One of the best in a long time

Hello, again!

Monday is back. I keep trying to scare Monday's off, yet they keep showing up again every 7 days..Weird.

For once it seems I'm particularly excited about this Monday. I am hosting the first event in Charles' and my new home. "Holiday Scarf Exchange" commences this evening about 6ish for some of the wonderful women I work with. We are basically getting together, having good conversations, drinking some wine, snacking, and playing "Dirty Santa" with scarves!

I had a sweet friend text me last night saying "I can't believe you're brave enough to host a party at your new house, you just moved in!"...I agree with her, it has been a bit of an undertaking trying to get the house in good enough shape to host a party, but I needed to get the house in shape for family staying with us at the holidays anyway, so this just helped me get it completed more promptly. Plus, I had a pretty handsome helper who worked SO very hard to make sure everything was finished and just the way I wanted it. Plus, he let me choose how to decorate everything..it was like a dream come true decorating. I often times forget to give my husband credit for the wonderful, hard working, loving man he is.

Ok. I'm at work early, I've got a cup of coffee in my hand, my dad's Christmas cd is playing in the background, so let's jump right into what I did this weekend, as it was one of the best weekends I've had in awhile!

 

 My weekend started Thursday afternoon with some much needed hair TLC. I decided to go back to my natural color. Sometimes, you just need a change in your appearance so you don't get bored. I love playing with my hair, not everyone can pull off blonde and brown, and I feel like I can pull it off {fairly} well, so might as well experiment a little bit! And everyone needs some wine while getting their hair done, it just makes the experience all the better :)

 

 There has been a lot of listening to my dad's CD lately, it just gets you in the holiday spirit {p.s., how stinking cute is this cd cover!? My dad had my sister's fourth grade class have a contest and the winner's got to be on the cover of the cd.} How sad is it that fourth graders can draw better than I can... I guess I didn't get the artistic gene, ha! Anyhow, it's perfect music to light a fire, have a glass of wine {or coffee, or cocoa, etc..} and just do a little writing, grocery list making, to do list creating, and so on. I plan to have this playing in the background as we all chat this evening. YES, he is playing everything on this cd. Want a copy? Check out his site here!

 

 Friday night was my work Christmas party which was a tacky Christmas sweater theme. Here are a few of us all dressed up. What a FUN evening it was, I really do realize how lucky I am to work with such a determined and awesome group of people!

 

 Drumroll please...OUR BEAUTIFUL TABLE! Huge thanks to 3's company for working so hard to get this finished in time for my party tonight, I am so grateful. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Shop Local! Small businesses are my favorite places to shop/eat/etc. Plus, you're not going to find a gem like this at some chain store {and if you're just lucky enough to find something similar, you'd probably pay a FORTUNE for it, when you can find things like these and restore them for an extremely reasonable price.} I'm loving the uniqueness and the character of this table..you just can't beat that!

Because it's just not the holidays unless your animals hate you.

 

A little Holiday treat making for the party tonight! I also whipped up some treats for Charles' Blues Fest meeting tonight. I feel so bad that I can't make it due to a previously scheduled party, so hopefully these treats make up for my absence!

We also spent a huge chunk of our weekend setting up the house, but I'm not going to post those pictures until after tonight. I want to take pictured of the house tonight, when it's all done up pretty for the party before I show you our finished result.

This weekend, I also read a great article about grace and understanding, which are two things that a healthy marriage will require from both parties. Let me give you an example of this. Let's say you had a very busy and important day at work, as they were doing interviews for promotions. You were very excited to get up early, have a nice cup of coffee, and get ready for your day to start it off right. Your spouse decides to get up extra early and surprise you with a big breakfast and a hot cup of your favorite coffee to do something sweet for you because he or she knows you have a very important day ahead.  In the midst of making said breakfast, he or she starts a small kitchen fire by accident, making your day start off horribly instead of on a high note. You're extremely irritated that they have done this to you! You become quite angry with your spouse.

Right there is a problem with most couples. Think about it. Your spouse tried to do something nice for you! Yes, it didn't turned out the way it should have, and yes, it caused you a headache, but step back and think: Did they do it out of malicious intent? Was it done with ill wishing? No, they were trying to do something special for you. This is hard for me to remember, but it's going to be a main focus of mine in the coming years. Don't let your marriage lack grace and understanding. Be grateful you have someone who cares enough about you to try to make you smile. Be your partner's partner. I know I say this all the time, but be a blessing! In a perfect world, you get back what you put in, but this world isn't perfect. Concentrate on being the best "you" that you can be. Your marriage comes before everything else {even your children..shocking, I know, but it's true.}

I hope your week turns out exactly how you plan for it to. Mine will be filled with holiday parties {one at my house, two for charles work, one at my sister's...} and family coming into town! It's almost Christmas, y'all!

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7