For the Love of Winter

What is Wrong With This Picture?

2012-01-29T08:15:00.000-08:00

You tell me...

It's JANUARY! Flowers are not supposed to bloom in January!

It's supposed to look like this in January!

Oh winter...how I miss thee!

My Sock Basket Runneth Over

2012-01-22T18:58:00.000-08:00

In our laundry room I have a basket. This basket is where all the single socks go. This basket is also out of my reach so I have to stand back, aim and hope the sock makes it into the basket.

Because the basket is out of my reach I admittedly don't match up the socks as often as I should. My husband saw socks poking out of the top of the basket and told me we should play a game called "Good Day Mate." I laughed it off and mumbled something about getting to it later in January.

A few days later both sets of our parents and his sister came in to town to celebrate Christmas and New Years with us. Our families arrived within 30 minutes of each other and after hugs and hellos we sat down to catch up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Michael standing in the doorway. With the basket. I looked at him and shook my head - horrified that his mother would find out that I did not match up her grandson's socks! He smiled and walked into the room and announced that we were going to play a game...all of us and the game was called "Good Day Mate." He proceed to explain that he was going to put the basket of socks in the middle of the floor and we were to start matching them. At the end the person with the most matches would win a prize.

Though they were laughing at him, the mothers and sister in law quickly jumped in and started matching the socks. The boys managed to disappear and the fathers sat off to the side watching us like we were nuts. Some of mine were the first to go. It's really easy to match up socks with patterns.

The more difficult ones were the 300 or 400 white men/boys socks and my plethora of solid black socks. Suddenly I heard calls of "do you have any black socks with gold a toe?" and "this sock has some kind of pattern on it but a narrow band at the top...do you have a match?" And to my shock and dismay and secret pleasure socks were being matched!

I looked over and saw that my dad had all these white socks laid out in front of him and my father in law, who claims to be a bit color blind, was helping him match up this pile of socks. My mother in law had started a pile of white socks with holes in them and was hiding them to prevent my husband and father in law from wanting to keep them for oil changes or something (don't get me wrong, I'm all about re-purposing, but my dear husband has BAGS of rags in the garage so I was absolutely fine with this slight of hand!)

When all was said and done we had matched up almost 150 pairs of socks. My mother asked if I just went out and bought new socks instead of matching the ones I had. I was a bit sheepish about it all and had no idea we had that many socks. I'm still not sure exactly what my mother in law thought of me, but it sure is nice to have a fabulous selection of socks again!

The finished product. Don't let the bag fool you. The bag is 3' tall and was at least 2' filled!

This Could Be Bad!

2012-01-21T16:01:00.000-08:00

I can't find the five disks that have all our wedding pictures on them. That's why there were no more pictures posted this week. I'm sure I put them somewhere very safe. Too safe!!!

Happy Anniversary!!!

2012-01-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

Two years ago today I married my wonderful husband. It has been a fabulous 24 months of creating our new family of four and putting our home together. There have been vacations and home improvements and learning and laughing and a lot of loving one another. I'm the happiest I've ever been. In honor of our wedding anniversary I'll be sharing some of my favorite wedding pictures this week.

Down Days

2012-01-08T16:41:00.000-08:00

There is something great about a down day. After getting ready for Christmas the entire month of December, today was just a day to kick back and relax.

I could not help but capture this great picture of the boys. They were sitting side by side laughing together as they looked at something on the computer.

Hope your Sunday was great!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I did it. I went an entire year without blogging at all! Hopefully 2012 will find blogging a regular part of my life.

Every January I choose a focus word for the year. This year my word is "Comfort." I have decided I want to concentrate on making our home comfortable, giving comfort to the family and friends in my life and bringing comfort to others outside of my circle.

So I have a word for the year and I've posted on my blog. 2012 is already off to a great start!

Snowman Envy

2010-02-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

I wanted it to snow. It snowed. I love snow. I wanted to make a snowman. And we did. Sort of. This little fella was given a place of honor on the roof of the car. Not quite the snowman I had in mind. I drive by and see all the large ornate snowmen and I wonder....is my little guy envious or is he just too busy trying to figure out why his arms are so long?

Return to the Office

2010-02-03T17:30:00.000-08:00

Alas I woke up yesterday to discover that I indeed DID NOT retire but merely went on a two week honeymoon. I pulled myself up by my snow boot straps and ventured to the car; nearly killing myself on a patch of ice. From my apartment this newly formed family of four went to a nearby grocery store to buy food rations to sustain us through the day - Lunchables for the boys and canned soup and peanut butter crackers for me. From the grocery store we drove to my soon to be new house (dear husbands current house) so that the boys could pick up their Nintendo DS games. From the house we proceeded to the daycare facility where we passed off the kids for what was sure to be a day of floor sitting and hand held game playing. From daycare we drove to my work where my new husband kindly helped me walk from the car to the office door, fearing a repeat of the cobblestone fall I took on my last day of work oh so many weeks ago. Once inside the office I was greeted by two co-workers. After a brief chat I turned on the light in my office to find:

1. One inflated beach ball

2. One fluorescent pink plastic sand sifter with yellow plastic shovel

3. One large wooden handled yellow plastic sand shovel leaning against my desk

4. One portable beach mat

5. One blue sand bucket with yellow shovel

6. One small Dixie cup with tropical fish motif, filled with sand and two paper drink umbrellas

7. One inflated "Palm Pool Valet" which looks somewhat like a swim ring but has drink holders and a palm tree coming out of the center

8. One boogie board

9. And, last but not least, my desk chair sitting in one red lady bug looking sand box, unfortunately not much sand included

Either my colleagues have a warped sense of humor or they were simply trying to give me a few more days of that island feeling. I'll let you know which one after I take off my snow boots and dip my toe in my Dixie cup of sand.

When Marshmallows Hurt

2010-02-01T01:08:00.000-08:00

My dear husband was truly a single dad since he and I lived apart during our engagement. He and his two boys have been living the life of bachelors for a couple of years now. Enter me. Female and a bit compulsive about organization. Don't get me wrong. My husband is a good dad. The dishes are washed, meals are on the table, laundry is done, sheets are clean, bathrooms are maintained - he really does a great job.

But then there is the pantry. The pantry drives me nuts. I like the soups to be lined up, the canned vegetables in a row separate from the canned fruit, etc. - I'm sure some of you get the picture! He on the other hand enjoys putting away groceries with the randomness that comes with just finding space for everything. It really does not bother him if pasta sauce ends up in the same row with the canned chicken. And, he loses track of how long something has been in the pantry so I really must check expiration dates.

Just before we were to be married I went over for dinner and I suggested to him that we clean out the pantry together. It quickly became apparent that a lot of food had expired. In his words "I sure bought a lot of food in 2008." But we were not deterred; onward we forged! When we got to the top of the pantry, he stood on a stool to reach the treasures he keeps on top - sweets, snacks, chips and other things that he enjoys.

I was sitting at the table and heard him say something and when I looked up I saw a bag of marshmallows being tossed at me. Let's face it, marshmallows are not dangerous if they land on your toe. They are soft and fairly light. Or, so I thought. These particular marshmallows, maybe circa early 2000, were like rocks. The bag hit my arm and yikes! I promptly yelled - "hey, marshmallows are not supposed to hurt!" This caused the boys to explode with laughter. My then fiance even eventually found the humor in the situation.
There is always a moral to every story and this one is no different. Remember, when marshmallows hurt it's time to clean out your pantry!

Wish me luck as we begin to merge our lives, stuff and pantry items this week!

What a Difference a Day Makes!

2010-01-30T11:36:00.000-08:00

The title of my blog "For the Love of Winter" should give some indication about how I feel about winter. That being said, it was REALLY hard to go from this yesterday...
to this today...

Our honeymoon was cut short a day early so we could get home prior to the snow storm. As hard as it was to leave the warm weather, heated pool and palm trees, it's just as fun to be curled up watching it snow.

We are quite happy that this did not occur two weeks ago today when we were married!

Time Marches On

2010-01-01T19:49:00.001-08:00

Can my last post really have been in September? That was LAST year for goodness sake! As sad as it is, it is the truth. The last post I made was in September...2009!

I'd love to say that I've been jet setting to far away places...

Or learning a new talent that occupied all of my time...

But both of those would have been false. In reality I have been doing a lot of this...

My fiance suffered a terrible and nearly life changing back injury in late September. After a lengthy operation and eight days in the hospital it was home to recover from his injury. This week, three months after his injury, he returned to work.

Fiance's injury and subsequent lengthy recovery coupled with planning one of these for January 2010:

has taken up almost all of my time these last three and a half months.

Today though, a new day dawned and so did a new year and the start of a new decade. What better day than today to restart my blog?! I hope those of you that stuck around will continue to visit...there are lots of fun things on the horizon!

The Great Pumpkin!

2009-09-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight there was a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on my front door. I just knew that it was UPS with my wedding shoes because they are due in any day now. I ran to the door and opened it but there was not a box on my doorstep. I look for the standard UPS post-it note on my door...nothing!

Then I saw it. It was round, brightly colored and perfect! It was sitting right there on the bench by my front door. My first piece of fall...a beautiful pumpkin! My sweet, sweet fiance - I love that man...and that pumpkin!

Does Size Really Matter?

2009-08-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

Size never really mattered to me. I do not need the biggest and best of anything. I'm perfectly happy with my living room TV. It has done well by me - always there when I needed a diversion from everyday life. Yes, me and my TV have been the best of friends. Meet my faithful friend!

I came home from work today expecting to see my fiance at my apartment. No fiance. I called him and our coversation went something like this:

Me: "Hi honey, where are you?"

Him: "Are you home? I thought you were working late."

Me: "There was a bad storm coming so I left a few minutes early. Where are you?"

Him: "I didn't think you were going to be home this early so I'm at the store."

Me: "The store? Grocery store?"

Him: "Uh, no, just a store. I'll be over in a few minutes."

So, I waited. And waited. Finally about an hour later he called me and asked if I wanted him to bring the TV to my place or take it to his. TV? I have a TV. What TV? Our new TV? Huh? I have since learned that my TV is not suitable for football watching or TV watching in general. So, we have a new TV that is going to live at my place until we marry in January.

Shortly after our phone call this came through my door and I was not prepared for its girth.

Next, my faithful friend was put in the floor and this had taken its place.

And then there was a little rewiring.

And a while of this while he figured out how to program it.

I don't handle change very well and quite frankly I feel sorry for my other TV. It's going to take a while to get used to this huge thing that now takes up one wall of my living room. But hey, at least he dusted the TV stand when he switched out TV's!

Estate Sale Find!

2009-08-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

My fiancee and I enjoy going to estate sales. Recently we ended up in a nearby city. Normally we would stay in our neck of the woods, but the ad in the paper intrigued us. Three story commercial building; former optometrist office turned residential. The paper advertised lots of collectibles, eye doctor "stuff" and various other treasures.

The building itself was nondescript and we almost missed it. The top level was open to the public, after climbing three flights of stairs, and it was chalked full of a variety of great things. We had fun looking at everything. In some ways it was as if time stood still as there were eye glass racks full of frames and sunglasses that easily dated back to the 1950's. And, people were buying them! There were cases full of glass lenses, various optical testing machines and very old eye glass cases among a lot of other things.

The middle level had been converted into a loft for the current owners (also the sellers of the stuff). The "front door" was glass on the top half and we peeked in on the way down the steps and saw that they had transformed the space into an amazing residential loft.

Back down on the ground level we went inside what perhaps may have been the original optometrist office. There was not a lot there that I was interested in. Then, as we were ready to leave, I saw a basket and in the basket were metal tags. I love metal tags and they were old and it was obvious to me they had come off the front of the wall of shelves they were sitting near. I grabbed them up and brought them home with me.

What would you do with these?

What would you do if you had all of these and it cost you less than $10?

Some of these still have the paper slip showing what item or item(s) were in the bin on the shelf. I see some Rustoleum in my near future, but that's olay - it will be worth it! Now, what to label first....

Wedding Save The Date Cards

2009-08-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

I had to learn the hard way. Air conditioning and a wax stick do not mix well. I'm working on our save the date cards for the wedding. I am making them myself and its taken a lot longer than I thought it would. Thank goodness the man I am to marry takes great pride and pays great attention to detail so the word spacing on the card is just perfect. And, he made me a template so I knew where to put the seal on every card.

Template made by my guy - line the the template against the top of the card and trace the circle around the center hole and use that as the wax guide!

So, back to the air conditioning. When doing the wax seal, you first light the wick and position the stick over desired wax location and wait for the wax to melt and drip. After much anticipation and preparation I started the process. The stick hovered over its target. Just waiting. Waiting for the wax to melt. Waiting for the pencil circle to be covered. Waiting for the special seal that would add my personal touch to the save the date card.

Then, the air conditioner turned on. First, the flame flickered. Then the flame flared. Then the flared flame caught the wax stick on fire. When the wax stick caught on fire, the wax melted. Fast. Very fast. And the breeze coming out of the overhead vent cause the wax to fly in different directions. Long silver strands of hot wax covered my work surface, my fingers and the card I was working on. No, wax and air conditioning do not mix. I learned that the hard way.

Pictures of the first batch of finished cards.

Close up of my wax seal - A snowflake in August. Winter where are you?

House Hunting

2009-08-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

Why do I love built in shelves so much? Is it because I have way too much stuff and built in shelves offer a way to display it all? Is it because of the carpentry skill that goes into one? I'm not sure what it is, but I love them.

Recently we've been house hunting but I've spent a lot of my time eyeing built in shelves instead inspecting fixtures and measuring cabinets. Some of my favorites include:

Don't you love the use of space under the stairs? And I am a fan of wainscoting, too!

A master closet that I could live in. Note the wonderful shelves on the right. Be still my heart!

Someday. Someday I will have a craft room. And I will have built in shelves. And in that big center space that is probably designed to hold a flat screen TV I will instead make racks for all my ribbon. And that will be my focal point of my craft room. Someday.

It's Fall!

2009-08-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

Well, technically it's not fall - yet. But, the Washington Redskins started training camp this past Thursday and that, for me, is the unofficial start of fall and it means that football season is almost upon us! I'm ready to do away with seashells and sand and pull out my fall wreath, fall pumpkins and Redskins flag!

As someone that LOVES winter with fall being a close second, the summer is just something to get through. The heat and the humidity make my hair fuzzy and my attitude grumpy. However the school supplies are starting to show up in the stores and the aisles of craft stores are beginning to burst forth with oranges, golds and reds. This can only mean one thing - summer is on its way out and fall is waiting patiently for its turn!

For now, though, it is still summer, at least that's what the calendar says. So, I'll just have to enjoy a picture from last year and wait for September 1st to arrive so I can officially decorate for fall and say goodbye summer!

The Beginning

2009-07-25T22:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my first blog entry! For The Love of Winter will allow me to share things going on in my life. Right now the biggest thing is my wedding planning! Just under six months to go until I marry the man who makes everything in my world better.

When I'm not working on my own wedding, I work as an event planner. I'm also a thrift store and estate sale goer, domestic wanna be, gift wrapping, ribbon collecting, bow making, crafter who longs for the day when I have a craft room I can spread out in and just create all the things that I have stuck in my head.

More importantly, I'm a pending step-mom who is having fun learning the ins and outs of life with two boys since until now I've been surrounded primarily by nieces and Goddaughters. I'm excited about being a part of the boy's lives and look forward to the journey ahead.

Thanks for joining me as I walk these new paths.