Bringing in the New Year Right

I am off work tomorrow, YAY!

This weekend I'm going to do some of my favorite things: a date, sleep, shopping, family, & friends :)

We got lots of gift cards for Christmas so Kyle and I are going on a date tonight. Nothing special but it will be fun to go out :)

SLEEP IN! O man I cannot wait! Besides having to let Bentley out a bunch of times I'm going to snuggle in my bed with the heated blanket and not get out :)

We have gift cards to a couple of stores and Kyle & I both desperately need some clothing items. Kyle needs socks and athletic shorts and I need jeans {why are they so hard to find?} Hopefully I will have luck finding these items :)

Friends: There will be lots of people over our house for our "After Christmas Party" I love being with my friends and can't wait to laugh and catch up!

Leah and Ashley {the two blonde's on the right side} are coming in! Weather permitting we are going to ice skate downtown but I LOVE when they come in and am super excited to catch up!

We will also be visiting with our families and having Bentley play with his other doggy friends, have a great one!

A New Year

2011 is going to have one major change that I am certain of, I'll be done with school FOREVER at the end of February. Having my bachelor degree is not only a major accomplishment in my book but also is a big weight off my shoulders. Here are some things {in no particular order} that I would like to do/hope I stick with for 2011

1. Get a Hobby. Work & night class has consumed much of my time and when I'm not doing those things I usually just want to relax and hang out but I have realized I don't have a hobby. I have started to become crafty which I'm sure will turn into my hobby but I want to have stuff that occupies my time so I am not bored.

2. Craft/Bake. I would like to try something new in these two areas at least once a week but that might not happen. So a realistic goal would be AT LEAST once a month. I love trying new things that do not look too difficult. Most of the time they do not turn out like the picture but at least I can say I tried.

3. Go on little trips with Kyle. With our different schedules it is important that Kyle and I make time for just us. I hope to take a few little trips over this next year. I would LOVE to take a big trip at the end of the year celebrating both of us being done with school :)

4. Be a better YL leader. With the new free time I'll soon have I hope to go to more games, meet more kids, make new relationships, maybe start a bible study but most important bring light to the lost. Our prayer as a team is that God will show us more of his plan and that we will be able to tell kids about a God that loves them for who they are.

5. Job search. I would be absolutely giddy if the Lord provided me with a new job this year. With a Bachelor's degree I hope to find a job that is what my degree is in and closer to home.

6. Bible Study. I have MISSED the fellowship of a women's bible study with women my age. I am going to be searching hard to find a bible study this year.

7. Work out. I always feel bad about myself when I don't workout and with school and work I could not commit to a workout plan because all I want to do is sleep when I come home from school at 10 pm since I have work the next day. I'm not a hard core workout person but I do like the way I feel after I work out. The sense of accomplishment and I have more energy when I workout. Kyle has P90X which I am going to try but I am also going to rent workout videos from the library and also maybe join a workout class.

These are just a few of the things I hope to do in 2011 :)

It's no longer a secret

Meet Ashley

Ashley and I have been friends since middle school! We have known each other for a long time and always get asked if we are sisters when were out. I have lots of great memories with Ashley of us growing up together and tons of funny stories. Some of my favorite memories are working at Cleves Park together, going to Ashley’s relatives in Tennessee for Thanksgiving, and hanging out at each other houses. I am so blessed that Ashley and I are great friends!

She was pregnant during our wedding but lost the baby a week later. But...now they are expecting again! She is almost out of her first trimester and I'm officially allowed to tell people now :)

Ashley & Ryan we are really excited for you guys! We will be praying for you and can't wait to shower your little one with love and gifts! 

Celebrating Baby Stecher

Caleb Jackson Stecher is now two months old but I still wanted to share the shower I threw in his honor. I need to remember the details so I can repeat some of these great ideas for some besties that are having babies :) The shower was a  gender-neutral, book themed party.

The decorations for the shower

The rainbow cupcakes before they were decorated

The top of the cupcakes looked like pacifiers, Martha Stewart is so creative!

This was one of the gifts I made for Baby Caleb. It turned out great and was super easy!

I stole this idea from Jen. Caleb's room is Jungle themed and I just had to make it!

Carrie loves UK and Mike loves UC. Kyle's Dad got Caleb his first UK T-shirt but wanted to make sure it was protected so he got a UC bib just in case Caleb decided to spit up :) Kyle's family LOVES UK.

I saw this idea from Rachel's blog and knew it would go perfect for our book theme.

We had some artists at the party. My pages are not picture worthy :)

I had the book laminated

The inside cover. It shows Carrie at her stage of pregnancy and everyone who made pages in the book

Here we are at the hospital waiting for Caleb to arrive

This is how excited we were to be A. Jenny & U. Kyle again :)

Uncles :)

Caleb has arrived :)

Here he is now, what a cutie!

Thanks Jen, Rachel, and Martha Stewart for your inspiration/stolen ideas to make this shower great!

His 1st Christmas

It was not only Kyle & I's 1st Christmas as Mr. & Mrs. but it was the 1st Christmas with our big pup Bentley!

Bentley looks so mean in this picture {which is not his personality at all, he runs from little dogs that bark at him :)}

Here is a good one :) He loves his new toy!

Semi-Homemade Christmas

I wanted to make Baby Caleb's gift and since he needed some pictures for his room I thought this idea would be perfect! His room is also jungled theme so this was a must!

Who knew you needed to check the size when you ordered a book, not me. The book I ordered online {on the right} for a great deal was obviously too small but I finally found the right size at Barnes and Noble

I used Kyle's knife to get the pages I wanted

Finished product. All I did was take the pages I wanted and framed them, simple as that. I LOVE how it turned out! {ignore the glare from the window on the frames}

A closer look

I could not be more excited about how this turned out! It was simple, quick, and did not cost a lot.

Project Cost:

Three 8 x 10 Frames from Michael's: $11.00 on sale

Book from Barnes and Noble: $18.00 {yes, I know that is a lot for a book {do they want parents to read to their kids?} but I'm sure you could find it cheaper online but I was on a time crunch}

I will never look at a book the same!

Thanks for the inspiration and check out the tutorial and awesome blog, it is full of great ideas!

Simply having a wonderful baking time...

Have you heard this song {If Kyle loved cookies this could be our festive Christmas song :)}

Here are a few things I made this Christmas. I am by no means a baker, but I like to try new things if it does not look too hard.

I made these with my friend Theresa. They looked really cool but I don't think I'll be making them again. The Jolly Racher center was hard to eat. You were not sure if you should chew it {since it's a cookie} or suck on it because of the Jolly Rancher.

This is an ornament cake I tried. It did not turn out the best since some of the cake stuck to the pan but it was still fun to make. I choose fun fetti cake with nerd rope and skittles to decorate with.

It is FINISHED

Kyle & I decided instead of presents {but we agreed to write Christmas cards to each other, cute story to share soon} for each other we wanted to spend that money on the house for Christmas. With the help of Kyle's Uncle, we were able to get our shower tile fixed and new fixtures for the sink and shower.

{this is what was around the knobs in the shower}

{this is what it looked like while they tiled}

{the new fixture for our sink. Kyle put all of the fixtures in himself. I'm ALWAYS impressed at how handy he is!}

{what our shower looks like now! I love it}

{a closer look}

I'm really impressed at how it turned out and glad we could update our house and did not have to spend lots of money with the help of Kyle's Uncle.

Shake it up, shake up the happiness, come on you all, it's Christmas time!

I have had this song in my head all December! Or have you heard this one, a new favorite!

May the timeless message of Christmas fill your home this Christmas season! The birth of our Savior is something I take for granted because of his sacrifice I can have a genuine, honest, loving relationship with the Lord that I can't have with anyone else. May I always treasure Jesus birth, life, and death.

Merry Christmas from the Croffords!

The things we do because we love you.....

When I went to my parent's house yesterday to make buckeyes for the cookie exchange{our buckeyes were really like acorns. We should have made them the day before because they were still kinda soft when we exchanged them :). live and learn.} My parents house was freezing!! Their furnace just went out and they are getting a new one today. So after Kyles basketball game we went over my parents house to give them these

{our heated blankets}

My parents were going to sleep with their space heater on but Kyle was not going to let them do that. Being a firefighter he has seen numerous houses catch on fire because of space heaters being left on at night. So here is a tip NEVER SLEEP WITH A SPACE HEATER ON, NEVER!

Our bedroom is upstairs and not as insulated so we sleep with our heated blankets to keep us extra warm :) So last night we decided to sleep downstairs in our spare bedroom in a FULL size bed. I had mentioned that it has been hard for us to sleep in a queen size bed so sharing a full size bed was an adventure. We woke up a ton and kyle hit me in his sleep! I have no idea what he was dreaming about but he must have been fighting someone because it was more than just a tap. On a positive note, I did not get cold at all in that bedroom :)

So Mom and Dad because we love you we were willing to give up our nice, warm, fabulous heated blankets so you could be safe and warm, hope you enjoyed them! :) 

"I want to wash my hair with snow?"

Have you heard this song {ignore the video}? I have been hearing it a ton and every time it makes me laugh!

Besides hearing this song on the radio I will also be

Going to a outdoor Nativity with my madre at the Creation Museum

Watching this movie with Kyle's fam {it's a Christmas tradition}

Participating in a Cookie Exchange Connie is hosting. My mom and I are bringing buckeyes :)

{click here to check out this awesome site with lots of free templates and ideas}

I will also be finishing shopping/wrapping presents, enjoying lots of cookies, and spending time with Kyle and our families.

Have a great one!

{4}

I can't believe it's been four months! This past month Kyle and I are learning how to communicate better. Communication has never been our greatest strength and is something that we knew we would have to continually work on. Sometimes we think since we have been together so long that we know what the other one is thinking but more than likely this turns out wrong because we did not communicate with each other. Our miscommunication causes hurt feelings, wrong information, frustration, etc. We are now learning how to work on this better and have even told each other what we need to do to make sure we are on the same page.

Sometimes we fell like this..

{via}

Miscommunication will always happen but hopefully it will not be as big of an issue the more we continue to work on it.


Happy Four Months Babe!

O how I would LOVE to be at the beach right now with my husband!

My first DIY

I saw this idea from Katie's blog and really wanted to try it for myself. I LOVE how it turned out and is one of my favorite parts of the house!

I gave it another coat of white paint

We used foam tape {that you use to hang up posters} to keep the photos on the wall

Final product! I LOVE IT!

a closer look

This is what I see when I walk into the room{yes, Bentley layed there the entire time we worked on this project}

Project Cost:

Frame $5.00

Paint $0 extra from painting the house

Printing pictures $0 extra from the wedding

Kyle was a HUGE help in getting this up {he did the measuring and screwing it into the wall}, thanks babe I REALLY could not have put it up without you! Thanks Katie for the inspiration.

My first Holiday DIY

I saw this idea from Rachel's blog and wanted to try! Here it is

I choose royal blue yarn with white and grey flowers. I wanted it to have a "winter" feel so I could keep it up longer than a month {yes, it also conveniently is UK colors :)}

{i LOVE walking up to our front door}

Thanks Rachel for the inspiration! Check out check her blog for instructions on how to make this for yourself!

A blast from the past

Kyle's uncle took this picture in the summer of '08. It's crazy to look back and see how we have changed {physically} and the life changing moments that have happened in the past two years. Carrie and Mike are married, with baby Caleb, and their dog Clutch. Kyle and I are married with our "precious" dog Bentley and I think we look a little older {I was growing out my hair for Locks of Love, it was sooo long}.  Timmy and Sarah are both high school graduates and are Freshman and Sophomores in college {Timmy's hair is also not as crazy now :)}

I wonder what the next two years will hold? I'm sure their will be college graduates, babies, more dogs? God has it figured out, we will enjoy his perfect plan and timing!

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party, yes please!

It's time for the Annual YL Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

{our sweaters were gross last year, the poor people who wore these before us would probably gasp if they knew we wore them to an ugly sweater Christmas party :)}

Sadly, this year my sweater is not really that ugly {can you believe I could not find one! Goodwill had a 50% off sale the day before so all the "good" ones were taken} But my friend Theresa is getting my vote, she has a great outfit.

The weekend will also be filled with Kyle's work Christmas party on Saturday, shopping and wrapping presents, and hopefully sleeping in.

Have a great one!

Tis the season

For Photo Christmas cards!

Here is what will be coming to a  mailbox near you {when they come in :)}

our little family :) {I think Bentley looks the best out of all three of us lol Kyle & I are squinting from the sun}

Here is Kyle's Parents photo

My Parents Christmas Photo

This might be the photo the Stecher's choose

This is a tradition that Kyle & I are going to do every year! It will be fun to see how our families change over the years.