Dreaming of a White Christmas

Tomorrow is the day!  The day we are finally leaving to go home!  Hooray! I cant wait for big hugs, lots of relaxing by the tree, and snow snow snow!!  I wont be blogging while I am gone but I will back in the New Year, until then I leave you with some Christmas eye candy!

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 Happy holidays

A Homemade Christmas

In this house, we are huge advocates of homemade and Christmas time is the best time to create!  I have been a busy elf the past couple of days making gifts and wrapping!

I am super excited that we get to, not only, go home to Indiana to see family, we get to travel to Ohio to see even more family!  Family that Sky has never even met before!  Yay!  When my aunt was putting up my great grandma's tree some of her ornaments were so old they were falling apart, so she requested that all of the grandchildren make her new ornaments for her tree.  A little paper, lots of ribbon and some stickers, all picked up from the scrapbook section at Michael's and these amazing ornaments were born! They may be one of my favorites this season!

I think I might have seen these serving trays painted with chalkboard paint floating around on Pinterest recently but I have had these on the mind for awhile!  I picked up these trays at a yard sale over the summer and painted them with two coats of chalkboard paint I had stowed away.  They turned out exactly how I envisioned!

I am seriously stocked on ribbon. I have already gone through about 4 rolls that missed the picture. Sigh. Christmas ribbon is my favorite. Speaking of my favorite, this nutella hot chocolate. Make it!

If you are still buying your taco seasoning in those little packets, I HIGHLY recommend that you stop that. Make this seasoning.  Its way healthier, you know exactly what is in it, and you can make it in large quantities. I forgo on the red pepper flakes because of evil heartburn, but if heat is your things, go for it.  Here is the recipe!

 A couple days ago, Jessica Garvin from Little Baby Garvin opened her Etsy shop up for half off prints and donated all earnings toward The Sandy Hook Elementary Relief Fund. There was no way I could pass up the opportunity to give to a much needed cause. If you are interested in donating please follow the link above.

Professional Pictures

One of the drawbacks to having such a quick wedding is that we didn't have time to get any engagement or professional pictures done! In fact, almost 2 years later, we still hadn't made the time to get any pictures made and that makes me crazy!  I am a huge believer in documenting life through pictures.  I want to forever home to be covered in photos from important times in our lives.  Before we expand our family I wanted to make sure that we had a shoot done for just us. Here are some of my favorites!

I took my time in choosing a photographer and I am so so glad I did!  Reshma, with Blue Silk Photography was amazing to work with and if we are still in this area in the future I hope to work with her again!  You can find her blog and contact information here. These pictures were taken at Isle of Palms in Charleston, SC at dawn. Oh, how the beach is beautiful that early in the morning! It was the perfect time of day to capture these! If you live in the Columbia, SC or Charleston, SC area, I HIGHLY recommend her!

{Linking Up Here}

It's the Little Things

Sometimes, in life, we forget to stop and appreciate the little things in life that make us happy, even if they seem a bit trivial. Today I am linking up with Lindsey at Hello Hue for my first ever link up! I have been following along with Lindsey's blog for a couple months so I am super excited!

I just got a ton of my Instagram (@karakieran) pictures printed out the other day and decided they would be the perfect wall art for a cozy reading nook.  Now to find a big comfy chair!

My recent Birchbox came today and oh my it may be one of my favorites!  It was full of skin quenching goodness, just in the nick of time!

This picture seems a bit bland now that Ive added it in here but I am going to leave it.  Simply because as I was driving to watch some of the cutest babies I have ever met, I came around a bend and saw this. Beautiful blue sky, warm weather and trees with leaves and I smiled. It might be the first time in a long time that I have felt happy and content living in SC, and that, in itself, is remarkable.

If you would like to follow along and link in with that little things that are making you happy, the linky party can be found here.

Gift Guide Vol 2

Gift Guide for Him

1. Savages DVD- This has been one of our favorites movies this year!  I think we went to see it 3 times in the theater!

2. Fossil Leather Travel Bag- Sky has been needing one of these for awhile, but we havnt found the perfect one...until now!

3. Oregon Ducks Iphone 5 Case- Huge Ducks fan in this house who just happens to have a new phone.

4. Bulova Watch- Sshh...I heard Santa already has this for Mr. Kieran

Gift Guide Vol 1

Gift guide for me

1. Minnetonka 3 Layer Fringe Boots- I am dying for these!  They are so bohemian and would look so dang cute with a lil summer dress!

2. Wood & Faulk Bag- Is this not the perfect carry on bag or what?! 

3. J. Crew Printed Back-Up Iphone Battery- The convienience! I am terrible about charging my phone, this seems like the perfect solution...much better than charging my phone ;)

4. Chalk Ink Chalkboard Pens- I am obsessed with the homemade chalkboard that I made (via this tutorial) but hate all the dustiness that the chalk leaves. I am intrigued to try these!

5. ILY Couture Pave Bracelet- This looks identical to the J. Crew bracelet but a waaay better price!

6. Lisa B. for Madewell Fair Isle Socks- I can never seems to have enough chunky wool socks when the temperatures get cold. These are too cute to pass up!

           

Rockin Around the Christmas Tree

Christmas Playlist

“All I Want for Christmas is You” 

           Mariah Carey

“Sleigh Ride” Ella Fitzgerald

“baby its cold outside” 

leon redding & zooey deschanel

“winter wonderland” tony bennett

“where are you christmas” 

faith hill

“santa baby” Marilyn monroe

“jingle bell rock” bobby helms

“so this is christmas” John lennon

And pretty much this whole CD!

buy it here! 

ps i got this free font from here

Oh Christmas Tree

Oh Christmas Tree

We finally got a tree!  I am so stinkin excited!  We went to pick one up the day after Thanksgiving but by the time we got to the lot they were all gone! Since then we have been on the hunt for the perfect tree, short and fat with strong branches and healthy needles!  (i'm not picky at all baha) Well surprisingly, we found our tree at Kroger!  Went to get some dinner and got a Christmas tree instead!

Emmett was not sure at all!  Lots of parking and jumping around. It was HILARIOUS!  He eventually came around and now he just stands and stares which is precious.  um and there might be some nibbling on branches : )

This is our first Christmas tree together! Last year we decided not to spend the money since we were going to be gone for Christmas but it was so sad!  Living in the south, we don't get much of a winter so when Christmas rolls around we have to make up for warm weather with no snow!  I think I could leave this beauty up all year!

I am linking up with Ginny at Chasing Sunshine to show off my beautiful tree!

Life Lately

1. Finally jumped on the bandwagon and tried my first Lush bath bar. I wish I hadn't waited so long!

2. A crappy day had me out thrifting and finding hidden Pyrex gems.

3. Play?

4. Won this gorgeous Ann Taylor handbag from Mix and Match Fashion.  Its even more beautiful in person!

5. Couch snuggles. He can never get close enough.

6.  This book.  Oh my, I just can not put it down.

7. Making tiny rosettes, from this tutorial, for a new wreath.

8. Evening walks with a boy who is recently leash trained. Heaven.

9. Coffee. Coffee. and some more coffee.

Birth is a Dream

I haven't had this blog long enough to talk about my love for children, babies and everything that goes along with that.  A one point in my life I even dreamt of being an obstetrician. That obviously did not pan out but one day, maybe in the near future, I will get to join the lucky group of women that can call themselves mothers.

A friend of mine posted this video on Facebook earlier and it is way to special not to share. It is, at times, a little graphic but is oh so eyeopening.

PS, You might want to have a box of tissue nearby.

If you are interested in learning more about Paolo Patruno you can visit the website here.

 

Oregon 2012

Since Sky and I aren't from the same state, we have a lot of family in a lot of different places. Sometimes its really hard to make sure that we have enough time throughout the year to travel and see everybody. Sky's family tends to be the hardest to visit simply because they are clear across the country.  Luckily, Sky was able to save up some leave and we were able to make the long trip!  

We had such a great time! We did a lot of relaxing but also went out and did a lot of fun stuff! The last time we were in Portland I really wanted to go to OMSI but we just didn't have the time.  Luckily, this time we made time and were able to go! I looove museums and this one sure didn't disappoint!

I am really in love with Portland.  I read a lot of blogs (seriously, a lot) and many of them seem to be based in the Portland area.  I am so super jealous of them!  I want to move to Portland!  Dang military.  Honestly, I am very thankful to the military but sometimes its hard to be so tied down to one location, especially since we are not too fond of the area. C'est La Vie, just a few more years I suppose.

I just had to share this one last picture.  I posted this on Instagram (if you don't follow me, you should! @karakieran) and so many people thought this was a backdrop.  It definitely isn't a backdrop or a fake, it was just that beautiful there!  

Happy Thanksgiving

This post may be a few days late but I have a good excuse!  Well, kinda.  I have been filling my days soaking up time with Sky, eating Thanksgiving leftovers, and shopping Black Friday deals!

We broke away from our usual Thanksgiving plans this year and did something a little different.  Since we live so far away from both of our families, we usually take the long weekend Sky has off work to travel to Tennessee to stay with my dad and family there.  Since we had JUST gotten back from Oregon (post to come!) we were a little traveled out.  We invited some friends that didn't have any plans over for a feast and some football!

Since this was my first year cooking Thanksgiving dinner on my own I thought that I would be a little overwhelmed and stressed but actually I had a lot of fun!  Turkey was much easier (although grosser) than I anticipated and turned out so yummy!  Unfortunately, I was a terrible photographer and didn't manage any pictures to show you, but trust me when I tell you it was delish!

Many things to be Thankful for this year:

My wonderful husband
Cutie pie Emmett
stable jobs and the opportunity to be a full time student
loving family and being able to travel to visit
good health
a beautiful home and food on our table

and much much more!

We sure are lucky.

Thankful

Happy Veteran's Day!

I am very thankful to have this guy in my life. We have a great life thanks to him and his choice to join the military. He sacrifices a lot and I am extremely grateful!  

A few things...

I have spent the entire day running around town and I am exhausted!  This time of the year is crazy busy for us, so many places to be!  Tomorrow we are hopping a jet plane straight to Portland Oregon!!  woohoo!  I am in LOVE with Oregon and hope someday that we can move there for good!

On another note... a Whole Foods just opened, and I made a little visit today.  My first time in a Whole Foods, what the what?!!  I feel like I've been living under a rock!  This place is amazing and I don't think I will be able to look at grocery stores the same!

On another, completely random note, I just discovered the awesomness that is Firmoo!  Seriously, go check it out. I got the cutest pair of hipster glasses for free!!  Ok ok, I did have to pay shipping, but still way worth it!

Well, I am off to go pack by bags!  Yay for Portland!

Bahamas- Freeport

The next stop after Nassau, was supposed to be Half Moon Cay. Well, since it had been storming all night the Captain decided that is wasn't safe for us to dock there.  Half Moon Cay doesn't have a normal dock like Nassau did, we would have had to stop while we were still in the water and then take smaller boats to the island. Sure, it wasn't safe but I was so mad!  I thought we got jipped!

Since we didnt know that we would be stopping in Freeport, we really had no idea what to do when we got there!  Carnival was offering some options but they are so dang expensive!  We decided to just relax on the beach and walk around the little markets.

Cant get enough of this view!


We seriously cant wait to go back to the islands!

Bahamas- Nassau

Apparently, September is part of the rainy season for the islands. We didn't do enough research on the weather conditions for this time of year before we booked our trip, but lucky for us we like the rain.  Our first port was to Nassau. We got to the island early, around 7 am. We casually got ready, ate breakfast (room service is wonderful!), and started the long process of getting off the boat!

Although it rained most of the day we still saw so many great landmarks on the island!  When we were walking to the island, there were native islanders on the dock waiting for all the tourists haha!  They were offering a guided tour of the island, showing off all the places we wouldnt have gotten to see otherwise!  This tour was offered through Carnival but it was not in our budget. Honestly, it didnt seem like a good deal at all anyway.  We ended up getting the exact same tour (which ended up being way longer) for less than half the price of the Carnival advertised tour!  Score!

Atlantis!

Queens Staircase