Christmas Memories

Today was laundry day guys. I have been doing laundry since 8 oclock this morning and will be done at around 4. Who says housework isn't a full time job? Of course I was kind of lazy while the clothes were drying...but that's ok right?
Christmas is in two days!!! I have all of my shopping done, but haven't wrapped anything yet. Also since we just moved we have zero Christmas decorations up so it hardly feels as though it is so soon. We are going to Sean's family gathering this weekend and then my family is having our Christmas over New Year's weekend. Most of my family worked on Christmas, so it worked out better this way :) I am sooo excited to see my family-I am such a homebody and love it when I get to go home and just veg!

My sister is coming through town tonight and staying at our place-I am super excited!!! I love talking with her, and being silly and stupid with her. My sisters are kind of the best :)


Luke 2:1-7
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David.To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.


I love reading the Christmas story :)
Once when we were little my sisters and I woke up way before my parents on Christmas morning. We couldn't get them to wake up so we snuggled on my eldest sister's bed and she read the Christmas story to us. I love that memory, it was one of the best that I have of Christmas :) :D
What are some of your favorite memories?

God Bless!
KJA

















This is just a comfy, cozy, laundry day outfit :)
Wearing:
Scarf-Vintage, grandmother's
Sweater-Vanity, ancient
Belt- Thrifted
Dress-It belonged to my mother, I believe she wore it when she was around my age :)
Boots-Walmart

What a week!

Whew what a crazy week it has been! I feel as though I haven't blogged in ages, but it's really only been a week. I consider a little break ok considering that we have moved into our apartment and have been (sort of) getting settled!

Lots of things have been going on this week. Last Friday Sean and I and our friend Jordan (who was so sweet for helping us) packed up the last of our things. We slept on the couch and the floor that night because the bed was taken apart! We got up pretty early-6:30-ish- the next morning and Sean drove an hour to get a uhaul, and then drove the hour back to pack it up. We were so blessed that so many of our family and friends could come help us move or it would have taken so much longer! If you ever move make sure to get lots of help! After we loaded up the house and locked it we drove the hour to our new apartment! The weekend was crazy as it was the last shopping weekend before Christmas. We saw about three accidents once we got into town!! We ended up being all unloaded and eating a pizza lunch by about 1:30. It was incredible! We didn't expect it to go nearly that quickly but I was so glad to have everything moved. Then the hard part was beginning to unpack. Sean was great at it, but I looked at the 'mess' and was so overwhelmed with all of the boxes!

On Sunday two of my best friends came to visit and stayed until today, which is why I haven't blogged this week yet-I was spending time with the girls! They were such a great help with unpacking and helping me wash dishes and cooking. They're like my second set of sisters. It was a marvelous few days. Instead of having to worry about what we had to do or if we had homework and such we just bummed around town going wherever we pleased and not having to worry about a schedule. We went to a lovely antique shop where I could go back and probably spend hours just looking at all the amazing vintage things. They had a couple of huge antique wardrobes that I just drooled over and it made me wish I had the three-thousand dollars to just spend willy nilly on stuff like that :) haha!
We went to a cute little bistro with AMAZING paninis-I will definitely be visiting there again. We also played lots of old Nintendo games like mario and paperboy and laughed at how ridiculous and awesome they are. I even got some Christmas shopping done! And last night Sean made us all this homemade gourmet dinner. It was baked chicken stuffed with spinach and wrapped in prosciutto with a side of spinach fettuccini with homemade gorgonzola and asiago alfredo sauce! SO AMAZING!! What a great hubby :):D
We even went and bought a gingerbread house to decorate-we got a little crazy off the sugar but it was so much fun!
It has been a great week, but now the girls are gone and Sean and I still have a ton of unpacking to do and sooo much laundry. We will probably take a break and wait until after Christmas though. It's only right!

Hope you are all having a lovely time listening to lots of Christmas music and thanking God for sending His Son so that you can have life today. Keep remembering the true meaning of the season and treasuring your friends and family and all of your blessings!
Love you all and God Bless!
KJA



Luke 1:46-53
Mary’s Song
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.















ps: I finally got my first pair of jeggings. After wearing them today I am thinking that I will just throw out all my other pants and wear jeggings every single day. Ok, you know I can't do that. But I love them-they are so super comfy and warm and slide right into my boots! Faaaantastic!

Wearing:
Top- Maurices ages ago, I love the asymmetrical faux buttons down the front
Scarf-Vintage, thrifted
Jeggings-Charlotte Russe clearance rack
Boots- vintage
Earrings-Avon, old

I will work on getting better pictures now that we are in our new place-these turned out very dark and washed out-although that's partly due to the lack of light outside as well!

Remix, belting scarves

Today I had a final, have been running errands, doing laundry and packing. I really need to focus on packing until we are moved, and not on going out and taking pictures, so you get a remix post!

As soon as I got into blogging I started wearing the trend of belting scarves. Recently I have been belting almost all of my scarves (mainly because I need more layers in the cold!) and I just love it. It adds dimension to an outfit and can make just a plain dress or tee seem like a completely different garment. I put together a collection of the ways I have worn the belted scarf since I started blogging. In some of them you'll notice a trend in my color palette, which I think is interesting to see (personally for me, probably not for you-haha!)
Forgive the quality of some of the images, I swear someday when I get some money I will buy a descent camera that has more than four pixels :P

Hope you're all having a great week!
God Bless,
KJA


Proverbs 21:2
A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart.



If you click on them, you can see them larger :)

Finals

Well, here we are in finals week! I finally have all of my projects done and now it's just study time! I have three tests to take and I'm not really sure about any of them. I only have a study guide for one and I suppose I will just have to wing the other two.
I didn't do anything warranting getting dressed up today. I went to the grocery store to pick up boxes for moving. They only had some fruit boxes...I checked other places too, but no one had any...
I got to go see my neighbor's baby today! He was born about a month early, so he's still pretty tiny, but man is he cute! I was up there for a couple of hours and he just slept in my arms the whole time-what a good little guy! My neighbor is also in the process of moving, so I kind of watched the baby while she and her mother finished packing up-I was glad to help out :):) Especially when I got such an easy job! :D:D
You guys, finding a job is NOT EASY. Ok, duh Katie. haha. I suppose I could just get a job at a grocery store or fast food place, but I really want a job at a daycare or somewhere working with children-at least something pertaining to my major! I've been praying a lot about this and trust God that the right job will come along at the right time :)I just have to not stress and worry myself to death until then! It's just that all of the daycare's that I've applied to call back and say they aren't hiring, it's getting really frustrating. Please pray! :D

Ok, I'm hitting the books now for my classroom management class-time to study!
God Bless!
KJA


Psalm 31:14
But I trust in you, LORD; I say, “You are my God.”









Wearing:
Top-rummage sale
Scarf-Walmart
Belt-Thrifted
Jeans-Hand me down-NY and Co.
ps: if you can't tell from my recent posts, I love belting scarves. It's pretty much my favorite...:)

Snowstorm

Sorry for the little break :) But I have good reason!
Thursday and Friday I was touring for my Children's theatre class all day long. I was exhausted when I got home. Yesterday I was working on projects and recuperating :)
Also-I've locked myself in my room the past couple of days because hubby is having a guys weekend filled with pizza, koolaid, video games, and his buddies...haha. It's been quite the weekend filled with much more testosterone than I'm used to!
We walked to church today-but there was MUCH more snow than there has been! We had a blizzard of sorts :) So I got on my boots and we tromped our way to church! I was all covered up to my calves with snow by the time we got there-thank goodness for boots! I also had fun rolling around in the snow for some pics...teehee...:D
Now I have to work on more projects today and study for finals this week- have three tests I have to take so it shouldn't be too bad.
Hope you all have a great week and listen to lots of Christmas music!
God Bless,
KJA


Romans 8:1-2
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.



Sorry for the dark pictures-there wasn't much sun while we were out taking pics!
































Wearing:
Necklace-Vintage, thrifted
Scarf-Given to be by Sean's mom :)
Sweater-JC Penny for a dollar!
Dress-Vintage, thrifted-I'm pretty sure this is an old band or choir dress! haha
Boots- Payless for a dollar!


Here is the outfit I wore to perform for children's theatre! It was really great and comfy to perform in. The funny thing is that all of this is mine and not from the costume department!

Flying By

Whoosh! This week is flying by really fast. I feel like I have so many things that I'm just putting off until the weekend, like final projects and studying. I usually do all of my homework on Fridays, but tomorrow and Friday my children's theatre class is finally touring, but we'll be gone all day long. That is certainly not conducive to homework.
Luckily, Sean is having kind of a guys weekend with some of his buddies, so I will be able to lock myself in our room and hopefully get the projects done in no time! The stupid thing is that none of them are that difficult, but I just have to sit down and make myself do them. I'm a big "works better under pressure" type of girl. I got A's on all of those papers I did the day they were due. If I had started them earlier they would have been poor work. Can anyone relate to me on this?
Anywho, last night Sean took us out for our last time at Skippers-pretty much the only nice restaurant here in town. We decided it'd be fun to go there one last time before we move! It was nice :)
Well, off to do those dishes I've let pile up! Sean is so good and does the dishes all the time, so I better start pulling my weight around here ;) haha!
God Bless!
KJA


Proverbs 3:3-4
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.




You can't see it in the pictures, or in real life for that matter, but this dress has little holes toward the bottom of it. I decided today that when the holes finally become visible that I will just cut off the bottom and use it as a scarf, and wear the top half as a top! The material is so incredibly soft and it would be a shame to throw it away, but you can't send it to the thrift store with holes-so it sounds like a good solution to me! :D



















Wearing:
Earrings-Hand me down from sister
Sweater dress- Target clearance
Jacket-Thrifted, Ragstock
Scarf-Target-Gifted
Belt- Vintage, thrifted
Leggings-Dollar Store
Boots- Walmart

Packing

So, I'm pretty proud of Sean and I. Instead of waiting until the last minute to start packing (which is what I would do) Sean gave us a kick in the butt last night and we have about 6 boxes packed! Which is pretty good if you ask me...Most of mine is clothing...which is sort of difficult to pack because you have to refold everything and make it fit without ruining stuff (which I am kind of OCD about). Not to mention I have a ton of stuff on hangers and I want to just put the stuff WITH the hangers in a box, but Sean says that will take up twice as many boxes...so..I may have to take everything off of the hangers, fold it and then put them all back on hangers when we get to our new place-I do not want to do that! Mostly because I am lazy...but we'll see. I'm just not good at organization so this packing thing is kind of kicking my little behind.
How is everyone's week going so far? It has been nice and sunny here :)
I'm off to an eye appt. after class (I am in desperate need of contacts) and I am not looking forward to getting my eyes dilated! Luckily I only live a few blocks from the eyecare center.
God Bless! Hope everyone has a great day :D
KJA


Deuteronomy 10:21
He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.





























Wearing:
Earrings-Claires
Necklace-It came with one of my old little girl's dresses!
Top-vintage dress-flea market-free!
Shorts-hand me down from Jen :)
Blazer-my old interp jacket-Target
Belt-Flea Market
Tights- Walmart
Socks-Flea market
Boots- From Jen also :)