O' Christmas Tree

One of my favorite things that we were able to do during the two Decembers that we lived in the Upper Valley was to go and chop down our own Christmas tree.  It's amazing that we only have to drive for about 10-15 minutes to get to a tree farm (yes, we live in a forest in case you hadn't noticed)... It's such a fun outing, and it's so cheap! 

You know you live in a small town when it's seriously an "on your honor" system.  You show up, cut down your tree, and mail a check to an address that is posted on a tree.  No joke.  I love that people are just expected to be honest here, and I bet they usually are! 

the big guys...discussing... 

 the little guy...trying to catch up

 He found his favorite....

so did they....

 it was cold.  

heading out! 

Dartmouth Tree Lighting

Every year Dartmouth puts up a huge tree on the Dartmouth green and they have a 'tree lighting ceremony'. They have little choir performances, caroling and of course, free hot chocolate. We met a bunch of our friends up there and had a fun night doing what people do in these quaint little college towns.  

Craft Fairs! Year 2

This year a few of us started chatting about what to make for this years craft fair....We had a lot of fun doing it last year, and knew that we could pull off a fun day again.  

 I thought about making these tile coasters...but I tried to think about what I could do to make them unique to the community and to all of our Tuck people...I  thought "I wonder if I could put the Tuck and / or Dartmouth logo on them."  I sent some emails to some people at Tuck and got in touch with the woman in charge of the licensing at Dartmouth.  It was a simple meeting, and license agreement, and I was on my way. She sent me logo's to use, and let's just say that it was well worth all the work.  Although my kitchen looked like this for... well...a while...It was a lot of fun for me to have a crafty project to work on after the kids were tucked in for bed. I stayed up WAY later than I usually do for weeks on end, and was exhausted for most of the month of November...but like I said...it really was a lot of fun, and definitely worth it.

I also thought about doing some sewing....even though I hadn't sewn a thing (not even a button) since 9th grade (which was a VERY long time ago).   My sweet friend lent me her extra sewing machine, and gave me some tips, and reminded me how to thread a machine....and off I went...I made these banners or buntings...and really ended up liking them.  I wished that I had extra's to keep for myself! 

I also decided to make some treats.  It's not too hard to make your money back when you make certain treats, but they just always take longer to make than you think!  I didn't want to ever see another cakeball by the time I was done!

              Brittani, Catherine, me, Laura, Ashley, Maren, Latasha, Eileen, Melissa, and Kristen.

                     I love these friends so much. It was so fun to spend the day with these ladies.

Maren and I were also able to participate in the Tuck Craft Fair.  It was fun to be at Tuck with faculty, students, other partners...etc. for the day.  I sold out of the coasters in the first 15 minutes, but luckily was able to take orders.  Mini entrepreneur? ? ?  We shall see.  (yeah right)