31 Days Challenge - Take 2

I failed at doing the 31 Days Challenge in October, so one of my many New Year's resolutions is to complete that challenge. Starting tomorrow I will try to post everyday for the month of January. Wish me luck!

2012 Christmas Cookie Exchange

This past Sunday, I had my 3rd annual Christmas cookie exchange.

 

We started out with a fun game...making reindeer antlers with balloons and pantyhose. The object was to be the team with the biggest, badest antlers at the end of the 5 minute time limit.

 It was a laugh for sure!

 Then we tasted a bite of each cookie and took a vote on the best tasting. Brandi won with her applesauce cookies with caramel icing. So good! I will share a few of the recipes in later posts.

 We ended up with 9 different cookies this year.

 I set up a coffee/cocoa/tea bar as well.

 I gave out ornament favors again this year. For these I used cookie cutters, glued ribbon on the outer rim, and added a little tag to remember the event.

I already have some fun ideas for next year's party. It's become a favorite Christmas tradition :)

10 Point Buck

Jake got a 10 point buck last night, 4 points on one side, 6 on the other. He's heading back out tomorrow to keep trying for an elk.

31 Days Challenge - Fail

Well, I obviously did not keep up with the 31 days challenge while I was visiting friends and family in Missouri. I really did try to post blogs from my phone, and even took pictures to show some of the fun things we were up to, but the blogger app kept freezing on my phone, so I gave it up and enjoyed my time in Missouri instead. I think I'll try the challenge another month...maybe December.

31 Days Challenge - Day 11 - Early Christmas Planning

I've just started planning my 3rd annual cookie exchange...and I am so excited! Last year I had a photo booth, which was a big hit. This year, I want to make it even better and more fun. I think I might do the photo booth again, but make it fancier.

Thinking about the cookie exchange makes me super excited to decorate for Christmas. I love Christmas! At the beginning of the year, I started collecting ideas on Pinterest for my newest Christmas decorating theme...Natural Christmas. Here is the Pinterest board.

Tomorrow, we leave for a short visit to Missouri, so it is going to be really hard to keep up this 31 days challenge...but I will do my best to not break the streak!

31 Days Challenge - Day 10 - New Phone

I dropped my phone on Monday night and cracked the LCD screen. After some research, I found out I could fix the screen, but have to wait until Monday for the new screen to come in. Or I could buy a "gently used" phone for the same price and take it home today. We are leaving on Friday to make a visit to friends and family in Missouri, so I opted for the instant option.

I now have a new phone, and have to figure out how to use it, so no fun blog post tonight! :)

31 Days Challenge - Day 9 - Wreath Redo

A couple of months ago, I posted photos of my Burlap Flower Embellished Wreath. I got some advice from my mom (who used to teach floral design classes) that I really needed more "stuff" on the wreath to have better proportion since the wreath is so big to start out with. I added a bunch more flowers and I have to agree, it looks much better now.

 

 

 

Funny story about these photos...

 

I wanted to get new photos of the wreath, so I stepped outside the front door yesterday morning and pulled the door shut behind me so the photos would not show an open door. Big mistake...I forgot (again!) that the front door locks behind itself. The side door was also locked, and all of the windows were closed. Oh and it was raining, and I didn't have any shoes on. I checked all of the windows and luckily...there was one window unlocked...the upstairs bathroom window. I had to climb up on top of the BBQ grill, jiggle out the screen and pull myself up through the window. I was not in a laughing mood at the time, but I have to admit it was funny to see Diesel's face when he watched me coming through the window. I'm glad I can laugh at myself now.