A sigh of relief?

I don't think so....not yet at least. I didn't realize until today when I explained it to my boss how much stress I'm under this holiday season. As a personal goal, I have set a budget of HALF what I typically spend for Christmas - and I'm happy to say that I stuck to it! That means I did a lot of home-made gifts....which are generally less expensive, but typically more time intensive....of course adding a bit to the stress. ;-)

The holidays are stressful as it is - money, presents, shopping hassles, driving here there and everywhere - but Chris and I have chosen to make this holiday even more stressful with the purchase of a house - we close December 30th as well as keeping our duplex and trying to get tenants to fill both sides. Those two items alone (buying and looking for tenants) can be enough work as it is, without adding holiday things to it.......

After tonight I'm feeling a little more on top of things though. I have all my Christmas shopping done and all buy one little piece of my Christmas 'making' done as well. I'm really happy with how most of it turned out (I will reveal after Christmas for anyone that doesn't see what I made in person). All that is left at this point, is wrapping. Which for some is a major chore - but for me, it's playing with paper and ribbon, one of my FAVORITE things to do any time of year....hehe. :)

I hope everyone has a FABULOUS Christmas! Here is a photo to get you through the holidays...... I hope everyone stays safe during this season and is able to spend time with the ones they love most.

Christmas Parties!

Well - Saturday night was the Richards Christmas party and Sunday was the George Christmas party. Both were an absolute hit with the children, as always, stealing the show. Their Christmas excitement and over-sugared smiles just always blow me away.

Meet my NEW cousin (by marriage) Landon! He's Chris's cousin Ben's son and he's 17 months old! Such an adorable little boy - he's just learning to talk. And for the George Christmas there are LOTS of little cuties running around. Two of which are these guys!! I love them to pieces. My niece and nephew, Andrew and Natalie!

And these adorable little girls..... my cousins Courtney and Mallory posing in front of the tree. They love eachother so much -

And last but not least I have to share a few photos because little miss Natalie is adorable. And she happens to be in love with our puppy, Lexie, who joined us at the party today. Natalie loves all animals, especially dogs but she gets a little nervous when they get close. She loves to see Lexie, call her name and tell her to sit, but she is still getting used to Lexie giving her kisses and actually touching the dog. She's so cute. While Lexie was sleeping, Natalie got the nerve up to touch her - and give her a little pat.

And eventually Natalie got more and more comfortable and Chris actually helped Lexie give her a high five! Too cute. :) Well it was a fabulous weekend! Spending time with lots of family is always fun. Christmas is officially only a few days away! I still have a few presents to finish up so I better hurry! Merry Christmas!

It's beginning to feel a lot like....

CHRISTMAS! Oh yes it is!!! Between the snow on the ground (it's been here for almost 2 weeks now) and the crisp feel in the air - the pot luck dinners at work, the family parties - Christmas is really almost here! And I will be spending most of my weekend either preparing for it, or enjoying it with family. I hope to have some fun photos to post on Sunday/Monday after it's all over.

In other news.... the house is JUST ABOUT FINAL!!!!! I know it's not final final until we sign the papers but we've made it through all the hurdles of financing, inspections and appraisals. Woohoooo! In less than 2 weeks we'll be living here:

And this will be my fabulous new kitchen:

You know they say that Christmas is a time for everyone to feel like a kid again - and reading my sister in law's facebook message the other day just reminded me of that.... "... feeling some of Andrew's Christmas excitement!" Everyone loves the excitement of a 3-year old at Christmas time! So.......feel the excitement! :)

Shhhhhh.........

My husband and my puppy are sleeping...seeeeeee:That is just simply and adorable sight.

On Sunday we had our Berrill family Christmas party. As usual, Abigail was my premiere photographer. She loves using my camera and really takes some great shots. I have such a beautiful family and I can't get enough of my little niece Natalie and nephew, Andrew! here are some of my favorite shots...

The Christmas trees that Andrew made

And my favorite Berrill girls!

Time with Mom and scrappy fun!

Last night I had a girl's get together at my house. There were 9 of us total I think! Katee had yet another FABULOUS project planned for us. This time a treat box and tote! It was rather extensive and took a while to do, but they came out wonderful and I think everyone enjoyed themselves! So it was either fun, or we had too many lemon drop martini's....hehe :) It was definitely a good time.

Here area few photos of the project:
They were so much fun to make! A lot of steps, but it came out fabulous. All of the little touches between coloring in the stamps and adding little ribbons, I think everyone enjoyed them. :)
Then today Mom and I did some Christmas shopping. We stayed away from the Maine Mall but did hit up one of my favorite Maine stores, Marden's! If you've never been to Marden's then you have no idea what you're missing. It's basically a 2nds store and they have everything from scrapbooking supplies to rakes, clothing and food. It's all there. I wouldn't recommend buying the food 2nds....but most other things are just fine. :)

We also hit up Big Lots, JoAnne's and Lowe's. It was a fun day with my mumsy!

Snow Day!

Well last night we got about 4 inches of that fluffy white stuff! I think I'm in heaven :) I do love snow and I can't wait to dig out my snowboard and take it for a whirl.

Anyhow, today was also Lexie's first time seeing snow! I knew she'd be hesitant at first, and she was. I literally had to DRAG her out onto the deck to go pee this morning. But after she got over the shivers and started running around she really started to like it! It didn't take her long before she realized she can eat it, lick it, chase it and make holes in it. A Dog's paradise, right??? About 10 minutes later she was panting as usual as she ran around the yard making tracks in the snow.

Here are a few of my favorite shots:

Who couldn't love that face????

Other than frolicking in the snow this morning, Chris and I have put some more major hours into renovating our apartment next door. We actually have someone coming to look at it on Tuesday too! I hope we can get it rented out for January. Here are a few of the 'after' shots. I think it's looking pretty fabulous - especially considering how far we've come...

Chris and I did the wood flooring, all the painting (trim and walls) and Chris did the carpet on the stairs all by hisself! I can't believe how nice it looks now. Anyone want to rent it out????

Happy Birthday Brother!!!

All I have to say is:

My brother turns 30 years old today!!! We celebrated his birthday at a dinner and bowling on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun and a yummy dinner. We had lots of laughs and lots of reminiscing. So, happy birthday brother! here's to 30 more!

And I had to share this fabulous photo of my sister and Brian that I took on Saturday night.... what a great photo!!

(Love you Val! Does this make up for the straight jacket photo?? hehe)