The Best of 2010

It's hard to believe that 2010 is already coming to an end! This has been such a wonderful year for us. Here's some of the high points.

1. I started a new job! I started working at Leadership Scholars on January 1, 2010. I can't believe it's already been a year, but I'm so grateful for a wonderful job that I enjoy.

2. I started this blog! I thought about starting this blog for months before I actually did it. I had no idea that it would become such a huge part of my life, and introduce me to an incredible online community. My favorite part has been "meeting" so many wonderful people from across the world!

3. We bought a house! It was sort of accidental... in that we weren't really looking to buy a house. That being said, buying this house was one of the best things we've ever done. I absolutely love it, and it's been fun to tackle home improvement projects together. It's far from finished, but we've in love with it!

4. I decided to go back to school. Getting my MSW through a part-time, UK program was a great decision, but it definitely has led to some adjustments in my day-to-day life.  I think it's going to get worse before it gets better, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

5. We got engaged!! July brought the most exciting thing yet... an upcoming wedding! Planning the wedding has been a lot of work, but it's also really exciting.. especially since it's just 100 days away!!

We also made new friends, spent time with old friends, worked on our house, attended weddings of people we love, played with new babies, went on vacation, volunteered, found a new church... oh, and I somehow found time to sew every once in a while too!

Wow - what a year! I guess I should spend the rest of it resting up before it starts all over again in 2011! Happy New Year, everyone!

Is Christmas over yet?

I love Christmas. I put my decorations up just after Thanksgiving with the best of 'em. They seem so magical on Christmas Eve. And the day after Christmas, they start to drive me crazy.

My mom usually takes her stuff down on New Year's Day. Zac's mom takes her down as soon as she can. And I usually try to do the same thing. I'm not trying to be Scrooge here, it's just that somehow, between December 24 and December 26, it turns from magic to clutter.

My co-worker leaves her tree up longer... as in, until Easter. No, I'm not kidding. I'll let you digest that one for a minute.

As beautiful as our tree and other decorations were, I can't wait to take them down. Now I just need Zac to get home so I can have some help doing it!!

I'm Back!!

Hello, friends! Sorry for my serious lack of posting - December was a crazy month for us! Between finals, wrapping up some major projects at work and the holidays, I just don't know where the time went!

We had the most wonderful Christmas ever. We were so spoiled by family and friends with gifts, ate until we weren't sure we ever wanted to eat again, and got to spend a lot of time with the people we love. I'd call that a great holiday!

One of our favorite presents was this little guy:

So far, we've realized that we have no idea how to use it, but we're excited to figure it out!

Imagine my surprise when I found out that Zac had built me a desk for Christmas! We had been talking about building one of Ana's desks, but I had given up on the idea when we discovered that we would need to invest in some major tools.  Then... I saw this!

I'll post a picture of the real desk once we have it set up. We're still unpacking from being gone! I hope you had a wonderful holiday as well... 

From our home to yours...

Wishing you the happiest of holidays - may it be filled with laughter and love!

Sewing for Others

I don't do a lot of sewing for other people, but this year I've done more than ever before. My sewing machine is also an embroidery machine (thanks, Mom, for foreseeing how much I would love sewing before I knew I would!), and sometimes I do embroidery for other people too.

And I hate it. Well, I sort of hate it. I love being able to save my friends money by monogramming their bags or other fun things. I love sewing quilted table toppers for friends. But I get SO NERVOUS in the process!

When I'm making something for me, or even to give as a gift to someone else, I don't worry about how it's going to turn it. It's almost always fine.  When I'm sewing for someone else, all I see are the millions of imperfections in what I'm making!

How do people who have ETSY shops do it? I recently won the world's cutest apron from Just Sew Sassy (picture coming soon!) and I swear it's absolutely perfect. As in, I looked for stitches that weren't totally straight and there aren't any. Incredible.

Today was a snow day in Cincinnati. I worked from home, but let's face it, can you really call working in your PJs work?? Yes, people who live where you actually get large amounts of snow, I know that this amount of snow is pathetic - but it's a lot around here.  Hope you're staying warm, wherever you are!

Going Global

I added this little widget thing to the bottom of my blog that tells me where people are reading from. Don't worry, it doesn't give me your home address or anything, it just gives me a general area.

This is pretty cool:

Pretty cool that there are so many readers outside of the United States, and that there are people who live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where there appears to be no land, who read my blog??

My last final is tonight, and then I promise I'll really be back. This has been a pathetic positing month, but the end is in sight!!

More flower girl eye candy

Seriously - is it possible to be any cuter?!?

Displaying Holiday Cards

One of my very favorite parts about the holiday is the cards!! I like sending cards, and I like receiving cards from our friends and family.

Last year, I started working on this project, and then I finished it up a few weeks ago. It comes from the "I Believe" Art to Heart book. If you've never seen Nancy's books, they are incredible. Her projects have such a great cozy yet modern style. I've made quite a few things from them, and I love them all!

Without further ado, here's my Christmas card holder:

The tree parts are actually pockets, and you can slide the cards into them.

A close-up of the appliqué. 

I love this design!!

So you can see the pockets...

Before you feel sad that we haven't gotten any holiday cards yet, we have gotten a few since I took these pictures! BUT - not very many... so send me one!!

Linking to:

* The DIY Show Off * Sumo's Sweet Stuff * Skip to My Lou * I Heart Naptime * Saturday Morning * Too Cute Tuesday at Polka Dot Giraffe * House of Hepworths * Somewhat Simple * Hoo's Got Talent * Kuzak's Closet * My Repurposed Life * The Shabby Nest * Fun to Craft * Sassy Sites * Remodelaholic * Kojo Designs * 504 Main * Creation Corner * Simply Designing * Freckled Laundry * Under the Table and Dreaming * Creations by Kara * Seven Thirty Three * Fireflies and Jellybeans * 

Checking in

Hello, friends!

I have not been a very faithful blogger recently, and for that I apologize! Things have been crazy around here since Thanksgiving.

• The end of the year means the end of an academic term, so things are busy both at work and for school. All of my school stuff will be wrapped up in the next few days (note: group projects are the worst!) and hopefully things at work will calm down by the end of next week.
• I have almost all of my Christmas presents bought, but almost none of them wrapped! That's on the agenda for this weekend.
• I'm not working on Friday, so hopefully I'll be able to do some sewing and some wrapping... and some holiday baking!!
• We're trying to figure out all of our Christmas plans, and there's just so much to do!! People to see, places to go - so much wonderful, but having it all at one time makes it a bit stressful to schedule.

I'll be back to my regular scheduled posting soon!

Fun Feature!

Today my festive bow wreath is being featured at one of my favorite places - Polly Want a Crafter! Seriously, is that not one of the cutest blog names ever??

Please stop by and say hello to Chassity!

Guest Blogger: Hannah from Young & Crafty

Welcome to my very first guest blogger!! Hannah's blogs is one of my favorites, and I think you'll love her as much as I do!

*******************************************************************************

I'm so excited to be here on Tara Being Tara today!

My name is Hannah and I blog over at Young and Crafty!

 Here's a smidgen about me. I've been married for about a year and a half and we've owned our home for that long as well. We have loved every minute of making it into our own special place! I love all things crafty, DIY, and cheap!  Here are a few of my all time favorite projects: 

This is my office craft space. I (and the hubs) redid the table and chair.

 This is our new kitchen (minus the cabinets).  

This is one of my all time favorite projects- a mod podged scrapbook papered ceiling fan!

Go here for a tutorial on how I did it!

I also host a weekly/every other week party. Let me explain. One week is Scraptastic Saturday where you link up your scrapbook paper related projects and the next week is Free for All where you can link up any project you've been working on.  I swap them every week!

 


 I'd love for you to stop by and link up! Come visit me sometime if you're bored :) Thanks so much Tara!

A Favorite Holiday Tradition

Each year, my mother, grandmother and I create Advent Baskets for people.  We each choose someone different, and we usually all choose someone who needs a little extra Christmas spirit that year, for whatever reasons.

The advent basket is filled with small holiday trinkets - it's not about the price of the items, it's about the smiles that they bring.  We usually fill it with holiday themed items from the dollar store and other inexpensive items. The recipients open one present each day, counting down to Christmas.

My Gramma wrote the poem, which gives the recipients instructions for how to open the gifts, and also reminds them to return the basket for next year! This is our forth year doing a basket for someone, but my mom and Gramma have done it much longer.

This year, we filled ours for my friend whose husband recently lost his job. Any additional happy that we can add to their holidays is so important!

What are your favorite holiday traditions?

Holiday Bow Wreath Tutorial

The holidays are finally here! I've had this project on my to-do list for weeks, and finally got around to making it. It was simple, cheap, and it is so cute!!

First, gather your supplies:

Lay out those beautiful dollar store finds to get a good idea of what you have to work with.

Arrange your bows, then glue them on:

Admire your beautiful handiwork!

Text pictures of it to all of your crafty minded friends, and then hang it up!

Happy decorating, everyone!

I'm linking up here:

* The Girl Creative Party Blog * DIY Living Party * DIY Show Off Holiday Highlights * DIY Show Off * Polly Want A Crafter? * Sumos Sweet Stuff * Skip To My Lou * Making the World Cuter * I Heart Naptime * Saturday Mornings * The Idea Room * Too Cute Tuesday at the Polka Dot Giraffe * House of Hepworths * Somewhat Simple * Hoo's Got Talent * Kuzak's Closet * Under the Table and Dreaming * Tatertots and Jello * Perfectly Imperfect * Remodelaholic * I Heart Naptime * 504 Main * Simply Designing * Not Just a Housewife * Centsational Girl * Too Cute Tuesday * House of Hepworths * 

Christmas is coming...

While I was home for Thanksgiving, we put up my mom's Christmas tree. Let's just say that this thing is intense!

I had to share some of our most memorable ornaments with you. My grandma has made ornaments every year for 26 years - these are some of my favorites!

And of course, Mom's tree is full of my memories...

Last year, my mom found these awesome glasses that make the Christmas tree lights look crazy:

And of course, lead to pictures like these:

We tried for the obligatory family shot, but this is the best one we got:

We're putting our decorations up today -- it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!!

A very happy holiday

I'll let the pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend speak for themselves...

I hope you had a wonderful holiday!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Today, I'm thankful for my amazing family... which means I should probably get back to spending time with them!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

Picturing our engagement

We took our engagement pictures today! Our awesome photographer outdid herself.... and these are just the teasers!!

LOVE THEM!!!! Can't wait to see all of the others!!