3 Things - December

I always love the questions that Stephanie comes up with for 3 Things...

So I'm totally joining in with her December set of questions.. here we go...

Three food items I always have around in December.
1. Hershey kisses
2. Cheese & crackers. (something easy to grab & eat & also sit out for company)
3. Chips & salsa

Three things that make me love people
1. When their kind to animals
2. People that have a great sense of humor & is FUNNY!
3. People that shine the love of Jesus in all they say or do.

Three things that make me hate people
1. People who are cruel to animals
2. Users
3. Thieves. What is the deal with everyone stealing all the packages off porches lately?!?!?!?

Three Chirstmas songs I listen to the most
1. I heard the Bells on Christmas Day - by Casting Crown
2. O Holy Night  - Josh Groban
3. Noel - Lauren Daigle

Do yourself a favor & listen today


Three most recent Amazon purchases:
(I cant really say the MOST recent because hello - Christmas gifts!!!... but some of MY latest purchases)
1. Honest Company Calcium chewables... they are THE BEST!
2. A new battery for my cell phone
3. A charger for my cell phone to leave at work.

Three most recent book purchase
1.  The Selection series (which is technically 5 books)
2. The Greatest Gift - Christmas devotional
3. Side Effects May Vary - the same author who wrote Dumplin.... love her!

Three things I'll do before the end of 2017 because I want to.
1. Make a pumpkin pie
2. Go see Star Wars.
3. Get older... my birthday is in 2 weeks - & its better than the alternative.

Three things I'll do before the end of 2017 because I have to.
1. Clean my house for company.
2. Wrap presents.
3. Get older... I really HAVE to - aging does that.

Three words of the year for 2017 if I was a person who chose words of the year
1. Reinvention
2. JOY
3. Simplify

Play along... what 3 things would you pick?

The weekend that Christmas began.....

I am exhausted...

I'm not sure you're supposed to start out a Monday exhausted... but I am.

It was a busy, hectic weekend.... full of wonderful things... & some painful, I'm almost headed to the ER kinda weekend - but that's life, isn't it?

Friday, I left work & headed to a coffee shop to meet up with one of my youth kiddos & her momma to do some talking, discussing, praying, pondering & encouraging decisions.  I love & adore this family so much, it was wonderful to kick off my weekend with them.

I left them to take some dinner home & the plan was to go home & eat & go out with Ricky to do some Christmas shopping.  Except I stopped to get a salad for me & a pizza for Ricky at a place & I ended up being there for nearly 45 minutes. WHAT?!?!??!?!.... I placed my order & sat down, trying to be patient because the line was super long... & then looked up & noticed everyone in front of me had their food... & then the people behind me were getting their food.  I just had a salad that I saw sitting behind the counter... but my pizza was no where to be found.  I finally got someone's attention because they were so busy, I couldnt get anyone to listen.  I finally nearly grabbed someone by their arm & screamed HEYYYYYY!!!!! & told them, I've been here 25 minutes - is there a problem?  Long story short - no one knows what happened to my pizza.  & they had to remake it... & the line was so long again, it took FOREVER.  UNBELIEVABLE....

Needless to say, when I got home, I was not going back out.

That's OK - more puppy time.

Saturday, I was up bright & early (puppy life) & looking forward to the beautiful warmer day.

Gave me time to take my weekly pics of Ernie.

He's getting SO BIG SO FAST!!!! Seriously - we can see the difference in him every day.

He's going to be as tall as Harvey soon enough.

I then went over to meet another new baby in our family... my dad got a new minature horse.  HOW STINKIN' CUTE IS THIS BABY GIRL?!?!?!?!?!!?!

She's still getting used to her area so she's not allowed to run on her own yet... & heck, I wonder if she can slip through the fence as little as she is....

I left from my parents & had to get ready - it was Ricky's work Christmas party - which was super nice because we won some cash at our table for a trivia game.  Which is funny because we've won the past 5 years!!!! & there's like 17 tables. I dont know how we do it - & people are always like COME ON when we win... but it is almost comical.  Happy to walk out with some cash in my pocket.

But here's where my ER trip nearly happened...

& be ready if you're male... you might not get this... girls, you'll feel my pain, or you soon will... but with this perimenopause thing?  It's been KILLING ME.  Seriously - killing me. My doctor tried me on some progesterone medicine on my last trip 3 weeks ago - I couldnt stand it - it was making me sleepy, bloated, feeling not like myself - so I stopped it.  & mercy, ever since I stopped it, I have had cramps so bad, I couldnt even stand up.  Seriously - when we left Ricky's work Christmas party, I was walking to the truck hunkered over & when we got home, he nearly had to carry me in.  He wanted to take me to the ER but I was like, what are they going to do.  I dosed up on like 5 Advil's & was able to get to sleep... I even fell asleep in my dress I wore to the party because I just couldnt move once I got comfortable.

So needless to say, sleeping in a dress isn't that comfy, so I was up at 3am  - with a whiny puppy - & needed to change anyways - & Ricky got up too to check on me  - & we ended up all staying up till 4:30.... sigh.

SOOOO - I ended up waking up late for church - & still needed to take my shower - & STILL felt not  right or perfect... so I missed our MSM Christmas party. I was so bummed. But that will tell you how bad I felt - I NEVER miss anything with MSM - especially a party. But I honestly couldnt drag myself out there.

I was glad to lay down for a few hours before we headed to my SIL's house for our Vincent Christmas.  Always so fun to see everyone.. & eat yummy food.... & this year, Ricky & I took a game out to play - we are a competitive family.  Fun stuff.

& its just always fun to get updated pics.

There was one moment I took a pic of Evan, the youngest grand baby & it freaked me out because I remember taking the same picture with my nephew when he was about that age. Where does the time go?

But it was such a lovely time....

Everyone said I never get a picture since I'm taking it & my nephew took this one... & while I put up a fight, I'm glad to get this one with my sweet hubby

& then we headed home & really thought, Wow, Christmas is here.  With 2 Christmas celebrations, I guess there's no denying it.

I spent the rest of my Sunday wearing out a puppy... whew... we need to get some sleep....because again, Its Monday & I 'm exhuasted....

Here's to our final work week before the holidays REALLY kick in gear.

How was your weekend?

Did you do any Christmas celebrations?

Friday Favorites

Favorite Kitchen

A collapsible & dish washer safe microwavable popcorn popper

Super nice!!!!  & just for $20!!!

Favorite Fun Stocking Stuffer

Favorite Beauty & the Beast

Favorite Coffee Gadget

A clip to keep your coffee fresh AND a measuring spoon! 

PERFECT!

Favorite Car Gadget

Look at this car air freshner!!!

JUST LOOK AT IT!!!!

BLING-ED MICKEY!!!!!

Favorite Photo Item

I would love to see how well this works... but it has me totally intrigued!

Favorite Sneaky Item

SNEAKKKYYYYY!!!

A brush that you can hide your money in!!! Smart!!!

Favorite Funnies

Happy Weekend Y'all!!!!

Plug those ears, a good report & cards to remind others they are loved {Thankful Thursday #154}

837 / Ear plugs.
OK.... this is awful.... for Ricky.  Heaven for me.  With the new puppy, Ricky can sleep through things. Repeated noises, Ricky can somehow tune them out. Me? Its like someone is poking me in the eye balls with hot needles. I cant tune ANYTHING out.... so when the puppy was crying those few first nights, Ricky was sleeping like a baby. I couldnt handle it - so I put in ear plugs. OH MY GOSH. GAME CHANGER.  I am able to sleep through all the noise at night.  & poor Ricky, GOD LOVE HIM, is on puppy night duty & takes him & Bruno out during the night.  I'll do the summer duty - I cant handle the cold.  All I'm saying is ear plugs are from God - no doubt in my mind.

839 / Good Vet visit.
For BOTH Bruno & Ernie.  Bruno ended up gaining 2.2 lbs, which is great because he was down so much on our last visit & not looking great.  But he's still on an good streak.  & Ernie got a "Good puppy" written on his vet report, so we're happy with that.

Dude was asleep on the little side table!!!
The Vet said its going to be funny to watch him grow & know he's going to be bigger than this table in a few months.
I find nothing funny about that at all

841 / New hours at work
I've been doing it for awhile now & getting my routines down on drives to work & drives home & its SOOOO much better. It now takes me 35 minutes to get home, which is so much better than nearly an hour. & going in is a piece of cake with no traffic & quiet time in the office for a bit.

847 / Antennas on TVs
Is this the 70's where you have to move rabbit ears to get a signal in? ... well, since our stupid cable switched to everything streaming, we cant get actual cable (that we pay for... humph) on some tv's - so we have to just get local stations... except most tv's dont get local stations anymore. THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!   So we've been watching tv in our kitchen on a tiny Kindle Fire. How sad is that? ... but Ricky got an antenna & now we can get one local station in to watch the news.  It's all really stupid & dumb & something I dont WANT to be thankful for... but I am looking at the positive. Even if there is a huge ugly antenna now hooked onto our wall, up high, to get a better signal. Oh Lordy...

848 / Quilted stocking
A lady at my new job,  I found out, quilts.  & she brought in a stack of quilted stockings & gave away to everyone in the accounting department. How sweet is that? I saw this one with the cowboys & horses & knew my daddy would like it & she told me to take it & give to him. How thoughtful is that!?!?!

849 / Looked up to
One of my youth kiddos called me & told me in her devotional for the day, the challenge was to call someone they look up to & let them know they feel that way - & she called me. I was nearly in tears. How precious is that????

850 / First snow was kind
I hate snow... but I dont mind snow when it flurries & doesnt stick. & that's what happened on Saturday. I dread the big snows where the roads are horrible.

851 / Family Time for Christmas.
So thankful to Ricky's cousin for opening her home for all of us to get together this past weekend.

2 of my Sis in laws

Our cousin that hosted & my other sis in law
I always say it - I love my Vincent gang

853 / MSM Cookies
The MSM girls had a Christmas party this past weekend... & I couldnt make it because of the family's Christmas party. DANG IT.  But they made some cookies & brought me some in. OH MAN... They were DELICIOUS too!!!!!

854 / MSM Christmas cards
How cute are my sweet MSM girls - they took our small group time to fill out cards to send to people in the living facility that we served at the week before.  I really am loving they are making connections there.  One of the cards was even labeled, "HEY, ITS ME"  - haha... they want all these people they meet to remember them.  Precious. I pray it blesses some of those sweet souls that may not have people during the holidays.

& for a bonus... just because... still so thankful for this little guy... he's been in our family 2 weeks today!!!!! & he's already growing so fast!!!

& SO SMART!!!! He already sits, stays, wont touch his food until we tell him - & basically 95% already potty trained. WHAT?!?!??!! He's just the best.

What good things have happened in your world this week?

Shine Bright.....

We had a great little message the past few weeks at MSM about WAITING for Christmas...

How we need to be excited about the real meaning of Christmas - not waiting for the presents, or the time off school, or waiting for that yummy Christmas dinner or dessert. - though I am pretty guilty about looking so forward to my brother's broccoli casserole (THE BEST!!!)

This past Sunday we talked about the wise men... & the focus of the story was about that STAR in the sky that lead them to Jesus.

It was so bright & so noticeable, it drew their attention.  They knew they had to follow it to see what it meant.

The star itself didnt SAVE them, the star itself wasnt their SAVIOR... the star itself didnt do anything amazing except do what it's used to doing - SHINING.

& we had the challenge laid out to us to SHINE this Christmas season.

We are all around a lot of different people during this holiday.  Family, friends, coworkers.... so many people with so many beliefs & so many walks of life.  & your job?  You are made to SHINE.

You never know how your love for Jesus during this time of year can lead others to Him as well.

You aren't called to be someone's Savior, you aren't called to do something miraculous - take that pressure off of your head! ... you are just called to be who you are .... the amazing creation God created, shining back His glory to others.

You never know who will see your light so brightly & be led to Jesus this Christmas...

the whole point of why Jesus came in a manager....

SHINE BRIGHT THIS HOLIDAY MY FRIENDS!!!

The weekend I was found out I had a protege....

It is really Christmas?

It doesnt feel like it to me... we're just so involved with puppy fever & I've wrapped no presents & we havent even gone shopping... so yeah, I'm not sure it's Christmas at all.  Except we did go to a Christmas party so that did give a little dose of reality... & there was snow this weekend which really did add to the Christmas feel... so I guess I'll get there.

Friday started off with my usual grocery store trip.

I went with a list... from Ricky.... can you believe that?  He actually wanted ingredients to try & make some no-bake oatmeal cookies... which I dont understand, because it still involves a pot & heat & a spoon  & stiring & wax paper... all of that sounds like baking to me. Hmmm...

Anyways, Ricky gave me the list of things he needs... & I walked down the aisle & sent him this picture because everyone & their momma must have had no-bake cookies on their weekend agenda. Geez.

Saturday, I was excited to sleep in... except with a puppy, there's not going to be sleeping in for awhile.

I was actually glad to be up because it was so beautiful watching the sun rise - even when it was just for a second, because snow clouds came our way.

I had a few errands to run with my Etsy store & had some things I need to do around the house...

& of course, had to get in a new weekend picture of our boy.

I'm going to try & document every weekend so we can watch him grow.
Which is is doing WAY TOO FAST.

I can already see a change in his legs... they're getting longer. NOOO... I need him to be a puppy at least for a little bit.

& dont think I didnt document my other big baby....

& here is what I've dubbed the "nursing home section of the house" with the 14 yr old & almost 17 year old boy...

It's funny because Bruno has all of a sudden taken over Zoe's bed - so we pulled out another one we got on Black Friday & put it next to it & they have been side by side all weekend long. Its like old room mates.  I've totally got a whole story line in my head of these two & their nursing home days together.

I did a few other things around the house like laundry & bills - fun stuff...

while the dogs got to enjoy the outside & freedom

& the hubs got to work on his cookies.

Call me impressed.  For someone who doesnt even like to warm up soup, he did pretty good!

Then it was time to get ready to head to Ricky's cousin that was having a family get together.

How nice of her to open her home to everyone....

& I loved it because it gave me an excuse to get a Christmas sweater - they were having a contest.  I loved it because her son was judging the ugly sweater contest & when I lost, I said, HEY, ITS JESUS & he said, "THATS WHY ITS NOT UGLY" ... I gave him a high five on that.

It was so nice to see everyone. I just love these people.  This is Ricky's dad's brother... so our Uncle.  I just think he & his wife are the best people. So loving & kind....

& their kiddos are exactly the same.  I know they aren't "technically' my family by blood - but I totally take them as my own.

This is my aunt & uncle with their daughter... their son & his wife had to go to a work christmas party

One of the best part of the nights for me was seeing Paula's daughter (That's Paula above).... I have watched her growing up since I've been so blessed to do so many of their family pictures through the years.

Their middle daughter, every time, has always been so intrigued with the process of photography & has always been SO HELPFUL to me. Helping carry thing, equipment, blanket - whatever we were using. She just had a knack for wanting to know how it all worked....

so when she told me she asked Santa for a DSLR camera for Christmas, I just gleamed.  She said, "I want to be a photographer like you"... OK... I beamed EVEN MORE...

So I had brought my camera to the party & wanted to try & take some pictures, but I ended up handing it over to her & let her have fun with it.

My future assistant

Now - be warned - I dont hand my camera over to just anyone. I'm really protective over my stuff... & she is only in 5th grade - but I promise you, I trust this girl THAT much.  She really has that most potential that I already see.

& it was great - she got the best pictures of everyone at the party... I know everyone there is so thrilled she went around & snapped away.

Sunday, I was so excited to see my MSM girls - its only 1 more Sunday till we're off for 2 weeks & then start the final year of our 8th grade adventure. I cant believe we'll be in HSM next year (High School Ministry)... such good times ahead.

Needed an extra dose of caffeine for the day

I left from church & headed to see my Joysters on our final meet up for the year as well.

Crazy that it's near the end of the year - I really can't believe it.

I picked up some dinner for our puppy master.... or my husband ... he goes by both titles right now.

& then it was time to give my old man his every other day allergy bath.
I still am so thankful his skin is doing SOOO well.  He is going through a stage where he throws up water... but he did that last time he got his antibiotic shot.. & he had just stopped... when it was time to get his shot again... mercy. So yeah, we are constantly on a watch for puppy pee (which, knock on wood, he's doing pretty well at potty training) & old man water hacking.  Fun times up in the Vincent house.  Fun times.

& here we are again - at a Monday - so close to Christmas... so close to the new year... & oh yeah, so close to me & the hubs being one year older.  Always fun to add in both our birthdays in there (the 24th & the 30th)...

& still, none of it feels like its December. haha

So bear with me as I'm still trying to figure out my blogging with my new job.  It's been tough. I can only really blog at night now & I REALLLLLLLY gotta start getting my workouts back in ... & my knitting is suffering.... because old dogs & new puppies need attention right now.  I know I'm going to blog on Monday... & I'm totally going to keep Thankful Thursday up.... & I'm trying to keep Friday Favorites going as well... but that can be iffy... & Tuesday & Wednesday?  Well... like I said, we're just going to try & get some routine or plan down.  Life has been a changin' in every way possible....

How was your weekend?

Did you start Christmas parties?

Get any snow?