Christmas Cards

I'm working on making my own Christmas card this year. Of course I want to do the obligatory picture of Sean, Boomer and I, but I also wanted something more original for my Christmas card.

Here are a few things I've come up with so far:



( I used Smith instead of our real name for PERSEC reasons)









Do you design your own cards? Do you have someone personalize and design yours?

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

Join in over at Wife of a Sailor!



1.What is the silliest get-up you have ever worn outside of a Halloween party?
Do school spirit days count? If so, probably something like mixed-up day or camo day. Other than that I really don't know.

2.What is something that you gave up in order to live the military lifestyle?
Being in close proximity to my family. I miss them a lot, especially on holidays when my large extended family gets together. I'm really going to miss that this year since we aren't going home for Christmas.

3.If money wasn’t a factor and you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? And why?
A lengthy tour of Asia. I want to see a bunch of things there and would love to go!

4.If you were going to join the military, what branch would you join? Or which MOS/rating would you choose?
I'd choose the Air Force just because I like all the options you have on where you can go. I'd have no idea what I'd do though, but I know I'd be an officer!

5.What is your favorite thing to make for dinner?
Something that's good, cheap and easy.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a free 8x10 print from my Etsy shop. Click here to read about it!

Trees for Troops

Several weeks ago I was contacted about Trees for Troops. I'd honestly never heard about this and had no idea what it was about, but I think it's a worthy cause and wanted to pass along the word to you guys.

Here is a little about Trees for Troops:

"Trees for Troops helps to make the holidays a little brighter for military families - especially those who are far away from their families. The gift of real Christmas trees bring a touch of home to those who sacrifice in order to preserve our freedom. The trees serve as a token of love and appreciation... Many tell us that the gift of a tree frees up a few dollars to be used on gifts, a nice holiday meal or gas money to go visit family."

The trees are delivered for free by FedEx, and will be given out to thousands of military families at bases all over the country during the holiday season. The Pepsi funding would allow them to reach an additional 5,000 families this year, but we need more votes! Voting for the Pepsi funding ends September 30th, but donations will of course be accepted for the rest of the year."

Please take a few minutes to visit this website and vote and spread the word about Trees for Troops!

What's for Dinner?

What's on your dinner list this week?

We're trying to stretch our money until payday, which is thankfully tomorrow, so I tried to find cheap recipes for this week.

Sunday and Monday we had taco soup, which is one of Sean's favorites. I like it because it's super easy to make. Find the recipe here. I've been adding hamburger meat and rice to it, but otherwise I make it the same.

Yesterday I made shredded chicken in the Crock-pot and wound up with some homemade broth to boot. I use Gina's recipe for it over at Skinnytaste.com. Find it here.
I used part of the chicken yesterday for my favorite chicken salad recipe EVER. It's addictive, I'm not kidding. Here is the recipe.

Tonight I'm using whole wheat tortillas to make chicken and rice burritos with homemade guacamole. Should be delish!

Next week I'm going to attempt pumpkin chili. I'm eager to see how that turns out.

Share your recipes! I'm always looking for new ones!

Oh and thanks to everyone who's already entered my 8x10 print giveaway! If you haven't entered yet, check the post before this and get your name on the list.

My Etsy Shop and a Giveaway!

For the past year I've been saying I was going to open an Etsy shop and I'm pleased to announce that I finally have.

In celebration of the grand opening I'm doing a giveaway for my readers on here.



My shop is called Around the World in 80 Frames (although I had to shorten it to aroundin80frames). You can find my shop on Etsy here.

You can buy the prints I have listed as is, or I'll customize them to the size and apperance you would like. Also, if you don't see a print you want, but have seen something on my blog, Flick or Facebook that you would like, then let me know and I'll order it for you. I can also do notecards if you'd prefer those. Keep checking my store in the upcoming weeks, as I'll be adding new prints to the shop.

Here are just a couple of examples of what is in my shop:







I'm giving away one 8x10 print of your choice and you can customize it however you like. For one entry, leave a comment, for two entries, blog about the giveaway on your blog and then let me know that you did. Entries close on Sunday the 3rd at 12:00(CST) and I'll announce the winner on Monday.

Snapshot Saturday: Santorini

It's been awhile since I posted an installment in our cruise vacation from this summer, so I thought it was time I posted about Santorini.

Santorini was the third stop on our cruise and my favorite. Eight hours there was not enough, I'd love to go back and spend a few days just relaxing on the island. The town we ended up going to on Santorini was Fira. There are 3 ways up to the top of Fira where the actual town is at. Donkey, cable car or you can walk up a million steps. I chose the cable car. Call me lazy!



I'm a huge fan of the white buildings on Santorini. They really make everything around them "pop".



I loved this bar sign, so naturally I took a picture.



These gates looked out on a spectacular view of the harbor. You can't see it, but I loved the gates just as much.



This is one of my favorite pictures I took on the vacation. Unfortunately the ISO was set high by accident and there is a lot of noise in it. Otherwise, I love it!



Looking back at the town of Fira.



This is on the far side of Fira, looking at one of the churches.



This is what I think of when I think of Santorini. I walked all the way to the far side of Fira just to get pictures of these.

And this:







Looking down at the ships in the harbor.

I didn't take a shore excursion here, my main focus was just to go around and take pictures of the island. Actually, that was my main objective on all the stops on our cruise. Plus shore excursions are expensive and...I'm pretty cheap.

Next up in the installment: Corfu, Greece.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

Join in over at Wife of a Sailor!



1.What characteristic about yourself has either been strengthened or weakened due to your experience as a Military Spouse?
I used to be really shy and honestly I sometimes still am, but being a military spouse kind of throws you out there and you either sink or swim at being social. I like to think I've been swimming when it comes to that.

2.What is your favorite vacation spot and why?
I love to travel so much that I could never pick just one place. I loved London, I loved Slovenia, I loved Cinque Terre. The list goes on and on!

3.If you could have any fast-food restaurant in the food court on base/post what would you pick?
I'm going to go with Wife of a Sailor and pick Qdoba. I LOVE that place and wish we had one so bad!

4.Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Um...we really didn't have one. We PCS'd to Louisiana, so I guess that could be my pretend honeymoon.

5.If you could have any job in the world regardless of money, degree or experience, which job would you have and why?
I'd be a travel photographer, going around the world traveling on someone else's dime and just taking pictures and enjoying life all around the world.