Good-Bye 2009!

I am saying farewell to 2009 with a happy spirit. I am hoping to say hello to 2010 with hopes of a grand year. I pray that it is filled with love, peace, faith and lots of hope for a baby of our own.


2009 has been such a sad year for me. We reached the 3 year mark in our battle with infertility. When we started on this journey, I always kept telling myself "Lori, next year at this time you will be holding your baby in your arms, and you will be telling your child what a miracle he/she is." So as each year passes, I will no longer tell myself that, the heartbreak that comes with that "next year" is to unbearable. I'm not saying that I do not have any faith anymore, but I am saying that I have to be realistic. I cannot make myself believe something just to make my now easier. I have given myself false hope way too many times. I think that comes with trying to be positive for me, I get being positive mixed up with my emotions. I never thought that I was an overly emotional person, until I started down this road of infertility. Now I am an emotional wreck. I have realized that I cannot do this all on my own. I cannot carry this burden any longer. For so long I have tried, and it has got me nowhere. I have offered all my heartaches, all my struggles to the Lord. He is helping me get through this with some of my sanity left. I have nothing left to give to infertility. It has taken so much, too much, from my life. I have no more tears left, I have no more strength left. I need His help, and I know that He is with me every step of the way.

As my hubby and I have been going through this journey, I have failed to understand that he does not handle infertility as I do. I have let infertility get in between us. I have put infertility first. I have let my emotions get the best of me. That is going to stop now. I have so much to be thankful for, I have so many people who love me, I have so many people who are praying for us.

And you know what!

That is enough for me.

So lovin'...

...the Bachelor season premier on Monday Jan. 4. It's going to be a good one! I have been counting down the days. If you use the link I provided you can meet the Bachelorettes. I already have my favorites.

...John Mayer's song Heartbreak Warfare. A must on my iPod.



...anything Michael Buble!!!! His voice warms my heart every time I hear it.

After listening to that last video, hopefully you will have an extra relaxing evening!!

I would love to know if these are some of the things that you are lovin' as well!!

Christmas Eve Celebration

We always celebrate Christmas Eve with my family. We usually go out to an early dinner then go to my parent's house for presents, games and lots of fun.

This year we went to Wasabe Japanese Steakhouse. It was so delicious. If you have never been to one, they cook your meal right in front of you. I split the Shrimp and Chicken with my sister, and it was super good!! The only bad thing was that we had a group of about 15 and with there seating it was hard to have a conversation with everyone. Overall it was a great time.

Below are a few pictures of us after dinner at my parent's house.

Sweet little Hummer!

Below is a picture of my nephew with the cutest hat on earth on his head. I won that hat from a giveaway from Alexis at Where He leads me I will follow, she made that hat fit him perfectly by only me telling her his age and his clothing size. When I gave him his hat it fit PERFECTLY, and he looked absolutely adorable in it. Wouldn't you agree?

So if you want to grab one of these adorable hats for yourself or for someone you love, hop on over to Alexis' Etsy Store. I am also going to add the button for her store on my sidebar. Thank you Alexis!

As Christmas came and went, my heart was breaking for children all over the world that might not have had a nice meal, a warm home, someone to love them, presents, or even hope for the future. I really hope and pray that the Lord can use me to help even one hurting child in my lifetime. I feel so unworthy of all that I have been blessed with this Christmas, and every day of my life. I am hoping 2010 will bring lots of joy, and lots of self sacrificing acts on my behalf. I know that I have lacked that in 2009. I hope you all had a very Blessed Christmas!

COACH EST. 1941...

...you make me so happy.

It came in the gorgeous brown protector.

My hubby surprised me with this fabulous COACH bag for Christmas! It is even more gorgeous in person. I was thrilled. He also got me a GAP gift card. Which is my favorite place to be!!

Did you get something fabulous this year?

Christmas Cookie Cut-Outs

Yesterday we made Christmas Cookies at my sisters house. We had such a fun day. This is one of my favorite traditions throughout the Christmas Season. Sadly, this year my Mom could not be there to make them with us, but she did say they were delicious!

Can you believe how cute this little guy is!!

Can you say, Diva!!

My little nephew really enjoyed making cut-outs, and you will see his decorating skills later!

Ready for the oven! My sister made the cookie dough from scratch, we tried a different recipe this year. They turned out so amazing!!

Here is where the cookies went as soon as they got out of the oven.

Now it's time for frosting and decorating. This was really the fun part. First of all, my sister dumped all of the little silver decorative balls all over the kitchen. It was so funny, all you saw was tiny little balls bouncing all over the floor. She attempted to pick them up, until she gave up. Lets just say we had a dirty floor after we were done.

While my sister was still on the floor trying to pick up a little of the mess, my niece accidentally dumps all of the green sanding sugar on poor Mr. Snowman. By then we were all laughing hysterically. She thought she had the side of the container open that just sprinkles it out, but instead it was the other side that is wide open. It was great! We gave that one to my nephew, he loves sprinkles. The first thing he did was stick his finger in it!

Here he is decorating his own cookies. Can you see he had an audience. He was so adorable while he was decorating (as always).

Yum, Yum! Those look delicious! Wink. Wink. His decorating was priceless.

Here is the finished product. It seemed like we were frosting and decorating for hours! It took us from 10am-4pm. We did help my sister clean up the mess that was left in her house! You should have heard the sweeper when I was in the kitchen, we most definitely made a mess, but it was worth it! I will remember this day forever. It is such a blessing to me to be able to spend a day like this with the people that I love most!

The cookies are so delicious. Speaking of which, I think I might go eat one!!

5 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Just Curious...(Christmas Edition)

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Christmas Banquet...

...and lots of fun with family!! Me and my sister had way too much fun together, we had to do a silly picture. If you would know my sister, you would understand. She is a diva!

We stood in front of frosty for this picture. Me, my sister and my brothers Girlfriend.

The banquet was for my Dad's business, we always have such a great time.

The entertainer for this year was a ventriloquist Ryan Baumgardner.

All the wives and girlfriends of my Dad's employee's got a Longaberger Measuring cup filled with goodies. I was so happy to be taking one home!

I love all the Holiday events around Christmas time, it helps my Christmas Spirit to raise a lot just to be around family and friends. I hope you are all having a great Christmas Season. I would love to hear about your favorite Christmas Season spiritlifters (if that is even a word)!

Christmas Tour of my Home 2009

Welcome to our Home that is so ready for Christmas it's about ready to burst!!

I will start off your tour at my side/main entrance of our home.

As you enter into our little landing you will see...

...our little "Welcome Tree" and...

...a handmade sign that my Sister made for me last year.

Here are the stairs to our basement.

From our entrance to our living room.

The main attraction is our Tree.

We got our tree the first year that we were married from Wal Mart for $30, we were really happy with the price. For me, I need a pre lit tree. It is just so easy and it has lasted us 4 Christmas'.

Instead of using a tree skirt (I am too cheap to buy one, they are expensive!) I use buffalo snow, you can usually find it at Wal Mart.

Our Tree topper is a star. I love this piece because I can decorate with this year round.

Next are some of my favorite ornaments. I have begun to love ornaments more and more each year.

This basketball ornament was my husbands. He loves basketball. His family did a great job of getting the kids ornaments each year, and now they mean so much.

A shimmering star I found at Wal Mart.

My sister got me this cute snowman...

...as well as this cute primitive snowman with a bell...

...and also this clip on snowman tree ornament. Each year as I decorate our tree, and I get all the ornaments out, each one gets more special and more meaningful. I cannot imagine how it will be in another 20 years, I will probably be crying my eyes out as I decorate our tree!

Next you have our front entrance, which enters into our living room. I have a wreath that I found at a garage sale and a cute little snowman hanger that my sister got me for my Birthday 2 years ago. I very rarely buy any new holiday decorations, I have had a ton of success at garage sales/ thrift stores. I never buy anything that I do not love, so I guess I have been lucky to have found most of my decorations for a great price. I also have a pretty small house as well.

This next item is another one of my garage sale finds!! I was so happy with this sign. It says "Tis the season to be Jolly."

Below is our dining room table. I found my reindeer a year ago at our local thrift store, they were wooden, so I spray painted them white. I thought they were so cute. The wreath around the glass vase I found at a garage sale as well. This is the first Christmas for the wreath in our Home. I just threw in some pine cones to finish it off.

Below on our serving center, you will find a small manger scene, a few more reindeer, a candle arrangement and more pine cones.

This next piece is my latest most precious find at our local thrift store. A cute little primitive snowman with a lit up tree. Each year around Thanksgiving our local thrift store has a Christmas Extravaganza, this year we were there the first day they brought out all there Christmas stuff. We look forward to this event each year. My aunt is a volunteer there so she gives us all the inside looks!!

This is the door to our upstairs (which we never use, and its cold up there).

Next is the start of our kitchen. My favorite Christmas decoration is most definitely snowmen. This is probably my favorite snowman that I have.

These next two snowmen get to watch me cook, or should I say, watch me try to cook. I made the big snowman at one of our church outings. It is the coolest thing, you start with a tiny little tree, then you insert a small light, then you put the white snow stuff around it and add the scarf, hat, face and buttons with super glue. It has held up for 3 Christmas'.

Below is my sink, with my little snowmen. I found the greenery that is by the window at a garage sale the first year we were married. The cute little sign says "Snowman Collector." I also have a picture of my parents dog Hummer with Santa Claus. That was a great memory!!

Below is our kitchen table, with another one of my favorite snowmen. My husband got me the sign that says "Believe." I also decorate with that sign year round.

I hope you enjoyed the Christmas Tour of our home. I had a great time showing you around, I would love it if you could stay for a cup of Hot Coco!!

I cannot wait to tour your home!

Merry Christmas!