Gearing up for Christmas with the Hodgepodge

Linking up with the hodgepodge today. Head over the my mom's blog to join in! 

 

1. 'Tis the season to be jolly....so are you? 

I feel pretty jolly for the season. It has been fun getting to find spots in the new house for our holiday decorations and starting to build some holiday traditions with hubby as this is our first married Christmas. I do wish some of the logistics of traveling and getting to all the people we want to see were a bit simpler but I'm not going to let it deter me from enjoying the season! 

2. Do you trim a tree this time of year, and if so is yours all done? What's something in your home-closet-life that needs to be trimmed in the new year? 

We did get a tree this year! It's artificial which I think is the way to go and I'm very happy with it. I don't do too much in terms of trimming aside from the lights (that it came with) and ornaments. I'm thinking as the years continue I may up my tree game but for this year I was pleased to get it up and working. 

Hm, do I need to trim anything in the new year? Probably. Moving alerted my hubby and I to how much stuff we have and we definitely have been working to trim that down a bit!

3. Are you 'dreaming of a white Christmas'? Is that a possibility where you'll be celebrating? According to this site the top ten places in the US you can count on for a white Christmas are- North Pole Alaska, Crater Lake Oregon, Yellowstone National Park, Winthrop Washington, Aspen Colorado, Ketchum Idaho, Mt. Washington New Hampshire, Whitefish Montana, Duluth Minnesota, and the Lake Tahoe town of Truckee California.

Of the snowy spots listed which would you most like to visit? 

I do love a white Christmas, though it seems unlikely that we'll see one this year- you never know though! Of the top 10 list, I think I would most like to check out North Pole Alaska. I mean, it just sounds like the perfect Christmas destination. But I also think I would like to head to Truckee at Lake Tahoe- I've heard Lake Tahoe is beautiful and I'm sure even more so when covered with a snow blanket.  

4. December 8th is National Brownie Day...will you be celebrating? How do you like your brownies-chewy or cake-like, frosted or plain, nuts or no nuts, a piece from the middle or give me the corner? As a child were you a member of a brownie troop? 

I saw that this was coming up. I may have to go get myself a brownie to celebrate! I will eat a brownie any way it is served to me, but I prefer no nuts, and no frosting and definitely prefer a fudgy/chewy texture but with a crisp top. I am definitely corner piece all the way because I feel like you get the best ratio of fudgy middle to crisp edge. 

I was a brownie as a child and I recall it being a fun time, although with far less actual brownies than the name implied. 

5. Share a favorite line or two from a Christmas carol or holiday tune. 

"A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn."

Oh Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song and I think this line really captures the expectation of the advent season and the joy at the arrival of Christmas. And these last couple of years especially, I think people can truly relate to the idea of a weary world ready to rejoice. And Christmas brings that no matter what is going on around us. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

In my tree picutre above it may be hard to see but the topper for our tree is a fabric angel. And a fun fact about that angel is that it is made from the fabric of my mom's wedding dress. Last Christmas, just a few weeks before my wedding, my mom gifted me a beautiful robe to wear the morning of my wedding made from her wedding dress. Upon receiving it I quite literally burst into tears. Seriously, it was sort of embarrassing how overcome with emotion I was. See evidence below. 

Photo grabbed from my mom's blog, where you can read all about it.

But after recovering from that, I also discovered a beautiful Christmas ornament made of the same heartfelt material which worked just perfectly as a tree topper this year for our first Christmas as Mr. and Mrs.

Photo grabbed from my mom's blog.

Weekend Recap

 It's a rainy Monday here in Tennessee, which definitely makes me want to just extend the weekend and stay snuggled on the couch. But I'm working on tackling our to-do list, a little at a time. The weekend sure was lovely though! 

Friday evening was date night! Friday has pretty much been date night for us since we started dating and it's one of my favorite parts of the week usually. But then, we went out for every meal for 2 weeks so date night wasn't really a thing and then we definitely needed a restaurant break and some home cooked food for a change. But after our brief hiatus, we were back to our favorite day of the week heading to 1885 Grill for a night out. Followed by some Christmas movie watching, a perfect date night in my opinion.

We had big plans Saturday to do things around the house, and head to the holiday market and the incline railway and the Alabama/Georgie football game-all in one day. But the things around the house took a wee bit longer than we expected so plans shifted to...finishing things around the house, eating Mexican for a LATE lunch and watching football for the rest of the evening. One thing, of the many, that I love about my husband is how handy he is. He put up some ceiling storage for us in the garage which allows us so much more space now that we were able to move some of the boxes that were lining the walls up to the ceiling shelf. And I say we, but let's be real, it was all him. I am very lucky. 

Sunday we found ourselves back in church after a long time of not going. Our previous church had a lot of regulations in place that made it hard to get to an in person service. So finally being back in a church building, worshipping alongside others and hearing a message from a real life pastor not on a screen was a delight for my soul. We're still in what I would describe as the "church shopping" stage of the move, but we enjoyed our visit here. And because we missed the market Saturday, we headed over after church to peruse the aisle of homemade pottery, jewelry, soap, spices and jams among other things. We didn't end up buying anything but it's always fun to "window" shop right? 

The day ended with me rushing to finish up Christmas cards so they could get ordered in time for me to take advantage of the sale and somehow manage to get them to me in time to mail out before Christmas. That second part remains to be seen but I'm hopeful. I will share here once I've sent them out but oh boy am I excited about the card we came up with this year! 

And because I still have not managed to master the art of remembering to take photos so I'll have them for the blog later...I will leave you with this one of our silly little guy in his Christmas best. Merry Christmas from Bo :) 

Normal Routine? Is That You?

 Nope, not yet. But we're trying! I had anticipated that since the move south meant I wouldn't be working right away I would have so much more time to blog. Hah! As it turns out, there is so much to do when you're moving that any extra time you do have, you are too exhausted to do anything else. But I do finally feel like this week, we're moving towards a semblance of normal over here. We officially moved into our home on the 17th- woohoo!! But let me back up just a couple of days. And yes, I know it's December 1st and I'm talking to you about mid November but that's where we are. 

In the few days before we closed on our home, I headed to my sister's home to visit with her family to give myself a break from hotel living and have something to do while hubby was traveling for work. It was so wonderful to eat some home cooked food after a week of nothing but restaurants and sister and I had some much overdue sister time. It's so exciting to only be a short drive away from her now. Now short is a relative term in my book because she was living on the other side of the world and then upon their return  I was still 11 hours of driving north of her. So it's not like they live down the street, but a quick 3 hours seems like a breeze! 

We talked and shopped and got lunch at the cutest cafe with an attached warehouse style store full of different booths of items to peruse. And I can't forget that sister time also equals nephew time! We snuggled and read 1,000 books and built towers so that we could knock them down and I soaked up every minute. 

It was a quick trip but just the refresh I needed to push me into the rest of my busy week. I left her house and headed straight to our house closing. After all the million papers were signed (seriously, why is it so many?) we started trekking around to get all of the utilities set up. I do not understand why things like the water and electric company are not smack dab in a central location. In theory, everyone needs to go there at some point, so why are they out in the boondocks? And not near one another? Electricity and water secured, we ran a bunch more errands to be ready for move in before grabbing dinner to celebrate our new home and prepare for one last night of hotel living before finally getting to move in.

The movers came the next day, oh and the internet company, and we had a bed delivered. So it was basically chaos but those movers really moved! Things were unloaded and out of boxes in about 6 hours. But let me not mislead you, when I say they were out of boxes, I did not say they were neatly put away. Merely out of a box and on a flat surface. Or in a big pile... 

So Thursday night was spent getting the kitchen counters cleared before ordering takeout pizza. You don't realize how much stuff you actually own until is all sitting on every surface in your home. Hubby and I both determined after this, we may need to pare down a bit. But while we are wanting to pare down, we also bought some new things - whoops! But we needed a new rug for our living room and found this beauty that I just love! 

We have since rearranged some of the furniture here, but the rug is still my favorite :) 

We spent the weekend putting things away, getting a few more things delivered, and trying to make our house look more like home. We had to be prepared for turkey day obviously! Wait, you didn't think that because we moved in the week before Thanksgiving that meant we wouldn't be hosting people at our house all the following week did you? On Tuesday my aunt and uncle brought my grandmother over to spend the week with us and Wednesday brought my in-laws for a few days, followed by my own parents arrival on Friday. Why have a new home if you can't fill it with people? 

It sounds like a lot and well it also kind of felt like a lot but mostly it felt joyful and warm and made me extra thankful we have so many people who love us. There was some seriously puzzling being done, games played, and of course too much food consumed! Hubby smoked two turkey breasts... one of which was wrapped in bacon! Plus we had all the fixings, my favorite is always the stuffing. It's really dressing I guess because I don't stuff it in the turkey but I always call it stuffing anyways. 

The last of our company pulled away on Sunday morning. And as one holiday ends, a new one gets going. We got a tree on Monday and I sure do love a lit tree in the evenings. I don't have a picture of it with ornaments on it but you get the idea. We had to get on top of things and at least get the tree up because boy our new neighborhood is full of Christmas spirit. They're going to think we're scrooges if I don't get my wreath on the door or some lights on the porch. Two weeks of my life, wrapped up in one post. But now that things are finally settling down...she says hopefully...I fully intend to be keeping you in the loop on a much more regular basis. 

And for those of you that weighed in on our zoo/aquarium decision...we went zoo! I took no pictures as proof but we made a good choice. The aquarium and about 100 other things are still on our list though! 

Flashing Back with the Hodgepodge

Today I'm linking up with my mom's blog for another edition of the weekly hodgepodge questions. My mom started doing this in 2010! And after looking back to her first post we are flashing back to a few of those early questions. Head on over to her blog if you'd like to join in the fun! 

 1. How did you name your blog and do you now wish you had thought about it maybe another five minutes before hitting publish? Would you change your blog title if it were not a huge pain in the derriere? 

My mom and sister both had blogs up and running by the time I decided to jump on the blog train initially. I had to look back to see exactly when I started my blog but it was the spring of 2014. So I was nearing the end of my first full year of teaching, living on my own, and very much felt like I was at the starting point of adulthood. Being that I was a teacher, when I first started my blog I envisioned it becoming somewhat of a teaching blog and wanted the name to reflect that. There were a million teaching blogs so it was a bit challenging finding some sort of play on the word 'elementary' that wasn't already in use. But I settled on It's Elementary with some help from mom and sister and was pretty pleased. Looking back over my blogging though, it didn't really turn into the teaching blog I envisioned and is much more of a "here's my life" sort of blog. But nevertheless, being a teacher is a big part of who I am so I don't know that  I would change it even if it wasn't a huge pain in the behind. 

2. What bill do you least like to pay? 

Is all of them an option? I would say my least favorite is any bill I can't pay online for whatever reason. I usually set my bills up on autopay so I don't have to worry about them much. Every now and then though, there's a dr bill or the toll bill that came in the mail that requires a phone call or a mailed check and I find that to be much more tedious. 

3. What is your favorite word? Okay okay, calm down. How about one of your favorite words? 

I like a lot of words. I like words in general and I find my favorite words are words with too many syllables or silly meanings. I feel like I also appreciate several words that I never used before moving overseas and those have hung around as some of my favorite like knackered when I'm overly tired and gobsmacked. I'm not sure any other word conveys the same level of shock/ 

4. Is the glass half full or half empty? Elaborate. 

I consider myself glass half full and try very hard to have that outlook even when I don't want to. I think especially in the current world we live in, glass half empty is the easy option. Things seem like they are all a mess and out of control and it can be hard to look on the bright side or believe there is more good than bad. I however, hold myself tightly to the faith I grew up with and lean in to the many promises of good that can be found there. Those promises are not wrong, they aren't late and  they are definitely far from empty.

5. Were you here for that very first Hodgepodge post? If so, were your answers then similar to what they are today? Tell us what was happening in your life in November of 2010? 

I was around during that time, hearing about it from my mom, but was not in the blogosphere at that point yet so my answers are all fresh and new. But in general looking back at Nov. 2010, to Nov 2021 my life is very different. In 2010 I had just turned 20 , I was  a junior in college, I worked as a nanny for a nearby family and my life was all around pretty carefree. Since then, I graduated, then got my masters, adopted my Gemma girl, taught for 6 years, became an aunt once then again, moved to PA, turned 30, taught for a couple more years  got engaged, got married, and now moved to TN. A lot of life happened in those years, our family saw huge loss during that time, we also gained some new members. All of us live somewhere different than we did in 2010 but still love each other like nobody else but your family can. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Hubby and I are going to do a bit of downtown exploring this weekend and  since I am a giant kid at heart my requested first TN adventure is to the aquarium or the zoo. So what do we think...should we hit up the zoo or the aquarium this weekend? The aquarium is apparently pretty impressive and everyone says it's amazing however the zoo, I imagine, wont' have too many more good weekends for seeing the animals outside as it gets colder. Let me know which you would choose! 

Moving South

Well we have moved! Or should I say we are on the move? While we have officially vacated our old home, we can't quite get into the new one yet. So it's been a lot of driving, bopping around to both sides of the family while we made our way south. Which meant we stayed in 5 different spots in 5 different days. It was so wonderful to see family and people we love but it is so nice to know that for the next 6 nights I don't have to load and unload a suitcase from the car. 

We said goodbye to our first home together and while I thought I would feel pretty sad leaving, the bitter cold temperatures we were driving away from made it a little easier. I do feel a sense of sadness that we've closed this chapter since it was our first one together. But the excitement of what's ahead and the whirlwind pace at which we spent the last few days in our house getting things ready meant that by the time we were preparing to get in the car and drive off, we felt ready. 

We're now temporary residents of a hotel near our new house and there are definitely some things about hotel living that I could get used to. For example, no laundry, no dishes, no house chores. However, the other side of that coin is...living out of a suitcase, a lot of eating out, feeling a little stir crazy while my husband is at work and everything else that needs to be done is sort of at a standstill until we're official residents. So what is the first stop to make in a new town? Barnes and Noble of course! 

I found myself accidentally at the mall while on my quest for the nearest Barnes and Noble. An excellent place to kill time, while also finding some new reads to keep me occupied when I eventually make my way back to the hotel. The town we're in has pretty much everything but I am definitely still in the phase of feeling lost every time I get in the car. I wasn't able to come down when my husband went house hunting so yesterday was my first time seeing the new streets, highways, shopping centers etc. And while I  do not consider myself directionally challenged, I am very ready to feel more confident in knowing where I am and where everything else around me is also. 

One thing you will not catch me complaining about here is the weather though...high of 70 today! As I mentioned above it was freezing when we left our PA home. And I don't say freezing in an exaggerating sort of way. It was literally below 32 degrees. Our neighbor let us know there were snow flurries shortly after we left. SNOW! So the sunshine and warm temps were a lovely welcome to our new state. 

Now to decide which book I should start first...

A Wedding, Family and Full Hearts

Last weekend we scooted down to South Carolina for a special family weekend. My sweet cousin was getting married! We opted to head down Thursday to give ourselves a little extra time since the drive is so long. It's not fun to do it twice in four days but it would be even less to try and do it twice in just three days. And the other bonus of leaving early meant one extra day of hanging with some of our favorite people! We spent Thursday night at our close friends house, complete with snuggles from their two kiddos and then a grown up double date night. This is the couple that introduced us and we love them and their sweet family dearly so it was an awesome bonus to spend some time with them. 

Friday was low-key to start with a yummy breakfast from the local biscuit company. Oh boy am I glad to be moving back to the land of biscuits soon! And afterwards hubby and I headed over to my sister's in-laws so he could FINALLY meet her, my bro-in-law and their boys! I know, I know...it's crazy that they haven't met. But since hubby and I didn't start dating until after they moved overseas, they've had to settle for facetime introductions. It warms my heart that even with only facetime the boys have still gotten to know him and Shannon tells me they ask about their uncle often. But the in person meeting had been long awaited and was finally here! We played trucks and planes and they showed off all their toys and asked questions and snuggled and we were all around thrilled to be in the same room as one another. 

After our reunion it was lunch, repacking suitcases and then just about time to get dressed and ready for the rehearsal and dinner. It should be noted that it had been pouring cats and dogs for DAYS leading up to this weekend. Seriously, all week- just buckets. But it miraculously stopped in time for us to make our way to the ceremony space. The setting the bride and groom had selected was truly stunning with just the most gorgeous views of the mountains. Even overcast it was gorgeous. This picture does not do it justice but trust me, the Blue Ridge mountains are an A+ backdrop for a wedding.

We practiced till it was perfect...the coordinator made sure of it. Then we loaded ourselves up in the cars to head to dinner downtown. The dinner was delicious and full of delightful conversation with family and some new friends. Hubby makes friends easily and often and I never worry about dropping him into a situation where he doesn't know many people. After dinner, we met up with rest of the family and hubby got to meet the last few members that he hadn't met yet while we all hung out in the hotel lobby telling old stories and some new ones. 

Saturday came much too quickly. This was not a weekend for sleeping in. So our carload headed over to meet up with the rest of the bridal party to start getting ready. But of course, not before stopping at Starbucks. Every bride (and her ladies) needs their favorite coffee to start the wedding day off right! My cousin had gotten us the softest pajama shirts to wear while getting ready. So did I go into Starbucks in a pajama shirt? Yes. Was there a very long line and did I have to stand there in my pajamas for about 20 minutes? Yes. Was I embarrassed? Absolutely not. The shirts were exactly what I expected from my cousin because they were delightfully cozy as opposed to some of the less practical getting ready outfits you see brides give out. 

I should point out that my hair and makeup did not look anything like this when I was standing in the Starbucks line. They were much less glam and much more, I didn't get enough sleep.

Caffeine in hand we were ready! Because getting reading for a wedding takes a while y'all. Boys have it so easy, they arrive, get dressed and it's time to go. But we ladies have a few more things on our to-do list. But we make it fun, with lots of snacks, music and girl talk. There's not many quiet moments when you put 7 women together in one room for several hours. 

Several hours, an cans of hairspray later we were all dressed and ready, it was time for the main event. The bride was stunning and we all peeked behind the trees for her first look moment with her dad and then her groom before it was time to walk down the aisle. 

The ceremony was lovely, and only a little wet. Yes, there had been no rain ALL day. But we did get a small shower during the ceremony. But how can you even care when two of the best people are in the middle of the best moment of their life? Plus, it came complete with a rainbow! Now I know they say rain on your wedding day is good luck, so I have to assume that a rainbow appearing behind you while you're saying your vows is even luckier! I don't have any ceremony pictures just yet because it's frowned upon to take pictures while standing up in front of everyone as part of the wedding party but I assure you it was magical. 

A few more pictures then it was time for dinner. Oh and toasts! All three toasts were lovely and I am not sure I have ever laughed so hard at a toast as I did for the best man...it was so creative and witty and all the guests were very impressed. Should I ever need to make a toast in the future I will be asking him for advice. After dinner was dancing time. Now let me tell you, my husband loves to dance. Loves it! So we were out there most of the night tearing up the dance floor with all of our moves. Some of them graceful and impressive, some a bit more silly. My husband danced his tail off...quite literally. He may or may not have left the evening with a tear in his dress pants. 

Don't say he doesn't know how to have a good time! This photo was my husband's idea and I'm not sure my bro-in-law was quite as excited but I'm pretty sure it fills both my sister and I with immense joy that these two men got along so well their first weekend meeting. 

Plus we were together and we are each other's favorite people (shh...don't tell our husbands!)

A sparkler send off concluded the magical evening and we helped load all the cars with all the things before heading back to the hotel. 

Sunday equals another early morning, breakfast at a local spot and lots of hugs, kisses and see you soons to so many of our favorite people before making the long trek home. I've made that drive many times but after such a full weekend, I've got to say it was a bit tougher and required a few extra stops for renewed energy. But as I flopped into bed that evening I was overwhelmed with the joy from the weekend. My cousin is such a special person and she found the most special man to spend her life with, And celebrating that with the people nearest and dearest to me was such a gift. 

Cheers to the newlyweds and the best weekend! 

Big Changes

We got some big news at our house last week....

We are leaving Pennsylvania and headed down to Tennessee! Hubby has been moved into a new position at work that involves relocating down south. I am so very proud of him for this accomplishment in his career. He is the hardest worker and it is so exciting to see that pay off in a big way. 

At the top of the list of amazing things that this move entails are...

1. Being back in the south. Woohoo!! No offense to all of your northerners. We have loved living up here but we are southerners at heart and being back below that Mason-Dixon line is a plus for us. Not to mention we'll be sneaking out of here before any big snows! 

2. Being closer to our families. Being back down south means we are closer to all of our people. While we're still not exactly neighbors, we are exponentially closer to both sets of our parents and siblings as well. Speaking of siblings...my sister and I have been way far apart for the last, oh 11 years I'd say. Spread out over South Carolina, D.C., Washington (state), Korea, Pennsylvania as we've moved through different seasons. And now, by some miracle we will live in the same state! Cue the excited cheers!! 

There are all kinds of things on this list, but these two are the ones that sit at the top, that make us giddy to get going! 

But while there is a long list of excitement in this opportunity, it is not without a note of bittersweet emotion. We really have loved this area and there is some sadness to leaving it. One of those, the biggest one probably, is that I have been at a great school over the last year. Finding a school community that you love being a part of can be tricky and I lucked out with this one. And It's certainly hard to say goodbye to my kiddos early on in the year. So I'll be cherishing the next few weeks with them as we prepare to make the transition. 

And aside from my job, I am a super sentimental person so I can't help but think of all this house has held for us. This is the first home we shared together. We were standing at this kitchen counter (well the pre-renovation version) when hubby told me he loved me for the first time, on one of my visits up here. We toasted our engagement on that porch. We planned a wedding from this house, and started our life together here. So saying goodbye to it will definitely give me some big feelings.  

But mostly I am so excited for this next chapter for us. Off on a new adventure together. The next month is going to be wild, getting everything together. And there are some challenges, with hubby needing to be in two place at once (both home here and at new job there) but we're going to figure it out together!