It's true, ladies. I've emerged from the world of books and papers and PowerPoints and laptops and I'm ready for the Christmas season to officially begin! Okay, I'm still pretty attached to my laptop, but now I get to use it for blogging instead of paper-writing. Woohoo! I will go through this brief hiatus in blogging at the end of April and the beginning of December for at least the next year and a half, so please holler at me if you want to guest post like these lovely ladies did for me this past week. Thanks, loves! You mean the world to me! Heather // Erin // Jessi // Jac // Meredith {Check 'em out if you missed them!} So now that Christmas break has officially begun {okay, minus finishing grading my students papers, working on a huge application, and creating my syllabus for next semester... piece of cake!}, I am excited to share with you the goals I hope to accomplish over the next few weeks. That's the beauty of being a teacher. You work your butt off for four months and find yourself completely drained, get a few weeks off, drain yourself for another four months, and then get the whole summer off. During the stressful times during the semester, you just console yourself with all the fun projects you are going to accomplish over your breaks. Yes, my friends, that's how a teacher's mind works. Teachers, are you with me? I've been making a summer goals list for years, but now I introduce to you my first ever Christmas goals list: Make homemade gingerbread { my fave!} Finish setting up our new house {almost there and then I'll give you a tour!} Get an oil change {this is almost too boring to make the list, but it reeeeallly needs to happen} Add stuffing to summer pillows {they fell flat... sewing fail!} Clean out and merge all my e-mail inboxes Clean out all picture folders and try to move photos to Dropbox and/or an external hard drive Make some blog changes :) Write some guest posts for some lovely ladies Get a star for our Christmas tree Read Heaven Is For Real so I can find out what all the fuss is about... I think that's it. We have a short break this year - only two weeks instead of a month like most schools on a semester system. I don't want to set too many goals for myself, because I'm hoping to sneak a little rest in! I'll let you know how I'm doing on my list in a week or two. Do you have any goals you are hoping to accomplish this Christmas season? These are just some pics we took this weekend before our holiday adventure of finding a Christmas tree and going to the most amazing Christmas show ever that featured break dancers and "Carol of the Bells" played on i-pads. I was in heaven! I'm soooo in the spirit now! xoxo,Jen ... Read more
Christmas Décor
I'm baaaack, friends! It feels sooo good to be done with the semester {okay, minus all those papers I still need to grade and the new syllabus I need to write for my class next semester...}. Today, I want to show you some of the Christmas décor we have set up around our new abode. {This will also give you a sneak peak of our new place until I get around to giving you the grand tour.} I follow two rules when it comes to Christmas decorations... 1) Keep it simple.2) Keep it classy. I think my restraint with Christmas decorations stems from a little rebellion based on my childhood. Here's the thing... my mom is obsessed with Christmas. Like crazy obsessed. It started with that ol' company called "Christmas Around the World" in the 80s. Do you remember that company? It was kind of like Mary Kay or Tupperware where you host a party and invite all your friends over to peruse the merchandise and buy stuff, except instead of storage containers you bought Christmas décor. Apparently, Christmas Around the World closed down about ten years ago though. RIP. My mom loved that company. She then started collecting nativities, which I have to say is probably my favorite type of Christmas decoration, but in the vain of simple and classy, I've decided I just want one really pretty nativity for my home. My sister will have to inherit the rest of my mom's collection. Have fun with that, sis. When I was little, setting up the boxes upon boxes of my mom's Christmas décor was nothing short of exhilarating . I would anxiously await Thanksgiving weekend when I could help decide how to display our 300 music boxes, nativities, stuffed animals, candles, etc. {I am hardly exaggerating here, people!} But as I got older, decorating for Christmas didn't hold the same thrill. I still love Christmas, but setting up the collection, which quickly grew to include at least 500 items {I can't wait for my mom to read this!}, became more of a chore than a delight, especially when it coincided with homework and the start of basketball season. So my mom started having to decorate on her own and she did the sneakiest thing ever... she started decorating earlier and earlier each year until one year in high school I came home on Veterans Day to find that the house had exploded in all things Yuletide. She claimed that one month of the year was not long enough to enjoy her precious Christmas items. I had to facilitate an intercession. My sister and I were adamant that my mom must wait at least until the week of Thanksgiving to put out the decorations. So you know what she did, that little trickster? She decided to start a SNOWMAN collection! She argued that snowmen were winter decorations and not just for Christmas. This way she can justify displaying her snowmen {figurines, doormat, books, stuffed animals, cookie jar, etc. etc. - I kid you not!} from November to February and reserve her Christmas-specific décor for the advent season. Smart woman, that mom. She got me. All that to say, Christmas decorations, while I love them, overwhelm me a little bit, which is why I now follow my two rules: Keep it simple. Nothing too big, too showy, too cheesy. Let's just say there are no blow-up Santas in our yard and I don't have any Christmas collections of nativities, nutcrackers, angels or snowmen. My collection is my Christmas stuff in its entirety and it fits into two boxes. Done and done. Keep it classy. Again, nothing cheesy. I like deep reds and muted greens with lots of silver and gold. I like poinsettias over Santas. Candles over toys. Garland, please, but no glitter. Maybe all this will change when I have kids, but for now I like my Christmas seasoned with elegance... and lots of gingerbread and eggnog. Thank you very much. So here it is, friends. The simply and classy Russum Christmas set-up. I'm sure our collection will grow a bit over the years and become more child friendly, but for now this is how we work it... Runner and candles on table with garland twisted to look kind of like a wreath. Did I mention this table runner cost $1? Booyah! Our little entryway-foyer area with gold stars danglin' all over the place! Classy green stocking with gold accents... Berries and Rolos! It doesn't get much better than that! This is my advent tray. The book is about the incarnation of Christ and has become a part of my morning quiet time. Goal for the week: spray paint the pinecones silver and gold... Little Christmas tree. I bought this years ago for Micah's desk at work, but now I usually set it up at home. I think I got the angel in 3rd grade. Vintage... Sorry! No Christmas tree yet! That's happening this weekend, now that those crazy papers are finished! Our Christmas tree will also be decked in silver and gold! Love it. Merry Christmas, friends. Love you all and happy to be back here with you!Jen Linking up with Gussy and The Inspired Room and Jennifer Rizzo. ... Read more
My {etsy} Christmas list
Over the weekend I finished up my Christmas list. Yes, this 29 year old still makes a Christmas list. It's not that I am über greedy, it's just that I love gift giving and I want everyone in my family to give and receive good gifts. I think this is best accomplished if everyone shares a gift list of items they actually want/need. I would rather get an item that costs $10 that I really love than a $50 item that is only mediocre. However, one thing about my Christmas list was very different this year. It's still mostly clothes and other pretty things, but it's the source of these items that has changed. My family doesn't need to fight the crowds at the mall to get me something I will love. No. They only need to hop online because over half of my wish list items can be found on Etsy. I guess I'm really a true blogger now... Here are some of my favorite handmade items this Christmas season... Lace infinity scarf from Cotton Lane Lace pendant necklaces from Feed Your Soul This necklace and this necklace from Pink Lemonade Embroidered pendant necklace from The Hollie Rogue Shop Dahlia Necklace from Sunshine Blossoms And a pretty gold tassel necklace like this one from Petitor Pretty dishtowels or potholders from Bonnie Rose And this doesn't really count, because I already bought these... but to kick off the Christmas season I ordered our Christmas cards from Naptime Diaries. And if you haven't met Jessi, please head to her blog. Her love for Jesus and her family inspires me daily. The Arizona Russums - coming to a mailbox near you... Last day to enter the Christmas giveaway friends! Merry Christmas!xoxo,Jen ... Read more
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