My Favorite Posts From 2011

I thought it'd be fun to go through my posts from this past year and blog about a few of my favorite ones from each month. I had originally planned on only selecting one per month but a few months there was a tie. There were quite a few others that were my favorites but I narrowed it down to this list!

January: -Feeling Invincible and Free

February: -The One About What Goes Around Comes Around

March: -Waiting For The Tree To Sink

-Marriage as a verb

-Gaining Perspective

-Pretty Enough To Wear The Dress

April: -The One About Relationships and Communication

-Dear Friend

May: -Interview With Jon

June: -Letter To The Mirror And My Body

July: -Hi My Name Is Carissa But You Can Call Me Jennifer

August: -Friends of all Ages

-Favorite Place To Blog From

September: -It's The Little Quirks

October: -Being Socially Smooth

-A Lifetime Of Awkwardness

November: -Road Signs

-Not Taking Life For Granted

December: -If We Hosted A Celebrity Game Night

 

What are some of your favorite blog posts you've written this past year?

Happy New Year Everyone!! See you in 2012!

Bring On 2012

One of my favorite things about the end of one year and start of another is the opportunity it allows to evaluate my life.

-What did I want to happen this past year
-What actually happened
-What I want to happen this coming year

I ended last year wanting to exercise more, be more confident, be more creative, and just overall happier. And as I consider this past year I'd say that all happened and then some!

-I'm ending the year with a healthier lifestyle. I'm eating healthier, have a consistent work-out schedule, and losing weight.
-The biggest thing that gave me confidence this year was I opened an etsy shop! I'm happier and being more creative. It's been one of the best ideas I've ever made.
-I've also moved towards eliminating sources of stress and drama in my life. It's impossible to be completely stress and drama free but it helps to deal with it differently.
-We've been going through our house and purging things we don't need/use and organizing what we keep.

I'm excited to see what happens this year! I'm going on my FIRST  international trip for one of my best friend's wedding!! I've been planning out where I want to see my shop go this coming year. And I'm starting 2012 lighter than I started 2011 and hope to keep continuing that way.

2012 is looking like it's going to be full of new and exciting experiences. I'm content with where my life is heading and can't wait for that journey.

What are you excited for in 2012? Are you happy with how 2011 turned out?

Merry Christmas!

From our house to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!!

It's Finally Finished!

If you follow me on twitter or instagram you probably know that for the past several weeks (ok closer to months) I've been working on a quilt as a gift for someone for christmas. There were a few set backs; I ran out of fabric for the border and binding and had to buy more, and the person I had lined up to do the long-arm machine quilting couldn't at the last minute. But despite the close calls of not completing it I got it finished with one day to spare! It's hard to get a good photo that captures each color correctly but I tried!

 

It's a bit brighter and "wilder" than I normally pick but I think it turned out pretty good. Jon loves it and wants to keep it! Hopefully my dad and stepmom like it!

The Presence Of Dreams

You know those times when you wake up from a dream and go "hmm.." I've had three the past few weeks. I've always been fascinated with dreams. Not the crazy ones where it's obvious you had too much sugar or coffee before bed. But the vivid ones where it's obvious there is a lot of emotion behind them. While I don't always pick them apart and research what "experts" say each color and item means, I do try to think about what things represent or mean to be and what my psyche is trying to tell me. These last three have been no-brainers. I know what they're trying to tell me. Just sometimes I don't want to hear it.

Speaking of weird dreams, my husband and I had specific details in our dreams... two years apart. Kind of makes you think!

Have you had any weird dreams lately? Do you analyze every detail or take it as a manifestation of your daily activities and thoughts?

Source: marvelouskiddo.blogspot.com via Jessika on Pinterest

Trying To Gain Christmas Spirit

I read once that bloggers are often quiet when life is good and have lots to say when things are stressful. So I suppose that's where this post stems from.

I'll admit, I have a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. There's even been a few years where I boycotted it as much as I could. I love buying gifts for people. I just find Christmas stressful and have a hard time focusing on the spirit behind the season. So I'd rather keep it as low key as I can. Since dating/marrying Jon I've changed a lot. One year I even put up my tree beginning of November! I'm not sure what it is about this year but I've had the hardest time getting into the Christmas spirit. It might not have helped that I started shopping in October. Or that we just put a tree up yesterday.

But I've been trying to get more christmasy! I had a lot of fun making up packages to swap! I purchased some great gift ideas for Jon! I drank hot chocolate and ate candy canes. I watched several christmas movies. I wrapped presents with a bunch of pinterest gift wrapping ideas.

And you know what? It was starting to work! And then small things started happening. I've been working on a quilt for my dad and his wife for the past few weeks months. I had a place lined up to finish quilting it together for me. The night before I was supposed to drop it off I got a message something came up and they can't complete it for me before christmas. There goes that idea! Then I found another place who would fit me in this week! I had an appointment to drop it off this morning but when we woke up we were greeted with a lovely surprise. The sewer system in our house stopped working! So I had to cancel the appointment and spent the day calling and waiting on someone to fix it. They can't get someone here till Tuesday! There's nothing like using an outhouse during the winter to put you in a great mood.   And just when I was sitting here feeling very bahumbug my husband surprised me with deciding to make a quick trip into the city to drop off my quilt! So it will be done before christmas! He's going to pick up a few of the last gifts we have to get while he's there too. So I decided enough of a bad mood! I put a christmas movie on tv, I put a few of Jon's presents under the tree, and I turned the lights on it. And I might just be feeling more like santa and less like the grinch!

What puts you in the Christmas spirit?

Gift Wrapping Pinterest Style

How did I ever wrap presents before pinterest existed?! I've gotten so many great ideas! So far for each present I've wrapped for Jon I've tried a different idea! Under the tree will look very eclectic this year!

Here's a few of my favorite ideas so far

Source: etsy.com via Leah on Pinterest

 

Source: google.nl via Chantal on Pinterest

 

Source: flickr.com via Carissa on Pinterest

 

Source: acreativemint.typepad.com via Carissa on Pinterest

 

Source: google.com via Carissa on Pinterest

 

Source: alisaburke.blogspot.com via Carissa on Pinterest

 

 

Ok so I guess there's sort of a kraft paper theme! What's your favorite way to wrap presents?

Christmas/Winter Package Link-Up

This past month I participated in two package swaps! I LOVE swaps! They're such a fun way to meet people!

The first one I participated in was a Handmade Gift Exchange. I was really nervous about making things for it. You never know if someone is going to like them! But I relaxed a bit and had fun making items. My partner was Stephanie from Ontario! You can check out her post about what I sent here

I love the package from her!

She made me this snowflake banner!

This girl has talent!!

She also painted me a ceramic tree! It goes great with my christmas decorations!

It looks so real! I was going to take a comparison photo but it hasn't stopped snowing all day.

She also sent me some lovely Avon products! I didn't get a photo of them because I started using them right away. And Jon stole my hand lotion!

Thank-you Stephanie!

The second package swap was the one I hosted!

I swapped packages with Marie! I LOVE the package! Everything was so perfect for me!

Everything came in this pretty Christmas box!

Doesn't that cookie cookbook sound like an amazing idea! I can't wait to try it out! And the mug has a spoon! No more Jon taking my coffee spoon to wash it before I'm done! Thank-you so much Marie!

Did any other of my swap friends receive their Christmas/Winter package yet? I'd love to see what you got! Feel free to link your post up below

 

Fill in the blank friday

 Has it really been a week already since I last posted?!?! Where are the days going?? Anyways, I love participating in fill in the blank friday! And you might too! Head over to Lauren's blog and play along too!

1.   My most favorite "little thing" is  the satisfaction of the first cup of coffee of the day

2.   I give anything to  be able to travel around the world with Jon whenever we wanted to

3.  I can't believe  it's already December 16th!!

4. The one thing I'd like to achieve today is  finish making the last christmas present I'm working on and complete the last of the household chores before the weekend.

5.  The last thing I want to do today is   head to the mall to go shopping. Think we'll wait till Sunday. Hopefully it's not as busy!

6.  If I were writing my own blank today, it would say:   "One thing I really hope Santa brings this year is..." haha but I don't have an answer for that.

7.  My favorite candle scent is  lavender vanilla.  We once got this amazing smelling candle in that scent. And I haven't been able to find a replacement! 

Happy Week-end Everyone!

Fill In The Blanks Friday

It's that time of the week again! Fill in the Blank Friday!! Click on the above button and head over to Lauren's to play along!

1. Love is a life changing experience in whatever form.

2. Being in love feels like you've found your missing piece.

3. My favorite quote about love is There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.--George Sand

4. The most important thing in a relationship is honesty, communication, and commitment. 

5. A "deal breaker" for me in a relationship is game playing and lying.

6. The way I show love in my relationships is by planning little surprises I know he'll like and doing things that speak to his love language. 

7. I love my husband! :)

If We Hosted A Celebrity Game Night

My husband and I LOVE board games! Our dream is to one day have a room with a wall full of board games. Yep, we dream big. We have 15 at  the moment but have a few more on our list to get soon. Every year at Christmas we buy a game or two and spend the evening on Christmas day playing them. We were talking one day about how fun it would be to have a celebrity games night. We started brainstorming of what would make them a good candidate for an invite.

The biggest thing on our list was they HAVE to have a great sense of humor and funny! Board games are supposed to be fun! And you can't spell fun without humor! Oh wait I guess you can. But you get what I'm saying.

The next criteria was easy going and a gracious winner and loser. There's a good balance between being competitive and knowing it's just a game.

A perfect addition to our game night must have a respect for the spirit of games. They must know that sometimes it's necessary to bet wagers on the game outcome. Whether it's for something material, embarrassing, or for honor and bragging rights.

So who made our list?

 

                                                                                                             Source: nymag.com via Sarah on Pinterest

 

 

                                                                                                                  Source: google.ca via pizzagal on Pinterest

 

 

                                                                                                            Source: google.com via Jerica on Pinterest

 

 

                                                                                                       Source: google.com.au via Haylie on Pinterest

 

Perhaps a little random but we think it'd be  an amazing group for games night!! If this happened I think my life would be complete!

 We thought it might be a good idea to create a short list just in case any of the above lose too badly and don't want to come for a second games night. There's a couple names on the list but we're still thinking about it.

If you were to host a celebrity game night who would be on your invite list??

 

 

 

Check Out These Lovely Ladies

This month I am sponsoring ads on three lovely ladies' blogs!! I'm excited to see what blog topics they write about this month. You guys should definitely check out their sites and show them some love! Here's a quick run down:

Krystal has a super cute blog where she writes about a range of topics; like music, books, and fashion. She's so sweet, so head over and check her blog out!

If you click on the above button it'll send you to Megan's blog. But check out her etsy shop too! I have three of her creations on the wall in my craft room! The above owl one is my favorite!

Ashley has an AMAZING project going on called the shine project! She's raising money to send kids to college and is living to make a difference in the world! So check out her blog and shops!