Fall & Winter Porn

I am so ready for fall! It's my favorite time of the year. I ♥ the crispness of the air, cute sweaters, pretty leaves, Halloween, pumpkin spice everything, Christmas music, family, winter nights, hot cocoa, Thanksgiving, pumpkin patches, wreaths, holiday cards, shopping, xmas lights, orange, red and yellow trees, baking cookies, and my favorite of all, Christmas.

I'm getting all hot and bothered now just thinking about it. I wish we could just get a little bit of snow here. I can dream, can't I?

I would LOVE to rent a cabin this holiday season up in Lake Arrowhead and spend a weekend with friends, doesn't that sound divine? Who's in?

If you love fall as much as I do, feast your eyes on this lovely collection of pictures I'm calling fall & winter porn. You'll thank me later.

Image found here.

Image found here.

Image found here.

Image found here.

Image found here.

Image found here.

Image found here.

Image found here.

Image found here.

Image found here.

Now didn't that get you all excited, or is it just me?


Come on fall!

Gobble, Gobble

My homemade Pecan & Apple Pie along with a not-so-homemade Pumpkin Pie.

And Gobble Gobble is what we did! We had another wonderful family Thanksgiving. I was so grateful to be able to spend it with my family, both of my grandmothers, my Aunt, my cousin Angel and Roxanne (and Crystal & Megan). I cooked half the meal and the desserts along with my father who did the other half. It was YUM as usual. I love spending time with my family and I love this FOUR DAY weekend. Being a full-time working Momma is NOT easy my friends. And being able to spend time with my family, and spend every minute with Carter, and do as I please is absolutely priceless.

Love this face Carter makes. Mischievous face.

Our spread (some of it!)

Our gorgeous dining table set-up.

Carter is seriously becoming his own little person and I'm loving every second of it. He is actually super funny and has a quirky little sense of humor. It's sad because I'm feeling like I no longer have a little baby; my baby is a toddler and I don't know when that happened. He makes raspberries when he puts something in his mouth he doesn't like, and he insists on being independent and feeding himself with his own spoon, among other things. He's only 14 month's old! I think he wants a sibling, it's time. :) Uh oh.

Carter's dinner!

And now it's officially CHRISTMAS-time. I ordered our Holiday Cards last night. The air is fresh, there are dozen's of Christmas movies on TV (not to mention Falalala Lifetime, which I'm watching now!), lights are getting put up, money is being spent. I love this time of year, it is my absolute favorite time. I literally count down the days to Christmas all year, and I'm treasuring every moment.

This year, I'm Thankful for the following:

My lovely absolutely adorable husband who loves me unconditionally no matter how crazy I get.

My beautifully sweet baby boy Carter. You are the reason I am on this earth and I know for certain I was destined to be your mother and you my baby.

My parents and siblings. You are the essence of who I am and thank you for always being there for me. I love that we are so close, and couldn't have asked for a better back-bone.

My friends. Especially my wonderful close group of girlfriends who I adore and look-up to.

I have to give a special thanks to Roxanne for being such a big part of my son's life.

My job, my home, my health, and my extended family. I am so thankful for everything that I have.

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

With love and gratitude,

Michelle

Another face of Carter's I'm lovin.

Being Crazy Pays Off!

So I posted the other day that I was on a contest entering binge, and was *hoping* that I would win at least one - AND I DID! Our local shopping plaza called The Promenade was holding a contest to win 4 VIP Tickets to their annual Christmas Tree Lighting and a complimentary dinner before hand. They announced on their Facebook today that I WAS THE WINNER!

I think I knew deep down I was destined to win, it was weird. I kept refreshing my Facebook this morning waiting for the winner to be announced and as I was doing this, they posted MY NAME as the winner. I squealed with delight and literally skipped into the office letting every know what I had won. The event is tomorrow night and I am so.excited.I.just.can't.take.it.I.want.to.scream. Ok, phew.

I want to arrive early and get some pretty pictures of my lil family in front of the tree while its still semi-light out so we can use it in our Christmas card if it turns out well. They haven't given me the details on the dinner yet, but from what I know it's for 4 people (not including Car) and they do fireworks, music, Santa, the whole she-bang.

I loove winning. I WIN I WIN I WIN I WIN. I really need to get this out of my system. It's a wonderful feeling. I hear from time to time that I am just a lucky person. I don't believe luck has anything to do with it. 1. You have to enter / buy the ticket before you can win, and 2. You have to BELIEVE it. Like really believe it will happen and don't second guess. If you truly believe it can happen, it will. That's my secret ya'll.

I love the holidays as much as I love winning. I love that my extended family is here and even though work is absolutely fecking insane, I am surrounding myself with my family, cozy dinners, and holiday cheer and I am smiling from ear to ear. You will not bring me down world!!

AND to top off a great day, I wrote two good accounts and got a free vacation to Hawaii!! Andy's parent's have never been to Hawaii before and they are coming out to visit Jan 18-Feb 1 and were adamant about going to Hawaii while they are here. We told them we can't afford the tickets right now, and they bought our tickets!!!!!! So we're going to Hawaii for 6 days in January with Andy's parents, Andy & Cart. I was just there in August. It's an inexpensive flight (compared to others) and we always stay on the North Shore. I can't wait to go again.

Yay for good days and winning and family and the Holidays. I would post a picture but I'm using my Aunt's laptop and I don't have any to share here. Andy and I are busy prepping for a garage sale this weekend so we can make some moolah to do some xmas shopping on black Friday.

Ok, I gotta get my little one to bed. I'm blogging at my parent's and have lots to do at home.

Night all!!!!

What to do: Christmas Card Picture

I'm trying to decide what to do for our Christmas Card picture this year. We always use Shutterfly to create our cards. Usually it's a last minute picture thrown on a card, or we'll take some family pictures at Thanksgiving (like last year). I really want something fall-ish, with pretty leaves and tree's. We went to Underwood Family Farms on Saturday and got some pretty pictures, but I'm still thinking of something a little more holiday-ish. Andy wants to get a pretty wreath for our door and stand in front of it. Cute. But not totally sure I want to go that route. We'll see.

For an additional .99 cents a card Shutterfly will address, stamp and mail them for you. I had them do that for Carter's 1st Birthday Invites and I'm thinking we might do that again. It's about .50 cents more per card (after subtracting postage) even though we're really trying hard to save money, I think its worth it. Depends on how many we send. I think I want to incorporate a story or letter in our card this year, and Shutterfly has these new story cards that I love. Here is a link to all of their photo holiday cards this year: Shutterfly Holiday Cards. They also have Hanukkah cards too: Hanukkah Cards.

It's super easy, upload your pictures here: Picture Upload.

And then create you card!! I love the stamp and mail option as a busy mom. They have all of my addresses stored and I click and hit send. Not much work on my end.

The Shutterfly cards I'm eyeing right now are:

Merry Bright Wishes Christmas Card (I liked how bright and happy this one was. If we decided to do a collage, I'd probably go this route)

Christmas Story Card (I would loove to be able to write about our 1st year with Car)

Merry and Bright Card (This one totally caught my eye)

Pretty Poinsetta Card (I looove Poinsetta's)

So we have a lot of options here.. We're still looking. I think it depends on what picture we like and what card goes best with it. I'm obsessed with everything Christmas and am already making my Christmas wish list. I can't wait to see Carter on Christmas morning. Last year he was 3 months old and not much fun. This year will be entirely differen't.

I'm excited about our Holiday Cards and will show off the final result after they've been mailed to all my friends and family.

Hey Bloggers! Shutterfly will give you 50 FREE Holiday Cards, click here: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Thanks Shutterfly! Another reason why I use them all the time; they are kind to bloggers. :)

Xoxo, Michelle