2nd Anniversary!

Today I celebrate the day I married my best friend. Two years has gone by in the blink of an eye. I can not wait to see what this year brings. I love you so much Artie...I am so blessed that God brought you into my life. I look forward to a lifetime of anniversary celebrations with you.

Photography

Jack Jack

The Christmas Shop

Suzan

(I like the light and color in this photo)

New Camera!

My husband is so wonderful! This year for Christmas he bought me a new camera! I am so excited about it. I really take a lot of photographs between the shop and the girls. I needed something really versatile. He did good too...he bought a Canon 50d. I am learning new things every minute. Now if I could only photograph like Amber (you will have to teach me some basics!) Audra..I can't wait to see more pics! (Her husband bought her a camera too!) So here are a few pictures from Christmas.

(They are all of my handsome husband!)

I have decided boys love ALL things that include big hunks of meat and fire. Here is proof...all too happy to make the smoked turkey!

Preparing the smoker

Injecting the turkey..the needle on that thing makes me a little weak in the knees

The fire

The turkey is ready!

Looks delicious dear!

My (almost) clean plate...not a fan of celery

It was a wonderful Christmas! I hope your was Merry and Bright!

Let it SNOW!!!

Well the weather man actually got it right this time! We have been buried under 8 or so inches of snow. It turned out to be a big mess for everyone...we could not even open the shop on Saturday. Although it really was beautiful. I just wish it would not mess up the roads, there were a lot of really bad wrecks. Living in the boonies means your roads do not get plowed...you wait for the snow to melt. What is even more scary than the roads being bad, is most people lost power for a few days. It hurts my heart to know what people had to do to keep warm. It seems like all the worry melts away when I see images like this though.

So beautiful.

Artie and I took the time we were stuck in the house (with no tv!) to give our closets a major overhaul! I love to de-clutter...it is like a breath of fresh air.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Advent season.

O Come O Come Emmanuel!

Oh my

It snowing like crazy right now!! I can not believe it...we have not had this much snow in a very long time. It is evident because it has people in our town absolutely crazy. I can not wait to take pictures of it tomorrow! It has been snowing since 3pm and we are suppose to get up to 8 inches. (I HOPE!!!) So as of now we are officially snowed in...we live in the boonies remember? I did manage to make it to the store earlier this morning so we are set for a few days.

Say a quick prayer for Artie and I next Tuesday. We have our home study scheduled...finally the last piece of the puzzle will be in place. Once Tuesday is over I will be able to breath a sigh of relief. It has been pretty stressful trying to get all of the tasks completed and enjoy the holiday season. I have been cleaning like a mad woman, trying to go through all our cabinets and drawers. I am hopeful that God will give us our perfect child, whether it is a baby or a 5 year old. Where ever God leads us, we will go. Artie and I were on our way to the first aid and cpr class the other night and it hit us. We feel like we are so close to being parents and it was a little scary. It is a good kind of scary....like all new parents are, I suppose. Pray for God to grant us patience and peace.

I will leave you with a video....my cat Lily is a bit strange. Lily loves to drink from a cup and if you leave one unattended she will claim it as her own. She will normally stick her little head in to drink or she will stick her paw in and drink it that way. It does not matter what is in the cup...tea, coke, water...she loves it all. So here she is...drinking my coke. Sigh...

I will post pictures tomorrow of the snow! It is a rare treat for a southern girl to get snow around Christmas!

Majorette Class Christmas Party!

Tonight was the Christmas party for the Monday night majorette class! We all had a great time! All week I have been telling the girls that we had a super secret surprise planned for the party. The surprise was FIRE BATON! I was a little nervous that they would not do it but all the girls were PUMPED!!! The girls did really well and I kept having to soak the batons because they wanted to twirl more after they went out! I think the girls were proud that they tried it.

Here is the group right before fire baton

Here is the group after fire baton...silly picture!

Showing off our battle wounds

Christmas Parade!!!

On Sunday Greeneville had it's annual Christmas parade. The girls marched with the band and did such a great job! They looked super cute too! We put these little tops together so they would look more Christmasy and everyone loved it. There was still some snow on the ground and in the trees so it put us all in the spirit! Here are some pictures from the parade.

The girls and I

(yes I coordinated with them!)

Silly girls

The last time together...very sad!

There they go!

Thanks for a great year girls!

State Championships

Friday night Artie and I set out to attend the Tennessee High School State Championships in Cookeville. The game was on Saturday and so we took our time getting there. On Saturday we headed to the game in the snow! It was so very very COLD!!!! Brrrrrr....even though we lost, Artie and I had a great time.

The football team warming up

The girls cheering on the team...can you see the snow the have pushed off the field?

Look how cute they are! I am going to miss this group next year!

My sweet husband took pics while we were warming up...of course I am talking with my hands!

Praying and "Hocus Pocus Let Us Focus!"

On the field

Haha...funny story!

This guy's tuba fell apart during the dance at half time..."Hey! Where did my tuba go?"

Alison and I trying not to freeze!!!

All in all it was a great trip! I am so glad Artie and I got to get away...even if it was only for a night. I love him so much! Thanks honey.

Chrismons

On Wednesday night our church put up the Christmas tree and I got to help!! I really had a great time...after a very very long day it was exactly what I needed to lift my spirits. This tree was HUGE!! I love that it is live and makes the Narthex smell so yummy.

Putting on the lights

Unwrapping the Chrismons

Finishing the tree!

The Cat Tree

Every year, a customer at The Christmas Shop has Suzan and I come out to decorate their tree. Let me tell you about this tree! It is a 9 and a half foot tree all decorated in cat ornaments. Twelve hundred of them to be exact! One by one Suzan and I put every single ornament up. We love visiting with this family because they know where each and every ornament came from and each ornament has a story. They are so kind and always fix a yummy lunch for Suzan and I. Let me tell you that their love of cats does not stop at their Christmas tree. Their whole house is decorated all in cats. I know you are probably thinking CATS? But I am here to tell you that it is so lovely. They also have 2 real kitties that are BEAUTIFUL!

Here is the whole tree

The only mouse on the tree is on the topper..look closely.

This is Martha

This is Imogene

We had such a great time and will look forward to decorating next year!

Playoff Game #3

Last Friday the Green Devils played their last home game for the year. It was the last playoff game before the state championships and we were all really nervous!! It was also VERY cold!! Artie and I were so bundled up we could barely move...he even wore his Carhartt bib overalls! It was the Friday after Thanksgiving so the band did not have to perform halftime. I know the girls were so happy to be in the student section. And guess what? WE WON!!! State championships here we come!!!

The hubby and I

I found Rachael!

The team after the game! SO VERY HAPPY!!!

Thankful

What a thankful girl I am! Artie and I had a great Thanksgiving this year. It started out with us delivering the food we made for our community outreach Thanksgiving. Our community feeds over 1600 people on Thanksgiving each year and unfortunately the numbers keep growing. Next up church...which is a message I will never forget. Thanks Pastor Rick! It was about "bugs" in our life and came from the book of Joel (you know, the one with the locusts). Sometimes bad things happen and it is a reminder of our covenant with God. God will not let the bugs destroy us! What a great message and I felt it spoke right to me....

Next lunch at the General Morgan. It was great to be there because this is where Artie and I were married! We had a nice lunch with our church family and the food was so delicious. Here is a photo in the lobby of this beautiful historic hotel.

Artie and I decided to have a nice quiet Thanksgiving dinner at home this year. What a wonderful choice! Here is Artie injecting the turkey with something good. We smoke our turkey every year and it is so good...which is amazing for me to say because I am not a fan of turkey.

OK....this next photo be stills my heart. It is Artie's great aunt Alice's sweet potato casserole. Oh my heavens it is so good. We actually ate this for dessert. Here it is before the oven. It is sweet potatoes with a topping of brown sugar, white sugar, pecans, coconut and butter. LOTS OF BUTTER!

Here is the finished product...it has a crunchy crust on the top and I could eat it by the gallon. Like I said...Artie and I ate it for dessert instead of making a pie.

Here is my table set with the "centerpiece"- I say that loosely....

Close up on the centerpiece

Place setting...kinda haha!

The best part about Thanksgiving at home was eating it in our pajamas!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful day and a fun weekend!!

Daytime TriCities

On Monday Suzan and I took a trip to the big city (Johnson City) to be on a local talk show Daytime Tri-Cities. We did a little segment on what we carry at the store. I loved it...it was a lot fun. Here is a link to video...check it out!

A photo of Suzan and I with the hosts Amy and Morgan

Baby Shower!

This past Sunday I threw my friend Rebecca a baby shower. She will be having a little girl in January and so she needed some cute little girl things! Rebecca was such a big help the day of the shower...helping me keep my head attached. Once everything was complete I could breath. It was really fun seeing everyone and we all had a great time. The room turned out so pretty! I was very proud and she loved it. I am

Here are the centerpieces...they turned out great!

I tied ribbons on the back of each chair to add some color.

Oh the chocolate fountain...FAIL!

The mommy to be snacking on some yummy goodies!

Some of the guests enjoying the games.

Some of the girls and current UT Majorettes

MTSU Majorettes together again...sad we missed alumni band weekend!

Me and the mommy to be!

After her shower I went and helped her decorate her tree! (What I do best!) Since she is pregnant it is hard to climb up and down a chair, so I took care of the basics. It turned out really great! Here is a picture of it after she put on her ornaments.