Highlights of 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wow!! What can I say about 2013?? 2012 was the best year of my life so far so I didn't think this year could possibly live up to that...but I think it came pretty close. I learned a lot about myself, gained lots of new friends, grew in my marriage with Tim and nurtured our new child pup. I thank God for all of the amazing opportunities and blessings that he gave us and I hope you enjoy a little "replay"of those :)

January:

• We kicked off the New Year with dinner at Capital Ale House and a marathon of The Walking Dead
• I went to my 1st blogger meet-up (cooking demo @ Kitchen Thyme)
• We bought a new sofa :)

February:

• Gabby and I went to the Chihuly Exhibit
• We had our 1st married Valentine's Day and Tim got me this gorgeous Coach purse
• I got a new blog design.

March

• Went to the Irish Parade and visited St. Johns Church
• We got smartphones!

April

• We went to Gerald and Michelle's wedding
• I hosted my 1st blog giveaway!
• I did the Overcome the Lie 40 Day Challenge (and gave up sweets)

May

• Tim graduated the Masters program at VCU!
• Celebrated Memorial Day weekend w/ Ty and Gabby
• We looked for houses but ultimately decided to stay put for another year.

June (always a big month)

• I went ziplining for Denise's bachelorette party (and had my first Melting Pot experience)
• I planned a blogger dinner at Chuys!
• We celebrated our ONE YEAR wedding anniversary!!
• I celebrated my 23rd birthday with friends at The Cheesecake Factory
• I was a bridesmaid in Denise and Logan's wedding!

July

• We adopted Artie (our daschund/beagle pup)
• Tim and I were in Olivia and Chad's wedding!
• I celebrated my one year blogiversary!

August

• Artie's 1st trip to Virginia Tech
• I celebrated 1 year at my job!

September

• I started an Etsy shop to sell custom watercolors.
• We took a trip to Carter Mountain to pick apples (and eat apple cider donuts)
• We picnicked at the Roanoke Star.

October

• I gained a sister-in-law, Gabby!
• We went to Emily and Tyler's wedding at Trump Winery
• Artie graduated his training class!
• We dressed Artie up as a shark for Halloween

November

• We bought a car!
• Kim and I went to the Catching Fire premiere (yes, this was a highlight) and got my favorite Frostings cupcakes

December

• Tim turned 25!!!
• We kept up our Tacky Lights Tour tradition
• We celebrated our 2nd married Christmas

12 Organizations-12 Months

If you don't already know about my CHALLENGE be sure to check out this intro post. 

Below is the list of charities we are donating to in 2014!! 

Remember, each month I will give you a short blurb on the chosen charity. This may be included in with other regular posts. It's still not too late to join me in this challenge. You can choose your own 12 charities or use this list. Just comment or email me at samantha.n.shipley@gmail.com so that I can keep up with you!!

I am so excited to be giving back in 2014. We tried to choose a variety of organizations: local, national and international; health, human services and environmental. Each of these have some connection to our lives, whether it be where we live or someone we know that is in need. I hope this inspires you to give back or pay it forward in 2014.

January- Charity Water

February- Central Virginia Food Bank

March- American Heart Association

April- American Cancer Society's Relay for Life

May- Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

June- Ronald McDonald House

July- F.L.A.G. (For the Love of Animals in Goochland)

August- Chesapeake Bay Foundation

September- Samaritan's Purse

October- Preservation Virginia

November- Children's Hospital of Richmond

December- American Diabetes Association

*I will not be sharing how much we are contributing because that is our personal decision and may vary from month to month.

Christmas Home 2013

So....I barely got this one out before Christmas even though our stuff has been up since the 1st week in December. Our decor is pretty similar to last year but there are enough changes that I think its worth sharing with you.

We have a new (much smaller) tree. Last year we borrowed an artificial one from my granny and I loved it. But our place is so much more full of stuff now that we couldn't fit one that big anymore. We got this little gem on major sale at Target and it works perfectly for the space we have. And I let Tim have his colored lights this year!!

I bought a few new decorations including some mercury glass votives (my mercury glass collection is growing :) I want to DIY more decorations for next year like this, this and this.

P.S. Here are all of my other Christmas posts if you missed any:
The Newlywed Game- Holiday Edition
Christmas Shenanigans
A Christmas Party Outfit

Hot Cocoa and Christmas music to decorate the tree!

 LOTS of ornaments

Artie loves the reindeer ornament

New one from Target :D

Hokie Ornaments

 

 (I need to get some more recent pictures printed...)

Stockings

Hope you enjoyed seeing our festive Christmas apartment!! Be sure to link up your Holiday Home!! And check out all the fabulous ladies linked up so far!! :)

Newlywed Game {Holiday Edition}

YAYAY! I am so excited that Karla and Veronica brought this back.

Tim's responses in Blue
Samantha's responses in Purple

1.  Which Christmas would your spouse say was the best that you had together as a couple?
Him: Last year. Our first married Christmas.
Her: Last year :) Although I have enjoyed all 8 of our Christmases together so far!

Us with our tree and stripe shirts (didn't plan that one)

Visiting the Jefferson Hotel (gingerbread train)

 Visiting Busch Gardens Christmastown

 Our 1st Tacky Lights tour

2.  What would your spouse say is the weirdest, or most unique tradition that your family does at Christmas?
Him: We don't have any weird traditions
Her: I don't like this question. Only thing I can think of is we open gifts one at a time which he doesn't like (doesn't want everyone watching him)

3.  It's Christmas Day... you are looking all around and you can't find your spouse.  Finally, you find them hiding in a closet, devouring which holiday treat??
Him: Chocolate. (Yup, especially fudge)
Her: Um, probably sausage balls (you know...the ones with the bisquick, cheese and sausage)

4.  It's your spouse's turn to pick out a Christmas movie.  Naturally, they pick their favorite one.  Which is it??
Him: Elf
Her: A Christmas Story

5.  If your spouse had it their way... when would they put up Christmas decorations?  Right after the turkey?  Last minute?  Not at all?
Him: Right after Thanksgiving
Her: Right after Thanksgiving

6.  What does your spouse think is the best Christmas gift you ever gave them?
Him: Fossil Watch (he got this for me last year I LOVE IT)
Her: TV? There have been a lot of gifts exchanged over 8 years....I don't remember them all.

7.  Fa la la la laaaa, what is your spouse's go-to Christmas song?
Him: Feliz Navidad (haha no, I don't have a favorite but this wouldn't be it)
Her: I would guess Carol of the Bells? There are way too many options.

8.  On Christmas morning, what does your spouse wish is under the tree?
Him: A blanket so she can go back to sleep. (He's just saying that because I don't like getting up early. I really wish an iMac is under the tree ;)
Her: He probably wishes a new car could fit under the tree but I think he'll love what I got him

9.  What is one thing that your spouse absolutely has to do every year during the holidays?
Him: Drink Eggnog <-- font="" yes="">
Her: probably watching A Christmas Story and/or drinking Hot Cocoa

10.  What was the coolest gift your spouse got at Christmas as a child?  (Hopefully they told you this at some point in your relationship... otherwise... this one will have to be a lucky guess!!)
Him: Barbies or something Funny but no (I know I've told him all of the cool gifts I got like a drum set or when I was younger my sister and I got princess tents :) We loved those)
Her: Dirt Bike

I Challenge You

Let me start by saying that I am disappointed in myself. One of my goals for 2013 was to do more for others and I truly feel like I failed at that. I may have done a few things here and there but not nearly enough to consider this goal successful.

Tim and I have discussed on a few occasions that we want to donate to different charities. We have a few specific ones that are close to us but I want to push this further. AND I want you to JOIN ME! 

Here is the challenge: 

Donate (however much you can) each month to a different charity/organization in 2014.

(this doesn't have to necessarily be a monetary donation, you could also donate your time)

What? We try to budget every month and we know about how much we will have saved up by the end of it. I want to add in a buffer to give away. People tend to say they don't "have the money" to do things and I am definitely guilty of this but in reality I DO have money to spare especially if its going to a good cause. Many of us ignore the salvation army ringing their bell when we know we have spare change in our wallets/purses. WHY??? Will we really miss it that much if its gone? 

Why? Have I convinced you to join me yet? I think this is a great time to start because its the season of giving and then we will have a fresh new year. There have been many posts floating around about wish-lists, which is perfectly fine. There are lots of things I would love to have but lately I've realized it's more important to give. Our Sunday school class had a Christmas Angel this year and he is going to be one happy kid on Christmas morning all because each of us found a way to give.

How? Tim and I will go ahead and make our list of our 12 charities (this way we won't make an excuse not to later on). To hold myself accountable, I will post a little blurb each month about the charity.

I would LOVE to know if you are going to participate. You can choose your own 12 charities or use our list. If there is a lot of interest, I will put together a facebook group so that we can all connect.

Is there a charity/organization that is close to your heart that we should consider? I'd love to know.

Also, any creative name suggestions for this challenge are welcome!!

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