The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer, is Singing Loud for All to Hear!

Here are some of my favorite Christmas songs (and much needed relief from the elementary Christmas music I've been singing since September)! I hope these make you want to dance around and sing at the top of your lungs like they do me (much to Dustin's dismay :) ) In no particular order, here are my TOP 25 (and yes, I had to narrow it down):

...............Merry Christmas!.................

1. Run Rudolph - Chuck Berry (love me some Chuck Berry!)

2. Happy Xmas (War is Over) - John Lennon

3. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee (The Home Alone version)

4. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day - Casting Crowns (INCREDIBLE!)

5. Choreography and White Christmas - Bing Crosby: "White Christmas"

6. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Leon Redbone, Zoey Deschanel (Favorite Elf scene!)

7. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas - Gayla Peevey (About OKC Zoo!!!)

8. Santa Baby - Eartha Kit

9. Christmas Lights - Coldplay

10. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow - Dean Martin

11. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms

12. Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy - Travis Tritt

13. Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano

14. You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch - "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

15. O, Holly Night - any version, but recently I like the Glee version

16. Christmas/Sarajevo 12/24 - Trans Siberian Orchestra

17. Anything by the Celtic Woman

18. Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses

19. Mele Kalikimaka - Bing Crosby and the Andrews sisters

20. Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies - The Nutcracker

21. Sleigh Ride - Leroy Anderson

22. Little Saint Nick - the Beach Boys

23. Blue Christmas, Santa Claus is Back in Town - Elvis Presley

24. Please Come Home for Christmas - Eagles

25. 12 Days of Christmas - Straight No Chaser

And one to grow on!

Little Drummer Boy - Bob Dylan, Sean Kingston (love this version!) or The Dandy Warhols

Oh. My. Gosh. and so many more!!!! Happy listening!

Love,

Jessica

Wedded Bliss - Our One Year Anniversary

Well, it's been a few months since my last post, and a lot has happened in that time! My favorite thing was celebrating my first anniversary with this awesome guy. :) We returned to the place Dustin took me right after he proposed: the Melting Pot of course! (These return trips were the intention of him picking this place on our engagement night.) Pretty sure my mouth was doing a victory dance. Creme brulee fondue...need I say more? It. was. the. best.

The next weekend, we took a little weekend getaway to Beaver's Bend. We stayed in the rustic gloriousness of this cabin, and enjoyed every single second of our trip. The weather was perfect, the cabin was incredible, and the company wasn't bad either. :)

Excited about our first year (not a sports team, FYI). I have loved, loved, LOVED everything about being married to this incredible man. He makes me so happy. I feel like I hit the husband jackpot.

One thing I've realized that I absolutely love about our anniversary, is the gorgeous weather and foliage. Even the four hour drive was fun, as we saw mountains full of trees beginning to change color.

Did I mention I was obsessed with our cabin? I came in, dropped my bags, and immediately photographed every single angle of each room. It also had a 7 person hot tub on the back porch which was pretty much the cherry on top!

My favorite spot to wake up in the morning and spend time with the Lord.

Amazingly enough, I got up early and cooked breakfast! I think that might be a first in the Loehrs household.

We were really missing our pup on the trip, so we ended up adopting the sweetest black dog for the weekend. I'm sure the fact that we supplied him with endless amounts of bacon and hamburger scraps had nothing to do with his love for us.

We toured the state park, lake, and of course the museum and gift shop.

Balancing the camera on the sloped roof of our car was the real success of this picture.

Enjoying the fruits of his epic, fire-building labor. Of course burgers and s'mores followed. On a side note, I'm pretty sure if I was ever on death row and had a last meal, s'mores would definitely be on the dinner list.

Our attempt at some awesome self-photography as we ate our wedding cake topper. I used to think this was a really gross idea, but it was fan. tastic.

We snuck up the mountain on someone's private property for this view. I l-l-l-loved our anniversary weekend, and I'm so glad I get to celebrate it with such an amazing guy. :)

An Indoor Picnic

Hooray for the hubby's days off work, and a surprise picnic just for him! Bonus points for beating the 100 degree heat, mosquitos, and enjoying fancy cheese and olives from Gourmet Gallery. If you haven't shopped there, I highly recommend it! (Definitely try the chocolate truffles....so good, they're sinful!) We only had enough time for a little stay-cation (i hear that's the new term for it...) before school started, but I'm so glad to be married to a man who makes staying at home so much fun! This was probably one of my favorite dates ever! Have a great Friday, everyone!

Goodbye Summer...

Goodbye unstructured, lazy days of summer. Hello new first graders, music programs, and getting up early. Looking back on my Summer List (click here), I would say it's been one of my favorite summers ever.

Here are the top 5 things I checked off my list:

1) Book worm: check!

I took a chance on this book which was recommended by a Barnes and Noble employee. While I wasn't a big fan, I loved becoming a recluse and burying my nose in a book.

2) Thrifting: you-betcha!

It was something like the "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" moment. Eryn and I went to Mary's Swap meet on 23rd St. and an OKC thrift store. Let's just say we'd never had an experience quite like that before. Amidst live roosters, garage sale junk, and scorching heat, we found some cute vintage brooches, and an old chandelier!

3) Hooray for healthy (and tasty) cooking!

All of these recipes are low fat and low cal. Above is Roasted Pork Chop and Peaches.

Veggies for the Mediterranean Tuna Pasta Toss

We pretty much have this every Monday night: Sausage and Bean Rigatoni

4) We got crafty: check check

A trip to Hobby Lobby with my neighbor-turned-awesome-friend Eryn, resulted in us starting an Etsy store called Hello Blossom. After weeks of work, we launched our store in July!

5) Local adventures: finally!

We celebrated Cindy's (my incredible mother-in-law) birthday at Red Pin Bowling...except once we got down there, we were informed we could dine but not bowl, because the alley had been rented out. So....we opted for a Bricktown canal ride instead. It still ended up being a fun night!

Woo hoo for a super fun summer! So thankful for time with my friends, family, and the best husband ever. While I have to admit I'm getting excited to see the kiddos soon, I'm already brainstorming a new list for next summer. Can't wait!

Beach Week! Holla!

I'm not gonna lie...I went in to beach week unsure about how it was going to go. Thankfully, I was knocked off my feet by the things God did, and the awesome high schoolers I got to meet. This is our team: Magneto! The theme for the week was heroes vs. villains, and we were definitely representing the evil side. Mwa ha ha ha...

One of the late night parties - rave night! Loved the black light dance fest, complete with glow sticks and neon paint! I even sported some neon false eyelashes :)

Nothing beats spending time with the Lord on the beach. I even spotted 4 or 5 dolphins in the water one morning!!! I heart Laguna Beach, Florida.

Our team about to spray paint our Magneto shirts. Gotta represent the villains!

Love this girl! Kelly and her team, Syndrome, pumping each other up during rec. We don't take competition lightly here!

Some of our fearless leaders enjoying some free time on the beach. I happen to think the guy in the middle is super hot. Maybe we should get married... :)

Precious time with my group. Each of our lives were forever changed by this week, and I could not have felt more humbled and honored to be a part of their lives.

Jacie, and her team the Incredibles. Had so much fun getting to know her and her husband better this week. They made the 16 hour ride home seem like nothing!

Bumper tube soccer. Running around in inner tubes, in 90-something degree weather isn't for sissies. I loved hearing the hilarious chants each team came up with through out the week!

Baptisms in the ocean on the last day. What an awesome picture of the new creation God has made in our lives.

The holy grail of rec. Heroes and villains competed the entire week for this baby. Near heat strokes, bruises, exhaustion and other various injuries were all worth it for the VILLAINS! We get to have our names on this trophy for an entire year. Chillin' like a villain...

Trying to keep our eyes open, both from the sun and very few hours of sleep. We loved our last morning on the beach, and couldn't have spent our time doing anything more valuable that week. Soooo thankful for the opportunity to have gone to Beach Week 2010!!!

This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" - and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.

1 Tim 1:15-16

(Shout out to Pam Yates for letting me swipe some of her pics from the week!)

Oh, the things we saw...Okie Noodling Fest

Words can't describe the gloriousness of the Okie Noodling Tournament in Pauls Valley, OK. I'm pretty sure it's going to have to become a yearly tradition. The Loehrs-Wehunt combination always guarantees craziness and fun, and this day sure wasn't lacking in either. I also got to cross the event off my summer list!

I can definitely see why all of this Oklahoma goodness has earned national attention. We saw...

each team's catch being brought in from the lake...

team after team earning awards for the day's heaviest catch...

and a priceless look on Kelly's face after she got slapped by one of the catfish, as they carried them by!

You can't go to the Noodling Festival without stopping at Bob's Pig Shop and...

enjoying a Catfish fry! We also saw a lot of interesting people such as....

the lieutenant governor, Jari Askins...

lots of red, white, and blue apparel wearin' noodlers...

A Japanese film crew that documented the event for a Japanese reality show. (Check out the video of this guy bringing in his catch)...

and these guys...need I say more?

We came. We saw. We conquered. And I think I'm going to have to do it again next year.

A Wicked Surprise

The only thing Dustin told me months ago, was to leave June 9th and 10th open. I knew we were going on a trip, I just didn't know where. So, loaded up with more country music than he could stand, we headed off on the mystery trip :)

The X at the end of the map was Dallas! I kind of have a weird thing about taking pictures of places we stay, so here is the mirror reflection of our room at the Anatole.

I don't really know...this seemed like fun at the time, and I was really excited. Thankfully, Dustin was sweet enough to humor me, even though he said posing with his hands on his cheeks was a "girl pose".

The reason we were in Dallas, was to see "Wicked"! I was soooooo pumped. Dustin knew I'd been dying to see it, but missed it when it came to OKC, so he bought us tickets, months in advance. I knew I married a keeper :) The icing on the cake was this was by far the BEST show I had ever seen, and the lead , hands down, has most incredible voice I have ever heard.

Favorite line: "It appears the artichoke is steamed..."

Eating at one of my faves, Chuys! I told Dustin I wanted a picture of him and the King.

Um...need I say more?

So happy.

A shout out to my hubby for a wonderful trip! You win the man of the year award for a) planning the trip b) managing to keep it a secret for months c) sharing my love of musicals d) encouraging and enduring trips to Ikea, Anthropologie, and listening to country music. Love!