Thursday, December 3, 2009

House Decorations

Peter and I decorated our house for Christmas during our days off after Thanksgiving. It was the earliest we've ever done it, but was nice to have them to enjoy. Since we're always gone for a week at Christmas, we don't get to enjoy them as much as we'd like to.

The potato sack bag by the TV is mine from when I was a child. My NeeNee had them for us and would fill them with lots of goodies. I was glad to get it after she died. It's a very special keepsake for me. I also really love the nativity my mom gave me that she has a matching set to.

Our newish loveseat has a Christmas throw on the back. The throw was also inherited from my grandma's house.

Our beautiful tree! (Please disregard our mess of a bookshelf and corner haha!) Last year I finally got a real star topper. I had been using a large star ornament because I couldn't find the right kind of topper. I scored this one at Kohl's on clearance and was more than pleased :) We used ribbon again instead of tinsel or garland because Cadi may eat it haha. I love the way the ribbon looks anyways though :) And our "skirt" is actually an old Christmas plaid tablecloth. I love the way it looks all bunched, but Cadi sometimes messes it up so it changes its shape during December haha. I have resorted to pinning it which seems to help.

My aunt Paula gave me this cute curio when she got her mom's. I love it and love that it lights inside. You can see my growing collection of Willow Tree figurines in it as well as some handmade knick knacks from my great-aunt Pat. She made the two on the top shelf (Bob Cratchit with Tiny Tim and Scrooge) from clay. Such talent!

I love this little nook in our living room beside the door, but never know what to do with it. There used to be wires hanging out from the non-working door bell, but we've fixed that. I got the nativity wall hanging for free last year from Kohl's. I saw it for $20 and loved it, but didn't want to pay full price. So I was waiting til closer to Christmas and they sold out online and in stores around us. I was so bummed! While driving home from Brandywine, on a complete whim, I asked Peter to stop at the Kohl's we passed on the way up. And they had one left! And it was on clearance for $5! And I had a $5 coupon so it was free. It was one of my favorite finds. I love the rustic wood and the nativity. I found the star this year at JoAnn's, but it was silver. I used the spray paint I used on our switch plates and it turned out perfect. I love the nook like this! :) Now I just need to figure out what to do with it the other 11 months of the year...haha.

This is our living room from the stairs. :)

Random knick knacks on our end table:

And this is our living room from the front door. I love it! It's so cozy, especially during Christmas time! :) The coffee table is also a new addition. My aunt Paula got a new coffee table and gave us hers. It's a perfect size for our space and matches our dark wood. We've only had it for a few weeks, but love it! 95% of our furniture is second hand from relatives or Craigslist. Our house isn't new and fancy and neither is the stuff in it, but we love it that way. Also, please don't mind the leg massager with the stack of blankets haha. That was just by the stairs to be taken up to our 3rd room.

This is the advent candle display I made last year. I wasn't a fan of anything I saw in stores and wanted something with just candles and greenery so I resorted to making it. Less than $15 later and this is the result. I love it. I also like that it's not a typical wreath shape.

This is probably my favorite find of this year. Originally $24.99 at Family Christian Bookstore, I paid $4.69! It must have been last year's product or something because it was 75% off and then I had a coupon for 25% off my entire purchase. I was originally looking for Christmas cards and found this on the bottom shelf in a plain white box with a yellow 75% off tag on it. Out of curiosity, I opened the box and was tickled when I saw what was inside. It's also a music box which is an added bonus since Peter and I both love those! They had 2 so I picked up one for my mom for a Christmas present as well :) I love Christmas and the decorations with snowmen, etc, but I really love nativity items which are hard to come by sometimes. At least ones that I don't think are cheesy looking, etc.

Here's one of the hutches in our dining room:

And here's the other one. The Christmas dishes are new from last year. I found the set on Craigslist for $35 for service for 12 + a serving set. They are the exact dishes my mom and NeeNee had and so it was such an awesome find for me! Peter didn't think we needed more dishes since we already had snowman dishes that we were given as a gift, but I just loved that they were the same I had seen/used growing up. I also like that they are red and green since our snowman dishes are blue. After Christmas we can use the snowman dishes during winter. :) I also bought that snowman cookie jar at JCP last year on super sale. I was excited because I was looking for a snowman cookie jar that matched those dishes. Peter thinks it's silly looking, but I like it :)

Here's our Christmas village that my aunt Paula and I bought a few years ago. It was in January and everything was 90% off so we got the entire village for around $15. We added some trees (2 that were plain for super cheap that my aunt painted) along with some people that I bought at Kohl's after Christmas as well for 80% off. Since it's so spread out, I also added two small houses that my aunt Pat made. They were also out of clay. The details on the small houses are amazing! Peter set up the village this year with some snow drifts and I love how it turned out!

Our porch got changed around some this year from the previous two years. On the porch is just the sled with greenery from the tree farm (picked up off the ground for free!). I thought it needed something else so I took some ribbon I already had and made a bow for it. I'm quite pleased with the results :)

The snowman, which used to be on the porch behind the sled, was put in the ground on the side of the walkway. It works much better there.

This is our front door. We used to have this on the inside, but since our door is dark this year after stripping and staining it, we needed something light and this worked wonderfully.

I'm still bummed that the screen doesn't come out in the dining room to put the 3rd swag in that window, but oh well. We also wrapped lights around just the top of the railing on the porch and then down the railing of the walkway and on our large bush out front. We used to just put lights on the porch up and down on the vertical railings, but I like how this looks much better.

Here's another picture with the lights on outside:

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Hozak Farms

We got our Christmas tree yesterday!  We decided to get it a bit early since we're never in town the week of Christmas and I wanted time to enjoy it longer :)  We went to Hozak Farms again this year.  It was a beautiful day, but we kind of wished it was snowing like last year.  It makes it all the more fun when it's snowing!  My aunt Paula decided to come over again and participate in the festivities.

The big farm!  The clearing is where the tractor drops off and picks up people.  Last year we drove right out into the lot, but this year there was a tractor.  

Peter spotted our tree right away!  We marked it with a stick from the ground and looked around to make sure there wasn't one we liked better.  There wasn't!  We came back and got the first tree :)

Here's our tree, Peter and Paula waiting for the tractor.  Last year they hauled the tree down to the car.  Remember this postcard picture?

Me and the hubs with our tree:


We got it home and all decorated with the rest of the house!  Pictures soon to come :)

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Poconos!

This past weekend Peter and I went to the Poconos for a long weekend to celebrate our 3 year anniversary!  I can't believe it's been 3 years already!  I'm so blessed :)

We stayed at Ehrhardts which turned out to be a fantastic little gem!  We stayed in their lovely couple's suite.  

Here are some pictures of our wonderful suite...

Mini kitchen area, complete with microwave, fridge, and dishes:

This is what you see when you first walk in.  The giant window that overlooks the lake was just beautiful.

King sized bed :)

Reading area with fireplace and a tv incase you don't like reading haha.

Another picture of the gigantic window overlooking the lake:

Peter surprised me with having flowers delivered to our room before our arrival!  3 gerber daisies(my favorite!)-one for each year of marriage :)

Beautiful dresser that we actually unloaded our stuff into to make it not be living out of suitcase:  

Biggest bathtub I've ever seen!

Accompanied by the biggest shower I've ever seen!

Happy to be there after the 5 hour drive :)

This is the outside of the Ehrhardts.  Our room is on the right with the big window.  The main building is in the middle and the "motel" are is on the left.  They also have cottages and a banquet hall/restaurant.  

We spent lots of hours outside enjoying our beautiful surroundings.  

Another view of the lake:

It was a little chilly so we bundled up and brought a thermos of hot chocolate with us.  We also brought the book we've been reading and had some quiet time reading and praying together.

Obviously we were enjoying our time away :)

And we made use of the self-timer on our camera too!




We took lots of pictures to remember the fun we were having.

There weren't very many people around since it was the off season.  We actually quite enjoyed having the place mostly to ourselves.  Our first day there was a group checking out and they came over and congratulated us on our marriage.  They thought we were just married!  I take that as a compliment since it's the second time someone thought we were on our honeymoon when at a hotel, etc.  Then one of the ladies wanted to take our picture for us since we were doing so many self shots haha.

We had breakfast and then explored the area around our suite for a while.  Then we had some lunch and headed out for a hike in the woods :)

Peter found this tree and wanted it to be our Christmas tree this year.

But I wanted this one!

There was a nice pathway out along the water with benches.  It was much too windy to enjoy it for long though!

Our yummy snack!  I brought wine for Peter and sparkling juice for me since I'm not a fan of wine-sad, but true.  I'm working on it though!  Peter wanted the juice too though haha.

We also went into the small town of Hawley to explore for a little bit too.  It was a quaint little town.

An old train car from the 1800's:

Us in the train car:

We found this cool shop with all kinds of vintage and antique items in it.  Including this old porn machine???

Loved this with all the American flags:

Same building looking down the other street:

This old theater is being used for local plays an such which is cool.  It would be a shame to not see such an interesting building being put to good use.

A late snapshot of the sunset over the lake.  It was just beautiful!


Us in front of the sunset as the clouds rolled in and darkness fell:

Messing around at dinner haha.  First I mess it up.

Then Peter does.

Finally!

The morning we checked out I took this picture of the lake from our window.  So pretty!

Even though Peter doesn't look happy, he was :)

Bye-bye, little suite!

We definitely enjoyed our weekend and will probably visit Ehrhardts again :)