A Wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year Too!

Christmas 2010 was the best Christmas ever! Christmas is probably my favorite holiday of the year, and usually I have a Christmas party the weekend before Thanksgiving where everyone comes over to my house and decorates for Christmas. It's my "Christmas before Thanksgiving party". Unfortunately I did not get to host it this year. Although that made me quite sad, it did not stop me from decorating for Christmas.

James and I put up our tree and lit it up with sparkling multi-function lights. We decorated our tree with my beautiful blue bulbs and ribbon, and added a touch of our own personal decorations as well. James loved the tree because he thought it looked like a "Cowboys" tree, his favorite football team. So although I was unable to have a party, I still enjoyed putting up all my decorations and adding some new additions to my collection as well.

Christmas came and we had James' sister Courtney and her 2 boys come out and stay with us. It was a pretty crazy house but a lot of fun. We had fun making cookies, looking at lights and playing with the boys.

Christmas eve now holds a special place in my heart since that is when James proposed to me....
We were home alone, enjoying the lights of the tree on the couch. James got down on his knee and asked me to Marry him...of course I said yes. He proposed with such a beautiful ring, but I was just happy that marrying him would be a reality.



















Christmas Day was so joyful for everyone. The boys woke up early of course to see what Santa had brought them. They had a lot of fun ripping off the wrapping paper to behold their toys they had wanted. I enjoyed listening to them while getting up and ready upstairs. Their excitement in their voices was quite entertaining.

James and I exchanged stockings and gifts and I received amazing gifts from him. Later we joined the rest of James' family for more gifts. There was so much love and joy in the air that I felt swelled with happiness. This was going to be my future family and I was excited.

So, with getting engaged, you can imagine how wonderful it was to start off the new year of 2011 with my fiance and future husband. I'm so excited for what 2011 has to offer.

The Holiday of Love is Just Around the Corner

So as we all know, Valentine's Day is just a couple weeks away. It seems that many people have been asking me what they should do for their secret valentine/significant other etc. I've also had a conversation on the point and reason for Valentine's Day. So first I will enlighten you on why Valentine's Day seems to be important to society and other people.
Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate your love for someone else, to show someone that you care about them and think about them or just to show that you like someone in general. It’s a special day, it’s a day to help someone in your life feel loved and cared about, like they matter in the world. Now…you may ask, shouldn’t that be everyday? And my answer to you is YES, it SHOULD be everyday, but the fact is, is that it’s not. Society (well Hallmark if you want to get technical, but mostly society since they follow through with it) has chosen February 14th as the day to celebrate love. Now, you could choose a different day to celebrate love, it doesn’t have to be February 14th. In fact, in your life you could make it everyday as it should be. You could let someone know you love them or care about them or like them in a special way any day and every day. It’s more special for that person when it’s not just on Valentine’s Day but just any random day that you are thinking about them.
Now, as far as what to do for your secret crush/significant other or anyone you care about……the first suggestion I have for you is to be creative. Open your mind to different possibilities, think outside the box. Another suggestions I have is to not spend a lot of money, at least not on silly boxes of chocolates and stuffed bears (flowers it’s ok
:-P). Instead make something for her/him, something meaningful. Find out their favorite colors, get to know that person intimately and show them what you know about them and what you like about them. You could plan picnics, decorate their car or room, send them little notes in places you know they’ll be, the list goes on and you don’t have to spend a lot of money. The key is to be creative and thoughtful. That’s how you REALLY show you care about someone or like the.
As a side note, this doesn’t have to be just for Valentine’s Day either. Hopefully these tips will help ya’ll.