justem: little bits of this and that

Ventage Tuesday: 5 Christmas Traditions

This week our Ventage Tuesday focuses on holiday traditions.   I love December! We have a lot of traditions in our house, so old, some new! I wanted to share five of them today.

1. Our Tree.  Growing up we always had a real tree, thus I assumed I would always be part of a "real tree" family.  Fast forward many years to our first year in Chicago. We were newly engaged, living together in the big city.  December rolled around, and I suggested that we go pick out a tree...which is when I was hit with the big, bad news!  My soon-to-be husband had never had a real tree. FOR SHAME.  And due to his allergies, a membership into the "fake tree club" was unwillingly thrust upon me.  For a split second I worried that our marriage was over before it even began!  But, in a valiant display of love, my sweetheart of a fiance offered to get me ANY fake tree I wanted. We drove to Menard's and walked up and down the aisles until I found the perfect tree!  10 years later and it's still standing strong. Every year we complain about what a giant pain it is to put up and take down...but it's all part of the tradition! ;)  It's got a bazillion ornaments on it. For awhile I was an ornament snob...only wanting the prettiest, nicest ornaments. But now, I embrace them all, especially the handmade ones from our childhood - green painted preztel ornament anyone?! 

2. The Advent Calendar. For a very long time we had a Starbucks tree advent calendar, I feel like most of you probably know which one I'm talking about. It had a little drawer for each day.  Then one year a drawer met the wrath of Maddie. Then the next year the kid stepped on a drawer or two. And finally, she shoved some in the wrong way and the whole thing was a goner.  This year I searched high and low to find a new Advent calendar. This one was perfect.  It's from The Land of Nod. The only problem is that little H has made it is goal in life to either a) rip the darn thing off the wall every chance he gets or b) find his surprises and eat them when I'm not looking So fun, yet slightly frustrating with a 20 month old! We also jumped on the advent book bandwagon project and have been enjoying reading a new book each evening before bed. 

3. Doc the Elf.  This is Doc the Elf's third year with us. His name was bestowed upon him back in 2010 by a sweet girl who had very few words at 20 months. She pointed up at his creepy little face and said "DA!" which is the same word she used to describe just about everything new she encountered.  And thus, Doc the Elf became a friend of the Spahn household in December.  He's not naughty like some elves.  He just watches...out of reach of the aforementioned grabby boy. 

4. Downtown. Every year we take a family trip downtown.  We usually eat breakfast somewhere special and then walk to the Christkindlmarket.  We've been doing it for many, many years since we were first married. There have been different variations of the trip, visiting different restaurants, doing some shopping, etc, etc.  Of course, it's not quite as awesome with two tired, cold kids in tow, but we've managed to survive every year thus far! We've gone in below-zero temperatures, in sleeting rain, and in a foot of snow.  Nothing can stop us!  We will be taking our annual trip this year this Saturday.  Justin gets his wienerschnitzel, I get my candied almonds and the kids each get a special ornament.

5. Stille Nacht.  Of all my traditions, this is the one that is the oldest, the corniest, and the most special.  When I was a kid, every Christmas Eve after late church, my brother and I would sit in the darkness in his bedroom and play the Mannheim Steamroller  version of Silent Night. We loved that album growing up, and I would wait every year until that night to listen to Silent Night.  We would crank it up and just listen. It's a beautiful song, even if  if it does scream "I'm from the 80's!!"  There is a moment at the end where the wind blows and the melody is played on a little toy piano...it is always at this moment that I'm reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. I'm taken to that night in the manger, with the precious newborn baby.  And I often cry tears of joy and thankfulness.  Now, the tradition continues with my own family, though now the music is often played in the car while my children sleep after a long night with family.  But it still takes me to that place, and it's still just as special.

And a few other traditions that I just had to mention:
Ritz cookies - my favorite!
The University Ave. trees 
Bake-a-palooza, though this year we are taking a "break-a=paloozea!" ;)
Christmas Eve with the extended family
Christmas Day with my Dad
The Christmas book 
The Snowman 

Check out my Ventage girlies for their list of holiday traditions: Angie, Barb, Katrina, and Steph.  What are some of your favorite traditions?!

Your Heart is Full of Unwashed Socks!

**This is a post a wrote a few years ago on my personal blog. I tend to share it every year about this time. 
I thought this year I'd share it here, with a few small changes... :)**

So. The holidays. They are supposed to make everybody all bright and shiny and happy inside, right?  WRONG.  I don't know about you...but I find that the majority of people actually turn into major jerks during the holiday season. People get greedy and rude, and they forget all about common courtesy. It drives me nuts!!!  Rude people in general drive me nuts, but especially at a time when the whole world is supposed to come together in peace, love, and harmony and all that mumbo jumbo. 

Well, this year I have decided to take a stand against holiday rudeness.  I will not allow myself to sink to the levels of those obnoxious holiday types.  I have decided, instead, to embrace the Grinch. Not that I'm going to be one...but I AM going to use the Grinch to help me manage my feelings about the rude people.  You see, ordinarily, if someone ticks me off I will get all angry and upset and let it bother me. But not anymore.  Instead, if you make me mad, I will get you back...with a line from the Grinch song.  It will make me feel better, and hopefully make you feel like a moron.  Here are some examples from the last couple days:

To the man that cut me off in the Starbucks drive-thru this morning:
Your heart's a dead tomato, splotched with moldy purple spots.

To all my co-workers who keep emailing me to ask when the holiday sing-along is, even though it's been on the calendar for THREE WEEKS: Your brain is full of spiders.

To the lady at the grocery store who ran up to the newly opened register, even though the cashier clearly said "next in line" and the lady was totally NOT in line and I was: You're a nasty wasty skunk.

To the guy driving the wrong way down the one-way parking lot: You're a crooked jerky jocky and you drive a crooked hoss.

To the clearly abled mother who parked in the handicapped parking spot at the daycare when there was an open one right next to her: You've got garlic in your soul.

And to my children, who, as cute as they are, made it their goal tonight to drive me so insane that I just might run away to join the circus and then they can have Daddy all to themselves: You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel.

Try it. Really. It will make you feel much better. :)

Dreaming of Snow...

This Gossamer Blue layout has me longing for some of the white stuff!  These photos were taken two years ago after Christmas when we took Mirielle sledding for the first time. She was not exactly a fan! ;)  Last year we had a minuscule amount of snow here in the Chicagoland, and it's starting to look like there might not be a white Christmas if it doesn't hurry up and snow soon!

I used my Martha Stewart everywhere snowflake punch to punch out the snowflakes in the corner. I was going to put some different paper on the back, but decided to just leave it open!

i loved the little Crate Paper vellum garland that came with the kit! It added the perfect amount of extra color to my layout!

The font I used with my Cameo was "Sofia" which might be my new favorite! I love how the title turned out!  Have a happy (and snowy!!) Sunday! :)

It's Kelsey!

Happy {almost} Friday!  I have a layout to share today that was up on the Pebbles blog on Monday.  It was Mix and Match day, so I created this layout using a couple of the current Pebbles lines.  The photo is one that is imperfect, yet tells a great story. This was one of my favorite moments as a new mom of two!  :)

I also just wanted to say thank you for all the kind comments on my previous post.  It means a lot. :)

photos that matter...

This month's gallery theme at write.click.scrapbook was "favorite photos"/"photos that matter." I chose to create a layout with a photo that matters.  It's not my favorite photo. In fact, it breaks my heart...but it was something I needed to do. 

If you are a friend on Facebook or a personal friend, you know that at the beginning of this year we lost our dog Maddie to lymphoma. She was diagnosed three months before she died. We tried various types of chemo therapy, but nothing worked. We discovered at the end that her cancer was resistant to therapy.  It was a horrible time for us. I probably cried every day for months.  I still cry.  She was six years old. Our baby.  She was every bit a part of our family as our kids.  

I blogged about it all (and sometimes still do) on my personal blog, but I don't talk that much about her out and about in the scrapbooking world. I know that there are a lot of people who just aren't "dog people." And I know there are a lot of people that have dogs but just don't have the same type of relationship with their dogs as I did with mine, so I don't want to bombard people who really don't understand or care with my feelings and sadness. That isn't meant to sound harsh...I truly don't expect people to understand...it's a very unique and personal thing.

All that being said, when this assignment came up, I knew immediately that it was time...time to make a layout about our sweet Maddie. I'd been putting it off...not wanting to deal with it. This picture was taken two days before she died. Her eyes are so sad. I wanted to make a layout that memorialized how amazing she was...not just how sad I am.  So, this is it.  I love the final result. I cried when I finished it and showed it to my husband. I may or may not be crying now as I type this.  That's how much I miss her. That's how special she was...

First Haircut

Hi! :) I have another Gossamer Blue layout to share today!  These are photos of my little guy getting his first haircut. The whole thing was so fast...I think he was pretty confused about what had just happened to him!!  I love the look of patterned paper behind a Silhouette cut...especially when it's the fun KI Memories papers that come with the kit!!

Love this Girl

Yesterday marked the reveal of another great Gossamer Blue kit!  I had a fabulous time with this kit. I made all five of my layouts in one night (which I'm finding is the norm now that I have two kids and full time job!), and if my time at Archivers hadn't run out, I think I could have created five more layouts!  This was the first layout I made, using the main kit only and the Lori Whitlock digital cut files.  I love when I have a layout perfectly planned out in my head and it turns out even better than I had envisioned (unlike the layout in my last post!!).  This is the first time I've used kraft cardstock in months. It's always been a favorite of mine, but has fallen by the wayside in favor of white lately! I love the final result! :)