christmas monthly dinner

After many e-mails, some cancellations, and a few reschedules, we were finally able to get together for our monthly dinner.

December is such a hard month and I really threw a wrench into things when I decided to take a quick Hocking Hills vacation right after Christmas so we had to find a different night to get together.  Tonight was the night, and since Adrianna was going to join us, we ended up just having pizza at Katie's house.

There was a lot of catching up to do and it was perfect.  Pizza is always a delicious meal, and there were lots of Christmas cookies to share too.  Adrianna was adorable and I was able to give her the Christmas present I made for her.

She had more fun opening the box and tearing off all the paper then she did with the blanket, but hopefully she will enjoy it.  By the end of the night when she was getting sleepy she was laying down half on the floor and half in the box with the blanket, so cute!

I love celebrating lots of little Christmases with all of my wonderful friends.  Here's to one more day of work and lots more holiday celebrations!

2 years in the making

So two years ago I decided to cross stitch my sister a Christmas stocking.  I had a cross stitch stocking that our grandma had made me.  She passed away before my sister was born so she never received one.  No big deal, all these years she has had a cute little stocking, but I thought it would be nice if she had one that was handmade too.  It is just so much nicer and has meaning to it, and I like to try new crafts so I thought why not.

Well, I never finished it before Christmas.  The holiday season gets so hectic and we lived together at the time which made it really hard to work on when it was supposed to be a gift!

At Christmas I gave her what was done and told her I would finish it.  Then the following Christmas came around and I still didn't have it done.  Grad school got in the way, other projects came up, plus work, and a house, and a million other excuses.

Eventually the cross stitch part of the stocking was finished.  Then it came to sewing it.  So I put that off for awhile too.  Well I finally got my sewing machine from my mom's house and decided the stocking needed to be finished.

I spent two hours this afternoon putting it together and I couldn't be happier with the finished product.  It was my very first cross stitch and the first time I have sewed in awhile!  She loved it and it is hanging on my parents mantel already.

Merry Christmas Heather...hope you love it!

i'm finally on Pinterest

After almost two weeks of waiting I've finally been invited to join Pinterest!

I am very excited to have something else online to waste my time on, I mean find new ideas on and organize all the things I like.  There are so many great things on Pinterest and to be honest, I'm pretty overwhelmed just looking through a few pages.

So if you will excuse me, I will be spending the rest of the evening browsing.  Join and follow me!

holiday mail for heroes

Christmas, to me, is one of the most wonderful times of the year.  I love spending time with family and celebrating all that is good.  We remember our family members that have passed and celebrate them.  We enjoy the time we spend with each other and are happy to be together another year.  We celebrate that Jesus was born and go to Mass together on Christmas Eve.

After thinking about all the wonderful things I get to do with my family, I thought about thousands of individuals who are braver than I will ever be.  They might not get the chance to see their family, hug and kiss their family, or spend the holiday with their family.  Sadly, some of them might never see their family again.

People in the armed forces give of themselves something that I cannot imagine.  Their families make sacrifices as well, sacrifices that I can only imagine and difficult on a daily basis.

Last Thursday, my students made holiday cards to send out to our troops.  Holiday Mail for Heroes is put on by the Red Cross and is a great program that was well worth our class time to participate in.  We made all sorts of cards with messages in them thanking the Service Members for all they do for us and wishing them a happy holiday.  The kids loved the project and felt good about what they were doing.  I felt great mailing a huge envelope to the Red Cross, full of notes and cards that will hopefully brighten someones day.

This is a project I hope to participate in every year, and I hope at some point this season we are all able to do something nice for someone who gives of themselves every day.

donate to Veggie U!

If you want to do something great this season you should think about donating a few extra dollars to Veggie U.

Why you ask?  It is a great local program that donates time to teaching children how to eat healthier, and it supports local chefs and farmers, which always makes me happy.  They work with 4th graders, and I am thinking this might be something I could do next year at school!  Knowing that they are a local organization that supports other small local people makes me happy.

Plus, Cleveland Foodie has an amazing giveaway that total makes it worth donating, if you still are not convinced.  Here are some of the things you could win:

• Greenhouse Tavern / $50
• Noodlecat / $50
• AMP150 / $50
• Fire / $50
• Bistro on Main / two $50 gift cards
• Fahrenheit / $50
• Flying Fig / $50
• Washington Place Bistro & Inn / $50
• Miles Farmers Market / $50
• Welshfield Inn / $50
• 87 West at Crocker / $50
• Crop Bistro / $50
• Luna Bakery / $50
• Dim and Den Sum / $50
• Hodge’s (coming soon) / $50
• Battery Park Wine Bar / $50
• Market Garden Brewery / $50
• Bar Cento / $50
• Paladar / $50
• Touch Supper Club / $50
• Truck (Touch food truck) / $50
• Western Reserve Wines / $50
• Momocho / $50 (plus Eric donated an additional $350 to the program)
• Flour / $50
• Deagan’s / $50
• A Cookie and a Cupcake / $50
• CVI dinner / $100
• Chef’s Garden salad sampler box
• Umami / $50
• Parallax / $50
• Table45 / $50
• L’Albatros / $50
• Chinato / $50
• C2 / $50
• Moxie / $50
• Red / $50
• Lola / three $20 gift cards, one for each winner

Tell me this isn't awesome!  Click here to donate right now!

merry christmas charlie brown!

courtesy of mommylife.net

I love Christmas movies.  I could watch them all season long.  Sitting on the couch, snuggled up with a blanket, the tree lit, a Christmas candle burning, and a good movie on TV.

I like two movies more than any others.  Charlie Brown Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life.  Of course I own both of them on DVD, but that doesn't stop me from putting everything on hold and watching them when the are on TV.

So if you would excuse me, I have a Christmas movie to watch!

reindeer run

Yesterday, I ran my first 5k that I signed up for all on my own, without the help of Girls on the Run. 

Since 2008 I have been part of this program and I love every minute of it.  I have run a 5k in the fall and spring every season with a group of girls and it is so rewarding.  Seeing 10 and 11 year olds cross the finish, which they never thought would be possible, is awesome.

Before I became a part of GOTR, I never, ever ran.  Like, never.  So it was a big deal for me to finish my first 5k.  Saturday, I participated in the 12th Annual Reindeer Run in Lakewood Park.  Melissa, Anthony, Ben and I ran the race (somewhat) together.  It was a little chilly at first but once we got going and the sun came out, it was the perfect weather for a race.

We all finished at just about 33 minutes, which isn't bad at all for me.  I was happy with my time and glad that I ran the entire time.  That is an accomplishment for me and I'm really happy that we all decided to run together.

We finished the morning with brunch at Borderline Cafe in Lakewood, which never disappoints.  What a wonderful little December weekend!

hello december!

When I turned the page on my calendar today I could not believe that it was actually December.  The last month of 2011.

I feel like this year just started!  So much has happened this year, and it has definitely had its ups and downs.  At this point in the year, I know everything that happened did for a reason, and even if it is hard to think about sometimes, I am happy with all of the decisions that were made.

Today I received the first two Christmas cards of the season.  It makes me think that I need to get my act together and get mine done.  But then I realize that I have plenty of time still.  With December comes the Christmas season, and I love Christmas.  Not because of the presents, although those are nice too, but because of everything that it means.  Because of the happiness that you see in the people around you.  Because of the good cheer that is spread.  Because of the time spent with friends and family, and all of the fun times that are to be had.  Because it is the beginning of the new Church year, and there is even more to be celebrated.

Something else that I am very excited about is news that I got today.  One of my very good friends just found out that she and her husband are pregnant!  They haven't been trying very long and were extremely surprised that it happened so fast, but are so excited.  This was such great news and I can't wait to start a new project to have ready as a gift for them!  Now I just have to decide what to knit...and wait 2 months because they are going to find out if they are having a boy or a girl.

Welcome December and thank you for the great news!