Grateful

I'll admit it now, I was kind of dreading Thanksgiving. I'm not sure why. I am a "get in full spirit of the holidays" kind of gal. I try to enjoy every moment between Thanksgiving and Christmas because it always seems to go by too fast. I think part of my problem was that we had tackled too many projects around the house in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. My house was a wreck. I had too many things to do and not enough time (don't we all!). But the night before my father-in-law was to arrive, the Thanksgiving Gods sent me some help. Markus came home from a trip and my mom spent the night with us. We got everything done in one night and as soon as my house was put back in order I felt much calmer. Amazing how a clean house can somehow clear away my bad mood. Markus did the grocery shopping, and all I had to do was cook. Something that also always helps me get out of a funk. I think I was destined to be a house wife (hint hint).

The whole Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful and I had many blessings to be thankful for. I was thankful that my father-in-law was able to come for the 3rd annual Hakkarainen Thanksgiving dinner. We look forward to his twice annual visits all year long. My Aunt and cousin surprised us by coming up from Florida for the weekend. I had not seen them since the spring and our visits are always too quick. I'm also thankful that I got to see both sides of my family on Thanksgiving. And it wasn't nearly as stressful as it used to be when I was a child. And last but not least, I'm very thankful for the time I got to spend with my husband. He was home almost the entire month of November and I enjoyed every moment of it. Even when I had to change his bandage and pack his wound.

And I'm especially looking forward to the next month and celebrating the holidays with family and friends. I LOVE Christmas, more than ever now that I have my own family to spend it with and a home to decorate and fill with holiday spirit. I owe that to the Chenault side of my family. They were all about traditions and creating memories. And now I get it. When I think back on the holidays, it's always the things we did every year as a family that stick out in my head. Decorating cookies, having tea with Santa at Miller & Rhodes, going to see the Nutcracker ballet, and Christmas dinner at my grandparents house. And now Markus and I get to create our own traditions and memories. Something that makes me very excited!

Planning

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed this holiday season and I'm not exactly sure why. I was really starting to get excited last week while r.s.v.p.-ing to parties and coordinating cookie baking with the kids. But then something happened and now I am procrastinating. I'm supposed to be planning our Thanksgiving menu as I type and shopping on my lunch break (oh, and working. Today is a work day). But I just can't bring myself to look through recipes. So instead I created this list thinking it would help jump start me into getting ready for Turkey day.

I got the idea of placing all of my grocery items into categories from my favorite chef, Ina Garten. It proves very efficient when at the store. And added more categories in the extra space to help organize all the other tasks that are usually involved when grocery shopping. Like dry cleaning, post office, etc. I hope it helps me get my butt in gear, or else we will be eating frozen pizza instead of a Thanksgiving feast.

Music Monday: The Human Thing

I love The Be Good Tanyas. If you look at their web site, it describes them as groovy, bluesy, bluegrass women. Perfect description. This song is one of my favorites to dance to. It's off of their last album, Hello Love. I wish they would make another album and go on tour. I would be there in a heartbeat.

The video is made from thousands of drawings by an artist out of New Mexico named Kate Brown. I can't imagine how much time it took but the finished product is amazing!



Get up and dance, I dare ya!

No design blogs for me for a long, long time

Or I'm pretty sure this will be our first and last anniversary we celebrate as a happy married couple. Let's just say Markus does not share my enthusiasm for home projects and decorating. He tolerates a few here and there, but I think I have crossed the line. I met him at the hardware store this morning for what has to be the 10th time in a week (5 trips were in a 24 hour window) to buy some trim paint. And as we were saying our goodbyes he told me this is the last time he is buying paint for this house and I had better like all the colors. Markus does not use strong words often, but when he does I know I better take notice. I love you, babe!

Ahem, so it all started last weekend with an idea to wrap up the upstairs project we started last February. We needed to paint the back of a book shelf, hang a few items I purchased at IKEA last spring, and spruce up a (very) small bathroom. This included taking down wallpaper, painting, and replacing brass fixtures with brushed nickel. Sounds fairly easy, right? No construction or major renovating involved. I won't bore you with details but let's just say it sounded A LOT easier on paper.

This snowballed into projects in almost all rooms of our house and a lot more trips to the hardware store, contracting my mom and her husband for some painting and carpentry projects, and my dad for some plumbing issues. Lesson to learn for future opp (other peoples projects): Have a game plan BEFORE you start, write a comprehensive list of what you will need from the hardware store, and most importantly finish one room before moving on to another. However, I have a feeling if we had done all of this before starting Markus would have said no. Isn't there a saying "it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission"? Please forgive me, babe!

Late Wednesday night, after painting for 5 hours, I had the idea to get out of town for our anniversary. We both needed a break. Markus especially since he has been home 24/7 for the last 2 weeks. My mom had no choice offered to stay and watch the dogs while they finished the dining room. So we packed up Saturday morning and headed to Charlottesville. It was perfect and much needed. We came back a little less stressed and ready to finish what we had started.

Thank you to my wonderful husband who has tolerated all of my ideas over the last few weeks. I promise to cool it, at least until after the holidays ;) I will even do all of the holiday decorating while you are out of town so you don't have to see any boxes or put up the tree. What a deal!

p.s. I can't wait to share all of the renovation details on the blog once we finish. Before and after pics to come...

Manic Music Monday

This song pretty much sums up the last few weeks around our house. Ahhh, the 80's :o)

One Year

I can't believe it has already been one year since our wedding. The memories of those two weeks are seared in my memory, and I hope they always will be. I remember the day we left for Jamaica like it was yesterday. We headed down before our guests so we could have a few days to ourselves. I remember the rush of excitement I felt at the airport as I waited with our bags while Markus parked the car. I kept thinking "when I come back to Richmond I will be Mrs. Hakkarainen". I carried my dress on the flight, something I'm sure they see all the time. But the flight attendant still made a fuss over me and I was so excited to tell her we were going to Jamaica to get married. She congratulated me and at the end of the flight made an announcement to everyone who the brides were on the plane. There were 3! So. Much. Excitement.

One year later and I am still excited. Excited that we found each other and were able to make it to that beach with all of our friends and family to witness our vows. Excited because we have had such an amazing first year together. Excited about what the future holds for us. And excited to grow our family and grow old together.

I have so many memories of that day but I think Tisha, our wedding photographer, sums it up best in this video she made for us. We watched it this morning and it put a huge smile on my face. Her photographs will always be there to help fill in the gaps when memory fails. And for that I am forever grateful. Thank you, Tisha!

Happy 1 year anniversary to my husband. You are more than I ever dreamed for. I couldn't have asked for a better family and best friend.

Now, on to the baby making (JUST KIDDING!) :o)

Halloween

As usual a little late. But better late than never. I have been experiencing technical difficulties with our Flickr account so it took a few tries to get the pics for this post updated.

Sooo...Halloween. One of my favorite holidays. I've never thrown a Halloween party so I thought this year would be a good time to start with all the kiddies in our life. Just about every one of my friends has a kid and what is cuter than kids dressed up on Halloween? Nothing!

Cute Yoda, I am

Suzi offered to help host the party since her house is kid friendly. And, they had an awesome swing set installed just days before the party. And, Suzi ended up doing most of the leg work because I had a paper due and Markus' surgery days before. She planned a great menu and all kinds of fun games for the kids to play. It worked out really well, for me at least. Thanks, Suzi!!! ;)

The party itself was a lot of fun but seeing all the kids in their costumes was great. We had 16 kids and 28 adults. And lots and lots of cute costumes! (can you guess why Halloween is my favorite holiday?)

Princess Brynn
The "real" Spider Man
Emma the Black Cat

And the only best family costume at the party, the Fatigantes from the 50's.

I had so much fun at the party that I wore myself out and didn't go out for the grown-up version of Halloween. Oh well, maybe next year!