Kiss Someone Special Underneath The Mistletoe Tonight: Advent Day 22

Life in Love, Our Love Story  //  22nd December 2012

“I saw mommy kissing Santa Clause, underneath the mistletoe last night…” As that song plays over and over in our heads (and lets be honest, as we sing it loud and proud throughout the house!), we thought it would be fun to pull a little mistletoe into our Amazing Life Holiday Advent Calendar! On day 22, we invite you to go out and purchase some mistletoe to hang in your home and watch the magic happen! ;) lol. Ok, well… share a few extra kisses with your loved ones this holiday season! Ok, this post was probably one of the most fun to create! ;) Not necessarily because we got to kiss a lot in order to make sure we got the “perfect” picture! Haha! But because we reminisced about our very first Christmas together! ;) One of my all time favorite pictures of Ryan and I is from our very first Christmas together underneath the kissing ball that hung in our home! (Yes, a whole ball of mistletoe!! So fun!). We went back to our scrapbooks to find that photo and a whole rush of memories came back! There was something so amazingly raw about our emotions that year and it was so much fun to relive that through our photos!

As we hang some mistletoe in our home (or Ryan just starts to carry it around with him over his head! Lol) we welcome those raw emotions and carefree spirit! We are so blessed to be surrounded by so much love and having the mistletoe around is a perfect reminder!

Happy kissing! ;)

 

Donate a Toy to Toys for Tots: Advent Calendar Day 21

Giving Back, Gratitude  //  21st December 2012

Happy Holidays! Only four days left until Christmas! If you haven’t checked out our AMAZING Life Holiday Advent Calendar yet be sure to do so today!

Some of my most vivid memories from childhood was going to bed on Christmas Eve and not being able to sleep all night.  Fortunately Santa never checked to make sure I wasn’t awake.  Although I wouldn’t have minded as long as he shared some of his milk and cookies with me! :)

At about 5am on Christmas morning, I would wake up and sneak over to my brother’s room.  There we would eagerly wait until 6am when we could finally wake up our parents to go open the gifts that were wrapped nicely under the tree.  There would be presents from Santa, Rudolph, the elves, Mrs. Claus, you name it … Apparently everyone at the North Pole liked giving us gifts! We would start with the stockings stuffed to the top with Candy and toys.  Of course my mom would always be sure to sneak in a new toothbrush so we wouldn’t rot our teeth with all the Peanut Butter Smidgens Santa left us.

Although Santa would give some cool presents, the best were always the ones from our parents and family.  It’s heartbreaking to think that some children may not have the same experience of joy and happiness on Christmas Morning that stands out so vividly to me over 20 years later.

Fortunately there are many AMAZING organizations that collect toys and gifts for families in need. One of our favorites is Toys for Tots. On Day 21 of Advent we encourage you to donate to Toys for Tots. 

There is still time to donate a toy to Toys for Tots.  Go to www.toysfortots.org, select donate a toy, select your state, and then your local area.  You will then be given a list of locations that are collecting toys.  Since Christmas is quickly approaching (where did December go?), many places have stopped collecting gifts, but there are still a few that will collect donations up until Christmas Day.  If you can’t find a location that is still collecting, you can still make a monetary donation to Toys for Tots that will help purchase gifts for those in need.  Help bring a smile and a lasting memory to a child’s face this year by donating to Toys for Tots!

Thanks to the AMAZING staff at the North Hammonds Ferry Rd Fed Ex!  Everyone was so excited and grateful when we showed up to drop off our toys! 

Make DIY Gift Tags: Advent Day 20

Celebrating the Everyday, Liz's DIY  //  20th December 2012

Ryan and I are HUGE fans of packaging! (I think it stems way back to our mentor and Board of Life Director Dean Badal!) She would have packaging parties around Halloween to send gifts to friends and there was never a detail that was forgotten! She taught us that the box and the wrapping is often just as important (if not more important) than the gift itself!

We thought it would be fun to personalize our gifts this year with an extra special touch! We made DIY Gift tags that were super easy but are sure to leave a lasting impact. Join us on Day 20 of the AMAZING Life Holiday Advent Calendar and spruce up your gifts with some DIY Gift tags!We saw a picture for these Salt Dough gift tags on Pinterest (of course! ;) ) and just loved them! Then we looked at the recipe and read the directions and we were sold! ;) With only 3 ingredients and no baking involved, this project is super super easy! We followed the instructions from blogger She Knows for step-by-step instructions! But seriously, all you need to do is:

• Mix 1 cup of salt with 2 cups of flour. Then add 1 cup of warm water and mix again.
• Form the dough into a ball.
• Roll the dough until it is about ¼ inch thick and then use cookie cutters to cut the shape you would like! We used a round shape, but you could do ANYTHING that you would like! So fun!
• Stamp the shape with anything you would like… again, we used our Liz and Ryan stamp, but the sky is the limit here!
• Let the gift tags dry 24-48 hours!

Once they are dry, we plan to write the recipients name on the opposite side of our gift tags! Once we have all of our gifts wrapped and completed with these DIY Salt Dough Gift tags, we will definitely post a photo on Instagram and Facebook! Stay tuned! ;)

Love Story: Casey and Joe’s Baltimore Wedding

Love, Stories Documented, Wedding  //  19th December 2012

When we walked into the Bridal Suite, we were greeted with a room full of beautiful ladies calmly sitting around and chatting! Casey was in the middle of having her hair done and she pretty much jumped up and down with excitement when we arrived! Her smile beamed as she clapped and screamed! ;)  As the morning went on, those moments of excitement became more and more frequent! It was getting real and she was soon going to be a Mrs.!

Casey’s excitement, energy, and emotion was so contagious! She would smile and there was nothing else we could do but smile and jump up and down with her! ;) She could not wait to see Joe and I am pretty sure I became just as excited to see him! Haha. (Well maybe not “just” as excited!… but I could not wait for them to see each other)! During the moment that they saw each other for the first time, the emotion poured out of them. As tears streamed down Casey’s face and they held each other tight, my heart beamed with happiness (and yes, tears were in my eyes!).

Their emotion is contagious, my friends! I think Joe’s best man said it best during his speech. He said he was so grateful to have both Casey and Joe in his life because he knows when he shares exciting news with them… they are going to be 1 million times more excited for you than you ever were for yourself! ;)

I think I can confidently say that everyone who shared in Casey and Joe’s day have hearts that are beaming with joy and excitement for these two! I know for sure that we do! Casey and Joe… you are AMAZING! Thank you for including us in such a special day! We are beyond excited for you to begin your lives together as husband and wife! Thank you for filling our hearts with so much joy!!

See more of Casey and Joe’s AMAZING day in their wedding slideshow below:

Share Christmas Cookies with Your Neighbor: Advent Day 19

Celebrating the Everyday  //  19th December 2012

Okay, we all LOVE Christmas cookies… that is why we make so many, right? Yes, we like to eat them. But I think the thing we love most about Christmas cookies is sharing them with others! There are so many stories behind cookies… whether the story is that you actually burnt the first batch and this is the second or that you make the same kind year after year because it is a tradition you started with your grandparents years ago… the stories always find a way to leave you smiling! ;) Or maybe that is actually the taste of the cookies? Hmm?

Either way, that smile deserves to be shared! ;) Wrap up those Christmas cookies that you keep telling yourself to stop eating ;) and share them with your neighbors on this 19^th Day of Advent! (Whoa… when did it become the 19^th already?)

Your neighbors, whether you know them or not, are people that you see quite a bit! For us, we see our neighbors all the time because our home is attached to theirs! ;) (In fact, we don’t just see our neighbors, we sometimes hear them too! ;) lol ) We are fortunate enough to have neighbors that keep an eye on our home for us when we are away. They pick up our mail and take in our packages when they see them sitting out! They always have a watchful eye and we are so incredibly grateful! We always do our best to share a smile with them whenever we are passing, but we thought sharing a Christmas cookie smile with them would be even better! ;)

Even if you don’t know your neighbors… this is the perfect opportunity to meet them! Share the Christmas cheer, especially the tasty ones! ;)