Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve. I've been SUPER busy since I have been in Oklahoma. I have ran errands for my Nannie, cleaned the house, made fudge, cranberry salad, stuffing, and much more! I have also got to spend a lot of time playing dominoes, cards, and doing puzzles. Here are some pictures of my trip so far.

We got ice on Saturday. Here is a picture of part of their backyard and the ice on the clothes line and their shed. 

Paw and I using the grinder and making the Cranberry Salad

Dad and I at his house.

The fudge Nannie and I made

And the blue christmas tree

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve. I've been SUPER busy since I have been in Oklahoma. I have ran errands for my Nannie, cleaned the house, made fudge, cranberry salad, stuffing, and much more! I have also got to spend a lot of time playing dominoes, cards, and doing puzzles. Here are some pictures of my trip so far.

We got ice on Saturday. Here is a picture of part of their backyard and the ice on the clothes line and their shed. 

Paw and I using the grinder and making the Cranberry Salad

Dad and I at his house.

The fudge Nannie and I made

And the blue christmas tree

Address Labels

My dear friend Cortney gave me my Christmas present last week. She is so thoughtful and gives such great gifts. I got some wonderful address labels to use on all my wedding items (save the dates, invitations, thank yous...). They are so cute! I am so excited to use them.

These are what I am going to use on our Thank You notes.

And these I already used on my Christmas cards and will use on our invitiations.

And check out the monogramed checkbook holder she got me with my soon-to-be initials. I love it!!! 

Deals and Steals

Anyone who knows me knows I love to buy on sale. I am a shopper, but I rarely buy full price. *Note I will for others and I do have expensive taste, but will request those items for my birthday or Christmas. My favorite place to shop is the Loft. People say the Loft's clothes are super expensive; but really if you watch the sales and use coupons, it is really affordable. For instance I got this cute sequin top and cardigan recently. Guess how much I paid ?! 

(Originally 39.50)

 (Originally 49.50)

Look! 

That is right. Out of my pocket I paid $1.15. See I love Loft because if you have their credit card you earn points and receive money back to the store. It isn't one of these "Fast Cash" deals where you have to spend $50.00 to save $20.00. No its just like cash. I had $20.00 to spend to the store. The great thing about the credit card is that I can pay it off right in the store with my debit card. What I usually do is swipe my credit card. Then tell the cashier I want to make a payment and then swipe my debit card for the amount. I know people don't like to use credit cards, but I get all of these coupons, earn points and pay it off right in the store. Anyways... these were on sale and I had a coupon for $25.00 off a purchase, then $20.00 cash back to the store, so I got this sequin tank and cardigan for a whopping $1.15. I even had to count out change because I did not want to use my debit card for just that amount. You cannot beat a deal like that! 

5 on Friday

I'm back.... Let me tell you blogging is hard work. It's hard to make it a routine especially when I have TWO blogs to keep up on. Here is my "5 on Friday"

1. We are getting our first snow storm :). We are supposed to get about 4 inches of snow. We will see in the morning how much we get. Stay tuned for some more blogs this weekend as I might be snowed in :)

2. I am OBSESSED with Birch Boxes. I didn't discover them until recently and LOVE them!!! I got my December box today. D loved the candy that was in it. It was chocolate and had pop rocks on the outside.

3. We got our Christmas Cards/Save the dates this week. Aren't they so cute?

4. Cortney and I had a great time at the EPIC Chamber event last night. I am so so glad she wanted me to do the Chamber events with her. I can't wait for all of the luncheons and subcommittees.

5. We had a white elephant gift exchange at work and I got this candle from Kaylee. I love the way it smells!

 That's all for now! Enjoy this Friday evening!

Christmas is Here!!

The house is all decorated for Christmas! I love this time of year. Here are some pictures. I am ready to get tons of Christmas cards to put on my new card holder.

10 Months Left...

I have 10 months left by myself in my house... As some of you know when Derek moved home in September, it was a HUGE transition for me. I don't do well with change and hated that our little life together had to change. We had gotten into routines and everything changed when he moved home. I know why he did (to save money) and completely understand. I was upset for a while about the change, but now I am trying to soak up all my alone time as it will be the last time I will live by myself. Because of that I am trying to enjoy every bit of it and have found so many things I love. I plan to take full advantage of the next 10 months before our big day. Here are some things I have grown to love over the past few months:

1. Parking in the middle of the garage
2. Not shaving my legs for days :)
3. Sleeping in the middle of the bed
4. Keeping the house as cool as I want it
5. Having full control over the DVR and being able to record any and all crap TV shows I want
6. Watching whatever I want on TV while I go to sleep
7. Not having to watch sporting events at all :) I am NOT a sports fan and love that I don't have to hear every football game or basketball game.
8. Organizing and re-organizing each and every room/drawer in my house.
9. Having the walk-in closet all to myself. I have already wondered what we are going to do when Derek moves in. I have clothes in my room and the spare bedroom. Is it bad to make him use the spare room closet?
10. BBF nights and slumber parties. *These will not be given up after we are married, but I will probably have to check with the hubs before I spend a night away from him
11. Being able to wake up early and watch GMA in bed with coffee.

Happy Hump Day!!!

As Thanksgiving is approaching tomorrow, work is rather slow today. I have caught up on all my to-do items and am just passing time until I can leave. I thought I would catch you all up on a few things I have done this week.


Monday: I got my hair trimmed and colored, then I got Hy-Vee Chinese for dinner. Those that know me know I LOVE Hy-Vee Chinese and their salad bar. I have not had Hy-Vee Chinese in a long long time and will not have it again for a while. HY-Vee Chinese = upset stomach, it was bad news :(.

On Tuesday night we had girls night + D. We went for a drink at Applebee's then went to Flat Branch. It was like old times with Jamie and Jules, but we missed our turtle (Jess). I think D had a great time as well.

This morning Jamie and I woke up super early and watch "Run Away Bride" before work. I have never seen that movie and it was so cute! Now that I am at work waiting until noon to leave I have been doing some christmas wish list shopping for myself. I am being bratty and should be thinking of others right now, but I am not. Maybe I will do that this weekend.

Here are some of my wish list christmas items:

I really really want another watch. I have my eyes on this Michael Kors watch. I told D I wanted it, but only if we can find it on sale somewhere. 

I really want some more pj's. I bought a pair from Victoria's Secret two years ago and love them. I want these snowflake ones this year. 

What's on your Christmas list?

5 on friday

I have been making smoothies most mornings for breakfast. I am finally figuring out the correct proportions and have created a delicious orange banana smoothie.

This week I have been busy with a bunch of crafts. On Monday night a friend and I went to a craft class and made this adorable wreath out of old sweaters. We got to have some cocktails while doing it! The best was a cocktail made with apple cider, apple slices, maple whiskey, and some maple syrup. It was dangerously delicious!

On Friday I had a sleep over with my BFF and best girl ever and we made these Christmas card holders. Now I need just to get a ton of Christmas cards to put on there. 

Thursday Derek and I saw the Hunger Games. We went to the 8:30 show, so it was a late night for me! We didn't get home until about 11:30. I still can't decide if I like this movie better or the first one. It was nice to see it early especially since the theater not crowded at all! We got lucky!

 And I got some clinical clients this week at work. I do my first FBA (Functional Behavior Assessment) on Monday all by myself. I am so excited to use my license.

Thankful

Given that it is November and a time to be thankful I thought I would share some of the things I am thankful for.

My faith and trust in God

My family who support me no matter what I do

My best friend who I can tell any and everything to and she will not judge me

My job where I get to share my passion with coworkers and friends

My house and mine and Derek's future home

My soon-to-be in-laws

My Fiancé

At work at the end of training I try to do little "thank you" gifts for all my workers who help make two-week training happen. I usually make some cookies/cupcakes/brownies, but this time already getting in the holiday spirit I decided to splurge. 

For my Training Aides I decided to go to Bath and Body Works and get small travel size lotion and write a note and attach to the lotion with holiday ribbon. Here is one of them.

For my trainers I decided to do a little more. They have worked the butts off for the last several months with trainings and have done a great job. I was in search for cool cups for them. I wanted to fill them with some candy but still do more. I decided to give them a lotion and a tiny candle as well as a small gift card to Starbucks. I sure hope they enjoy them! 

Five on Friday

A dear friend does "5 on Friday" and told me I should start doing it. I know it is Saturday, but I was exhausted yesterday from a long long week at work. I went to bed super early (was in bed around 7:30pm)! So here is my 5 on Friday on Saturday :)

1.  We decorated last weekend and put the tree up. Ignore the top. I still need to make a bow for the tree.

2. Roo got a friend at work this year. Roo's BFF is Pepper! 

3. My dad was super sweet and sent Derek and I some yummy food from Omaha Steaks. We already ate the steaks. They were delicious! We have chicken thawed out for tomorrow night. We also go brats, burgers and D got twice-baked potatoes. It was so thoughtful of him!

4. Ginger has made her debut at home. In December she may make an appearance at work :) 

5. My awesome BFF's daughter G. She loves sitting in boxes/baskets.

P.S. I LOVE Christmas and decorating. I'm sure I will have more pics to share!

I'm back!

Hi! I have taken a long break from the blogging world, but i'm back now! I plan to keep this blog going and have started another one! Follow my journey of being engaged and planning a wedding at mrandmrsmarlow.blogspot.com . That blog will be dedicated to all the ins and outs of our wedding. I plan on posting about my crafts, thoughts, and recipes on this blog. I'm happy to be back in the blogging world. Here are some of the things I have done in the past few months. 

Here is a picture from the STL Cardinals game back in May. We went with work!

This is a before picture of my pantry....

And after! I found these great stackable containers online from Amazon for half the price they were at Bed Bath and Beyond. Don't mind the top shelf, I needed some more organizational bins.

This is a picture of the best team from work. Jessica came back to Missouri this summer and visited us. We sure do miss her.

I found this cute idea on Pinterest. I tinted mason jars and now they sit on my  desk for pens and pencils!

Here is the desk in my kitchen. I repainted it to an off-white color then I distressed the edges and added new knobs.

I got to go to a dinner meeting for work and had a wonderful steak then cheesecake for dessert! 

In November I got to go down to Oklahoma and got these new awesome workout shoes. They are also in my favorite color! They are so comfortable. 

While down in Oklahoma we went to a resale shop and found this cute chair. My Pawpaw painted it green for me. I'm in search for a cute seat cushion then it will go in the kitchen with my repainted desk.

And last but not least, here is a preview of our engagement pictures that my best friend Jamie took of us. I really love this one and cannot wait to get them all printed and hung in the house.