Friday, December 30, 2016

Five on Friday - An Ode to 2016

Well friends, 2016 is coming to a close.  It seems like I was just typing these same words for 2015, and here we already are closing out 2016.  It’s pretty unbelievable how fast the years fly these days.

2016 was a great year. 

It was the “year of less” and I simplified a lot of stuff in our home.  (More on that next week!)

It was the year that I let you tour our home.  

 What It Really Looks Like on a Daily Basis


It was the year that I shared all of our holiday home tours with you as well.

 Christmas


It was the year that we went on several weekend getaways.

Atlanta, GAJanuary 2016 (Georgia Aquarium)
Atlanta, GA - February 2016 (Atlanta Zoo)
Atlanta, GA - May 2016 (Dave Matthews Band Concert)



It was the year that Olivia had tubes put in her ears… and boy, did it make a difference for the better!

It was the year that we celebrated Olivia’s second birthday.

It was the year that I celebrated one year of blogging!

It was the year that I celebrated my 34th birthday.

It was the year that we finally got our potty-training issues straightened out with Jacob by... throwing him a Poo Poo Party!  You just have to read it to believe it.  Lol.



It was the year that Brian and I made a pact to go on one date night per month and we blew it out of the water by going on 14 dates!

JORD Wood Watches - Summer Arm Party
JORD Wood Watches - Fall Fashion Staples 
UncommonGoods - Five on Friday - Gift Ideas for Everyone on Your List



It was the year that we had our best beach trip ever!

Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Days 5 & 6



It was the year that we celebrated Jacob’s fifth birthday.

Birthday Letter - Age 5
Party and Family Celebrations 



It was the year that we put Jacob in a big boy bedroom.


It was the year that I shared several new yummy recipes with you.
DIY Christmas Card Holder


It was the year that we took our first trip to the mountains with the kids and had the best time ever!

Days 1 & 2 / Days 3 & 4 / By the Numbers



It was the year that Brian and I made it to three different Georgia games, and Jacob made it to his very first one!

Georgia vs. Auburn Game


It was the year that I participated in my first blogger exchanges.

Holiday Ornament Exchange


It was the year that we celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary and I started sharing our wedding with you.  Which, by the way I’ll be finishing recapping in January.  Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten.  And the best is yet to come!

The Ceremony


It was the year that I challenged myself to wear something different every single day for the entire year and succeeded.  And stay tuned... the December recap will be up in early January.  :o)

Christmas


And since it wouldn’t be a Five on Friday without five things, I thought it would also be fun to recap my top five most viewed posts of 2016.  Instead of starting with one, like I usually do, I’m going to start with five and work my way to number one.  You know, because it’s more fun that way!  ;o)


This post is currently at 840 views and growing.  I thought it might be a popular one as I’m sure most of you love a good home tour like I do, plus, who doesn’t like Christmas?!



F O U R – Home Tour Tuesday - Olivia's Room

This post is currently at 853 views and growing.  It’s one of my favorite rooms in our house, so I was happy to see that you guys enjoyed this room as much as I do!


T H R E E – Home Tour Tuesday - Playroom
This post is currently at 893 views and growing.  Another one of my favorite rooms in the house!  Y’all love a good home tour!



T W O – Home Tour Tuesday - Room Roundup

This post is currently at 1,383 views and growing.  It’s a roundup of all of the rooms in our house after I did each individual home tour.  So basically, it’s our entire house at a glance.


O N E – My Pregnancy With Olivia in Chalkboard Signs

And finally, this post was my most popular post of 2016 by a landslide.  It is currently at 11,118 views and still growing.  Each week during my pregnancy with Olivia, I made a chalkboard sign and wore a cute maternity outfit to document the pregnancy.  This post shows each and every chalkboard post from 13-39 weeks, and it’s one of my favorite posts I’ve ever done as well.  If you haven’t checked it out, you can see it here!



So there you have it – you guys love home tours, and you love baby stuff apparently.  I wish there was a way for me to do more of those kinds of posts for you, but unfortunately our entire house is decorated and we are done having babies.  Hehe.  I guess I’ll just have to see what else I can come up with for 2017.

Just for fun, here's my Top Nine most liked posts on Instagram for the year!

And finally, before I go, I do have to mention that my most viewed post of all time is still my very first blog post that I ever did back in 2015 – Olivia Cate's Pink & Gold First Birthday Party.  It’s now at 93,772 views and still going strong… thanks, Pinterest!

Cheers to 2017!!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites,  September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and Cup of Tea for High Five for Friday.


Thursday, December 29, 2016

Christmas Bucket List 2016 – What We Accomplished

So how did everyone else do on their Christmas bucket lists this year?  We completely rocked ours!

O N E – Deck the Halls

Done!  And I even co-hosted my very first link-up!  You can see our home tour here.

T W O – Shop for Two Children from the Giving Tree at Church

Done!  We bought gifts for a four year old boy and a four year old girl.  Both had requested board games, so we bought them each our very favorite family board game, Hoot Owl Hoot, along with a few others.  

T H R E E – Brian & Lindsay’s Day O Fun

Done!  B and I took two days off this year.  Once in November and once again on our anniversary on December first.  We ate, shopped, ate some more, saw a movie, organized and wrapped gifts for the kids.  It was fun and festive.



F O U R – Christmas Tree Lighting at One of Our Local Shopping Malls

Done!  And a great time was had by all!  You can see the post here.


F I V E – Christmas Tree Lighting for Brian’s Company

Done!  We rode a horse and buggy, sang Christmas carols, and watched them light the tree.  We also brought gifts for a child in need!  You can see that post here.


S I X – Christmas Tree Lighting Downtown

Done!  And I got to hear a live version of Carol of the Bells that I’ll never forget.  I just love that song.  The post is here.


S E V E N – Breakfast with Santa

Done!  And the kids both ran straight to Santa.  No fear this year!  You can see the post here.


E I G H T – Watch Every Christmas Movie Known to Man

Done!  Well, maybe not every one known to man, but we did watch a lot of them.  This year we got through The Santa Clause, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Love Actually, The Grinch (with Jim Carrey), Elf, Serendipity, and Christmas with the Kranks (a new one for us!).  We also had Home Alone playing in the background on VHS on Christmas Eve as we always do.  ;o)


N I N E – Elf on the Shelf AKA the Return of Cheek

Done!  We didn’t do anything elaborate with him this year, but the kids had fun waking up and finding him every morning!

T E N – Fantasy in Lights

Done!  And what a fun time it was!  Even though I’ve been every year since it opened 25 years ago, it never gets old.  You can see the post here.



E L E V E N – Drive Around and Look at Lights

Done!  You can see more about it here.


T W E L V E – Visit With the Mall Santa and Ride the New Carousel

Done and done!  And no tears again with Santa Claus!  Original post here.




T H I R T E E N – Drink Aaaallll the Peppermint Mochas and Eggnog Lattes

Done!  I probably had more this year than ever before.  I made my way through Peppermint Mochas, Eggnog Lattes, and one Holiday Spice Flat White which I didn’t care for.






F O U R T E E N – New Ornaments for Each of the Kids

Done!  A Millennium Falcon for Jacob, and an Elsa for Olivia to match her Anna from last year!

F I F T E E N – Send Out Christmas Cards

Done!  You can see all of the pictures from the shoot here.


S I X T E E N – New Christmas PJs for the Kids

Done!  And this year I finally got the kids some of my dream PJs.  I always wanted a little boy and a little girl in matching, striped, monogrammed PJs, and this year it happened!  More here.




S E V E N T E E N – Christmas Concert Date Night

Done!  And what a great night it was!  It was incredibly uplifting and it put us right in the Christmas spirit.  You can read about it here.



E I G H T E E N – Christmas Eve Childrens’ Mass

Done!  It’s my favorite mass of the entire year and this year the church was decorated more beautifully than ever!  Post here.



Well, I can hardly believe it, but we crossed every single thing off of our list!  That might be a first!  Before we know it, it will be time for a summer bucket list!  Crazy!

*Linking up with Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.