Baby Gear assembly!

Well we had a very fun and productive weekend!  Thanks to some amazing family, friends, and a few coupons, the corner of our living room has looked like this since my baby shower a couple weekends ago [post about the shower coming soon once I upload the pictures!]:

And as of yesterday, every single one has been assembled!  We feel quite accomplished.  Our living room currently looks like a baby store showroom, but these will be making their way to their "places" around the house and in the car very soon :)

In case it's hard to tell from the boxes, here are the items we've gotten for baby Ryleigh...

1. My Little Lamb Platinum Edition Rock N'Play Sleeper / This is what we are using for the bassinet while Ryleigh is sleeping in our bedroom.  I like that she will be sleeping at a slight incline [although I hope that doesn't cause issues when we transition her to her crib later..] and it's the perfect height for sitting beside the bed.  All parts of it are very soft and breathable, and I love how easy it is to fold up or to carry and move around. 

2.  Britax B-Agile & B-Safe Travel System / This choice went heavily on safety ratings and reviews.  Britax is a great brand, and these will be two of the most used pieces for not only Ryleigh but also more than likely for Baby #2 whenever she/he comes along in the future.  Typically strollers & car seats have a "lifespan" of 5-7 years so we wanted something great quality, gender neutral, and a stroller that was easy to fold and use.  Once we saw this demonstration video we were sold.  Of course, Jake wanted it in Georgia Red :)

3. Fisher-Price Discover N'Grow Gym / This play mat just had really great reviews when I was looking at all of the different play gyms for tummy time & stimulation.  I like that it is so versatile and can "grow with the baby" for the different stages of play and learning. 

4. Fisher-Price Deluxe Monkey Bouncer / I have heard mixed reviews about whether or not to get a baby swing [price vs. use], so instead I looked for a good bouncy seat because I've heard they are generally much more useful.  This seat is actually more on the affordable side, but has fantastic reviews.  I love that the activity bar is electronic and has lights and sounds for stimulation, this is the only one that I have seen like that. Usually, if there is an activity bar it just has dangling stuffed toys.  The activity bar is removable so this will also be a great little spot for her to take naps and relax.

5. Baby Einstein Musical Motion Activity Jumper / I admit, I totally buy into the Baby Einstein brand.  I love for every toy or book to be educational in some way.  I think it's great that they have a purpose to the reason things are colored a certain way or including different patterns on things.  Even when babies are too young to understand, they are still getting the visual exposure to the concept.  This jumper has great reviews and lots of fun things to play with. 

6. Graco Pack N'Play with Reversible Napper & Changer / I really like the Graco brand, and their pack n' plays have great reviews.  I really like these ones with the napper/changer attachment so that we have a convenient little changing table when we are traveling, or even if this just ends up being set up in our living room.  We chose the Scribbles pattern because it's a nice gender neutral color and pattern, and it just so happens to match the colors in our house really well too!

 

Bits & Pieces....and coupon codes!

Bits & pieces of the To-Do list are getting checked off!  One item down:  crib mobile.  I was checking my deal blogs and found that diapers.com is having some great discounts right now for Black Friday week.  The Tiny Love brand is 30% off [with code JOYTINYLOVE], and while perusing some of their items I found the cutest little mobile that will match perfectly to Ryleigh's nursery:

 

At least from what I can tell from the photos, the colors of the mobile are spot-on with her giraffe fabric!  Also, the mobile arm can detach and once she's too big for it, we can keep using the sound machine.  The sound machine also has a remote control, which might turn out to be handy.  The only thing I'm a little worried about is that a few of the reviews said they had a hard time fitting the mobile to their convertible crib, but eventually made it work with some Velcro or similar straps.  Hopefully it fits just fine, but if not it looks like we will need to get creative!

 

Here is another deal code for my momma friends and mommas-to-be!  Use my friends & family referral code at Diapers.com and you will get an additional 20% off your order!  code:  STAC0250

 

 

Yay for decorating, sales and progress!!!

 



 

Go Dawgs!

Ahh, football season has finally begun!  We are going big for the UGA vs. Clemson game this weekend. 

A couple friends came over last night to help me whip up some of our tailgating munchies.  So far on the list:

• Buffalo Chicken dip [tripled the recipe!] going to be in the crock pot
• Macaroni Salad
• Vanilla Chip Rice Crispy Treats
• Chocolate Chip cookies [homemade, the only way to go...]
• Peanut Butter Brownie Bites
• Red Pepper Jelly & Cream Cheese dip
• Chips & Pretzels [ok, so we didn't make these]

Others are also bringing a fruit tray and some 7 Layer Taco Dip, yum!  I am so looking forward to the food this weekend.  I am so NOT looking forward to the fact that it's going to be 87 degrees all day.  At least we will have an industrial fan and several tents to hopefully cool off under (I told you, we're doing it big!).  I'm halfway considering getting water balloons. Too much?

 

Girls' Night :)

It's Fridayyyyyyy!

Jake is going with some of the boys to some sort of outdoorsman's fundraising banquet thing-a-ma-jig [clearly this is a last minute plan that I don't know much about] so the girls have decided to do our own thing tonight.  And by our own thing, I mean:

 

Dinner & a Movie!

The first Grown Ups was so hilarious and I am really looking forward to seeing this one.  I'm hoping it doesn't fall in the terrible sequel category!

 

Catch Up

Here's a little catch-up for life lately.  Sorry for the lack of blogging, between working, the holiday weekend, and everything in between I feel like we have been nothing but busy lately!!  Let's catch up quick with photos...

One of my best friends got married on June 29th, and I was her Matron of Honor :)

We've gotten hooked on this show.  Anybody else? 
It's so intense, has a great cast, and keeps you interested every episode from start to finish. 

We spent July 4th out on the lake with some friends.  Sadly I didn't get any pictures because all the phones got put away into the Pelican during the short little stint of rain that we encountered.  Thankfully, that only lasted about 2-3 minutes before it was nice out again and we enjoyed the rest of the day in the water and grilling out burgers & brats at Goat Island!

  

We had a little impromptu date-night-in with some OG To-Go [so delicious, it had been too long]



and some Sonic Blasts for dessert...perfect!

 

There have been some lazy Saturday mornings involving lots snuggling with these two silly boys...

Reece

Kona Monster



& last but not least, yesterday I went to supper club with some couples from our church and their kiddos.  Always a fun time! The host family has a good bit of land and they have an uber-fun backyard complete with pool, fancy patio area, and a zipline that goes over a pond.  Great for entertainment!  It was also sort of a potluck where we each brought sides or desserts to accompany the main dish [burgers on the grill] and it was funny to see how everyone got their recipes off of....you guessed it  >> Pinterest.

 

Here is my Cinnamon Apple Strudel recipe that turned out pretty fabulous: 

 

 

I also added some Hershey's White Chips to the recipe:

These are sooo good and perfect for the person who is not the biggest
White Chocolate fan since they are Vanilla flavored.

 

 

I'm searching for some of the other recipes and I'll share them as well

once I have a chance to test them out myself!

 

 

 

Bridal Shower Bits & Bites :)

As you might know, I'm the Matron of Honor for my friend Eden's wedding coming up at the end of June. We had her Bridal shower & Bachelorette festivities this past weekend. Here's a little bit from the shower:

I grabbed some golf tees out of my bag before I headed out of town so that I could remember to do this Pinterest-inspired balloon welcome path.  Tie the ribbons to the tees and then push into the grass...quick and easy! 

 

Countrytime Punch | Lemon Slice Flowers

 

Grow Seed Kits

 

 

And to share a couple of the hit recipes, although everything turned out pretty darn good...

 

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon-Sugar Pita Chips

 Ingredients:
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
1 large mango
8 oz blueberries
1 (16 oz) carton of strawberries, diced
1 Tbs white sugar
2 Tbs brown sugar
3 Tbs fruit preserves
10 (10 in) flour tortillas
Cinnamon Sugar:

1 cup sugar

2 Tbs cinnamon

Mix in a small bowl or shaker and set aside

Directions:

Place all of your fruit into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with both white and brown sugars. Give it a few good stirs to make sure that fruit is evenly coated. Stir in fruit preserves and chill in fridge while you make your tortilla chips.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Brush each side of tortilla with melted butter. Cut into triangles and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar mixture. I kind of toss them around as I'm doing this to make sure everyone gets coated. Arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. (You most likely will need to do this in batches.) Put chips in a nice size bowl so they stay airy. Serve with chilled salsa. *Fruit salsa is best served the same day you make it. It becomes very syrupy the longer it sits.

 and the cupcakes...

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes | Pearl Sprinkles, similar here | Cupcake Pennants, similar here or here

Cupcakes

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® natural vanilla cake mix

3/4 cup frozen (thawed) pink lemonade concentrate

 

1/2 cup vegetable oil

 

1/4 cup water

3eggs

 

Red food color, if desired

Frosting and Garnish

1 container Betty Crocker® Whipped fluffy white frosting

6 tablespoons frozen (thawed) pink lemonade concentrate

 

Candy sprinkles, if desired

Directions 

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. Make cake batter as directed on box, using cake mix, 3/4 cup lemonade concentrate, 1/2 cup oil, the water, eggs and food color. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
2. Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
3. In large bowl, beat frosting, 6 tablespoons lemonade concentrate and the food color with electric mixer on low speed until blended. Frost cooled cupcakes. Garnish tops with candy sprinkles.

Makes approx. 24 cupcakes

 

 

 

Looking forward to this long, holiday weekend!  Don't forget the true reason for Memorial day--not lake days and barbeques but supporting our military and remembering our fallen soldiers and veterans.  If you're looking to get festive with decorations, check out my Land of the Free chalkboard printable :)

 

 

 

What a Weekend...

Let me repeat...What. A. Weekend.

I haven't had such a fun and such a miserable weekend at the same time in as long as I can remember.  We had some really high highs and some really low lows.  It started out something like this...

Friday night, I went to the Charlotte Knights game after work with a networking group that our company is a part of.  We had dinner at the stadium in the clubhouse and then watched part of the game before I headed home to spend time with Jake and some friends at one of our usual hang-outs.

 

 

Then, Saturday I woke up and went to get pedicures with Karen.  Some nice, long overdue pampering :)  After that we had brunch at Panera and tried their Sausage & Gouda souffles...heavenly.  Then, a little little shopping at Target.



Brunch was followed by a sewing day at my friend Shanti's house, complete with lots of entertainment from Miss Reina...

and people say that Rottweilers are mean...

We were sewing some blankets to bring to the Ronald McDonald House in Charlotte, because while visiting there to bake cookies a couple weekends ago, they told us they were getting low on their boy & gender neutral blankets.  They need a constant supply because as a part of each families welcome to the house, they are given a few things in their room, including a child/lap size blanket.  The house typically has some information about the family before they arrive, so they try to give a boy or girl pattern/color blanket to the family if they have a son or daughter, or gender neutral.  Shanti, Karen, and myself really enjoy getting together to have "sewing days," especially if it's for a great cause, and figured these little blankets would be easy to whip up.  We made a trip to the fabric store and found some great deals on super cute fabrics...

This animal silhouette fleece I found for a steal at Hancock Fabric.  The striped fabric I got from the $1.99/yd section at Mary Jo's.  This was the first on I attempted, and the rolled edge technique I found and tried to use was a little difficult with the thickness and stretch of the fleece.

I fell in LOVE with this barnyard pattern flannel at Hancock, and it was on sale for 30% off.  Is it not the cutest?!  The dotted stripe fabric was another $1.99/yd deal at Mary Jo's.  The rolled edge worked out SO much better on this blanket. 

After a few hours of sewing, I went to an event with my cousin-in-law Brooke, although she's pretty much another sister-in-law and I admire her so much.  One of her friends put together an event at her church, with a nice dinner and hearing testimonies of two local women.  It was a really nice event; I always am so fascinated by people's stories and backgrounds that shaped who they are today.  After the event I got to spend some time with my "nephews" who are more adorable than I could put into words.

Then, [yes, I know, Saturday was very eventful...just wait] I came back to Rock Hill and went out to the softball fields because Jake was playing in a tournament.  His team did great and they were playing in the championship game.  Enter, Rain.  It had been a beautiful day, and although it called for rain it seems like everything had held off.  I was happy, but a little nervous hoping that the rain wouldn't show up on Sunday when we had plans to be outside.  More on that later.  Well, about three innings into the game, the downpour began.  I mean hard. I haven't seen it rain like that in a long time.  They ended up calling the game because it started to lightning, so unfortunately by default Jake's team lost and came in 2nd place overall.  Not bad, but the game was close and they were on a roll, so it was disappointing for them.  So, we ran to the car, ending up soaking wet and headed home at 11pm. 

We got home, I got into some dry clothes/pajamas and Jake put his wet, dirt-stained uniform in the washer and went to get a shower.  I climbed under the covers and was watching TV when about 10 minutes later, Jake walks out into the hall and starts freaking out, hollering and making me wonder what in the world was going on.  I jumped out of bed at record speed and ran into the hallway pond.  Yes, pond.  The carpet was sopping wet.  The washer had to be leaking from the second that Jake turned it on and for the entire 10 minutes he was getting his shower.  Water was everywhere.  Overflowed the washing machine tray, flooded our laundry closet and the hallway. Then, I hear it.  The shower sound.  But wait, I thought, the shower's off. Jake just turned off the washing machine.  Where is that coming from? And then I hear my husband, who walked downstairs, where he saw water coming through our wet downstairs ceiling around a ceiling vent.  Coming down like a shower on full blast.  Such a mess.  There was a very chaotic 10 minutes while we were throwing as many towels as we could downstairs to try to protect further damage to the floor, and searching for buckets to catch the water.  I called a couple emergency water damage companies to see who would answer and be able to send out a technician at midnight on a holiday weekend.  Things always happen at the most convenient of times, right?  Well, AdvantaClean to the rescue!  Kelvin, their emergency response tech, got to our house around 2am and didn't leave until 4:15am.  We have all kinds of fans in our house, carpet ripped up, vinyl ripped up, laminate hardwoods ripped up, holes in our ceiling, etc.  Here's a little bit of what we're living with:

The giant puddle.  This photo doesn't do justice at all to how wet it was.  They had to pull back the carpet and remove the carpet padding, because it was FULL of water.



Our wonderful buckets.  Thank the Lord for Backyard Beer Pong, the reason for the 12 little buckets being in our garage.

 

After they ripped up the vinyl floor and drained the water.

 

Carpet sort of laid down, with pieces missing, after they took the carpet padding away.

 

Ceiling water damage, before they cut the drying hole.

The drying hole. The air vent on the left is the one all of the water was raining from.

After they ripped up the flooring.  The water line went all the way into our kitchen.

Say hello to our concrete slab!

So, that's life these days.  We are becoming pros at dealing with insurance companies in 2013.  I'm looking forward to the Adjuster's visit on Thursday and then starting on the repairs. 

But, thankfully the weekend didn't end here.  Sunday, after going to bed at 4:15am and waking up around 11:30, we got ready and headed out to get the boat ready for a day on the water with our family.  It ended up being a pretty gorgeous day.  We rode around, docked at T-Bones for dinner, and then rode back, finishing off the day with a breath-taking sunset...

Me, Dad and Mom...It got a little chilly later in the day with the breeze out on the water.

Docking for dinner

Mom & Me

The family at dinner

The sun starting to set on the way home.

  





 

TGIF

 

 

What are your weekend plans?  We were supposed to be going out of town for the day to a softball tournament tomorrow, but that was cancelled so now we will hopefully be catching up on stuff around the house and having a relaxing weekend here.  I'm looking forward to some Come See Me events. 

 

 

We are going to the BBQ cookoff and possibly staying for the fireworks. 

 

What are yall looking forward to this weekend?

 

Scary Stuff!

Last night I went to a friend's house for an Arbonne spa party.  I had never really heard of it, but I found out that is an organic line of skincare, beauty, hair care, and even some other random items like energizing tea and men's shave gel.   I think that everyone was convinced they needed to go home and throw out every beauty product that they owned because of the scary information the sales consultants gave us.  I have a whole new-found appreciation for organic skin care products.  I have not gone through what I own yet, but holy cow.  Let me paint this picture for you...

Think about how you are driving down the road and see an animal--a big deer or raccoon, if you will--and you think how nasty it is and you drive on.  Well, the next day when you drive down that same road, the carcass is no longer there.  Where did it go?  Let me tell you.  To a Rendering Plant.

A rendering plant is a processing operation where dead animals are recycled into products from human food to biodiesel. The remains and waste from slaughterhouses are the primary contributors to these facilities. Heads, hooves, bones, blood, offal (internal organs) and anything else that cannot be used ends up at a rendering plant.
Carcasses of dead animals from livestock and confinement operations are the secondary contributors. A rendering plant will also take dead horses, llamas and other farm and zoo animals. Remains of dogs and cats, roadkill (deer, skunks, rats and raccoons) end up there as well. Veterinary clinics and animal shelters also rely on rendering plants for their euthanized animals. They also accept throwback or rejected meat from supermarkets.

Yeah, disgusting.  What's even scarier?  When the rendering plant cooks up all of the animal parts and rejected, spoiled meat, the mixture separates into solids on the bottom and greasy liquid on top.  Then, the rendering plants sell that mixture for a variety of things--including taking that greasy top layer of liquid and selling it to beauty product companies to use as filler in make up, shampoo, lotion, etc.  And then we put that onto our faces and bodies every single day.  Sick to your stomach yet? 

For all of you with little kids, Arbonne also has baby care products and I made myself a mental note to definitely remember them for the future when we have little kiddos because of this scary article about cancer-causing elements found in Johnson & Johnson baby products!  Most people think J&J is the go-to baby brand, when in fact many hospitals no longer use it because it's not considered safe.  J&J products have also been found to cause conditions like eczema in little babies. 

Overall, what was my take on it?  Well, I'm always a bit hesitant with any of these at-home, sales consultant party type of things.  They are usually always fun and you get good information, but then the catalogs come out and depending upon the sales consultant, the high-pressure sales tactics start.  Thankfully, last night the sales girls were really nice and were not laying on the guilt trip trying to make you buy more and more so that the host can get free stuff.  Or nagging everyone else to book parties, because that's the worst.   Although, with the information they shared about rendering plants, who wouldn't be pulling out the checkbook for this stuff?  I did end up buying while crying over how much money I was spending a few items--one for myself a couple as gifts.  


You now have permission to run to your bathroom cabinet and check every product label you own!

I've learned I need to take more photos...

It has become so clear to me that I really suck at remembering to take photos.  I get so caught up in the fun time that we're having that I always forget to whip out the camera or my phone.  So, unfortunately you don't get to see any cute pics of the holidays, but we have had such a great time!  So, where to begin...

I guess the first of our festivities started with April & Jeremy's annual tacky Christmas sweater party.  It was so much fun again, just like last year!  Although this year ended up staying a little bit more sane than last year which was nice, and we took the party to the bar instead of staying at their house the whole time, which I know must have worked out a bazillion times better for them!  Entertaining at home is so much fun but there's always that one person who has to break something sometimes the cleanup can be excruciating.

Following that came my company's Christmas Dinner which was at Del Frisco's in Charlotte.  Jake and I had never been there before and the food was amazing!  I got the crab cakes and Jake got one of the steak specials.  They also have the BEST calamari I've ever tasted.  It's seriously like heaven in your mouth.  Instead of serving it with marinara sauce like most places I've been, albeit they were Italian restaurants, Del Frisco's serves theirs covered in an Asian glaze, similar to what comes on Orange Chicken or General Tso's.  YUM.  I also had my first ever Celebrity sighting.  After narrowly missing Vince Vaughn and Kevin James on the elevator in Chicago and not seeing a single celebrity in Las Vegas for a week, who knew that I'd see my first celeb sighting in good ol' Charlotte.  Who?  Ric Flair.  Don't recognize the name?  He's this guy...

From the great world of WWE.  I recognized him but never knew his name because my family was never big into wrestling.  He still pretty much looks the same.  He's no Vince Vaughn, but it was pretty cool to be standing less than a foot away from him at the bar in Del Frisco's.

After that comes our Christmas visit to see my Grandpop and some others from my Dad's side of the family down in Mount Pleasant.  We don't get down there a lot so it was nice to see them, and my Aunt Kerri was home visiting from India.  We watched the new Bourne movie, which I really enjoyed, then exchanged gifts and had a nice traditional holiday meal--ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, wine, etc.

On Christmas Eve, we just slept in and relaxed, then went to church and dinner with Jake's mom, sister, and brother.  His stepdad was sick with a stomach virus the whole week so he didn't get to participate in anything :(  We went to their church in Lake Wylie, and I always enjoy getting to see different churches, especially when they are all beautifully decorated at Christmas.  It was a neat candlelight service but visiting other churches always makes Jake and I really realize how much we love our church, Allison Creek Presbyterian.  It's technically in York I guess but it's only about 10 minutes down the road from us since we're out here on the edge of Rock Hill.  Churches are so personal and everyone has different tastes, but we really love the community within our church and especially the delivery of the sermons.  I don't like feeling like I'm getting yelled at by the preacher if they have a harsh, excited delivery.  And I don't like being bored to tears by someone who is monotone.  We feel like our Pastor has the perfect balance and neither one of us ever gets bored or zones out during the sermon so we always feel like we really get something out of what he shares.  

On Christmas day we had Jake's side of the family and my friend Karen over for a brunch of waffles, fruit, casseroles, eggs, bacon, cinnamon rolls, etc.  TONS of food.  We exchanged gifts and just got to hang out for a while having some good conversation.  Then, we got to relax for a little bit and clean up before my side of the family arrived for Christmas dinner.  We had glazed ham with pineapple, seasoned green beans, steamed corn, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, and then desserts.  It was a good thing that we only ate two meals all day because holy cow was it a lot of food.  I did the ham and the mac & cheese both in crock pots, which was nice and easy for me so that I could sit and enjoy socializing instead of cooking in the kitchen all day.  It worked out extremely well for the ham, and the mac & cheese was good but I think I would use a different recipe next time.  I found one recipe that uses evaporated milk, which I thought I had but it turned out that I had sweetened condensed milk, both are from Eagle Brand and I didn't pay attention to the label.  So, last minute I had to switch to a  different recipe that only used 2% milk and I think it would have been nicer and creamier with the other recipe.  For dessert, I made a cherry crumb pie and some "brooksters" which are a combo of chocolate chip cookies & brownies.  The cherry crumb pie tasted really good, but good Lord did it make a mess in my oven.  I would highly suggest that if you attempt one of these pies, put a cookie sheet on the rack underneath your pie because that nice filling will just bubble out over the edge and create a huge puddle of burnt mess in your oven.  Thank God our oven is self-cleaning, but that makes such a smoky mess that I haven't done it yet.  I did cook dinner in the oven two nights ago and some of the cherry mess burnt off but that is a headache that I'll be dealing with for a couple more weeks I expect...However, the brooksters, or as I always mix up and call them, "Brewsters," are like the best combination in the world.  Here is the super easy recipe:

"Brewsters"

--Prepare chocolate chip cookie mix from scratch as directed on bag of chocolate chips.

--Prepare brownies as directed on box of brownie mix.

Put paper liners in cupcake trays and fill 1/3-1/2 of the way with brownie batter.  Top with one scoop in each of the cookie batter.  

Bake as directed following the Chocolate Chip cookie recipe.  You may need to add 5-10 minutes to the time since brownies take longer to cook.  You will know they are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  

Easy and seriously delish!  These were definitely a crowd pleaser.  

..And what have we been doing since Christmas?  Well, I enjoyed the after Christmas sales and picked up some adorable wrapping paper for next year (so prepared, I know!) and decided to re-decorate our bookshelves in the living room.  I got tons of new frames and decorations from Hobby Lobby, TJMaxx, and Ross.  I cleaned off the bookshelves and have figured out the new frame placement, but now I just need to get the correct size and orientation of photos printed.  So, pictures of that to come!  We also celebrated New Years/Jake's 25th Birthday!  He has not been feeling too hot following the celebration but we did it up right at the Longbranch last night!  He is also very excited about his birthday gift, a new propane grill for on our boat!  With all of the time we are going to be spending out there now that we have the boat, I figured we would get tired of pb&j's or turkey sandwiches REAL quick.  Now we can do burgers, hot dogs, chicken, steaks, kabobs, you name it!  Now, if only this weather would get back into the 70's..........

Have a great day back at work tomorrow!

<3 Stacey

These are the special times, the times we'll remember...

Probably my absolute favorite Christmas song...Girl's got issues but you can't deny her voice.  Celine Dion sang the original but I love this version. 


Speaking of special times, I just need to take a minute to say that I am really loving this time in our lives.  People always say that high school was the glory days, or college was the best time of your life.  I have to disagree.  I am loving this new stage of life, shall I call it the "Wedding and Baby Boom".  That time when you've graduated college and all of a sudden everyone you know is gettin' hitched and having babies.  Let me clarify very quickly that we are not but I have been helping a few friends with wedding planning and gotten some save the dates in the mail, Jake's cousin and one of my best friends are both due with their second children very soon, and also finding out earlier this week that two of my very best friends from high school are pregnant with their first child!  I feel like I am surrounded by so many fun and exciting events for people that I know and love, and how could that not be the best time of your life?  Even with buying cars and houses, there are so many of those "leaps of faith" and jumping into big decisions.  We used to look so forward to Spring Break and those crazy weeks at the beach, now we're planning anniversary trips and summer vacations that are not even comparable to a week in the Dirty Myrtle.  As we are getting so close to the end of 2012, I am eagerly looking forward to the 4 weddings, countless showers, and sweet little babies of 2013 :)

  

Storypeople

Early on in college one of my sorority sisters introduced me to Storypeople.  They are little quotes or philosophies on different topics, accompanied by little eccentric sketches.  I stumbled across this one today and it has always been one of my favorites...

   

Very Thankful

 

I apologize for being such a slacker with my blog lately.  I feel like this year is flying by before my very eyes and it seems like the time to get on here can never be found.  But alas, I thought I would get into the spirit of Thanksgiving week and join in on the Thankful posts. The daily thing on facebook is a bit much for me but I thought I would compile my list here.  I'll tackle a few a day throughout the week..

Sometimes we get so complacent throughout the year and around the holidays it really gives us time to sit down and think about all of the wonderful people and experiences that we have in our lives. Sitting here thinking about everything now honestly just puts a smile on my face because I do feel so blessed and happy...People always say that they don't want to get older but I am having the best time with this phase in my life.  I feel like for myself and my friends...we've all made it to that point where we are settled into our adulthood.  We're not the "fresh out of college" group anymore.  We've settled into our careers and our routines, we're getting established and promoted.  We've bought houses and cars; taken big vacations that we've actually paid for.  We've had real life struggles and slowly but surely made it through.  We've "paid our dues" and are now on the upside.  It makes me so proud to see the growth and success.  Will we have more hard times, undoubtedly!  But we've proven that we have what it takes.  Two weeks ago Winthrop had it's homecoming basketball game and a bunch of my college friends came into town for our annual girls weekend.  I love that we have that one weekend a year that we know we can count on to get all of our schedules aligned and get together.  It was our first year having our own alumni tailgate.  We learned about a few things that we will change for next year but it was definitely a great decision and we really enjoyed it.  Now, if only Winthrop's basketball team would get back to the greatness of our Freshman and Sophomore years at Winthrop!   It was so funny to see how much things have changed, but how happy we are with that.  Looking at the groups of friends and WU Alumni who are in their 30's, all meeting up with their little kids and tailgating...realizing that in what seems like a few short years that will be us.  It doesn't make me scared for the future, it makes me excited for it! 

So I guess with all of that in mind, here's my list...

1.  I am thankful for Jake.  I am thankful for who he is as a person and who he is as a partner.   I am thankful for the way that he balances me and the way that we work together.  I'm thankful for our differences and our similarities.  While we both thought that we were headed down different paths in life, I'm so thankful for God's greater plan helping us find our way to each other.  I'm sure that you are thinking "Duh" right now, but it's a feeling of thankfulness that I never knew existed until we got married.  While we were dating of course I was thankful and felt so lucky to have found someone who I thought was so perfect for me, but after getting married small things just started adding up and made me find this whole new level of appreciation.  Even though we had been together for almost five years by the time we got married, and even though we were already living together, there is something that changes.  I guess it's because "forever" actually becomes reality and for the first time that actually sinks in.    

2.  I'm thankful for my big family.  The one that I was born into and the one that I married into.  As a kid I remember doing a project in school where we were writing down the number of siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. in our families.  My Mom has a big Italian Catholic family and my Dad was adopted, and later in life he found his birth parents so that makes for a huge family.  I remember writing down that I have over 20 first cousins, and how some of the kids in my class only had one or two, or none at all.  While it can get crazy trying to coordinate schedules, especially around the holidays, I can't imgaine not having a house full of people celebrating together.  

3.  and 4.  Reece and Kona.  You just do not even understand how much I love my furbabies.  They are my first and second children, they are spoiled rotten, and I would not have it any other way.  While I know dogs are nothing like real children, they have definitely helped prepare us for our future little ones by giving us responsibility and letting us know that the world does not operate on our own personal schedules. 

5.  Friendships.  Old and new.  I've always been the "social butterfly" as my parents called it.  Maybe it comes from moving a few times growing up or maybe that's just me.  Yes, I was one of those crazy people who had a ton of bridesmaids in my wedding.  I've never been the type of person who had only one best friend.  Each one of my friends "gets me" in a different but completely perfect way and I'm so grateful that I have those people who know everything I want to say with just a look.

6.  Our church.  After buying our house we found Allison Creek Presbyterian Church and it could not be a more perfect fit for us.  I've never felt more welcome or at home in a church, and Jake and I laugh about it because honestly we are probably the youngest couple in the small congregation by about 10 years, with the exception of one or two others.  

7.  Art.  For my ability to do it and for the way that it allows me to express myself and connect with people.

8.  Our country and our military.  For freedom, pride, and patriotism.

9.  Education and teachers.  Especially for the teachers who have had a great impact on my life, encouraged me and inspired me. 

10.  My job.  For doing something that I enjoy with co-workers that are fun to be around.  I definitely learned through previous jobs that this is not always the case and it is such a blessing when you find it!

11.  The medical field.  For the advances that it has made and for the talented doctors working towards cures for cancers and diseases.  For the technology that they have developed that makes things like my Lasik surgery possible :)

....that's all for now, more to come!