Christmas Traditions

My two favorite Christmas traditions are going to the Behold the Lamb of God concert that our church hosts each year and the Christmas party we have with our friends with an ornament exchange game.  This is the 8th year we've seen the Behold the Lamb of God concert and it's just as great each year as it was the first!  This year we took our neighbor's Scott and Julie and they really enjoyed it.  Every year I am just blown away at how incredibly talented all the musicians are who participate in this concert.  We had just gotten our new camera too the week of the concert so it was first time to test it out.  Here are some pictures from the 2013 Behold the Lamb of God concert:




We've probably been having this Christmas party with our friends for at least 8 years too! Originally we were all part of the same small group and then it got down to just 3 couples and ever since then we've been doing this Christmas party and an ornament exchange game. It's so much fun and even though we try to hang out throughout the year it's good to all get together at Christmas. Normally we do a group and individual family photo, but this year Katie wasn't feel good so they ended up leaving early. Here are some pictures from our friends Christmas party:

Decorating for Christmas 2013

I LOVE to decorate for Christmas!  This year we also got a new Christmas tree and I made a new Christmas tree skirt.  I had a little trouble with the tree skirt and had to re-do part of it, but after that it came out great and it looks just the way I'd pictured it in my head.  I also bought a second, smaller Christmas tree this year.  I really wanted a second tree and I hope to do a different theme each year.  This year it's a beach themed tree.  Here are the pictures of us decorating our new Christmas trees:

December Cat Pictures

This winter we have had a LOT of birds and squirrels in the yard.  The cats love to sit in the window and look outside, but they especially love it if there are birds and squirrels out there for them to watch.  Here are a few pictures of the cats watching the wildlife outside from December:

Thanksgiving 2013

This year for Thanksgiving we only got to see Chad's family.  My brother usually comes with us, but this year he didn't.  I did take him a piece of my pumpkin pie though!  I always like to get some family pictures whenever we're all together so I can use them for gifts and it's just nice to have pictures to remember things.  When we were taking the group shots we realized that my sister-in-law Amy's camera takes 3 pictures in a row when you set it up for timed pictures.  So we decided to do some crazy pictures and all move around for each of the 3 shots.  It was SO much fun and I think the pictures are hilarious!  I'm so glad we did that and it's a great Thanksgiving memory with Chad's family.  Here are the pictures from Thanksgiving with Chad's family:

Misc. November Pictures

We got the cats a really cute cube bed for Christmas two years ago.  Ever since we moved into our new house last year they haven't gotten in that cube bed one time.  Then all of a sudden they both rediscovered it!  Here are a few November cat pictures:




I tried a few new recipes this month. I usually take a chance and try things out on my book club since there will be more people than just me and Chad to eat whatever goodies I make. So, in November for book club I made homemade oatmeal pies and homemade cheese straws. The oatmeal pies were FANTASTIC and so easy to make - especially with my new Kitchenaid mixer. The cheese straws tasted great, but were harder to make. I would adjust a few things with the recipe the next time I try to make those. Then while my Mom was still here I made my first homemade apple pie with some of the apples we had left over from when we went to the mountains in October. It turned out really well too. Here are a few pictures of my new recipes and the beautiful Thanksgiving flowers Chad got for me:

House Updates

I really thought when we moved into our new house we would get so much done in the first year, but time goes by so quickly and there is still SO much I want to do.  We've only painted two rooms in our house and we still haven't hung up all the pictures and artwork either.  Here are a few pictures of some recent updates we did in our house (before pictures to come shortly):

We revamped our guest room with new paint and a new duvet cover.  We also moved my craft table into the guest room.  Here are a few pictures of the newly updated guest room:

When we bought our house the kitchen had a stove top and a separate wall oven.  The wall oven was so tiny I didn't think I even had any pans that would fit in it!  So, the very first thing we did was take out the stove top and install a new range.  I wanted to take out the old wall oven and add shelves for my cookbooks.  Chad took out the wall oven and converted the space to hold our microwave and a shelf for cookbooks.  Unfortunately we never took a good picture of the wall oven before it was removed, but here's the converted space:

Fall 2013 Pictures

I love fall in our neighborhood.  With so many trees, it is just beautiful when the leaves start to change color.  I don't love having to deal with all the fallen leaves, but it's worth it to have the shade and see the changing fall colors.  Also, my Mom usually comes to NC in October/November for my Grandmother's birthday.  Here are some pictures from fall and my Mom's visit to our house:

Fall Cat Pictures

Here are a few pictures of the cats this fall:

Roxy and Sandy relaxing on our bed.

Sandy sleeping on the very edge of the chair.

I have also been trying to get a video of Chad and Roxy dancing.  It sounds crazy, but she LOVES to dance with him and will do it for a really long time.  These two videos are pretty short, but they show off Roxy's dance skills!

Halloween 2013

Normally we carve a pumpkin every year for Halloween, but this year we just did not have time to go to the pumpkin patch and get a pumpkin.  In our new neighborhood the only child is a newborn so we don't have trick-or-treaters anyway.  I also had to work Halloween night.  Originally I wasn't going to dress up because I really didn't have time to come up with a costume, but when I was getting dressed that morning I had an idea.  So, I decided to be a Plaid Cat!

Me as a Plaid Cat!

Roxy and the Plaid Cat.

There were two other cats at work on Halloween.

October Beach Trip

My Mom lives in Hawaii now and she usually comes back to NC twice a year.  She usually tries to come in October for my Grandmother's birthday.  This year, unfortunately, my Grandmother's brother passed away not long after my Mom got to NC.  But, it was fortunate in a way because Chad & I were already planning to come to Wilmington to see my Mom and Grandmother, so we were also able to be there for my great-uncle's funeral too.  Even with the funeral we still had a great time being at the beach and seeing family.  Here are a few pictures from our October beach trip:

Gunner's 1st Birthday

Chad's cousin Jarren and his wife Brystle's son Gunner turned one in October.  Jarren used to work for Chad and so we were happy to be able to attend Gunner's 1st birthday party.  They had the party at a pumpkin patch in Monroe, NC, so there was a lot to do there.  Here are a few pictures from Gunner's 1st birthday party:

Jimmy Eat World Concert in Asheville, NC

We saw Jimmy Eat World in Charlotte in August as an early birthday present for me.  I had such a great time at that show that when I found out they would be back in NC in October I convinced Chad to go see them again.  He is such a great husband - he doesn't even really like Jimmy Eat World that much, but went to see them twice because he knew it meant a lot to me!  They were playing at the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC, which is where we saw them for the very first time 3 years ago.  They are such an amazing band and are so great live.  They really rock out and played for almost 2 hours!  Unfortunately my camera was kind of acting up and I didn't get very many good pictures.  But, the show was amazing and it was so great to get to see them for a second time this year!  Here are a few pictures I took at the show:

Patio Furniture Update

We wanted to get new patio furniture for our deck now that we are in our new house, but patio furniture is ridiculously expensive.  So, we decided to update the patio furniture we already had.  We painted the frames of our furniture and got new outdoor pillows that matched.  You can't tell as well in these pictures, but the pillows match so well and really make the whole set look even better.  Here are some pictures of our updated patio furniture - and I have to give Chad the credit he did all the painting!

October Mountain Trip

We decided to take a weekend mountain trip at the beginning of October.  We stayed in Crumpler, NC, which is just north of West Jefferson, NC.  We were hoping for some cooler weather and getting to see some fall color, but it was warmer than expected that weekend.  We did get to see a little fall color while we were there and overall it was a fun weekend.  We started off by visiting an apple orchard in Morganton, NC on the way to our cabin.  On Saturday we visited Blowing Rock, Boone, and West Jefferson.  Here are some pictures of our weekend mountain trip:


Here is our trip to the apple orchard:



Here is the cabin we rented:



Here are a few other pictures from our mountain trip weekend:

Coupon Savings in September

As you probably know already from this blog, I LOVE to use coupons and get the best deals I can.  Normally I post pictures of my great deals when one of the supermarkets does Super Doubles or Triple coupons.  At the end of September I got some great deals at Target and Harris Teeter by just combining sales and coupons.  Here is a picture of what I got that day, I got everything pictured for $18.59 and SAVED $27.59!

September Babies

We had 3 friends all have babies in September this year.  Our new neighbors, Matt and Hope, had their first child, Molly, on September 16th.  We visited them and took them a meal that weekend, but didn't get any pictures to share.

Chad's oldest friend Josh and his wife Kelley had their first child, Jack, on September 26.  Here is a picture of Josh and Chad holding baby Jack:

Our good friends Becca and Jason had their 3rd child, Ethan, on September 27.  Here are some pictures of us with baby Ethan:

And I didn't take this picture, but I HAD to include it.  It shows Becca & Jason's older 2 children Braden and Katie visiting baby Ethan in the hospital.  They are both wearing their "big brother" "big sister" shirts and are obviously VERY excited about Ethan:

Joel Salatin at Duke Divinity School

Joel Salatin is my hero.  He is one of the smartest, most articulate, and awesome people I've ever encountered.  I was SO excited to get to tour Polyface Farm last year for my birthday - it was honestly one of the best moments of my life getting to meet him!  So, when I found out via Polyface's Facebook page that Joel was speaking at Duke Divinity school I knew we had to try to go.  It was cool too that the weekend we saw him speak at Duke was the same weekend we visited Polyface last year!  And seeing how we are die-hard Carolina fans (Chad especially), it takes someone like Joel Salatin to get us onto the Duke campus!  Joel was at the Duke Divinity School as part of a faith and food conference called Summoned Toward Wholeness.  I really wish we could have attended the entire conference, but I had to work that weekend and Friday was my only day off.  Thankfully you could purchase tickets to just Joel's talk.  He is such a great speaker and I want to type up my notes from his talk, so when I do I'll add them to this post.  Here are some pictures from our visit to Duke:

Jessica's Birthday Weekend

For my birthday this year we decided to go on the Know Your Farms tour.  For the past few years it's been held on the weekend around my birthday and so we usually have other plans already, but this year I decided that was what I wanted to do for my birthday.  We were only able to visit 2 farms on Saturday, but it was a lot of fun and I  hope we can make this something we do every year.  We visited Thomas Bee Farm and Hoffner Organic Farm, which is in the Organic Valley co-op.  We are thinking of getting honeybees ourselves soon and it was really interesting to visit a local dairy too.  I love visiting local farms and supporting local farmers, so it was a lot of fun!  Here are pictures from our farm day visit:



And for my birthday Chad totally surprised me with a Kitchenaid mixer! I have been wanting one for years, but they are pretty expensive. I was so surprised and can't wait to use it!

September Garden Pictures

Now that it's September we are down to just okra and tomatoes in the garden.  Our okra definitely started growing more later in the summer and the tomato plants just keep getting bigger and bigger.  I'm SO glad the okra finally took off since it's my favorite thing we grow.  Here are some pictures of the September garden:

Matthew Alive Parade 2013

One of my favorite childhood memories is going to the Stumptown parade and festival, now known as Matthews Alive.  We lived in Matthews from the time I was 7 until I was 15 so going back to the parade and festival reminds me of  my childhood.  Chad & I try to go to the parade and festival most years if we can.  Here are some pictures from this year's parade:

Why We Love Our Church!

Chad & I have been going to Mecklenburg Community Church for 11 years now and we still love it!  It's by far the best church I have ever attended.  Here are just two recent events that show why we love our church so much:

For the past 3 years our church has been doing a backpack drive to support A Child's Place that helps homeless students in Charlotte.  These are just a few of the fully supplied backpacks donated from Meck!

We recently had baptisms after each of our services - so at 3 physical locations that is 7 services over the weekend.  Not sure how many total people were baptized but at the service we attended that weekend at least 30 people were baptized and that is what church is all about!

After the baptisms they served cupcakes.  Here are our friends Becca & Jason's children Braden and Katie with their cupcakes.

Homemade

We have moved more toward making as many things as we can from scratch.  I feel like our society tells us that it's too "hard" to make things from scratch or homemade things that can be easily purchased at the grocery store.  What I've found is that it's not necessarily harder to make things from scratch, but it does require a little more planning than stopping by the grocery store.  Here are a few things we've done that are homemade or made from scratch:

This is the table Chad made for our deck so we can use it for canning and also for when we grill to have some counter space.

Our first batch of refrigerator pickles.  We didn't have our canner situation set up in time when all our pickling cucumbers were coming in from the garden.

Our first batch of homemade chicken stock - we got 7 cups of stock.

Our first batch of home canned tomatoes from the farmer's market.

First Time Canning!

We took a canning class back in early June and we finally got everything set up to can at our house.  We found out in the class that it's not recommended to use canners on a ceramic top stoves because the canners are usually bigger than the burner space and since they get so hot for so long it can crack or damage the ceramic tops.  Since we just bought our stove last year when we moved into our house we were not willing to risk damaging it!  Chad built a table for our deck and we bought a portable gas cooktop that we can connect to propane tanks.  Once we had our cooktop and our canners ready we were finally ready to can!  For our first project we bought 2 boxes of canning tomatoes at the farmer's market.  Since this was our first time canning we learned a few things to make things easier.  Tomatoes are a LOT of work to prepare for canning - the actual canning part is pretty easy.  We did one box and canned one day and then prepared the second box one evening after work and then did the canning the next day after work so it wasn't so much work in one day/evening.  I also think something like green beans would be MUCH easier.  Overall, I think it went pretty well.  It was a little stressful that first day, but we got the hang of it and in the grand scheme of things 2 days of work for a fall/winter supply of fresh, farmer's market tomatoes is definitely worth it!  Here are a few pictures from our first time canning:

Jimmy Eat World Concert

As an early birthday present, I got to go see Jimmy Eat World play on August 13, 2013 at the Fillmore.  Jimmy Eat World is one of my all-time favorite bands and this concert was my 3rd time seeing them play.  I really like the Fillmore venue because it's roomy without being huge and you can see the stage from pretty much anywhere in the building.  We got there at just the right time too - we missed the opening band and got there about 20 minutes before Jimmy Eat World came on.  They played for almost 2 hours too - it was GREAT!  It was such a great early birthday present for me, especially since Chad is not a huge Jimmy Eat World fan.  Here are some pictures from the concert:

August 2013 Garden Pictures

Our garden didn't produce as much as we would have liked this summer, but it's our first year having one at our new house so it's still a learning experience.  By August our okra FINALLY started growing more and producing, so that's great because okra is my favorite thing we grow!  Also, our tomato plants got a VERY late start, but they are finally starting to produce a little too.  Here are some pictures of our garden in August:

July Birthdays

Chad and my brother Fielding both have birthdays in July.  This year we decided to grill out at our house instead of going out to eat.  I also decided to make them camo cupcakes thanks to Pinterest for the idea!  Since they are both into hunting I thought it would be cute to make camo cupcakes.  It was definitely a little bit of work since you had to divide the batter and icing into batches and color them with food coloring, but they came out really well.  Here are a few pictures from the July birthday cookout and the camo cupcakes:

New Tattoo!

I've been wanting to get a new tattoo for awhile, so I decided that was what I wanted as my anniversary gift this year.  I wasn't able to schedule it until July even though our anniversary is in April.  I really wanted to get the words "perfect in weakness" which is part of a line from a Flyleaf song, but also a paraphrase of the Bible verse II Corinthians 12:9 which says "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." This is one of my favorite Bible verses because anytime I feel like I'm not good enough or something is "wrong" with me I am reminded that it's because of these weaknesses that God can shine through in my life.  I LOVE the tattoo!  My tattoo artist at Immortal Images, Chris, did such a great job with the idea I had.  I am so happy with it and can't wait to get more - I'm even contemplating doing a full sleeve... Here are a few pictures of me getting my newest tattoo:

Outline done.

The finished tattoo!

4th of July and a Birthday Party

One of my favorite traditions has become the Harrisburg 4th of July celebrations.  For the past 7 years at least we've been meeting up with some of our good friends at the 4th of July parade.  This year it was overcast and drizzled off and on during the parade, but that meant it wasn't super hot at least.  Here are the pictures from this year's 4th of July parade:




Our friends Becca and Jason's children, Braden and Katie, have birthdays in June and July and they usually have a joint party for them. Since we always hang out with them for 4th of July too they decided to have the joint birthday party on the 4th of July this year. We could also watch the Harrisburg fireworks from their house too which was really nice. Here are the pictures from Braden and Katie's birthday party:

June Super Doubles at Harris Teeter

At the end of June Harris Teeter had Super Doubles (doubling coupons of $1 and up).  Usually Super Doubles isn't great for me, I prefer Triples (triple coupons up to $.99), but this time it worked out for me.  I SAVED $57.23 and spent $51.13 and got all this:

Summer Garden and Cat Pictures

Here are some pictures from our garden in mid-Summer and some cat pictures:

A Wedding and a Vacation

One of Chad's oldest friends got married this summer.  Their wedding was the day before we left for vacation, so we were very glad to get to be there for their big day.  Here are some pictures from Butch & Cissy's wedding:

We love going to Wrightsville Beach for vacation and I was really looking forward to enjoying the beach this summer. But, unfortunately we had a pretty bad vacation this year and ended up coming home early.  The place where we stay (and where my family has been staying for almost 20 years) decided to do work to the building in the middle of peak beach season.  After 4 days of drilling on the building (2 of those days were on our room balcony!) we decided to leave early and come home.  Also, Chad somehow hurt his neck, so I couldn't keep going out on the beach and hanging out knowing that he's hurting.  Even though I was VERY disappointed with the place we stay, the bright side was we got some extra time off at home which was nice too.  But, I still LOVE the beach and we did get to spend some time on the beach even with our shortened trip.  Here are the pictures from our shortened vacation:

Canning Class

Chad & I have been interested in canning for awhile now.  We found out that most county extension offices offer the classes for a VERY reasonable price.  The Union Co. extension office ended up offering a class on a day and time that worked for us.  We also invited another couple we're friends with who are also interested in canning, Mike and Leanda.  Leanda and I work together currently and Mike and I have worked together in the past.  It was a lot of fun to get to take the class with another couple who's also interested in a lot of the things Chad & I are interested in.  The class had a LOT of information, but the instructor was great and she made it really interesting and fun.  Here are a few pictures from our canning class:

Barbee Farm Tour May 11, 2013

We LOVE our local farmer's market and are very glad that one of the locations near us is year-round.  We go just about every weekend and even when I have to work on a weekend Chad will go for us.  During the winter months the farmer's market slows down and there are only a few die-hard farmers that come throughout the winter.  Because we were there almost every week, we got to know a few of the farmers a little better.  One of the farms that we buy a lot of our vegetables from is Barbee Farms.  This May they had a tour of their farm that was open to any and all of their customers.  We definitely wanted to be there to continue to show our support to their farm, but also because you get to really see where this food comes from.  When you buy food in a grocery store you have no idea who grew it, picked it, packaged it, etc.  Plus, there was free all-you-can-eat homemade ice cream!  Here are our pictures from the Barbee Farm tour:

Spring Changes at Our New House

One of the things we were most excited about with our new house was the fact that we could have a much bigger garden.  Throughout the winter Chad was working on our garden area - laying down cardboard to kill the grass, building the raised beds, putting up a fence, etc.  So, here are some pictures of our new garden:



Chad also installed a new ceiling fan for our bedroom. Here are some pictures of the installation and our new fan:

We also bought some patriotic decorations for our new house for Memorial Day and the 4th of July:

High School and College Pictures

I love looking through old pictures and so I decided to scan a bunch of pictures from high school and early college.  It was so much fun looking through all those pictures and remembering all the good times with friends.  Here are some of the high school and early college pictures I scanned recently:


Here are some pictures from my high school prom and graduation



These are pictures from the three years that I went with friends to the Cornerstone Festival in Bushnell, Illinois. Cornerstone is a Christian music festival that lasts a week and most people camp out and go to concerts throughout the afternoon and evenings. Going to Cornerstone those three summers were some of my favorite memories! We saw SO many bands and had such a good time hanging out with great friends. My only regret is that I didn't take more pictures and didn't keep a list of all the bands we saw.



These are some pictures from early college. My best friend Nicole and I basically spent all our time together at school and outside school. Then of course I met Chad in 1999 and the rest is our history together!

More Childhood Pictures

For Mother's Day this year I was going through some old family photos looking for one of me and my Mom to make my profile picture on Facebook.  Of course every time I go through old photos I end up with a pile I want to scan and add on Facebook and this blog.  Here are some more childhood family photos:

Sea Shell Wreath

One of my goals for 2013 is to work on craft projects more.  I have a great space for sewing and doing crafts set up in our new house, but I need to carve out more time for things like this.  I got the idea for this wreath from an L.L. Bean home catalog - this is a much more simplified version, but I like simple designs.  It was pretty easy to make this wreath and it all cost less than $15!  Here is the sea shell wreath I made:

Josh & Kelley's Wedding Weekend

Chad's good friend Josh got married on April 27, 2013.  While we were obviously happy for Josh and Kelley and were excited for their wedding we also got to see a lot of old friends we don't see regularly anymore.  I was especially excited to see Jame and Hamilton, two of Chad's friends from college that we rarely see.  Jame was one of the pastors who married us and Josh's wedding fell on the same weekend as our 13 year wedding anniversary.  It was a great weekend of catching up with old friends, celebrating Josh & Kelley's wedding, and just overall a great time.  I told one of our friends at the wedding that the whole weekend was like a family reunion - in the best sense!  Here are some pictures from the wedding weekend:

Spring Cat Pictures

Here are some more cat pictures from this spring!

Sandy and Roxy love to snuggle together.

Roxy threw up on the comforter so I had to wash the edge.  Before I could put it back on the bed Sandy decided it would be a good place for her to nap!

Roxy sleeping beside me on the couch.

A close up of Roxy sleeping.

Promoting Libraries and Summer Reading

Starting last year the library system where I work did a photo shoot for staff to help promote Summer Reading.  I didn't participate last year, but this year I decided I would.  I wanted to choose a very meaningful book too, so I chose The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, which I've written about before on this blog about how reading that book was a lightbulb moment for me.  And as much as I love Michael Pollan, I really wanted to use one of Joel Salatin's books especially since I got to meet him last year, but my library system doesn't own his books and since this photo shoot was to promote our libraries I went with Michael Pollan.  So, wherever you live support your local libraries and READ!

More Coupon Savings

In the month of April I scored some really good coupon savings on two different occasions.  One week there were just some really good sales going on at both of the grocery stores where I shop so I went out after dinner to both grocery stores to take advantage of all the deals with my coupons and on that trip going to two grocery stores I spent a total of $53.74 and SAVED $54.65 with my best deal being two bottles of All detergent for $1.27 each!

Later in the month, Harris Teeter offered triple coupons.  I didn't get a lot of great deals because their sales didn't match up with coupons as much, but I did get everything in the picture below for $23 and SAVED $25!  My goal for 2013 is to break $2000 in savings by shopping sales and using coupons, so I'm trying extra hard to get the best deals I can!

More Animal Friends

I love seeing all the wildlife at our new house!  Recently Chad was sitting on our deck in the morning when he noticed a box turtle making it's way through our yard.  So, of course I had to run out and get a few pictures of it before I left for work that day!  The turtle had walked up to the fence of our garden and the next day Chad noticed he was inside the garden area so he took him back out to the yard near the woods.  Here are the pictures of our turtle friend: