10 Awesome Christmas Albums

Hey y’all… just thought I’d take a quick minute to stop in and say hello. The choice to take on major home renovations immediately upon moving in is not such a wise decision and I’m in a bit over my head. I truly hope things start to settle down after the holidays and I can get back to regular programming.

In the meantime I wanted to share with you some of the albums I’m currently jamming to in preparation of the Christmas holiday. I will link to the album on Amazon when you click the title. Feel free to comment with some of your own favorites.

First, as always, my favorite of all time…

John Denver And The Muppets: A Christmas Together

This album always gets top billing because it brings with it such fond childhood memories. Highlights include: Miss Piggy singing “Five GOLD Rings, ba dum bump”, The Muppets singing “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” and Miss Piggy hearing “piggy pudding” and then being corrected with “figgy pudding, it’s made with figs” only to have someone in the background whisper “and bacon” (I always laugh out loud), and the late great John Denver singing so melodically. God bless him. May he rest in peace.

Next up…

Dean Martin: Christmas With Dino

Highlights include rare Christmas gems such as “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” (his version is my favorite), “A Winter Romance” (also my favorite version), and “The Christmas Blues”. Excellent.

Also a classic…

Merry Christmas: Johnny Mathis

It’s gotta be the album with Johnny skiing or nothing else. This album is a must have for Christmas as I believe everyone’s parents played this non-stop as they were growing up. My mom always busted out this album to kick off the Christmas season and to this day it remains a favorite. Highlights include: “What Child Is This” as Johnny loves to add extra letters to his words, “The babe, the so-un, of Me-hery”.

One that’s not hear often but is quite enjoyable…

Christmas With The Beach Boys

This album is perfect when you’re wishing you were someplace warm without getting too Jimmy Buffetty on ya. Highlights include: “Little Saint Nick” and “The Man With All The Toys”.

Another goodie from way back when…

Stevie Wonder: Someday At Christmas

This Motown classic is something I can listen to non-stop. Highlights include: “What Christmas Means To Me”, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Me”, and “One Little Christmas Tree”. Hands-down this album should be ranked in the top 10 Christmas albums of all-time. Seriously. Love it.

To bring this a little more current…

James Taylor: At Christmas

I know a lot of people dislike James Taylor but I’m telling you folks this album is where it’s at (except for “Baby It’s Cold Outside” because I just do not care for that version). Highlights include: “Some Children See Him” (which is just no where else to be found and is one of my favorites ever) and “River” (which he does best of all).

Next, another rather current one…

Josh Groban: Noel

I’m sorry y’all but this album brings tears to my eyes. Very good tears. Some folks don’t dig his style but I love me some Josh Groban. The man can sing. Highlights include: “Little Drummer Boy” (which features all the soldiers sending holiday wishes back home), “Thankful” (which gives me goose bumps), “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” (with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir), and his version of “Ave Maria” which is superb.

Here we have a compilation but all the CD’s are worth it…

Pottery Barn: Classic Christmas Volume I *Volume II* and Volume III

I’ve linked to the other two compilations as well as the one disc I truly find myself listening to over and over, Volume II. In fact, Volume II is in the car right now. I re-play Kay Starr’s version of “Man With The Bag” and sing along at the top of my lungs (only when no one is in the vehicle with me, of course). This trilogy is actually the second Pottery Barn Christmas set I own. They are both fantastic.

A Christmas album with a solidly Christian theme…

City On A Hill: It’s Christmas Time

This is probably my favorite “Christian” Christmas album. However, skip over “Away In A Manger”. That version makes me want to rip my ears off my head. UGH. The rest of the album is awesome. Highlights include: “Holy Emmanuel” which makes me bop my head and I love it, “Babe In The Straw”, and “Manger Throne”. Really though, all the songs are great.

Finally, a wonderfully classic album that transitions as one long piece…

Carpenters: Christmas Portrait

Rest in peace, Karen Carpenter. This album is one of my favorites because I love how the songs transition into one another and you don’t know where one stops and the other starts. The medleys are fantastic and I love that there are instrumental pieces thrown in for good measure. Highlights include: The ever famous “Merry Christmas Darling”, “It’s Christmas Time”, “Christmas Waltz”, and “Little Altar Boy”. Of course, we can’t forget Karen singing “Christ Is Born” (which is much better than her “Ave Maria”).

Okay, thoughts? Is there an album I didn’t mention that you can’t live without? I always get excited when Mariah Carey sings “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and I really love “Wonderful Christmastime” by Wings and “Step Into Christmas” by Elton John. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with family and friends.

God bless y’all!

Despair, Inc.

I don’t know if y’all have heard of Despair. They are the opposite of the motivators you see out there and they’re freakin hilarious. If your office is anything like mine there’s at least one motivation poster hanging up (usually in the breakroom) (probably purchased from Successories). Usually something like this:

These motivational posters are designed to build a sense of camaraderie. However, usually they’re just a reminder of how dysfunctional you all are. Much preferred among the staff are the demotivational posters. These posters poke fun at ourselves and unite us in a way the motivational posters just can’t do, such as:

Yay for after work happy hours!

None of us is as dumb as all of us. So true.

And my favorite:

Isn’t that the truth!

I know I’ve mentioned these before but someone reminded me of them recently and I had to share. I hope you got a laugh. Be sure to share with your staff and/or friends as these far surpass the ones from Successories!

This Life

OurHome

This life is crazy. It’s difficult and rewarding and frustrating and awesome all at the same time. We’re officially in the process of purchasing our first home together. In fact, the home belongs to our landlord and therefore she’s allowing us to move in as “renters” as we work out the financing. This is such a blessing as we are beyond ready to move on from the 747 square feet we’re currently inhabiting.

We took measurements of the rooms (the two additional bedrooms are 10×10 and 9×9 which is super tiny but still doable) and we discussed the arrangement of furniture. Ultimately we’d like to knock out a wall, and re-do the kitchen, and add on a screened in porch, but right now we’re just focusing on getting in and settled and adjusted to our new space. First on the list is a new washer/dryer otherwise we’re hitting up the laundromat.

Last night, Craig and I discussed paint colors. We definitely need to give the whole house interior an overhaul but first we’re just focusing on a few rooms. The master bedroom has an accent wall in blood red that has got to go so we looked at several options and settled on Carolina Inn Club Aqua. This color choice is actually a funny coincidence because when searching for the color in examples through Google the first result is that of John and Sherry’s house over at Young House Love. I can’t believe I forgot that they originally painted their master bedroom in their second home that very color. I swear that didn’t influence my pick but it sure solidifies it.

The other color choice of Homestead Resort Parlor Taupe is for the additional bedrooms and the living spaces. It’s a good neutral that will help the home to feel lighter and brighter and more spacious. Some of the rooms have this awful sponge paint job and ALL of the rooms have that awful knock-down texture so although we can paint right now we can’t tackle the wall texture until later.

This weekend will be spent packing and possibly painting and then next weekend will be spend moving. OhMyGoodness how quickly this is all progressing! It feels like just yesterday we were all bummed out about the lack of quality homes to choose from (in our price range) in the neighborhoods in which we were interested. This property literally materialized within the past few weeks and we jumped at the chance. Craig and I couldn’t be more excited.

Speaking of Craig, he’s doing much better getting around and his knee is healing wonderfully. We had another follow up appointment recently and he’s allowed to slowly wean himself off the crutches. In addition, he can start driving again… this is, of course, the best news. He is beyond thrilled to have a bit of his independence back. He’s starting to get back into the kitchen (which is one of his favorite things to do) and he can start gardening again soon. To celebrate, he created his own blog: Account For Growth (no posts yet). This blog will be where he will share all his adventures in gardening and our healthy lifestyle. He has been growing wheat-grass and making smoothies so we will be capturing that on video for y’all soon. Very exciting!

Okay, those are the updates for now. I can’t wait to share more details as we embark on this new adventure! I know that when life gets busy this poor blog gets neglected but having Craig blogging as well should help serve as motivation to share. Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend!

The Ups And Downs

Hola! I’m still alive… pretty much.

Craig fell from about 15 feet at the gym and suffered two badly sprained ankles and a lateral tibial plateau fracture of his right leg. It’s taken over our life. We’re starting to get back to normal (a bit) so I wanted to stop in and say hello.

My poor hubby is SO OVER having to be so dependent. I feel just awful for him. He’s so ready to be back to normal. Plus, it’s exhausting for me getting up early and getting us both ready and him to work (because he can’t drive) and then myself to work and then pick him up on the way home and then make dinner and get stuff taken care of around the house.

I have a new-found respect for single parents. I always have respected those who must go it alone but now with the lack of sleep and the too much to do I truly have a new appreciation for how hard it must be. So, hat’s off!

In other news we went and looked at what we hope will become our new home!

Pray for us. We sure need it. I’ll try and write again soon. Hopefully with more information about our new digs.

P.S. On a side note, a good friend of mine recently lost her husband to MDS (specifically it was the Graph Vs Host that really took him). She has two young boys. Please pray for her.

weddingchicks-download-1347630966

I’m alive… mostly

Hey y’all. For all of you readers sticking by me I just wanted to drop in and let you know that I’m okay. I have been battling my anxiety but I’m recovering. Hopefully one day I’ll take the time to sit down and hash it all out for y’all but for now I just wanted to let you know that I’m alive and surviving.

I’m in graduate school (again). I’m finally committed to my M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education. I’m currently enrolled in a short 6-week summer course on Social and Emotional Development that is truly kicking my butt. I seriously work on homework every single night. So, I have zero time to blog. In fact, I’m writing this post at work on my lunch break.

The graduate program is going to be great even if it is SUPER difficult. I think my biggest challenge is the fact that I don’t work in the early childhood setting. Most of my classmates are teachers so they bring real world experience to the course in a way I cannot. I’m working on that though so I’ll keep you posted.

This past weekend, for mother’s day, I took my mom to the HGTV Smart Home. We toured the home in-person (obviously) and it was such a great experience to see it all up close. The pictures make it seem so much bigger and I tell ya the house is big but it takes up every inch of that lot space. The interior is well thought out though. I just wish there was an office area on the first floor. I’m going to try and work in some time to post about the HGTV Smart Home 2013 tour soon.

Other than graduate school taking up every second of my free time, Craig and I are headed to NYC soon to visit with my sister. I seriously can’t wait! I scheduled this trip long before I decided to take this graduate class and unfortunately it’s not great timing but I’m going to make it work. I need this mini-vacay like you wouldn’t believe. June involves a conference for work but then the course is complete and I should have time again to fill you in on all the goings on.

I hope you are all well, and happy. Thank you, once again, for your support.

XOXO

MissCaron