, or something I find in the closet that should have gotten put out...none the less...it's done enough that I can show you what happens inside our house as we get ready for Christmas. 

You've already seen my Mantel earlier this week, which sets the mood for the rest of the decor. I like to think that it's a blend of modern and traditional but entirely eclectic! Turquoises and creams, burgundy with splashes of red, gold, brown, and some pink...really no color is off limits in our house!

We got a brand spankin' new tree this year, and it is twice that size of our previous tree {which is now in the basement for the kids to decorate as they please!}Our ornaments are a collection of old and new, some that the kids have made, some that I've made...it's the perfect balance!

My DIY yarn wrapped star, thank's to Kelly's lovely tutorial!

My hanging ornament display.

A few collections on the shelves in the dining room.

Our dining room chandelier got jazzed up with some Christmas balls and twine.

We recently added this plank style board to our dining room wall, it used to be Grayson's headboard! I'm still unsure what I want to do with it, so for now I hung a frame and some pom pom garland...

Square glass vases line with window sill above the sink, filled with beads and vintage ornaments.

 A tin sign and more vintage ornaments sit in the corner of our counter.

Just an FIY this is the cleanest you will ever see my craft room {to see it in all it's glory, go here}. The Christmas decor is fairly simple in here, some pom pom garland hangs over our chalkboard, where I had planned on writing out a Christmas song, but my 3 year old was very insistent that I was not allowed to erase the Christmas trees that he drew!

 This year I decided to display our cards and pictures on this chicken wire frame, it's usually home to magazines clippings and random things. The sparkly clothespins are super cute, eh? Such a simple project to liven up some drab clothespins!

Much like my yarn wrapped star on my tree, here are some smaller ones hanging on a branch {you really must try this tutorial-it's my favorite Christmas craft}Oh and if your wondering how the heck I kept everything so clean to take pictures...well, I took photos of one room a day and just kept moving the junk from room to room, hehe-hence the mess in the kitchen {you can see a bit in the above photo!} Who says life is perfect!

Are you ready for the big day yet? Next on my list is wrapping...falalalalalalalaaaaa....

Linking up with Homemaker on a Dime, Alderberry Hill, The Kurtz Corner, Homework, Live Laugh Rowe, Happy Hour Projects

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Sweet & Salty Squares 'a la Lish'

So sometimes while baking with little people around, oopsies happen. Oopsies like, I put in a cup of butter instead of half a cup. So I swear under my breath and then try to double up the recipe...only this time I didn't have enough of the 'inside' ingredients to double up. I was making this recipe{which OMG you have to try!}

So I made one batch of those and put the rest of the batter in the fridge.

Then I had a light bulb moment a few days later while preparing to make these {which are also soooo yummy & make a great hostess gift!Only I have a different recipe for the caramel sauce-if you want to try that out let me know-mine not as gooey} Anyway, on to my light bulb moment...

Instead of going out and buying new ingredients I whipped these little squares up with stuff I already had on hand...

2 cups of coconut
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1.5 cups of chopped pecans
2 cups of chopped pretzels
1 cup of skor bits

Although, you can add whatever you like and in whatever amount, cause were making this up as we go right?!

As a base use the same recipe for the base of the Nutella Smore Bars and then press into a greased 9x13 pan.

Pour the condensed milk over top of the base and then sprinkle the ingrediants above on top of that.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, until bubbly and brown!

The combination of sweet and salty is perfect!
And there you have it Sweet & Salty Sqaures 'a la Lish' :)

Linking up with Blissful & Domestic, Tatertots & Jello, Alderberry Hill, Homemaker on a Dime, The Kurtz Corner, Homework, Live Laugh Rowe

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