3D!

This weekend we were able to go see Disney's A Christmas Carol in 3D!

I LOVED this movie!  My hubby & my in-laws went with.  I've never been to a 3D movie before, but it was very cool.  I think I'll be buying it when it comes out, hopefully in 3D!  I would not recommend it for children under 10 though as some parts are quite scary.  They added a bit to this version, but again, I really enjoyed it.  Things jumped out at you and felt as if you could touch them!  Very creative!   Definitely a Must See.

I did it!

After 14 months of marriage, I've finally ordered wedding pictures!! :-)  Just a small victory over here at the Crane's, as I've been putting it off for some time now! (14 months to be exact!)  It's a process as I'm sure a lot of you brides know! And the fact that my photographer didn't use a digital camera (don't even get me started), we have less pictures to go through, but we don't get to see them online! :-(  So anyway, I'll be happy in the moment for now and forget the things I cannot change!

Update on how Thanksgiving went at our home to come later this week.  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I've officially started decorating for Christmas, as I can see, many of you have as well!  Isn't it great?  I love Christmas!!

Happy Monday! :-)

Thanksgiving

What are you thankful for?  So, right about now I'm whipping up a turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy and green bean casserole, awaiting the arrival of my In-laws, my parents, my brother & future-sis-in-law and my brother-in law. I cannot wait until our home is filled with the delicious smell of Thanksgiving and the sound of family.  So, I've planned ahead of time to provide you with my Thanksgiving Post.  I'm sure many of you are busy today but, I just want to wish all of you a very happy and family filled Thanksgiving Day!

I thought there would be no better day to do a Thankful Thursday than Today, Thanksgiving Day 2009! 

I am thankful for:

• My family.  There is nothing more important in this world than my family. I love them and do not know what I would do without them. (This includes all family members, extended family & In-laws!)
• Good Food.  I am hosting Thanksgiving for the 3rd time and I am very excited.  I love that everyone is willing to come to our home (even though we live a ways away).  Everyone brings something to share, we make the turkey & the potatoes & gravy.
• Thanksgiving.  This is my favorite holiday!  I love eating delicious food and relaxing all day long.
• My job.  I am thankful that I have a job and even more thankful that I get Thursday & Friday off!
• Great weather.  I think this is probably the first Thanksgiving day that we haven't had snow on the ground.  It's suppose to be about 40 degrees and beautiful!
• God.  I am so thankful that I believe in something bigger and grater than myself.  With Faith anything is possible.

What are you thankful for on Thanksgiving of 2009?

A little treat for ME!

I figured since I am taking off early today (noon) to get some grocery shopping and cleaning done and since I'll be slaving away cooking Thanksgiving tomorrow, I might as well do something to relax myself!

I'm treating myself to a pre-Thanksgiving massage today at 4:00! I cannot wait.  This is probably my most favorite thing in the world.  Whether it be from my hubby or a professional, I do love me a massage!  So, don't be jealous, go out and get yourselves one! :-)

Have a great Wednesday!! :-) 

Imperfect

Brittany over at Living in the Moment post about being imperfect.  Well, I'm definitely not perfect, by any means, so I'm here to tell you why.

I would so much rather wear a t-shirt to bed than any of that lingerie.

I think the idea of working out and eating healthy is so wonderful and would be so beneficial to so many people out there.  I however have the hardest time turning down a brownie, cake or cookies.

I eat incredibly fast, without any gracefulness.

I go back for seconds, almost.every.time.

I sometimes look at other people's lives and envision what it would be like to have enough money not to work, to have an amazing house, and to not worry about money problems.

There are times when I wish I didn't care so much about my body so that I could just eat everything and anything I wanted.

I'm sometimes jealous of people who are pregnant.  I so want it to be my turn, but we aren't even trying yet.  I guess the possibility of it all not working out scares me.

I'm a planner, I like things to be sorted out.

I don't take enough risks.

I HATE high heels, tight jeans & fancy tops.  I would much rather be comfortable than look fabulous.

Even though I know my husband loves long hair, I got it cut anyway.  It'll grow back :-)

I hate change.  I am a firm believer in traditions and it's hard for me to let those slip away.

I'm really good at arguing, but I'm quick to throw whatever words I can come up with at the other person if I'm angry.  Then, later, I forget it when it's too late.

My mouth gets the best of me, yet I still have a hard time keeping it in check.

There are moments in my life when I wish I could just give up and throw in the towel, but I have yet to do it. (this applies to jobs and school mostly)

I talk about standing up for myself and doing things my way, but I do care sometimes what other people think.

I'm a Target, Kohls & Old Navy freak.  Forget those fancy schmancy stores!

I'd rather shop the clearance rack than spend the extra money at another store.

I won't buy anything full price at said favorite stores.

PJ's are my best friend at night and everyday of the weekend.

I would rather spend a night in watching movies with my husband than go out, Any.Day.

Sometimes I complain way too much.

Sometimes I hurt people's feelings because I'm out spoken, sometimes I feel bad about it.

I can't stand when people are wishy washy on their decisions, it drives me crazy.

I'm not perfect, not even close.  I think that being imperfect makes us perfect.  Everyone has their flaws, only some choose to embrace them and some choose to hid them.  So don't be alarmed if you see me shopping at Target in my sweatpants! 

The Speaker Maker

I've mentioned before about my Husbands abilities and passion about speakers, so I'm here to do another post on his most recent project!  He built these from scratch, just pieces of wood (but I don't have those pictures) 

These are the JC2's (Yes, I just named them!)  These first few pictures are after he sawed and put them together.  He had started staining before I had a chance to take pictures!

There they are!  Aren't they gorgeous???  I love the two-tone color of them.  They sound incredibly good too!  He spent about 40 hours working on them, so it was a lot of work.  He is very happy with the finished product though!  And so is his wife as now he can start working on house projects! haha (Just kidding honey!)

Stuffing

So, here is the conversation I had with my mom this weekend...
(First, let me get you up to speed, I LOVE my mom's stuffing, it's fantastic, and she makes it every year)

Mom:  I'm not making stuffing this year

Me:  Um.... Why not?  You have to, its delicious!

Mom:  I was just watching something on TV about how each serving of stuffing has the equivalent saturated fat of 3 Large orders of french fries from McDonalds!!

Me:  Well that probably depends on how you make it and I'm sure you don't make it like that... Right?

Mom:  Yes, Kayla... It's how you make stuffing. 

Me:  Well I'm sure it depends on how much you eat, nobody can eat that much stuffing.

Mom:  It's 1 cup, one cup has the same amount of saturated fat as 3 large french fries...

Me:  So you mean to tell me that the helping of Stuffing I enjoyed last year was like eating 12 large orders of french fries from McDonalds??!??!?!

Mom:  Yes.  That is correct.

Me:  You better not make stuffing this year!

Weekend Recap

We had a great weekend!

Friday:

We went grocery shopping and came home to watch Star Trek which wasn't all that bad.

Hubby LOVED the movie so he's not only seen it once now, but he has seen it three times! haha

Saturday:

This was psychotic SUPER cleaning day. 
No joke, we spent eternity  cleaning!  Nearly 8 hours before I sat down.
Then we had game night!  It was so much fun!  We had about 12 people in all.  I made three dishes, all of which went over quite well!  I'll have to share those with you on a different day.
We played Catchphrase, Celebrity (which was so much fun) and What's Yours Like.
After 6-7 hours of game playing, we called it a night.
I was beyond exhausted!  But it was a great night.

Sunday:
For some unknown reason, I was unable to sleep in, so we got up and ate some breakfast.  Our good friends, Tim & Hillary came from out of town to join in on Saturday's festivities and so they kept us company for a bit on Sunday morning.  I fell asleep while we were watching something on TV for about an hour!  After they left, I was able to meet up with my mom and her friend for lunch, do some shopping and head home to work on my paper that was due!  Apparently I'm quite the procrastinator and can find a million other things to do than do my homework! 

I hope you all had a great weekend and have a great short week!! :-)

I Believe

I believe in:

Love ... Maybe not at first sight, but I do believe in Love.

Miracles

The power of God

Date nights even after you've been married for years and years

Finding the good in people

Not holding grudges

Forgiveness

Celebrating Valentines day, in whichever way you please

The power or Prayer

Being Thankful

Family

The Little things

Friendships-

the kind that stay strong even though you don't talk or see each other every day

Getting what you put into things

Love only fades when you stop noticing the little things

Love is great, but it's hard at the same time.

Divorce isn't always the answer, maybe it's searching a little harder to find the person you fell in love with.

Hardwork:

It does pay off

The saying:  Good things come to those who wait

Living life the way you want to live it.

Showing and expressing your love at all times to those who matter most in your life.

Saying I love you as often as possible, because you never know when you may not get that oppourtunity again.

This is a list of things that I believe in.  What do you believe in?

Thanks to whomever posted their own "beliefs" post, I cannot remember who.  If it was you, let me know and I will give credit!  I just think it's important to remember the things that we believe in and stand true to those beliefs!

Credit:

I need your help!

We're having a game night on Saturday and we are providing the snacks!  I have no idea what to make!  I need a few ideas that are not too difficult and definitely crowd pleasers!  Any ideas?

So far I'm making:

Mer's Bacon Jalapeno Dip

My Spinach Dip (If you want the recipe just ask)
&
The infamous Lil' Smokey's

Does anyone have any ideas?  I want to make 2-3 more things.  They can be desserts, dips, anything!

Edit:  Thanks for all the great suggestions!!!  Now I'm having an even harder time deciding what to make! :-) 

Sugar Doll

The fabulous Brittany Ann at Living in the Moment gave me the The Fabulous Sugar Doll Blogger Ward!

This is my second award ever and I am very excited about it!! :-) Thanks Brittany! 

The rules:  I must list 10 Interesting facts about myself that you don't already know!

This is probably more difficult and I hope I don't lose any of you because I'm not all that interesting :-)

Without further adue:

1.  Thanksgiving is my all-time favorite holiday!  I love the fact that all you do is get together with family and EAT!  Then you may watch some football and then EAT some more!  :-)  If you cannot tell, I love eating!  haha

2.  Even though I love Thanksgiving, so very much, I Love Christmas almost just as much!  I love wrapping presents, listening to Christmas music and spending time with family.  O, and I love decorating for Christmas.

3.  This is related to the above, but I cannot stand when people put Christmas lights up before Thanksgiving, let alone before November!  I know the weather is a bit nicer, but come on.... Thanksgiving is a holiday too and it deserves just as much respect on it's reserved day!

4.  I have worse handwriting than a 12 year old boy.  No.Joke.

5.  I have no self control when it comes to brownies, cake or cookies. I think I need an intervention.

6.  I cannot have company over unless the house is at least picked up.  Even if it's hubby's friends, I have to scramble to clean before they come over.

7.  My hubby and I are getting a camera for Christmas (with the help of my parents) and so we've put a limit on Christmas spending for each other.  I've bought him one small thing, but otherwise he is SO hard to shop for.  He pretty much gets what he wants within reason, so buying him something is so very hard.  He'll tell me what he wants, but I hate giving gifts when people know exactly what it is.  There's something about surprising people with a gift that I love.  I love getting them something that I think they will love and then seeing the reaction on their faces.

8.  Whenever I go shopping, I'll end up always returning something.  I have a thing about not trying clothes on at the store.  I hate dressing rooms and the idea of trying clothes on in them. 

9.  I too have road-rage.  Sometimes I'll go so far as to honk unnecessarily and I may have tailgated a time or two in my whole 8 years of driving :-)

10.  Surprises are my favorite.  Though, 10 9 out of 10 times I'll try to figure out what it is.  Hubby is great at giving bad hints so that I can never guess what it is.  I don't actually want to know what the surprise is, but there's something about surprises that makes me go crazy and try to figure it out anyway.  He's learned to be pretty sneaky when giving me surprises.

Now, 10 of you lovely ladies are very deserving of this Fabulous Sugar Doll Award!  Those lucky 10 are:

Mrs Bee at Secret Life of Sass & Lex

Jamie at His 'n Her Towels

Ashley at Joshley and The Charles

Abby at Life with B & A

Becky at The Branches

Kait at My Crazy, Unpredictable Life

Sara at That's Sassy

Taryn at The Colorado Desert

Lucy Marie at Lucy's Life

Summer at B is for Brown

Thanks so much Brittany!  It was fun learning new things about you! :-)

Prayers Needed

Edit:  My grandpa is having surgery tonight to clear a blockage to his heart.  I'm not sure what all the surgery entails, but as far as I know, it's a pretty common surgery and should go as planned.  I'm not sure if I will get updated again tonight or not, so I will update tomorrow on his status.  Thanks for your prayers!

My grandfather on my Mom's side had a heart attack this weekend.  He's use to being in pain, so he didn't think anything of it.  He had it on Saturday night, but went all day Sunday saying his chest hurt and he just had a cold.  My Grandma finally called the Dr on Monday Morning and they took him in.  The doctor said he had suffered a heart attack on Saturday night and that is why his chest has been hurting.  They won't know more until later this afternoon, but I'm praying that everything will be alright.  Any prayers you can throw our way would be greatly appreciated!

I have been bitten.....

By baby fever big time!

I find myself ooing and awwing at all of the things at Target that resemble babies.....

Everytime I hear of a new friend who's pregnant (and mind you, this has happened about 4 times in the past 2 weeks), I find myself wishing it were me.

I find myself worrying about the possibility of not being able to get pregnant.  We've done things the "right way", we've grown up, gone to college, fallen in love, gotten married to our best friend and then started talking about having a baby.  My mind rushes to all of the what if's about pregnancy.  What if I'm one of those women who cannot carry my own child, what if we cannot get pregnant, what if something happens, what if what if what if.

I realized that these are all things that I cannot control and if God wishes for my husband and I to have a child, then we will, on his time schedule.  So I'm putting an end to the worrying (or so I hope) and I'm going to leave it up to He who is in charge.

Don't get me wrong, I am so very very happy for all of my friends who have witnessed the miracle of birth and who are pregnant, because there is no better gift!  So I am so happy for all of you out there who are pregnant and I feel for those of you who cannot conceive. 

So, with that said!  To all of you mommies out there, all of you who have children, are going to have a child or want to have children, you're all in my prayers because it is such a great miracle to be a mom and I cannot wait until I have my chance.

I know my husband will be a fantastic father.  He is so enthusiastic about everything he does.  Whether it's cars, engineering, speakers, boats, etc.... He's passionate and I know he will be a good teacher.  So I do not worry about how our family will change once we do conceive, I am just ready and willing to accept all of the joys, sorrows and pains that come along with being a mother.  I am ready for all of it! :-)

Bring it on world, I can and will survive anything that comes my way. :-)

P.S.  Have you seen the baby clothes at Old Navy!  I seriously wanted to buy some the other day, but thought my hubby might think it was quite odd :-)

Happy Friday everyone!  Have a wonderful weekend!

I'm gone & a wordless Wednesday

I won't be posting much this week because we do not have internet at work and I've been working from home for a day & 1/2 now, diligently working! I've got a lot to do and very little time to do it in.  Thanks for staying true to following me! I'll be back next week with more posts, I hope!  Have a wonderful rest of the week!

I leave you with my Wordless Wednesday picture! :-)

Happy Veterans Day!!

Thank you to all the men and women out there who have fought, are fighting, and will fight in the future for my freedom and the freedom of this country.  I am truly grateful for everything that you do.  Without you, I do not know where we would be today.  So thanks again and just know that you are doing a great job and I pray for your safety daily!

Weekend Recap

This weekend was great! 

Friday:

We spent some quality time together, just the hubs and me!  We cooked dinner, listened to music and then watched The Wizard of Oz together! :-) It's a tradition in my family for my Mom and I to watch the Wizard of Oz every year around Thanksgiving time.  I will be sure to start that same transition with my children!

Saturday:

We got to sleep in!  It was wonderful.  We then got ready for the day, cleaned a bit, I cut hubbys hair, and we packed for the rest of the weekend.  My friend Tiffany got married in my hometown.  She couldn't have been more blessed to have such a beautiful day to go along with her beautiful wedding!  It was perfect!  It was sunny and 70 degrees in November for her wedding!!!  I could hardly believe it.  (for those of you who don't get to experience the dreadfully amazing Iowa winters, it's usually very cold with a possibility of snow around this time of the year).  Saturday night my whole family was able to get together at Tiffany & Jake's wedding reception for drinks & dancing.  Pictures to come tonight!

After that, we were able to meet up with my old good friends, Natalie & Bri & their men.  It was so great to see them!  I hardly ever get to spend time with them anymore, so it was nice to catch up.  Natalie's getting married next year and Bri's having another baby!!!  I'm so excited!  Such big changes in all of our lives and I am so glad that we are able to remain friends!

Sunday:

We woke up early and headed to breakfast with my mom.  Aftewards, we got packed up and headed back home where I was FINALLY able to get most of the leaves taken care of in our yard and cut the backyard once more before winter.  our yard looks so much better!  On a side note, it was such a great day to be raking leaves, because with each stroke I took to rake, 1/2 of them would fly off and out of our yard! haha, yes it's probably considered cheating, but do you think I was going to chase after them? haha no way!

How was your weekend?  We have two weekends in a row coming up that are stay at home weekends!  This hardly ever happens and I am so excited! 

My to do list before Thanksgiving includes:

Buying place-mats & napkins (anyone know a good place to find cute, cheap, brown ones??)

A table runner (I'm also having trouble finding this!)

Buy a gravy boat

Buy my turkey! ( A whopping 25 pounder!)

Change sheets in guest bedroom

Clean house from Top to Bottom!!

It's going to be a busy two weeks!!

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful in-laws!!!

Guys!  I'm a horrible daughter-in-law, I had this post sitting in my "edit posts" section wanting to post it on their actual anniversary on 11/2/09, but I didn't!!!  I'm very sorry!!! So, without further adue:

Happy 30th Anniversary to the best in-laws a girl could ask for!!! :-) 

Here they are at our wedding, dancing the night away!

A picture of the whole family

At a wedding in Wisconsin

These people welcomed me into their lives with open arms.  I couldn't have asked for better in-laws.  They are amazing people and I hope to someday live closer to them so we can see them more often.  I hope you both enjoyed your 30th anniversary and I can't wait until we're celebrating our 31st and you're celebrating your 60th! :-)

Calling all you professional photographers!

Alright all you photographers out there!  We're wanting to get a really good camera for Christmas and I was looking into this one.... Does anyone have it?  What do you suggest?  What do you think about this one?  Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated! (if you do like it, what would you suggest buying with it so that we are ready to go?)

It's a Canon - EOS Digital Rebel T1i 15.1-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera

 Help!! :-) 

Things

I stole this from Danielle at Life, Love and the Pursuit of Me

FIVE things you wish you could say to FIVE different people right now

• Get over it.
  
• Think of someone else for a change.
  
• I deserve a raise.
  
• You're lucky and you don't even know it.
  
• You'll be just fine.
  

TEN things about yourself:

• I chocolate.
  
• I love gossip magazines, I can't help it!
  
• I love running, but I hate it at the same time.
  
• I want to look good, but it's so hard to motivate myself!
  
• I love traditions.
  
• I love nights in with my husband.
• Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
  
• I love clothes, but hate spending money on them.
  
• I love spending time with my family.
• I am a tv junkie and love to watch OTH, Desperate Housewives, Greys, Private Practice, Brothers & Sisters, House, Medium, Saving Grace, Big Bang Theory, and a couple more.... (It's a sickness)
  

SEVEN ways to win your heart:

• Surprises.
• Massages.
  
• Telling me you love me (if you mean it!)
  
• Take me somewhere nice.
• Delicious homemade food.
  
• Go out of your way for me.
  

SEVEN things that cross your mind a lot:

• My husband.
• My family.
  
• School.
• Getting a counseling job next fall.
  
• Vacationing.
• Upcoming Holidays.

FOUR things you do before you fall asleep:

• Brush my teeth
• Wash my face.
  
• Kiss the husband.
• Cuddle.

FOUR things you see right now:

• My office-mate
  
• Candy Corn & Peanuts
• AMy huge 55 oz water jug.
  
• Tons of work to be done!
  

THREE songs that you listen to often:

• I'm yours.
  
• Lucky.
• Chicken Fried.
  

TWO things you want to do before you die:

• Have two beautiful, healthy children.
  
• Move back to my hometown.

ONE confession:

• I just started a new "diet" yesterday and I'm already starving. :-(
  

A lovely surprise!

Last week I came home to a package on my doorstep!  Taryn from The Colorado Desert sent me a homemade grocery bag!  I just love it.  It's big and sturdy and will be so much  nicer than getting all of those darn plastic bags!  I told her to open an ETSY shop because I, for one, cannot sew for the life of me!  I would love to have a place to go and buy these bags!

 

So, I'm terrible at taking pictures of things.... You don't have to tell me twice! :-)  Anyway, I hope I gave you a great idea of just how cool this bag is!  I've already put it to use and I love it!

Happy (late) Halloween

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween weekend!!!  I especially enjoyed sleeping an extra hour on Sunday morning! :-)

I've seen so many cute costumes already on the blogosphere, but I can't help but let you all in on a little secret of mine.

I mildly dislike with a passion dressing up.  I'm not sure if I was scared as a child or what the deal is, but I cannot stand dressing up.  Whether it be a wig, funny glasses, mismatching outfits or a full blown costume, I just cannot get myself into it.  I don't like it at all.  Not sure why, I love seeing the kids in their costumes and I have a hysterically great time seeing adults in their wacky costumes, but it's not for me. 

Anyone else hate dressing up or am I alone in this department?  I'm not a fun hater, I promise! :-)

November Goals

It's about time I set some goals for this month!  I promise I'll be back in December to let you all know how far I've come!

November Goals:

Take our Christmas Card Picture
Workout at least 3 times a week!
Finish at least 75% of my Christmas Shopping
Make a weekly meal plan 2 times a month  (this is a hard one for me, as we're so busy!)
Decide on a new camera for Christmas.  Any suggestions on SLR cameras???

I think it's a pretty easy list, but we shall see! 

Have a great week everyone!!! :-)