And the Award for Best Present Goes To...

...my sweet husband!! :)

Followed by Mom as a close second with my Keurig and Zach's Wii. I was so glad that we actually surprised him this year!

Zach got me an iPhone this year! I have to be honest, I didn't really think I would use it that much. He had mentioned getting me one earlier in the year, but I shot down the idea, thinking A.) that it would be too expensive and B.) that I wouldn't use it near enough to justify the cost. Well, I was wrong. I have been on that thing almost every free minute I have had since I got it! Sad, I know, but it's so much fun!! I haven't even really hooked it up to my iTunes and gone hog-wild yet (which I now can, thanks to my awesome brother Jonathan for the iTunes gift card!)

It is very distracting, especially when it beeps to let me know I have an email or text message. I can always change the settings on that, if I get tired of it. Something tells me I won't for a while though. :) I just wanted to post a few pics that I took with it over the Christmas weekend. I will definitely be posting some others of our white, yes, WHITE, Christmas!! Zach took many with his camera, so their quality will be much better than these. I am impressed with the picture quality of the phone, and the HD video it takes! I have already thoroughly enjoyed the video recorder. Next time you see me, just ask to see the clips I have of Zach playing his new Wii. Very entertaining!! :)

First pic of me & my sweetie with my phone!

This is Daisy & Cosmo asleep on Christmas Eve while Zach was up late playing Wii. I told him they were ready for Santa to come!

My Daisy girl

Daisy in the snow

Cosmo in the snow

Christmas Time Is Here!!

This is my most favorite time of year!! And, for the record, I am DONE with my Christmas shopping! D-O-N-E, DONE!! I finished up on Saturday when Mom, Mamaw, Jonathan and I hit the mall and some other shops. It feels so good to be finished with it. Now, on to the wrapping (my least favorite part)!

Almost forgot to post this: Zach cleaned up the house while I was away shopping on Saturday. I always love to brag on him! When I got home, he had washed and dried ALL the dishes, and started cleaning our guest room. Currently, our guest room is our junk room, but he knocked a big chunk out of the cleaning and organizing on Saturday. As long as it is an "organized mess," it doesn't bother me so badly. Every house has to have a junk/storage room, right?

One of his Christmas gifts arrived at my office this morning, and as I was typing this, a second one of his arrived! I can't wait to give these to him!! I also love receiving things in the mail this time of year! Speaking of, our Christmas cards should arrive at our house either today or tomorrow, so I will have to start addressing them soon. I feel like I'm a little late on them this year, since we have already received so many, but better late than never! I just can't pass up that little tradition. I hope to send a photo card of our little family out every year from now on!

Just wanted to make a quick post about our Children's Choirs Christmas Program last night. It went perfectly!! Each one knew their lines and all the words to the songs. One of the solos even made me cry!! I looked over at Amy (Kinsley) during rehearsal (it was her neice, Jordan Belle, who was singing the solo) and she was crying. So, naturally, I started tearing-up. Amy blamed her pregnancy hormones, but I had no excuse, except for the fact that I'm always a "softie" about things like this. Children are just so precious!! (Notice I didn't say "innocent," just "precious"). :)

I am so thankful to be a part of this wonderful church. I love helping with the kids' choir and I love even more being a part of our adult Sanctuary Choir. I hope everyone can make it to our Christmas concert next Sunday (Dec. 19th), FBCFP, 6:00 PM!

Hopefully my next post will be some pictures of our Christmas decorations. One night this week, I want Zach to take some photos with his camera. Until then, I hope everyone has a great week, and is enjoying the snow!!

Blessed...All Year 'Round (cont.)

This is our little family picture from this year on Thanksgiving Day:

I love this tradition we have of taking pictures at Zach's mom's house. We need to start this at every family gathering we have. I'll post the family pics soon! I only had this one on my computer here at home, because I was going to use it for our Christmas card order (that I'm placing soon...it is now 9:30 PM, so we'll see), but I changed my mind. I wanted one with the two dogs included, so Zach is working on that photo as I type. :)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, as always, again this year. My days could have been much more enjoyable if I didn't have the cold/sinus problems I have had. I didn't let it get me down on Thursday, but it almost got the best of me on Friday.

We got up on Thursday morning, got ready, and I cooked my green beans for Zach's mom's house. We headed to Chattanooga and enjoyed lunch with them- Zach's mom, Marissa, Ashley, Ella & Bailey. We had a great time visiting. We then headed back home and I began cooking a second round, with more green beans, creamed corn and hashbrown casserole. My family (the whole bunch- Mom, Dad, Jonathan & his girlfriend Amelia, Mamaw Helen, Papaw Hoyt & Mamaw Ruth) came to our house for an early dinner. Yet again, we had too much to eat, but had a great time. We hated to miss Aunt Gail's this year, but we just couldn't make it timewise and because we weren't feeling 100%. I know it wasn't the same there either, without Grandma & without some of the guys. I hope we can make up for it for Christmas!

I woke up at 3:15 on Friday morning. My cold is always worse in the mornings, so it wasn't as easy getting up. I did leave the house early at about 3:55, so I thought I was ok. We did a lot of shopping, but it seemed to me that the deals weren't as great as they were last year. I was glad I went though- I know I would have regretted all year not going. It's only one day out of the year- I can handle it! Later into the morning, I started feeling worse. I think it was the culmination of me being so tired along with the stuffiness in my head. Then came the headache.

When I got home, I crashed. My sweet husband had called me while I was shopping to let me know that he had gotten our tree and wreath, with a little extra added to it for me. Part of me wished I was home so I could have gone with him to enjoy it all, but I would have felt sick either way. I did look at the wreath and tree on my way in when I got home, but went straight to our bedroom & changed into comfy, WARM clothes, and hit the couch.

We had planned on heading straight to Zach's dad's house to watch the Iron Bowl, but I couldn't make it. I wanted Zach to go on. There was no sense in both of us not being able to enjoy the game, and I didn't want him or his dad to watch the game alone. I slept through most of the game. Though now, I'm not so bummed about that. My highlight was when I first woke up from a nap, and saw that the score was 14-0 Bama. That was a wonderful surprise! I went back to sleep and missed a good part of the rest of the first half. I wish I would have slept through most of the second half instead. Oh well!

I will say this...I think it says so much for the state of Alabama as a whole that we could possibly have 2 different teams win the National Championship and have 2 Heisman Trophy winners in 2 consecutive years. That is amazing!

Anyways, after sleeping a good bit on Friday, I finally got a little more done on Saturday.

**Also, let me add- Zach was so cute while I was sick. He kept telling me,"Don't worry about the dishes, babe, I'll take care of them." "I'll clean up the kitchen." He was a sweetie. He did 2 loads of dishes, straightened up the kitchen, and cooked breakfast on Saturday morning. Bless his heart!**

Our beautiful tree was already up and Zach had already put the lights on and ornaments up on Saturday morning. I got up and put out a few of our other decorations, but rested most of the day. Our wreath, as I mentioned earlier, is beautiful this year!! He had the lady at Petal Pushers add holly leaves & berries and pinecones to the wreath, because he knows I don't like a plain wreath. The smell and look of the wreath and the tree are so worth all the work put into getting them to the house and putting them up. I remind myself of this every year!

Sunday was my decorating day. It felt nice to actually get something done. I just hated I couldn't get it all done on Friday like we usually do, but we made it. We stayed home from church (which I hated to do, since it is the First Sunday of Advent & we sang our first Christmas song in the choir), but I got a lot more rest and feel SO much better because of it. I will make a post with some pics of our decorations soon. I absolutely LOVE decorating our house for Christmas. I realize every year that I have bought WAY too much along the way, but I can't make myself get rid of anything. Maybe one day soon when we have our mansion, I will have more room for it all. :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Even being sick, I am blessed beyond measure, and have nothing to complain about! God is good!!

Retro

One of my old friends posted some old pictures on Facebook the other day, so I just thought I would share. They are not very flattering, to say the least, but I love how they show the styles back in the day, and they capture our personalities. When I first saw these, I instantly remembered that day.We went to the Tennessee Aquarium that afternoon, and wanted to stop by Desoto State Park (for some reason) on our way back to Fort Payne. We definitely had a diverse group. I don't even really remember one of the girls in the picture, and the guy is Leslie's older brother, Martin. Random group, but we had fun that day. I am so glad that she scanned and posted these little gems. Enjoy (the ugliness)!

Stylin' in my vest. :) 

I cropped this one of myself so you could get a closer look (which very well could be a bad thing). All I can say about this one is: Thank the Lord for highlights, make-up & eyebrow plucking...oh, and growing out bangs! Hehe!

Cute.

I hope you atleast got a good laugh out of these. I hope to post some Thanksgiving pics soon! Zach pulled them up on the computer last night so I could see them, and they're really good!! Can't wait to post them! I'm also planning on him taking some pictures of our Christmas decorations this year, so maybe I can make a post about them soon.

I hope everyone's having a good beginning to the week. I know times are busy right now. They definitely are for us! It seems like every week, there is a rehearsal, a party, something to go to, or somewhere to be. I am actually skipping a party tonight for our Christian Women group. I don't really have an excuse-- I guess it's just laziness. I am going to stop by the store after work, then come home & fix some homemade lasagna for my sweetie instead. :)

Speaking of somwhere to be, say a little prayer for us next Sunday night at about 4:30! We are having our Children's Choirs Christmas Program that night. At rehearsal last night, it seemed like things went really well. ALL the kids knew their lines, and they pretty much have all the words to the songs memorized. It really is a cute little musical, and I can't wait to see it all come together- because it ALWAYS, ALWAYS does!

60th Wedding Anniversary

Today is the 60th Wedding Anniversary of my grandparents, Hoyt & Helen Ashley! 60 years!! I am so thankful to have this example of Christian marriage in my family. I pray that one day, Zach & I can celebrate our 60th Anniversary. Technically, we're coming up on 9 years! :) I just wanted to include a picture of them on my wedding day. I have so many others of them, including one really good one that they just had made for their church's directory, but I would have to scan in all the old ones, so it's just easier to post this one. Happy 60th Anniversary, Mamaw Helen & Papaw Hoyt!!