Oh Christmas Tree

I had our Christmas tree date planned for honestly two weeks.

I was so excited and dreamt of a beautiful night of picking out the tree, setting it up, and decorating it while drinking hot chocolate and watching claymations all the while laughing at each others jokes.

Pretty much what a Christmas tree commercial would look like.

FAIL.

We picked the most awesome tree.

I had to drive over to Wells Fargo to pull out the cash for it.

Couldn't find the cash, thought I left it at the ATM, had a minor heart attack at the tree lot, ripped apart the car for it, then found it in my bra.

Placed the massive tree on top of my tiny Jetta.

Dragged it into the house.

While setting it up on our plastic tree stand, Ryan and his big ace muscles broke a part of the tree stand.

Which is why our tree looks a little wonky and possibly lopsided.

Tried to put lights on it, only to find we were 3 strands short to cover the whole tree.

Went to vacuum up the pine needles.

Vacuum was indeed clogged with all my long blonde hair and pine needles.

Took Ryan over an hour to clean the whole thing out.

By that time I was ready to fall over and cry because not only was I completely exhausted, but this was definitely not what I had imagined.

After that first frenzied night of mayhem, we took a break and got at it again another night, which is all the hard work you are seeing above :) It's a candy-land themed Christmas tree and I can't wait to start wrapping presents to put under there!

By the way, that poinsettia above?

Pretty much died last night in the snow.

Can you tell I'm a little on edge? 

*twitch* 

At least I only have 2 finals to go,

 then it'll be time for more Christmas catastrophes! 

If my peppermint treats turn out horribly I will have a snit fit.

Just sayin'

Adorable Christmas DIY Decorations

1. Burlap Stocking Tutorial

Here is a short list of the DIY Christmas decorations that I am dying to try!
{Of course they were all found on Pinterest, but I linked up the original sources}
These burlap stockings are adorable and it's an excuse to whip out my sewing machine :)

2. Glitter Spray Painted Sticks

I have a couple of vases that need filling with some Christmas cuteness.
I am planning on picking up some paper flowers from Hobby Lobby and then filling in the arrangement  with these glitter twigs!

3. Christmas Yard Lollipops

Put a PVC pipe in the bottom, wrap with cellophane, and line your walkway or driveway with these.

This is something I've been wanting to do for forever!
The theme I go for with my Christmas decorations is a Candyland feel.
Lots of candy, bright reds, pinks, and blues all throughout the house!

4. Advent Calendar

Such a simple & adorable countdown to Christmas!

I would put some candies and mini presents in those 'lil packages :)

5. Handmade Christmas Trees

Finally, these trees are to die for.
The base is made from a cereal box!
I guess I need to start buying and eating more cereal to make these...
If you have a link to any cute & cheap Christmas DIYs, leave it in the comments!

friday's letters

Dear Halloween,

I had so much fun decorating for you!

But now it's time to decorate for Thanksgiving.

Honestly, it's not as fun to decorate with turkeys as it is to decorate with spiders :)

Dear Illness,

Omg, I finally was able to somewhat sleep last night!

First time in a week.

Hurry up and go away so I can get back to real life.

Dear Snake,

You scared the holy crap out of the adults but the children loved you.

Seriously petting and hugging you.

This doesn't make sense!

Now you are stuffed in a corner because Ryan practically screeches everytime he sees you.

Dear Holiday Hours At the Mall,
You are looking brutal!
At least I'll be getting lotsa hours this season?

Dear Hair & Lack of Eyebrows,
Stop giving me grief, I'll get you taken care of next week!
This whole greasy hair and no eyebrows bit is getting old right quick.

Dear School,

I promise I'll get better, and go to class.

Ahhhh ONE MORE YEAR OF SCHOOL.

Ridiculous senior-itus going on here.

Wanna Get Closer to Your Hubby or BF?

Fix up the bathroom together.

Seriously!

Working together on little projects has proven to promote: conversation, your willingness to serve one another, and the overall quality of your relationship.

How cool is that? 

Ryan meandered Ross with me and picked out the shower curtain, let me pick out the soap dispenser & toothbrush holder, and we decided on the rug and towel racks together!

We deep cleaned everything, drilled in the new towel racks, and installed a new faucet for the sink.

All the while we talked about life, school, each other and just random things.

When life gets busy, it's easy to forget to slow down.

Fun conversation while working together definitely made the time go by faster, and made me feel so excited to see our finished product!

{It's so shiny!}

This was a cheap & easy fix-up that makes the bathroom a nice place to relax and take a bubble bath :)
Next, we are going to conquer the office, together!

Any new projects you and the man have been wanting to work on?
Have fun! 

<3 Bri

A Christmas Picture Book

This is what I call a 'Picture Book' post.

Lots of pretty pictures to look at with some quick story captions.

Have fun!

My parents love decorating...there's no mystery where I got that from!

They did a "The Grinch Stole Christmas" themed decor.

Everything bright green, red, with some crazy accents!

The Grinch-y stockings with fun ribbon everywhere!

This is our back patio, decked out in greenery, lights, and ornaments.

This is part of the front yard, another tree decked in ornaments!

I promise I'll take some pictures of everything lit up, it's magical :)

My mom cut out the wood, sanded it, and painted both the Window Santa and Hanging Snowman.

She is so dang talented and the most creative person I know!

This is my bestest friend Sterling Addison Randle.

He is serving an LDS mission in Roanake, Texas.

He got hit by a car earlier this week while on his bike. 

She nicked his back wheel which caused him to flip forward off his bike and he landed on his feet in the middle of the street.

Luckily he made it away safe and sound. The bike sadly did not.

Knowing him, the dork was probably upset someone didn't film it, and put it on youtube.

Grateful for all the many prayers and blessings that go out to the missionaries :)

A Christmas miracle!

I've now recruited my youngest brother Jesse into taking pictures of me.

I decided Evan and Ryan needed a good break.

I LOVE this motorcycle jacket. I got it from Styles for Less ages ago and it goes with absolutely everything. From dresses, to jeans, to dressy and casual. It was only 20 bucks too. SCORE.

Jacket: Styles for Less. Jeans: Forever 21. Scarf: Loft. Flats: H&M. Bracelet, Necklace: Fossil. Top: American Eagle.

I couldn't balance to save my life and actually almost fell off.

I need to start hitting up some more Zumba classes to get my balance back!

Not like I was that coordinated to begin with...but at least it motivates me to hit up the gym, right?

So I have a "Weird Things Wednesday" guest post lined up for tomorrow here!

Stay tuned!

Annnnddd on top of it...I'll be a braceface again tomorrow. An explanation post soon so come.

<3 Bri