CHRISTmas is the time.

Christmas is the time when we should get together,
To share the happiness and joy,
To see the smiling faces of the little girls and boys.

Christmas is the time when we should all give thanks,
To the Lord up above,
For watching over us and sending down His precious love.

There are so many things to be thankful for,
Our health, our strength, our peace of mind.
But we must not forget those less fortunate than us,
We must give our love all of the time.

Christmas is the time to pray with one another,
Give thanks to God above.
Christmas is the time for us to share our love,
Just as God shares His from above.

Christmas is the time...    

"For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior,
which is Christ the LORD."

Luke 2:11

*lyrics by L. Rawls, pic found here

gnome for the holidays.

Tabitha C. Overby RN, BSN.

On Thursday, December 8th 2011, I proudly accepted, in my right hand to be exact, a diploma that proclaims to everyone in this big beautiful world that I, Tabitha C. Overby, have successfully earned a Bachelors of Science in Nursing. My grin was cheesy, that cap was squeezy, and the gown, quite breezy. But walking across that stage with my eye on the prize? Oh, so easy. :-) Thank you sweet Jesus for carrying me through these past 3.5 years! AND for blessing me with family and friends who have supported me a billion percent through my fears and tears.

        

                      Nursing School banner                                                                                                 Ready to get this show on the road!

the anticipation ...

the pinning ...

the sprint! ...

success!!!

My sweet family and best lady frand came to cheer me on...

       

After the ceremony, my parents hosted a banging BBQ graduation celebration, and the combo of pulled pork, baked beans, potato salad, and buttercream cake was scrumdilliumptious! Thank you to everyone who showed up to hug my neck and watch me oogle at my pretty, new diploma! I feel so loved and blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family. :-)

And because I'm still grinning about them, I must introduce my new, shiny Cracker Barrel rocking chairs!!! Thanks Ma and Pa!

Picture this... relaxing in one of these sa-weet rockers on a cool, breezy afternoon wrapped in a cozy sweater, cup of cocoa in hand, hubby at my side, puppies at my feet, and absolutely NO TEXTBOOKS IN SIGHT. Halle-stinking-lujah!

And one more thing!

All of these pics were taken on my brand new Canon EOS Rebel T3i! Much thanks to my Mr. Overby. Now I just need to use my free time learning how to use it!

gettin' our hollyday on.

The tree is trimmed! The halls are decked! The presents are wrapped! well, only just a few.
This weekend, Justin and I decided to pull out our petite collection of Christmas decorations and sprinkle some holiday cheer on our humble abode. Because we chose to forego the Christmas hooplah last year due to our state of miserable separation boo maryland, this is our first Christmas to decorate as married peoples. How fun!  So Justin pulled out the boxes, I cranked up the Christmas tunes, and we got to work. Little did we know, however, that our decorating binge was headed for a quick derailment.
The culprit: the tree.
The tree that worked so well for 3522 Peachtree Drive looked somewhat ... wonky ... in our new home. It's not that it doesn't have character in its own quirky way. It's simply a smidge ... sparse/crooked/vertically challenged. After struggling a bit to get it in place, we looked at the tree, looked at each other, looked back at the tree, and nodded. It was time for a new tree! We did some research online for the best prices, made a trip to the Home Depot, and bought our first Christmas tree together. Silly me forgot to take a picture of the quirky tree for comparison, but here is our twinkly new beaut all gussied up.

  

Christmas in charming color. Love that!

We're hoping to accrue a sweet little collection of ornaments of the random variety for next year so that it's not so matchy-matchy, but until that happens, this works for us!

After trimming the tree, I threw some ornaments and pine cones in a bowl for the coffee table ...

 tossed a Black Friday steal Christmas-y pillow on the couch ...

only 5 bucks for this cute thang!

tied some festive ribbon on the lamps...

and decked the foyer with what decor we had left!

Now, I must give kudos where kudos are due. It's about time that everyone on this planet Earth knows a little secret about my Mr. Overby.

Justin is the best gift wrapper ever! Believe it or not! So much so that I , with all my particular tendencies, happily sit back, chin in hands, and simply watch as he works his elf-like magic.

See that box on the left? It looks just as snazzy as the boxes on the right, and those are pre-wrapped! Man, he's got some skillz. Not only is he precise, but he's also Mr. Speedy Gonzales too. Maybe I'm just a freak with my two left thumbs who winds up with crooked seams, gaping paper, and more tape on my fingers than on the package itself. Be that as it may, I find it to be such a fascinating skill and am envious of those who master it!

Now that our home is all twinkly and festive, we can sit back, sip some hot chocolate, and revel in all the warm fuzzies of Christmastime ... family and friends, laughter and love, and most of all, the birth of our wonderful Savior! Merry Christmas y'all!

jubilation R/T graduation AEB smiling and skipping and doing a little dance

Almost, people! I am almost there! Tuesday is my FINAL final for forever. Like forever forever. well unless I grow some kahunas and get my masters. I am so ready to resume my lovely little life that has been patiently chilling on stand-by for the past, oh, say three millenia years. In just 2.5 weeks I will be fa-la-la-la free to embrace the holidays, catch up on blogging, read at my leisure, put my kitchen to good use, help my frand plan her nuptials, and snuggle with my loves. And, of course, I will be squeezing in study time galore in the midst of all that freedom so I can pass the boards on my first attempt. please, oh please, oh please
I am beyond ready to find a j-o-b and put my degree to good use. Watch out world! This new nurse is going to wipe some hineys, shanghai some veins, and change some lives!!! And when those shifts become an eternity and those patients get cranky, I shall slap on a smile and go with the Flow!

Florence Nightingale Pledge

 I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly,

to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain

from whatever is deleterious and mischevious, and will not take or knowingly

administer any harmful drugs. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate

the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters

committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the

practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his

work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.       

The one where Tabitha felt jipped.

I've never seen an epsiode of Friends. Ever. Until just a couple of weeks ago, that is. One night, after a long day at clinical and a scalding hot shower to rid myself of hospital funk, I channel surfed and stumbled upon this t.v. treasure circa 1994. And I feel so jipped! Like it was a secret I was never privy to or a birthday present I never received. Sure, I was quite the tween when the show became a hit, but what a calamity! I completely missed out on pretty much my perfect sitcom. I find myself slapping my leg, pointing and clapping, squawking laughing out loud at the hilarity of these six quirky people. Perhaps I'm a teeny bit trigger happy with my sense of humor, but who loves a great laugh? This girl right here. *points to self with thumbs* And of course, as I do with any bright new shiny thing, I'm kinda obsessing. I've IMDb'd all the trivia and famous quotes in case I'm ever on Jeopardy, you see and priced out the complete series on DVD which would make a tee-rrific Christmas gift, and set my DVR to record each and every syndicated episode to catch up on the last 10 years. duh.
So what if it's soo 1990s? Don't judge. When I like something, I really  like something.

Bloopers. Gotta love bloopers.

what i love most about my home ...

this bread is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s.

Scrumdiddlyumptious Banana Bread

as perfected by my friend, Andi Jeane

Ingredients:

• 6 overripe bananas
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or eyeball it for nilla generosity)
• Coarse, granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Lightly grease two loaf pans. use butter flavored Pam for best taste!
3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
4. Mash 3 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture; set aside. 
5. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes into a banana cream; think light and fluffy!
6. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
7. Mix in the dry ingredients and remaining mashed bananas just until incorporated; no need to overly blend.  
8. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans in equal amounts.
9. Give both pans a good rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out. don't forget!
10. Sprinkle a generous amount of coarse, granulated sugar on top of the batter in each pan. adds alittle crunch to the crust...

Bake for about 45 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Don't get nervous if the banana bread develops a crack down the center of the loaf; that's no mistake, it's typical. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning. Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Grab a slice or two or three or four and enjoy!

 

 

impatient. yes. spoiled? as if!

Ever need something perhaps a slightly used and abused yet also melodic and thrifty upright  real  bad but when you search and search and search, etc. for it, it is absolutely nowhere to be found?
Practically does. not. bleeping. exist?!? 

Utterly irritating.

via Houzz.com

this doesn't exist. in real life. 

craiglist schmaiglist. more like craigplist.

just sayin'.

collage and mod podge.

Get comfy. This one's a two-fer.

About a week ago, Justin and I decided to spruce up the foyer with a photo collage. So I turned to Pinterest of course for a little inspiration and stumbled upon a "cityscape-esque" pattern. I guess I also need to explain that Justin and I have a thing for cityscapes. There's just something about a view from the top that just tickles our fancy. Maybe that's why we L-O-V-E New York so much.
Anyhoo. Here's what our collage was supposed  to look like.

via Pinterest

Pretty neat, huh?
Well, this is how it turned out.

If you just tilt your head a bit, squint your eyes, maybe stand one foot ... oh forget it.

It's not the cool, sleek cityscape that made us waggle our brows.

No. Just a simple, ordinary collage. 

See what had happened was...
Little did we know that buying 20 quality frames at one time, sizes 5x7 to poster, would pretty much break the bank. Seriously. I totally understand now why my lady frand has been collecting her frames for ages. So until we're able to gather a fancy collection of our own, the cityscape-esque pattern must be put on stand-by.
But in the meantime, our foyer just seemed ... naked. And we're not one of those families. Naked is a no-no. Well, perhaps once in a ... oh, I digress.
Thank goodness for Marshalls!
After a short trip to the store and a quick purchase of an el cheapo 10 piece frame set for only 10 bucks sa-weet!, we decided to get alittle crafty and create a collage with what we had. We snagged our framed name art I seriously don't know what else to call it that we recieved as a wedding gift to create a centerpiece and used the sample pictures from the frames to tape a template around the centerpiece. After alittle measuring, alittle hammering, and aLOTtle tweaking ... voila! ... our foyer was all gussied up!

said framed name art

So it's not what we originally planned, but I love how it makes the foyer perk up and say 'ello! And I must say, it gels with the sister wall pretty nicely.

note: an attempt to DIY a larger entryway table is in our near future...stay tuned!

So we're happy!

And now, a quick intermission ...

This is Justin squishing a bug.

Okay! How to DIY cute and crafty coasters.

Once again, I can blame thank Pinterest for this one. 

We've had these simple little picture frame coasters for quite a while now.

And as you can guess, they've never housed any cute little pictures. Partly because they are out of sight, out of mind. And partly because I didn't feel like printing out pics small enough to fit. Way to be crafty, Tabitha.

So I pondered ... what can I use instead of pictures? I was thinkin' and thinkin' and thinkin' and then ... an idea. I've got all this extra scrapbooking paper laying around ...

So I cut the paper into 2x3 rectangles ...

And then slipped the paper into the picture slot ...

And dadgum! These coasters are uniquely my own!

  

The project literally took me a mere ten minutes and  zero dollars. woot!

But wait! Project Crafty Coasters didn't stop there!

Since ten minutes only teased my crafty craving, I decided to embark on my first Pinterest Challenge better late than never and make coasters from scratch.

To keep readers fatigue from creeping up if it hasn't already, I'll make this short and sweet.

Supplies:
4x4 tiles
($.16 each at Lowes)

4x4 scrapbook paper
($.50 a sheet at Michaels)

Mod Podge
($5.99 at Michaels)

Clear spray paint
($3.78 at Lowes)

Cork/Felt pads
($1.18 for set of six at Lowes)

                 

                                                                                                                                I was feeling alittle seasonal.

                                                                                          Maybe it was my Pumpkin-Mallow Scentsy wafting in the background. idk :-) 

1. Cut the scrapbook paper into 4x4 squares.

2. Mod Podge the paper to the tile and let dry. (for tips on Mod Podging, look here)

gettin' alittle snarky while the Mod Podge dries...

3. Spray clear acrylic and let dry.

4. Place cork/felt pads on bottom corners of tile. (I chose cork.)

5. Give yourself a pat, find a drink, and enjoy!

I had such a hoot making these autumn treasures, I decided to make more to match the photo frame coasters ...

And now, not only do I have enough coasters for a party of people, I've got a super thrifty gift idea. :-)

Now THAT's the way to be crafty, Tabitha!