2011...here you come!

2010 has been a wonderful year. Absolutely overflowing with so many wonderful things.

As a brief overview:

1. First year of Marriage - beyond any expectations, absolutely wonderful.
2. Embracing my creativity - I tried in my timidity for boldness. And, the response has be amazing!
3. Enjoying Life - making memories with Ben, I'm learning how to relax.
4. Surprises - there have been a lot of surprises (who would have known *I* would have lived in an RV?!?!)

I am anticipating a lot this next year. I am looking forward to:

1. Learning how to sewing machine
2. Exploring other cooking adventures
3. Working to keep Ben my priority
4. More adventures

Come on 2011. I'm ready for you. For sure.

My Christmas Gift Project

Right after Ben's marathon, he wrote on his Christmas list that he would like a "special project from Bethany using my marathon items". Wow. Talk about pressure. It didn't take me long to come up with a plan of what I wanted to do.

Meet: The Girls With Glasses and Promise Tangeman.


Get Crafty With The Girls With Glasses from The Girls With Glasses on Vimeo.

While I love Promise Tangeman for all her creativity, spunkyness and my-all-around question of: WHY CAN'T I BE HER BEST FRIEND?!?!?!? ....This video did not come with "Bethany-directions". Essentially, to use a sports analogy - Give me the play-by-play. So, I took pictures for YOU. Hoping you would be inspired by Promise's craft idea, The Girls With Glasses great video and my pictures to go tackle this project for your Marathon-Runner. Or just yourself.

This is the "blank canvas I started with.

 

Overview of the supplies...Sorry you have to see my Washer Machine...But that is my craft space for now!

The map

Gloss Layer 1 (I wrote down the time so I would know how much time had passed)

Gloss Layer 2

Gloss Layer 3

Gloss Layer 4

Final Layer of Gloss!

Scrub off paper.

Be sure to rinse the images well, and let dry.

Ben's Early Morning Christmas Surprise Face!

Helpful Hints:
Follow the directions on the video to a "T"!
- Use a Laser Printer
- I got my paintbrush from the paint department at Wal-Mart. It was $1 and worked great.
-Have fun!

Christmas Eve

As much as I love Christmas, I really love Christmas Eve. And, this year, I love it even more.

One of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions is attending a candlelight service. I LOVE singing Silent Night or Come All Ye Faithful while watching all those candles light up one by one. It is an incredible experience.

I am also very thankful for my additional family. Ben's family. This year, we will be enjoying time with both his mom and his dad. And, I am loving the opportunity to spend quality time with extended family. It is something I didn't get a lot of growing up...but it is something I am tremendously enjoying now.


Life is good.

Christmas is ALMOST HERE!

In between the family gatherings, the giving and receiving of presents, the yummy food, and the (extra) magical twinkle of Christmas lights and telling Ben to step away from the tree for the FINAL TIME....I will also be sneaking multiple peeks in order to:

Track Santa's progress. 

Thank you, Google.

I love Christmas.

Year Old Cake

Part of our Anniversary celebration was tasting our wedding cake.

Yep. That year-old thing.

We had been told that sometimes it isn't good. That after a year, its is freezer burner and just all-around NASTY.

On our wedding day

Not our cake. Thankfully, my mother-in-law kept the cake in her freezer. Thank-goodness SOMEONE thought to take care of the cake. :)

This is how we had in the freezer. (minus the plate)

Do you see the frost?

Right before we took our first bit - a year later! With milk, of course!

Ben's first bite in action!

My pre-first bite!

Oh my goodness. I cannot even believe it. That cake is so good. It is not dried out, or freezer burnt. It was DELICIOUS! Has anyone else had any good one-year-old wedding cake stories?

It's Been A Year.

It started off crazy.

Ben woke up with news that our flight had been canceled. A blizzard was the cause of the cancellation of our honeymoon flight. He spent the hours leading up to our wedding ceremony re-planning our honeymoon. From scratch.

Our wedding ceremony might have seemed more like an elopement watched by our closest friends and dear family. 12 minutes tops. It was hysterical. If you were 15 minutes late, you missed it.

We got married after knowing each other for 7 months. 

Wedding Day 2009. Tupelo Photography

Regardless of the hysterical mishaps...it has been a year. Ben and I celebrate our ONE YEAR anniversary today. It doesn't seem possible. A year.

A year later: 2010. Mars Studio

It's been a crazy year. But, we have loved every moment. We've laughed. We've cried. We've fought. We've forgave. We've made a lot of funny memories. We've made memories. We've grown. We've weathered change of jobs, change of our home place. We've accomplished goals...we've achieved dreams. But the best? We've done it together. As husband and wife.

I love being Ben's wife. There is absolutely nothing like waking up in the middle of the night to feel Ben pull me close...to hear his panic when I yelp in the kitchen because of all the times I "almost" cut myself...No one else can make me laugh at silly jokes like Ben...No one else make my heart feel like it is going to explode because it is overwhelmed by love. Simply said, I love him.

It's been a great 1st year! I'm excited to see what this next year brings with Ben. 

Our Christmas Decorations.

Finally! I get to share with you our Christmas decorations. We had so much fun. Some of the projects were harder than I originally anticipated...(it's amazing how difficult a project is without a hot glue gun!) But, overall, we are so pleased with the end result. In case you are curious, we made the tree garland, tree topper, tree skirt.

I love our Tree Skirt. We cut a shag rug in half that we had in storage!

Last year, Ben made our Tree Topper. This is the one for 2010.

We lack a fireplace. So we improvised. And, don't you love the tacky  stocking lights? It was a White Christmas Party gift...AND I LOVE IT!

Even Milo got into the Christmas celebration.. (Ok. He actually HATES the reindeer antlers. But, I think it is SOOO funny.)

Not a decoration, but I had to share! My sweet little sister-in-law, Macie brought me a fun collection of cookies from her school Christmas party.

And, Macie made me a bookmark..that I will be making into an ornament because it so precious. This is the front.

This is the back of the bookmark. Ironically, my kitchen usually looks like this after I finish baking.