Favorite Christmas Present

One of my favorite presents that I received for Christmas this year is my new monogrammed lunch box!

I know it sounds stupid, but last semester when I was student teaching, I had to bring my lunch in a plastic grocery bag — so this is a big improvement! I absolutely love it and can’t wait to use it everyday!

I came across this lunch box on Etsy at rougeandco.  They have lots of adorable prints, colors, and fonts to choose from! Would make a great gift for students or teachers you might know 🙂

Christmas Fun!

Well the last week has been filled with family, food, and fun! On Sunday we went to Indianapolis where both my mom’s sister and my dad’s parents live.  It is always very convenient on holidays because we are able to see both sides of the family.  On Sunday I was able to see both sets of grandparents, lots of aunts and uncles  and several cousins! 

top: my sister Kelly and her boyfriend Tyler & my brother Ryan and his girlfriend Jenny

bottom left: my aunt Sandy, grandma, & mom

bottom right: my cousin Adam, grandpa, and me

all of the kids with my other grandparents 

On Christmas Eve we went to 5:00 mass as a family at our church.  We then came home and ate a delicious meal and played our family’s favorite card game- Euchre! Afterwards we lit a fire, roasted s’mores, and watched Family Man! 🙂 

mom, dad, and me before heading to church!

and the fun begins…

Christmas Morning! Santa was very good to all of us 🙂 

Scott was also able to join us on Christmas Day. He is the best present of them all 🙂 

We had a lovely Christmas and now have New Orleans to look forward to for the University of Louisville bowl game! Scott and the team left today and I will be leaving Saturday with Scott’s family! GO CARDS! 

For the holidays you can’t beat home sweet home

Finals are finally over and I could not be more excited to be HOME! Christmas is my favorite time of year – especially now that I am in college since I get a month off from school and have plenty of time to relax and enjoy my friends and family 🙂 There is truly nothing better.

I have enjoyed sleeping in and have been busy finishing up my Christmas shopping. Last night my mother, sister and I had dinner together and then started to wrap some presents by the tree while enjoying a glass of wine. I have loved catching up with my amazing high school friends and of course spending time with Scott now that I am home. On Saturday we will celebrate my older brother and sister’s birthdays by going out to dinner! I couldn’t be happier during this wonderful time of year.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Even though I live the life of a college student, my roommates and I have tried our best to still create some Christmas spirit by decorating our hundred-year old house as cute as we can! It really does feel like the holiday season with the smells of cookie-scented candles and seeing the lights on our tree. Despite the colder temperatures and the realization that finals are slowly getting closer and closer, the Christmas season is giving me motivation and keeping me sane. Only two more weeks until a much needed one-month vacation from school!

Early Christmas Shopping!

So I was looking at Pinterest today (shocker) and decided to create a pinboard titled “My Christmas List.” After I had spent a good deal of time procrastinating from my homework and pinning several things to this board, I realized I needed to start thinking about what I was going to get everyone for Christmas.  That was when I came across this darling website called “Haymarket Designs.”  They have tons of adorable monogrammed products including cell phone cases, coasters, coozies, picture frames, plates…you get the idea. And all of their products have beautiful designs and patterns! While I was browsing this wonderful website I came across this little guy…

…It’s a wine tote! I had never even heard of such a thing before.  But since my mom is one of the biggest wine lovers I know, I instantly knew that this would be a PERFECT Christmas gift for her. I enjoyed customizing it- picking out the pattern, colors, and what it would say.  I decided to put “tis the season to drink wine” on it (I thought that was appropriate). To check out all of their amazing products, go to their website at: http://www.haymarketdesigns.com/