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!