Operation Jack In A Box

My youngest brother has been in California since September at his Marine training school. The training is supposed to last until July and he warned us early on that he might not be able to come home for Christmas. About a month ago he called to tell me he got permission to come home! Originally he'd wanted to surprise everyone, but he'd never bought a plane ticket before, so he called our dad to help him, then he was going to surprise me, but I'm always in charge of the sibling gift exchange, so he needed to tell me to include him, so it ended up being only his girlfriend he got to surprise. But it was such a fun surprise! He got some of his other friends in on it to help, and even his girlfriends' mother. He'd told her he couldn't come home and he was really, really sorry, but he was going to send her a big package. So he flew home late on the 22nd and the surprise was arranged for the 23rd. I arranged to leave work early so I could be there. My other brother got a HUGE box from work for him to hide in and then my mom called his girlfriend and told her a box had come to their house for her. She was so confused why he didn't send it to her house, and said she'd been watching for a UPS truck for over a week! She was out with some friends, who knew about the surprise, so they drove her right over to my parents house to get her present. She didn't suspect a thing and was so surprised when he jumped out of the box, it was great!

About to get taped inside the box

So happy!

My New Favorite Website

I sometimes stalk other peoples' blogs, people I'm not really friends with, but am interested to see what they're doing or cute ideas they have. One of the blogs I stalk sometimes posts things she finds from pinterest.com. I finally decided to check it out and have fallen in love! People "pin" up everything from recipes to makeup tips, cool haristyle tips, cool picture ideas, etc., etc. I love it! I'm always looking for interesting ideas as I feel anything but creative a lot of the times. My three favorites from the website (so far):

I love this waterfall braid, I wish I could do it:



Chalkboard paint on the pantry door, perfect for grocery lists:



21 Days to an Organized House:

• Day 1: Junk Drawer
• Day 2: Computer Desk
• Day 3: Tupperware Cabinet
• Day 4: Linen Closet
• Day 5: Under Kitchen Sink
• Day 6: Dresser Drawers
• Day 7: Pantry
• Day 8: Coat Closet
• Day 9: Toy Organization
• Day 10: Laundry Room
• Day 11: Freezer
• Day 12: Spice Cabinet
• Day 13: Medicine Cabinet
• Day 14: Under the Bathroom Sink
• Day 15: Medicine/Vitamin Storage
• Day 16: Fridge
• Day 17: Mail
• Day 18: Keepsakes
• Day 19: Master Closet
• Day 20: Photos
• Day 21: you pick!
  

A Busy, Busy Weekend!

It's that time of year for parties and such, but most of my weekend was filled with non-Christmas related things!
Friday night a friend's mom took a bunch of us out to dinner at Olive Tree. She is having her first girl so her mom thought it would be a great time to have a baby shower and get her lots of cute girly stuff! We had a lot of fun chatting, cooing over the adorbale clothes she get, and eating until we were, or at least I was, ridiculously full.

Saturday was completely nonstop! I worked in the morning, went straight to my mom's house to pick her up for a bridal shower, then we went to a friend of hers house to make some holiday cards, I took a short nap at my mom's house, then picked up Chris from the airport after his week long visit with her parents. I left the house at 8:30 in the morning and we got home about 12:30 at night! It was a crazy long day and I was exhausted, but I had a lot of fun and I was so excited to get my husband back!! Sunday (today) will definitely be our day of rest - and recovering!!!

The bridal shower was really fun, it was for a friend of mine I've known since we were about five, she was one of my bridesmaids and it's been great to see her finally meet someone she wants to settle down with! Another friend of ours from way back in the day was also there, it's been so fun over the years to run into each other! So, my favorite part of the shower was the one game we played - who knew the bride best. And I won! I was really surprised because there were several things I didn't know about her and other people there included roommates of hers from the last couple of years, who have certainly spent more time with her over the last five years and I was sure would know more about her. I guess it goes to show the friend who's known you the longest does know you the best! It was obviously really neat to be able to celebrate her upcoming wedding, and me being pregnant, after all the times we've talked about her wanting to get married and me wanting to have a baby, that we're both finally getting what we've been waiting for!