An Eventful Year

This time of year I truly appreciate spending time with family. It's different now that I'm an adult and married, so it's turned into a different appreciation. This time last year I was working retail, Jay and I were engaged and had just moved back to Atlanta, and I really just wanted the holidays over with. I was tired of the annoying shoppers at the mall, the long hours, no time off, and all that goes with retail at Christmas. Jay spent Christmas with us last year in Atlanta, and I'm so glad he was around.

It's amazing what a year can do though. I left retail at the beginning of March and started a new sales job, which I love, a week later. The first weekend in April Jay and I were married and went on a fabulous honeymoon. Not long after we got back we started looking for a home, which took all summer, but we finally closed and moved in in September of this year. We were able to go to Boston to visit family this fall, spent the weekend in the dark in Hurricane Irene, and watch some of Jay's friends get married. It's amazing how many of our friends got married this year. I was in two other weddings, and we attended three others on top of that! Crazy! We were also lucky enough to have Beth and Gary visit from Duxbury this fall, squeeze in a football game, and show off the new house. If you have read my blog, you know that has been a constant project, which we have attempted to delay through the holidays! After last year, I truly want to spend time with family and not worry about anything else. But, once the new year rolls around, we will be back to painting, decorating, crafting, and the likes. Sorry Jay!

We spent alot of time at the lake this summer with my parents and sister. The day after our wedding, Paige claimed (and I have witnesses) that she was going to get a job last summer. Well, let's just say she had a fabulous tan. In all serious though, it was great having her around. That is, when she wasn't napping or driving the boat at intense speeds across the lake. I really started to miss her when she went back to school. I understand the fall schedule though. Study Monday to Thursday, and party all weekend for football. I am hoping to go visit in the spring.

Christmas will definitely be different without her. We have built a tent in the living room, over the TV, since we were old enough to do so. We would lay out pallets, normally the couch cushions with sleeping bags on top, and stay awake most of the night watching A Christmas Story over and over again. One Christmas we got N64, and every Christmas after that we would stay up playing Mario Kart. This was all after we went to church, and went to the movies with the rest of the family. A weird tradition to most, and I don't remember how it started, but our family has gone to dinner and movie ever since I can remember on Christmas Eve. I am sad I'm going to miss this, but can't wait to pass this along to our kids one day. Every year we talk about looking up and buying all of the DVD's from our Christmas Eve outing, but have yet to do this. Hopefully, Jay and I can do that!

This Christmas I am going to Boston with Jay to celebrate with his family. His aunts and uncles come together at the Williams house on Christmas and all celebrate together. I am so excited to see how they spend Christmas. When you're growing up, you can't imagine doing it any other way than you have always done it. But, when you are married, you can't wait to see how your other half spends the holidays. See what traditions we are going to pass down. I am pretty lucky because I truly love spending time with my in-laws. Josh, Nick and I are all close, and it's nice to have some brothers around. This is truly going to be a special Christmas, and I can't wait to share it with everyone after the holidays!

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

A Christmas Story

If you grew up at my house, you grew up watching A Christmas Story on Christmas Eve at least three times every year. My sister and I used to fall asleep to it at night under a tent that we built every year for Christmas Eve. It is one of the many traditions I am going to have to pass on one day. I could probably quote every line of this movie. When I met Jay he had never seen A Christmas Story. I wanted to cry for him. I couldn't imagine Christmas without it. But, it took me a couple of Christmases to figure this out. My parents always had the leg lamp from the movie in our front window. Looking back, Jay probably thought we were nuts for putting a leg lamp in the front window during Christmas. He couldn't figure out why the neighbor kids were so excited the day put it out. Ha...it makes me laugh just thinking about it. I finally got him to watch the movie, and then he started to figure out the lamp in the window.

This year my parents are living in a new house that can't be seen from the road. They thought it would be such a shame putting it up and no one getting to see it when they drove by. This is where my great idea comes in. Jay and I have a huge front window that everyone can see down the street at our house. After a little debate, we decided on joint custody of the lamp. YAY! Let's just say this isn't Jay's favorite Christmas decoration, but he's appeasing me with it. He kind of rolls his eyes every time I rush upstairs when it starts to get dark to turn it on!

The best part of the lamp is how it was shipped. It was sent in the same crate from the movie and has Fra-gile (if you have seen it you know the proper pronunciation...I mean it must be French!) written down the side. The same fluffy packing material was in there keeping the lamp safe.

I know this sounds somewhat ridiculous, but Christmas traditions mean so much to me. We grew up moving all over the country, and things like a Christmas story and building a tent with my sister are things that stayed the same no matter where we were. They are things I will never forget, and will probably cry about as I spend my first Christmas with my husband away from home! I couldn't ask for a better family to spend Christmas with though, and can't wait for the new traditions I am going to learn about!

A Very DIY Christmas

I love Christmas. It is probably my favorite time of year. I am one of those people who thinks Thanksgiving is merely a speed bump on the way to decorating for Christmas. This year is especially meaningful since it is our first Christmas as the Williams family, and the first Christmas we are spending in our new home. I probably went crazy, but who wants to pay bills anyway? Kidding...really! I ended up buying all of my project needs from Hobby Lobby at half off...so no worries there. Alot of the other stuff, like our tree, I have been collecting over the years. I should probably do an ode to our tree since it is a pretty funny story on how it came about. Anyways, being on Pinterest really just makes you want to bust out your glue gun, tie a ribbon on something, and go crazy. So, I did! Here are a couple of my projects so far.

This was probably my favorite project. We bought two of these lanterns from Z Gallerie before we bought our house, and I never got around to putting anything in them. I decided why not fill them for Christmas. Then I can change them as the holidays and season change. I would actually love to paint them silver and fill them with candles, but who knows when that will happen. For the candles, I sprayed them with glue, and covered them in glitter. You will soon see that glitter is this year's theme. The pine cones I got from my parents' front yard, sprayed them with glue, and again with the glitter. I filled the bottom with snow, and added a bow and pine cone to the top...voila Christmas decor! After all was done, this project cost about $10 per lantern, if you don't include the price of the lantern. But on clearance, those were only about $20 each.

Close up picture of the candles and pine cones. I just think it looks elegantly simple.

If you have ready my blog before you will know why I don't have a mantel. I mean who steals a mantel? This was my attempt to decorate around my fireplace when there is no mantel in place.I was able to attach the garland to the wood blocks where my mantel should be attached to. I strung some lights on there, wired our handmade (thanks Mom!!) stockings, and threw some poinsettias in front. Now, I originally bought those to go on the front stoop, but then learned (thanks Mom!) that those plants aren't made for outside. Good with crafts, good with food, not so good with keeping plants alive! They looked fabulous out there...too bad! 

I found these little red candles at Hobby Lobby and the jars were half off. So, a little spray glue and red glitter, throw in snow...cute for underneath the TV on top of the shelf in the living room. Had to add the Hot Mrs. Claus glass my sister gave me for Christmas last year. It's too cute not to be on display!

I had a bunch (and still do) of pine cones left over after my first couple of projects. I also added them to a basket sitting on my coffee table. I had a bunch of snow left as well, and figured I needed some sort of centerpiece for my table. A little bit of ribbon around a vase I already had, and the rest put itself together. It looks cute with the chargers I have on the table with it.

I realize this isn't a craft, but I had to add it. My grandparents gave this to Jay and I for Christmas this year. It was my great grandmother's, and this is exactly how she had it decorated in her house for Christmas. There are a couple of ornaments sitting inside of it that she put there as well. My grandparents told us we should toss those and put something cuter in there, but I think it's adorable, and amazing that it still looks the same. I don't have alot of family heirlooms, but this is something I will treasure forever. I hope that Jay and I have grandchildren we can pass this to one day. Maybe on their first married Christmas. My grandparents truly are special people, and it amazes me how the always think of family above all else.

Of course I am nowhere near done crafting for Christmas. I have a couple of gifts I am going to DIY, and might have to glitter anything that sits still long enough. Stay posted for more ideas!

All the Fixin's To Go With It

I personally feel like growing up Southern has been a privilege. Things tend to move slower, the people are nicer, and everyone is always blessing your heart. I think the best part of growing up down here is the food. I can't get enough BBQ, corn bread, apple pie, and the list could go on. Jay and I had a couple of our friends over this weekend and I felt like trying out a new recipe. I had never made my own pulled pork before, and was a little ashamed to admit it, so who better to try a new recipe with than good friends? I went to Kroger and got a Boston Butt, with the bone in. Then I put it in the crock pot. Yes, I said crock pot. Two words my mother thought I would never say. She has been on me for years about using one of those, and since we got one for our wedding, why not?

 I chopped up a large onion and covered the bottom of the pot, then threw in the meat, and covered that with another large onion. Then I poured in one cup of ginger ale. Weird? I thought so too, but it ended up with a great taste. I let it cook on low for 12 hours just like that. After what felt like forever, I pulled the meat out of the pot so I could shred it. Now, when people talk about fall off the bone good, I know exactly what they are talking about. I couldn't for the life of me get the entire Butt to come out in one piece. I finally got all the pieces into a pyrex dish so I could start shredding the meat and discard of any of the fatty pieces that remained. I know I don't have any comparison since this was my first attempt at pulled pork, but this was the easiest part of all. After shredding all of the meat I drained the rest of liquid and onions into a strainer. Now, the recipe I found says that you should put all of those onions back in with the shredded meat. I HATE onions, and so does Jay. I think this may have been one of 5 times in my whole life I had chopped an onion. I refuse to cook with them unless I can discard them in cases like these. But, if you want to try this feel free to put them back in. I have never had Southern BBQ that had a bunch of onion, so maybe it's a Yankee thing!I cleaned out the pot, put all of the shredded meat in, and covered it with an 18 oz bottle of Jack Daniels BBQ sauce. Jack is a pretty good man when it comes to adult beverages, but he shouldn't be counted out of the BBQ sauce debate either! I let that sit on low for 2 hours, flipped it to warm and waited for everyone to make sandwiches. I just put out a bunch of hamburger buns. 

Typically, in our state, we just eat BBQ on a bun. Nothing fancy, no fixins, the meat typically speaks for itself. Saying that, I was in Vermont one time with my in-laws and my father in law ordered a pulled pork sandwich. I think ordering BBQ in Vermont is like ordering clam chowder in Atlanta, it just should be left to who knows it best. They brought it out on a bun with mustard, mayo, tomato and lettuce. I was just precious that they thought it should be served that way. Other states put slaw on theirs, but I'm a traditionalist! I think everyone liked it too, there wasn't a shred of pork left in that crock pot at the end of the night. My dad, who is pretty picky when it comes to BBQ loved it, and so did Jay. Jay wants to know when I'm making it again. Maybe next weekend? This is so easy, and know anyone who loves a pulled pork sandwich would love this recipe. And, it really couldn't get any easier!! By the way, we had people over to watch the SEC championship game, the only game that really matters in football (not that I'm biased...ok I definitely am...we rule!) What the heck happened to Georgia there? Can someone say roll over? Yikes! 

WAR EAGLE!