Instagramming November

I may be 12 days behind on this one, but I believe everything works out in the end. :) Even if the end is 12 days into the next month.

1. Getting lunch with the girls. I DO NOT feel like cooking these days.
2. Tangerines are in season, and my new bromeliad. Hope it thrives.
3. Making masks at Noah's house.
4. Adele sleeping in my arms--sweetness.
5. Starbucks date
6. I voted.
7. Fresh spinach, carrot, orange, lemon juice.
8. New fave combination--tuna and balsamic vinegar in my salad.
9. Been having a lot of fried eggs in the morning.
10. Leaves and moccasins
11. Engrossed in her cartoon. Usually it's Caillou, sometimes it's Dora.
12. Ben's friends
13. It's Christmas at Costco.
14. New pillows
15. Birthday party
16. Walk for Italian sodas in the rain.

17. Rugelach in the making.
18. Puffy pancakes
19. Jeweled biscotti all ready to mix and bake.
20. My favorite fruit of the season. Can't get enough.
21. Date night at LuLu's.
22. White lights
23.Parsley rice in the making, with coffee on the side. Happy Thanksgiving!
24. The lights are going up.
25. Pumpkin pie fail
26. Lights set to music--the poor neighbors...
27. Getting our decorations out.
28. Gingerbread house tradition
29. The tree is up and beautiful as ever.
30. The baby wanted some frozen yogurt. He/she told me.
31. Belly pic!
32. Pretzel crisps and Nutella

xoxo,
Tanya

Trimming the tree

I've been go, go, go all day long, getting ready for our church's Christmas banquet, which I'm in charge of this year (yikes!), but I thought I'd sit down for a bit and share our tree this year. We have a very eclectic tree full of mushrooms, matryoshkas, polka dots and cupcakes, with lots of glitter and pretty glass. I've been collecting ornaments for ten years now, and snooping around for a few more to add to my collection is one of my favorite things to do around the holidays. Last year I scored some gorgeous ornaments after Christmas in a variety of pastel colors, and I could barely wait till this year to get to hang them up. They complement all the busyness of some of the other ornaments beautifully. They are my current favorite.

xoxo,
Tanya

Those who dream

A couple more layouts I got done this week. These two are 8 1/2x11 versus the 12x12 I did yesterday. I have always liked to keep the layouts I make for my own album smaller, probably because they come together so much faster, and it's perfect for something I want to remember that has only one picture. Sometimes it's not even a picture, but a ticket stub or brochure. Plus smaller pages give me a chance to try new looks and techniques out without worrying about it as much.

I found this quote somewhere and came across it again the other day, so I gave it its own page. It's almost like poetry, but so stinking inspiring too.

You're probably sick of seeing the pictures from this day at the park, but I was itching to scrap this photo of my sister and I, plus her adorable chunkster in her arms. That glitter paper by Dear Lizzy had me at hello, and it felt autumny, so I matched all the other papers to it. You may see it pop up again and again on my pages until the last little piece is gone!

xoxo,
Tanya

These kids are too much

We went out on Black Friday to get our tree, which was our one purchase of the day. I take that back. I hit up Target for more lights for the tree later that day when I realized a strand had burned out and I didn't have enough to cover the tree. I looove how my new white bubble lights look on the tree, as opposed to the standard mini lights I've had for years. I'll share the decorated tree next, but first I want to share these shots of the kids outside the tree place. They were waiting for Tato (Dad) to get the tree strapped to the roof of my car, and full of excitement too, obviously, because these poses are something else!

Looks like Ben finally got into it at the end, ha ha!

xoxo,
Tanya

First two scrapbook pages in a looong time

It's been too long since I scrapbooked last, and even longer since I scrapbooked consistently. That means always printing out pictures I want to document for the kids and getting all my journaling down before it escapes my mind. I've been horrible about that for the last two or three years, and it makes me sad that time has escaped me like that.

Well, I'm officially back in the game! I spent all day yesterday in the office, playing around with paper and moving embellishments around until I got it just right, and I was in heaven! I wish I had gotten back to it sooner. I have been buying some new products during my time away, just because I can't pass them up, so I had all these cool new things to play with. I was seriously in my zone yesterday, and it was awesome. My mom had the kids and I was home alone, with all day stretched before me. I only took a break for a much-needed haircut, then got my favorite raspberry chipotle chicken salad at Costa Vida before heading back to my desk. It was kind of a dream day, now that I think about it.

Here are two of the pages I made. I'll be back tomorrow with more.

Some people like to stick to one certain brand of products, or have a definite favorite. I am the complete opposite. I like to gather from all over the place, and put it all together in a cool way. That way I can always color coordinate if I want because I have so much selection, and I like my pages to be fun and eclectic, not stuffy. Sorry if I just bored anyone who doesn't scrapbook.

xoxo,
Tanya

Lovely calendars

 

No. 1 / No. 2 / No. 3 / No. 4 / No. 5 / No. 6 / No. 7 / No. 8

 

I'm especially proud of the last one because my sister designed it (the photography is by her and her husband). Her handwriting is beautiful, and the best part--the back of the picture is printed with a postcard back, so when the month is done, just cut the bottom off and send your postcard off to someone special. How neat is that?

 

xoxo,

Tanya 

I love this time of year

Doesn't everyone say that? But it's just so true. Yes, it's cold and the trees are getting really ugly and bare, but the feeling in the air is all about love, joy, and anticipation of good things to come. I've had years that were extremely hard and lonely this time of year, and all the hustle and bustle just makes you feel even lonelier, surrounded by your problems. So I know it's not all joy and cheer for everyone during the holidays. I'm glad God has brought me back to a good place, and I can trust Him to provide for me and care for my every need. I've learned the key is not simply wishing and praying for something, but trusting God enough to believe without a doubt that you will receive it. To know He will do it for you. Faith is such a hard thing sometimes, because it requires you to let go, to acknowledge it's not in your power, and give it all to God. I know I love to be independent and self-sufficient, and it's been hard learning that lesson over and over in my life when the doubt creeps in and takes over.

Well, that turned into something completely different from what I intended this post to be, but that's okay. It's kind of fun that way, right? All I wanted to do was put up a couple pictures of the kids on the roof (NOT my idea).

xoxo,
Tanya

Around the house: Christmas is coming!

 

1. A bowl full of vintage ornaments. Sometimes I want to eat them.

2. Getting ready for the Christmas party/banquet at church--looking through all the decor, getting ideas, shopping for some diy supplies, etc. I'm thinking gold and white this year, with possibly some silver thrown in.

3. Got some new goodies at Sephora as an early Christmas gift to myself--L'Occitane lotion, Surf Spray, and Josie Maran argan oil products. I'm not a products person by any means, but when I've heard a certain product is good, it's really fun to try it out.

4. Got all my gold and silver glitter out. Glitter makes me happy.

5. I finally resized some photos to wallet size, put them all on one 8x10 sheet in Photoshop, and got it printed at the Walgreens on the corner. And it worked! This is exciting, because it means I can size my photos any way I want, order, and have them in an hour to scrapbook. I know I could have done this long ago, but I'm slow at trying new things I'm not 100% about. The perfectionist in me won't give it a shot if there's no gaurantee it'll turn out well. Anyone with me on this?

6. Getting all the Christmas decorations out and testing them.

7. Our 2012 gingerbread house. The kit was so cheap we didn't have enough candy for the other side of the roof! Next year I'm definitely making my own from scratch, and we can load that thing up until it collapses! ;)

8. My first baby purchase--a chain of birdies to hang in his/her room. This decorating thing is going to be fun! (And I always say that until it becomes stressful.)

9. And last but not least...these are the last cookies I was baking on Thanksgiving day during my baking week, and they were a big fat fail.

10. The dough was too hard from the fridge to roll out, and when it thawed out a bit, it was too sticky and ripped apart on the counter.

11. This is the second time I wasted a bunch of ingredients trying to make them, and I say no more! I got a really unspecific recipe from a lady I know for her cookies, and I really think she just didn't want to give the recipe out. Bummer, because they are melt-in-your-mouth flaky. I'll get over it. :)

My days have been flying lately, and this blog has been one thing that had to give. It's probably because I've been shopping like a crazy person lately. I've been trying to get some Christmas shopping out of the way so I don't have to get it all in December, trying to get the kids' Christmas outfits done, running around getting craft supplies and knick-knacks for an advent calendar, shopping for Christmas lights and such (and still no luck with a tree topper), and getting a few things for the church banquet. Oh, and let's not start about dress shopping for said banquet with a pregnant belly that isn't quite big enough for maternity clothes. Hopefully today I can get the house cleaned up and the laundry caught up on.

xoxo,
Tanya