A Southern Accent

I thought I'd share with you all a couple of pictures of my Christmas decorations, to give you some ideas of what you could do in your home! Ok, so maybe this really isn't my house...maybe it's a fabulous sport shop I stopped at on the way back from the beach yesterday. It is the Nuese Sport Shop in Kinston, NC and they have the most fabulous Christmas trees - I was so in love I asked if I could take pictures! I love the look of a Christmas tree dripping with ornaments - and these certainly were! I really had a hard time picking out my favorite, but I loved the black top hat on the snowman-themed tree! I try to theme my tree around snowmen, so I think I'm going to attempt to make my own out of black paper and ribbon! I'll show you results! I think the tree topper is always the hardest piece - but these trees may give you some great inspiration! I was certainly inspired!

Right after my earlier blog posting about my Christmas card dilemma I received an e-mail from Paperspring about their card site. I immediately checked it out and loved their designs - and their prices even better! If you're looking for some fresh, new designs - and environmentally-conscious cards, then check out Paperspring - they even have a special running right now: Enter code “holidaycard” and receive 20% of all holiday card orders though 12/6/09. All of Paperspring's matte cards are printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled thick cardstock and they use chemistry-free and waterless printing processes. They print in-house - so you know you'll order will be received fast! (They even offer free shipping!!!!) Paperspring also offers personalized stationery, baby announcements and invitations! One of the really cool things that Paperspring has to offer is Sticky Stock - it's like a post-it, you can decorate your fridge or other surfaces and leave no residue behind! ...

My mother-in-law has the perfect turkey for Thanksgiving. Her secret? Go online, order an inflatable turkey from McPhee's, take it to the local gas station to have it blown up, and place on a platter on the buffet. Walahhh!

Because I am thankful for you, my readers, this Thanksgiving I've decided to have a giveaway! Just leave a comment, telling me what you're thankful for! I'll announce the winners next Monday, after we've all recovered from too much turkey and pumpkin pie! Happy Thanksgiving Yall!

It's this time of year again, where I'm left with dead flowers, moldy pumpkins and a yard full of leaves. Not that I'm not grateful for my home, don't get me wrong - but when we had a townhouse, it was so nice to just write that monthly homeowners check and hear the leaf blowers and lawnmowers outside and know that everything was being magically swept or blown away and we'd walk outside to a pristine leaf-free yard. Since Mike doesn't really like manual labor and would prefer to pay someone to do everything for us, and I'm trying to be a do-it-yourselfer and money-conscious, I end up doing at least part of the yard work and leaving a honey-do list for his part on his days off. This past weekend was evidently the unofficial yard clean-up event of the year. Everyone was out in full force, with our rakes, blowers and brooms. Yes, I love the fact that our neighborhood has gorgeous trees vs. the newer neighborhoods, but I could do without the pine needles and de...

I wanted to update on a previous post about my uncle ( you can read it here ). In September, he was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. He has undergone numerous rounds of chemo and radiation and received results back from his latest PET scan this Monday. Of chief concern was the tumor in the lower lobe of the right lung and the lymph nodes in the center of his chest. The scan showed that there was NO cancer activity in the lymph nodes! All in all, it was a great report! My aunt and uncle, with their grandkids. My prayer list is long for friends and family members struggling with disease and lately, I hear of so many children struggling as well. It's so hard not to question God during these times, but to put complete faith in him - which is much easier said than done! Isaiah 40:31 But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Another wonderful praise that happened last ...

I go through this every year, obsessing over which Christmas card to order, which photo to use, which outfit to put my little man in. Should I include the dog? Should it be a family pic? By chance do I try to capture the cat (because before children, he was the star of my annual Christmas card). I know, in the whole scheme of things, it's probably pretty silly to spend so much time thinking about a Christmas card, but I personally love to get them and get so excited about opening each and every one! So I figure maybe there are other people out there like me, right? To start with, there are so many different designs out there to choose from? There's minted, shutterfly, snapfish, tinyprints...Or, do I design and print my own? Do I go with a nicer, folded card, or a single card? Should the photo be in black and white, or color? I did manage to get a couple of cute shots of my little man this weekend in his cute Christmas pants (that he hates and I had to bribe him with a hockey ga...