I feel safer already

Watch out ya'll, there's a new sheriff in town.

Sister's Youngest

Christmas Copter

Jay scored this little number Christmas Eve.

It's been seen buzzing around our living room quite a bit.

Renee, you did good. I think he likes it.

Christmas Thoughts

It's only 3 days till Christmas!!!

I am beyond excited. I just got back about an hour ago from buying the VERY last present I have to buy. Now I can just relax and enjoy the "season". I love everything about Christmas. I love the festivities, the shopping, even the crazy Alabama weather. It's 61 degrees right now.

And I love the "reason for the season". I know that's a phrase we throw around casually and I must confess that I haven't taken any time out to really think about the real meaning of Christmas this year. But, I'm thinking about it now.

I am in awe of that young, virgin girl who replied, "I am the Lord's servant" when the angel told her she would give birth to the Son of God. I will be anxious to talk with Mary in Heaven someday. I can't comprehend or grasp the level of emotions she must have gone through in her lifetime. What could it have possible felt like to hold the Son of God in her arms? I'm not sure why Mary is on my mind so much today....

Christmas Tour

I so meant to join in with some of the Christmas Tour of Homes but due to my lack of preparation, I missed it. Sooo.... here's a tour of our home all spiffied up for Christmas. I wish I could leave it up all year long. I love coming home and seeing all the lights.

The first thing you see when you walk in the front door is my O Little Town of Bethelehem. I got this when Jay and I first got married. They had just retired it and I found it on my Ebay. I love to look at it when the lights are out and it's lit up.

I got my love of Nativities from my Mama.

I took some ribbon from The Dollar Tree and wrapped around these hurricanes. The peppermint thanked me for making their little home so cute!

Our dining room and living room are all open. Here's a few pics from the two.

The little reindeer were another Dollar Tree find. I think they're cute as a button.

I love this Dress-Me-Up platter so I filled it with these cute trees (also from The Dollar Tree, are you seeing a trend???).

Our mantle is pretty plain Jane but that's the way I like it. Jay's had his stocking since he was a little boy.

I LOVE colored lights on a Christmas Tree! I wish they showed up better.

From the lack of presents under my tree, you can obviously tell that I need to get busy with my shopping!

Surprise Gift

Imagine my surprise when I came home and saw this in the mail.

Way back in October I signed up for a Holiday Gift Swap over at A Girl and Her Blog.

I totally scored and got the best gift ever. Check out this necklace - it's beautiful!!! It's the sweetest silver nest with three little pearl eggs in it. I cannot wait to wear it tomorrow.

Thank you Amy! I couldn't be happier!

Music Makes the World a Better Place (at least in the car).

First I would like to apologize for being MIA for so long or, maybe you've enjoyed a break from a series of totally random posts. Either way, I'm back and oh so happy to be in the bloggy world again!

Last week was a world-wind of Christmas festivities. Monday night was a Christmas party for the preschool workers at church, Wednesday was Jay's work party, Friday night was our neighborhood party and yesterday morning we left for Nashville for Christmas with Jay's family. All of that was A LOT for a girl who loves a routine that rarely changes.

Nashville was great. Kay and Keith (sis & bro-in law) rode with us. I don't think I have laughed that hard in ages, nor do I think I have acted that immature in ages. And if you believe that, I need you to also know that I make up my bed every morning and cook supper every night. I wish I could remember all the things that caused me to double-over with laughter and possibly wet my pants but everything was just so random.

I guess that's what happens when someone like me provides a music selection that included Debbie Gibson, Old School Hip Hop, Ultimate Love Songs, Kenny Rogers, and Monster Ballads. I know some people might be embarrassed to whip out their Debbie Gibson CD, but I like everybody to know the real me. And with that said, I want you to know the real me went to a New Kids on the Block concert when I was in the 9th grade.

I'll post more about the Nashville trip later. I've gotta get busy reading all your posts! But because I love you, I'll leave you with this.

Photo Swap Pics

A while back I signed up for a photo swap hosted by the wonderful Rhianne. I was paired with Jenni over at Absent Minded. Check out her cool photos. I love this one with the clouds.

Jenni posted mine here if you want to check them out. Thanks Jenni, this was fun!

Change - Is It Good?

I went crazy today. I was off work and you know what happens when you're off work? You do things that you don't do when you're at work. I know, I'm brilliant. But seriously, this was me at Thanksgiving.

Me about to stuff my face is not the point of showing this pic. I wanted you to take notice of my hair. Specifically, notice that it's long.

This is me today.

No, my hair isn't in a pony tail. Need proof?

I'm not gonna lie. I feel a little sassy. What do you think?

It's Not What It Seems

Imagine my sheer horror surprise when I walked in the bedroom tonight and saw this.

No, there wasn't a woman in our bed. My husband thought it would be hilarious to tuck my skirt and boots up under some pillows.

As we say in the South, he's not right.

Sleep - I need you...

Sleep, why have you forsaken me again? Don't you know I have to go to work tomorrow? Don't you care that I'm not a young whipper-snapper anymore? Don't you know that I.Need.My.Beauty.Sleep in a BIG way?????

But, I shall look for the positive.

I'm sitting in the living room, glancing over every so often at my Christmas tree (I think I just saw one of the lights winking at me!)

It's raining - hard - and the wind is blowing - even harder. It's going to be COLD tomorrow! I can't believe I'm excited about that, but for some reason I am.

It's 24 days till Christmas!!!

And, I'll leave you with these two precious pictures from Thanksgiving:

Abbie and the hubs

James and his Great-Granddaddy

Family is bliss (most of the time).

Back in Blog World

I feel like it's been a sweet forever I blogged last! I sat down last night with the intentions of doing a post but then I got caught up reading all your blogs and it just got too late.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We spent most of the day at my parents with my side of the family. I love, love, love getting together with my family. And of course, I seriously ate too much.

It's a good thing my mom always goes above and beyond with the food makin' because I royally screwed up the homemade macaroni & cheese. I have no idea what happened. I mean, I followed the recipe but it was so bad, I couldn't even attempt to take it. I thought about taking it just to feed to my brother's dogs, but I was afraid they wouldn't eat it and then I would hear about it for the rest of my life from my brother-in-law.

We left my parent's house late Thursday afternoon and drove to Montgomery to Maxwell Air Force Base. Jay's family spent the Thanksgiving weekend there because his dad is retired military. I had never stayed on a base before and it was so cool. I mean really cool. (I thought about you Paulina!) I tell you, being there really made me so much more thankful for our military men and women.

I'm glad to be back to my bloggy world! I'm thankful for ya'll too!

I Got My Craft On

Let's face it. There's not much better than coming home from Church on a Sunday afternoon and taking a nap. I would have luuuuvvvvddd to have napped all day. It was dark, dreary, cold - perfect nap weather.

Instead I've opted to keep myself as far away from the couch (my favorite napping place) as possible because I do NOT want a repeat of last week. Basically, I slept for 3 hours last Sunday afternoon, couldn't go to sleep that night and was off track for the rest of the week.

So, in an effort to keep the snooze away, I did a little Christmas craft. I saw it in BH&G magazine and since it looked brainless and something that wouldn't take more than 30 minutes... It also didn't hurt that it was super cheap to do.

I started with all of this

and then hot-glued the peppermint sticks to the plastic container I bought at The Dollar Store.

Next I wrapped the ribbon around it and put a peppermint in the middle.

And for the finale, I added these lovely carnations that I also got at The Dollar Store.

Now I've just got to figure out how to stay awake for a few more hours.

LMM is Givin' it Away!

OK ya'll. The awesome Lemonade Makin' Mama is having a giveaway! It's a BOOTIFUL necklace that I know we would all love to be able to wear over the holidays! I suggest you scoot on over there pronto and try to win. Although, I really want to win...

A Sad Goodbye

I have something I need to tell you and I need you not to judge.

Tomorrow I'm sending Callie and Sissy away to a new home. Some of you who have been following my blog for a while know my "issues" with my cats. There's a lady that has offered to take them who is a huge cat-lover. She's a widow that has never had children, runs an animal shelter, and says she's devoting her life to caring for animals.

I know some of you are going to think I'm a terrible person, but I just can't take it anymore. I think all the pooping and vomiting has made me unbelievably bitter towards these babies. I know tomorrow will be hard and I'm 100% positive I will cry rivers, but this is the best thing for my mental health.

It's been 9 LONG years with these girls and I promise that I've tried everything humanly possible to make it work with them. I hope ya'll don't think I'm awful. I really think they will have a happier life where they're going. They'll get to go outside (our neighborhood doesn't allow roaming animals) and this lady really does love cats.

The girls really don't do well in the car so Jay went by the vet today and got some Prozac so they'll have an easier time on the ride and transition. I really am nervous about tomorrow. I'm mentally ready but I'm not sure about emotionally. Right now my emotions are all over the place.

Corn-hole Anyone?

Have ya'll heard of a game called Corn-Hole? We went to some friend's lake house Saturday and one of the guy's brought it. It was a ton o' fun. Think skee-ball meets the outdoors. It has official rules and everything that you can read about here http://www.playcornhole.org/rules.shtml.

It consists of these bags of corn

and 2 boards that are placed facing each other about 30 feet apart.

The goal is to toss your bag of corn across the grassy knoll and get it in the hole. Get it? Corn-hole. Ahhh... now you get it! I know you probably won't believe this with all my athletic prowess and all, but I didn't win - not one time. Perplexing.

So, if anyone asks you to play Corn-hole, don't be afraid.