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MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope everyone enjoyed a warm and cozy Christmas like ours!

Countdown: 1 DAY

I guess that Santa guy is packing up his sleigh and checking his oil today. I can't believe that tomorrow is Christmas. This year surely sped by. Having family around is great - I only wish that Jared could be here with us. I am counting down the days to his return and it is quickly approaching. Just a few more weeks!

I am celebrating today by eating the cookies I baked the other day. Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal cookies. YUMMY. They are GOOD.
And for a dose of Christmas decorating, enjoy the Christmas Tree sampler that I did last year.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

The house is decorated and Christmas is just around the corner. I can breathe easier because I have finished all of my homemade Christmas gifts and my shopping is finished. I was feeling a little pressure in trying to finish up my projects and had to make a few adaptations, but I think everything worked out well. I felt so good about my progress that I even did a little wrapping today! After the presents are handed out I will be posting pictures on here!

Last night I made this fancy star/snowflake thing that I found here:
I love Christmas decorations (well, unless they are out of control, tacky and cheap looking, which apparently some people like). The good stuff I am talking about is elegant and warm. I also enjoy having family around for the holidays. The house is bustling and busy like it used to be. Stacy has been here for a week. Ben and Jen got in last night. They had a very long drive - I don't envy them - and an even longer one coming up next week. No thanks. I've had enough long drives for this year.

the traveler returns

I am finally back home after what feels like my tour of the eastern U.S. Before Thanksgiving I was in Myrtle Beach, Thanksgiving was spent in Pensacola, Florida. Just after Thanksgiving I went to New York City for a few days, followed by a few days in Washington D.C. where I saw the first snow of the year.
This past weekend I ventured back to the south to play with the Knoxville Wind Symphony in Tennessee. There I met up with old friends and got to play a holiday concert (which also reimbursed me for all of the traveling I have been doing - whew).

I had decided that I would spend today at home, working on Christmas gifts like the Santa's elf I am becoming! Everything was rolling right along: itunes pumping out some tunes to keep me happy, sewing machine speeding over the fabric, iron steaming up a storm; things were looking good until....

SNAP!!!

Well, there's not much I can do with a needle that looks like this: and my expert sewing helper is not home, so I guess it's time to move on to something else for the afternoon....

Winter Welcome

Look what happened yesterday!

First snow of the year!!!