Respect the Turkey!

I've heard this so much lately, but to be quite honest...the Gibbs household has already begun decorating for Christmas. I just see it as Thanksgiving is so late this year that it gives us more time to celebrate our favorite time of year. Plus, we'll have to take down all of our decorations (or at least our tree) the day after Christmas, but that's another post!

Here is our beautiful, artificial 9ft. slim tree. This will be my 'beautiful' tree when we finally get into our house. I've always wanted a pretty tree and then a tree with traditional ornaments and ones that our children make, etc.

While we only have one 'present' under the Christmas tree so far, I think it says it all. I found this beauty at our church's annual Winter Wonderland. I fell in love with it instantly and knew I just had to have it!

Fall Cleaning Challenge Pictures...Finally!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the Fall Cleaning Challenge from 'The Hyper Homemaker' blog that I follow. Well now that I've found my camera cord, I'm posting pictures.

Before... I warn you, it's pretty scary

And After... now that is much, much better

Now, I'm wondering why I'm still shocked at how empty our fridge is. Everyone's blog that I've looked at after doing the 'cleaning of the fridge' from the FCC had a bare fridge to show for their hard work. I don't even have the essentials anymore- milk, eggs-nada. Wait, you probably notice the egg carton there, well don't let it fool you, there's only one huevo in there! I better get shopping!

New Background!!

Okay, I know it's not even Thanksgiving, but with Thanksgiving being so late this year I thought I would change the background and get into the spirit of Christmas!! I love Christmas time!!

More posts to come soon!!!

Oh yeah, for those two people that actually read my blog- I will have pictures coming up soon. I couldn't for the life of me find the cord to connect my camera to my computer. Well, what do you know, after organizing the past couple of days (pics to come!) I have found it! So there is no need to not have pictures now!!! I'll post extra ones for you, Margaret!

Things I'm loving in November

Well I've been reading several blogs and I've seen quite a few of them write about things that they are currently loving. It's a great way for them to share great products they've discovered, books they've read, or anything good in general....So I've decided to throw some things of my own in the mix. Here it goes..

Land-O-Lakes Hot chocolate...this stuff is amazing, and addicting. It comes in many flavors: Amaretto, French Vanilla, Mint, Hazelnut...you get my drift. Well I've had the French Vanilla and the Mint and ooh, la, laa....it's awesome! Who needs Starbucks when you've got this! Plus a little whipped cream and voila!! So long, $4.67 per drink at Spendbucks!

Bare Bare Escentuals Buxon Lip Gloss in Dolly...this stuff is amazing-a little pricey at $18 but completely worth it. My friend Rebecca got me hooked on it. It's got this cooling sensation which feels great, plus who couldn't use a little extra plump action...okay, well maybe Angelina is good to go in that department but still. Check it out the next time you're at the mall, I highly recommend it!

Henri Bendel "Firewood" candle from Bath & Body Works. This candle smells great; it reminds me of camping outdoors- which ultimately remind me of a good friend of mine Christina and the annual camping trips we would take together as kids. I miss and love you so much, girl!

I'm currently reading "The Wednesday Letters" Its a great, easy read which is exactly what I need at the end of the day. The author is Jason Wright and he's also got a Christmas book out called "Christmas Jars", which I'm defintely going to look into when I finish this one.

For those of you hosting Thanksgiving...

I just found this handy little tool on 'The Hyper Homemaker' (see link in Friends and Family to right) Hope it helps you guys, it certainly helped me- I could never remember this before!
Here are also a few fun tricks I learned as a child:
FORKS: The order for the table setting left to right is:
F = fork
O = the shape of the plate
R = reversal of the..
K = knives
S = spoons.

Pick up your hands and make an "OK" sign with your fingers. Put your 3 remaining fingers together and you get the shape of a "b" on your left hand and a "d" on your right hand.
b = the side of the table setting the bread plate goes on
d = the side of the table setting the drinks go on

Place settings vary by occasion and menu, and the diagrams below illustrate standard ways to set the table for casual, informal or formal events.

Casual Table Setting:A typical setting, the fork is on the left while the knife and spoon are placed to the right of the plate. The napkin is placed to the left of the plate and the fork may or may not be on top of the napkin. The knife blades always face the plate. The bread plate and butter knife are optional.

Informal Table Setting:This is a common setting for restaurants. It includes utensils for a soup course, salad course, entree and dessert. The dessert spoon or fork could be placed horizontally about the top of the plate, or brought with the dessert.

Formal Table Setting:This place setting is set for a menu of appetizer, soup or fruit course, fish course, entree and salad. There can be up to five glasses at the setting for water, red wine, white wine, champagne, and sherry.

Six Weeks Left!

Yep, you read that right. I only have six weeks left of this dreadful semester. Overall, it really hasn't been too bad. I just got a little overwhelmed about 3 weeks ago when I had EVERYTHING due the same week, plus three tests...yeah- it was nuts!
I have no class today so I'm trying to get caught up on all of my reading. Here's to a rainy Thursday of getting caught up.

Fall Cleaning Challenge

Hey gals,

Check out this blog on keeping your home clean. While I only live in a two bedroom apartment, I do find it hard to keep it clean all of the time. This blog breaks it down and makes the tasks manageable. I hope it is of assistance to you all. I'll try and figure out how to post pictures soon so I can document my progress. Here's to no more clutter!