My baby is 2 today! 😍 We’ve been patiently waiting for this milestone because people tell us that Labs finally calm down between 2 and 3 years old. Most mutter under their breath that it’s closer to 3, but we are optimistic that 2 will be her year! 😉 Honestly, she’s a really good girl most of time. Don’t say that to her though, unless you’re prepared to give her a treat. That’s the magic phrased used to reel her back in when she’s getting a little too bossy on her leash. Tell her to be a good girl and she’ll be by your side in an instant, tongue hanging out the side of her mouth (dripping slobber down your pants 😩), waiting for a treat. It doesn’t last long though because as soon as she gets one, off she goes again. I’m pretty sure she only likes walking for the snacks 🙄. 

I lugged the Christmas tree up from the basement today. For most of my childhood we went and chopped down a live tree. I was upset when my mom bought an artificial tree when I got older. So when Philip and I first lived on our own I was adamant about having a live tree for our first Christmas in our own place. When I was still finding pine needles around the apartment in July, I knew why my mom caved to the fake side. I’ll just spray some pine essential oil around the room and call it a day. 

Christmas is usually a pretty rough time of year for me, and anyone else who has lost someone they love. There have been years that I didn’t even want to put up a Christmas tree but my husband makes me do it anyway because he knows my Christmas wouldn’t be right without it. He’s pretty good at knowing what I need. He’s pretty awesome overall, but don’t tell him I said that 😉. Anyway, I’m feeling okay so far this Christmas season and I enjoyed decorating our tree with ornaments that have such special meaning. Most are ones that have been given to us by friends and family over the years, or ones we’ve given each other. This is one my mom got us when we first bought our house: 

I even have some that my mom saved that I made in grade school. Tell me this isn’t the best reindeer ornament you’ve ever seen... 

We have a hot pepper that dried up in our old apartment and we thought Pretzel ate it but I found it several months later so I kept it and now it’s an ornament. You know how some people do that Christmas pickle thing? It’s like that only not a pickle and you don’t win anything for finding it 😏. I was trying to find a picture of my mom to put in a remembrance ornament that I bought a couple of years ago but never really wanted to mess with, and it wasn’t an easy task. My mom was known for never taking a normal picture. She would always be talking, or chewing, and looking pissed off 😂. We used to laugh about it and I even made a scrap book page called “The Many Faces of Mom” one time, when I was into that. So anyway, this isn’t the ideal pic because it’s dark but it’s one of the few I have that she was A) facing the camera, B) looking at the camera , and C) smiling, which was pretty tough criteria to meet for her lol. I have a really great pic of me and her but I didn’t want to cut that one up. So here’s to keeping my momma in my heart during this Christmas season and always ❤️. 

The stockings are hung on the fireplace with care....(insert your own rhyme here). Sansa’s says “My First Christmas” and that’s not true but we won’t tell Santa. I bought her some new toys and they were going to be for Christmas but then we figured she doesn’t know that it is or isn’t Christmas so she got most of them already. Besides, new toys keep her busy and away from the tree, hopefully. 

I’ve been crafting necklaces still and spent the entire day last Sunday working to open my Etsy shop. Philip helped me build a light box, I finally used my fancy camera that I bought this time last year to take pics, and I posted them at www.etsy.com/shop/creativekimpire. I have several more to post. I’m kind of at a standstill right now though while I wait on beads to arrive that I ordered from the Wish app. 

This is my light box, built from a cardboard box, white fabric I had on hand, and a piece of cardboard. Because I had to buy the cardboard and bright light bulbs it cost about $3 to make. Here is example of a picture I took using it: 

They all turned out nicely. 

I used my handy dandy vinyl cutting machine that my awesome mother-in-law bought me for Christmas last year to make this sign: 

I didn’t distress it, it came that way. I only added the vinyl. I think it looks pretty 😊. 

Of course, our Christmas decorations wouldn’t be complete without some WV insignia. 

I made the snowman a couple of years ago during my scrap wood crafting phase. 

Philip got a new toy, virtual reality googles, and we’ve been playing with them lately. He bought a pair and then returned them for another. The first pair had me concerned because I could only see double vision in them and so I thought I needed an eye exam since he had no problems. Turns out they just weren’t adjustable and I can see out of the new pair just fine. There’s a sky diving simulation and it’s very real feeling, minus the coldness, and makes me very nauseous. I said before that I would consider sky diving again but I think I’ve had enough now 🤮😝. The roller coaster ones also make me nauseous, and the moving games. So pretty much the only that hasn’t made me want to barf was the Stone Henge visit 😂. It’s almost as much fun to watch someone play with VR googles as it is to play yourself. I had to record Philip while he was playing this game where you move side to side by moving your head to collect rings or something. I thought he was gonna fall out of his chair and it took everything I had to keep from busting out laughing so he wouldn’t know I was watching him. I showed him afterward. He got me back though and recorded me but I look really cool when I’m doing it 😉😉. By the way, I’m thankful for the winking emoji because I can’t wink for nothin’. We used to play a card game in our younger days that involved drinking and winking and that’s not a good combo when you can’t wink sober. Needless to say, I wasn’t very good at it. 

Speaking of being thankful, Thanksgiving was last week and we had two nice dinners, one with each of our families. But I gotta tell ya, if I don’t have Thanksgiving food again until next November, I’ll be ok with it. We had far too many leftovers and eventually you’re just like, “I want pizza.”  Pizza is the opposite of Thanksgiving food, right? 

After two days of company, Sansa was just pooped. She rarely has that sort of interaction with other humans so she immediately took a nap as soon as everyone left on both days. She woke up and caught me taking her picture. She doesn’t look too amused 😂. 

 

We wish a happy holiday season to everyone, no matter what you celebrate!