It is almost Christmas! I have really had a hard time getting my head around just how fast this year has gone bye! A year ago Christmas decor was the last thing on my mind. Colin and I were getting ready for our wedding. We spend the week prior to getting everything ready at the church, my mom was in from NC helping pack, moving all my things from Levelland to Sonora, and then back to Whiteface for the big day. Needless to say, because our wedding fell just two days after Christmas, our celebrations were cut short. This year however, we have all had time to enjoy the Christmas season. There was only one problem...We didn't have any decorations! None! If I had been using any of my brain last year, I would have bought everything I needed at the end of last year's season, but I didn't. So this year I had to think outside the box. Here is what I came up with.
This is on our front door. I ran around the station and found all the evergreen trees I could and snipped off a few branches here and there. I did this a few times before I got all that I needed. Colin and I did make a stop at Hobby Lobby where we picked up the ribbon and our Christmas cards.
I had found a bunch of old barn wood one day and before I even knew what I was going to do with it I had our truck loaded with all the wood I had found. We have one wall that had nothing on it, so the light went on and the idea for a shelf was born. We picked up two braces and "Ta-Da", our wall had some life! Gwyn gave me some of Colin's Christmas ornaments. The Reveille and the Grandaddy ornaments are shown here. I found a BUNCH of pine cones while trimming my neighbors trees and the candle lights were at the Dollar General for, you guessed it, a dollar each. The picture on the shelf is of our wedding rings on a cake from our wedding. (Thanks Danielle Pape for taking such awesome pictures!)
Some more of my tree trimmings and a few of our wedding pillar candles. Added some mistletoe, pine cones, bur oak acorns, ribbon, and our coffee table has some Christmas spirit!
Ahh...The tree. Or as my loving sister said, "Nice stick!". I could have used a cedar tree, but due to the fact that Colin is allergic to them and has a personal vendetta against them, I thought better of it. So I used the next best thing. A dead mesquite! Maybe next year we will have a real tree...
Here is my "Max" (the dog from the Grinch). He looks about as thrilled to be wearing his antlers as Max did in the movie.
Colin and I hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Mereta this year. Normally we spend Thanksgiving in Water Valley with my dad's side of the family. It has been a long standing tradition that we load up and head to the ranch in Water Valley every Thanksgiving. When I was a kid all the guys would go out way early in the morning and hunt until lunch and then go out again that evening. In between hunts we'd eat and watch the Cowboys. It was on this ranch years ago that I shot my first deer. My dad and his brothers grew up hunting on this same ranch with their dad. There are a lot of good Thanksgiving memories and some pretty good stories that have come from our Thanksgivings together at the ranch. 
My dad's mom was the oldest living member of that side of the family and she seemed to hold everyone and thing together. So as long as she was living we followed tradition and went to the ranch. However, my grandmother (Dad's mom) died a few months ago. All of her kids have kids and grand kids of their own now. They, like us, like to spend the holidays with their children and grandchildren. So this year we decided to start our own tradition and have Thanksgiving at my parents home in Mereta. My grandmother on my mom's side came over, my brother came in from College Station, my sister and her husband and daughter came in from Granbury, and Ronnie and I came up from Sonora. It was nice to spend the day at "home" with just my immediate family, eating, watching the Aggies play, playing football, watching Lily (my niece) ride a horse for the first time, enjoying being home with my family, and being thankful for all the blessings we have received and continue to receive.
This is on our front door. I ran around the station and found all the evergreen trees I could and snipped off a few branches here and there. I did this a few times before I got all that I needed. Colin and I did make a stop at Hobby Lobby where we picked up the ribbon and our Christmas cards.
I had found a bunch of old barn wood one day and before I even knew what I was going to do with it I had our truck loaded with all the wood I had found. We have one wall that had nothing on it, so the light went on and the idea for a shelf was born. We picked up two braces and "Ta-Da", our wall had some life! Gwyn gave me some of Colin's Christmas ornaments. The Reveille and the Grandaddy ornaments are shown here. I found a BUNCH of pine cones while trimming my neighbors trees and the candle lights were at the Dollar General for, you guessed it, a dollar each. The picture on the shelf is of our wedding rings on a cake from our wedding. (Thanks Danielle Pape for taking such awesome pictures!)
Some more of my tree trimmings and a few of our wedding pillar candles. Added some mistletoe, pine cones, bur oak acorns, ribbon, and our coffee table has some Christmas spirit!
Ahh...The tree. Or as my loving sister said, "Nice stick!". I could have used a cedar tree, but due to the fact that Colin is allergic to them and has a personal vendetta against them, I thought better of it. So I used the next best thing. A dead mesquite! Maybe next year we will have a real tree...
Here is my "Max" (the dog from the Grinch). He looks about as thrilled to be wearing his antlers as Max did in the movie. 
