Chris & Jessica's 5th Anniversary!

Happy anniversary to my sweet sister and brother-in-law!!!

They decided to celebrate by going to Pigeon Forge for the night...

their first time away from their boys overnight!

Joel & I were nominated to take care of Josiah & Caleb.

 

We've been having a good old time here at Shady Nook!

We ate pizza, played, and watched a little bit of Charlotte's Web!

Jessica & Chris have been reading Charlotte's Web to Josiah every night.

Josiah knew that I was going to bring the movie for us to watch and was sooo excited!

BUT he only made it through about 30 minutes and then couldn't fight sleep any longer.

All three of the boys (Joel included) have been asleep since 8:00! 

I guess it's time for me to get some shut-eye.

There's no telling what time they'll rise & shine in the morning!

Ornament Wreath!

Today I want to tell you about a really nifty Christmas craft!

All you need is a wire coat hanger and lots and lots of ornaments (around 80 I think).

I saw this idea last year and planned ahead and bought my ornaments at an after Christmas sale!

First, you bend the coat hanger into a circle (as best as you can).

Then you cut off the hook part of the hanger and untwist the metal at the top.

After that, it's easy!  

You just start stringing the balls onto the wire!

I would suggest using some big and some small ornaments.

Now, as you can see, my wreath turned out great!

Jessica ran into a little trouble...

her balls kept popping off!

To solve this problem, you should undo each ball from its hook,

and then glue them back together FIRST!

We skipped that step, 

but thankfully my ornaments decided to stick together!

From this picture you would think that my wreath is being proudly displayed on my front door, but it is not!

I like looking at it myself too much, so it's hung on the inside of our door!  

Maybe I'll share it with the world next Christmas!

Shutterfly Christmas Cards!

Hello everyone!  I wanted to write to you today about Shutterfly!  If you have never checked all of their great products out before, you should!  I am planning on ordering some photo Christmas cards from them this year! 
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards
I receive emails from them all the time with great deals and discounts.
They also have super-cute stationery
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
and thank you notes!
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/thank-you-cards

They also have great photo books!  I have made only one in the past, but I plan on making more soon!  I can't wait to make one using all of our wedding pictures!  That's still on my to-do list, waiting to be done!  They are easy to do and I love the way they turn out!

I am still in the process of picking out a Christmas card and pictures to use on it! 
It is such a hard decision!  So much to choose from!  I know I am a little behind!  Hopefully I will get them finished and sent out before Christmas is here!  It won't be long!  I hope you all are staying nice and warm and enjoying the Christmas season!  We have been enjoying snow and more importantly snow days here in Dayton!  :)  Hopefully I will have some new Christmas posts for you coming up soon!  Merry Christmas!

Christmas ornaments!

Last Christmas, Joel and I made ornaments for each other.

I thought I was doing good.

Just look at those cute reindeer!

I thought I was doing good UNTIL

I opened up  THIS!

Joel hand-carved that nutcracker, and its mouth works! 

Unbelievable!

My ornament was definitely put to shame!  haha

Now the real problem is, this is supposed to be a yearly tradition! 

What in the world will I do this year?

There's no chance I can out-do the nutcracker. 

I'll just have to compete with myself!

I'll keep you posted!  :)

Christmas is coming...

The geese are getting fat!

Won't you please put a tree

for my Snowflake's hat?

Our first Christmas tree!  Isn't it a beauty!

(and Joel's pretty good lookin' too! :) )

Joel strung popcorn and shiny red beads while we watched 

The Muppet Christmas Carol,

Cricket on the Hearth,

and Little Women!

Our not quite complete but still beautiful

red and white themed tree! 

Merry Christmas!!!

Cheap entertainment!

Look at this nice, shiny wood floor!

Who knew what fun could be had with our floor, socks, and a dash of pledge?

 These pictures are blurry because we were sliding at such high speeds!!!

This is what I'd call cheap entertainment! 

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Josiah hamming it up on a concrete chicken!

This is at Grandma Gibson's house. 

The boys played an entertaining game of football!

We celebrated a lot....I just didn't take many pictures!

We went to my other grandparents' house.  I guess I was too busy relaxing and eating to take pictures!

There was also a delicious harvest banquet at Ashley's new house!

Joel even came and ate a school cafeteria thanksgiving meal with me!

It was a most excellent Thanksgiving!

Weekend Getaway!

Joel & I had our first little vacation together. 

(besides the honeymoon, of course)

We went to Cumberland Mountain State Park!

We went for a few reasons:

1. Joel said we hadn't been out of the house since we've been married!

2.  Teachers get a 50% discount at state parks!

3.  It was lots of fallish fun!

We went on a hike.  Right after I took this picture, a bunch of ducks flew out from underneath

the rocky ledge.  It was quite startling!  I wish I had caught Joel's reaction!

(I'm sure mine was funny too!)

This is our cute little cabin.  It was just right!  :)

You wouldn't believe how long it took us to make this fire and actually keep it going.

I said to Joel, "This will be no problem.  I have made a million fires in my day!"

The whole place FILLED with smoke and the fire KEPT going out!

Frustrating!!!  But we persevered...

and then enjoyed pumpkin seeds and apple cider in front of the fire!

Perfect!  :)

Halloween!

It's time for some major updating!

Christmas is coming, but here's a peek back at Halloween.

Joel and I were the characters from the movie UP: Carl and Ellie Fredrickson.

Notice the balloons, Joel's hand-made glasses, the grape soda pin, and the adventure fund.  :) 

If you haven't seen the movie Up, you definitely should!

We went to Katie & Ryan's Halloween party.

It was great to catch up with my wonderful college friends!!!

Game Night!

We had a fun game night with Ashley on Thursday. 

We played Blokus and then made this lovely piece of art! 

Fun, fun, fun!

Veggies!!!

Today Jessica, Josiah, and I headed down to Hixson for some real excitement! 

Can't you just see how excited Josiah was!?!

Actually, he missed nap time, so he was a tid bit grouchy.

 But then the vegetables came out!

At the sight of Bob, Josiah perked right up.

I even shed a tear (or two) of joy! 

You may think I'm joking, but I am not!

Just look at those veggies!  They were amazing! 

Amanda's Wedding!

Today my dear friend and former housemate, Amanda, got married!

She was beautiful and so was the scenery!

 We had some good times together back at Sunny View!

Speaking of weddings, Joel and I have been married for exactly three months today!

I am so thankful for my sweet husband! 

It's football time in Tennessee!!!

I got to go to my first UT game of the season with the Snyder family yesterday! 
We had lots of fun! 

The evening began with some tailgating action, complete with Kentucky Fried Chicken!

The sets of sisters!

We are nice and cozy packed into the stadium with our fellow fans!

Yahooooo!

The band performed their famous circle drills.

They were absolutely amazing!!!

I had such a wonderful time, despite the final score, which I will choose not to mention.

GO VOLS!

Toilet Paper

Look what we woke up to on Saturday morning!

Our first time to be rolled!!!

Why do I sound so excited, you may ask.

What good could come from this?

A fresh, new, FREE supply of toilet paper! 

That's what! 

Cozy Cottage & Kitchen Before & After

Our house was built in 1942.  That's a long time ago!  We bought it knowing full well that it would require a lot of time and hard work.  Since buying the house in June, Joel and many other family members and friends have worked super hard to make it the wonderful little cozy cottage that it is today!  Over the next couple days, I am going to post some before & after pictures to show you just how much has changed! 

This is the first picture I took of our house.  It really didn't look nearly this bad, but I didn't remember to take a "before" picture until it had been partially pressure washed.  I guess that actually helps our after picture look better, so I won't complain!

Here is what our house looks like currently.  There is still plenty to be done, but it is coming along quite nicely.

Now on to our room of the day: the kitchen!  This room is the one that has most drastically changed.  I myself was shocked when I looked back to this before picture today!  

The panelling came down, and we even got new countertops!

From this angle, take note of the cabinets.

I love the painted and modified cabinets!  My dad and Joel put in a dishwasher, which is a definite plus!

We have a little breakfast nook in the corner.  Someday we hope to paint the table and chairs.  I just added a little bookshelf in the corner for my cookbooks.

I just love our cheery, yellow kitchen!  It's one of my favorite rooms in the house!

Stay tuned for more before & after pictures to come!  :)