Jewelry storage

How I store my jewelry has been a point of contention since we’ve been married. And I just keep getting more shiny, pretty things to store (or display). What’s a girl to do?

Adam had a great solution for my jewelry dilemma. For our third anniversary, he gave me a beautiful, leather jewelry box (we give traditional gifts and the theme for the third year is leather. I told you he was good!):
And I love it. Really I do! It sits on our dresser, and holds lots of pretty things. But, despite its many drawers and compartments, it’s not ideal for storing earrings.

My solution is two-fold. The first is an ice-cube tray (perfect for studs!) This is also Adam’s least favorite solution. Admittedly, it used to live on the bathroom counter, and has since been demoted to a drawer. It just works so well. And one of these days I’ll find a vintage metal tray, but for now the blue plastic one works just fine, thank you very much.

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Our First Advent-ure

As newlyweds we are still finding our stride when it comes to our holiday traditions. This year I think we are going to try to celebrate Advent together. I have always loved the concept of Advent, setting aside time to prepare your heart for the true miracle of Christmas. Yet, I’ve always managed to lay my good intentions aside around day three. But this year will be different, right?

If you are looking to join us in celebrating this advent season you can find good reading plans at Life Church.tv.

And for the tutorial of the delightful yet simple advent calendar you see above check out The Red Thread blog.

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Sunday afternoons

In my pre-home-owning life, Sunday afternoons were for napping, lounging on the sofa, talking on the phone, and watching movies. Now that we have a house and a yard and all the responsibilities that come with home ownership, Sunday afternoons look something like this:

rake leaves
go to Ace Hardware for furnace filters (if you haven’t replaced your filter this year, do yourself a favor and get a new one. I’m embarrassed by how filthy ours was and am hoping the house won’t be so dusty now that we have a clean one…)
do some laundry
go back to Ace for a Christmas tree stand
buy a Christmas tree
vacuum all the needles up
take a power nap
fold laundry
go back go Ace a third time for moth balls (yes, we have moths. And they discovered one of my go-to merino wool black cardigans)

It barely fit in the back of our Toyota Matrix

The most exciting thing on the list is the Christmas tree. We splurged and got a real tree for the first time this year. Adam has wanted one for years, but there wasn’t really room in the condo. We got it in the house, but we’re just going to enjoy it bare for a few nights. I don’t have the energy to decorate it yet!

It’s tall, 8 feet I think! It almost goes to the ceiling, hopefully the star will fit on top. It’s a Canaan Fir, which is a cross between a Fraser and Balsam fir. It smells amazing!

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Happy Thanksgiving!- Twice as Good

photo credit: Gridley & Graves

First and foremost we hope you are surrounded by those you love today and are celebrating the blessing of the year.

Every once in a while you find a song writer who can say what is in your heart better than you ever could. This week I stumbled across a song by Sara Groves that hits to the heart of what I’m feeling this holiday season. She sings: “Raise a glass to friendship and to knowing you don’t have to go it alone… life with you is half as hard and twice as good.” I hope you surround yourself with these types of people.

Don’t settle for my black and white text; check out the music video.

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For the love of a ping pong table

I love my husband, and got him a ping pong table for his birthday. This means, that whenever he has a free moment, he asks me to play. Today is his birthday, and we celebrate birthdays like they are a festival, meaning we celebrate for a good 5 days before and 5 days after the actual day. So I am being a good wife and playing lots of ping pong with him. We’ll see how long that lasts after the festival is over!

Getting the table was tricky. I really wanted it to be a surprise, so I talked to one of his friends who has a truck and we were going to get it and store it at his house ’til Adam’s birthday. However, I found the ping pong table in Craigs List and the first one fell through (they ended up selling it to someone else). Luckily, I found another one for around the same price, but I didn’t want to risk losing it again, so I told Adam and we got it a week ago.

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