Where is the snow Chicago?

Seriously, what is going on?  Even Colorado seems to be in short supply of the powdery white stuff that keeps their winter tourism alive and well.  I'm glad I at least snapped a few pics of the pups playing in the snow on the one day morning we've been lucky enough to have a minimal accumulation.  I think this melted a few hours later and turned into a mud bath for the dogs to roll in.

I swear they love the snow.  They love to run, wrestle, play and eat it.  I think the skeptical faces are more a result of the giant black camera in their faces instead of the snow.

This will keep me going until Snowpocalypse 2012.

Guest Room Re-Do

This Christmas I received the West Elm duvet I've been eyeing.

Yay!

And since my guest room/craft room currently looks like this.....

It is time for a total re-do.  

This room was just a collection of random items from college and it was screaming nursery.  And since it is definitely NOT a nursery, it is time to get off my couch, shut down pinterest and get to work transforming it into a modern and fresh retreat for myself and the occasional guest.

But before I officially get off the couch and shut down pinterest I decided to come up with a vision and scheme for this space.  I usually jump into project with no plan or vision and I just creates a mess with no style, no statement and no fun.  It's just blahhhh. 

I am done with blah and I have come up with a fun scheme that will inspire my creativity and be a great starting point for the rest of the house.

What do you think?

This week I am hoping to the paint the walls Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter.

And then sew some roman shades (tutorial found here) in the kelly green color.  

The main color scheme will be grey and white with splashes of green in the pillows, lamps and wherever else I decide to splash it.

I've been trying to find a room with this color scheme already in place so I can get a sneak peek at how these colors mesh since this could be a disaster.

But I am ready to take the risk.

Christmas #1

We just celebrated our first Christmas of the season with my extended family.  Everyone (almost) made the trek down from WI to my parent's house for the Hock family Christmas.

The house was full and busy - just how we like it.

We played games.

Watched football.

And had a really fun gift card and family photo exchange.

Everyone knows the gift card exchange but this year my cousins suggested we try a family photo exchange.  Everyone picked a family photo (old or new), put it in a frame and wrapped it up to exchange.  I wasn't sure how this would work and if the photos people picked would be interesting enough for all but it really was SO MUCH FUN!  A new family tradition.

I forgot to take a picture of it but I received a photo of my grandpa on his navy ship from WWII.  It was a photo that I had never seen and it was really meaningful to catch a glimpse of his life then.  The best part was passing around the photos and sharing the memories.  Both my grandparents have passed away and this was a special way of remembering them during the holidays.

I highly recommend introducing this tradition to your family this Christmas.

But the best part of the holidays is cousin time!

 

Santa even came to visit the girls! 

 

And brought Elf on a Shelf!

And because these girls are so darn cute and I am slowly getting the hang of my camera can I share some adorable shots of these girls from the day?  I love having little youngins at the house.  So much fun!

Aren't they so cute?!

Merry Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Keiths!

Wishing you peace, joy & hope in Christ this Christmas.

This year's Christmas card was quite the event.  I thought it would be super easy to take some quick photos of us with the dogs using a self-timer and a tri-pod.  COULD. NOT. BE. MORE. WRONG.

As you can see Hudson didn't even make it into our card.  You can catch a glimpse of his head on my lap and Lola looks a little deranged - which she kind of is half the time but I like it this way.  This is just us and our life.  Definitely not perfect (although I have to say Bran and I look more pulled together than we usually do) but definitely happy and full of lots of laughs - thank you Hudson and Lola for that.

Here is a sampling of the ones we decided not to use.....

photo shoot #1

unison crotch sniffing (bad treat placement)

photo shoot #2

    

photo shoot #3

 Here's to hoping we can do better next year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

O Christmas Tree

Well I am sorry that I have been a terrible blogger lately.  I've been so busy enjoying the holidays and all my friends and family that I really haven't been doing much crafting, knitting or house projects.  There just really has been nothing interesting enough to share with you all.  And to be honest, I have really enjoyed just enjoying life.  Don't get me wrong though....I still love my DIY and crafting projects and especially sharing it here but I'm not going to kill myself to get posts out if there isn't really anything worth sharing.

This however, is totally worth sharing....maybe.  Christmas is my favorite holiday for so many reasons. First, it is the advent season where we spend time preparing our hearts for the birth of Jesus (or the celebration of the birth of Jesus), we celebrate his life and give praise to God for the gift of his Son, our Savior.  It is easy for me to lose sight of this amongst all the magic of the season - the twinkling lights, bedazzled trees, fresh snow, warm fires, pretty packages and even quality time with family and friends.  Oh and the holiday music and movies.  All of these are great, fun things and they are all reasons why I love Christmas but I am challenging myself to enjoy these things second to the joy of focusing my heart and mind on my Savior and what his birth truly means for me in my life.  If you can resonate with me too then I challenge you to do the same and if you have any great traditions, devotions or any other things you do to re-focus yourself amongst all the good cheer then please share with me!

With all that being said, we did have a wonderful weekend picking out tree and decking the halls all by a warm, crackling fire with the holiday tunes blasting. It was such a relaxing, cozy and fun weekend with the hubs and pups!

Hope you all have a joyful and fun and meaningful Christmas season!