my christmas in insagrams and a list (list 30)

I hope that yall had a very lovely Christmas.

Mine was quiet, but very nice. And I made sure to make mental notes of all the special things for my 30th list so that I could post it......

Christmas morning in my new sock monkey pjs

Christmas quiche (tradition)

Merry Christmas texts from family and friends

stocking gifts

awesome other gifts from my parents

an amazing late lunch with ham, sweet potato casserole, sweet beans, sweet pickles, etc.

lots of fruit, nuts, and candy in my stocking

cuddling with my pup Aubre

phone call from my love

watching White Christmas with my parents

midnight snack of all the leftovers

How did you spend your holiday weekend?

love,
kel

52 lists in 52 weeks// week 30

Merry Christmas (to all of you that celebrate)!

Christmas is such a special time for me. For awhile it was really hard to fully enjoy the holidays after my dad passed, but in the past couple of years it's gotten easier. It's now a time I once again love and try to cherish every minute of.

So for today's list. Whether or not you celebrate this holiday, today is a special day. Because we are alive and we have so many things to be thankful for. So take today and make a list of all the memories in the making. What is making you happy? What is going on? Who are you spending the day with? What are you thankful for? List out all/any of these things and keep them close to always remind you of what you have and what today meant to you.

I'll be back with my list soon.

Much love,
kel

Link up here

Christmas Ugly Sweater Party of 2011

Last night my friends and I celebrated Christmas in the fun 'ole tradition of an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party.

And get this- I actually did most of the cooking and all of the cleaning. If you know me at all- you know that the whole cooking thing isn't entirely something I like nor am good at; however, I actually enjoyed doing it last night. I guess it also helped that I had friends and Steven to help as well.

Some of the stuff I made:




And yes- I made a menu. More so that I could gauge what I needed to make and remember to set out before everyone arrived. However, it did make for some laughs for my friends.
I made: ham, sweet potato casserole (which I need to share, because it's amazing-I got it from my mom), mashed potatoes (made by Steven-from scratch!), rolls, peperoni roll ups, apple cider donut holes (which I got from the babycake maker), rolo pretzel bites, cheese and crackers, spinach dip (made by my wonderful friend Ashley), and tons of other amazing treats.

And of course some amazing photos of the night and my awesome friends:












xoxo kellie

And Merry Christmas Eve Eve (ha)!!!!

advent day 18 (plus a guest post)

Day 18 was build a gingerbread house.... which Steven and I did for the very first time.
You can check out the post over at my friend Charity's blog (cause I saved this one just for her-since I love her soooo much)!!!
Here's a tiny sneak peek...for more head on over to her blog!

-kellie

a solo lunch and an awesome early Christmas

Today I took myself to lunch. Perhaps that sounds like an odd statement (or maybe the fact that I was overly excited about it is the weird part)... but there were some good reasons for it. 1-I never go out and eat by myself.

Fact.

Bears eat beets. Bears...beets....Battlestar Galactica.

But that's besides the point.

I'm not sure why, but I just really dislike the mere idea of eating alone when I'm out. So I typically avoid it. Today though, I went out by myself and enjoyed the time to myself.

The 2nd reason it was so rare and amazing was that I actually had 30 minutes for lunch. Usually I only have 10 minutes and it consists of forcing food down and getting ready to go meet my students for homework/tutor time.

It was amazing.

And I caught up on some reading too!

Then tonight the boyfriend and I exchanged gifts. He is perhaps the best gift giver ever. No lie. And this year he outdid himself yet again with a cupcake maker, kureg, Auburn gear (including a light up snowman), along with some other awesome goodies.

An awesome Tuesday, I must say.

-kellz

advent days 5&6

The newest advent additions to our week:

Advent Day 5: Put Christmas sheets on the bed.
(still need to do, but I will tomorrow)
This one might sound silly, but my mom got me these sheets/comforter awhile ago and they are just so cute. And since my Christmas decorations really only have a home in the common areas, it's a good way to include the bedroom into the holiday decor.


Advent Day 6: Listen to lots of Christmas music.
(done a lot by me (at least))
This Christmas I've been enjoying listening to Christmas music quite frequently. We play it at work, I keep the music station on in my car (or play Christmas music), and I even made some playlists.

So I made a little playlist of some of my absolute favorite Christmas songs. Just in case you needed some tunes to get you in the holiday mood! Enjoy.

love, love,
kellie

see more here:
advent day 4
advent day 3
advent day 2
advent day 1

52 lists in 52 weeks// week 27

It's finally December. (Although I should say...holy crap it's already December???). The last month of the year. The most stressful month of the year. And in my opinion, the most magical time of the year. I feel like December is the time of year when we all start scrambling, and not just because we have to get those presents (which we most likely have waited last minute to get), but because we begin thinking about all that we need to accomplish before 2011 is over.
Today I started going though my list of things I really want to get finished before 2012 greets us. Therefore, I figured, why not make today's list a December to do list?

So this week's list...
December to-do list:
-finish re-applying for school/teaching jobs
-take lots of photos
-do everything on our advent calendar
-start cooking more
-clean the apartment (especially for our guests and upcoming party)
-start making the awesome things from pinterest instead of just pinning about them
-spend more time with my family
-read at least 1 more book
-finish my fall scrapbook
-try and finish my advent/Christmas mini
-send out pen pal group lists (and I think this might be the last batch I do....I'm starting to run out of steam on it, sadly)
-do a blog feature on a lovely friend's blog

So what's on your to-do list for December??
-kellz

advent day 4

Advent day 4: Decorate the apartment
(done by Steven, Valerie, and I)

And just a few photos of my favorite spots of our apartment....




xoxoxo
kel

advent day 3 here
advent day 2 here
advent day 1 here

advent day 3

Advent day 3: decorate the tree
(done by Steven and I; and enjoyed by all of us, including the kitty)

Our favorite ornaments:



(1. green bay packers-his, hes a cheese head through-and-through; 2. champagne- mine, such a good holiday drink; 3. apple- mine, because i'm a teacher!)

And kitty just loves hiding out under it.


xoxo
kellie

see more here:
advent day 2
advent day 1

advent day 2

Day 2: Make a fire
(made by Steven; enjoyed by all of us)




see day 1 here

love,
Kellie