Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Monday, December 29, 2008

Wreaths in Williamsburg

We traveled over to Williamsburg to check out the handmade Christmas decorations and boy was it worth it! There was a different handmade wreath on every door. I probably looked like one of those crazy tourists going from door to door taking pictures.














I fell in love with this old time toy store.


Tuesday, December 16, 2008

mmm...chocolate

My favorite things of Christmas...See's Candy Chocolates

I don't think East Coasters can truly appreciate these chocolates. Growing up in California, we have whole See's candy stores! It's truly magical to step into one of these black and white stores to the smells of chocolate and sugar, greeted with your very own free sample. A child's delight! So, while we do have See's candy on the East Coast, it is nothing more than a meager kiosk packed high with prepackaged chocolates. Mom knows me well enough that every Christmas, or birthday she sends me a package of only my most favorite chocolates. This year it was a 2 pound box of milk chocolate truffles, maple walnut, and milk bordeoux chocolates. Truly heaven in my eyes! They may last me until Christmas...maybe.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Holiday Greetings

My favorite things of Christmas....Holiday greeting cards!

I love that for a short month, my mailbox has more cards from friends and family then bills. I'm a little behind the curve this month. I don't think our Christmas cards will reach their destinations until after Christmas, so here's a little internet Christmas greeting for everyone!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Lil' Santa

I don't know why I attempt pictures of Logan single handedly. As soon as I get him placed, the Santa hat on, and step back to grab my camera, he's quickly crawling off the set having triumphantly taken off the hat to show me his new found chew toy.

I think I might try again tomorrow when the sun will be out. I took these a few days ago of course while it was raining, and dreary out. I'm trying to get all the practice in that I can using available light, so I had to bump up the ISO pretty high on these. But, with all that, I wanted to share and to add to the list of my favorite things of Christmas...holiday pictures of the kiddos.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

My favorite things of Christmas

I'm starting to get into the holiday spirit here in Virginia. This past weekend we went in search of our 1st family Christmas tree. Andy reminds me so much of his father, and my father for that matter, with his patience (or lack of) in putting it up. I can chuckle at it now, a small inside joke to share with him...

I want to share my favorite things of Christmas with you. I hope to add a new favorite thing every couple of days or so!

So, my first favorite thing is unwrapping the ornaments for the tree and touching on the memories I've shared with Andy. Every year since we've been married, we have been in a different state for Christmas with the exception of this year. I love finding ornaments that remind me of the home we made for that short year. This ornament I was gifted while we were in Texas, and it quickly became one of my favorites. There are so many fond memories that come with it...Tex-Mex cuisine, trips to San Antonio, touring through the Texas wine country, good friends, good margaritas, and a small town I couldn't wait to move away from...

Friday, December 5, 2008

Around the Ranch

The branches on this tree seemed to twist in every direction.


A cloudy day made an eerie picture.


I came across this sign and had to take a picture.




I can't remember if this is Unc's or Grandpa's old Ford on the property.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

A Thanksgiving Sunset

We were treated to some spectacular sunsets up at the ranch. I slipped out during our Thanksgiving dinner to take this one.

Good to be home

We made the long 17-hour door-to-door travel back home yesterday. As much as I enjoyed spending time with family and relaxing at the ranch, it feels good to be home. I'm anxious to see what kind of pictures I was able to get, although I didn't take nearly as many as I would have liked to. Some days it was hard to get motivated when I was curled up on the couch next to a wood fireplace wrapped up in a good book.