7 Quick Takes!

I think I'm technically supposed to do this on Friday, but seeing that I haven't updated this at all in awhile, I figured one day off wouldn't hurt.  Here we go!

1.

Christmas Day was a wonderful success!  We did a white elephant exchange at my in-laws and it was so much fun, a new family tradition was born.  We put a bit of a twist on it, and there were categories for the gifts like "fluffiest present", "most unexpected wrapping", and "smallest present"; there were even prizes!  Adorable little Christmas themed rubber ducks :)  We came home with 5 ducks for our gifts.

2.

New Year's was pretty low key in our house.  We had a double date with some of our soon-to-be married friends at the house.  We had a great time catching up and enjoying the company.  They got married just a few days later, and I was honored to be in the wedding! Which leads me to...

3.

We went to a wedding on January 5th, 2013.  My best friend from college got married to a wonderful guy, and I was a Bridesmaid.  We wore antique pink dresses; they were so pretty.  It was a glorious day of love and celebration!

4.

I finally got a haircut!  I have wanted one now for months, and I feel so free now that my hair is shorter!  I also finally got my bangs cut back in, they had grown out to the point of being unwearable.  It's amazing how much something like a haircut can brighten your day.

5.

My amazing husband built us a new kitchen table!  It's not finished yet, he still has a few things he wants to add, and it needs to be lacquered, but it's functional!  Our old table was entirely too big for the space and we couldn't even put all of our chairs around it!  This is a much smaller table and is a much better fit.  It also has points over our old one because DH made this one :)

6.

 I made a new recipe last week!  Corn and Potato Chowder in the Crockpot.  It was delicious!  I found the recipe on Pinterest (of course) and have been meaning to try it for awhile.  It was filling, but I had to cut the recipe in half because our Crockpot was way too small :(  Someday I will get at least a 7 quart one!

7.

I don't have a picture for this one, but on the same day that I decided to make dinner in the Crockpot, we lost power for the entire afternoon and evening.  This was particularly alarming for a couple of reasons: 1) we have the power company that "never losses power" - even when we had a hurricane, and 2) it was a gorgeous clear sunny day outside.  The entire town lost power, and we never really got an explanation for it.  Very strange, indeed.  Fortunately, my mom lives only a few miles from us, and didn't lose her power, so dinner was saved!