New look for fall

I just spent the last hour sprucing up my blog. I'm not really sure why though because more than likely the day after Thanksgiving I'll be changing it over to a winter theme. That is, if my Christmas tree gets up first. I probably should have just waited the extra couple of weeks. But alas... Isn't it so pretty?! Now onto what's really happening in my life!

Yesterday was Andy's mom's surprise birthday party. This was my first time hosting a party where I actually had to cook and really truly plan each detail (I don't really count children's birthday parties as "entertaining"). It was stressful but oh so worth it! Everything went off without a hinge and everyone had a great time. Here's a highlight or two:

Kristi & Sophie's "kid" table

The adult table

Place settings

 The food took a tad longer than I had expected so while we were waiting for it to finish cooking, we snacked on appetizers and hung around fellowshipping (although Andy and Matt both forgot their "fellowship suits"... LoL!!).

Any other party I've hosted has usually ended up being a potluck type bonanza with hamburgers and hot dogs. This time, I decided to actually cook (**gasp**... I know!). I made my family recipe of beef stroughnoff and crock pot apple crisp. Andy made his famous spaghetti sauce. The Bentzels brought a veggie platter and artichoke dip to die for! We all had an amazing time and amazing food. And now that I think about it, I should have taken pictures of the food! After we grubbed, we all went into the living room to watch Grammie/Mom/Mama open her gifts:

Sophie wanted to open Grammie's gift

Kristi chatting with Grammie and Pappy

Grammie opening the cards Kristi and I made

Kris & Sophie opening helping Grammie

Some other random fun pictures from the day:

Ellie tickling Kris

Three beautiful girls!

The fam (minus Todd)

Mamas and babies <3

They couldn't get enough of each other!

I am so thankful and blessed that God has given me such a wonderful future family-in-law! Whenever we all get together, we make wonderful and funny memories <3 Speaking of funny...

Kristi has recently become obsessed (as have I) with the Phantom of the Opera music. Today, Kristi and I were watching a few scenes of her favorite songs from the movie. Towards the end, where they show the Phantom's face, Kristi said, "Omgosh! His face looks like baked pizza!" Oh out of the mouths of babes!! I laughed so hard that tears came to my eyes!

Not too much else has been going on here. I started back to school on Oct. 11 with Sociology and Literature this term. LIT is pretty cool but I'm not really liking SOC much. Eh, thankfully after these two classes I only have 4 more and will have my degree!! All my hard work will definitely pay off. :-)

The house is slowly coming together. We mostly have everything in the living room, dining room, and kitchen completely finished. I haven't been able to locate one of the kitchen appliance boxes (thankfully that one didn't include the coffee pot!!). Once I locate that, the kitchen will be completely finished. We started painting Kristi's room this past week and will have that completed by Wednesday. Kristi chose a beautiful light pink and purple--perfect princess colors. She wanted both colors incorporated so we're painting three walls pink and the indented wall purple. The trim will all be purple. The closet and bedroom doors will be a mixture of the pink and purple. On the pink walls, we are going to stencil some of the princesses heads in the purple. Her bed will come off the purple wall and have a sheer crown hanging from the ceiling over her bed. We're hoping to strip her head and foot boards and matching dresser and repaint them white with gold detailing. Unfortunately, I don't think that'll get finished until next spring. I think I am almost as excited as Kristi!

I started a new book called The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck. I only got through like the first 5 pages last night before falling asleep but I've liked what I've read so far. I'm just about finished with Soul Identity (my first e-book). When I first downloaded it, I really was unsure of whether I'd like it but it's actually pretty good. I have about 1/5 of the book yet to finish. I'm really anxious to get to the end because I want to know what happens! My next reading endeavor is to start the Lord of the Rings series. I loved all the movies, especially the extended versions, so I'm sure the books will be just as awesome if not more so!

And on that note, I'm off to read for a few minutes before going to sleep. Until next time... Many blessings and happiness!

♥Courtney♥