Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts

Happy 4th of July


Happy four day weekend 4th of July!!!  I hope you have plans to BBQ, lay by the pool, eat watermelon, stay up way to late watching fireworks and dress in red white and blue.  

The 4th is by far my favorite holiday.  

{via}

If you need a few ideas of how to easily add some "holiday" into your decor or food check out our favorite 4th of July posts below.  


4th of July Layered Drinks


Mini Cookie Cups 


7-Layer Dip 



Happy 4th y'all.

-- Robyn 

{Free Valentine's Printable} "I can't Help Falling In Love With You"



Have you guys seen the #giveextragetextra commercial running on television lately?  Every time it comes on I have to pause whatever i'm doing and watch it.  eeeeeeeeverytime!

Let's watch it again shall we? 



You better believe I totally went out and bough a pack of Extra Gum after I saw this commercial.  And no, this is not a sponsored post.  Agh, I love it!

I think one reason I love this commercial so much is because it reminds me of "young love."  Words that come to mind when I watch this commercial are: innocence, love, time, laughter, dating, effort, respect, and space.  After you get married you become more comfortable with each other, which is good in a lot of aspects, but what happens to the "young love" you had for one another?  When you thought each other could do no wrong.  



My husband and I have been married for almost 5 years, which makes sense in some ways (we've gone to Graduate School, moved 8 times, bought a house and are pregnant with our 2nd child) but in other ways it has flown by. The further into marriage we get (we've got eternity baby!) the more I realize how much effort it takes to make thing work, because you know, reality sets in.   When was the last time the two of us packed a picnic or went on a date and laid back to watch the clouds float by? Sure we go on dates frequently, but we always end up talking about our daughter or work or the pregnancy...  lets get back to "young love" where we talk about our goals and aspirations.  Where we encourage each other's dreams and growth.  Because we are worth the effort.           

"I can't help falling in love with you." 



Falling in love isn't something that happens once, when you are courting your spouse. It is something that can continue to happen for years and years after you say "I do."   



I love the idea of this printable hanging in our home.  Up until now, I had always picture this song to be about the dating years, but really, my husband and I are still falling more and more in love every day.  In the aforementioned commercial, it shows how Sarah & Juan (yes I know their names) originally fell in love, but then the commercial stops right as they get engaged.  I am here to tell ya it only gets better after you say "I do," if you put in the effort.  

I  love this quote on marriage:

“Our Father knew exactly what He was doing when He created us. He made us enough alike to love each other but enough different that we would need to unite our strengths and stewardships to create a whole. Neither man nor woman is perfect or complete without the other. Thus, no marriage … is likely to reach its full potential until husbands and wives … work together in unity of purpose, respecting and relying upon each other’s strengths.” Sheri Dew

  I may not draw pictures on gum wrappers, save them for years and then frame them (although that is totally something my husband would do, he is so creative like that) but I can print out this quote, stick it in a frame and hang it on my wall to remind me that we are worth the effort.  

Cheers to defending our marriages and choosing each other!  


download the full resolution print here

How do you make time for and encourage your spouse? 


  

Cranberry Orange Spice Stove Top Potpourri DIY


I am a candle girl.  Whenever I am home, you better believe I will have a candle lit.  I love how it makes the house smell fresh and alive.  As the holidays come and go, I look forward to picking out a candle or two for the season.  My goal:  finish off the candle by the end of the holiday!   

I definitely have my "Christmas Candle" burning at my home around the clock these days and I love it (okay, not when no one's home, or when i'm sleeping, sheesh...).  As the week of Chrismtas approaches and guest start to fill my home for parties, I find myself wanting something more.  Something different.  A little more fancy.   

Insert: Holiday Potpourri!  

This quick fix smells amazing and I bet you have all the ingredients on hand.  



Cranberry Orange Spice Stove Top Potpourri DIY

Ingredients: 

1 cup fresh cranberries
1 orange sliced
2-3 cinnamon sticks (or 2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon)
2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary

Place all ingredients in small pot and fill about halfway full of water. Bring to a simmer and let the aroma begin! Do this about 30 minutes prior to having guests.



If you plan to store or give as a gift:

Place mixture in mason jars and seal. Refrigerate until use. Use within one week of placing in jars.

Happy Holidays! 

Cake-in-a Mug {Round-Up}

For those of you just tuning in, I live in Tokyo, where baking is not a common pastime for anyone other than a professional baker... which means there are literally NO OVENS in Japanese kitchens.  Can you even fathom that?  Thankfully, there are companies that rent mini convection/microwave ovens, mostly for foreigners like myself, who can't live without.  With that being the case, I've had to make some adjustments in my baking habits, resulting in the only logical side effect: multiple pin boards.

One of my boards is dedicated to single-serving recipes, to accommodate for the small size of the oven.  (Another is dedicated to dessert that bypass baking altogether, but that's another post for another day.)  While searching for single-serving recipes, I came across the concept of baking in a mug.  Not only is it brilliant, functional, and portion-controlled, it's adorable and totally customizable as a gift!

Here are a few of the favorite recipes and packaging that I've seen:

The 60 second chocolate chip cookie in a mug + a scoop of ice cream = the perfect instant pazookie
Another one minute treat: chocolate peanut butter cake.  Seriously?  Why have I not made this yet?
To be honest though... I'll take a brownie over a chocolate cake any day
The trendy salted caramel cake, of course.  Love this dichotomy in flavors.  Maybe there's a maple bacon recipe out there...
This one's for my brother: the Snickerdoodle fanatic
And mac n cheese!  Could this really possibly be the easiest toddler lunch ever?  (Slash comfort food for me)

Enjoy!

{DIY} Paper Christmas Lights Garland

Is anyone else in denial that Christmas is two weeks away from today?? I can't believe how fast the season has gone by - I don't want it to end! I only finished decorating my apartment this week!!

Every December, I try to make a  new DIY project to add to my apartment decorations. Last year, I made a Christmas tree out of washi tape. This year, I decided on a Paper Christmas Lights Garland.


Once I set my mind to it, it was actually fairly simple to put together. The first few lights took a little while to put together, but soon I was a paper-light-making machine! The tutorial I adapted this project from made this Christmas garland into an advent calendar. Very clever idea, but I was not interested in making 24 paper bulbs...

So I made 12 bulbs and simply used it as a festive garland. I am so happy with how it turned out! Don't get me wrong - the shape of each individual bulb is NOT perfect. But once you take a step back at look at it as a whole, you can't even tell. Don't get frustrated if you are a perfectionist like me!



Tutorial was adapted from The House that Lars Built. I was surprised that I had most of the supplies on hand too! I'm even tempted to take this garland to work to show it off to my coworkers...

"Great With Child"



*** Check out our partnership with Christmas.Mormon.org on the left side of our blog.  We are featuring a beautiful Christmas message this month.  Christmas never looked so good on our blog.  ***

Becoming a mother has brought a new dynamic to the Christmas season for me.  This is my second time being pregnant during the Christmas season and I often find my thoughts lingering on Mary a little more the usual.

Every year on Christmas Eve my husband’s extended family gathers in their Grandparents front room to read The Christmas Story from Luke 2.  Gathering in the front room is unique because we are only allowed in the front room on one day a year - the night Christ was born.  Smells of Christmas dinner are strong throughout the house while cousins gather at the feet of Papa.  Papa carefully and thoughtfully selects someone to read the Christmas story from the special edition Bible we can only touch on Christmas Eve. It is the highest honor you can get in the family to be asked to read the Christmas Story aloud to the family.

Two years ago (when I was pregnant with baby #1) Papa called on me because he said I reminded him of Mary that year.  I remember standing up and walking over to sit by Papa.  The phrase “great with child” had never felt more real than it had at that moment with every eye on me.  I picked up the 10-pound gold-leaf Bible and placed it on my lap and began reading.  As I read I couldn’t help but think of Mary and all the concerns she must have had at that time.

But did I deserve to be compared to Mary that night?  The comparison was profound to me. It would seem that I should have been filled for a moment with pride considering that my job carrying this unborn child was a high compliment. Yet, almost immediately, I felt a rushing wave of guilt.

I cowered from the comparison. How many times had I commented out loud, under my breath, to my spouse, or simply in my mind about the list of things that I had done to make this pregnancy successful? I wanted, for a small moment, for my husband to recognize and be grateful. It shouldn't seem wrong to desire my husband to be grateful; however, in that moment of clarity, I realized I was negatively dwelling on my feelings - wanting to invite him into my 'pity-party.'  

This compassion awoke in me a new concept: carrying the baby happily, not begrudgingly.  Sure, I was grateful to be pregnant, but was I acting like it? I realized in that moment that it was more important to me to have my spouse know how hard the pregnancy was on me, than for me to truly appreciate the pregnancy. 

But how would Christ handle the situation? Not for praise.  Not for recognition.  Not for a hug, or a foot massage or even a 'thank you.'


I should carry this unborn child happily because that's how He would. With a perfect love. 

All that Christ did - all that he stood for and accomplished - was for us, to help us set our eyes ultimately on Heavenly Father.  He always pointed the glory, honor, and praise back to His Father, never asking or accepting credit from anyone because it was never about Him.     

I don’t know a single person that honestly likes being pregnant.  Regardless, my job during this pregnancy (and always) is to point my actions to the Savior, who will then point them to The Father.  It isn’t about what I’ve done for anyone, it's about what heart I do it with. 

When I show my spouse or those around me who He is through my actions and my heart, then, and only then, can I consider myself to be like Mary being “great with child” who pointed her actions to Christ, who pointed His actions to Heavenly Father.         

This Christmas season let us try and not focus on how inconvenienced we are with the hustle and bustle of our never ending to-do list, but instead check-in with the intentions of our heart and make certain they are centered on Him.   
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)