Shutterfly Giveaway

it is that time of year again - christmas card time! i can hardly believe it's fall, much less time to be thinking about christmas cards, but here we are. we have our photo shoot scheduled with the wonderful mandy busby the first weekend in november. i get really excited about this because it's one of the few times you will find both david and me in the same picture.

shutterfly has some pretty amazing options this year and i've been settling in with some apple cider getting very excited about some of the christmas card options and here are some of my personal favorites:

so, i am going to do a little shutterfly giveaway to get us in the christmas spirit! shutterfly would like to give one reader $50 off their order (does not include shipping and handling, cannot be combined with any other promos). just for fun, leave a comment here with your favorite christmas tradition, and a random reader will be chosen on october 28! (also, if you have a minute, check out shutterfly's special offers page.)

this post is sponsored by shutterfly.

this giveaway is now closed...congrats to callie!!! 

Christmas Wish List

...and you know what that means. it's that time of year...time to start thinking about gifts for the fam. this year, i actually plan on making a lot of things. and while i was at it, i thought of a few things that i have had my eye on. some of them are ridiculous and just pretty and some are more realistic. also, i actually love that i'm getting to the age where it's harder and harder to think of things i want and i'm learning it is so much more fun to give than receive. i just can't advertise what i'm getting others...

1 - capri blue candle in volcano: my favorite candle and the jars are so pretty you can use them for all sorts of things after the candle is gone.
2 - penguin classics clothbound series: i've been collecting these for a couple of years now, but they are so pretty who can stop?
3 - coatt "love me do" morse code necklace: the perfect wear-everyday-necklace
4 - mint boden mocs: too bad they're sold out
5 - terrarium: i have decided to start incorporating more green, living things in my house and i really want to start with a terrarium
6 - anthropologie long jane loungers: for this future stay-at-home mom
7 - rebecca wilson perfume bottles: these are so ridiculous...and i don't even have the energy to do the conversion rate on £375
8 - reminder bow ring: perfect everyday ring
9 - alex monroe peacock ring: an unattainable
10 - josh ritter vinyl: the mp3's just aren't enough...and while we're at it, a new record needle would be great
11 - a painting by courtney j. garrett: courtney is a friend of mine from college who is an amazingly talented artist. i have been dying to get my hands on one of her new pieces.

2010 Christmas Pictures

i just (literally just) got our pictures back from our wonderful friend mandy who takes them each year. i love them! she is so talented. i don't even know how to pick one for our christmas card. i guess one with both of our faces is a good start. anyway, at the risk of being vain here are some of my favorites.

Hot Air Balloon Ornament

let me just say, that as much as i love christmas, i strictly adhere to the no celebrating until the day after thanksgiving. that includes music and/or movies. but it doesn't stop me from thinking about my decorations. and can i just say how much i love this hot air balloon ornament from anthropologie? bea-U-ti-ful.

Wilkey Christmas in Photos

liz in her lamby (it still cracks me up to say it, but hey, can't argue with a soft robe)

dad got a book on the history of strats

if you ignore the fact that i look high here, i love this one of c. mom always puts fruit in our stocking. i think she is the first child to ever eat the fruit instead of candy.
mom and dad got adopted for life, so they can read and get excited about being adoptive grandparents.

 how can you not love this face?

after the "amos fund" donation. so sweet!

*disclaimer: my mom would never paint a room in her house pink and blue, so if you notice that in the background it is because that is what we uncovered during the renovation. 

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

this year has hands down been one of the greatest christmases ever spent with my family. for starters, it's just been nice being in town and not having to travel for the first time in our married life. we started out the week going to dinner together and then to the alabama theater to see miracle on 34th street which was followed by an impromptu trip to yogurt mountain (aka: high school city). it was so fun. if i could explain how rare it is to have quality time with my whole family outside the walls of my parents' house, you would appreciate this. with how crazy everyone's schedules are (my parents included), it just doesn't happen often.

then we get to christmas morning. its weird. we're all getting older. it's just not quite the same when you have to drive to your parents house instead of run down the stairs (which we probably would have done if the upstairs hadn't been ripped apart). but we all got there and sat around opening presents and laughing at caroline, because she's finally old enough to entertain us all.

this year, instead of gifts to siblings, we did donations. we went around and told our stories. liz and jd gave through one million can to provide critical surgeries for children in poverty. david and i gave, also through one million can towards audio bibles in africa and parts of the arabic world where people can't read or printed bibles are not allowed. then garrett and alison shared their train of thought deciding what to give to and how they landed on a local option where they can see the fruits of their giving and donated to liz and jd's adoption fund for baby amos. we were all crying. God has been so faithful to provide for liz and jd's obedience ever since they said "ok, God, we will get this baby. we don't know how we will do it, but you can." and He has been so faithful to provide (jd's company just told them at the end of the semester, that they were going to donate half of the cost of the adoption!!).

we sat crying, as we discussed the picture of the gospel that is adoption. it was amazing. then caroline walked around hugging everyone saying "you- you're ok..."

we had a great day with the rest of my mom's side of the family. a christmas tradition for as long as i can remember.

then we went back to my parents house, and we broke out the cd that the church of brook hills provides for families to go through a time of worship together as a family on christmas day. so we sat there, taking turns reading scripture, listening to music, etc. there came a point where david asks (via cd) for someone or multiples to tell their story of God's work in their life and how they came to know Him. my dad shared (for the benefit of david and jd who had never heard the story) how he had come to know the Lord...and it is an amazing story. i won't go into that here bc a- it's not my story to tell and b- this is already quite lengthy (but dad, if you would like to guest blog, let me know!). but it just an amazing story of God's redemption of a grown man who thought he was smarter than that. ugh, just awesome.

it was just an all around quality christmas. i miss being young and everything being so magical, but i love being old and being able to appreciate things like this. i am blessed beyond words with my family. and i'm super excited about christmas part deux with the ytterbergs (especially because it will mean that liz and charlie's baby boy will be here!)

**pictures to follow at some point**

Christmas Card Pictures

it's that time of year again...christmas card time. and since i really like getting cards with pictures, i try to send cards with pictures. this year, we had some fun with my friend mandy who is awesome! it's so nice living back in birmingham with all of your talented friends at your disposal. so anyway, here are a few of my favorites:

i love that david's fake laughter makes me laugh so hard.

Matchstic Christmas

so last night matchstic finally had its christmas party (sometimes referred to as the "celebrate the new year" party) and whatnot. it was awesome. there was a little pre-game stress but once everyone got there, we had a blast. as someone who has been around that house when it's all boys, i love it when the wives come, because then the boys stop calling each other names and being pissy with each other and everyone has a great time. although there is still some lighthearted banter (how do you expect gern to sit at a table with dishes and not use his favorite one-liner "i love plates, but i hate bowles" - john bowles being one of the designers). but at the end of the day, they really are a family.

anyway, i haven't done a top 8/bottom 4 in a while so i figured now would be a good time...

top 8:

1. gern winning the name game by having a name no one could remember

2. bowles being "poo poo face" in the name game

3. "c'mon, julie, did you fart?" - nick to bowles' wife 

4. any game that involves putting on kevlar gloves and a helmet

5. an awesome steak dinner - everyone did an amazing job 

6. craig saying something so inappropriate it had to be passed around the table in a whisper

7. finally getting to meet alvin

8. the most lively discussion about the movie "the 3 musketeers" i've ever seen. talk about an all star cast

bottom 4:

1. having tomato soup explode out of the blender: made a huge mess and burned me all at the same time

2. saying there was no way i would get into a game that involved gloves and a helmet (never say that, the excitement will make you do things)

3. not being able to finish that ridiculous steak

4. i really wanted to wrap something in bacon and david said no cause gern was making bacon cheddar mashed potatoes. so i switch to tomato soup. what does gern show up with? potato and tomato gratin. i really wanted my bacon! david.

Playing Catch Up

so, like i mentioned earlier, life has been extremely crazy lately...not only have we been really busy, but for about a week, our internet didn't work. my friend biscuet says that a successful blogger posts at least once a day. i have been severely lacking in this skill lately...so here is a recap of the past week or so:

- we had our waumba weekday christmas program. whoever says you can't get 2 year olds to sing, is crazy. it was awesome!

- we had our waumba weekday staff party. getting to talk without babies crying or chasing after little kids, was priceless.

- david and i went to birmingham for christmas with my side. my niece is getting so big i have no idea what to do with her. she is the cutest thing in the world. this is david with his spoils of the "as seen on tv" dirty santa...we are tempted to break things just to "mighty putty" them back together. i got an "open it" - a 4 in 1 tool designed by stay at home moms. it led to an unfortunate accident where my cousin's husband cut through two layers of clothing - not quite as safe as they make it out to be. 

- i dyed my hair brown. (and haven't washed it much since)

- we went to see the nutcracker at the fox...believe it or not, birmingham puts on a better show. but it was still fun. 

- and now we are back in atlanta for another day then off to houston for christmas with the ytterbergs. 

Apartment Christmas

a studio apartment requires a studio apartment-sized tree. 4.5 feet in all it's splendor...

my ever beloved willow tree nativity...these are honestly the only decorations we have so far. i left so much stuff in auburn that i didn't realize.

Christmas Tunes

so it is the weekend after thanksgiving. it's the official weekend to decorate for christmas and to start listening to christmas music. so in honor of this long held tradition, i will share one of my favorite christmas songs..."don't shoot me santa" by the killers. let the christmas season begin!