christmas at the armstrong's

Christmas is the best time of year! I love everything about it; the decorating, the music, snow, candy making, crackling fires, hot cocoa, Christmas movies, twinkling lights, you name it. And here at the Armstrong house, we are ready for the big man to drop in.

Our Christmas banner over the fire place is filled with welcoming holiday cheer.

Our stockings have been hung with extra special care.

Here's our little tree in the green room (as we affectionately call it). All of the ornaments are made of paper.

Our sparkling little snowflakes ensure that we have a white Christmas.

Our festive dining room is ready for some amazing food.

When I was little, my mom started a tradition of giving us an ornament every year. It is my favorite Christmas tradition that I've ever had. Decorating the tree each year means more because all the ornaments have a special memory. When Curtis and I got married we continued the tradition. This is Curt's Indiana Jones ornament I gave him this year, complete with theme music.

This is the ornament Curt gave me this year; Jack Skellington, complete with light up Christmas Town sign. I love it!

As excited as I am for Christmas, I almost wish we still had another month of celebrating. What are some of your favorite things about the season? What are some of your traditions? Happy Christmas everyone!

crazy foggy weather

So all this fog is doing crazy things to the trees and shrubs in our yard. I went out earlier and took some photos.

happy festivus!

A Festivus for the rest of us! We recently had a little Festivus celebration of our own and it was a success. We slightly altered a couple of the key components so as to ensure that no one shed any Festivus tears. To have a happy Festivus follow these simple guidelines:

1. First, you need a pole. Aluminum is the preferred choice by Frank Costanza, but whatever you have will be just fine. We had a miniature version by using this nail.

2. Next, is the Airing of Grievances. This is typically where you let everyone know all the ways they've disappointed you over the past year. We chose a better and more gentler route and played Catchphrase instead. But believe me, there was plenty of 'Airing of Grievances' between Curt and Paul.

3. As Festivus rolls on, you come to the Feats of Strength. Ours were put to the test by a grueling game of Seinfeld Scene It. Alison and I came out on top (as if there were ever any doubts).

4. If you can squeeze in a Festivus Miracle it would be ideal, but not necessary.

5. We also watched the Seinfeld episode, The Strike, where we first hear of Festivus.

Well, there you have it. Happy Festivus everyone!

winter dreams

I have been wanting snow. Lots of it. I love the snow and this is the time when we need it. Snow and December just go together. I was thinking about all the great snow storms we had last winter and thought I'd post a few pics from one of them.

Keep dreaming... and maybe one of these days the weatherman will actually get it right.

all the information you'll ever need

With all the talk of swine flu and zombie invasions I thought this appropriate. Courtesy of Stumble Upon.

(click to enlarge)

halloween monster mash

Thanks to everyone who made this year's Halloween party such a good time. A very special thanks to all you dancing fiends, you know who you are. Until next year...

alison's trees & leaves

My dear friend Alison has quite a talent for dabbling in tree and leaf photography. I stand by my firm belief that she has a successful career on her hands. I was lucky enough to obtain some her most recent work. These are from her fall collection.

pumpkin funtivities

Another spectacular weekend at The Cottage filled with laughs and laughs and laughs while playing Catch Phrase and some very festive pumpkin carving.

Alison, Paul and I; no pumpkin can escape the carnage!

This is mine and Alison's Goofy pumpkin.

Curt and Paul's Jolly Roger.

What a couple a great lookin' melons!

The fabulous four and our pumpkins.

Curt and Paul on the front stoop of The Cottage.

super sleuth weekend

Last weekend, Curtis & I were invited to a "Super Sleuth Weekend" at Paul and Alison's. It was so fantastic! For any of you wishing to host a similar event, here are some key activities that should be addressed:

A very delicious fall dinner. (ours consisted of white bean chicken chili in pumpkin bread bowls. yummy.)

What better to put your sleuthing skills to the test than a riveting game of Clue. Afterwards, we watched Clue the movie. What a classic.

Saturday's activity was a sleuthing scavenger hunt around Logan. It was ladies vs. guys and we each had a list of autumn-esque items we had to capture with the camera. Each team received additional points if we were able to get strangers posing in our picture. The guys gave a valiant effort, however Alison and I were able to eek out a win with our picture of a 24-member biker gang that was taking a rest in the Hastings parking lot. Our victory earned us some pretty amazing Toy Story stickers and tattoos. The crown jewel on the weekend was a saturday afternoon showing of The Great Mouse Detective. Needless to say, we had a lot of laughs. Thanks to Paulison for an amazing weekend!

the vultures of halloween

Behind our house we have an old craggly tree that is pretty creepy looking. Every fall the tree fills with vultures and it certainly ups the creep factor. Curt took a bunch of pictures of the tree with it's visitors and used his mad photoshop skills to make it look even more eerie. The perfect Halloween picture.

curt's cup of tea

Every year Walt Disney World has Star Wars Weekends, fans get to meet an impressive lineup of special guests attending four weekends of Star Wars fun at the Disney Hollywood Studios in Florida. Fans also converge to celebrate the heroes, villains, creatures and droids of the saga. In addition to Star Wars costumed characters, fun activities, and the Star Tours theme park ride, celebrity guests are in attendance for meet-and-greet sessions, star conversations, and a classic Hollywood-style motorcade. This is Curt's holy grail. In fact, I'm pretty sure this event will expedite the timing our of Disney World trip. It's always been on our list, but Star Wars Weekends has definitely bumped it up a few notches. A favorite is the yearly dance off of intergalactic heroes, villains and creatures. Here's a couple clips for you enjoyment.

loving it

Fall is my favorite time of year; the heat of summer is melting away, the leaves are changing, the air has a crisp refreshing feeling, the holiday months are knocking on your door, good television returns, apple infused desserts appear in large numbers, and you get to pull out chilly weather clothes like long sleeve tees and hoodies. Happiness is.

it's about time!

As some of you may know, Curt & I are big fans of Guitar Hero and such. A while back we had a conversation about which band we would like to be made into a Guitar Hero game (or Rock Band). Curt said U2 and my answer was The Beatles. The day has finally come! The Beatles Rock Band is in stores today! Can't wait to play it!

autumn, fall, harvest time...whatever you like

I am totally in love with all things typography. It's so striking and enticing. I recently stumbled upon this fantastic word cloud website called wordle and have been having fun ever since.

the highlight

Of course Redfish Lake was super good times, but this was definitely the highlight of the trip. Enjoy this little beauty!

More video and pictures to come...

redfish here we come!

That time is finally upon us. The most coveted of all the camping destinations in all the land. Redfish Lake. Glacier View campground will have the pleasure of our company, along with Paul & Alison, for five glorious days. See you next week!

more birthday funtivities

More of Curt's birthday fun @ Alison's blog.

happy 30th curt!

Happy Birthday to my Curtis! The 30th! Quite a milestone. As you can see below, Curt is showing off his very cool and creative gift from our favorite Seattle-ites. Thanks guys, you're great! I wish you could've been here to see Curt's face when he pulled the bottles out of the box and realized his picture was on it. There are plenty more birthday festivities coming this weekend so I'll keep you all posted to see how everyone's favorite guy is celebrating the big three zero.

Curt also posted a little tidbit of birthday wisdom on his blog. Check it out here: http://curtisarmstrong.blogspot.com/

curt the pho-tog

Last week, during one of the lightning storms, Curt took some amazing pictures. I think this one officially puts him into the next category of pho-togs.

creativity abounds

How to take a very ordinary and somewhat boring tray and turn it into something fabulous. First, you need your very plain tray. (Psst. The D.I. is a great place to find cheap little trays.)

Second, you simply need a little paint, a few sheets of very cute paper, and a fresh supply of mod podge.

I was lucky enough to have two of these trays so I went right on to the next. Repeat steps one through two.

Well, that pretty much does it. Nothing to it. Beat the august heat, stay in, and be creative. Oh, and it helps if you watch an old movie while being crafty.

jones soda winner

Jones Soda. The brightly colored beverages in those bottles with quirky obscure pictures. Anyone can submit a photo to be printed on the label, but to make the cut, big wigs at Jones Soda Co. must like the photo enough to use it. When Curt & I were remodeling our kitchen, I took this picture and I think it would make a great photo for Jones Soda. Isn't this the type of picture you want to see on your soda bottle?

Well it's done. I just submitted this photo on the Jones Soda website and if it's chosen, soda bottles at a grocery store near you will sport this look.

the color continues

Well I can't have a fun colorful china hutch and still have an ugly blah dining set, now can I? There are six chairs, so I did two of each color. No, don't try to adjust your computer monitors, the colors are turquoise, yellow-green and purple.

The table is a distressed natural white.

I know for some people, namely grandmas, it would seem I took a perfectly good table and chairs and ruined them. I am not afraid of color, I welcome it with open arms. The dining room looks bigger and brighter now. There's just one problem: what's my next project going to be?