January 1, 2009

~BigSis

December 27, 2008

I agree with what you said, LilSis.  I hope that everyone had a great Christmas!  I also hope that you aren't in the midst of that after-Christmas-darn-it's-all-over-letdown feeling since we're in that weekend after Christmas and before New Year's.  I don't have those blues this year, but some years I do.  What I do have right now is a GIANT list of things to do this weekend.  You know the list…I bet you have one too.  It goes something like this:

• Put away all the Christmas paraphernalia: wrapping paper and bags, treat bags for food gifts, extra Christmas cards you didn't send, etc.
• Put away all the great gifts you got.  BTW, read the manuals and send in the warranty cards!
• Unpack from your holiday trip.
• Go to the grocery store for FOOD, not flour, sugar and butter.
• Drink as much water as you can to try to flush all that “stuff” out of your system that's making you feel sluggish today.
• Try to figure out which of the deadly leftover temptations in your refrigerator can be frozen to get them out of your sight. And keep them out of your mouth.  And off your butt!
• Clean out your closets to make one more donation to the women's shelter before year-end.
• Balance the checkbook!  Yikes!
• Return that gift you bought just in case, but didn't need after all.
• Buy New Year's cards since you didn't get around to Christmas cards.
• Buy thank you cards.  Actually fill them out and mail them.
• Catch up on laundry.
• Catch up on house-cleaning. especially if you have New Year's Eve company coming.
• Think about what you might want to buy with any gift cards or cash you received.  The New Year's Day sales are just around the corner, so watch for the sale offers in the paper, mail and online.
• Catch up on everything that you got behind on in the last week, like going to the bank, refilling prescriptions, buying pet food, and going through the mail.
• Start to weigh your New Year's Eve options.
• Go to the gym to try to burn off that fudge!  How can that much damage be done in two days??

That's my list.  How about yours?

And by the way, while we're in the list-making mode, how about using one of these?  I can get my pink fix and my Franklin Covey fix at the same time with these awesome products! And BONUS!  They're having a sale through December 28th!

FlipNotes are only $7.95 and so cute!

This Pink Portfolio is letter size and $69.95. Pricey but pretty!

For electronic lists, how about this laptop bag at $189?

However you like to organize your to-do lists, use your method of choice to get started on your 2009 resolutions! I'm working on mine!

~BigSis

December 26, 2008

We're hoping that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and was able to spend some time with family and friends and maybe even relax a little bit. We are really used to having large family gatherings during this season, so we really missed not being with either side of the family this Christmas.

Luckily, we have wonderful friends and neighbors that know we don't have family in California so they were kind enough to invite us to join their families. Thank you to D & J for inviting us to join their family for Christmas Eve Dinner and to V & C for including us at their family dinner on Christmas Day. BigT was at his dad's for Christmas this year and I couldn't fathom the idea of cooking a big Christmas Dinner for just three of us. We had intended to just go out to dinner, but instead, we had a great time with our friends and really appreciate them welcoming us into their homes.

Unfortunately, today is a normal work day for many of us so there is no time to sit back and relax. It's back to the grindstone and lots of year end accounting for me. (snarl)

Since New Year's Eve is right around the corner; in the next several days, BigSis and I will probably be talking about appetizers and party food, and maybe I'll come up with some special cocktail to welcome in the New Year.

Oh, and then, we need to get down to some serious business and talk about New Year's Resolutions!

~LilSis

December 25, 2008

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

~ Luke 2:4-14 King James Bible

~BigSis

December 24, 2008

We both want to wish everyone a blessed Christmas!  When we stop to think over our last year, so much has happened.  It hasn't been one of those years when you just tread water and nothing really goes on.  In our households, lots has happened. There have been wonderful things like the birth of a new baby boy, the fun of launching this blog, and moving into a new home, but there have been challenges like illness, losing a sibling, losing a furkid, and betrayal.  Life's just like that.  No matter what happens in this life though, we have the hope and the promise of the life after this earthly existence, and we strive every day to keep our eyes focused on the Lord.

Our prayer for all of our friends and family and for all of you is that you would experience a renewed  gratitude this Christmas for the gift that we were given when the Baby Jesus was born over 2000 years ago.  We pray that all of our hearts would be filled with thankfulness, and not with stress over the gifts, the food, the family drama, the traffic, or the weather.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas.  God bless you.  And happy birthday, Jesus.  It's all about You.

~BigSis

December 20, 2008

I just LOVE these! Last year, BigSis and I got SisMama some personalized M&Ms and she loved them!

I don't want to mislead you, though. If you do order these now; they won't be under the tree by Christmas. (I should have posted this idea sooner.) BUT, in the past, I have printed out a photo of the gift and wrapped it for opening at Christmas. I don't think anyone minds waiting for something that you took the time to special order! I think it just shows that you put some thought into their gift versus running into Wally Mart for a gift card at the last minute.

You can choose from 22 colors, put personalized text of up to 8 characters on two lines on each M&M, and can even upload a photo to put on the M&M!! Martha Stewart and ‘My M&Ms' have even teamed up. Check out these ideas from Martha for some crafty gifts. You can also choose from a wide variety of creative gifts to go with the personalized M&Ms. You can find something in just about any price range. Here are just a few:

Glass Box Candy Dish

Glass Box Candy Dish for $57.99

Old Fashioned Dispenser

Old Fashioned Dispenser for $89.99

Diamond Ring Flute

This will only set you back $3849.99!

You can even put a Team Logo on them!

Don't tell anyone; but I'm going to get the Little Guys some M&Ms for their birthdays that have their photos on them! They'll get a kick out of eating an M&M with their little faces on them!

~LilSis

December 19, 2008

Now that we have less than a week til Christmas, we're all sprinting to the finish line, or the check-out line!  I'm needing a few ideas to finish up my shopping, and found these guides for giving.  If you're stumped for ideas, I hope these will help you out!

• Gift Guide for Bakers is courtesy of Baking Bites.  Most of us have a baker on our list!
• Barnes and Noble has a pretty cool Gift Guide where you can shop by recipient: Curious Kids, Music Lovers, Animal Lovers, Teens & Tweens, and so on.  Within the categories, they have DVDs, calendars, and home items, as well as books.  Even if you make up your mind too late to order online, you can always pop into one of their stores.
• Dallas News Gift Guides also give you categories to choose from: Tech, Museum Shops, Health, For Him, For Her, Snow Lovers, For Kids, VIdeo Games, Toys, Under $50, etc.
• Bass Pro Shops have a Fishing Gift Guide. We could find an idea for BDot here!
  
• For women of any age, check out Beauty Addict's Gift Guides.  She has BUNCHES of them posted: covering stocking stuffers, teens, party girls, jet setters, fragrance, bath & body, super luxe, and hair, skin & tools.

I'm off to make my list and check it twice.  Happy shopping!  And remember the reason for the season; it isn't all about the gifts so try not to stress yourself out too much over it!

~BigSis

December 14, 2008

Rudolph, the red-nosed Reindeer

had a very shiny nose.

And if you ever saw him,

You would even say it glows…

Okay, maybe his nose doesn't glow, but he sure is CUTE! I should have put a red nose on him!

This was my warning that the ‘photo shoot' was OVER!

I SAID NO MORE!

~LilSis

December 9, 2008

Has anyone, other than myself, found themselves needing to buy a gift for someone and not have one single idea of what to buy? I've only just realized I can find great gift ideas like jewelry online. Until now, there seemed to be so many options out there but nothing ticked the box for me! I know a lot of people decided to go down the personalized route, and I don't blame them, it's perfect, and the best thing is, it can be for anyone, of any age, any time! My friend told me she received a personalized moon lamp (Mondlampe Personalisiert in German) from her boyfriend and it was the sweetest gift. The best thing about these gifts is they can suit any recipient, even the hardest people to buy for. However, when you are deciding on gifts, the likes and dislikes of the recipient should be kept in mind. Thus, be it personalised photo keyrings, or photo t-shirts, you must be aware of what they like. And if you're struggling to think of gift ideas, these might do the trick. For more examples there are things like aprons, blankets, socks even Photo Wall Art Prints. If you're thinking of something a little different however there is still hope for you. If you find yourself in a sticky situation this Christmas Season, you might want to pay a visit to gifts.com!

I just love how you can shop by recipient; men, women, teens, kids, babies, and pets. Then, you can narrow the search even more by shopping by personality. For example, choose women under the recipient tab, then choose to shop by personality and you find all these choices; The Super Mom, The Hipster, The Domestic Diva, The Frugalistic, The Achiever, The Trendanista, The Natural Woman, The Urban Sophisticate, The Thinker, The Adventurer, and The Country Clubber.

Here's one really cool idea that I found when searching through The Domestic Diva category. It's a Create-A-Cookbook gift certificate. It lets the recipient use their All Recipes.com favorite recipes to create their very own custom cookbook! This is just one of many great ideas!

And maybe you need to buy for a Senior Woman. There are several choices within that category also; The Country Clubber, The Domestic Diva, The Thinker, The Super Grandma, or The Active Retiree. You can choose personalities within Teen Boys, Teen Girls, Senior Men, so on and so forth.

When surfing the site a little bit this morning, I also discovered their blog, gift rap, a shopping blog of cool gift ideas brought to you by the gift gurus at gifts.com.

There are literally thousands of gifts ideas on this site and on their blog, so check it out! I hope it helps someone find a gift for that “hard to buy for” person on your Christmas List.

~LilSis

December 7, 2008

Well, BigSis, you know that I LOVE music as much as you do and don't go anywhere without my iPod! It's with me on walks and bike rides, it's with me at the gym, I take it to the beach, and it's fully integrated in my car so I just plug it in inside the glove box. I take my speaker/docking station with me everywhere; to my art studio, to the boat, to the bathroom, etc… BUT, I hate to say it…I don't have any Christmas music downloaded to my iPod.

For some reason, I've just never taken the time to import any Christmas CDs. It would be great to have all my favorite songs off of all the different CDs put into one great Christmas playlist.

Last year, we had a Christmas party, so I bought a couple of new CDs.

One was Barenaked Ladies, Barenaked for the Holidays. (Great name, right?)  It's a pretty good CD. Very nontraditional versions of some all-time favorites.

Barenaked for the Holidays

The other was a compilation CD from Starbucks called Stockings By the Fire.  It has some old favorites like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, but also some newer artists like Sarah McLachlan and John Legend.

Stockings by the Fire

I've got a good one that I bought in 2006 called The Perfect Christmas from Bath and Body Works to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The Perfect Christmas

Most of our other Christmas CDs are all compilation CDs that we've collected throughout the years.  This year, I think I'll break down and finally get the Elvis Christmas Album.

Elvis Christmas Album

I LOVE Elvis Christmas music! So, that's just a sampling of what's in our Christmas music collection. I'm glad you asked about the iPod. I can't wait til you get yours up and running. I better get busy importing some CDs.

~LilSis