2012: A Year in Review, Plus My Advice to a Bride to Be

Tomorrow is the last day of 2012. What a sigh of relief! I always love the start of a new year, it is feels like a brand new beginning, a fresh start, a do over...I feel like at midnight, when I give my husband a kiss, I'm saying goodbye to the past year and I can start new with a sense of rejuvenation.

This year was full of emotion for Hunny and I! We were so very busy with planning and executing our wedding that we thought buying a house would just add to the fun! So many ups and downs in the process...will we get approved, will the house have a positive inspection, will FHA approve our loan, etc, etc. Once it all fell into place and we moved in, about three months before our wedding, a bombshell hit, our wedding caterer lost their lease with our reception hall and we were basically SOL...I had to take an unscheduled trip back to Iowa, where we were having the wedding, and had to find a new caterer and try to get our planned reception venue since I had already handmade all the invitations and envelopes...It was a mess! All in all, the wedding ended up being such a wonderful experience that all the drama seems so petty and unimportant. After the wedding we were thrown into the holiday season! We just got done hosting the in-laws for Christmas! Wow! Talk about work! Planning, cleaning, cooking and baking for 12 people is a little much...I learned that next time I will delegate more so I can enjoy the holidays instead of being in the kitchen all day! And with that we are now to New Year's Eve. Hunny and I will be spending the evening watching movies and eating some cheese dip and having a champagne toast at midnight. Such a change from the NYE's of my single past! I do miss getting all dolled up and going out with my besties but I love being at home with my husband even more.

I can't wait to share my New Year's resolutions with you! I've been working on two lists of resolutions...one being my own personal resolutions and the other being home improvement projects to accomplish. Speaking of lists I decided I would share a list of advice I would give to any bride who is planning her wedding. I started thinking about this list today while I was framing a few of our wedding pictures and thought I had to share my advice hoping that it may be useful to at least one bride...

My Advice to a Bride to Be

1. Stick to a budget! I hate talking about money...I mean I really hate it! I have nothing to do with our finances not because I don't know how keep a budget because I really rather not be in charge on it. But, Hunny and I had a discussion and decided how much we wanted/could spend on the wedding and stuck to it! Once you know your budget, decided where to put your money. Figure out what is the most important to you and go from there. For example, you want the best photography in your town so you'll want to make sure you set aside the money for them first and so forth.
2. Research your vendors! Nothing is more frustrating than a unreliable or incapable vendor. Research each vendor online, find out what online reviews say, ask other brides you know for their experience or even ask the vendor for a reference. If they don't want to give you a reference, move on! 
3. Get EVERYTHING in writing! Whatever a vendor promises, get it in a contract or writing. We ran into our caterer promising certain things that never happened. Make sure everything you want or need them to do is in a contract that you both sign and have copies of...it will save you a headache later on when they don't follow through...
4. It's okay to buy yourself the dress you love. I always told myself that I would buy one of the $99 dress and it would be fine...Once I became the bride I changed my mind and started to feel guilty for wanting an expensive dress and veil to wear on my wedding day. Hunny told me to get what I loved so I wouldn't regret it. I have talked to a few brides that really regret settling on a dress they didn't love. I'm not saying blow your budget on a dress but if you find the one and can move the money around to afford it get it! It is your special day so make yourself feel special. 
5. Stop looking at dresses once you buy yours! The minute I paid for my dress I stopped looking. I knew if I didn't I would see one I liked more and then start hating my dress. I have friends who told me about how they kept looking and then regretted theirs or they knew someone who ended up buying a second dress. Save yourself some drama and stop looking!
6. You can't control your bridal party, family, in-laws! It doesn't matter how many times you e-mail, call, or text message your wedding party, family and in-laws, they still ask you the same questions you just answered. Just answer them again...it'll save you time and drama. Even though you want everyone to pitch in and help set things up, make centerpieces, hand out programs, tear things down and help pack things up, the fact is not everybody will help. I heard every excuse to get out of helping, some of which were just plain lazy. Just let it roll off your back and have someone else help. When it comes down to it, your true friends and family will be there to help and it really surprised me on some of the people that flaked out and some of the people who went above and beyond to help out! 
7. Have a personal attendant. They really are amazing to have! Mine took care or all the little details, like drying off the bouquets so they won't drip on me and the bridesmaids' dresses, carrying my training during the outdoor photo shoot, calling the bridal parties' trolley to make sure they'd be on time, and the all important holding my dress while I use the ladies room! 
8. RELAX AND ENJOY! I know it's hard to relax with one of the biggest life events is staring you down but just keep telling yourself to relax because no matter what something will go wrong...someone will be late, someone will forget something, you will forget something, you'll forget to have the photographer take that picture you wanted and so on...just relax and enjoy every minute of it! The day will fly by and you'll wake up the next morning and hardly believe you're married so have fun and enjoy!

My Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

Now that this cold weather seems to be here to stay, I decided it is time to make my hot chocolate mix. My mom would make this every holiday season when I was a kid and it always lasted into the new year. My mom would always make us all a cup with marshmallows on top when we would watch Christmas movies like Charlie Brown Christmas, White Christmas, Miracle on 34th St, and It's a Wonderful Life. Even after the holidays I loved coming home from school and having a mug full! This recipe definitely brings back a lot of memories of Christmases past. I can't wait to someday hopefully make this recipe part of my children's Christmas memories.

I'm not sure where my mom got the recipe for the hot chocolate mix...I'm assuming probably one of my grandmothers. Some of the ingredients weren't sold in the weight measurement she gave me or I couldn't find it in that measurement, but I was able to get all of the ingredients at Wal-Mart.
Here it is! You will love it!

Hot Chocolate Mix

Ingredients:

1 box of Nestle Quik (2 lb) 

1 box Powdered Sugar (1lb)

1 container Coffee Mate (6 oz)

1 box Powdered Milk (1lb 9oz)

I feel my hips gaining weight as I type these ingredients....

I was able to find everything in the right measurement except the Nesquik. All I could find was the smaller boxes or the 2.54lb container, which is what I chose. I eyeballed what I thought was two pounds....hey, if I got more than two pounds in it would just be more chocolatey and who doesn't like chocolate?

I dumped all the ingredients until a huge container, snapped the lid on tight and started shaking and turning the containers all around. It may have been easier to mix the ingredients a little at a time and then put it in a container, but I learn the hard way...

There! This is what it all looks like mixed up! 

I transferred my mix to one of my chalkboard storage containers and I'm ready to go for the holidays. I add anywhere between 1/4-1/3 cup of the mix to hot water depending on the mug's size and how chocolatey I want it.

 I'll be offering hot chocolate as a beverage option during my in-laws' holiday visit and I think I will be giving smaller jars of the mix to my neighbors along with some cookies as a holiday treat next week! This is such an easy and delicious treat to give to someone during the holidays! When I first made this mix up and made a mug for my husband he didn't believe me that it wasn't a packaged mix because it tasted so so good. I'm not a coffee drinker, but from what my mom has told me, this is amazing when you add a couple of spoonfuls to your coffee. I used the plain Coffee Mate but I've also heard great things about using flavored Coffee Mate instead! I hope you enjoy! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

The 12 Days of Christmas Cleaning

Well, twelve days from now, the first of my in-laws will be arriving to celebrate Christmas. It is so hard to believe that Christmas is just two weeks and a day away from today. I've only bought a few Christmas gifts and I'm also starting to freak out because I haven't even started my Christmas cards...I need to get with the program. This weekend Hunny and I hung up the rest of the outside Christmas lights and then went and picked out a beautiful Christmas tree! I'm pretty proud of this tree! We did a good job picking out a really winner this year! No big holes or gaps in the branches and it's so straight and tall. We brought it home and set it up Saturday and I put my pretty tree skirt around it and left the tree alone so it could unfold and open up before I put the lights on and decorated it. Saturday night I got really sick...I think I ate something that didn't agree with me at all. I went to bed around nine and didn't get up until around eight Sunday morning. I felt a little better and went downstairs to see if the cats had left the tree alone or not...At first, it appeared so...the tree was still standing and looked undisturbed....I then noticed the tree skirt was balled up. I figured that Fizzgig, the naughty one, had been playing with it. I got down on my hands and knees and started to readjust the tree skirt when my hand felt wet...yes...my cats had peed on my tree skirt. I knew it was Scout because she will pee on things when she is mad about something and I know she was mad because I didn't feed them before I went to bed because I was sick, plus, she ran away and hid as soon as I discovered it...she has no poker face. Totally disgusted and still feeling sick, I picked up the urine soaked tree skirt and put it in the laundry room sink. The tag of course said spot clean only, but I decided I would try to wash it anyway and see what would happen. I then turned my attention to the floor and cleaned and steam mopped it. Just as I finished cleaning the floor and went back to try to save my beautiful, expensive tree skirt, my other cat, Fizzgig, jumped out of the laundry room sink and ran off...leaving behind the largest pile of cat crap I had ever seen right on top of my once beautiful tree skirt. Insert A LOT of profanities. I rounded up both cats and sent them down into the basement, shutting the door behind them. I then bagged up my tree skirt and took it out to the trash...that'll teach me to buy nice things, having a Christmas tree, and for being sick and forgetting to feed two overweight felines....

Anyways, I just had to share that bit of Christmas cheer. I'm sure you all have had similar Christmas horror stories...But, back to what I wanted to post. THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS CLEANING! The first wave of in-laws will be arriving in 12 days and staying through Christmas. I decided that I will do a little cleaning everyday so I won't be running around the day before they arrive cleaning. There are some days where I only have a small task or two and then other that will be bigger. I plan on still doing my daily work as well so that everything stays clean. I love my husband dearly but he leaves a trail around the house wherever he goes, so I need to keep up with my daily cleaning. So here is my list of the daily cleaning to hopefully achieve a clean house for the in-laws' Christmas visit!

The 12 Days of Christmas Cleaning

1. Wash windows. I want to wash all the windows inside the house and the outside of the windows that face our front and back porches.  12/10
2. Dust all the light fixtures, ceiling fans and baseboards. I can't believe how gross and dusty all of our light fixtures and ceiling fans get and even though I'm sure no one would notice I know I would! I also want to tackle all the visible baseboards. I read online that using a dryer sheet to clean them collects all the dust and protects them from collecting dust again...it's worth a shot! 12/11
3. Pick up random items and find them a home or put them in the attic. We have so many odds and ends that get thrown into corners, on the spare bed, or laid on top of counters. I plan on using this day to find everything its appropriate home or put it up in the attic for the time being. 12/12
4. Clean between, under and behind all the radiators. Our home is heated through radiators and they collect tons of dust, so I plan on spending this day giving them a good cleaning all round. 12/13
5. Clean the Craft room. My craft room doubles as my closet so days where I'm tired or feeling lazy, my clothes just get thrown on top of a chair or my sewing machine. I'm planning on using this day to correctly put away all my clothes, shoes, purses, and crafting supplies. I need to dust the furniture, sweep, and steam mop the floor. 12/14
6. Being a Saturday I will just use this day to keep up with general cleaning and make sure everything I have done is still done. Hunny and I are planning on going to Vermont on this day, as well, to go shopping at the Vermont Country Store in Weston, VT. It is one of our favorite places to go. Such a beautiful part of the country and we love the small village it is in with all the little shops. We also found a Scottish pub in a neighboring town and love going there to eat haggis, skirlie, neeps and tatties. Don't knock it until you try it! So, so good! 12/15
7. Clean the Office. The office is totally Hunny's domain, but since it is still packed in boxes, it needs a good cleaning. My dear husband has a collection on soda bottles, food wrappers, and shred-able mail in there that needs to be thrown out. My MIL is going to be spending the night here that Saturday before Christmas so we need to move the twin bed from the frozen sleeping porch to the office so she can use it. She'll be staying at a hotel the remainder of her visit once my FIL and Hunny's grandmother show up. Hunny's 91 year old grandmother has a hard time with stairs so staying at a hotel would be easier for her then getting up and down our stairs. I'll also get to hear from my MIL on why we should flip the guest room with the office again. Yes, I know the office is a little bigger than the guest room (like a foot or two) but we have plans to get a hide-a-bed for the office so it can be used as a spare bed when needed. We aren't made of money so it'll have to happen when we can afford it. End of rant. 12/16
8. Clean Master Bedroom. Change the sheets, clean up any clutter, dust furniture, take out trash, sweep and steam mop floor. 12/17
9. Do laundry and clean Laundry room. I plan on doing laundry the week before as I always do but this will be the time I make sure all bed linens are freshly washed, towels are clean and soft and Hunny and I have all our clothes clean and put away. I plan on then doing a good cleaning of the washer so it smells and looks spectacular. When I clean the washer I usually run it through a complete cycle once or twice with a couple of cups of vinegar. It does the trick every time. I don't think anyone will need to use the washer, but you never know! I also need to straighten and organize the storage cabinet in there, sweep, and mop the floor. 12/18
10. Clean the Guest Bedroom and Hallway. I need to change the bed linens and wash the blankets, dust the furniture, sweep and steam mop the floor. I will then have to shut that room up because the cats love to sleep on the bed in there and I'd rather not have cat hair all over the pillows in the Guest Bedroom. The Hallway just needs to have the bookcase dusted, floors and stairs swept and steam mopped. 12/19
11. Clean the Foyer, Living room and Dining room. The Foyer should probably be called a Sitting room because it is really big. That's where we put the Christmas tree. I need the dust, sweep and steam mop in there. The Living room needs the same, a good dusting of the furniture and electronics, floor swept and steam mopped, plus a good cleaning of the fireplace. The Dining room needs to be dusted, swept and steam mopped, as well as be set up for our Holiday gathering. The extra leaf needs to be put in the table and the buffet needs to be set up with the coffee maker and hot water dispenser for tea and cocoa and the serving pieces cleaned and ready for holiday treats! 12/20
12. Clean the Kitchen and Bathroom. The kitchen needs to have all of the appliances scrubbed, counters cleaned, walls washed, and floors swept and steam mopped. The Bathroom will be cleaned right before the guests arrive, like when I see them coming down the street! Because I know as soon as I clean the bathroom my wonderful husband will go in there and shave or somehow mess it up! The bathroom needs a deep cleaning. Tub scrubbed, toilet freshened and counter and sink sparkling! Ending it all with a good sweep and steam mop!  12/21

There you have it! This is my holiday cleaning list and I hope to get it all achieved by the time my guests arrive. On top of all this cleaning I need to finish Christmas shopping, make cookie platters to take to our neighbors, figure out if I want to hand write my Christmas cards or just do a photo card, plan meals for our holiday gathering, and go grocery shopping for it! I'm tired just thinking about it!

I'm going to wrap up this post with a couple pictures from our wedding! We finally got our wedding pictures back from the photography and I love them!

 Hunny and I with our parents

 My girls and I

 My brothers and I

 My sweet flower girls

 Hunny and his men

 Love this!

 Our wedding party

 My all-time favorite!

I hope you all have a great day and I'm hoping to post my hot cocoa mix recipe here in the next day or two!

Kitchen Chalkboard Project or Confessions of a Cookie Sheet Hoarder

So, I've been debating doing this project for awhile...I fear I might have an attachment issue to my cookie sheet...I first thought to myself after washing my old, well "loved" cookie sheet that it may be time to retire it. I felt bad throwing it out, when it dawned on me, it has a perfect hole on the top for a nail and it is the perfect size to hang between the two kitchen windows. That's about as far as it got for a few months. I placed the cookie sheet back in the cupboard and continued to use it. Every time I pulled the pan out I'd mull over the idea again and then for whatever reason I'd back out and place the cookie sheet back in the cupboard...At first, I blamed it on not knowing exactly what I wanted to do with it until I remembered I had chalkboard paint in the basement from my pantry project. Light bulb! I could paint the back with the chalkboard paint and then use it to write my weekly menu or write quotes, bible verses or holiday greetings! I got excited to do this project but still the weeks went by and I kept passing up the project. I don't know if I am a secret cookie sheet hoarder but I just couldn't muster up the courage to throw caution to the wind and paint the back of an old cookie sheet. Pathetic, I know....Then Monday rolled around and I decided that today was the day to finally roll up my sleeves and accomplish this heart wrenching project. (Side note: I have about ten other cookie sheets so I have no idea why I was so weird about getting rid of this one, it's not like I couldn't replace it...like I said, I'm probably a hoarder...)

Here is my well "loved" cookie sheet. It has seen better days!

 Supplies! I found the paint brush, tape and paint just like this, patiently waiting for me in the basement. Please, don't look to closely at the piles of cat blankets of the couch in the background...My dear husband decided to buy a beige colored couch and since we have the two hairiest, messiest cats in the world, the beige couch is buried under old blankets to help prevent stains. Even so, the cats have still stained the couch...Hunny gets upset and I, however, know that someday when we have children the couch will never stand a chance again dirty hands, spills, and other accidents so I just don't get worked up about it. Of course company never sees the blankets though...I stash them away so people think we have nice things...hahahaha!

Okay, back to the project. I taped the sides of the pan to have a somewhat even chalkboard...I didn't care to much about it being perfect, I just didn't want it to drip all over it. Hint: If your painter's tape doesn't want to stick, microwave for 10-15 seconds...works like a charm!

Paint a first coat and let dry!

Paint a second coat and let dry. I switched up the direction I painted each time. First time horizontal then vertical the second and so on...

I painted it a third time but forgot to take a picture. Sorry! After the third coat dried, I thought it looked dark enough and evenly covered. I then hung it and waited the suggested three L-O-N-G days before using it. I decided to use a Christmas lyric since it is the season and whatnot! :)

I know this is kinda a crappy shot but it is what it is when you wait until night and use a phone to take a picture...

I hope you liked my project and maybe it will inspire you! I'm looking forward to the weekend. We will be finishing hanging the outdoor Christmas lights...by the way, I somehow won and we bought white lights! And, we will be picking out our Christmas tree! I'm so excited to get our tree in our house and get it decorated. I'm hoping the naughty cat will leave it alone but I don't see that happening! Have a great weekend!