Welcome Christmas Bring Your Cheer!

I'm having an awesome week before Christmas! Yesterday I got up and went to the mall to finish up christmas shopping! Maybe I'm the only one, but i love the mall at Christmas time! Theres so many people rushing around trying to find gifts...I don't know the chaos is exciting I guess!

So here's my list of my wonderful yesterday:

1. i found a really adorable dress that i am in LOVE with:




















2. I painted my nails this awesome sparkly purple!













3. My mom surprised me with a new christmas tree for my room! Its white with colored lights! just what i've always wanted! So i went straight to Target and got some cute sparkly ornaments for it!







































































4. I watched my favorite christmas movie: The Grinch!




















5. "The Help" is amazing! I'm almost half done. Thanks to Leslie!

















I hope your week before Christmas is as Jolly as mine!

Next Stop: Memory Lane

One of my favorite things to do is take trips down memory lane. Its just amazing to see how much has changed since you last took the trip. You get to remember both the good AND the bad. The journey to memory lane can be so intriguing because sometimes it can answer your questions and sometimes it just poses more. There is just so much wisdom in the past! The other day I was going through old pictures.. WHAT a blast! Its so fun to see all the pictures you forgot about, reminding you of all the fun times you were having. i went through high school dances, birthdays, pictures of wes and I, my best friend and I being completely insane, and reliving my nephew grow from a tiny baby to the smartest 3 year old i've EVER seen! ;)
Tonight though, I was thinking about how I used to write ALL the time! I would post things on myspace notes whenever I got ideas in my head that I liked to ponder on. I remembered that before I deleted my myspace, I printed out my notes.. and I found them tonight in a box in the back of my closet! This one in particular really caught me because its something I wish I could remind myself of all the time. So here it goes.

New Years Resolution 2007:
"So Cassie and I were discussing the new year and how time goes by so quickly the older you get. Sometimes I get so caught up in how I think my life should be and I waste time I could just be enjoying it as it is. I think this is the case for a lot of people. The reason society is the way that it is: materialistic and self-centered. Because people are so caught up in being an actor in their own life, they don't stop to realize what is best for them; They let society be their director. Happiness is achieved when we've obtained the latest fashions, technology, or trendy items, but even the most perfect of appearance are blemished when you get close enough to see them clearly. Our lives can never be as perfectly polished as we'd like, and that's the beauty of it. I've found that if you change your outlook on yourself, you will find a happiness that no one can take. So that's my new year's resolution: to just be happy with what I have here and now in 2007."

Anyway, it just amazes me that the words I wrote at 17 are still teaching me lessons today at 21! =) So I challenge you to take your own trip down memory lane and see what you discover!

Christmas Survey!

1. Eggnog or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate for sure!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Santa puts my presents unwrapped under the tree ;)

3. Colored lights or white lights on the tree/house?
colored on the tree, white on the house

4. Do you have mistletoe?
no =/

5. When do you start putting your decorations up?
Thanksgiving night all the decorations and christmas music come out! i lOVE christmas!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
man! excluding dessert? what kind of question is this?? well i really love the ham my mom makes! its a honey ham with pineapples!

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
One christmas my sister and I got our first real bicycles! We spent the whole day riding them!

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
We used to open one gift on christmas eve. Through the years its changed to one gift but its always the same: our matching christmas pj's!

9. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
What are you trying to say...

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
We have two, one downstairs (my favorite) has all of our homemade ornaments and COLORED lights! and the main tree upstairs has white lights with gold and red decorations! Its very pretty but I just love the colored homemade decorations!

11. Snow! Love it or hate it?
LOVE LOVE LOVE snow!

12. Can you ice skate?
uhm.. i'm pretty much winning a gold medal in the Olympics next winter. ;)

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
I've had so many wonderful gifts! My parents have always graciously put my sister and I first to make sure we always had a wonderful, blessed christmas! 2 years ago my parents got my a ring to replace my class ring from highschool! i wasn't expecting it at all! and its beautiful!

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you?
EATING! haha no seriously, I love sitting in the living room at night watching christmas movies with my family or Wes and being able to spend a lot of time with my wonderful nephew!

15. What tops your tree?
An angel

16. What's your favorite holiday tradition?
Every Christmas eve instead of having a big meal, we have a big buffet style snack meal with little wienies, chocolate covered pretzels, cookies, chips and dips, etc. and watch a christmas movie. For the past 3 years I've got to spend Christmas eve with my family and Wes's family! They open presents on christmas eve and then Santa comes in the morning! Its fun!

17. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
I love giving gifts! I get so excited for them to open it I feel like I am getting the gift! and I really love shopping for the gifts! Its so fun when you have that "THIS IS PERFECT!!" moment!

18. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
My best friend's mom makes the DELICIOUS pecan tarts! YUM-O.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
White Christmas and The Christmas Song have always held a special place in my heart! and of course Lea Michele belting out O Holy Night has been on repeat on my iPod this year!

20. Candy canes! Yuck or yum?
Very yum!

21. What is your favorite Christmas special/movie?
Without a question, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Cartoon is my all time favorite, but i do love the Jim Carey version too!


And to finish.. here's a picture of my adorable nephew! =))



Merry Christmas!

Let it Snow!

Last night I was looking at Leslie's blog and i was looking at her adorable Christmas ornaments when I was inspired to find a Christmas craft of my own! So naturally I went straight to the craft queen herself, Martha Stewart! If you havent been to her website, you need to! Anywho, I came across paper snowflakes and thought wow, that would be so easy! WRONG!

I felt like such a dork because I sat in the living room while my dad was watching Conan cursing Martha for her "terrible snowflake instructions" after several embarrassing attempts, I gave up and went to bed VOWING that in the morning, I'd figure it out for sure!

Well this morning, I woke up and I mastered the ancient art of the paper snowflake. And I am very proud of myself for mastering SUCH a difficult, time consuming craft. ;) anywho, here were my favorite ones!

Gingerbread Cookies

The other night i finished Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks.. if you havent read it.. you need to.. PRONTO!
I loved it soo much! and the ending was sooooo good! =) he always finds a way to put in a twist you never saw coming!! =) love it!
i've always said True Believer and At First Sight were my favorites, but this one may have stolen the title!
Yesterday I went to lunch with Leslie and we had so much fun catching up on crazy stuff! I love coming home and seeing friends I haven't seen in a while!
My bestie is in Mississippi visiting her boyfriend and my boyfriend was busy with friends SO today i decided I wanted to try to make some gingerbread cookies! Theyre soo yummy but they were kind of an all-afternoon task! But definitely worth it! heres some pics and the recipe!





1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup mild molasses
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoons ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt






Combine butter, sugar, and molasses together in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the remaining dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in increments, and continue to beat until thoroughly mixed together.

Pour the dough out onto the countertop and divide into 4 pieces. Press each piece into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator and chill for 1 to 2 hours, or up to 3 days.

Adjust the racks to the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line sheet trays with parchment paper.

Spread 2 large pieces of parchment paper out and very lightly flour them. Place a disk of dough between the parchment sheets and roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat with the remaining disks of dough. Rework all scraps into balls and re-chill before reusing. Repeat with all the dough.

Cut out cookies and place on the parchment-lined sheet trays with an offset spatula, leaving 1-inch between each cookie. Bake the cookies for 7-8 minutes. Cool on the sheet tray for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack to continue cooling to room temperature before decorating the cookies with Royal Icing.








* 2 egg whites
* 3 cups confectioners' sugar, whisked to remove lumps
* 1/2 lemon, juiced
Add ingredients to a large bowl. Beat, using a hand mixer, until glossy and stiff, about 5 to 6 minutes.
***I substituted ground ginger for the lemon juice. I just put a couple of shakes into the icing, maybe 1/4 teaspoon. It also made a lot more icing than i needed so you could probably half the recipe. =))

DIY pore strips!

I'm constantly looking for natural remedies because one, store products can be expensive and two, they can contain ingredients that are harmful for your skin!
So i came across DIY porestrips! I was really skeptical going into this but it worked awesome, so you should totally ditch the strips from the store!

the ingredients are very simple and something you would hopefully always have on hand: toilet paper, and an egg! and if you have an old eye shadow brush you wont miss, that will help when putting the egg on so you dont get your fingers all sticky! you can watch the video where i found it!




I honesly prefer these to the store bought strips because:
1. my face wasn't nearly as dry after using them
2. i was able to put the egg on the side of my nose where the strip wont always stick and misses trouble spots
3. ALL NATURAL! no harmful ingredients!
4. MUCH easier on the wallet ;)

birthday, baby girl, and bad posture!

Well, i know its been forever since i have updated the blog! I really have just been far too busy with school this semester! But its finally over so I'll have time during the holidays! After the new year Ashley and I are going to begin marking through out 2011 Bucket List! So i'll do my best to update regularly and post pictures of our adventure!

This semester I finally got to observe in the classroom! I went to elementary, middle, and high school and elementary was by far my favorite! So my NEW plan is to teach elementary music class along with a 4th and 5th grade choir! =)

I just finished up my semester and had to do my semesterly vocal juries where I sing for all the voice teachers at RU and I get a grade on my progress basically! I got A's all around, but the general comment was "beautiful sound, terrible posture!" SOOO today is DAY ONE of my improve my posture goal! I guess its my early new year's resolution!

Anywho! For the more interesting stuff I turned 21 in november! Some friends and I went out for drinks at Applebee's and just came back and had a fun girls night! here's some pics!










Not too long ago we had my sisters BABY SHOWER! it was so much work because we made all the food ourselves (minus the cake) and made most of the decorations ourselves! it was so much fun though! my roommates katie and ali came up from school and ash had the day off of work too! =) heres some pics of our hard work! I cannot wait for my new niece, BrookeLynn Ann! =))