Christmas Shopping!!!

 D and I were talking last night about what our Xmas budget was and what we wanted to do. We were mulling over doing just stockings or a big gift that everyone in the house could use (He wants a freezer and I want a tent!! ) but still haven't made a decision. Since we're on a tight budget in order to be able to afford our adoption and our vow renewal this year we're limiting how we are going to celebrate.
We have agreed not to spend more than $100 per person and fill up a stocking and put gifts under the tree. The gifts aren't the important part to me. I WANT A CHRISTMAS TREE! Our last tree was destroyed by the Minions of Furry Doom aka our cats and we have yet to buy a replacement. That is my goal on Black Friday-find a beautiful tree for less than $100. I've been a busy little beaver slowly buying ornaments and I'm about to start my Christmas Crafting for our Tree Trimming Party that is coming up.

We're doing a candy cane theme for our tree this year. This theme is perfect for putting simply wrapped gifts under the tree! I'm sort of a Christmas Tyrant. Everything has to match and look good together! We will probably wrap with brown packing paper and add pretty tags..nothing too fancy. I don't want the presents to take away from the tree.
Speaking of presents, I'm THRILLED to share this wonderful resource for Xmas shopping with you! Make your gifts count twice when you purchase from Christmas Frenzy! Not only do you get a fabulous gift to give, your purchase makes an adoption THIS MUCH CLOSER to happening! Check it out and make sure you buy some awesome stuff!

Accountability

Alrighty, Peeps! It is almost time to start my new workout! In honor of my commitment to my weight loss journey, we will be hosting a "Fitness Friday" once a month with Shannon Ewonaitis, a coach for Team Beachbody.  Shannon is super excited to be guest blogging and I'm ecstatic with what I've seen from her so far!!
I'm one year away from THIRTY and I'm making a list of 30 things to do before I turn 30. Unlike Santa, I don't need to check it twice. I know what I want to accomplish!

1. Get down to Onederland
2. Host a beautiful Christmas dinner with a beautifully decorated house full of DIY decorations
3. Learn to do a smoky eye like Kim Kardashian's
4. Start the Rosetta Stone Spanish Language program
5. Make Lemoncello
6. Find the perfect pink champagne strawberry cupcake recipe
7. Fill every picture frame in the house (Yes...some of them are on the walls and empty!)
8. Cook a turkey perfectly
9. Learn to make Dad's stuffing
10. Buy more life insurance
11. Get Invisalign braces
12. Renew my vows
13. Take a trip to Vegas
14. See the Grand Canyon & Hoover Dam
15. Go Skiing (Mt. Crescent counts!!)
16. Take a Gondola ride
17. Become a Big Sister
18. Volunteer more
19. Host a Tea Party for Miss Doodle and Miss Roo (Doodle's step sister)
20. Make it through my 10 year reunion without puking or losing any of my self esteem
21. Organize my closet & get rid of things I'm never going to use
22. Organize my 1/2 finished projects & get rid of the ones I'm never going to finish
23. Make a gingerbread house
24. Go camping
25. Get a bikini wax
26. Find the PERFECT pair of jeans
27. Learn to walk in heels
28. Visit a B&B
29. Read a classic book
30. Learn to make pastellios

New things to try!!

Soooo.....I've decided that on Sundays I am going ot test out a new recipe. I LOVE cookbooks and food and recipes and food and trying new things and did I mention FOOD? We make a menu each week and make our grocery list from that and I've noticed that there are a few items that keep popping up on the menu each week.
While I am super appreciative of Dad and D's vocal love of my food, I want to try something new! Standby recipes are good because they work, they are easy to make and my family loves them. But incorporating a new recipe into the mix will spice things up!
On Sunday we will be trying a recipe from The Domestic Mama for her Caramel Apple Breakfast Cake. D has been bugging me for caramel apples and we saw an episode of Alton Brown where he made homemade caramel sauce so this recipe seemed like the logical thing to make!
I will post pictures of my kitchen during and after baking along with the guys eating it! Make sure you stay tuned because in the next few weeks we will be featuring Domestic Mama in an interview with some cool give aways!!

The Domestic Mama's picture of how the cake should look. SUPER YUMMY!!!!

Fundraising!

I'm the fundraising guru in this house. D generally is a behind the scenes load stuff up and drop it off kind of guy so I'm thankful for Auntie Em and Aunt Jessie, my new midwest best friend! They are an amazing resource to bounce ideas off of and to help me plan! After dinner a couple nights ago we came up with this TENTATIVE timeline of ideas:
September 3rd: Float down the Elkhorn River. Tickets are $20 and $10 goes towards our adoption fund. I'm very thankful to Mr. Man at Tubing Adventures for hosting our fundraiser. We will be floating down the river with some friends, some food, some drinks and some tunes! If you want to join us on our trip, email me!
September DTB: Tour of the Lucky Bucket Brewery

October (Possibly the 15th): Tailgate with our very own UFL team-The Nighthawks.
October (maybe the 22nd): Our annual Halloween party!! Always TONS of fun!

December: Help the Kings Find Their Missing Piece Puzzle-a-thon. We're going to get a booth at the local mall and sell puzzle pieces for $5-$10 a piece. The buyer will be able to fit the puzzle piece into it's slot and go home with an identical puzzle piece commemorating their assistance in helping us find our missing piece.

We would like to do something with our local Old Market Candy Shoppe downtown during November (National Adoption Month).
Any suggestions on how to make these events better? How about what puzzle to use? We want to be able to hang it in our baby's room after it's completed. Any fundraising ideas that have worked for you?

Make sure you send my awesome friends, Auntie Em and Jessica an email telling them how wonderful they are. I truly appreciate their help!