NINE years.

It blows my mind that Chris and I have been together for nine years. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was chasing him around the high school and carrying his dirty shoes in from the football field? Yes, don't judge me, we all do stupid things when we are 14. We were both very different people, ahem kids, back then and I am so thankful for our growth as individuals and as a couple. 

I don't know how we managed to make it through high school, but after those first few rough years, we haven't had a single hiccup. I'm thankful for those years of growth because they taught me what it means to stick it out and work for our relationship. Puppy love is real, y'all.

I am so thankful that God brought my sweet boy into my life all those years ago. He has been such a blessing to my life and makes me want to be a better person every single day.

I can't wait to see what year ten has in store for us!

Love you to pieces!

Our home for the holidays!

Christmas just keeps getting better and better! Every year I think I couldn't love it more but then the next always surpasses the last. I feel blessed all year long, but never more than during this time of year. 

This is our tenth Christmas together, our second married Christmas, and the first one in our new house. Milestones! I have loved getting to decorate the house and have people over to enjoy the season. 

Here are some pictures of our sweet little house:

My DIY wreath makes a comeback!

The festive chalkboard

Have to gussy up the church pew!

Dining room buffet

Found these candle sticks at Goodwill for $2!

Our first real tree! This tree houses all our special ornaments.

New stockings

Believe it or not, these nutcrackers are from the Dollar Store!

Thanks for the garland and wreath, Mom!

This bow was a bear to make but I love it!

+ presents & the new tree skirt

There's nothing better!

Our advent calendar on the wall

Tree by night

View from the loft

Dining room tree

Breakfast nook table

Decorated for dinner with my husband's family

Coffee + Hot Chocolate

The candy tree in the kitchen

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Giving Thanks

Our Thanksgiving this year was very low key and it was absolutely perfect. We weren't sure if Chris was going to have to go in to work or not so we decided to have my family over to our house. 

My parents and sister came over on Wednesday and I cooked Shepherd's pie for dinner before going to see Catching Fire. I only cried about three times (mostly when it involved Rue) so I did pretty good! I loved it!

I woke up Thursday morning and cooked cinnamon rolls to tide us all over until the food was ready. I never know just how long it will take to cook everything… especially if I ruin something! Luckily, everything went off without a hitch and we had the most delicious meal! I cooked everything except the deviled eggs… no way was I touching those things! 

We ate a midday meal then everyone was in a food coma for the afternoon. We spread out across the house and lounged for a few hours. My in-laws came over to visit and brought us our early Christmas present! They bought us a new tv because ours has been slowly going out for a few weeks. They went ahead and let us have it in case ours finally bit the dust!

We had planned to go to the Macy's tree lighting and hit up a few shops but we decided we just wanted to stay in. This is the first year we haven't went shopping and I didn't miss it at all. We used to go hard core and loved every second until the stores started opening at midnight and earlier. Now it's just a joke. We did our share of online shopping on Friday and still spent way too much money.

I headed home with my parents for the weekend while Chris was at work. We went Christmas tree shopping and put up a real one at my parent's house for the first time in fifteen years. It has always been and always will be my job to decorate for the holidays. Good thing I don't mind too much!

Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving: