Hi there!

Whew!

Things are finally seeming to get back to normal for me... work isn't quite as crazy busy, inspiration is quietly coming back to me, and the want to just bury my head in the sand has gone!

I've been busy at home, too, with some things I'll share soon. A table skirt made to cover a not-so-great TV stand in our bedroom, some new pillow shams I've made to match our bedskirt, cleaning out our pit of an "office" (which is still not done, by the way), and a side project I'm hoping to get started.

I'm looking forward to making the rounds and catching up with everyone!

*photo from Timothy Whealon

Blog Award!

I've been awarded the Sugar Doll Blogger Award by Krista!

The rules are that I need to share 10 interesting facts about myself and then pass this award along to 10 other bloggers. In the spirit of the season, I thought this might be more fun if I posted 10 interesting (or humorous) facts about me that have to do with Christmas or this time of year!

Let's get started:

1. I was born in Indiana and lived there until I was 9. I really miss the snow at this time of year - I used to love making snowmen and snow forts!! Of course, since I was so young I never had to shovel the sidewalks or anything fun like that, so my memories are just of childhood snow fun.

2. Once I was old enough to assist, I have loved decorating Christmas trees! In fact, when I was a teenager, my Mom would often stand back and just let me have at it. My sisters would try to help, but most of the time I would move whatever ornament they hung to a new and "better" location on the tree. See, it's all about balance, people. You don't want two large ornaments right next to each other, and you don't want two of the same color right next to each other!!

3. One time, in high school, while I was up in the attic looking for more Christmas decorations, my foot slipped and I actually fell through the ceiling and into the garage! How embarrassing is that?? Luckily, I was young and had good reactions! I was able to catch myself with my arms so that I was actually hanging through the ceiling, holding on the the rafters. I was able to drop myself down safely, but my Mom didn't believe me when I went inside to tell her. Still to this day, I'm not really sure what she thought I meant when I said "Mom, I just fell through the ceiling."

4. One of my earliest memories was receiving a pair of ice skates for Christmas. Of course, I was super disappointed because they were black double-runners (they had 2 blades instead of 1), and not the pretty white single-blades that the GIRL ice skaters wore on TV! My Dad tells me that I straight up told him that I couldn't wear them because I was a girl, and girls didn't wear black skates. Those were for boys!

5. One year for Christmas, my crazy aunt thought it would be *cute* to get my sisters and I matching sleep shirts and socks. The problem was that 1.) I was in high school and had no desire to "match" my younger and way-uncool-er sisters, and 2.) The shirts had the (very realistic) line drawing of a pig on them! The front of the shirt showed the face of the pig, and the back had the rear. The socks?? Oh, they had hooves on them. Yeah. Best present ever.

6. My favorite holiday movies are "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (the one with Herbie the Dentist and Yukon Cornelius, naturally) and "A Christmas Carol". Both make me tear up and cry. I'm a big baby when it comes to all the Christmas love.

7. I love holiday music! I have a couple of mix-CD's (cause I'm a dork like that) of Christmas music, and about the week before Thanksgiving I can't wait to throw them in! My favorite songs?? Mariah's "All I Want for Christmas is You", "Happy Christmas (War is Over)", Band-Aid's "Do They Know it's Christmas?", Elton's "Step Into Christmas", "Holly Jolly Christmas", "O Holy Night" (the "real" version AND the one by Cartman!), "Little Drummer Boy"...... really, I could go on and on, but I'm sure that this is enough for you all.

8. I love real trees, especially Frasier and Noble firs, but Chris bought us a pre-lit tree on sale after Christmas a couple years ago and I must admit that it is pretty nice to not have to put on the lights. Plug in and go.

9. My grandmother used to make the best watermelon-rind preserves. We'd have them every Christmas, and since she's been gone I kind of miss them. Memories are strange - watermelon rind preserves = my Grandmother's house at Christmas!

10. Chris and I argue every year about when most people out there open their presents - I say Christmas morning (duh!), and he says Christmas Eve. I was always brought up opening my presents on Christmas Day. His family has the present bonanza Christmas Eve (sometimes really late at night). So I want you to leave me a comment and tell me WHEN you open presents for Christmas - this year I'm taking a poll!!

And for the nominations:

Linda (Silly Little Mischief)

Jenny (Jenny.Lee)

Bean (Without Adornment)

Jen (Mrs. Life Accounts)

Erika (Wine-Oh!)

Christin (of the Nicholas clan - my SIL)

Jenny (My Favorite and My Best)

Kate (the Neo-Traditionalist)

Emily (Wiley Wifey and the Culinary Couple)

Marianne (Haven and Home)

Ladies, feel free to post or not... but know that I really enjoy reading your blogs!!

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words...

Last night was spent running a few errands... one of them being buying a gift for a very special lady who is turning _____ tomorrow, Chris' grandmother. I don't know that she would appreciate me broadcasting her age throughout cyberspace, but we'll just say that she's over 40 and still going strong!

So, since I didn't really have time to put together a beautiful or thought-provoking post, I thought I'd steal one I saw over on Linda's blog last week! ;-)
This is a little Q&A with yours truly where I answer each question with pictures I found on Google Images.
Let's get started!

My favorite beverage:

Followed veeeeeery closely by:

My hometown:

(where I was born and spent the first 9)

Where we moved over 20 years ago, and what I consider my hometown now:

Which is home to:

(bonus points if you can guess)

My favorite TV show:

(I have several. I am kind of a TV addict.)

My occupation:

I work for a high end designer trade showroom as a sales rep selling rugs and carpeting. I did go to school for Interior Design, but I got my job right before I graduated, and I have been working here ever since.

This is the fun one!

My first car:

The year was 1992, and I had a 1983 Firebird (mine didn't have gold wheels...but it was this color!) I thought it was very cool.

It was followed very shortly thereafter by a silver 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity after the Firebird's engine burnt up (and not because of my driving, but because it was a piece of crap to begin with!)

Yeah, this car didn't even have a clock. It had one of those old radios with the knobs you turned that moved the needle up and down the dial.... remember those?

My favorite dish:

Chips and salsa - but restaurant fresh chips and salsa.

And pretty much anything Mexican.

The celebrity you have been told you resemble:

Sandra Bullock

And once, a drunken Irish lady in Cleveland (I was up visiting friends) said I looked just like Catherine Zeta Jones. But I think it was the whiskey talking....

The celebrity on your "to-do" list:

Gerard Butler

Hi there handsome....

Favorite childhood toy:

The Barbie Doll!

And now for your enjoyment, a random picture!

Here's Charlie, our Lhasa-Poo cutie pie.

I had fun playing along, and if you'd like to - consider yourself tagged!

Thank you to Mrs. Life Accounts!

I was given the Kreativ Blogger award by Mrs. Life Accounts! Thank you!

For this award, I am supposed to post 7 facts about myself and pass the award on to 7 other bloggers!

Here are some facts:

1. In case you don't already know, Chris and I have 5 dogs. Yes - 5. We didn't intend to have so many - he had one, and I had two when we got together - but we love them all (although this is it for probably the next 10 years!).

2. I hate some of the clothes and hairstyles that some kids and teens are sporting these days! I secretly am glad that all of that will be out of style by the time we have kids and they are that age!

3. We live about 10 minutes away from the new Dallas Cowboys stadium ("Jerry-World") in Arlington, and it is absolutely massive on a grand scale. But it is really cool looking. Can't wait to go see Texas Tech (Chris' alma mater) play Baylor there in November.

4. I always thought I was a "city girl" at heart, and in many ways I am... but as I get older, the draw of living in a small town gets more and more appealing to me.

5. Because Chris travels so much, and I am the one to drop him off and pick him up, I have now memorized the DFW airport and could probably navigate it in my sleep. I realize that is nothing exciting for you to know about me, but just something I was thinking about last Sunday afternoon when I was dropping Chris off again.

6. I have mad love for spicy food. Really spicy food. I love it. Unfortunately, Chris doesn't.

7. When I was younger, in high school, I would get really scared at haunted houses. But now, all they make me do is giggle and laugh. I guess it's because I know they're just people (like me) and that nothing's for real - it's all for fun. I don't know, they're just not all that scary to me anymore. (*On a side note: I also didn't think Paranormal Activity the movie was as scary as I was expecting! It was okay, but not the scarefest I thought it would be! I guess I'm jaded.)

Hmmm.... I'm supposed to name 7 fellow bloggers, but I'll leave it open to anyone who wants to play along . Just let me know so I can come read about you!