BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER!!!

I love this time of year! These are the lights in a park in Down Town Anchorage. They have a skating rink there too and i really really want to go ice skating! Though i thoroughly enjoyed this last month, it has also been crazy busy and hectic. Many things were going on, lots to get done, and working retail is INSANE this month! Jon and I both had work Christmas parties. His was a more formal party and we dressed up. The REI Christmas party... aka: Festivus! was more casual. About 900 people attended to get crazy discounts on things in the store, free beer, and enjoy live music. It was packed! 

Jon and I also attended the Nelly concert. i gave him tickets for his birthday in November. We also attended my mom's Christmas concert. She is BOSS on the piano! I'm so proud of my little mommy!

Rebecca and I have been keeping a sharp eye out for the Northern Lights. She is so excited to see them! we havent' had any luck this year yet, but we have come across a lot of moose! in some encounters we got pretty close to those big guys!

This year I had to get a bit creative for Christmas. I didn't have the money i usually can drop on Christmas presents, so I committed to making all home made gifts this year! It took a lot of time but the gifts i gave had a lot more heart in them than I've had any other year. My gift to Jon started this whole idea of home made gifts. He had talked about wanting a blanket that was tall enough for him (6'2'') to wrap under his feet and over his head at the same time. He loved my quilt I had at my house that was 9' long for only a twin comforter. So, as the wonderful girlfriend i am ;) ;) I noticed the hints and set to work right after Thanksgiving. 

My mom had collected a lot of small 4'' demin squares recycled from my dad's jeans. In the picture I am compairing the width of the blanket to the width of my twin quilt he liked. only added 6 more inches to the width. i did make it 9' long though.

here is the finished product. i had tan plaid flannel on the back and added a thin layer of batting. it's one very heavy blanket! He absolutely loved it when he opened it up!

My pregnant sister is due in just a few weeks with a baby girl they've named KD. KD had the most presents of any of us under the tree. I had a LOT of fun making her gifts. I found a pattern online to make a swaddle (far left). It was super easy to make and took me only about 30 min to make it. I found a kit at JoAnns Fabrics to make the dog (middle) which was also fairly easy to put together (especially since the kit was for 10 year old girls) and took a couple hours, and the beanie i just loved doing. I made about 7 beanies this christmas.

Here are just a few of them. I forgot to grab pictures of all of them i made. 

Aprons i made for my mom and my sister!

for my dad, my brother in law KC, and my cousin i made these blue plaid pajama pants. This was the only picture i snagged of them. My dad was so funny on Christmas day with his awesome cowboy hat, hiking up the pants as high as they would go, holding his box of twinkies, and dancing around singing songs he'd make up on the spot! I LOVE LOVE LOVE him! he's seriously the funniest man ever!

For my parents and for Bradie & KC, I  made these picture framed plaques. They are I believe around 24 inches tall. I would have put family pictures in them, but our last family picture was taken when i was 16 years old. And with the new addition of KD soon, they will definitely need to be updated. 

I made these cute little stocking from scarves for my room mate Rebecca and I. I also had fun putting together about 12 of those cute little earrings for my friends.

I even made these cute little ornaments and chocolate covered peanut butter balls and oreo truffles! my kitchen was overrun my chocolates. I made about 200 of each and gave most of them away. :)

I received the most amazing gifts ever this year. My favorite was the snowboard and boots and bindings and helmet and goggles I got from Jon and my parents! I'm so excited to hit the slopes and test them out! I received many other great gifts from family and friends. Jon's mom also made me a gorgeous apron that took my breath away. She is a very talented woman on a sewing machine!

 I had a wonderful White Christmas with friends and family this year! Everything was perfect and I wouldn't change one thing about it. I hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday season and is as looking forward to the new year as i am! Love Always, Abbigail xoxo

everyday i'm shufflin

I LOVE lazy days off, like today! to take a break from the crazy normalcy of life when you don't even have time to tie your shoes in the morning and instead just force your feet into loosely pre-tied shoes so you can run out the door. I treasure lazy days off. I crave them! But, they come and go way too quickly!! This weekend is special, though, because I also had yesterday off! I was able to finish unpacking (I moved to a new house about a month ago), catch up on laundry, clean the house, go to the gym, do my nails, do my hair... anyways, i was able to get a lot of things done yesterday, and now today I can just chill and do whatever I feel like I want to do! Today... I feel like blogging.

It's been awhile since my last blog. And a lot of magical things have happened since then!

Earlier this spring I moved to Anchorage for a new start. That wish was granted! I have gotten to know a new side of myself. Though my life is hella crazy and busy, I love it! I love working at REI! I am eager to get there everyday I work. I love playing with the gadgets and talking to the people that come in. I love the stories they share with me and their experiences with not only the Alaskan wilderness, but with areas all around the world! I'm coming up on my 6 month mark of working at REI and a performance review. If all goes well, I will be receiving a raise shortly! I love getting more money :)

I love my Singles Ward! There are always fun things going on. Tonight, for instance, we are having a Guy Fawkes Night bonfire. It's gonna be amazing! We do movie nights, game night, park nights, hike nights, potlucks, crafts, and well pretty much any thing we can come up with nights. We fit into whoever's small house and just have a blast! I was slow at getting to know people at first, but I really branched out at the YSA conference in July. In fact, there was a guy there that kinda caught my attention. After the conference I asked my friend who was having regular parties at her house to extend invites to this guy specifically. He came, and I was so happy he came. My interest grew for this cute, charming and amazing guy, and he FINALLY asked me out at the end of August. I've now been dating Jon for a little over 2 months. 

I love this boy! Things kicked off fast with Jon. He became my best friend so easily; like peanut butter and chocolate, that was just the way it was supposed to be, and soon enough we were inseparable. I reeled in a keeper :)

I love my new house and my new room mate! It's amazing how everything fell together so quickly and perfectly just when we needed it to. Heavenly Father was definitely involved. I am very blessed to have a room mate as amazing as Rebecca. We get along so well! She loves outdoorsy things even more than I do! It's a perfect situation and I am very grateful for these blessings. 

My new room mate Rebecca and our new house!