Christmas Recap.

My Christmas was better than I ever could have imagined. We spend Christmas Eve with family friends. We went over there and had a big lunch, exchanged presents, played some games and then headed off to church. Christmas Eve service is probably my second favorite of the year after Good Friday, there is such a sense of peace and calm, absolutely amazing. 

This year I decided to start a married tradition of drinking champagne with our toasting flutes from our wedding and opening our presents to each other on Christmas Eve. It was great to have that time to ourselves and have those moments. I can see them being even more special as we get older and have kids and the alone time doesn't happen as often. I get so excited thinking about how our Christmases

On Christmas morning we spent the day with my Mom's family. Each year we get matching PJ's and this year we went with snowflakes.

One of the gifts that I was most excited for was tickets to the Pacific Rim Championships for gymnastics. I'm a big gymnastics fan (even though I never did gymnastics) and I watch all of the meets online and follow all of the National Team on social media. This is an event that is happening in my state and gymnasts from all over the world will be there. I'm super excited to be able to see these athletes competing in person just a few months before some of them will be at the Olympics.

I also gone a ton of other awesome presents, cute sweaters, booties, earrings, and a bunch of stuff for our apartment/future house. I am so blessed to have been able to spend this day with my amazing family and be given so many wonderful gifts. I hope everyone else had just as wonderful of a Christmas! 

My Christmas List.

We are only 20 days from Christmas, can anyone believe it?! I have put together a few of the things that I am hoping to find under the Christmas tree. I also love gifts that are totally out of the blue and surprising so I am looking forward to those as well. :) 

Phone case

I got a new iPhone 6S a couple of weeks ago (thanks, hubby!) and now I would love a new case to go with it. Right now I have an otter box which isn't very stylish, but it will protect my phone. I'd love some pretty ones to alternate it with. 

Make up Brushes 

I am not good at buying things for myself, especially make up brushes which can be so darn expensive! I asked my mom for some and I  know she's been shopping at ULTA so hopefully I will be getting some. 

New TOMS 

These are my favorite for work when I want something comfy, but also a little dressy. I have black glitter ones that are pretty worn out now so I would love some gold ones which work perfectly for our school spirit days when we wear purple and gold. 

Booties! 

These are one of the things I always thought I would never be able to pull off but surprise, I can and I love them. I'm hoping for another pair this year. 

There really isn't much else that I am hoping for. Clothes are always great, scarves, accessories, etc. and I am not picky about those. I honestly have so much 'stuff' and am so blessed that I really don't need anything. I am hoping for a lovely Christmas with my family, that everyone is in good health, and that we have another great holiday filled with laughter and joy. 

What is on the top of your Christmas list? 

Weekending: Black Friday & Holiday Decor!

We had a great holiday weekend! We went to my in-laws for Thanksgiving and had a relaxing day and delicious dinner. Thanksgiving night I went out with my sister in law for some Black Friday shopping and I got everything on my list! I was so happy with all of the great deals that I got and all of the gifts I was able to buy.

Friday was the Apple Cup, our huge rivalry football game. We went to a restaurant to watch it with some of our friends from college who live in my husbands home town. Our quarterback was injured at the last game so our back-up stared and it was ugly. Probably the worst game of the season which totally ruined the day. Such a disappointment. Thank goodness we have a bowl game to look forward to.

Saturday we drove back home and went to my mom's to visit with my brother who is home from grad school, have dinner with the family, and decorate my mom's house for Christmas. Even since we moved out we try to come together to decorate with my mom and keep the tradition alive so I was glad that we were able to again this year. 

Sunday after church we came home and set up our Christmas decorations! We still have a ways to go, but I am most excited about our new nativity.

Linking up with Meghan!

Have a great week! 

Wedding Wednesday: Bridesmaid Gifts

Happy Wednesday! I am so excited to be talking about my wedding which truly was the best day of my life. I am blessed for have five wonderful bridesmaids who were by my side throughout the entire process. I gave them their gifts at the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding and I was rather proud of them. :) Here's a look at what they got!

I ordered them personalized bags on black friday and saved them all of these months! They are the perfect size for an overnight trip. 

I saw this on pintrest and loved the idea. I bought these hair ties for $1 at walmart and printed out this cute saying on cardstock at home. 

Bath and Body Works is my fav! I picked a fun summer scent that matched my colors. If you watch for sales and use coupons you can get a great deal. 

Old Navy Flip Flops! Watch out for the $1 day, that's when I bought mine. 

Tissues, these came in handy. 

EOS! I got the Costco pack and split it up, one per girl. Perfect since I had five! 

The robes were my favorite. I got them for each of the girls so we could get ready in them && take an adorable teaser picture. :)  

It was a lot, but since I spread it out over several months it was totally affordable. I recommend just picking up little things here and there, before you know it you have a great gift! 

Linking up! 

Wedding Wednesday: Recent Purchases

I went crazy on theknot.com shop today because of their black friday sale. There was so much stuf that I wanted and it was all such a great deal. Here are some of the things that I picked up. :)

Cake Topper

We are just having a small cake for us with cupcakes for the guests so I thought this would be the perfect fit.

Jewelry Boxes

I got these for my flower girls. I'm giving them a pearl bracelet in my wedding colors (hopefully with a flower girl charm) so I think it will be the perfect set. 

Fun Bags

I plan on using these for our 'Cookie Bar' which will double as extra dessert and a favor. I love the fun pattern and got these in our wegding colors. 

Hotel Bags

These were .15 with an extra 25% off... 11 cents for a gift bag? I think YES!

Bridesmaid Gifts
I got three things for each of my girls but those are a secret, I'll reveal them closer to the wedding. 

If you are looking for anything for your wedding I would head on over and see what they have! 

Linking up :) 

Wedding Wednesday: Bridesmaids!

I'm not gonna lie, I had a really hard time picking my bridesmaids. It's not that I have a lot of friends, but I have friends from different places and times in my life and it was really hard for me to decide who I wanted to include and who wasn't going to be in the bridal party. I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings or have anyone feeling like they weren't as important because they weren't selected. I also had to try and decide on a number that C liked too because originally he only wanted 3 and I told him it would be impossible for me to limit it that much so we settled on 5.

My maid of honor was easy, my best friend since 5th grade who is basically my sister. We've gone all through school together, including college, and now we teach in the same school district. We are those crazy girls who plan on trying to be pregnant at the same time so we can also have kids the same age. I was her maid of honor is August and I'm thrilled that now she will serve as mine.

My four other bridesmaids are all really close friends. Another best friend, who was my partner in crime all through college. We were in marching band together and were co-section leaders for two years so we spent many, many, hours together. I convinced her to move across the hall from me in our dorms sophomore year so that we could be together 24/7. We are almost total opposites but balance each other out so well and I know we will be friends for life.

My two roommates are in my bridal party and I am so happy to include them because there were so many nights when we would be partying and then end up in one of our rooms hugging and saying, we will be best friends forever and all in each other's weddings! I'm the first one to get married and thrilled to begin the tradition. They are both amazing women, so fun, loving, and kind. They also put up with my fiance basically living with us when we were in college and never complaining once. They love him as much as I do and it's only fitting that they will be there when we say 'i do'.

My final bridesmaid is one of my close friends since high school. We met when we worked at McDonalds because we were both new at the same time. It started off as just a work friendship but progressed to much more. We spent lots of weekends together in high school having adventures or saying home watching movies until the wee hours of the morning. She's a friend who has been there through so much and now that I live back in the same town I grew up in we have connected a lot and I'm glad that we are still so close.

Those are my wonderful ladies. I asked them by making them all custom cards and wine bottle labels. It took a while to ask them all because they live all over the state but I finally did and they all said yes! I am one happy girl and I am so happy to have them all there with me throughout the entire wedding process.

Any tips on making sure I'm sweet and my bridesmaids all still love me when the wedding is complete?