My wish list

Its so hard for me to put together what I want after having such an amazing year.

I guess I would love....

1) A million dollars and a good looking man ;-)
(no really, that would be grand! hehehe)
2) I could spend New Years in Sydney with a few of my favorite people
(or just go back to Oz in general)

3) A pair of cute brown boots like these
4) iPad because they're sooo darn cool
5) Running shoes
(with inserts that would actually let me run without my knees hurting)

Happy Holidays!!!!

PS- I've been bored at Ann Taylor Loft, come visit us for some great gifts :)

Random Christmas Gifts

Today's challenge is a tough one, what is the most random or odd gift you have ever received?

Now I'm not a huge gift person but the white elephant / dirty santa parties are always a blast! This year I put together a mini travel kit to take to the party I went to. It contained a dining kit (that could turn into chopsticks, spoon, fork or knife), a neon luggage tag and a collapsible cup. The other gifts included a crazy big old lamp (the classic white elephant gift), finger lights (amazing little LEDs to put on a finger to help you read in the dark), a Santa hat with mistletoe (came with Altoids and gum for your breath), a craft picture frame kit and a few other lovely random gifts. I went home that night with two new shot glasses and a small bottle of rather suspect tequila (would you drink something called white tiger??? me either).

I also remember a year when the gift that got stolen the most was a bright blue Snuggie! Another year I think there were some cookies and cocoa that were a big hit :)
There are some fun gifts out there, and its always a blast to watch people to open gifts and see the surprise on their faces!

Happy Holidays! I hope that all of your gifts light up your eyes and make you happy!

Favorite Holiday Movie

My number one favorite holiday movie is definitely The Polar Express! This probably comes from memories of reading the story when I was younger and how much I love the music in the movie, Josh Groban's Believe is probably another favorite song of mine :) It also reminds me of being an RA at Purdue and anxiously awaiting the movie to come out with one of the girls on my floor. I still think of her every time I see the movie or hear the song.

if you just believe.... (from the song)

Another holiday favorite is Love Actually, not sure its totally a holiday movie but I love it anytime of year and it takes place during Christmas. Come on, how can you not a love a movie where Hugh Grant dances and sings around his house?!

Nine days left til Christmas!!! I still have some holiday shopping/crafting to do...

Hugs & love!

A Christmas Limerick

Today's challenge, a Christmas Limerick...boy was it tough!

The Christmas tree is glowing,
The sky starts snowing,Carols being sung,
And stockings are hung.
Oh how we love that Christmas is coming!

Christmas Traditions

I can't believe I missed day one of the Hello Ladies Christmas challenge, so I may just do a two in one....but first today. Today's challenge is to talk about our family traditions.

My family has a wonderful tradition of celebrating Christmas Eve with a Norwegian cold table. We put out lots of cheeses, meats, crackers and much more then celebrate being together by passing it all around the table for a nice light dinner. After dinner we go to a late night Christmas Eve church service. My favorite part is singing Silent Night and lighting candles at the very end knowing that its now 'technically' Christmas day :) After we get home, we're allowed to open our Christmas Eve gift, specially labeled by mom and containing new Christmas pjs! It may not be a surprise, but its always fun :)

Christmas day is a whole other story and isn't as much about tradition, but about visiting with family and loving on each other :) My bother and I take turns being the 'elf' )which sometimes involves a hat) and passing out rounds of Christmas gifts to the whole family. Its always loads of fun!!!

Yesterdays challenge was to list our top five Christmas songs...so mine are (in no particular order)
#1 - Grandma got run over by a reindeer (always listen to it when putting up our tree)
#2 - the whole Nutcracker suite (when I was younger my dad and I would go see it, just the two of us)
#3 - Silent Night (my favorite is singing it a capella in church on Christmas Eve)
#4 - Rockin Around the Christmas Tree (don't know why, but I love it and it makes me think of Home Alone and being a kid)
#5 - Sleigh Ride (the one with a whip that sounds like your on a horse drawn sleigh through a snow covered forest, I played it with the band in high school and have always loved it!)

I hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas season!!

Love & Hugs!

Christmas Season and a Challenge!

Ok, so I may not be traveling at the moment, but one of my favorite groups is doing a Christmas challenge so for the next 12 days I'll be posting in response to their challenge :)

The group is called Hello Ladies and they make the most adorable onesies and other goodies! If you want to join in on the challenge their blog is http://thehelloladies.blogspot.com/

yay for Christmas!

back into travel blogging

Ok, so its been awhile, and I've been in the USA but I have been busy. Nothing had truly inspired me to blog until this last week when I went to Cape Cod, MA with one of my bestest friends, Melissa. We met up there to visit with some of her family and had a wonderful time!

So my best picture of Cape Cod comes from the movie Summer Catch, a cheesy flick about the summer baseball league in the Cape. And I would be lying if I said I wasn't hoping to meet my personal baseball boyfriend, but alas the season was over. But this was even better, we were actually able to see the Cape and have a great time visiting her family too.

Our highlight was a whale watching trip out of Hyannis, near where we were staying in S. Dennis. The Whale Watcher, our boat, took up up and out of the Cape past Provincetown. About 10 miles off the coast we found dozens of beautiful and amazing humpback whales. The crew on our boat was able to name a dozen of them including three mothers with their calves. The youngins would swim right up to the boat and check us out too. The elders were busy feeding in preparation for their trip to the Caribbean where they fast during mating season. While I took loads of pictures here is my absolute favorite as a group of them dove for some fishes.


We also took time to see Provincetown, where the Pilgrims landed and the very tip of the Cape. It was a great time with a fun atmosphere! We visited the Pirate Museum dedicated mostly to the discovery of a ship said to have tons of Spanish gold on board. We also spent some time shopping in the 'hippie' shops and I even had a delicious lobster roll (local favorite).

Another day we visited a few of the lighthouses and beaches too! It was all beautiful and I would love to go back in full summer to see the crowds and warmer weather.

Now its back to my part time jobs and job searching. For those who may or may not know...I've had a few promising interviews for recruiting jobs but have yet to find the right one. I'm hoping that God has something amazing for me and I'm trying to be patient.

Hugs & Love!