Winter Wonderland. Yes, I said it.

Last Saturday we went to the cabin for a night. On Sunday before heading home we took a quick trip to the local ski resort to see what the crowds were like. Chad's been to the dry slopes in the summer but hasn't seen it bustling with people in the winter. And now Chad is desperate to try snowboarding. So we're going to give it a go. Next week, to be exact.

Stars

This year for Christmas I made star ornaments for the women and girls in our family. I stitched a combination of new and vintage buttons to the front of the felt stars. The vintage buttons are from my great grandmother's collection. I'm happy with how they turned out.

Chad won an Emmy!

In August Chad was awarded an Emmy for his coverage of the Esperanza Fire in Southern California. He's been secretive about it but I couldn't be prouder! It finally arrived in the mail yesterday and here's a picture of him after he opened it last night.

Christmas Decor

Last Sunday we put out our Christmas decorations around the house. There are some in the dining room, living room, front window and door, kitchen and breakfast nook. Here's a sample of how festive our home is now.

Christmas Tree Cutting

Our second annual tradition for the season is cutting down a Christmas tree. We went to an historic tree farm and had fun finding the perfect tree. The one we found is 6 feet tall, bushy, and perfect for our home. Here's Chad working hard to saw it down.

Christmas Tree Lane

Chad and I started a couple new traditions this season, the first being our "annual" Christmas Tree Lane stroll. We walked four miles along a historic street with huge beautiful homes all decorated for the season. It was cold, but coffee and lots of clothes helped warm us up.

Decorations

Christmas is around the corner and if you don't believe me, come drive on my street. Over the weekend the residents in our neighborhood decorated their homes with lights, reindeer, snowmen, wooden signs, snowflakes and more. So much more. Clark Griswold, eat your heart out.

As you can see, Chad and I took the understated approach this year.

Mantel

This isn't exactly what I want for our mantel but it's getting there. I figured I'd put up a photo of what I have so far before we decorate for Christmas this weekend. Of course it'll look a million times nicer with new paint, but that's a project for another month.

Stained

This past weekend Chad stained our fence. All of it. Two coats. He worked super hard for two days and I think you'll agree, the mess was worth it. Now we match the neighbors, or at least don't stick out, and have protected wood for the next year or two.

New Yard

As I said earlier, we had a busy weekend. Yesterday we spent the morning going to nurseries and the afternoon planting new plants in the front yard. Our yard was landscaped when we bought it, but the more I looked at it the more boring it got. Last week I drew plans of what I wanted it to look like and picked the plants to go with that plan. We also had a certificate for free pansies so I planted a few more to thicken the rows already planted. We'll see how we like it once everything grows in.

Back row: alternating Indian Hawthorn and Razzleberri plants

Middle row: red New Zealand Flax and green Morea Iris

Front row: purple Verbena

(For some reason my computer will not make this photo smaller. It's really annoying.)

Pumpkin-Carving Party

Last night our neighbors Jim and Kellie had a pumpkin-carving party. There were about 25+ people there and everyone had a good time. Most people used fancy stencils for their pumpkin designs but Chad and I decided to rock it old school.

Tarantulas

• We had a busy weekend and managed to fit a lot into two days. Saturday we drove to Coarsegold to check out the annual Tarantula Festival. It was...interesting. On the way back to Clovis we stopped at an newish Indian gaming casino called Chukchansi. We won $20 at the blackjack table and got to play on their money for about 30 minutes. Fun! Later that evening we played tennis for a little while until rain started falling and we had to go home.

Tennis

The high school a few blocks from our house has 20 tennis courts. The public is free to use them when the kids aren't in school so Chad and I scoped out the area and decided to get rackets. The one I bought is purple and pink and Chad's is bright blue, as you can see from the photo. Last night we walked over to the courts and played for an hour. We had a great time and I only lost one ball. That's good, right?

Blinds

No more living in a fishbowl for us--we finally got our blinds installed today. Yay! We ordered white 2" faux wood blinds throughout and we love the way they look.

Guest Bath

The guest bathroom is finally finished, with a big thanks going to Mom for the help. We found dark brown Nicole Miller towels and shower curtain and I think they're perfect for this area. I chose light blue as an accent color, if you can tell from the photo, and once we find the right art for the wall, it'll really stand out.

We Got Booed

We came home from Shaver Lake this afternoon to find out we'd been "Booed". Haven't a clue what that is? Don't worry, neither did I! Turns out it's a suburban Halloween tradition. Since it's been awhile since I've lived in suburbia, this surprise was all new to me. On our door we got a Halloween bucket, candy, pencils, fall-themed oven mit and a little pumpkin figurine. Fun! We also were given instructions on what getting "Booed" is all about. Now we have a little sign in our window that says "Boo" so no one else in the neighborhood can get us. Here's more information on "Booing", if you're new to this like I was: http://organizedchristmas.com/youve-been-booed

Shoes

Today Chad installed shelving in our closet for our shoes. I'm excited because for the last month they've been in boxes--less than convenient, to say the least. He did a great job and I'm happy to see our many shoes again.

Shelving

Tonight we decorated our shelves in the living room. What do you think?

Anniversary

Two Years!

Furniture

After an extensive search we finally found our new sofa. We ordered a chair and ottoman to go with it and we're looking forward to their arrival. Because they're all custom-made it's going to take some time to get them. Early December is the estimate and we can't wait. Our sofa is dirty green with dark brown piping, but this is the style.

Flowers

I planted pansies in our yard today. I think they look cute.

Italy

We had a wonderful trip to Italy. Rome, Vatican City, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre and Venice--amazing!

New House

We finally bought a new house! It's about time, right? Apartment living gets old FAST and I'm so happy to have room. Many rooms, in fact! Here we are on move-in day.