Post Holiday Slumber

After being on the go for what feels like forever, it will be nice to finally have a weekend to sit around and do nothing. New Years will most likely be spent at home, or somewhere with in an hour's drive.

Thank goodness for three day weekends! I am looking forward to sleeping in and doing whatever I feel is necessary...maybe some laundry, since i've been "washerless" for a few days; Awaiting the delivery of the new one today. What a bummer when unexpected expenses arise, but awesome to gain NEW replacements!

Boathouse Row

Please enjoy the above picture. One of the many beautiful attractions Philadelphia has to offer. At some point in the near future, we will be purchasing a panoramic picture to hang in our house; OR when I finally get an upgraded digital SLR camera, I'll be taking my own pictures.

Feeding the Addiction

First craft in the Craft Room!

This post had to wait until after Christmas. My first craft in my Craft Room, was a gift for my youngest niece, Natalie Grace. Her two older sisters Lindsay and Paige, both have their names spelled on their bedroom walls in wooden letters. We couldn't leave Natalie out.

A little bit of paint, some hot glue, some stamps, and clear coat spray, is all it took.

I'm an addict for crafts.

Christmas Seasons

As Christmas quickly approaches,  we are finishing what needs to be completed for a low stress celebration. One week before Christmas. Are you ready?

Decorate the Christmas tree.....check.
Hang stockings....check
Food.....check (minus a few perishable odds and ends)
Mail out Christmas cards.....check
First snow....check (it was here, now it's gone)
Bake Cookies and test cookie batter.....check and check (several times over)- Russian tea cakes, Press cookies and the family traditional Chocolate Balls.
Awaiting to be in the presence of family.....check
Wrap gifts.....This week's to-do.
Write Santa a letter.....Christmas Eve's to-do. (Don't worry Santa, I won't let you go hungry or un-humored!)

What are you seasoning Christmas with this year?

Going "Green", Going "Real"

Last weekend, was the weekend. With some family here, Nick and I decided it was time to go get our Christmas tree; and just when I think I know everything about Nick, I keep learning more. Nick has never had a real tree for Christmas (sometimes Nick doesn't have a good memory, so if he's wrong, feel free to call him out)

The entire time we've been together, we've always had a fake tree; with renting at first, then having a new dog, a fake tree was more ideal for the safety of our pets. This year, I put my foot down. With the exception of the past 7 years living on my own, my family and I have always had a real tree. I think its the excitement of going to the tree farm, walking around the field of trees, finding the perfect tree to fit our house, cutting it down, and making it OUR Christmas tree that year; that gives me the feeling of Christmas uniqueness.


Absolutely no offense to those who have "fake-ies," for as much as they can be absolutely beautiful, it's just not the same to me. I love to walk into the house and smell the fresh scent of pine, to water the tree and try to prevent as many pine needles as possible from falling off; it's like a game to me; and making a non perfect, non symmetrical, charlie brown tree.....well....PERFECT.

Scheer tradition continued:

 Find a tree you want; put a glove on top of it so no one else can claim it, while you go tell the sellers you've picked one out.

Blue Spruces are my favorite

Insta-tree!

Brasky is so ready to open his presents!

Frozen Dreams

December 10th, was the celebration of the birth of my sister, Danielle Ute! Happy 22 years Danielle!

Per her request, a few of us met up at the River Rink at Penn's Landing in Philly to go ice skating.

It didn't take long for Nick to get his "ice legs" back.

Todd and the Birthday Girl

Thanks to mom for being the photographer for the evening!

 Following skating, we indulged in dinner and games at Dave and Buster's, before calling it a night.

Collecting all of their tickets

Unbe"leaf"able!

Give a huge round of applause to Nick and the kitties, for finally moving in on saturday!!! This is the second night with them home, and it only feels like a weekend tease; it'll set in that their here for good, when they never "leaf" me alone! ha ha.

After some unpacking, we spent some time outside raking up the leaves in the front and back yards. Who knew that there was so much! Only bagged the front yard piles, and accumulated six bags. We saved bagging the backyard for another day.

Nick was the leaf masher. Those old hockey gloves came in handy!

Brasky supervised the labor.

A hard day's work yields lots of snugly time.

Caught on Camera

I logged onto my facebook account the other day, and found a new picture posted with both Nick and I tagged. I couldn't help but laugh, and re-realize how much I love my husband, and his goofy personality. I look forward to him officially moving in this weekend, so we can truly start the beginning of the rest of our lives together.

Upgrades

Yesterday, we had our Fios internet installed, and already Nick has been completing his daily downloads. So nice to have faster internet, that makes my hubby happy. Thank you though, to whoever I have been borrowing internet service from for the last 2 weeks.

Bedroom furniture was also delivered yesterday! I'm happy :-) After sleeping on the guest bedroom mattress on the floor since we moved in, it was extra special to finally sleep on our mattress last night. I slept like a rock.

I think we've gone above and beyond our quota for upgrades this year, so while we're at this plateau, I'm going to bask in the great feeling of "newness."

Master bedroom before...

...and after.

Even Brasky is satisfied with the upgrades

Many Things to be Thankful For

This year has been full of many things we are thankful for; each other, friends and family and their love and support for our wedding; new jobs (Nick accepted an offer for the IT dept of a financial firm!), new house, our crazy animals...and the list continues.

On Thanksgiving, we trekked to the Poconos for our yearly turkey dinner at my Uncle's house. It's fun to see the same people you saw a year ago, and catch up on life, and see how people have changed or grown in the past year. I'm thankful my brother and sister-in-law were able to make the trip with their newborn Natalie.

Karen and Mom

Paige, Carley, and Lindsay

As a yearly tradition we always take a family portrait outside, in the same spot. After doing this for the past 6 years, its fun to look back on previous photos and see have we've changed.

Gatorade or H2O?

This year I was finally able to volunteer at the Philadelphia Marathon. My mom, brother and sister, have been volunteering together for the past 5 years, but I was never able to make it. What a great opportunity to spend time with my family and lend help for such a big event!

We arrived at our water stop location at 6:30am, the sun just starting to show itself.  We were greeted with donuts, pretzels, hot chocolate and coffee for breakfast. Once we filled our stomachs...and woke up, the fun and work began!

Chris and Lindsay

Todd and Danielle

Mom and I

The men unloaded the huge truck filled with tables, hundreds of gallons of water and Gatorade, and thousands of Dixie cups.

Once unloaded, everyone started setting up the tables and lining them with cups, then filling them with gatorade and water. With thousands of runners soon to need liquids, we had to work quickly and carefully.

While waiting, you could see the runners across the river, yet to reach our water stop.

Our water stop provided runners with hydration at two different points in the marathon. Once at 12.5 miles, and then at 24.5 miles.

When the crowds of runners would come together, it was busy! You can only hold so many cups in your hand before you have to run to the tables to get more. Each volunteer finds their own strategy for holding the cups for the runners to easily grab.

How awesome to be a part of such a world wide known event. Even though I don't have the personal ambition to complete this 26.2 mile event, I will be there to support and cheer you on, hopefully a tradition for the following years to come.