The Merry and Bright Tag

Hello peeps!

I was tagged by Daminika for the Merry and Bright Tag! Thanks girl! xD

Here we go...



Favorite movies to watch at Christmas time:

Holiday Inn. I own It's a Wonderful Life too, so we'll see if I watch that one this year too. ;) I should.

Some Christmas songs that make it Christmas:

The traditional songs, both hymns and the fun ones. The First Noel, O Holy Night... As well as Mary Did You Know. *smiles* 

Some books that I love in the winter (aka give me all the feels):

None, because I rarely re-read books. :P

Some Christmas goodies that make me smile:

Hot apple cider, and pretty much anything we make. I like food. *laughs* We usually made different cookies, but haven't yet this year.

Some Christmas-y words that make me happy:

twinkling lights. snowflakes. cozy fireplace. sleigh rides (never been on one tho). xP

Some things I look forward to every year:

Well, I really enjoy buying and wrapping up gifts. So much fun. :) I don't know if I'm really anticipating it so much before the time actually comes to Christmas shop though... *shrugs* xP
Getting a tree and decorating it is awesome too! Oh, and giving out the gifts I got for everyone. Opening mine is fun as well, of course! *laughs*

Favorite Christmas memories:

I guess making all kinds of creative homemade gifts when I was younger, and still now buying them and wrapping them. I just really enjoy that. This year we went to a small-town Christmas parade, and also got apple cider at a cute little market\cafe. That was fun too. ^__^

Shantelle and I with our hot apple cider, looking life we jumped into a Hallmark Christmas movie. xD *laughs* I love this picture

Some memories to be made this year:

A Christmas party of sorts with "new" people from the church Shantelle and I started going to.
Getting together with family that live near us.
My baby brother's first Christmas. ;)

Guidelines:

Take the banner and put it in your post

List as many things as you want in each category

Tag as many people as your heart desires!

I Tag:

The usual- whoever wants to do it! xP

IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BLOG, ANSWER THE QUESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS!! xD 

AND IF YOU HAVE A BLOG AND WANT TO COMMENT THE ANSWERS HERE INSTEAD, DO THAT! 

WHAT IS SOMETHING FUN AND CHRISTMASY YOU'VE ALREADY DONE THIS YEAR?

November 2019

For some reason, my dump of photos for November is rather small. I did take more pictures, but I have a lot that are of people, and you all probably know by now that I don't post pictures of other people on here very much. Privacy reasons.

But despite the lack of pictures, I had some great times. During the week of Thanksgiving. Because a bunch of people came, and it's usually refreshing for me when that happens. *smiles*

More of that later...

My two sisters and I were home "alone" (plus our dad) for about 10 days after getting back from vacation in the West Coast. 

We got some snowwww! It actually took a few days for ALL of it to melt. 

SO PRETTY

That first morning driving to work, the roads were all covered. My older sister was driving.

Change from the vending machine... I got four $1 coins. Is that unusual?

Baby's little shoes <3

Went for a visit at my aunt and uncle's. The kids had the kitten, Cupcake, in the house. xP

Cutie

Chick-fil-A's Peppermint Chocolate Chip milkshake. YUMM

THANKSGIVING!

Okay, so I guess this brings me back to all the people who came to visit for Thanksgiving. We had about 13 people come to visit from out of state, basically all family. It was awesome! One was a cousin I hadn't seen for like three years, and it was so good to see him. I had fun that weekend, hanging out with a bunch of boys. Because pretty much everyone in my age group were boys, haha. In fact, there were lots of younger girl cousins, but a whole bunch of older boy cousins. xP Like you all even care. Sorry. 
On Thanksgiving day we had some local families join us, too, since they didn't have anywhere else to go. :)

Had some adventures in caves, woods, and cow pens in the dark (lol). Went bowling. Watched as our house got turned into a barber shop and a couple of my cousins got their hair cut, and giggled at all the funniness going on. xD xD I love it.

We said goodbye to the cousins Saturday night, but I also got a text that night to meet at Cracker Barrel the next morning, which totally made my night! So we got to hang out a little more Sunday morning. We ended up going to another restaurant (Cracker Barrel was packed), but that was December 1st. So you have to wait for my December photo dump to see the glorious picture of my buffet breakfast from that day. LOL. xP


Well I hope you enjoyed my monthly life post, and are having a great beginning to the Christmas season! 

I'm doing good on Christmas shopping, I feel like, though I only started not long ago. Some people would probably say I got a late start, but my Christmas celebrating doesn't start until after Thanksgiving! ;P




HAVE YOU STARTED CHRISTMAS SHOPPING? 
DID YOU HAVE A GOOD THANKSGIVING?
TELL ME ABOUT IT!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

I hope your day is blessed with the laughter and joy of family and friends, and delicious food, and the reminder of all of God's goodness to you!

"Every good and perfect gift is

from above, coming down from the

Father of the heavenly lights, 

who does not change like shifting

shadows."

James 1:17

"The LORD is my strength and my

shield; my heart trusts in him, 

and he helps me. My heart leaps

for joy, and with my song I 

praise him."

Psalm 28:7

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New Wedding Gallery Out!

Hey all, guess what? The gallery for the wedding I photographed last month is out on my website! I'm excited to share some of the pictures with you guys, I hope you enjoy looking at them. 

The wedding was just gorgeous! It was a woodsy theme, so there was ivy and stumps, lanterns full of twinkling fairy lights, elk antlers, floating candles, and pretty flowers. Just... go look at the gallery. *excitedness because I love sharing the pictures I take* 

Click HERE!

Also, I thought I would share the link to me photography Facebook page, in case you want to give me a like or something. For any of you who have Facebook. :P 
So, here's that. 

I know this isn't much for "business info", as stated on my header image. I had already made it, and then realized my Facebook thing was the only thing I was going to share. So. xP



DID YOU GO SEE THE WEDDING GALLERY?? 
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PICTURE?

in loving memory of our cat \\ SPICY

If ever there was a cat with nine lives, it would be our cat, Spicy.

She was dropped off at my aunt and uncle's house back in 2007, by some random people. Then they gave her to us. I feel like she was sort of "my" cat at first. I think I may have even been the one who named her. "Spicy" probably sounds like an odd pet name, but after so many years, it's normal to us. xP
I think she was a little scared at first, but we fed her some milk and were obviously nice owners, because she became one of the nicest cats there was. :) She was friendly and mild-tempered, rarely scratching or nipping. A good hunter too.

Me and Spicy, back in 2007 or 2008. I was doing school, I think. *laughs*

Spicy in Minnesota

When we moved to Minnesota, Spicy came with us, along with our dog Daisy. We got her (our dog) a little after getting Spicy. We still have Daisy. :) Those two had their share of fights, but I'd like to think they became loyal to each other over the years. Maybe kind of like adopted sibings. xP They have been seen eating the same food together, after all. But Daisy still teased, for sure.

We moved from Minnesota after about five years. Spicy and Daisy both came with us. We moved in the middle of a heat wave, and Spicy had kind of a traumatic experience because of that. Poor thing. But, she survived!

Spicy in our current state :)

You know, this cat was with us for more than half of my life! She lived to be nearly 12 years old. That's old for an outside cat! According to Google, the average outside cat lives for only 2-5 years. 
Just gotta say, we were blessed with one of the best cats there ever was (bias or not), and I'll sure miss her. It is rather sad when you lose a pet that has been there for so long.


So, just a sappy post in honor of our beloved cat Spicy, who recently disappeared. I don't know if we'll ever have one like that again, but we'll miss her. <3






EVER LOST A PET? FAVORITE PICTURE OF SPICY? :)

October 2019 PHOTO DUMP + {vacation pictures}

Hey there! I am back, once again. It's been so long since I've done a photo dump. So I hope you enjoy this one. Maybe see a bit what my life has been like recently. :)

My whole family went out to the West Coast last month, all returning home at different times. My dad flew home first, then me and my two other working sisters, and finally the remainder of the fam yesterday (besides my older brother who doesn't live at home anymore). 

Well, enjoy some (primarily) smartphone pics . ^__^

Tea on the way to work (my sisters and I ride together, since we work at the same place).

Sunday out-to-eat with the cousins

Disc golfing with people

My sister and I cleaned my dad's spec house. It's actually kind of enjoyable work. ;)

S'mores milkshake. It wasn't that amazing, but I like this picture. :P

I hardly ever go to Bojangle's, so it was a treat to have something different! And that biscuit with honey... Yum!

I made some hot apple cider

I don't usually order such things from restaurants, especially not Culver's, but it was good! I think I was wanting to eat healthier that day. But I did get cheese curds. *drools*

Finding church outfits for vacation to the West Coast. ;)

My cousin brought me and my two sisters to the airport.

I'm always fascinated by the view from airplanes!

Our first stop, in California 

A trip to Burgerville with Daminika, where we got pumpkin milkshakes and pumpkin ice cream sandwiches! ^__^

Their fall colors were WAAYY better than ours!

Taking a walk at my aunt and uncle's, where I stayed the whole trip (along with some of my siblings).

Daminika bought me a blackberry Frost (I think) at Dutch Bros! :)

Hanging out with Daminika again. She's the best! We watched The Meg at her house, sipped hot apple cider, and ate snacks. Those spicy Doritos were so good... xD

Burgerville had the prettiest trees *heart eyes*

Mini golfing for my cousin's last night out! After that we all went back to my aunt and uncle's and played games and ate food. xD

My cousin's wedding was beautiful! I was the photographer, as you may know. ;) It was definitely one of my favorite weddings! My cousin and her (now) husband are SO cute. I got the most adorable pictures of them. <3

Oh, and this is a picture my mom took of me and Daminika at the wedding. :)

With Daminika again. xD She bought me iced coffee.

I don't even really like coffee, but I decided to drink some this day. ;P Haha

Shooting guns with an aunt and uncle (who came out for the wedding- I took THEIR wedding pictures last year!) and cousins and siblings. That was fun, if though cold! I shot a pistol for the first time! It wasn't as scary as I thought. ;P Not scary at all, really.

Disc golfing with cousins and siblings! 

I was impressed with this kombucha! It tasted a lot like Doctor Pepper!

Sightseeing at this beautiful place!

Got back from the hills in time to go out for a late supper with Daminika. Look at this yummy food! I had more than this.

Watching... I think it was Laramie? xP At Daminika's house, of course. *winks* We did a lot together during this trip, and I'm glad we did.

Headed back into the air, home-bound!

(some of these last pictures were actually a couple days into November, but I thought I'd finish up the vacay photos)


I posted a few photos on my photography site here. Hopefully I can get some wedding photos up soon!!


LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU DID IN OCTOBER!
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THIS MONTH?
FAVORITE PIC FROM THE DUMP? :)