Post-Thanksgiving...

Post-Thanksgiving to Holiday Rush!?!!

Aaahh - we go from a relaxing Thanksgiving weekend filled with family and fun and sleeping in WAY too late... to the immediate RUSH of the holidays?! Yikes?! I hate this part of Christmas?! Honestly, I try so hard to not get caught up in it all?! This year I completely slacked on buying gifts early though - so I have nothing bought ahead of time?! I am going out to get a few things and hopefully will be able to get the bulk of it today... my deadline still remains Dec 10th! I will be done with shopping, wrapping, writing, and mailing all things related to Christmas and I will be able to sit back and actually do the FUN parts and enjoy the season! That is my goal anyway!? I have been able to meet it each year for the last 8 or so years... trust me, this makes a WORLD of difference! I encourage you to set a goal/deadline yourself! Once you do - you won't go back to the last minute stress of it all!

I have no photo's to share... I was so bad this year?! I didn't take ANY pictures on Thanksgiving... so mad at myself?! I even had the camera - but I just never got it out and took any pictures?! (Even after losing Kevin and having that realization?! Something is WRONG with me?!) It was a bit stressful this year - well - not really... but the atmosphere was charged with nervous energy! We had family members that we have never had join us and due to some family history it could have been very - well... it could have been bad - and praise God - it wasn't! The NEXT day I thought of the camera... brought it out and yet again, failed to snap any photo's?! The ONLY picture I got from the entire weekend was of my daughter... it had nothing to do with Thanksgiving... although she was, in the end, thankful that I was able to remove the entire hand rail so she could get her arm unstuck!? Yeah... good times! Oh, did I mention that she is TWELVE?! LOL?! (Poor thing... I laughed so hard at her I had to take a potty break!)

Anyway - overall, we had a great Thanksgiving! It was wonderful to have the whole family together - laughing, visiting, playing games, watching movies, eating, drinking, being merry! You know - the whole deal!

This week... well - Dave plays at Apple Tree tonight... we are praying that it will open doors for him to perform there in the future! (This is a private party!) I have a meeting with a new client tomorrow. I had been praying for a new client before Christmas to help with our budget... we'll see how much it will help after my meeting! I need to finish up with my cards, work on a letter, and get out all the decorations and decorate this weekend! I LOVE Christmas... I love it even more when I am not stressed out and over scheduled!!! I love that Hanukkah comes first and that helps us to really reflect on Jesus... to light the lights and recite the blessings and scriptures that Jesus Himself did as a child! That is my favorite part! As much as we enjoy Christmas and all the festivities... Jesus really didn't celebrate His birthday like we do... but, what He DID do was Hanukkah... lighting the lights, saying the blessings... it is a very powerful moment when we read the Old Testament scriptures used and we can see that they point to Christ. And we know that more than likely, He saw that too!

Anyway - I am off to shop... a friend of mine just had a baby girl too - so I am going to meet her and hold her (and say hi to her Mom too, of course!) I have been working on some little triangle box/ornaments too - I will take some pictures of those and post them soon... along with a few other card samples! (I am done with the Slide cards... only did about half my list with those - they are cool but I am wanting to actually finish up quickly!)

Until next time,
Scrap Happy!
~Karrilee~

Elf Yourself

Oh yeah... OK - I stumbled upon this little gem of a site
a couple of days ago (thanks to Ruthie) and I have to say...
I was ATTEMPTING to hold it back from you all
until AFTER Thanksgiving!
You know - I LOVE Thanksgiving...
it is my favorite holiday...
and I always hate how it just gets skipped over
and we rush into Christmas...
so I felt it would be a bit - I don't know
- unethical for me to do the same thing that I loathe...
however, this just CRACKS me up!
I mean, honestly
- each and every time I see it...
or even just THINK about it?!
It is priceless!


And, well, since you ASKED for an update Darcie...
you deserve all the soreness from laughing
and working out those recovering muscles and organs!
I thought I could just add it here...
but of course, I can't get it to work...
so you'll have to click the link below!
(I KNOW Na, if I would PAY...
it would probably work?!)

Enjoy! And then go Elf Yourself... don't forget to SHARE though!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9549883487

~Karrilee~

Recent Layouts... and prayers answered!

Hey there...

Well - I was able to complete two layouts at my Thursday

night Crop and sort of pre-plan another two...

which meant that once I came home,

I had to set up so I could scrap on Friday as well!

So - yes - it is true... once again,

I am all caught up!

You saw the photo's last week...

here they are in their layouts!

LOVED this paper when I found it! So yummy! and I just got those Heidi Swapp foam diamond/argyle stamps! Too fun!

One of our new Scrapbook stores is selling Creative Cafe stuff... OMGoodness - I love it all!!!?

I am sure I will take some photo's this weekend

when the whole family is gathered together!

We'll be missing our newest edition, Brandon,

as he is serving in Iraq.

His first holiday as a married man,

and yet so far away from his bride,

and his home!

We are so thankful that there are people

like him who are willing to serve.

The blessing is that the newlyweds

are able to 'talk' online

nearly every day!

It is so not like it was back in the day!

Today is grocery shopping day...

I SHOULD have gone as soon as I dropped

off Kaye to school when it is still relatively quiet...

but no... we woke up to snow this morning

and I was just too cold and not caffeinated yet!

Trust me, I did everyone a favor! LOL!?

I am enjoying a gingerbread latte

and slowly warming up and waking up...

I will head out soon!

We are thanking God for answered prayers...

Most importantly this week we are thanking Him

that our beloved Chuck

is home and recovering from

an unexpected emergency surgery...

amazing how God can truly work

ALL things together for good!

We love you Darcie

and we are praying for you,

for Dan and the girls...

I am sure this Thanksgiving

will give you just a little more

to be thankful for!

Let us know if we can do anything!

I am off now to lurk around a few other blogs,

hit the grocery store,

and to cut up some unassembled cards

for the RAK I gave away!

(Karen.... e-mail me so I know

where to send your prize!)

I still need to finish up some other

(easier/quicker) cards to be ready

to send out in a week or two

- not to mention writing out our Christmas Letter...

(yes, I DO do one of those!)

Blessings,

~Karrilee~

OK... I have stepped away from the Christmas Cards Chuck!

LOL?!

How did you know?! I suppose I mentioned that was what I was going to work on last time, huh!? Well - I think I finished about 22 Christmas slide Cards... yeah?! Um - it took me less time to do that last order of 100 cards!? LOL!? So - I think I am pretty much done with the slide cards and will choose an easier version for the REST of my Christmas card list. As I was assembling the Slide portion, I found myself really wanting to edit my list... it seems each year it gets a bit smaller than the year before?! Maybe I am just lazy... or maybe it really, sadly, IS becoming a lost tradition!? Do you all make or send Christmas cards!? How many do the 'family letter'? C'mon!? Fess up! (Let me know if you make cards, or send cards, and how many you send... at the end of the week I will draw a name and send you a little RAK!)

Oh... I was taking pictures of my Christmas cards (surprise, surprise) to post here... and I realized that I am pretty sure that SOMEHOW I did not blog about my lovely Anniversary gift!? How could this be?! So, I snapped away...

Yep - that is right! 15 years of wedded bliss scored me this:

But... it's not JUST the Monk Bobblehead doll... the dh knew enough to include a little jewelry... a little bling bling, if you will:

No joke!???!

I said, "Honey - 15 years... that is MINK not Monk?" In all honesty, we do not trade gifts on our Anniversaries, or even really at Christmas time either?! Usually just our birthdays. For our Anniversary, we normally go out to dinner, and then find a way to get a weekend out of town as well. That is our gift to each other... the gift of TIME... we like it that way! As far as Christmas goes, we do fill each others' stockings. Let me say, this tradition was a bit bumpy in the beginning... he was raised with fruit and nuts and socks in his stocking... while I was raised with lipsmackers, and perfume, and money!?!? Um - yeah... that first year or two I was pretty unimpressed with the whole orange-in-the-toe deal?! I don't even like oranges?! LOL!? Anyway - we do a Family/House gift and then the stockings for each other. This is not so hard for me, because ...well, (1) I cram GOOD gifts in the stockings, and (2) his birthday is the very next day! So - I still get to shop for him... Anyway - that is his disclaimer... we normally don't buy any GIFTS for anniversaries!?!! None!

So... most of you already know, our Anniversary this year was not celebrated... we were still in shock and grieving the sudden and senseless loss of our good friend Kevin. So - to have Dave pull out a gift... I was caught off guard... Now, keep in mind, he had to Order this... not only THAT, but he had to order it ONLINE! Now, if you knew my Honey - you would know what an act of love this was! LOL! It was meant to be a joke... we do love Monk and watch it together and so it was just supposed to be funny... but, as you can imagine, due to other circumstances, it just didn't go over as well as he had hoped! When I unwrapped it, I was thinking it was a real gift due to the fact that we had to cancel our trip... so I was not laughing so much in the beginning! However, Mr. Monk is now a part of our decor and, in case you can't really tell from the picture, the Bling Bling is a Bobblehead too! Oh, yes it is!!!

Well - he DID redeem himself... in that we DID eventually get to go away for our weekend... he made reservations at the first hotel we stayed in for our very first Anniversary and made reservations at our favorite restaurant too! PLUS... he bought me these items too:

...which I LOVE!!!

OK... now, on to those Christmas cards... here are some of them:

I am excited to work on a few regular layouts featuring our time in Leavenworth, as well as our game night with Chuck and the gang! My Scrap group meets this Thursday and I actually have my own stuff to work on! Yay!

Hope you are all well! Don't forget to fill me in on the whole Christmas Card list... (I am trying to convince my dh that I am not the only one!?!) LOL!

Scrap Happy!
~Karrilee~

Fun Fall Foto's (what?!!!!??)

I love Fall... if you know me at all...

or have read my blog

with any consistency,

you already know this!

It comes as no surprise, I know!

The title?! Yeah - well

- I've gone to church

long enough to know that you can

change the spelling of certain words

to get the right message

(aka the right acronym!)

Anyway - I am pleased to report

that Dave & I did

in fact get to leave town

last Friday & get a little break!

(I felt like Bob, in

What About Bob...

like we had a prescription to

take a vacation from

our problems! LOL!)

It truly was an awesome get-away...

the colors (as you will see)

were gorgeous!

The weather perfect...

the town still as charming

& quaint as always...

the Tiramisu Gelato divine...

the Chicken Jerusalem

still melts in your mouth...

the Jazz Music was relaxing...

the Fresh Air (& Shopping!)

did us good...

&, of course, the famous

Gingerbread Factory

"White Choc Ginger Oatmeal"

cookies were INCREDIBLE!?!!?

YUM!

We actually had our friends the Beeler's

over for coffee Friday morning...

Well - by morning, WE meant like 9ish...

but, as most of you know,

'morning' to Chuck is something totally different?!

Of course, it didn't help that they were leaving

our house to go visit Grandma

- so everyone had to be 'presentable'!

Anyway - we had a great visit with them

& eventually (around 12:30 I think!?)

headed out of town!

We took Kaye to our sisters' house

& happily drove out of the city limits!

Don't get me wrong - we actually love our town...

but with all that has happened in the past few weeks

- we NEEDED a change of scenery!

Dave had made reservations at the same hotel

we celebrated our FIRST wedding Anniversary at

...that was sweet!

He also made reservations for dinner

at our favorite restaurant too...

requesting a table close to the Jazz Trio

that is always playing there on Friday nights!

Nice!

Anyway - we walked around town,

&d we walked along the riverfront park,

& we relaxed at the hotel,

we laughed & talked

& just really enjoyed being together.

We had lots of moments that really felt like

we were celebrating,

& a few that reminded us that something

- someone - was missing - even miles away!

Over all we came home incredibly thankful

that God has blessed our marriage

& that we are best friends...

a good reminder that even

before Kevin's death

- that was the truth!

& after it, it is even more so!

We came back to town on Saturday afternoon, unpacked, & headed out to meet up with more friends. Pretty much the core of our old Home Group... TONS of laughing while playing some stupid game that is completely subject to the judge - and so there is really no rules at all!? LOL!? It's not that I am a sore loser.. honest, it's not... I got mad when the 'judge' wouldn't pick an obvious answer even if it wasn't mine... which - c'mon - with the cards I had - rarely was it mine anyway?! I did win one of the three rounds we played... Apples to Apples... Dust to dust I say! LOL!? And still - I wouldn't trade the laughter for anything... not even a Jelly cabinet! (That one's for you, Chuck!) That, and the now classic (if I do say so myself) Festering Wounds = Local Police TRUMP card! That's right... I said it! If only I would have held on to that Trailer Park card too... what was I thinking wasting that one on someone BESIDES Darcie?!

Anyway - tonight, Dave is at Kevin's. He is picking up some books and other things that are ours... he is playing pool with Kevin's Dad... he is finding another piece of closure and another wound yet unhealed... but, the fog is lifting!

Praise God... the fog is lifting!

Scrap On!
~Karrilee~

Fall Food Layouts...

OK, ok... yes Chuck - I WILL update soon...

my 'coolest friend' did in fact

come to town last weekend

& once again nearly caused me

to pee my pants laughing!?

Aaah - good times... good times!

But - for now, I will just post these

digi lo's featuring some of the food

I made for Bunko last week!

I will give a 'real' update soon

- with words and everything...

(but Chuck has all the photo's... )

Crap!? WHEN will I learn, people?!

Anyway - because I was just

playing around this morning

(because I am all caught up!?)

and because we have

1/2 days ALL WEEK long...???

it is already time for me

to go get my kid

- this is all ya get for now!

Scrap Happy!

~Karri~