99 Things...

My friend Jenna, over at http://atlantalovings.com, tagged me to see what all I have done.
Technically I'm supposed to tag someone, so I'm tagging all of you. You copy the list and bold the things you've actually done. Leave me a link in the comments if you do it so I can come by and read all about the things you've done!

Here are the things I have done:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29 Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33 Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41 Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45 Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain5
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie- does my husband count? :)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60 Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma

65. Gone sky diving
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67 Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job 
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Reflecting on 2008

So, 2008 has come and gone.
Alot has happened in 2008, some big things, some small things. Overall it was a great year.
I wanted to look back on 2008, and reflect on some of the events that took place, in no particular order.

1. The biggest thing I would have to say, that happened in 2008, was buying my new car. It has been great so far and I actually enjoy my ride to work alot more, in a more reliable, faster car. :)

2.I hit my one year mark with Merial in Feb. and I am now headed towards two years.

3. Matt started his fourth year of teaching, that is hard for me to believe.

4. Matt and I went to Disney World, for our 2 year anniversary, with two other couples.
It was wonderful! I already want to go back.

5. Matt and I went with my family to the beach, over the 4th of July. It was a great trip.

6. We went to Michigan with Matt's family over Memorial Day, to attend his cousin's wedding.
We don't get to see his family as often, since they are up North, so this was nice. Plus it was my first time to be in Michigan, in the summer. It was nice to get to experience summertime there, at his Aunt and Uncle's lake house.

7. Matt and I celebrated the one year anniversary of being in our house, as well as one year anniversary of adopting Macie, our sweet puppy dog.

8. We also attended a total of 4 weddings, which were all very nice. This is actually down from our usual 5-6 weddings a year. :)

9. Last, but not least, we had a great Thanksgiving with the Sell's and a great Christmas with my family.

I can't wait to see what 2009 has in store for us!

I will post a follow up Christmas post soon, as well as a post with Goals/Resolutions for 2009.

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.......