What I Made for My Secret Santa Partner

As you know, I joined the Secret Santa Swap again this year. This is one of my favorite swaps. I LOVE Shawnee's swaps and I LOVE Christmas. We had to choose a word for a "theme". I picked MERRY. Here is what I sent:

And I made an apron too...

It's hard to see from the picture but the apron has snowmen on it. I think that it is super cute. I really hope my partner likes it.

Secret Santa Swap 2012

A Christmas SWAP - I'm so excited! Shawnee wanted all swappers to answer a few questions to help out our partners so here they are... 1. What are your hobbies? I love to read, sew, quilt, scrapbook, and make cards. 2. What are your favorite colors? Red! I love the traditonal Christmas colors but also pink and lime green. Also liking teals right now. 3. Do you collect anything? Not really unless you count fabric. 4.Are you allergic to any fibers or animals? I am allergic to cats but I live with one and so I stay medicated. 5. Do you have any pets? I have a Mini poodle named Bueller. My daughter has a cat named Boots and a guinea pig named Nester. 6. Coffee, Tea, or Chocolate? Love all three but only green or herbal teas (no black or red tea, please). I love flavored coffees and drink a lot of tea especially Blueberry green tea and Peppermint tea. 7.What do you like to read? A good thriller and sometimes a sweet romance. My favorite authors are Nicholas Sparks and James Patterson. I do have a list of books that I've read this year and last on my blog to give you a good idea. 8. Do you prefer Cookies or Candies as a sweet? Both. I really like dark chocolate! 9. What is your favorite holiday treat? Chocolate covered cherries! 10. Describe your favorite holiday tradition. Putting up the tree and also celebrating my daughter's birthday. She will be 17 on December 25. 11. Did you believe in Santa as a child? I still do! 12. When do you open presents? Christmas morning! 13. Do you put up a tree and when? If not, how do you celebrate? Yes we do. Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving or the next if we go out of town for Thanksgiving. 14. Does your tree have a theme? No. 15. What has been your favorite gift to give? to receive? I love to give homemade gifts. My favorite Christmas gift EVER was my daughter. I also love getting pj's, slippers, and socks to keep me warm. Also love knitted things like scarves because I can't knit and am in awe of those who can. Merry Christmas!

First Snow Day 2012

No, I didn't take any pictures but I wish I had. We received just a light dusting of what looked like a pretty big storm that hit just north of us but it was enough to cancel school today. And BRRRR its cold outside. However, my the end of the week, the highs are suppose to be near 60. Go figure!

Resolutions

Last year at this time, I posted a couple of resolutions. So I thought before I made any new ones for 2012, I thought I would check on how I did in 2011...

My resolutions were:

1. Craft more. Make more time to sew and scrapbook. I completed one quilt, made several aprons, and attended 2 scrapbook retreats. I didn't craft as much as I would have liked but I would say I did ok on the resolution.

2. Read more. I used to read all the time and I just don't anymore and I miss it.
Need to work on this one. I did go through several periods were I did a lot of reading but during the last couple of months, hardly read at all.

3. Learn to say no. Did great here - don't think I did anything that I didn't really want to do.

4. Make better use of my time. Not sure about this either.

5. Get healthier. Need to get back to exercising. Did AWESOME here! After the doctor yelled at me in March for gaining 8 more pounds over the winter months, I hit it hard and along with my husband, we started the 17 Day Diet. I took off 25 pounds and my husband took off 40. We started mountain biking and joined a gym. I went from a size 12 to a size 4 in pants and am off of my blood pressure meds.

6. Get rid of the clutter. Work in progress but made a dent.

7. And blog more. FAILED!!!

So now, off to work on my 2012 list.
Happy New Year!

New Years 2012

Cliff, Courtney, and I started the new year right with a hike in nearby DuPont forest. AWESOME!