Our Christmas 2012

When you are in the Military and you move away from your family, Christmas is a totally different experience. Every year we would be running around to different family gatherings non stop. Now we just sit at home and do nothing. It's sad, but we just make the best of it and enjoy relaxing. This is our second Christmas in Wyoming. Cody was on call and I'm not aloud to ask for time of work during December. (This is why we don't visit Ohio.) Also the highways to drive home can get really bad and they close them often. It's not the best time of year for any sort of traveling.
Barrett taking a look at the snow we got Christmas morning!

We spent Christmas Eve with our friend Kara. We drank tea and coffee and ate good food. We also made homemade laundry detergent. Something we had really wanted to attempt. (Blog post to come shortly.)


We ended up getting snow Christmas Eve night which was really pretty. We also got home from Kara's house to see that Santa had come. (The U.P.S. Driver) It kinda made me feel like a kid a again having packages waiting for you. Except these were outside covered in snow, not under the tree...


Our family tradition back in Ohio was to always open presents on Christmas Eve night, so that's what we did. This year my parents and I kept it simple and just bought each other ornaments. They got me the cutest Hello Kitty one. She is all decked out in PINK...


Norman enjoyed the bubble wrap that the gifts came in!
When I opened my present from my in-laws it took everything I had to NOT cry. They purchased me a Sea Shepherd cycling jersey. Which not only is something I really wanted but the purchase of it also goes towards a donation. I wanted this freakin jersey so badly! It's coming all the way from Australia and has not arrived yet, so they printed out the order form and taped a photo of it on the paper...


The jersey is actually made from recycled plastic bottles!! The jersey couldn't be MORE PERFECT for me. :) Also the same day one of my best friends in Ohio sent me a text message with this photo...


He made a donation to Sea Shepherd! That was my gift! How awesome.
My other best friend in Ohio sent me a panda stuffed animal from the San Diego zoo.
It is super cute! I really hope to make it to that zoo someday.
Christmas morning was so cold. The fresh snow that covered the streets was so beautiful. I love snow when I don't have to go outside or drive in it. It's so peaceful and pretty.


It's not Christmas if we don't watch The Christmas Story!

We drank lots of coffee and baked vegan cookies!
Then I decided that I wanted to go to the park to take a few photos. I know a lot of people don't get white Christmas's, so I figured we should take advantage of it. The only problem was it was SUPER cold. I had no gloves on. After taking about 5 minutes worth of photos my hands were numb and we headed back to our warm car. I do however have some pretty pictures to share with you...


There is a lake under all that snow!


I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

Putting Up Our Christmas Tree

Over the weekend we finally found some time to put our tree up. I am also very glad that we moved in time to have Christmas at our new home. My tree is white with a mixture of vintage and new ornaments. I hope to find more vintage ornaments while I'm out thrifting this month.

As you can see by my serious look on my face in the above photo, I am very O.C.D. about how my ornaments look on the tree. Cody hates putting ornaments on the tree and I always yell at him for putting two of the same thing side by side.

I usually only decorate my tree "matchy-mathcy". I have never liked the overly cutesy ornaments in the past.
This year though we have Disney ornaments and some other cute things hiding out in our tree.

I also added some cute stuffed animals under the tree this year. I am really happy with how the tree turned out this year.
How do you like to decorate your tree?

If you live in the U.S., don't forget to enter my Shabby Apple Gift Card giveaway!

Merry Christmas

I have always loved this picture! I hope everyone has a great day with their family and friends! Apartment Therapy
Next year I would love to make a wreath like one of these!
Retro Renovation & Georgia Peachez

Cody and I will be watching A Christmas Story and other Xmas Shows!

And if you didn't see this, its pretty awesome......
It's a good day to be a Bengals Fan!

Our Christmas Tree - 2011

When we moved from Ohio a few months ago, I left behind most of my Christmas stuff. I decided to just donate it or give things to my mom. I gave my mom my big Silver Christmas Tree that we only had for a few years. I knew we were moving to an apartment, so I figured it wouldn't fit! Last year I set up a small Pink Tree in our apartment. The first tree Cody and I ever bought together as a couple was in 2005. I decided when we moved I couldn't let it go. That is the tree we are using this year....I basically had no ornaments. I didn't realize that till I unpacked my Christmas Decor tote and found it empty. I usually decorate my tree different every year. (Which Cody hates. He wants Hallmark ornaments, and what he calls a "family tree".) I like to "decorate" it and make it pretty. I tried to pick out ornaments that Cody liked also, meaning not all pink ones.

Did you see the cute doggie ornaments I found? You can see that post {HERE}I am happy with the way the tree looks this year! It's even better to see presents under the tree from our family! They have all been so sweet this year making sure to mail us stuff to unwrap Christmas morning.
I don't believe in spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on gifts. (Unless it's for kids!) Our parents will always want to buy for us though! It's nice to know that they are thinking of us also since they are now 1,200 miles away. This year my mother-in-law bought us some Christmas Vinylmations....
These Vinylmations actually smell like candy canes and other holiday scents! They are so cute!

Cute Doggie Xmas Ornaments

I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and picked out some new ornaments for our Christmas tree. They had cute dog ornaments that I couldn't pass up! They had an ornament that looked like Muffins...
...and a very cute little Chihuahua ornament that looked like Chloe! Hobby Lobby did have a few other breeds if you would like one of these ornaments for your tree.