We Wish you a Merry Christmas........

Christmas time is one of my favorite times during the year.

Spending time with friends and family, and celebrating the birth of Christ- it's such a great holiday.

Not to mention all of the other fun things that come along with it, decorating the tree, yummy homemade goodies, getting fun surprises for others, and all of the other fun stuff that comes with it.

I love going to the Christmas eve service with my family, seeing family and friends, that we might not see as often, and just celebrating the season, and all it means.

Sometimes it is so hard not to get caught up in all that is going to, and forget the true meaning.

The true meaning that we celebrate Christmas to celebrate Christ birth, and what he has done for us.

I am speaking right back to myself on this one as well, as I know sometimes I get way too caught up too, and I need to make sure and put the real reason as first and foremost in my mind.

One thing I really enjoy doing is decorating our tree/house for the holidays.

My favorite decoration this year, is my Auburn tree. Matt and I both went to Auburn, so it is something we hold close to our hearts.

I started thinking about doing an Auburn tree after the last couple of years when we have received several Auburn ornaments as gifts.

So this year I decided I wanted to do a small tree all Auburn themed.

We found some orange lights right after Halloween and Blue lights when all of the Christmas stuff was out in stores.

I also found some navy blue and orange balls that were perfect.

Below are some other pics of our house all decorated for the holidays.

This is our main Christmas tree in our living room. I really wish there was a window at the front of the house where we could put it, so people could actually see it, besides us :)

Matt's mom gave me the "S" to go on the wreath. I think it is really cute.

My mom gave me these angels, I think they are so pretty in the yard, they show up better during the day.

Here is our dining room and bannister decorated. I don't ever get to use my Christmas China, b/c we are always gone, so I like to at least set it out during the holidays, so I can enjoy it.

It was given to us as a wedding gift.

New Car

Well, after driving my Sentra for 10 years I finally got a new car! It's a Nissan Altima.

I have had the Sentra-my current car- since I was 16 year's old! My parents got it for me for Christmas, right after I had turned 16, and it has been such a great car!

I will miss it and all of the memories it holds.

Matt and I plan to donate my old car to a very worthy charity in our area, called

"No longer Bound."

This organization is a recovery program for men struggling with different types of addictions.

They take cars that are donated and they men actually work on them, as part of the program, and I believe some of the cars are also given to the men as well, to help them get back on their feet.

So I feel like it is going to a really great cause.

So without further ado I will post some pics of the new car below.

New Look for the Blog

So, I figured it was about time I updated my blog and gave it a more exciting background.
I know it isn't Thanksgiving until tomorrow, and I am all about celebrating one holiday at a time, but I figured if I picked a Thanksgiving theme today, I would just have to turn around and change it in a couple of days.
So I went ahead and picked out a Christmas background.

I am new with the backgrounds and all, so hopefully I will get better at it and change it up more often now.

On that note, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope everyone has safe travels and a day filled with family, food and thankfulness for all of the blessings we have!

Catching Up

So I realized that it has been about two months since I have written. You would think since I am at a computer all day I would update more often. So I will try to get better about it.

I never posted about our trip to Disney World this summer, so I wanted to catch up on that first.

It was an awesome trip! I had only been once when I was about 3 years old, so of course I didn't remember a thing, not to mention how much it has changed since then.


We visited all four main parks, and Blizzard Beach, the water park.

It really is a magical place, coming from a big kid. :)


I really liked all of the parks, for different reasons, but my favorite would have to tie with Hollywood Studios, formerly MGM, and of course Magic Kingdom.


Being an animal lover I of coursed loved Animal Kingdom, but we didn't get to spend as much time there.


As far as Magic Kingdom goes, walking into the entrance and starting down Main Street, you immediately see Cinderalla's Castle, it was awesome! I think I could have stayed there and taken pics all day of that Castle. I can see how any kid would love to go to Disney, or adult for that matter.

Here we are in front of Cinderella's Castle. Definitely my favorite part of Disney! We went to the fireworks show at the Castle one night, it was awesome!

Here is a picture from my other favorite park, Hollywood Studios. We had to get that typical hat picture, like the rest of the world. This park had the best thrill rides. Rock-in-Rollercoaster rocks! :)

Here is a pic with Lilo and Stitch at the Animal Kindgom. Animal Kindgom had my favorite ride of all the parks, Expedition Everest. It is a rollercoaster that takes you through a giant mountain. This man made mountain is so large we could even see it from the water park.

If you go you have to try this out, I think it's the best. Imagine going upside-down and backwards in the dark, yeah, I told ya it was awesome.

So, if you are planning a trip to Disney, do your research, it has alot to offer. We bought a Disney planning guide and it was great! It had some many good tips and advice. They are always updating and adding new things to the park, so there is something new to see all the time.

I would go again in a minute. Hopefully one day we will get to go back!

Tagged, 7 things you didn't know about me

So, my friend Jenna, at atlantalovings.com, tagged me to tell 7 things you didn't know about me.

This is the first time I have been tagged before in blogging, exciting! So hopefully someone actually reads this stuff sometimes. 

1. I have been skydiving, loved it!

2. I am a  total neat freak, always have been, I get it from my dad.  I drive my husband crazy sometimes.

3. I have had my current car since I was 16, first and only one, although it is on it's last leg I'm afraid.

4. I have a bad habit about being late, although this isn't really a secret to many, but maybe so people who are reading this, I have gotten better though, my husband would agree.

5. I always wanted to be in the circus when I was little, I wanted to do the trapeze.

6. I have had dogs, cats, bunnies, fish,a frog, hermit crabs, a turtle, hamsters and mice as pets. 

Needless to say my family loves animals. 

7. I had my first kiss when I was 13, and once I kissed a boy and my dad was watching and I had no idea, I was so embarrassed! 

Whew! Ok, so maybe you knew some and didn't know others, but there ya go!

And I finally blogged after like 3 weeks.

Still to come, the Disney blog.......

Mickey and our Anniversary

Today Matt and I celebrate our second anniversary!! It is so hard to believe it has been 2 years since we said our vows. It really has flown by!

We have gotten to experience so much in these past two years, buying a house, getting our dog Macie, several trips, too many weddings to count, and an awesome small group!

I can't wait to see what God has in store as we enter into our third year of marriage!

On that note, in honor of our anniversary we are leaving tomorrow for Disney!!

I am so excited! I have only been once and I was about 3-4 years old, so the only thing I vaguely remember is, "It's a small world"

We are leaving tomorrow and will come back next Monday.

Matt's parents are dogsitting/housesitting, for us, so that is so nice, so we don't have to board Macie and someone is there keeping an eye on our house.

Milestones

So, since I left off last week I wanted to pick back up on the milestone part of the post.

July is a busy month for milestones.

Last Monday,June 30th was the one year mark of Matt and I closing on our house. What an awesome day, and also the most "grown up" thing we had both ever done, at the same time

It was a great feeling and I still feel so blessed each day to have our house.

Yesterday, July 7th, was one year mark of when Matt and I moved in. With lots of help from our awesome small group friends and our families, we moved into our first home. It was such a busy day, but a great day.

This year was much different on July 7th, as we were coming home from the beach, but that's for another post.

Tomorrow, July 9th, is the one year mark of when we got our baby, well not literally, but it's one year ago that we got our puppy Macie. Althought now she isn't much of a puppy, she's about 50 lb., but she is such a sweet girl.

We love her so much and I wouldn't trade anything for her, through everything she has been through in this first year, being so sick and a ton of vet bills, we would do it all again because we know she was meant to be with us.

And last but most importantly, July 22, we will celebrate our second anniversary! I can't believe it has been almost two years since we got married, it sounds cliche,. but it has gone by so fast!

We have grown so much together and gotten to experience so much in these past two years, I look forward to see what the next year has in store.

Missed post, milestones, and Mickey Mouse!

Missed Post:

So, beyond missing the Father's Day post I haven't posted in quite a while, to give updates with what is going on in our lives.

The beginning of June we got to enjoy an awesome weekend at the lake, wiht some of our Small Groups friends. We really missed those that weren't able to come and I hope we can do it again with the whole group.

We went in honor of Ryan's 30 b'day and it was a suprise to him, which was fun.

We stayed at his parent's house, on Lake Thurmond, just over the S.C border. Also my first time in S.C., hard to believe, I know. :)

We had a great time hanging out, swimming, spending time on the boat, skiing, wakeboarding ,etc. We all left a little crispy and worn out, but it was so much fun.

Here are some pics of from the weekend, courtesy of Nicole.

Happy Belated Father's Day!

So, I just realized I haven't posted in almost a month. I don't really know why, b/c generally I have some free time throughtout hte day and I sit at a computer all day.

but nontheless, I have been slacking. I missed posting for Father's Day.

So I want to say a Happy Belated Father's Day to my dad, also to Matt's dad as well.

We spent Father's Day with Matt's Dad, b/c we spent Mother's Day with my family.

But I did send my dad a card and giftcard, so he would get it by Father's Day.

He is such a great dad, I have never met anyone so dedicated to his work and staying late and doing extra things at work, just to make sure the job gets done.

He has always been a great handyman and can fix and build just about anything.

One thing that comes to mind alot is something he did for my wedding.

He made these awesome, "structures", as we called them, for my wedding reception, I will post a pic for you to see what they are.

He spent so many hours putting these together for the big day, and they turned out wonderful.

I could go on and on about how great a dad he is.

Dad, you're the best!

Here are two shots, one with the lights and one with the lights off, to see the full effect.

These were huge PVC pipes for the circular base, with strings of Christmas lights running up to the top, and all meeting together attached to a giant ring, there was a huge one that hung over the food table and little ones hanging over the smaller tables.

We also wrapped the base in tulle, to cover the pipes.

The pictures don't do justice, they were so much prettier in person.

Lesson re-learned from Marta

Matt and I decided to try and save money and take Marta to the airport, so we didn't have to park our cars there. Some wonderful people in our Small Group, thanks Loving's and Tabor's, volunteered to drive us to and form the station, so we didn't have to pay to leave our car there either.

So, on our way back home riding Marta, I realized why I don't really love public transportation.Matt and I got on and sat right down, close to the door. We were sitting on seats that ran parallel to Marta, so we were facing the other side of the bus.We were at the end of a row that was forward facing, so we had seats that were almost touching ours. So we are chatting, minding our own business, and this man comes and sits in those seats that are so close to us, his leg is almost touching mine, he is that close. Mind you, this man got on, sat right next to someone, when there were plenty of seats, and then moved further back in the bus, then came to sit by us. So he was very ancy, and I had already noticed this, which made me a little uncomfortable already. when ppl act strange on Marta, it makes me nervous b/c you just never know what is up.

So he immediately starts talking and I feel like I should at least be polite.So he starts asking us if we are from the area, where we came from, we had our luggage, etc. So I did most of the talking, not sure why, but now I wish Matt had. I nodded a bunch, did this funny laugh and basically whatever else to make sure this man didn't think I was being rude, b/c I had no idea what he could have been up too or why he sat right by us. So this chit chat continued and he proceeded to tell me he had just come back from overseas, with some branch of the military. Which he had no bags with him and he wasn't dressed in uniform, so I now find this hard to believe. So he keeps asking questions, and finally we get to his stop.

He stands up, leaves and mutters something, like "Have a good one", on his way out.so, whew he was gone, but then immediately I look over at Matt and with these big eyes, he say's "Honey", because of how much I was talking to the man and telling him, i.e, what I do, that we were from ATL, etc. Although I never told him the name of my work or anything specific at all, like that. I said, "Next time I am going to let you do all the talking." But I felt uncomfortable, and knew this guy would know that, if I sat there quiet and didn't respond to anything he asked.

But after he left I realized that our names were on our luggage tags, with a phone number on one, but it's a cell, so that didn't bother me. But the fact that he could have looked at the name and found out where we lived or who knows what. So then I got worried and kept asking Matt if he thought the man noticed it. Matt was re-assuring and said he probably hadn't even been able to read them very well.

Needless to say, my lesson learned from Marta is to be careful at how much information you give to strangers, as if I didn't know this, but needed to be reminded. Especially in this day and age you just never know what someone is up to, and it might be nothing, but you just can't take a chance.

Our trip and lessons learned on Marta

So, Matt and I had a great trip to Michigan, over Memorial Day. The wedding was so nice and we got to visit with lots of family on his mom's side. The time we spent at Matt's aunt/uncle's was alot of fun as well. They live on a lake so we spent lots of time on their boat cruising the lake. It was so warm and sunny the whole time we were there, about 80 on Sunday and Monday! Very different from the last time I was there in Dec.!
I definitely got my first sun burn of the season, but I did wear sunscreen, don't doubt that, probably not enough though. Warning: Plug on sunscreen to follow
I try to be very diligent about wearing sunscreen b/c my mom has had several skin cancers (benign) removed, and I don't want to risk it. She has always, well with us, been a stickler about wearing sunscreen, and I am thankful for that b/c I have seen how much damage the sun can do. She says she wishes it was stressed more when she was a teen/young adult, but back then teens lived to lay out and get fried and have nice tans.
So there's my two sense on sunscreen.

So we went out on the boat several times and even caught our dinner one night! We went fishing and caught about 40 BlueGill and some Crappie. Matt's uncle, cleaned and fried it up, it was so good! I have never fished and actually had it for dinner!

We just hung out, slept in and relaxed alot.
It was a nice mini vacation.

I will post some pics once I get those on the computer.

Our last wedding of the summer and pictures from last post..

So, today we leave for our last wedding of the summer.

We did find out our neighbor's are engaged, so we might have one more this year. So I can't say it's our last one of the year yet, b/c I am not sure. :)

But we are flying up today for Matt's cousin's wedding in Farminghton Hills, MI.

The wedding is tomorrow and then we are staying until Tuesday to have time to visit with some of his other family. We are going to be staying with his aunt and uncle, who live on a lake in Fenton, MI, this is about an hour north of Ann Arbor and the Univeristy of Michigan.

I was talking to Matt about how different it will be this time, going up norht, because the other two times I have been, were both during Dec., during Christmas time, so it was freezing and snowing.

So this will be fun to be up there when it is warm and get to enjoy the lake, when it isn't froze.

I will post some a pic from our time in Michigan this past Christmas, and then some when we get back, just to see how different it is.

Here are is a pic from Dec. of us standing on the frozen lake.



So from my last post, I mentioned posting some pics of my family to honor them for MOther's Day and their b'day's last week.


So, here ya go...

Happy Belated Mother's Day and Birthdays

So, I meant to write this on Monday, the day after, but late Happy Mother's Day to my mom, and all of the mom's out there.
Mom's hold a special place in our hearts and I know mine does.
She is the greatest mom and does so much for our family, I could write about her all day.

Also, late Happy Birthday to my Dad- Wed.- 14th, and my Brother- yesterday-15th, he turned 21! I can't believe it.
Of course I meant to post those yesterday, but never got around to it.

Matt and I celebrated with them last weekend, since we coulnt' be there on their acutal b'day.
I will add some pics of my family on the next post.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Weddings and more

So, Matt and I have just entered a busy month for us.
This is our wedding month and we are no stranger to weddings of all shapes and sizes.
We are bound to have at least one wedding every summer.

Since Matt and I started dating in April 2004- we have been to 21, count it, 21 weddings together, that is an average of about 5 weddings per year!

Last summer we had one wedding each month, June, July and August, and all were out of town at least 5-6 hours away.


So needless to say, with those, moving into our first house and getting a puppy, we were very busy people last summer.

This was at my college roomate, Carrie's wedding. The three of us in green and Carrie and all roomed together senior year. What a blast!

This was at my best friend's wedding last August, I was Matron of Honor.



So each year I think the weddings will decrease b/c eventually everyone we know will be married. :), but they are still going strong. I am just waiting to for the babies to start soon. :)
but I do really love going to weddings b/c it always reminds me of our wedding, and you get to experience so many different types of ceremonies, food, etc., and support those you love.

So our weddings for this year are May 16th and 17th- in two different places, and one wedding May 23- in Michigan, so the next few weekends will be busy ones. but at least they are all together.

So for April and May, count it

4 Birthday's

3 Weddings

2 Mother's Day

1 Graduation

Whew, But hey, June looks pretty calm, for now.

I am that person

So, yesterday I had quite an experience as I headed to the Dr.'s office. I had never been to this Dr. before or been in the area at all. Therefore I wasn't quite sure where I was going.
I had gotten the directions from the receptionist, and it seemed pretty easy. Exit off at this exit, turn left and the office was less than 1/2 mile on the right. Simple enough. Well I failed to ask if it was medical type complex, or in an area with several suites or what. So I am riding along and I realize I have probably gone too far, so I turn off to the left into a neighborhood.

So, you know those times you have been riding along and see someone coming at you, the wrong direction on a one way or just on the wrong side of the rode. usually older people or people from another town, well that was me.

As I pull out and make a right onto this semi-busy two lane, I hear someone honk at me, still not realizing I was going the wrong way on a one way!, I kept going for at least a couple more seconds and when a car was coming directly at me and had to swerve into the other lane, I finally realize what was going on. I sort of yell out loud in the car, and turn left very quickly into a parking lot. So after it really sinks in what just happened, I first thank the Lord I didn't have a wreck and second bust out laughing at myself, for at least 5 min.

So, after I make the block and got back going in the correct direction and I finally found the Dr.

So, next time I see someone going the wrong way, I won't be so quick to laugh, b/c I know how they feel.

Where to start...

So, after reading many other blogs and with some convincing from a friend, thanks Jenna!, I have decided to start a blog.

Now most blogs that I read are very intersting and all jazzed up with tons of pics, videos and whatnot, but I can't promise mine will be that intersting, at least not all of the time or to start off with.

So I was thinking of what to post first. I think I will start with something that means alot to me and Matt, our puppy Macie. Well actually she just turned 1 about two weeks ago, but technically I think that dogs are puppies even up until about 2 years old. At least she still acts like a puppy alot, even if she isn't technically still considered one. Just last night she kept going into our room and finding all sorts of things to try to chew up. I had to take away my ziploc with my eye drops in it, and also some chapstick she had gotten. I can't tell you how many things she has chewed up. thankfully nothing too expesive or sentimental, but some that have caused a big headache.

but nonetheless we love our "puppy" so much and our lives wouldn't be the same without her.

One thing I really about having Macie, is how much Matt adores her. Matt grew up with 2 cats, that his family had for about 15-16 years, but he never had a dog, before now. I grew up with 4 dogs, with my parents still having 2 of those, so I have always had a love for dogs as well as just about every other animal.

But I love to watch Matt and Macie play. He has the biggest smile on his face, well most of the time :), and constantly tells her how cute she is. He loves taking her on afternoon walks after school, before I have gotten home. He even has become so much of a softy wiht her that she is not only allowed upstairs most of the time, but she even gets on the bed, which I never thought he would allow.

So I thought I would make this my first post and even try out posting my first pics of Macie.

From 2 months to a year old, we couldn't live without her.

She is our "child" for now.