Pearl Passion

Merry (Belated) Christmas! *sigh* I can't believe it's come and gone. I'm trying to drag it out as long as I can, though. My decorations always stay up until New Year's, and I'm still drinking egg nog and egg nog lattes and eating leftover pumpkin pie. Mmm, just can't get enough!

Even though it's over I have to say that it was pretty great, while it lasted. We had family from out of town visiting, some of whom stayed with us, and we had a great time! I just wish we could do it a little more often. Maybe not the presents craze more often, but the family-from-out-of-town-get-togethers... maybe twice a year instead of just once?

And while I certainly wouldn't want to have to endure the Holiday shopping craze more than once a year, I sure have fun with it while it's here. I think the best part is giving someone a really great gift and watching their reaction when they open it. The present from me and my sisters to my mom made her cry (always a good sign), my sister loved what I got her, and the framed picture my husband and I did for his brother was greeted with, "Wow, this is amazing!". Definitely the kinds of responses I was hoping for. I think the best gift is one that you know the person wants but didn't ask for and isn't expecting.

My husband did exactly that. He had to be a stinker and blow our budgets for each other in order to get me two really great things that I didn't ask for because I thought they were too expensive. He went WAY over budget... made me feel bad actually because I didn't do that for him (maybe next year...). ;) But one of the things was a BEAUTIFUL pearl necklace! I had mentioned it to him some time ago and I was shocked to learn he not only remembered, he even remembered what kind of pearls I wanted and the pearl size that I prefered. How sweet is he??? Needless to say I've been wearing them ever since Christmas. Thank you, Babe, I love them!!!

I am such a jewelry girl and I'm so excited to add these to my collection. They make me feel classy, feminine and sophisticated when I wear them. And I love how, like a diamond pendant, they look great with a dressy outfit but also go well with nice jeans and a sweater. A great piece for every girl to own!

Well I hope everyone got what they wanted this year... and maybe more. ;) I hope you all had a great Christmas!!!!

Here's yesterday's prompt from The One-Minute Writer:

Would you ever be a cast member or contestant in a reality television show?

YES! Only if I get to pick the show, of course. And the only one I'd be interested in doing is The Amazing Race. LOVE that show. The travel, adventure, challenges... I just think that would be awesome. I'd get to do, see, and experience all kinds of things that I otherwise wouldn't. Most other "reality" shows that invade people's lives so we can watch their personal drama, while I admit that I do like to watch some of them for the entertainment and often ridiculousness of it, I don't think I'd want cameras following me around and documenting my life. But The Amazing Race - bring it on!!

Christmas Shopping!

I am so excited that I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping! I got quite a few things online, which is always nice, but I also did quite a bit in the stores and luckily have found everything that I was looking for. I only have 2 more presents to buy and I know exactly what I'm getting and where I need to go to get them. And fortunately, they are small, unpopular items so I know they won't sell out. *sigh* Now I can relax and just enjoy what is to come!

One of my favorite things about this time of year is all of the beautiful decorations everywhere, the Christmas music playing in all the stores, and the pretty little lights twinkling everything. So festive and beautiful! I just can't help but smile when I drive past a lovely display in someone's yard or enter a store and see everything. I guess that's part of why I like to finish my shopping early. Then I can go to a mall and casually look around for something extra I may want to get but can enjoy myself in the process. Then maybe get an eggnog or Peppermint mocha latte and do a little people watching. Ahh, yes, that is a nice part of the season. But not my absolute favorite part... more to come on that later. :)

Nuts

Okay, here's another prompt from The One-Minute Writer. I need a little help right now because I haven't written in over a week (oops!) because it has just been sooo busy (I know, everyone is experiencing that right now). But anyway, I'm a little out of practice, even though I know I've got TONS of things running around my head that I could write on. Nevertheless, I like this prompt so right now I'm going to use it. :) Here goes:

In what way are you a little (or more than a little) crazy?

I get told fairly often that I'm "crazy", but as soon as I read that question my mind immediately flew back to my college days when everyone told me that I was CRAZY for joining the crew team, in addition to my full-time studies, part-time work, and also being on the dance team. Basically, when I want something I go for it, even if that means overextending myself so that I'm running around like a crazy woman trying to fit it all in. I've learned to be better at it, though, and I do my "overextending" in much smaller, manageable doses. :)

Christmas is Here!

Last week was totally crazy.... We had just gotten back from San Diego Sunday evening and then I had to go out of town for a couple days for work. Lots of packing, unpacking, doing laundry, etc. and then I had two parties to go to back to back on Saturday so I was gone the entire day (I know, poor me). ;)

So needless to say I hadn't gotten to any Christmas decorating until just today. In fact, I'd almost forgotten about it because I'd been so busy. But once I cleaned the house and started pulling my stuff out I quickly remembered how much I love to decorate for Christmas. Little white lights everywhere, red holly berries adorning the wine table, wreaths on the doors, a brilliant red tablecloth for the dining room with more berries and a bejeweled fruit centerpiece, and of course the china Nativity set atop the fireplace mantle complete with stockings and a little fiberoptic Christmas Tree to grace the hearth. I love how my house looks like Christmas now!

Dream House

Here is a writing prompt from two days ago at the One-Minute Writer Blog:
You are designing your own house. Describe it.

My husband I were lucky enough to design and build our own house 3 years ago. We are on a acre in rolling hills and we absolutely love it. But since this was our first time building a home we obviously learned from the experience and there are definitely some things I'd do differently.

Our house is 2750 square feet, which is pretty big considering we have no kids, but if we do have children, ideally I'd actually like it to be bigger so that we could still have guest rooms. We both have siblings that live far away and I just love providing them with their own bedroom and bathroom when they come to visit... so more rooms is something I'd change. I'd also make the family room big enough so we could fit 4 full sized soafs in it like my parents have, so that there is plenty of room for people to sit. And a bigger kitchen. Basically, I like to entertain and I like for there to be plenty of room for everyone to be comfortable.

When we bought our property my husband was trying to get me to go for 5 acres but I talked him into a smaller parcel... now I would actually be okay with more land so then we'd have more room to do other things. Like maybe a guest house/in-laws quarters? I've definitely learned that I like space so the more I can have of it, the better. Although if we ever do decide to build again and make it a big, family, entertaining house, hopefully we could also afford to have a weekly visit from a housekeeper so I wouldn't have to clean the whole thing myself. ;)

Universal Studios

My hubby and I had the best time at Universal Studios last weekend! I had only been there when I was 3 years old but the one thing I did remember I was thrilled to learn they still have - the studio tour on the tram that goes by the "lake" with Jaws!!! Since I knew it was coming I even got a picture!

(Look out!)

The Mummy ride was super fun - imagine a really fast roller coaster with lots of quick drops and turns... but all in pitch black darkness so that you can't see what's coming next. Awesome!

The Water World show was also pretty fantastic,

as was the Backdraft show.

It was a long exciting, and fun day!! Oh, and here is a fun little quote from one of the exhibits that I just had to include in this. ;)
HA! :)

I'm Baaack!

Whew! Just got back last night from a long, fun-filled week in San Diego! I have barely had a chance to breath, let alone upload any of my photos. Oh, and when they say that flying on the Sunday after Thanksgiving is the busiest flying day of the year, they are right! It was an absolute madhouse at the airport. We were actually fortunate enough to be on a flight that wasn't delayed - yay for us! And we managed to get through the crazy long lines relatively unscathed. But while it wasn't so bad for us, I don't really recommend it. Maybe next year if we go anywhere we'll fly home on Monday instead?

Well, tomorrow I must travel out of town for work but I promise to add more stuff after I return. And some pictures, too! ....More to come!