Our love story; LINK-UP

LINK UP NOW through VALENTINE'S DAY

I am so excited to open up this link-up to you guys and read your love stories. It's one of my favorite things to read when I look at a blog, and it's a great way for me to get to know my readers more. And for you to get to know us more. If you don't already know some of these things... here they are! You can either just tell us your love story, or there are questions that are listed for you below to grab and answer. Our love story is right below the questions. Hope you enjoy :)

Taken Ladies

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?  If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Single Ladies 

1. What is the best date you have ever been on?

2. What is the worst?

3. Have you dated a complete woozie before? If so, tell us more!

4. What do you plan on doing this V-DAY?

5. Show us something that you are loving these days.

6. Do you prefer chocolates and roses, or jewelry?

7. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

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**You are also more than welcome to just share your love story with us however you'd like. But the questions are there to give everyone kind of a similar ground. Totally up to you! Either way we want to know it!!
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Our Love Story

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

Andrew and I celebrated our 6 year "together" anniversary on January 30th.

2. How did you meet?

SHORT VERSION: We met our freshmen year {second semester} at Purdue University. I had switched roommates my second semester {because the my original roommate and I had clashed}, and decided to room with a complete stranger. 

On one of the first weekends back to school, my new roommate Laura and I had gone to two separate parties. When we came home around 1 am, she asked if two of her good guy friends growing up could come over for a little bit? "Um. Sure." Well, these two friends show up, and what does Laura decide to do? Why, she decides to hop into bed and go to sleep, leaving me with these two strangers.

One which happened to be a talker {my Andrew}. And a talking he did. Talk talk talk. Until 5 am. The whole time, I am thinking "oh m g someone save me, i'm so tired!" His roommate {the other guy there, but you wouldn't know since he just sat there pissed off}, kept saying the same thing. "Lets go man."  Finally they left.   

We met up a week later at a party we both went to... and well... a shot, here, a shot there, and a first kiss... the rest? Is history.

After we started dating, I found out from his friend that when he walked out that door the first night we met... he said to him "She's going to be mine." Blushes.

3. If married, how long have you been married? 

It will be 3 years in August.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? 

We got married in Maui, Hawaii. Just the two of us :)

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Do we ever! I don't think I could even list them all, but I will definitely list a few of the "popular" ones. Burby. Baby. Honey. Love. Bee-bop. 

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

He's funny. He is the biggest heart. He loves me and my daughter more than anything on this earth. And it shows.

7. Tell us how he proposed?

Andrew proposed to me in the bath tub, in a hotel, on our 3rd year anniversary, right before dinner. He just couldn't wait. So very like Andrew. Obviously there are more details... but no need to share those ;)

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Can I say neither? Ha. I made up the questions. Well, he's totally more of a dinner date night type guy. But if I had to choose between the two, definitely the flowers and teddy bear. With champagne. And a hotel room.

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

Both. Depending on the situation. If we are celebrating something? We like to go out, and go big. Otherwise, I am a total homebody and would much prefer to stay in and relax.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

I'd love to travel to Europe with Andrew for 4 weeks. Obviously this wouldn't happen until our kids are older, but it's on our "must" list when we are older.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day. 

We actually haven't decided yet. I think I want to have a little "fancy" dinner at home as a family of 3. Dress up. Candles. mMmMm this sounds nice.

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

Nope. We are saving right now for a vacation... so the money that would have been spent will go towards our vacation money.

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Respect. My best advice I could give anyone. A piece of advice that I struggle with day in and day out. But it is truly one of the most important things in a relationship. To honor each other. Appreciate one another. Respect each other. Be that persons biggest fan.

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Grab a button, fill out the questions {or tell us your love story}, and tell all your friends! Love is in the air! 

HTML for button

<a border="0" href="http://www.frommrstomama.com/2012/02/our-love-story-link-up.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsRy647IxKhW1-lsLIwBQ0W5Sg_CeyQ2Z5hbW2o-uDjV14Gts2Ci-T4lB7epVV-qsFT-0R-ZkUAAcYdwWhfsWfUEvpShR4D1UAH_pY2VJ9pTL93p6-xP4ljPcHPlqntryyiHBZ6799ZAZb/s1600/Untitled.png" /></a> **Please don't link up random posts that are not a part of this link up... they will be deleted**

"LOVE" Crafts. You Choose.

So, with the DIY craft link-up coming up, I am trying to decide which craft to do. I have also compiled list of crafts to give you guys ideas of some projects that you can take on.

If there is something that you like in this list that you want to do... here is a link to my craft board and you can visit the specific sites to get instructions/ideas. 

So, NOW... I need your help.. what is your favorite?

What is your favorite numbered craft?

Or, you can even give me your top favorites.

Show Me Christmas Traditions; Link Up

Welcome back for the third week of Show Me Christmas hosted by Aly @ Analyze This and myself. This weeks theme is Traditions. This includes past, present, and future. Traditions that you have done for years, traditions that you plan on doing this year, and traditions that you would like to start in the future. This includes activities, games, recipes, crafts, etc. Next Tuesday is the last Link-Up for this series and it's Show Me Christmas {show us your gifts, tells us what you did, what you ate, favorite memories, etc}. Last weeks link up Decorations, and the first weeks link-up Christmas list.

Here at the S household there are certain Christmas traditions that we have continued as kids, ones that we just started this year, and others that we hope to begin as our family grows and our children get older. I would love to continue to build on the traditions as I think this time of the year is truly so special and remarkable. To me, the holidays is all about family and making memories {and Jesus of course}. And I am looking forward to capturing these moments year by year.

The traditions begin around Thanksgiving time. A few days before Thanksgiving we begin to decorate the house. From top to bottom. I hope that Elliana will be able to help us next year {although I know she will still be pretty young}. But as she grows {and our future children grow}, I will definitely make this a family event. Get everyone involved. We turn on the Christmas music and decorate away. For now, we only decorate the inside of the house, however, I know that as our children get older, we will have to start decorating the outside.

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Then, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we decorate the actual tree. I am really looking forward to next year when Elliana will be able to help hang the ornaments. She already gets so excited about the tree, so I have a feeling she will love participating in hanging the "balls." Stockings won't go up until December 5th and that night St. Nicholas will come to fill the stockings. Naughty or nice? Coal or gifts. {I have a feeling I may have fun with this little tradition}.

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I also love the tradition of putting shoes out on December 5th and filling it with candy {also a St. Nicholas tradition}. We used to do this in German class, and I think we are going to start this tradition next year when Elliana will understand more. I plan on doing it with husband too. Again, if you are naughty, you get coal in your shoe. So my goal this year is to be out on a hunt for some cute St. Nicholas shoes for next year.

The remaining of the days after December 5th to Christmas Eve consist of multiple family activities including family crafts, santa pictures, family "tree" pictures, baking Christmas cookies, reading Christmas books and watching Christmas movies. Also, as a tradition, the we will buy Elliana {and future children} PJs to wear Christmas Morning {and stay in the pjs all day}.

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Every year, I will have the kids write out a "wish list" to Santa. And then, we will have a "package" sent to the kids from "Santa." Elliana's package actually came yesterday, and I am in love with it. It came with with a letter addressed to her from Santa. A post card from Rudolph. A "tree light." A little door knob sign that she puts out the night before Christmas and there's a checklist of stuff she has to do, including putting out cookies and milk for Santa, taking a bath, wearing her xmas jammies, etc. And to top it off, she got a "certificate" that said she made it on the nice list. I LOVE it. Here is a glimpse of just some of the stuff.

Christmas Eve, we will head over to my parent's house {as we do every year}, and the kids {my brother and I} will bring dishes, my mom cooks a whole feast {enough to feed a whole army} and the night consists of lots of eating, drinking, and laughs. We then begin to open presents around 9-10, and continue for hours. This year though, I think we may open some gifts, eat, then open more, and so forth. My dad always wears a little Christmas hat, and he is the Santa that passes out the gifts. Whatever gift gets picked up, is the gift that must be opened by that person. This is my favorite tradition, as we all have so much fun seeing what everyone gets. Often times, my mom gets us some "embarrassing" gifts, and my brother, sister, and I always have a good laugh about it. Something that I would like to incorporate next year is the white elephant tradition and the gifts from the heart tradition.  So I am planning on having everyone draw a name from hat this year, and they have that person for next year and they must make that person something {from the heart}. And you would gift that person the following year.

Now, this year {as we do every year} we will spend the night at my parent's house, and we probably will continues this tradition for years down the road. So Elliana and I {and our future kids} will make cookies the night before for Santa, and instead of "milk" we will set out some water for him. Because, well, stinky milk would be no good.

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Christmas day will consist of "Santa" gifts and spending time with the other side of the family, Andrew's parents and sister. Now with his parents having moved to Texas and his sister living out of state, I can't say for certain that this little tradition will always be on Christmas day, but regardless, we will make it work!

And of course, the rest of the day will consist of bumming around, playing with our "toys" and spending time together as a family. I hope that our kids will want to spend this time with us. Eat lots of yummy food Christmas day, and play "board games."

And as an added bonus, this year {and hopefully every year} the day after Christmas, we are going to go to Christmas at the Zoo. They have a huge show, lots of crafts, and a Santa! I can't wait!

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Here is my Family Traditions Check off list. I plan on adding on/tweaking it every year.

 Favorite Recipe

 Cran-Horseradish Suace {served over cream cheese and crackers}

• YIELD: 8 servings
• COURSE: Appetizers

Ingredients

• 1 (16-ounce) can whole-berry cranberry sauce
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup minced onion
• 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
• Garnishes: fresh rosemary sprigs, fresh cranberries

Preparation

Stir together first 5 ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat. Cover and chill 1 hour or up to 3 days.

When ready to serve, spoon Cran-Horseradish Sauce over cream cheese on a plate. Garnish, if desired. Serve with assorted crackers.

 

<a border="0" href="http://www.frommrstomama.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAAeJrpmKqyNQaSXxMdExMP-MzDkES0SGLjJc462jajeGGvqwDRKk9jLwEwQVJ0LJ8m4LoJW50W8lqkVaehmG-fMTKJEQskaLhEHGL1BmhkiSr2p7_fo9186JRfrpKvcquS2A0KAt9hmc/s1600/christmas.png" /></a>

Thank you again for linking up and sharing the holiday spirit with us all. I can't wait to hear what kind of traditions you guys participate in during the holiday season. With our growing little family, I am always looking for new ideas and activities that we can do together.

Show Me Christmas {Decorations}; Week 2;Link UP

Hey guys!! Welcome back for Week 2 {Decorations} of Show Me Christmas hosted by Aly @ Analyze This and myself. First, we just want to thank all of you who linked up last week. All 114 of you! It was so fun to hop around and see your guys' lists. I met some really cool bloggy friends, and I hope you did too!

So. This weeks theme is DECORATIONS.
{inside. outside. diy projects, you name it!}

Our Christmas Decorations: INSIDE

These are just a few of our items in our home, but it is definitely a collection that grows every year. Like I've mentioned before, I wait until after Christmas to snag up tons of x-mas decor that goes on sale 50-90% off. I plan on doing the same thing this year... and this year actually getting stuff for the outdoors. I also have tons of pinterest idea inspired crafts that I would like to carry out. If only I could find the time! 

Christmas Decorations: DIY {Christmas Tree on Canvas}

 First off, please don't laugh at me. Second, when Aly and I got together last week we had planned on doing "crafts" so that we could post about it on the blog. Well, that plan quickly went down the drain when we didn't quite "prepare" for craft day.. and the crafts we did start... well basically failed. I'd show you, but you would only make fun. 

But, I did paint a canvas. Silver. Because that was the only "Christmas color I had." Then Sunday night, while putting my post together, I realized I still did not have a DIY project to show you guys. And that was a big fat no no for me. So I remembered a pin I had pinned, and quickly went to work. This is by far the easiest project to do. And I'm actually going to do another one once I gather up wrapping paper from my mom and MIL.
Instructions:
-Gather left-over wrapping paper {the different colors the better]
-A canvas, any size. Mine up there is a 11x14.
-Roll the paper just like seen in the picture. Tape the paper. Then tape it down. {You can also use hot glue gun, but I plan on changing mine, so I wanted to make it easy to take off. And you honestly cannot see the tape at all!}
-Use something for the top as your "Star." I took off a little red ball from a decoration I had {haha} and just taped it on top!
-And wa-la! Done!

Want to see what a really cute one looks like? Yup. That's what I am going to make mine look like the next time I do it!!

<a border="0" href="http://www.frommrstomama.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAAeJrpmKqyNQaSXxMdExMP-MzDkES0SGLjJc462jajeGGvqwDRKk9jLwEwQVJ0LJ8m4LoJW50W8lqkVaehmG-fMTKJEQskaLhEHGL1BmhkiSr2p7_fo9186JRfrpKvcquS2A0KAt9hmc/s1600/christmas.png" /></a>

So what are you waiting for?! Grab a button, make your post showing us your inside, outside, and any diy decorations and LINK UP! Be sure to hop around and check out what everyone else is doing this holiday season!

I can't wait to see what you guys have done for your decorations!!