thursday's ten or so: the holiday edition

since i'm still kind of in a holiday coma (and more to come since we haven't celebrated with my family yet!) i thought it would be fun to share a few holiday memories from this year. please feel free to respond in the comments or write your own post with these memories and more!

most awkward moment
a toss up between playing a dirty santa game that half the room wasn't into and when we all had to be silent while an aunt read the weather report from...louisville?

most satisfying receipt of a gift (for me)
anthony's reaction when he realized that i had bought him the complete collection of calvin and hobbes. 

most satisfying receipt of a gift (for us)
we made anthony's mom cry. twice in a row :-) first for a cashmere scarf and second for a family photo from our wedding we had printed and framed for his parents

most surprising gift (for me)
anthony got me a new tv!

most surprising gift (for us)
anthony's aunt bought us the sound of music on bluray, which was on our list. only she got us a limited edition collector's set. it's pretty amazing...and TOTALLY above what we would have ever expected!

most gobbled part of the main meal?
we had prime rib and sides...not surprisingly the prime rib was number one on the "like" list (at least at our table). however, the twice baked garlic potatoes were pretty freaking awesome too!


most fun stocking surprise?
for me? pretty sure it was the OPI bondettes mini set anthony stuffed in there. for him? i think it's a toss-up between the ninja-bread cookie cutters and the om-nom (character from cut the rope) plush. he might tell you differently though ;-)

most pleasant surprise?
that instead of everyone ripping into their gifts at once there were several of us who watched for the reactions of everyone else...that made it last slightly longer, but certainly made it more fun.

most fun new tradition?
we added to an old tradition (that of everyone gathering to watch a christmas movie for 3 or 4 nights) but offering to bring dinner one of the nights. tomato basil soup and grilled cheese is now officially "the" meal for the viewing of white christmas :-)

so. how were your festivities?

it's a great day to put up my saturday post a day late!

so, we celebrated my birthday and anthony's awesome new job at the pub friday night with friends & family

slept in on saturday morning, then went to see one of the youth group kids in a play

and then anthony told me that he wanted to take me shopping for my birthday

he knew what he wanted to buy me, but knew that i would want input.

he wanted to buy me a north face jacket (which i've wanted for YEARS but haven't justified the money spent)

so we went to a couple of stores, and ended up finding a triclimate jacket on *clearance* for a hundred dollars off normal price...and a light hoodie on clearance as well.

i ended up walking out of the store with two jackets -- and a pair of reef flip flops that ALSO happened to be on clearance, all for well under the amount he had budgeted and set aside for the original jacket.  

i'm spoiled, blessed and happy :-)  

today is church, lawn mowing, and once upon a time/gcb with natasha.
i'm kind of not wanting this weekend to end!


happy sunday, all!

what i'm loving wednesday 12.21

i'm loving the changes on the horizon (and already happening) on the job front for both A and i.  we're both transitioning into new roles and figuring out what it all means...amazing to think that 6 months ago neither of us knew these jobs existed.

i'm loving this amazing lotion i found at whole foods body.  i had this inexplicable rash that started a few days before my wedding and is located around my left collarbone.  after being miserable itchy for a few weeks, i bought this $10 natural lotion and it cleared completely in a week's time.  since then, another patch has materialized, but it's disappearing thanks to the lotion as well.  yay for yummy smelling goodness.

i'm loving random texts from friends, impromptu lunch/dinner/coffee dates, or hikes with cell group girls.  so thankful for the quality people God has surrounded me with!


i'm loving the cuteness i get to enjoy on tuesdays and thursdays.  i often say my two jobs afford me the best of both worlds, and i stand by that.  soon enough, this season will end so i am determined to enjoy it for what it is.  :-)

i'm loving that emi loves this time of year :0).  here she is laying on her favorite (tissue paper) in front of the tree (which she loves to nibble on periodically) while we watched hockey (one of my favorites).

i'm loving that gift shopping is DONE (except for the mailed gifts to family and some friend gifts...but those aren't going to be given ON christmas).

i'm loving that the budget was stuck to, and that we went WAY under for nearly everyone.  Woo-hoo!

i'm loving the prospect of a few days off...and that my husband has one of those days off with me.  suh-weet.

i'm loving that this is our first christmas together...such amazing blessings we've been given, not the least of which happen to be each other :-)

i'm just loving this time of year.  as much as i can't wait for christmas, i'm going to be bummed when this precious season is over.

hey, it's ok (tuesday) 12.20

hey, it's ok


...to have both discovered and watched the entire season (so far) of "once upon a time" in 2 days time
...to be very excited about the maggiano's gift card the family i nanny for gave us for christmas.  yaaaay date night and warm italian food in the middle of winter :-)
...to bring my hair straightener to work with me when i nanny so i can at least leave looking more normal/less scary
...to realize when reading everyone's christmas cookie blogs that i still haven't made any peppermint bark this year.  gotta get on that!
...to watch baby g VERY closely when she gets near the christmas tree
...to still have a few gifts left to buy, but only because we stretched them among several paychecks so we could still, you know, eat.  ;-)  all will be done by friday except for the ones we're mailing to some of my family members which will just be late. (and that's ok too).
...to be just as excited about wrapping all the gifts as buying them.  it's one of my absolute favorite parts of this season!
...to have pretty much single-handedly polished off the pasta salad my parents had this weekend.  it's nothing special--it's from a box.  but i.love.it.
...to sometimes put aside your crunchy, organic preferring nature to enjoy some good food from a box.  sometimes.  :-)


visit amber's blog--she's awesome!

it's a great day to celebrate Christmas #1

today we are in indiana
staying with my parents
and celebrating Christmas with them


in a few minutes we'll unwrap gifts
and hang around chatting for awhile


this evening we're headed to evansville
to have dinner and exchange gifts with our friends brian and angie
(these great people)

so happy to be here
enjoying "comfort food"
and our first official overnight trip as a married couple 
:-)


have a great weekend everyone!

hey, it's ok (tuesday) 12.13

hey, it's ok


...to eat a meal that resembles a 2 year olds for lunch. because, hello, i'm eating with a not-even-2 year old
...to have absolutely no idea what to get your father for Christmas...every.single.year.
...to not think it's cute when every status/tweet a 'friend' posts is negative and sarcastic and cuts others down.  not attractive for a 35 year old, sorry to tell you. (off to hit the "unfollow" button directly after posting this...)
...to be oh-so-honored that people took time out of their busy holiday schedules to come to our open house last saturday.  it's something i've done every year (except last year...but you all know that story) -- opened up my home on a saturday afternoon and enjoyed everyone's company.  we cooked and cleaned for the latter part of last week, but it was SO.WORTH.IT.  so grateful that God has placed us in this place...with these people...to share His story
...to forget that my new phone has the option to close apps...and so to have approximately 3000 running until i start wondering why the battery is going down so quickly!
...to never know quite what to say when a friend suffers a loss or is going through a hard time :-(
...to love the charlie brown tree my employers got this year.  i'm looking at it right now and it's precious.


visit amber's blog and link up with your own list!

thursday's ten: the oops, i forgot editio

well, the time change happened, much to my dismay.

i have been a little off-kilter since sunday. we will blame it on the time change at least ;-)

so at approximately 8.29 am, i realized that i forgot to write today's thursdays ten.

oops.

so today is easy :-) please join me and catch me up on your lives! today is ten things that are going on for you right now, ten things you've done this week, or ten upcoming things that you're excited about :-)

i am choosing the first topic: ten things about my life at this moment. in complete and total randomness!



(1) we have been married over a month! in some ways that doesn't seem possible...but in other ways i think i feel more "right" than i ever have in my life. :-)
(2) we are finishing up this week cleaning out grandpas house (where i lived the months between foreclosure and marriage). there's really not that much left to do, which is why we've been putting it off. ha!
(3) i got back from the honeymoon to find out that the office i had been working 10 hours/week in was asking me to work more hours. this was a huge blessing and gift from God...fulfilling my hearts desire. i now have 24 in-office hours and 5 at home hours per week. yep, my hours tripled!
(4) if i haven't mentioned what i actually DO there, the basic rundown is that it's a non-profit online university that literally gives away (to international students and prisoners in the US) a religious studies degree to those who wouldnt ordinarily be able to afford it. i work in student services/registrar most of those hours, but i also get the privilege of grading prisoners work.
(much more about that in another post!)
(5) i hate colder weather, but i do so love dressing in layers and wearing cute scarves and boots. i guess that keeps me sane this time of year?
(6) if i never have to hear the handy manny toolbox toy that baby g plays with again i will be so happy.
(7) next weeks list will be ten things from pinterest i have actually completed! i would LOVE to see lists from those of you who are similarly addicted... :-)
(8) i love children's books and definitely want to get a couple for the kids i nanny for as part of their christmas. do you have any recommendations? (they are 3 and 1)
(9) we have found a church that we LOVE. it's nearly an hour from our house. i have lots of time to apply my makeup and clip each weeks coupons though...
(10) about a month ago, i told A that i was taking him on an "adventure" this saturday--a one day trip out of state. he finally decided this past sunday night that he wanted to know what it was. so we played a (very long) guessing game until he got it. he's really excited about it, and i can't wait to share with you what it is! it's small...but it's one of those little things i can do for him that'll make him happy :-)

(look for a post on it saturday...and i will post pictures next week)

that's not all that's going on, but it covers some serious ground! what about you??

3 in 30: the october edition

that's right, i'm starting back up again :-)  on this first day of october with not *that* much goin gon in my life...ha!

http://3in30.ashleypichea.com/

so here are my 3 goals for the next 30 days

1.  get the house i used to live in (anthony's grandpa's) completely cleared of all my junk.
(there's a fantastic hammock, a few random boxes, some trash...we're working on it an hour at a time, basically)
2.  (gulp) file my taxes since they're due right at the end of the honeymoon...
3.  find a home for every wedding present in a cabinet, display, etc...and give away all items they "replace"

that should definitely keep me busy for the next 30 days, considering there's a wedding and honeymoon in there too!

hey, it's ok (tuesday)

hey, it's ok

...to really not like yogurt. like, at all.
...to sometimes wish that all the batteries would disappear out of the noisy and annoying toys
...to reaaaaallllly be ready for the new iPhone to be released already.
...to totally lay down on the couch and take the shortest catnap* ever while the baby is strapped in her chair eating breakfast. it was an early morning and it's the only time she's contained! ha.
...to be excited about the gifts for my bridesmaids. i'd get detailed, but a few of them read this blog...
...to have found it a total blessing that the second family i was working for switched childcare options on me. it has made my mwf schedule completely flex, and i can now babysit those days as well as working in the office. frankly, i'd rather work for clients i know and adore than the people who "broke up" with me via a text message!
...to be really looking forward to my lingerie shower/bachelorette party this friday. mainly because it means most of my best girlfriends will be in the same place as me for several hours! the other stuff is just gravy :-)
...to have hung out in the room with all the guys instead of the girls this past sunday afternoon. hey, football was on. just because my trams both lost doesn't mean i don't watch!
...to still be getting used to the new look for blogger dashboard.  but i like it?
...to be ready for naptime. for baby g. and who am i kidding...for me too :-)

*by "catnap" i mean i laid on the couch with one eye kind of closed and relaxed for 10 minutes while she ate the healthy and nutritious breakfast i'd made for her.  i just needed to rest! :-)


go here and see the original "hey, it's ok!" (and to read some pretty awesome other posts...)

hey, it's ok (tuesday) .12

 hey, it's ok

...to eat doritos with your low-fat cottage cheese.  it's balanced, right?

...to sometimes watch silly tv shows

...to love wrapping paper and wrapping gifts in a nearly unhealthy way :-)

...to consider trading free babysitting for my clients with elipticals.  i used one of them the other day and it was a fantastic workout!

...to really, really, really be tired of the rain.

...to be thrilled that not only do you have a summer job lined up but that when the mother called to tell you she used the words "we are so happy and excited that we've found the perfect person for our family!"

...to be over-run with laundry.  all of it clean, none of it in it's proper home.  yikes!

...to be a hockey fan even if your knowledge of the game is a bit sketchy.  but hey, the fights are kinda fun.  (go preds!)

...to get excited about goodwill shopping.  no reason to spend big money on a wardrobe as i'm moving between sizes and losing the weight.  and finding actual quality pieces there makes me even more excited.

Monday's Memory: the one with the white elephant exchange

once upon a time, in that wonderful small group i was in

(before things came to light that eventually caused our necessary disbanding)

we gathered for a Christmas party, complete with a white elephant gift exchange

all of us aimed for goofy gifts.

and they were all fantastically silly

but i will never forget that when i opened the gift i had selected from the pile

(right before the laughter broke out)

my friend michael (his son is the one i now nanny for)

said calmly and dryly

"well, you can be assured that no one will want to steal THAT one."

(here's about the point where he said it, actually.  i had no idea i had photos of that moment!)

 yeah...if you can't tell, i'm holding two identical plastic bags

both of which contained a fish

the look on my face kind of says it all.

(i told the group that if they stayed at my house they would be named "cat" and "food".  thankfully i taught across the hall from a teacher who had a fish tank in her classroom...so they became extra Christmas gifts for her!)

what's the funniest gift YOU have ever received?

Thursday's Ten: the last moment gift edition

i thought we'd do holidays for the month of december...so i'm going to go ahead and tell you the next 2 weeks' topics.

next thursday: your favorite (family or personal) traditions for the holidays

the following: funny christmas -- in photos, stories, etc. i love the meaning of this season, but sometimes it is lovely to just enjoy the humor that can ensue when you get family together, etc.

but today...

today we'll do gift ideas

here are the ten things i thought of while sitting on my couch today ;)  i'm sure there are better ideas out there, and i'm hoping YOU have them!  so play along, please?

1. gift cards with purpose. starbucks has the red program for example.  if you're getting someone (or me!) a gift card from starbucks, could you make it a red card?  it won't cost you or the user anything extra, but it will ensure donations are made to help out with AIDS treatment in africa.  bonus?  those cards are reloadable.  you bettter believe i'll be reloading the free one i got when i took advantage of the buy a pound of coffee get a $5 gift card deal...

2.  from the heart ideas.  yeah, you could be branded as "cheap".  but do you really care?  i make jewelry for some, and for most everyone on my list this year i'll be including some of my peppermint bark.  hey look -- you can too because i've given you the recipe :)

3.  date nights.  do you have a couple friend that you hang out with?  give them a gift that the 4 of you enjoy and can do together.  or if they have kids, give THEM a date night.  offer free babysitting and give a gift card to the movies, or to their favorite restaurant.

4.  hobby baskets:  have a book lover?  put together a "comfy reading basket" complete with a bookmark, nice mug and yummy tea, fuzzy slippers or socks, and possibly a copy of that new book they've been wanting, or just a gift card to a local bookstore. 

if you have a crafter on your list, besides the obvious gift card to hobby lobby or michaels you can do something similar -- compiling some 'staple' items for their crafts.  ribbons for gift wrappers, findings for jewelry makers, tapes and stickers for scrapbookers.

5.  pampering kits for new (or not-so-new) moms are always good.  what female among us doesn't enjoy a nice bubble bath with a candle, some pedicure stuff and nail polish?  actually, scratch the moms part out and just give to any female.  add some good chocolates for good measure.

6.  for the kiddos: i love to give books, and will until they're old enough to ask for something else!  and then i pretty much stick to their lists.  however, stationary stuff for little girls is always a hit...and i haven't yet met a male child who didn't love to build with legos or lincoln logs.  but when in doubt -- double check with the parents!

7.  games for family members or close friends.  it's really nice to be able to sit around the table and giggle over apples to apples...or even just gather around the tv for a rousing night of rock band.  the bonus is that it's really a gift of time...because it'll bring you all around the table (or couch) together and will start conversations that normally wouldn't have happened.

8.  don't forget the furry friends.  emi usually gets a new toy or something for her Christmas gift :)  i'll never forget that my dad always gave my family's cat a bit of turkey on thanksgiving day...and said "it's thanksgiving for her too".  it was kind of out of character for him to spoil her in any way...and it's kind of inspired me to give a little something extra to my pets at Christmas too :)

9.  memories.  photo calendars, a mini scrapbook (or photo album if you're not creative that way), framed photos, etc

10.  gadget helpers, offbeat fun things.  for example, i really need these iphone gloves, and could someone please make me a sun jar?  or there's always the funny tshirt companies like threadless or busted tees.

mmmkay, did that help?  hopefully you have ALL your shopping done, but just in case...

hey, it's ok (tuesday) .4

 hey, it's ok!

...to possibly love wrapping the presents as much as anything else at this time of year 

...to think that those fruit in a pouch deals for babies and toddlers are pretty awesome...and to consider adding a few to your own pantry since you never eat fruit and this would be one way to change that

...to giggle a bit at the baby terrorizing the cat before actually stopping said baby from said terrorizing

(really all he was doing was standing at the chair she was sitting in and reaching out to pet her.)

...to realize that a good number of your "hey it's ok" points involve children when you don't even have kids yet

...to get a little giddy about "the sing off"

...to kind of wish you could hibernate for this season because it's COLD

...to have been slightly freaked out when the mother of a couple of your students placed an albino ferret in your arms when you were dropping off some music at their house, followed by the realization that the animal was actually quite adorable and very snuggly!

So...I'm 29

my 29th birthday was sunday
i'm now officially as old as i can possibly be and still check the box for "20s"

it was a good day
i received cards and a package in the mail the day before (because i suck and check the mail approximately once a week. i also had my census form in there. so it may have been 2 weeks...)

i woke up in someone else's house
no, not because i was partying the night before
i was babysitting for the dogs in anthony's family
while they were in kentucky for memorial service #2 i took care of the 5 poodles that his parents, grandparents, and two aunts own.
it was actually a blast.
adoration takes on a whole new form when there is food involved and 5 pairs of eyes are begging you to just.drop.a.noodle.

sooo, i slept in because there had been a weather radio incident at 2:48 am, followed by about 30 minutes of barking from 4 of the 5 pups who were apparently still a bit concerned
went to church
treated myself to thai food (yum) and thai tea (omgosh)
performed with the chorale that afternoon
went home to get ready
because anthony was taking me to dinner

and he came
bearing a large package
and after i opened my card
*which was hilarious and a total inside joke*
he plopped said package on my lap
it was HEAVY
and he said "open it!"
to which i did
and found a brand new
WII!

so on the next rainy day
i will be purchasing a wiifit
and shall go to town on it :)

after i opened my present
we went to dinner
at the pub
where they had placed us at the very front table
which was uber-cool

it was slammed when we got there
but by the time they stopped playing
it was just a few of us
and it was lovely

all in all
a very low key event
(but don't worry...there's a birthday celebration at the pub the weekend following Easter...and that will not be low-key)
:0)

Thursday's Ten: V-day gifts

So...I had this great idea of posting these great gift ideas for your honey for Valentine's Day.



Unfortunately I HAVE no great ideas.

So here's a list of other great ideas...
(please, if you have a list of great ideas yourself, link and post! You'll be helping me out!)

Valentine's Day Gifts

1. Mini Love Albums from a favorite blogger
2. Geeky Valentine Gifts
3. Frugal ideas
4. Homemade Gifts
5. Out of the Box ideas
6. Gifts for Men (since most of these sites are more for the guys buying for us...)
7.a bunch of creative ideas for couples OR kids
8. lots of fun ideas here
9. more ideas for your man
10. and for those of you with more money than I to throw around...

Please join in...especially if you have ideas of your own!

:)



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(grab the button and sign MckLinky please!)


Next week will be your favorite quotes, sayings, songs or experiences of "love" or romance. It should be a fun one--start collecting now!

Thursday's Ten: A Few of My Favorite Things (Home Edition)

Welcome to this week's Thursday's Ten! I'm excited about this one, although I must admit I had a bit harder time with this one than I thought I would! Because of that, I'm running a little late, so please feel free to make this a Friday's Ten :)



This week's theme is your 10 favorite things in your home. I would LOVE to see pictures, but if you can't take/upload/post them please just tell us about your favorites :)

Most of the things I've listed here aren't uber expensive or all that "special" from a monetary point of view. I'm very much a sentimental saver. Hence the movie stubs, football tickets, and playbills in my scrapbooking cabinet. So most of these things have more of a meaning to me than anything else!

Here's mine, in no particular order:

1. wall cross. I found this at Hobby Lobby a few years ago and LOVE it.

2. my antique rocking chair passed down from a great aunt to a grandma to me. I also have a vanity that matches it in my bedroom but it's so covered in crap er, hard to photograph because of the light...yeah...that I didn't get a picture of it this time around.

3. my prayer board. this hangs in the bedroom next to the vanity, and I made it myself (along with another memo board in my kitchen). sometime I'll explain the meaning--it looks a little bare right now because I'm in the process of changing it out...plus some of it's "confidential" enough not to put on my blog!

4. my laptop. where would I be without it?(answer: well...in the office upstairs on the dinosaur PC that wouldn't get me very far...)

5. the Madonna A gave me for our anniversary in August. Isn't she beautiful?!
and in the same picture
the picture I took of the Eiffel Tower when I was in Paris in 2002. It was WAY before I had a digital camera, so I was thrilled with how well it turned out!


6. the vintage jewelry tree LaJuana gave me for my birthday last year. It's *fantastic*

7. my recycling bins--my first ever purchase at IKEA, and so nice for organizing the recycling that often explodes in my house!

8. my iPod docking alarm clock station. This was a Christmas gift a few years ago, and now that I have my iPhone the only time my nano leaves it is for a run.


9. various dishes I've inherited...they're just special, ya know?

10. my bedding. it's Pottery Barn and I totally bought it brand new on ebay for under half the price. All except the shams. Which they double sent me from PB, and when I called to ask if I should mail the extras back or return to the store they told me to keep them. :)

(erm, sorry it's all wrinkly. guess I shouldn't sit on the bed right before I take a picture...)

What about you? I would love to see (or hear about) your favorite things...please link up or comment so I know to visit you, and grab my button if you don't mind!
(code for said button is right there to your right...under my followers!)





Next week's theme: favorite restaurants/recipes