Christmas Card Preview

While I find it hard to believe that today is December 2nd, I am very much in the Christmas mood. I am currently listening to The Nutcracker while studying Real Estate {not festive} and I just ordered our Christmas cards.

Here is a sneak peek of our card for this year:



Me and my handsome men in their bowties. {I may die from the cuteness}.



Can't wait to see the finished product!! 

Twenty Five and Thankful

Happy 25th birthday to me!!! I have been very spoiled today and this past weekend by my sweet husband, my family, and my friends. While I spent my 25th birthday in the confines of the lovely law school building, I was surrounded by people I have come to love over the last 3 years, and I was inundated by loving and thoughtful voicemails, texts, and Facebook messages from family and friends around the country. I am very, very blessed. 24 was very good to me, so here's to another wonderful year!

I have seen a lot of posts this month talking about the things for which people are thankful and I wanted to write my own. I could go on for a very long time, but these are the things that are on my mind today:

1. My amazing, thoughtful, handsome, fun, and hardworking husband.

Our first picture at The Rock {2006}

July 25, 2009

2. My family- nuclear and extended, by blood and by marriage.

                                      Our (original) parents at our Rehearsal Dinner

                                                    Part of the Warenik Family

3. My girl friends whose emails and texts make me smile so much, and who I know I can always count on for a laugh, a hug, an adult beverage, and LOTS of good gossip.

                                Pawleys Island, 2008

My Bachelorette Weekend, 2009

4. My health and that of my family. I am thankful for this all the time, but especially this time of year when I cannot afford to be sick during exams. I am consistently reminded not to take this for granted, and I pray all the time for the health of those I love!

5. Brackett. He is the most precious thing in the world and is such a light in our lives. He is always happy to see us, always making us smile, and, while he is still very much a puppy who enjoys mischief, he is wonderful. I am so glad that he is ours!



6. Our warm, comfortable apartment which I adore and have loved making into our home. I have rekindled my love for decorating and have spent many, many hours fabic shopping and planning. And the fact that it is free. An amazing blessing all around.

                                                My dream office. LOVE.

7. Law School. Yes, I am thankful for law school {most days} because I love it. It simultaneously challenges and annoys me, has taught me so much more than just the law, and I am so thankful that I am able to be a law student. Not to mention the friends I have made and the times we have shared together.

8. The fact that this is my next-to-last semester of school. {See above re: annoying}.

9. God. I have been on a roller coaster these last few years {see #7} and would have struggled so much without prayer and the Lord's guidance. We have found a church home that we love here in Columbia and I cannot wait to join in the spring!

10. Music. Not sure what to say about this except that I cannot imagine life without it. Wouldn't that be so sad? Music can change my mood, make me cry, and transport me back to different points in my life. I know of nothing else that can do that. 

I could keep going on for a very long time but my books are calling. Happy Thanksgiving!

The amazingness that is Shutterfly!

Y'all. Shutterfly is giving away 50 free Christmas cards if you blog about their company, and I have to do it! Nothing like the opportunity to score a bargain to bring me out of my law-school-exam-induced hibernation.

I am obsessed with Shutterfly. I have played on their website more times than I care to admit and I literally squealed when I made our Christmas cards through them last year. One of the things that I was most excited about for our first married Christmas was our cards. Sad but true. Plus, you can't beat the price and the fact that they come straight to your doorstep.

The website is very user-friendly, they let you make as many changes as you want before you buy, and they send awesome email deals all the time, especially around the holidays when you need them the most. I have 3 projects saved in my account right now just waiting for me to get the time (and money) to complete them!

Here are only some of the cards that I really this love year:

You know I love a good monogram: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/charming-holly-wreath-christmas-4x8-photo-card-4x8-photo?sortType=1&storeNode=93480

This would be cute if we were using pictures from our honeymoon in Jamaica: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/warmest-wishes-holiday-5x7-photo-card-5x7-photo?sortType=1&storeNode=93480

This is the current favorite for Gailey family Christmas card this year: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/family-wall-red-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93476


I can't wait until I get our Christmas card pictures taken this weekend so that I can get started and get our cards in the mail! I love Christmas, family pictures, and getting mail, so this is pretty much the best thing ever in my opinion.

Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly. Learn more: http://bit.ly/sfly2010.
Check out the deal if you are a blogger and are interested in getting 50 free, awesome cards!

Brackett Gailey

Our family got bigger last Friday when we finally were able to pick up our precious puppy!! He is a cavapoo (a mix between a minature poodle and a cavalier king charles spaniel) and is 3 months old. He is hilarious, sweet, and very smart. He LOVES to be beside you at all times and is learning every day. The best news is that he sleeps through the night! He must love sleep like his momma because he has yet to sleep less than 8 hours. That's my boy!!

His name is Brackett. Yes, as in Brackett Hall at Clemson, which is the home of the political science department. We met in a classroom in Brackett Hall in January 2006, when I sat down next to Mr. G on the first day of Public Adminstration class. We pretty much lived in that building during our Junior and Senior years of college because we were taking primarily political science courses, so the place holds a lot of memories for us. We knew very early on that we would name our first dog Brackett as a tribute to the place where it all began ... and also because it's a pretty fabulous dog name :)

We are so excited to finally have our puppy in our home, and we can't wait to take him to visit his namesake this fall!

                                   One of our engagement pictures, February 2009

Updated

Our blog is still private but I wanted to see if the recent updates worked. I am still very new to this blogging thing!

And I wanted to see if I could add a picture!