Birthday Calendar

So, in preparation of the new year (yes, I know that Christmas isn't even over yet, but I am attempting to get a start on my new year's resolution of being more organized) I have made a calendar with the birthday's of our immediate family members on it. With two families, and Brad's being fairly large and growing (with no contribution from Brad and I) :0) I have decided I'd whip up a quick calendar as to not forget anyone's birthdays or scramble to find out exactly what day it is when the month rolls around.

Brinlee Rae Baby Announcement

Remember the baby announcement I wrote about in the last post? Well here it is! Brinlee is my cousin Ronni's baby and she is such a cutie! I had so much fun working on her announcement and was so glad when Ronni asked me to do it. Here is a teaser below, the final one they decided to send out, check out Purple Paisley to see the rest of the work-ups!

Purple Paisley Blog Button

I've been thinking lately that I need a way to spread the word about Purple Paisley, especially since people will soon be thinking about graduation announcements and what not. Yes, I always think about needing to spread the word about it, but rarely take much action. But not this time! I recently designed a baby announcement (soon to be posted) for my cousin and she had the brilliant idea suggesting I create a blog button for Purple Paisley. I'd thought of it before, but never really took the time to do much with it. So, here it is! (I've added it to this blog, which you can see to the right column of the page)

If you would like a Purple Paisley button on your blog that others who view your blog can click on and instantly be directed to the Purple Paisley blog follow the instructions below:

1. Make sure you are logged into and looking at your blog page.

2. Go to "customize" at the top of your blog on the right side.

3. Click "add gadget" then choose "html/javascript".

4. Copy and paste the code found in the box under my Purple Paisley button on this page (to the right) in the "Content" box.

5. click "save".

Viola! You now have a button to Purple Paisley! For those of you who choose to add this button to your blog, I'd love to know about it! And most importantly, thank you!

Christmas Card & Gift Giving Excitement

Well, it's been almost a week now and I think I have pretty much all of my Christmas cards out (with the exception of a few) and I'm assuming most of you have received it already, so I figured that gave me the "ok" to post it on my blog. This year I wanted to go with something fun and more modern and this is the design I came up with. I really liked the typography block...or whatever you wanna call it.... :0)



I am getting so excited for Christmas this year, I can't even stand it! I ask Brad every morning, and sometimes at night before bed if we can open presents.....of course he says "yes" but I always back out for fear there would be nothing to open when it actually IS Christmas. I'm like a little kid I guess, but I am more excited to have others open their gifts I've got for them then for my gifts. (Don't get me wrong, I do like presents and they are always welcomed by me.....) I've felt I've done a pretty good job this year at picking out gifts for everyone and can't wait to see their reactions.

I took my Christmas bonus this year and bought Brad and I a "surprise" gift (I guess it's really only a surprise for him, since I bought it). But I've been really sneaky about it, using my mom's credit card after giving her the cash so he couldn't track the transaction and everything. I was pretty proud of my "undercover" skills, especially since almost every year Brad spoils my the surprise of the gifts I get him. I can't spill the beans and share with you what it is since I know Brad occasionally checks our blog out, so I will share details (and pics) after he opens it on Christmas morning....if I can hold my tongue that long.

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

O' Christmas Tree

This past weekend we went on our annual Christmas Tree Cutting Extravaganza with my parents (Kassidie pooped out on us). This year though it was a little less......hmm....we'll use the word "adventurous". If you recall, last year was quite the expedition requiring us to travel 200 miles round trip over the course of 10 hours. Less adventurous, in this case, was a good thing this year.

A few weeks ago Brad and I journeyed to Heber at 5:30 am to get wrist bands in order to get a tree permit. Headed to Sonic for some breakfast, then stood in line for 1 hour to actually GET the permits. Yes, we're die hard Christmas tree cutting fans. And apparently so are a lot of other people, the line was quite long. This year, with Brad's supervision and careful research on everyone's part, I got permits to the area I THOUGHT I was getting them for last year. Yeah....probably won't ever live that fiasco down. Good memories though. :D

We hit the road and headed for the area near Strawberry to cut our trees this year. Brad and I made homemade (yes, pure and simple homemade) glazed donuts which if I don't say so myself were pretty delicious. We also brewed up some apple cider to take with us. I was excited to say the least as this year my wardrobe actually fit the weather conditions and there was actually snow! We scouted around for a few hours looking for the perfect trees, then hauled them back to the truck where we built a fire, roasted hot dogs and sipped hot apple cider.

It was a lot of fun and I love the tradition we have, it's always something fun and exciting to look forward to and sort of a unique experience. We always have a lot of giggles and a good time. You can catch some photos below. I caught some pretty neat photos of the sun coming through the large pine trees.

Typical Brad expression



Our Tree...just a little guy.


Mom and Dad's tree, it was HUGE


Sunlight pictures I took:


Tree decorations I made (homemade donuts, tree ornaments....I've felt quite domestic this year apparently):


The fruit of our labors (we even have gifts to put under it already!)

Dixon Family Photos

This year my sister-in-law had a great idea of having family photos done for Brad's parents for Christmas (although I do feel a bit guilty about this gift since I get to enjoy them just as much as they do). This is the first family photo of all of us so far, without one of us standing out in a wedding dress. :D

Amy Springer with Tilt Photography did our session and she did such a great job. Here are some shots from our shoot:

The whole clan:



Just the guys:






Just the Girls


I couldn't resist but to post this one, there are some hilarious faces....whatever was going on was obviously amusing:


Yeah...we're cool like that:



My cute parents-in-law...if that's a word...



Jen, Nate, & Natalie. How can you see this and not smile? So cute!


Me & Brad:




Dave, Jana, & Jasher:



Steve


Amy



Megan:


Matt


Lisa


Grandma & Grandpa & the grandkids

Business Card?

So, this is a duplicate post from Purple Paisley. If you read this blog, and you also read Purple Paisley, would you please leave me a note/comment letting me know? I created Purple Paisley as a way to share design projects I'm doing, but am not sure anyone really checks it out...and of course, there are some things I really want to share with everyone and get some input on. Like this post!

My sister-in-law and I were talking about how fun it would be to actually have business cards....and after seeing some really cute ones around lately, I thought I'd give a shot at creating my own. What do you guys think? Would this be "give-out" worthy? I, personally, kind of like the quote on the back section, but am wondering if maybe it's a little too much? What do you think?


Front:


Back:

Ode To Our Favorite Restaurant

So Brad and I have a weekly (yes weekly....sad, I know) ritual of making a trip to this incredibly delicious restaurant. And it's right here in Orem. We don't know the name of the guy who owns it....but we have became buds over the course of our many visits, especially since he works there every day, all day and night. He's always sure to welcome us and wave to us as we leave the restaurant. Brad and I have even gone to the length of saying (jokingly of course....) that we can't miss a week of attending the restaurant for fear Mr. Owner Guy would be worried sick and wonder if we are safe and well. Yes....we're that pathetic. So, what is this wonderful place I'm rambling about? We call it "The Greek Place" but you may know it as.....



Sadly this is the best photo I could find of the restaurant's logo. I'm pretty sure it's the only location they have so the internet doesn't have many opens/images, and I forgot my camera last week during our weekly feast there, so I was unable to take picture as I'd planned. Seriously, this place cooks up some mean greek food. It's delious and for the food quality and quantity, very reasonably priced. Brad and I can usually eat our little hearts out for around $15.00. (Wow, I should go into sales....)

So what should you order should you find yourself in this heavenly place? I recommend the Chicken Soulvaki Plate, with your choice of rice or potatoes (both really good). Brad lately has been loving the Lamb Plate, choice of rice or potatoes. This place also has non-greek menu items. Yummy options for non-greek food? Their Philly Steak Gyro-type Sandwhich, Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich (amazing), and they serve up a pretty good Cheeseburger as well.

Why am I pretty much begging you to go to this place? Because I feel you are seriously missing out and last time Brad and I ate there we agreed to blog (*clearing throat*...that I would blog) about this place and get the word out. I'm sure so many people pass by this place and have no clue what they're missing. Besides, after the complimentary Baklava from our Owner Friend while at our last visit, we felt it only right to give a shout out to him and his amazing menu!

Here's the address for the restaurant, should you ever be in town and your stomach is growling for some grubb:

Ultimate Grill and Broiler
294 N State, Orem

Mod Podge Madness

Have any of you used this magical potion before? If not, you definitely should. It's awesome. I know this stuff has been around for years, but I've never really used it until now. (With the exception of some jewelry my mom and I made from washers a few months back). This stuff is so cool, and apparently there are so many things you can do with it, including covering shoes in fabric and then applying Mod Podge.....this is next to do on my Mod Podge adventure list. I decided to take it a bit easier for one of my first projects and covered a note book for work. I've also noticed the other day that my cubicle is the only in my department that doesn't have cute stuff sitting on top of the cabinets....what is up with that?! That does not sound like me....so I decided I'd make a few things to take back with me on Monday. I decided to make some photo frames.

I just bought some flat glass frames that hold 4x6 photos at Honk's for $1.00 a piece, and covered them with scrapbook paper I found at the Roberts Craft Outlet (beware of that place....it's often times tempted me into trouble). So overall each frame cost just over a dollar to make, and it was incredibly easy. I know this isn't a craft that's new to the crafting world, but I enjoyed doing it and wanted to share. With all the cute scrapbook paper out there you could make millions of these. Pics below.

Wedding Invite

I'm not sure who, if anyone, ever looks at my Purple Paisley blog so I thought I would post these wedding invites I've been working on over the past few weeks on this blog as well as Purple Paisley because I really wanted to share them. Jessie is the daughter of a former co-worker and I was so excited when they asked me to design their wedding announcement for them! They were great to work with and so easy going. I had a great time getting to know them a little bit and designing their wedding announcement. Check them out below! (Some of the images are kind of pixely, but I'm too lazy to figure out why they're that way on blogger and not the original file....so pretend they're clear :D)

If you know of anyone looking for an announcement of any sort (I know some people are thinking about grad announcements & I have a couple of those lined up already) please let me know! I would love to help! I am putting the finishing touches on a baby announcement I'm doing for my cousin (she just had an adorable chubby-cheeked, dark haired little girl) and will post those work-ups as soon as I get the "get-go" on them.

I'd like to put a shout out to my sister-in-law Amy for getting Jessie's invites printed for us. You're the bomb Amy! As well as a shout out to Jessie and Trever, thank you so much for allowing me to design your invite, you guys are great and I wish the best of luck to you guys on your big day!

Jackson Hole Anniversary Trip

We're back & had a great vacation! It was nice to get away together and see all the beautiful fall leaves & scenery. We even got a look at a moose off the side of the road. It was a fun trip & I enjoyed the small mountain town feeling of Jackson Hole and the cute little shops that line the streets. We spent time walking the downtown streets to check out the shops and art galleries, a drive through the Tetons, and enjoyed lots of giggles (yes giggles, but don't tell Brad I used that word....) & each other's company. It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary, and I'm excited to see what's to come yet. Pics from our trip are below & as you can see, it was absolutely beautiful.