seriously??!! already?!!!! okay i'm excited anyway!

its beginning to look alot like well you know, christmas these days in places like hobby lobby, target, walmart & on my cd player. in fact some people are already putting up christmas lights and trees. i must admit we have a few things out, but i'm still holding out on buying the tree, even though i super love the smells of christmas like pine trees & apple cinnamony things.

but it really is hard to believe that thanksgiving is next week. and then black friday. then december. then christmas. then new years. then omg, benjamin will be here.  i feel like time has flown by, which seems to be much quicker the older we get. still trying to figure that one out. 

we still have lots on our to-do list in preparation for benjamin, but i must say i've been quickly piling things onto my "holiday" things i gotta do list since this is like our first christmas in our home & last christmas as just me and husband.

so far my list:

 - ICE! like for serious man. its merry madagascar this year. and if you have seen any of them, you understand.

- decorating our yard. i've already picked out several things i want. now we just need to buy them. yay for being like a griswald.

- christmas light looking accompanied by hot cocoa and treats.  one of my favorites. and oddly, husband and i never have done this.  this year we must!

- real christmas tree! egads!

- stockings from the mantle. never had a mantle in the apartment. so its exciting to have real mantle hanging stockings for santa to fill.

- christmas movie watching night/day marathon.

- our second annual christmas shindig. last year's was mexican. this year italian! bring on the carbs and cannolis.

- christmas music, christmas music, christmas music!

- ugly christmas sweaters.

- personalized butcher paper wrapping complete with bows.

- homemade ornaments

whats on your must do christmas list for 2012??



spring fares + an awesome freebie!

with us two days into spring, i can tell you i'm definitely loving all this super gorgeous weather we have been blessed with. well minus the monsoon a couple of days ago, but i know we need it, so i will take it.

i've decided husband and i need to make the most of our wonderful spring weather since summer isnt too far bechind and then we will be complaining about how it is too hot to go out and do anything.  so i've made me a little "to-do" list for spring.. food edition. 

picnics, parties & lots of yummy delicious food.  i'm already dreaming of the pasta salad (its my fave picnic food!) & grabbing a delicious shake with a burger on a friday night.

have you been the website LOVE vs DESIGN?! not only is it a personalized stationary site, but they have quite a few freebies I know anybody would get excited about!  heres a few i absolutely love & figured i would share:

feather gift tags

sequins thank you card

owl library card



time card invitation

 again free!! it doesnt get much better than that!  so jump on over there and get you some fun stationary!!!

happy wednesday afternoon my darling friends!

...jumped, now it's time to soar!

♥

Since deciding and announcing that I'm going to be opening an ETSY store, I feel like I can accomplish anything.   I know I have plenty of hurdles ahead of me, but the biggest one was finally taking the plunge in this crazy adventure & just deciding to do it! 

If you follow me on twitter, you will see that I have figured out the store name, which I will be leaving a surprise for a time, until I get my banner made and some items in the store.  I hope to have some items completed and in the store within a few weeks.  A full time job, a mister, kitties & wedding planning consumes alot of my life, so nights and weekends are pretty much my only time to create. 

I'm setting a goal of the first weekend in March as my store opening - that would be March 4-6.   That's totally flexible, but I think it would be a good starting point to have a date in mind.  And the 5th is my bridal shower, so its going to be a crazy weekend, but what a sentimental date to open my store.

Stay tuned for more updates on my opening!  I love you all! Have an amazing Tuesday friends! ♥

coming soon to a household near you...

You read it right, I'm coming to ETSY!  Its going to be a few months, I'm hoping like one or two, before its open, but its happening.  This has been a goal of mine for awhile; to open a shop on ETSY. And I'm finally doing something about it & accomplishing it.

I'm going to be dropping little photo hints along the way of the items that I will be selling so keep your owl like eyes open.

Details are coming... I'm still working on those, like..

•  my shop name (the hardest part)
• my shop banner (another hard part)
• what all I will be selling (I'm finalizing my list, but knowing me it will change based on well everything!)

Stay Tuned!  I hope you are as excited as I am.  ♥

happiness greeted with thanks

thanks!

Thank you everyone for all the kind comments I have been receiving lately (mainly from my award win yesterday!).  Its always nice seeing how much people appreciate and love what I post about daily.



♥



I know one of my many goals for the new year is to stop wishing my days away, but I can't tell you how glad I am that it is Friday. For some reason, it has seemed this week has lasted incredibly way to long. Maybe it something to do with the fact that the last two Fridays, Chistmas Eve & New Year's Eve, I had work holidays, so we only actually worked four days. Oh the next holiday is so far away - Labor Day in May. There I go wishing my life away again.

I hope everyone has a spectacular Friday. It's very much well deserved. This weekend the mister and I have alot going on or so it seems. Going to a play that our best man is in, registering for the biggest day of our lives (wedding), and I think thats it. There could be more, I just forget things alot. So maybe we don't have numerous things, but it feels that way. Oh and I'm going to get more fun stationary & crafting stuff - I'm hoping to find some frames for an old calendar so I can make some lovely wall art for the apartment.  

What are all my lovely friends doing this weekend? Anything good? If so, I want to know!



make life hearty and plentiful

love


so far 2011 has been a roller coaster of emotions and we are only five days in. 

1.the mister and i have managed to get all the attire figured out & reserved/bought for the bridal party, minus shoes and jewelry for the girls, but i have a feeling that will be super easy. this has me super excited that i will have everything done and complete in PLENTY of time before the big day!

2. i learned that a dear co-worker of mine (now retired) has only 3-6 months left to live. he was diagnosed with cancer last year, and has been a determined fighter through it all. only thing, i  really hate when doctors play God & give death sentences.  the only person who REALLY knows is God. people should be able to live life without the worry of that sentence & how much time is "left." sorry little personal opinion rant just happened there. 

3. i found out my mother has a torn rotator cuff - thus requiring surgery.  All will be okay though - I'm just ready for her to have her arm feeling good again. 

4. the mister and i have a date to go cake tasting, flower picking and decor deciding for the wedding in february - i can't wait for all that yummy baked goodness to hit my tastebuds. hopefully my our decision on cake flavors aren't too hard, because i really love cake!

5. i watched a school friend bury her little sister. 
6. i've completed an item of my list of 2011 To-Dos - sent out my first round of pen pal mailings and received one back; Courtney - you are too cute and such a doll!

it sometimes feels as though we can't wait for things/events to happen.  we plan and plan. we hope and hope. just for that one day to get here.  and when its finally here, we look back, going where has all that time gone. what did i do during that time?  i thought that exact thing this morning when i typed out today's date - January 5, 2011.  i still have trouble believing its already 2011 and everything that has already occured in the short five days. 

i need to learn to savor the day more.  make more of each and every day that we have. it would make life more precious to me, if i feel content with each day knowing i lived it fully. i also need to capture more of my days with photographs & blogging them - so many times i look back thinking "shoot, that would have been a good photo op!"

and to help with that i'm also going to begin looking for volunteer work here in the next couple of days or so, once i decide what it is i want to do.. and if the mister wants to get involved - what he would prefer to do as well.  i really would like the whole soup kitchen type work again - it really allows for one on one contact with those you are helping, plus allows me to get my hands into one of the fields i love, cooking and feeding yumminess to the world.  (i will keep an update going on the volunteer work search and completion)

i want to make my life more plentiful and hearty like a chicken pot pie.  yummy, lots of components/ingredients & layers, nourishing, a semi-tough exterior but soft and surprising inside, and warm to the soul! 

if your life was a food, what food would it be a why?

now is better than never..

via

I've had some time to think about 2011.  I know we are in day three of our new year, but now is better than never.   Some of us create lists of things to accomplish through the year, comprising of things that are so far overstated, like run a marathon, when you never have even put on running shoes, that it makes your list when you look at it seem impossible.  Thus, leaving you unmotivated, depressed, and feeling an extreme lack of self-confidence.  I myself have fallen victim to the "beyond your reach goals."

This year I'm doing things differently and not having resolutions, but a to do list.  I'm take a little more lax approach I guess you could say. I'm creating my things to do in 2011, but they are things that I've been telling myself I will do, but never got around to it, because I haven't had something/someone holding me accountable or to look back on; leaving me to think, "Man, I haven't accomplished squat this year!"  I dont want this year to be that. 

I have some wonderful things in my life happening this year, mainly becoming Mrs. Gregg, so I want 2011 to be MY year.  My year for accomplishments. My year for beginnings. My year for changes. My year to live. My year to become what I have been and what I've wanted to be.

My To-Do List for 2011:

1. Find volunteer work.  Whether it be a soup kitchen (which I would like most) or a Mission center to volunteer at every couple of months so I can help the less fortunate. I have done this in the past and it was so rewarding, but have since fallen off that train.
2. Make risotto.  I hear its an absolutely delicious dish and I've been wanting to try, but  just keep telling myself no. 
3. Take more photographs. Simple enough, I just don't do it.
4. Stop berating myself.  Love myself more - no matter my clothing size.
5. Eat better/exercise more.  I used to be really good at this, but have since failed miserably.
6. Write more.  Send more letters, cards, notes via snail mail.  Technology is really killing the vintage, heartfelt, personalized ways of communication we used to enjoy.
7. Learn something new.  I need to learn something, keep my brain young, like knitting.
8. Get back into arts & crafts/Start an ETSY shop.  I got lazy with this.  I used to make all kinds of things that I was proud of. What happened Bethani?!

This is just a start to things I hope my life can embrace & experience this year.  As a part of this new year, new Bethani lifestyle, a monthly blog update about my progress of my to-do list will be done, as a source of accountability.   Also the journey to Mrs. Gregg continues so keep watching for that.. 

What wonderful things are you hoping to accomplish and/or experience this year?