HOW IS IT THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY ALREADY?!?!

I mean, seriously.

 

It seems like we just finished up the holidays yesterday 

[and well, y'all know we do spread them out a bit!] 

But. Still. 

 The middle of January?

We celebrated Christmas with my family in Franklin, TN on 

New Year's Day...

So I had to bring along a few horns and hats...

And how fun was it to see a cross-stitch pillow I created back in the 70's?

[If I'm being truthful,

Mama probably stitched the pillow,

but I'm old and can't remember - ha.]

That evening Craig and I went out to The Opryland Hotel to walk around a bit - 

Love that it's still much the same [and as beautiful as always!]

Love that they unashamedly proclaim the real meaning of Christmas.

It was nice enough to walk around for a closer view... 

The next day we had breakfast with Craig's family here.

Always delicious.

The biscuits remind me of my Mama M's -

[maybe they're made with lard too?]

I've been finishing up a few art projects - 

I like the flat letters much better than those foam ones that were curling up...

That's EmmaLou driving the KittyLou home for the holidays - lol.

And working on some upcoming class projects...

It's been fun to create my own little pattern!

I hope the gals in the class love it as much as I do!

 It's hard to believe

[or maybe not, if you know us well]

but our calendars are already getting full! 

I plan to share more about my planner strategy for 2017 soon...

[Remember I won an A5 Planner at the Scrapbook Convention I went to in October!]

 

I also moved my inspiration board to a different place in my office so that I would see it regularly and be reminded of the things I want to focus on in my  life.

 

But this long weekend I've enjoyed catching up with some crafty friends -

We celebrated Chinese New Year [yes, a week or two early] with a feast of good food, and Lucky Bags to share [out with the old, make room for the new, and all that.]

This is the group I get together with almost every month.

Always fun!

And, our crazy Alabama weather has felt like spring this weekend

so I planted some iris tubers and cleaned the garden a bit...

Sadly, things are budding out... I'm sure we'll have more freezing weather in the coming weeks that will kill it all over again...

But for now, we're enjoying these 70 degree days!

Craig even got some fishing in after church and brunch with our kiddos.

Today we're checking things off the to-do list

before we both settle into our respective fun activities - 

more fishing for him {the weather really is wonderful 'round these parts} 

and crafting fun for me!

Hope your week is great!