Christmas in Dixie

Hi everyone! I hope you had a fabulous Christmas! Praise the Lord for His magnificent Gift in sending Jesus to this Earth. What a day to celebrate!

I'm sorry for the lack of blogging. I haven't had much to say recently, but am excited about a few updates that are coming over the next week or so.

Last week, Brian planned and took me out on our Christmas date. We tend to be boring daters, so I wanted something unique, but based on our budget, cheap. 

We started at Cheesecake Factory with a giftcard. I have only eaten a meal there twice, so this was extra special. That cheesey pasta is delish.

As we were heading into Cheesecake, Brian presented me with the rest of our date- a photo scavenger hunt. He had created a list of 10 Christmasy items that I had to find and take pictures of during the night. 

The list included:

 a piece of cheesecake, 

holiday traffic,

a fountain,

  an outdoor tree,

an over-decorated house,

 downtown Birmingham,

 an angel,

 a cup of hot chocolate,

 a nativity, 

and a picture with my husband. 

This was a challenge for me because I haven't had much experience shooting in the dark. Most of the pics turned out pretty good, but some of them could use a bit of improving... I guess we will just have to do it again!!

This was actually one of my favorite shots from the night- Brian took it as we were setting up for our photo of the Nativity. The stars and sky were gorgeous that night.

Though I'm a little late, Merry Christmas my friends! I hope you had a fantastic day!

EA's first Christmas

Christmas is so much fun with a baby! It was so awesome to make Christmas memories with our sweet little girl- I can not wait for the Christmas's to come!

Opening a gift from Annie and Poppy

Hanging out in her new red wagon

Looking at her stash from Santa

Merry Christmas from the Johnson's!

Last minute decor

Several months ago, my friend Beth talked about a Pinterest find that featured old Christmas card pictures and numbered them according to the years.  I loved the idea but never found the time to get the pictures printed. She mentioned how much her kids loved looking at past pictures and it dawned on me... I kind of like that too :)

A few weeks ago, Shutterfly offered a great deal that included free prints! I quickly got our Christmas card pictures from the past and a few pictures from the years we didn't send cards printed, then used my Cricut to create a background. I finished them off with the years on the back.



My favorite part is seeing where we have been and what we have done each year we have been married. I imagine hanging them from our steps when we are in a larger home, but loved how welcoming they looked on our entry mirror.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Handwritten Wishes Christmas

Customize your Christmas cards this holiday at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Our Christmas Mantel

I was very pleased with our Christmas mantel this year! I knew I wanted something similar to what I had done in the past, but wanted to change it up a little to make it more unique to the year.

I used leftover scraps from our tree to make garland and added berries for a little extra color. Though it does not sit as high as artificial garland, I love the smell and the extra spunk that it adds to our decor.

On the right, I used our Willow Tree Nativity wall hanging and paired it with the Isaiah printable from Jones Design Company.

For the left, my mom and I had a craft night one evening when Brian was out of town and made book Christmas trees. After folding the pages, I hot glued the book trees onto various candle holders to change up the heights.  It was such a simple craft and added a fun, classy look to my mantel display.

We placed our Willow Tree Nativity on our entry way table. I covered the table with burlap to give a more rustic look. We used our three stars as the backdrop- a great deal from Kirkland's a few years ago. We added height with a wreath on a wreath holder. 

Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season!!

Linking up here and here!

Our Christmas Tablescape

I love the challenge of setting the table for holidays or events. I like to use what I have and see what I can come up with. This year's Christmas table is a mix of old and new with new napkins from Pottery Barn accenting my Christmas china.

I began with my favorite burlap runner and layered with a solid brown runner. I puddled three striped napkins in the center of the table and topped with two artificial trees and a dome full of miniature ornaments.

At each place setting, I used my red chargers, my Christmas tree plates, and a striped napkin. I finished the napkin with ornament napkin rings inspired from here.

I topped the buffet with homemade garland made from our Christmas tree. I used berries to add a bit of color and placed our Nativity from Bethlehem as the centerpiece.

Can't wait to see everyone's tables and Christmas decor!

Merry Christmas! (a little late)

Wow- It has been FOREVER! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Though it is several days late, I have to say I love the true meaning of Christmas. The fact that God sent Jesus to fulfill prophecy and become the Man who frees us from our burdens and provides us with the peace and hope of eternal life is almost more than I can comprehend. I am thankful for who God is and that He was willing to come to earth. He is good.

It's been a busy 3 weeks for the hus and I (as I'm sure it's been for everyone else). Between finishing up graduate classes for the semester, to weddings, to Christmas break for my wonderful 2nd graders (who desperately needed some time away from school), to spending time with friends and family from out of town, to CHRISTMAS, I feel like we have been running all over the place. Now Brian is sitting quietly on the couch playing his new Madden game and I am happily returning to my bloggy world. Hello, old friend. :)

Brian was off on Christmas Eve so we decided we would spend the day doing fun "together" things before we went to my parents that night. I recieved a William Sonoma gift card from a sweet friend, so we had a blast picking out fun kitchen accessories we would never have been able to buy otherwise. My favorite purchase was the Pancake Pen. We made some delicious pancakes- and they were cute to boot! I handled the pancakes and Brian made the eggs and sausage- so scrumptious. It was amazing how great the pen worked- we spent more time creating pancake designs than actually eating the pancakes. If anyone has extra money lying around (HA!), I suggest you making the Pancake Pen investment. You won't regret it.

Once we finished breakfast, we set up the air mattress in the living room, lit a fire, and watched the movie 500 Days of Summer. I had been itching to see it since I first saw the preview a while ago. It was a little quirky, but overall, a very good movie.

That night we joined my family for our Christmas Eve celebrations. It was the first time my extended family has all been together in a very long time, so it was nice to see everyone. My cousin, Brandon and his wife, Amy brought there 1 1/2 year old. It was the first time we have had a child in the Christmas festivities. I LOVED it. He was so sweet and was into everything. It was just a very cool added element. I can't wait for when there are more.

Christmas Day was great. We spent the day with my parents, sitting around the house, taking pictures with our new camera, and really just spending time together. I love Christmas and the way no stores are open to distract you- it's simply quality time with the people that you love. Wonderful.

Have a blessed evening, my friends!

Christmas Village

Yesterday, for the first time in 4 months, I finally saw my best friend Rebecca. Rebecca and I met our senior year of high school trying out for the Auburn University Flagline. We spent the next four years getting to know each other and spending a huge amount of time together. She is from Dothan and is one of my favorite people in the world! It was GLORIOUS to see her!

A major part of the reason she was here was to attend Christmas Village at the BJCC (Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center.) It is a gigantic craft show/ sale of people from all over the country. The vendors are great and it's an excellent place to buy Christmas presents! Rebecca and I went last year for the first time and were itching to go again.

We went out last night to buy bags for shopping (Home Goods.) They are perfect so you don't have to carry all the individual bags around. I ended up knocking out Christmas presents for several people and came back with a necklace for myself! Quite a successful trip!

Kitchen pictures should be up soon. Brian went to Auburn today as a last minute treat, so we still have a bit of work to be done. As soon as it's clean, I will post pictures! Let me tell you, the change is awesome! I can't wait to share :)

Spoiler alert- What do you think of this drawer knob? Is the contrast too dark/ light? Is the knob too big? Brian left the decision up to me and I am buckling under the pressure!

Have a blessed morning of worship, my friends! Happy Sunday!