Monday, December 27, 2010

2010 Rewind

We’ve all received those Christmas cards that include a carefully drafted letter from the sender, re-capping their family’s entire year’s accomplishments - “Suzie was pre-pre-accepted into Yale…at the age of 15”, “Tommy built an entire house for a homeless family… with his bare hands”, “Dad got the big promotion and found a cure for cancer”…. and on. and on.

Now don’t get me wrong, those are all wonderful things and I love to hear about what others are up to and the blessings God has given them….but I often wonder about the things that didn’t  make it into the letter.

What are the things they chose not  to tell you about this year?

I believe in being real.  I mean…. really real. That is, nobody is perfect…

(hmmm, suddenly I have the lyrics of a certain teen pop-sensation’s music running through my mind and I’m fighting the urge to do some fist pumps in the air along with the beat ‘Nobody’s perfect, I gotta work it again and again”…. alright, digress already).

So, in an effort to promote ‘real-ness’, I present you with our Christmas letter….

no filter.

just simply a real , honest-to-goodness narration of our year (+  photos ).

Yippee! Just what you always wanted!

This year:

Chris and Ashley helped paint and re-decorate an office building for an adoption agency.

Ashley was as bossy as usual

 

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Ashley initiated a genius plan to spray paint, mod podge and glitter-ify a large bouncy ball.

She had good intentions. Honest!

No further comments.

                        FEB 2010 032

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Chris and Ashley bought their first home.

It came with this kitchen wallpaper (no extra charge).

They kept it for a while….just because it was certainly way

easier than actually doing something about it.

  blog pictures 184

(sorry for the pic Ma, it was the only one I had)

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Chris took Ashley our for many dates to get ice cream over the summer.

So much so, that she almost couldn’t fit into her wedding dress.

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woops!

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Ashley is a wonderful cook.

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Ashley made a quilt for a wonderful friend’s baby.

her first quilt, ever.

probably her last quilt, ever.

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Chris played on a church basketball team.

They were magnificent!

Their record is 0 wins, many losses.

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Ashley mis-printed the wrong uncle’s name with the wrong family’s

name and address on a wedding invitation.

Chris discovered the error after everything had already been mailed off.

Ashley cried.

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Ashley received a sewing machine for her birthday….

then promptly lost the manual.

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Sometimes Aunt Ashley and Uncle Chris mean well, but….

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things just don’t work out.

Sorry for the ride-of-terror, Pickle.

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Chris has specially designed, high-end protective eye wear for when he has to chop onions.

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Ashley was late to her own rehearsal dinner because her nail appointment ran late.

There was also a spelling error in her apparently-not-so-carefully proofread home-made ceremony programs.

Ashley cried.

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woops.

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Chris refined his sick sense of humor.

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Chris and Ashley got a new camera.

Chris enjoys taking pictures of Ashley doing her usual stuff.

Ashley continues to use the coffee table as added height to see her full ensemble in the mirror before heading out the door.

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This concludes our year in review.

The End

 

What do you think? Too much, too fast?

Well, I’d be interested to hear what you would share in your ‘real’ Christmas update letter.

…and, cue music and fist pumps!

**********

Nobody’s perfect,

I’ve gotta work it

again, and again

‘til I get it right

**********

image

 

Sunday, December 26, 2010

This will warm your heart… unless you’re the Grinch.

 

I know it’s a bit late for ‘Christmas’….

but it’s never too late to thank God for what He gave to you.

 

 

‘They called the baby Jesus….and they loved Him’

Christmas Shenanigans

My sister and brother-in-law and two nephews came down from Boston for the holidays.

It was good to catch up ….

but, we HAD to get out of the house. (it’s only a matter of time before a 1 year old and a 3 year old get themselves in to trouble at Grandma’s house when grandma’s house isn’t baby-proof anymore).

So, off to the Children’s museum and winter wonderland.

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   IMG_0996    IMG_0999         IMG_0993    IMG_0991     

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   this face means trouble

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Christmas morning was bittersweet; the first Christmas without my Nana.

Having my nephews there definitely added to the entertainment, though.

I wasn’t sure if the Pillow Pets would go over well…

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I guess these photos speak for themselves.

all you really need for happiness, though, is 2 boys…a tent….and a flashlight

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Merry Christmas!

Hope yours was full of joyful memories.

Thursday, December 02, 2010

A giveaway from Tidy Brown Wren

Hello all.

I just want to assure you that I am currently working my little fingers to the bone putting together a fantabulous blog post depicting all the juicy wedding details….

ok, maybe 30% of that was actually true.

it will be fantabulous. and the details are juicy. but I haven’t had much time to work on it over the past 2 months.

however, I wanted to make time to fill you all in on a sweet giveaway going on at Tidy Brown Wren. In case you weren’t aware… she is the organizing queen.

She’s giving away a beautiful gift basket full of goodies to help you get organized…

just in time for the hectic holidays!

The gift basket includes:

~ a folding tote bag
~ a vinyl photo envelope
~ a coupon organizer
~ 6 ID tags
~ 4 tidy totes
~ a belt/scarf hanger
~ a set of sticky notes /page flags
~ a copy of the booklet:  The Simple Life by Thom. and Art Rainer
~ a hanging pocket organizer
~ a Christmas pickle ornament
~ 6 Baby Button Wreath Clips

 

Head over there now and enter! The last day to enter is December 6th.