Christmas in Summertime!

We are packing things up, finalizing our home's sale, and making the trip out to Denver. Life is crazy right now. Too many emotions to know how to process, so . . . I think of Christmas.

Knowing that Jeff and I might be mailing or packing and flying our Christmas presents this year has really put the pressure on to find great, nicely packaged gifts. In our family we tend to give more couple/family gifts and then give smaller items to any kids. This year, the only real “kid” we have on my side is my youngest sister, and for Jeff’s we have his youngest sister and currently lone nephew. When we start to get more kids around, I’m sure the dynamic will change, but for now it’s usually just one main gift per family. In the past we’ve come up with some pretty good family gifts as a whole, but this year I’m struggling. (I might just have to think individually, oh no!)

  

So, to get my brain moving I’ve decided to make a list of all the best and brightest family gifts that we have given and received in the past. I am so tired of going to websites and seeing inscribed crystal plaques, cheese and cracker sets, and chocolate covered strawberries as gift ideas for a whole family. I think it would be better to give something that people will actually use, even if it’s not as fancy.

 
 

#1 Camping Gear

There are so many options with camping gear if you have family that likes to get lost out in the woods. Sure, some of the items can be a bit pricey, but if you’re giving it to say, your sisters family as a whole, then it tends to break down to a reasonable price per person. Plus, there are also a lot of fun less expensive items out there as well. Some of our favorite items to receive and give include:

 
 

$$

Tents

Camping Chairs

Dutch Ovens

Hammock Chairs
 

$

Lanterns

Portable Tables

Quirky Cooking Items (think egg holders, roasting sticks, toast makers, camping spices)

 

 

#2 Beach Items

This is pretty similar to Camping items. This just works for our family because they all love to go to the beach. Last year both my older sister AND parents had the same thought on this, now Jeff and I are the proud owners of 4 beach chairs. We’ll need them all someday, ha ha.

 
 

$$

Beach Chairs

Beach Umbrella

 

$

Beach Towels

Beach Blanket

Snorkeling Gear

Toys (Sand Castle kit, Frisbee, Volleyball)

 

#3 Religious Items

We are Latter Day Saints, and with that there is a smorgasbord of items that many LDS families like to decorate or have in their homes. These also can be on the more expensive side, unfortunately, however there are some more affordable options with books and movies.

 
 

$$

Statues (Christ, Temples, or Prophets)

Art Work

Family Book of Mormon
 

$

Inscribed Hymn Book

LDS Movies & Music

FHE Workbooks

Past Years General Conferences on CD (big hit with Grandparents)
 

 

#4 Kitchen Items

Yes, these may be just typically given to the lady of the house, but in most of our families homes both the women and men do the cooking, so it really is a present for both of them. In a house were just one of them in charge of the cooking, then it might be better to give kitchen items to just that one person.

 

Crockpot (w/cookbooks)

Immersion Blender

Kitchen Aid Attachments

Cutesy Measuring Cups (think Anthroplogie)

Marble or Raw Wood Edge Cutting Board 

 #5 Entertainment

For some of our more extended family and close friends that we exchange gifts with we have some pretty regular standbys. I’d like to switch it up every once in a while, but these always seem to hit the mark.

 
 

Movie Bucket (Some cool new release (w/ gift receipt), Soda, Popcorn Bags, and Treats)

Board Games (We have family that actually is in to the latest board games, so it works)

Fast Food Gift Card (think something like Sonic, where $20-$30 can still go a long ways or just get everyone a treat) 

#6 Handmade Items

For a more personal touch, these items may be less expensive but more meaningful because of the time put in. Tears of joy can be a factor with these types of gifts.

 
 

Blankets (This does not have to be complicated, just use fleece in a more modern pattern)

Picture Calendars (We have family members that do this every year on both sides and LOVE it. We can keep up on whose birthdays are coming up and have wonderful family pictures from last year to look at.)

Picture Books (I made my parents one of those photo books from Blurb with pictures of their wedding)

Knitted Beanies or Scarves

Family History Workbooks or Old Journal Copies

Family Video Compilations

 

Movin' On Up

I thought I was going to be a really good blogger this summer. I was sure I was going to record every vacation, every wedding (there are 3 sibling just this summer!), and get tons of things accomplished. But then something came up, something big, something that is taking a lot of my time.What could it be?

WE ARE MOVING TO . . . .

source

 

COLORADO!

A suburb of Denver to be exact. We are looking in the Littleton/Centennial/Parker area.

 

I haven't said anything on the blog because I thought if I did I would jinks is somehow. But now I can officially say, we sold our HOUSE and I better get a movin' on finding a place to live in Colorado! I have so many mixed emotions about it. I am so nervous, terrified, excited, and everything else all at once. I have never really lived in such a big city away from my family. It is just very strange and I'm not sure when it will sink in.

 

Jeff was offered a promotion out there for his job so we decided to be adventurous and just take it. We should be moving at the end of the month. It is seriously so crazy!!! I worry that me and my family wont be able to visit enough, I worry that I haven't started to look for a JOB yet, I'm sad about selling my most loved home, but I am happy to be with my handsome husband again. He left for Denver way back in May. It was a last minute favor to his bosses when someone else fell through to train employees at a new store his company opened up out there. Well, they liked him so much they asked him to stay, with a promotion! It has been touch and go, up and down all summer long, trying to sneak in quick visits with my sugar buns and figure out what was going on with his job. Seriously stressful, but I'm hoping it has a good reward eventually.

 

I hear only good things about Littleton, so I am excited to explore a new city and have some serious adventures. I'm trying to take this curve ball and sit back and evaluate my own career, see if there is maybe something else out there that I want to try. Maybe, just maybe, when I am so far away from my family I will blog more, and just maybe (though very unlikely) one of my family members will read this blog one day. Haha, we will see. Off to pack more boxes and get things settled on the Nevada home front.  



Pinterest Pickings- Yards and Yards

Me and a couple of my lady friends (holla) are having a multi-family Yard Sale this weekend. It is one of those things keeping me very busy as of late. It is a lot of work! And I probably won’t make much, but man, cleaning out this ol’ house feels liberating. And I’m always game for having a sale (and donating the rest) rather than trashing perfectly good items. It’s been a couple of years since I had a decent Yard Sale and another one is definitely needed.

In honor of my hours and hours of sweat putting this thing together, this Pinterest Picking is full of Pins on how to have a successful Yard Sale.

Advice found here

& here

 

 

Tips here

 

 

Genius ideas here

 

 

 

Tips & printables here

 

 

Some of the tips repeat themselves and then some of them were like 'Ah ha'! Hope all goes well this weekend!

 

If you would like to come to our Yard Sale, check out our post on Craigslist for more details.

Music Monday- what I'm listening to lately

I love finding new music (or new to me music). I'm constantly listening to something at work to make it through the day, or using it to calm, pump me up, or energize myself as needed. It is a great tool. I've been stressed lately, with lots of things to do, so these guys below have been the perfect albums to listen to, upbeat tempos but still calm and collected.

Bastille- Pompeii


Two Door Cinema Club-What You Know


Ellie Goulding- Joy

The Neighborhood- Sweater Weather


They also seem to be swaying on the British side. I'm feelin' it.

I have lots to blog about, lots of changes happening in the Bame house, but will have to wait a little while to blog about it. First I NEED TIME and things to get a little more settled. Enjoy the tunes :)

30 in review

I was on vacation this past week on my annual “sister trip.” I will have to share some pictures as soon as one of my sisters returns my camera. (SJ, that means YOU!). My vacationing has put off my posts last week but I wanted to share some thoughts this week anyways. Warning: this post is kind of self-indulgent. This may be better served as a Birthday post, but I’m not patient like that.

In a few short weeks I will be turning 31. Yes, 31. I still cannot believe this. As you may remember I was not happy to be in my 30’s. Seeing my 20’s go definitely made me shed a few tears. My 20’s were awesome, full of learning, growing, traveling the world, big milestones (i.e.: marriage, firstreal-career jobs, purchasing house #1 and house #2). In short, I loved my 20’s. I made a 30 by 30 list to try and make my birthday more fun for myself. I wouldn’t say that it necessarily made turning 30 easier, or fun, but I did get more things done at 29 then this past year. (i.e.: the only books I read this year were The Great Gatsby again and Engulfed in Flames, sad state of affairs compared to the 5+ I made myself find time for last year.)


Chilling at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas with my hubby last year for my Birthday.

I may not really be thrilled about future imminent birthdays, but one thing I will say, 30 has been a really good year. It may have only been one year, and 30 may just be a number, but I really feel like I’ve grown  a lot more comfortable in my own skin. I feel like not only do I know myself better, but even more so, I like who I am. I am not as hard on myself about my flaws and weaknesses. I understand that just like trials are a part of life, my weaknesses are a part of me, but things get better. I’m getting better with age. I feel like at 30 I’m finally starting to really like who I am. I am okay with being a nerd/awkward, I like that I am sweet (Oh, how that word use to make me cringe). I also feel like I know what I want more than at any other time in my life. I know what I want and I know how to work for it; I even may on occassion just ask for what I want (GASP!).

It’s not necessarily that my life situation has changed at all. In fact my family is in more flux then we have been for a long time, but even with all the changes going on, I am at peace. I am more at peace with myself, my abilities, and my desires. That’s not to say that everything is perfect and I don’t ever freak out or worry about things, but more, that I understand I will always worry about things and I don’t beat myself up over it. In retrospect, turning 30 wasn’t all that bad. I think my 30’s are going to be fantastic, challenging, like always, but great none the less. It does not mean that I am doomed to career and domestic boredom as I feared. Sure, I may not be travelling to faraway lands or having a professor blow my mind with a new way of thinking, but life is always full of surprises and there is always room for growth.
 

Leaving the Hard Rock Hotel after one of my memorable birthday weekends ever!

I hope that in my 30’s I get tofinally meet my children. I look forward to exploring new depths to my marriage (oh how things have evolved over these past 6 years). I look forward to learning new things and taking on new challenges at work. I hope I can keep working on myself and continually improving.

Has anyone else noticed that peace of self that comes with age? Or did you notice a big change at any certain age?

Linky Links

Here are some links to what has been entertaining me lately . . .

I think I am jealous of a 14 year old boy. This might help explain why.

Summer is here and I am really in the mood to fill my house up with house plants. I think it's also because I want pretty planters like this, this, and this!

Jeff has been out of town on business a lot recently and I've killed our only current house plant due to lack of watering. I think if I get any house plants I may have to invest in one of these, or this.

Or, maybe I should just recycle!

I need to do a post about what I ended up wearing to my brother and sister-in laws weddings. Thanks to my very own younger sister getting hitched later this summer, I need to find yet another outfit! This online shop was like discovering wedding dress wear GOLD I tell you. Dresses in every size, good prices, and CUSTOMIZABLE! check it out.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Bridal Shower Planning

As I mentioned last week my younger sister is getting hitched. I can barely believe it, but it’s true. So us sisters are getting together and throwing her a little bridal shower. She wants some of it to be a surprise, but lucky for me, she never reads this blog- ha ha, so I thought I would share the mood board I made and some ideas we had planning the shower. ( I made the mood board to help convince my fellow party planners that my theme was the way to go and give them an idea of how I thought we should decorate. I think it's things like this is why people don't like planning things with me.)

As I also mentioned last week, I am in love with the color combo of black and white, which of course is being incorporated into her shower.  I toyed with a bunch of ideas and themes but in the end I settled on “Bride to Bee.” It is a classic and a goodie. Plus, her new last name with begin with a “B,” (we will be “B” sisters) so we thought it’s be fun to have little plays off of bees the animal, and “B” the letter.

The colors are going to play off of her wedding colors, but instead of pale pastels we decided to have the same colors but in bright and vibrant tones, mainly a happy yellow, bright green, and of course, black and white. We decided to try and keep things simple by mainly decorating the food table and favor table. The rag bunting will be swagged on the food table and we’ll make a paper lantern and tissue honeycomb cluster for over the table. All the tables (food, eating, favor tables) will be covered in white table clothes with vases or mason jars filled flowers in our yellow and green colors.

 
We plan to bring in the  Bee/“B” theme by serving food and giving away things that relate to honey, decorated letter “b”s on tables and doors, with the favors, and more. I will give a whole break down after the shin dig.  I don't want to give away too much in the off chance that my sister may actually read this blog.  I'm excited I think it will be super cute!