Christmas Craft

Thanks to Pinterest, I got the idea to make a wedding ornament for both of my sisters.  I cut up their wedding invitations and curled each piece.  I put them in the clear ball I found at Hobby Lobby and tied a ribbon.  Simple as that, but they both loved it and I loved making it for them.  It will remind them of their special day every Christmas!

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

The Best Time of the Year

Christmas time is my favorite time of year.  It has been a tradition for the last couple of years to all gather at Austin's parents house the weekend after Thanksgiving to decorate the Christmas tree and eat a delicious dinner.  This year was a little different because we had 3 little boys "helping" us decorate.  They LOVED all of the ornaments, which led to the bottom of the tree being completely covered and the top being a little bare.  We tried to take a picture of all 3 of them, but it was a bit more of a challenge then we had hoped.  :)
Here are my little buddies in their new pajamas!

Another reason I love this time of year is because it is my birthday month!  I am a huge fan of birthdays and definitely talk about my birthday for a whole month (sorry to all of those that had to listen to me for so long!).  My sweet sister and boyfriend surprised me with a Happy Hour the night before my birthday! All of my favorite people were there, which just made my birthday extra special. 

On my actual birthday, I used my "Gift of Time" at school and left at 2:00. Austin came over and we tried to fish in the lake behind my new townhouse.  We didn't catch anything, but it was fun to just hang out with him during the day!  That night, we headed to my sisters for a fun family dinner which included steak, fingerling potatoes, green beans, and Caesar salad.  It was delicious!

Finally, Austin and I traveled to Fort Worth on Friday night to eat at our favorite restaurant. Nona Tatta is the best Italian food I have ever had, besides in actual Italy.  We met Will and Katie at The Usual (bar in FW) and ate a delicious meal.  As an early Christmas gift, I surprised Austin with a night at the Omni in downtown FW.  When we don't spend the night, we have to worry about leaving too late and this way we could enjoy the whole night and day.  We headed to the hotel and Austin got us upgraded to a suite!!  We had a HUGE room with the most amazing shower.... 5 spickets where water sprayed out! We slept in and headed to Old Neighborhood Grill, TCU bookstore, and drove by Austins old house! I LOVE Fort Worth!!

Great birthday! Cant wait for next year!

Thanksgiving Pies and a Great Surprise

I love Thanksgiving! The food, the family, and especially the pie making.  Austin and I have been in charge of making pies the last couple of years and this year we made 3...2 apple pies and 1 fudge pie.  I took a couple of pictures while we cooked, but I forgot to take the pictures of the final product... Whoops!

Apple pies (too bad I didn't take final pictures... they looked so pretty)

 Fudge Pie!

And my surprise....
That Sunday, I wanted to give Austin a little treat!  I decided he needed a little holiday cheer in his apartment, so I went shopping!  To Target I went and purchased a tree, lights, ornaments, and holiday kitchen towels.  The best part was I found a pickle ornament, which has been a Winans family tradition for years (apparently its  a German tradition! ).  He was very excited to come home from work and see this!

I love the holidays! Makes me happy!