four things

Today E's encouraging us to embrace the "Four Things" gift philosophy and share what we want. Now let's be honest-- I want way more than four things for Christmas/birthday. I want more like...40. Or possibly 400. But for kicks and giggles I picked four to share. Prepare thyself for awesomeness...

1. NEED: A ceiling fan duster. I know. Have you ever met anyone wanting something that boring before? Well, now you have. But I'm serious. I need this. If you've ever been in my house and witnessed the atrocity on my non-spinning-fans, you would agree with me.

2. WANT: This Fossil Crossbody Purse. For some reason I'm totally lusting after these bags, and I'm not normally such a "purse" girl. Or such a "patterns" person. But some deep part of my soul really wants this purse anyway.

3. WEAR: The Urban Decay Naked Palette. Have I moaned about wanting this often enough? Here's one more whiney beg, for good measure. My eyes need to wear this!!!

4. READ: Kristen Heitzmann's Rush of Wings trilogy. It's the last of her books that I haven't read yet (and when I'm done, I don't know what I'll have left to look forward to in life. Seriously). And since it's a trilogy, I think it still counts as one thing, right? Right. On Kindle OR paper book...either way, people, I just need it!!

So there you have it. If you feel like you still need to know more about my needs/wants/etc., feel free to peruse (and purchase things off) my Amazon wish list and Pinterest "wish list" board! 

Have a happy weekend! And thanks for all your supportive and hilarious comments about my super lame videos from yesterday-- glad that we can entertain more than just ourselves!! Don't worry, the JAV tutorial will be coming shortly! As well as a post-JAV interview with the loser, who...suffice it to say, wasn't really in the mood to be interviewed. Again. Hint, hint.

PS. Grab the graphic from E's blog and link up with your own "four things" list!

sneak preview

Less than a week 'til I'm 30, yall. That means I'm knocking out The List with a vengeance. Yesterday afternoon we pulled a double and managed to combine "Make a Vlog" and "Beat Matt at JAV" into ONE THING!!!-- A video (vlog) about JAV!!

I know. Try to contain your excitement.

Cause you're gonna have to. I'm not posting that video just yet.

In the car on the way home from work/to the park, I did a little pre-videoing. You know, to get us used to the camera. And as it turns out, these two little 30-second videos are pretty much my favorite part of the whole thing. Welcome into our world, or at least the part where we spend hours a day in the car together. 

Meet Matt, who is not at all impressed or amused by my newfound love of interviewing and videoing him while driving.

The One Where He Reveals He Feels Like A Slave to my Blog: 

PS- This screenshot looks sideways, but I am 99% sure the video will play right side up...??

The One Where We Make Fun of Each Other's Teeth (aka how we spend 90% of our time):

And finally, one of our "test runs" once we got to the park. Evidently I need LOTS of practice in front of a camera, since I apparently turn into an overly dramatic slapstick comedienne with bizarre facial expressions as soon as I hear "ACTION!!" Yiiiikes.

Anyways. Depending on how deeply scarred you are from these videos, I may or may not get around to actually posting the JAV tutorial any time soon. Just let me know.

PS. Yes, there are even more ridiculous outtakes. We find our own selves to be ENTIRELY too amusing, I guess.

VINDICATED!!!!!

So remember last week when we had that heart-to-heart about my control freak tendencies when it came to Christmas decorating? I 'fessed up that I was kinda nutso about the details, and (most of) yall patted me on the back and told me it was okay, you understood, you're the same way, and just generally made me feel better? And I did feel better. I do feel better. Matt and I have had some good laughs over the whole thing and we're done. Right?

Well yesterday morning Matt and I were doing our little Advent devotional thing in the car on the way to work. Yep, there's an app for that. There's a few little points to discuss/think about and a few verses or chapters to read and it's a good way to spend part of our daily commute.

Imagine my excitement when I saw that the topic of the day was "Decorations." Speaking of a topic my heart gets happy about...

The Scripture for the day is Exodus 25, if you want to review that first. If you don't, I'll summarize: It's one of those realllllly long and detailed descriptions of how to build/decorate/build the decorations for the Tabernacle. I know. Really riveting stuff.

BUT LO!!! Read on, my friends-- check out these questions I was forced to ponder!!

"Why do you think God was so specific about how to decorate the temple?"

Probably for the same reasons Erika is so specific about how to decorate her living room. Because He wants it to look awesome and not like crap. Because most people, left to their own devices, are just NOT going to happen to decorate it the way you were envisioning it. So if you want it done right-- you either do it yourself, or leave VERY DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS!

The obvious conclusion I drew from this very divinely timed Advent devotion? My extremely detail-oriented approach to Christmas decorations are merely a reflection of my Christlikeness!! A lesser known fruit of the Spirit, if you will!! As I am obviously lacking in humility, I make up for it in my God-like specificity for proper decorating. 

I don't know if you can understand how amazing and hilarious I found this whole revelation. I was seriously giving air-high-fives to God in the car as I flaunted my correctness to Matt, which is a very holy thing to do at 7 am. Not only did the blogosphere give me the stamp of approval-- I am following in the footsteps of God Himself!!! If that's not winning, I don't know what is.

And at this point, you are either rolling your eyes at me or seriously concerned that a date with a lightning bolt is in my near future, so I'll stop. But I won't stop being the Boss of Christmas Decorating. Because it's the right thing to do.

Christmas Mantel

Let's be honest-- one of the main reasons I was so excited to get my Christmas decor up so early (it was still November, yall!! That's EARLY!!) was so that I could participate in all of the show-off-your-decor blog carnivals. I love gleaning tips and ideas from other bloggers, which means that the mantel you are about to see pictures of today could look totally different in a few days- after I get done stealing ideas from everyone else! 

So today I'm linking up with The Lettered Cottage to show off my holiday mantel decorations!

Perhaps I should start with a disclaimer: Last year, I discovered Pinterest. Right before Christmas. Therefore I made every cheap/free/easy Pinterest Christmas craft that ever existed and then invented a few more besides. So if my mantel looks like it was decorated by a three-year-old with a gluegun who raided her garage and then Michael's and Goodwill...well, that would be a fair observation. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't like the finished product. Not too fussy, not too store-bought...yup, suits me just fine!

The "Merry Christmas" sign, stockings, stocking holders, and angel are all store-bought things I've had for years. Sorry for the awkward angle-- the layout of our living room makes it hard to get a shot of the whole thing. Or it could be the photographer. Either way.

These are a few of my Book Trees...I made a veritable forest of these last year. Yeah. Pinterest craft gone wild. But I love them!

The Book Trees are hanging out in front of my famous Stick Tree I made last year. Maybe it's not famous to you...but it was my very first craft I invented all on my own AND made a tutorial for, so...famous in my heart. Plus, I like it. I like trees in general. Christmas trees. Oak trees. Dogwood trees. Palm trees. Whatever. Trees. Yay.

OH LOOK, MORE TREES!! I know, you're shocked. These I made last year, too. They involved a sewing machine, which makes me a totally legit crafter. The tree stumps are little wooden sewing thread spool thingies...aren't they cute?! Love these trees.

These trees live in front of a mirror. And then I discovered that I could focus on myself in the mirror instead of on the trees, and you wouldn't even believe how much fun I had doing that. A professional photographer I am not. Easily entertained? Probably yes.

So that's my mantel this year! I currently like it, but can almost guarantee that there'll be changes as the season progresses. As the blog carnivals roll on. As I perfect my new woodburning hobby. As the Pinterest moves me.

In case you're curious, this is what my mantel (and the rest of the house) looked like last year. Now go join in on the fun and show me YOUR mantel! Quid pro quo, right? Happy Tuesday!