29 gifts

For Christmas, my mom gave me a new book - 29 Gifts by Cami Walker. I must admit that I don't always read the books my mother shares with me, but I decided to pick it up last night and start reading...I'm so glad I did!

The premise of the book is to share one gift each day for 29 days. By sharing your gifts, you will open yourself to receiving gifts from others. The gifts aren't necessarily materialistic...they may be gifts of kindness or compassion. Sounds simple, right?

I hope to begin my own journey once I've finished the book, as well, so I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, I think I'm going to turn on the fire and start reading!

happy christmas

i know it's cliche, but christmas truly is my favorite time of year. i love picking out the perfect present, wrapping it and adding it to our tree. this year, i did most of the shopping by myself- one of the benefits of marriage as my husband jokingly calls it.

this christmas, we were able to spend time with both families...something we haven't done for five years. we celebrated with my family last weekend and spent the entire time cooking, crafting and watching football. earlier this week, we made the drive to columbus to spend time with the grinch side. we met the newest little grinch - tyler - and had a fun, relaxing time with family.

i hope you and yours had a wonderful christmas holiday filled with lots of love. happy christmas!

hello, stranger

it's been awhile, but i'm back. since i last posted, so much has happened. we had an incredible thanksgiving in kansas city at my sister's house. she planned the perfect meal and the weekend was capped with a tiger win over the ugly jayhawks. perfection!

my day job has kept me pretty busy over the past two weeks as we make preparations for the 2009 texas bowl. while i plan bowl activities during the day, i've had fun turning my attention to etsy at night. i've been filling orders right and left and then left and right. keeping up with orders has been a bit challenging, but it's also incredibly rewarding. i really enjoy knowing i'm making gifts others will enjoy this christmas season. i hope others will continue the trend of handmade and purchase something made by an artisan this holiday season.

until we meet again, happy holidays!

a gift to myself

I decided to treat myself to a little r&r this week and spoiled myself with three days of vacation. It's true that I've checked email and done some actual work, but I've enjoyed doing it in my pjs. I've also had time to do a little shopping (for baby tyler, of course!), work on some new jewelry designs, and catch up on some volunteer activities. I've been busy, for sure, but it has been peaceful and wonderful and fun!

I'm treating myself to some extra fun tomorrow...an early showing of New Moon with a friend and a hair cut with my favorite stylist. It will be a fun day topped with a family dinner to celebrate my husband's birthday. I know, the birthday celebration continues...and I love it.

I guess I'll get a head start on the day and turn in early...goodbye until tomorrow!

welcome to the world, baby g

it's a boy! little tyler john grinch entered the world early this morning on his uncle drew's birthday. seven is my favorite number and baby g has a lot of sevens. he was born on 11.23 which, when added up, equals seven. he also weighed seven pounds seven ounces. he entered the world in 2009. if you subtract two from nine, what do you get? ahhh....seven.

i'll continue to update you on my precious new nephew as i can. in the meantime, enjoy this beautiful photo of baby g!

i'm going to be an aunt

I totally can't sleep. My niece or nephew will arrive sometime in the coming hours and I'm freaking out. I'm so excited for his or her arrival!

My sister-in-law was due Dec. 2, but that went out the window this week when her doctor informed her that baby G could make his or her way into the world any time. They're at the hospital now and I'm selfishly hoping the baby will arrive sometime after midnight so he or she shares a birthday with my husband. It's after midnight my time (central), but the baby is on Mountain Time. Just hold out a little longer, baby G! ;)

I don't know how I'm going to get any sleep tonight, but sometime tomorrow I'll happily introduce you to my new niece or nephew. Until then, goodnight.

rivalry week

I know this is my first post, but there's something I must tell you up front - I hate the jayhawks. What is a jayhawk, you ask? It's a mythical bird. The lamest collegiate mascot in the land. Although Ugly Fugly labeled them the fourth ugliest collegiate mascot, I must disagree. On this matter, and this matter alone, I rank them number one.

It has been a tough week for the fighting Manginos. If you haven't heard, their head coach is battling to save his job. According to several current and former players, he has done more than push players around or poke them in the chest. He has allegedly made some racist remarks to his players. This is not only unprofessional but completely inhumane. Mangino believes these complaints are from only one percent of the program, the people who "want their fifteen minutes." While I love seeing kU in trouble, I have to wonder where the other 99% are right now and why they're not speaking up to save their coach. Either way, I think it's going to be tough for the big man to keep his job.

Despite these distractions, I'm still nervous about the 2009 installment of the Border Showdown. Although the beakers are 5-6, a win against us would mean more than braggin' rights - it would mean bowl eligibility. I know we're better. Heck, we're much better than our 7-4 record, too. But it's still going to be a tough game.

As the week winds down, I'll be ready for this Big 12 battle. You'll find me at Arrowhead in my gold, cheering on my beloved Tigers. Here's to a solid week of preparation and the dismantling of the beakers. M-I-Z...