wedding week: getting ready

christmas eve marked our 3 month anniversary. i teased y'all with a picture stolen from facebook awhile ago but have been accidentally hoarding my wedding pictures for about a month.

so i thought i was about time to share with you some pictures from our big day. i'll share a bunch of pictures this week. hopefully you are ready for wedding overload!

first up? getting ready.

next up? the ceremony.

merry christmas

taken this christmas morning

our first as husband and wife.

hope your days were merry!

tis the weather

for soup.

i *lurve* soup. it's one of my favorite things ever. however, i am the type of person who can only eat soup when it is fall/winter. eating soup in the heat of summer just doesn't feel right to me. but on a day where the high is 50 degrees and it has been gray all day...now that is the most perfect day for soup.

a few weeks ago, it was that type of day. and so i gathered my ingredients and set out to make broccoli cheddar and potato soup. and oh it turned out so good.

broccoli cheddar and potato soup
recipe originally from here. my adapted version is below.

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup fat free milk
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small
• salt and fresh pepper
• 4 cups (about 2 heads) broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces
• 1-1/2 cups 2% shredded sharp cheddar
• 1 tbsp parmesan cheese

Chop onion, carrot, and garlic.

In a large soup pot, melt butter.  Add chopped vegetables and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add flour, salt and pepper to the pot and stir until smooth.

Add vegetable broth, milk and potatoes and set heat to high until it comes to a boil, then cover and cook on low until potatoes are soft, about 10-15 minutes.

Add broccoli florets, parmesan cheese, and stir well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Cook uncovered until broccoli is cooked, about 5 minutes. Add cheddar cheese, stir well and remove from heat.

Using an immersion blender, quickly blend part of the soup for a quick second or two. If you don't have an immersion blender (like me!), remove about 1-2 cups of potatoes and broccoli, place it in your chopper, then add it back to the soup. This helps thicken it a bit.

A and I really enjoyed this soup. I served it with some yummy bread and it made for a perfect meal. Enjoy friends!

girl christmas

we counted. this is girl christmas #10. i can't believe we have held this tradition for 10 years. it is truly one of my most favorite traditions that comes with this season and i love that we just keep going. we will be 80 year old ladies one day and will all be at girl christmas. i just know it. we all cherish it way too much to stop the tradition anytime soon.

this year was one for the books. perhaps one of my favorites yet? it was so special to spend time with these girls and see what everyone crafted. we chatted it up, opened gifts, squealed, ate gouda bites and sweet treats and hung out all day long. it couldn't be any more perfect.

this year (as we have done the past 3 years), the rule was that everyone would make a little something for each girl. and those little somethings have to be crafted (which make them extra special).

my craft this year was little picture magnets made to look like polaroids.

each girl got 6 magnets. some had jenna's gorgeous pictures (like those above), some had pictures of weddings, babies and families. they turned out wonderfully and i was so happy that each girl felt the same.

i originally got the idea from {here} which links up to {this tutorial}. i followed that tutorial completely. she even has a template to use in photoshop (which was the most helpful thing ever). I had some trouble finding the perfect backing for the pictures. i tried foam board (don't even think about it) and also tried artist drawing board. neither worked well and were super hard to cut. i ended up using the back of 2 notebooks. they were thicker cardboard but not too thick where i had a lot of difficulty cutting them out.

that is all i will say about that. i will let you follow her tutorial if you ever give this craft a whirl but feel free to ask any questions. it was a lot of trial and error for this girl.

the rest of the weekend was spent eating yummy food, shopping, staying up way too late, watching a christmas movie and squeezing baby parker.

it was such a great weekend. went by so so fast but A and I had such a great time. my goodness we are so blessed with such awesome friends in lexington.

until next year...

our first christmas home

so the last time we left off, we chatted about birthday dinners and other things. then thanksgiving came and went and now we are fully engulfed in the christmas holiday. i have been visiting with loved ones, shopping for wonderful gifts, listening to hours and hours of christmas music and crafting for girl christmas. i thought it was about time for a blog update. shall we?

our christmas tree is up and lit every single night. it makes me so very happy.

i went with a red/silver/gold theme this year for our little tree. we also picked up some little felted animal ornaments from crate & barrel last month. i love our tree. it's colorful and sparkly. love lighting it up every night.

one of our favorite little felted friends (you can see a little moose in the background too)...

since we moved to a new place, we now have a FIREPLACE. and although we don't ever use it (dang high gas prices), doesn't mean i can't jazz it up for the christmas season. i just put some mirrors up that i already had, put up my wreath i made last year and hung our new stockings. one for A and one for me. and one for a puppy. he needed a stocking too.

these little guys hang out up on the mantle too. love them. they were originally ornaments but i knew i wanted to cut off the string and put them on display. and now the two hang out on a christmas book on the mantle.

so there is our first little place all decorated for christmas. i love that we are about to experience our first christmas as a married couple. can't wait to make our own traditions and wake up on christmas morning together. oh what fun...