Have I Ever Mentioned That I Have the Cutest Nieces?!

Seriously, Have I?! Because I'm pretty sure that I do!!

Here's Proof ...

For real...Look how sweet they are!!

Molly Grace

Eve Noel

They even take some silly pics like their Favorite Aunt Rebecca!!



I sure do love these sweet girls!!

Back at it Again...

I'm afraid I'm addicted. I can't help it.

Not only do I blame Leigh Ann for starting this addiction, but I also blame her for feeding my addiction.

I thought I could take a break, but I'm afraid I was wrong.

Just when I thought I had come to grips with everything, LA goes and gives me this for Christmas...

...Plus two boxes of jars. The jars made it in the attic with the others, but the book, well, it made it to my night stand. I read through the whole thing...ideas churning as I read...and that's when I saw it - Cranberry Sauce. Right away I could hear the bag of cranberries yelling at me from my refrigerator, and I knew what I had to do. I purchased another bag on a quick run through the grocery, afterall, they were on sale. When I got home, I grabbed a few jars from the attic, through them in a pot and got to work. An hour or two later, my house was filled with the most glorious sound ever...POP! POP! POP!!! My very first round of cranberry sauce was popping away as those cans were sealing!!

Here is a look at the little beauties.

Is this an addiction to canning?! I'm not sure, but I do know that I LOVE doing it!! I really can't wait for what I can work on next!! Any ideas?!

Merry Christmas

Sorry that I have not posted about Christmas yet. This was a weird and crazy Christmas for me. It was a conglomeration of some crazy emotions. Let me break it down for you.

This year was the first Christmas in SEVERAL years that we were able to spend with my parents. We were so excited that their furlough this year would fall over Christmas so we could spend some time with them. We all went to Guatemala last December and celebrated a little early, but this year, we were together on Christmas Day. That was extra special.

 Even though we weren't in Guatemala, we did celebrate Guate Style with some Ponche. This is a hot cider punch that is very typical, especially for special occasions. I'll consider Christmas with the fam and very special occasion that calls for the best!!!

Although I was super excited to spend time with my parents and siblings, the boys (Mike, David, and Chris) weren't able to be with us this year and that made us all super sad. Mike, as you know, is in Afghanistan for a few more months. It was neat to be able to talk to him via Skype, but definitely not the same!! David and Chris were both scheduled to work the weekend of Christmas. Hard for some to believe, but crime does not take off for the holidays. Somebody still has to patrol the streets and keep us safe. This year, that fell to our boys. Well, it actually only fell to Chris, since David did not end up working.

David and I decided that the best thing for us to do this year would be to split up for Christmas. It isn't our favorite thing to do, but it has to work for us some times. We've done it before, and I'm sure we'll have to do it again before it is all over. I went to Georgia to be with my family, and he stayed here in South Carolina to work and spend some time with his family. David had missed a few days of work the week before Christmas due to a cold/cough, but we didn't think too much of it...until Christmas Eve. David and Stryker took a call Friday night that had him running through the woods late that pretty chilly evening. (Don't worry, Strykie caught the bad guy girl!!) That track did not do well with the cough/cold that he already had. Apparently he got progressively worse, since Christmas Eve night I got a call from his dad saying that they were in the ER with him...diagnosis - Pneumonia. Seriously?! On Christmas?? When I am far away in GA?? Thankfully, they did not keep him in the hospital but gave him some meds and sent him on home. Before you judge me...I did ask several times if he wanted me to come on home. He told me not to cut my time with my family short since his mom and dad were close by if he needed anything. So, there I was torn...worrying about him and wondering if I should ignore him and come home or stay and continue visiting with my family. UGH!! It was a LONG night!! In the end, we both decided that it was best that I stay where I was, so I did.

See, already...happy and sad...joy and stress...EMOTIONS!!

On Christmas Eve, the girls had a little Craft Time. My mom found a cute Christmas ornament and knew that we could easily recreate it for much cheaper. Boy, was she right. It was so fun working together and getting everyone Creative Juices flowing.

Here are some our ornaments...aren't they super cute?!

Stephen was not able to come visit until Christmas Day, so we decided to wait and open presents together. That is...everyone but MaMa (my Grandma) had to wait. We let her go ahead and open her presents. I had painted her a Christmas painting and was very excited to give it to her. As you know, I am toying with some amateur painting, and it is getting more and more fun to give those paintings away, although it is nerve wracking to watch their expression and see if they really do like it or not. Some times it is hard to tell, but as MaMa told me later...Anything hand made by her grandkids is always better than store bought. I'll take that any day!

On Christmas morning, we do what we have done ever since I was a small child...we packed up the car and headed to Adrian. Now back in the day, we always met in Dublin, but over the years we have moved the festivities over to Adrian. What you need to understand about my dad's family is that we don't have a typical Christmas family meal around the dinner table. No, I don't think there is a table big enough for that! I think I've told you before, he is the youngest of 10 kids. Add grandkids, great grandkids and great great grandkids plus spouses to that mix and you've got a whole slew of people! In previous years, we rented the cafeteria at one of the local schools for our gathering. Now that we meet in Adrian, we have started using the Fellowship Hall at the Baptist Church. It is so much fun to get together, eat and just hang out ALL DAY LONG!!

We usually spend the night (or a few nights) but my parents thought it would be nice to go back to their house where we could celebrate Christmas - just the 6 of us - like old times. My mom counted back and figured out it was the first time that the 6 of us were together, at their house, on Christmas Day in 9 years ago!! I think we were a little overdue!! Don't you?? This year, instead of all the gifts, we decided to do 2 things - a $10 Gift Card Exchange (Dirty Santa Style) and a "Favorite Things Bag". (Of course this idea came from Pinterest.) It proved to be a GREAT idea. This post is getting long, so I won't go in to detail...promise me you'll click the link to the "A Bushel and A Peck" blog and read about it!! Promise!! It is well worth your time!!

We did do some presents for the 'rents. Yes, I did another painting. This one I was SO excited about. Don't you remember back in September when I showed you the first painting that I did for my Dad's birthday?? Well, I had this painting in mind originally, but wasn't able to do it then since I didn't have all the colors that I needed. I waited and practiced. Finally, I was able to sit down and paint this for them.

It is a Quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala. They have collected a lot of quetzals through the years and have decorated their house in Guate using a lot of them. Is this a Warhol or Picaso?! Absolutely not, but I was pretty proud of it.

I cut my trip a day early and came back home to check on David and spend my last day off work with him. See, I'm not the horrible person that you were thinking I am!! As usual though, even though I took a few extra days off of work, the break from reality did not seem to last long enough! I am back to work and David is still on the mend. We are looking forward to a new year...2012...who would have thunk it?!

Best Snack Ever

Once again Pinterest comes through. Not on an idea or recipe this time, but on an introduction to a product that I did not even know existed. I pinned this new product on my "Things I Want" board and, low and behold, my dear Sister in Law, Crystal, saw my board, found it at the store, and gave it to me for Christmas!! Man, I love her!!

So what is this mystery product that is so great?!?

Seriously, go the store right now and buy yourself some...and by some, I don't mean one or two...I mean SEVERAL, because you are going to want that many. I promise!!

You're welcome in advance!! 

Molly Grace

9 Years! How can it be that our little Molly is 9 years old today?! Molly has grown from that cute little flower girl that tried to crawl under my wedding dress into an absolutely beautiful young lady!!

Molly is so smart and loves to learn. She is very crafty and artistic. She is very generous. She is loving. She is caring. She is funny.

I am so proud of Molly and the young lady she is becoming. I am more proud that she loves the Lord and loves to share Him with other people.

Happy Birthday, Molly Grace!!

Technology Brings Us Closer Together

I am constantly amazed at modern technology! Today, I am loving the fact that not only did my sister have the chance to talk to her husband who is in Afghanistan, but we all got to talk to him as well - including my 92 year old grandmother. It was really neat to watch her reaction as Mir connected Skype and Mike appeared on the computer screen. I couldn't help but take some pics to capture it.

 Connecting Skype

 Waiting on Mike to answer.

 And there he is!!

 Mir helping MaMa understand what Mike was saying.

Merry Christmas Everyone!! I'm so thankful to be spending some time with my family on this very special holiday!

Santa Came a Little Early

Since David is working the weekend of Christmas and my mom and dad are here this year, we are spending Christmas apart again this year. We hate doing that, but we have learned that is occasionally the life of those in public service (You're Welcome!).

I am heading to GA to spend time with my family, and he will be staying in SC to be with his. Because of that, Santa came a little early, which was quite alright with David since he is not good at waiting to give gifts.

We had decided to only do stocking stuffers this year, so I was a little surprised when David came out holding my stocking AND a big ole box. (I say a little surprised, because David makes a habit of doing this. We say we will not do gifts, but then he does. Don't worry, I have caught on and had something for him this year too.) I opened the box to find a large canvas pic of David and Strykie. It was the same picture that was in the K-9 Calendar for December. I'm not posting the pic since David is in his uniform, and I'm not suppose to post anything like that one the internet. If you want to see the pic, you are welcome to come to my house and see it or you can buy a calendar. The money frmo the calendars will help the Unit be able to purchase more equipment for the dogs. *Just throwing that out there!*

When I turned my attention to my stocking, I saw some toes poking out of the top. I was SO EXCITED because I knew exactly what it was...

VIBRAM TOE SHOES!!



I have been wanting some for the longest time, but for whatever reason, it seems like the girl shoes rarely go on sale. It seems like when they do put them on sale, it is always the ugly colors like pink or bright blue! Well, one of the pairs I like finally did go on sale, and he got them for me!!! The funny thing about it is Mir had just sent me a text a few days before letting me know that she had found a black pair (different brand, but who really cares?!) on sale and was going to pick them up for me. So, I went from wanting a pair to having two - one tan and one grey!!!

I Love This Quote

ADDICTED - SCORE!!

I've been talking about Pinterest for how long now?! And my BWF, D, has been making fun of me for that same amount of time. Every time I try to show her something that I find "Pinteresting" she either flat out ignores me or gives me her famous courtesy laugh (which I HATE!!).

Well, I have news for you all!!!

GUESS WHO IS NOW OFFICIALLY ADDICTED TO PINTEREST?!? 
bahahaha!!! I've got her now!!! Score!!!

The Strykster

Ok, seriously, isn't this the cutest dog in the whole wide world?! No wonder they picked him to be Mr. December in the K-9 Calendar!! Not only is he David's partner, but he is also our super sweet friend at home!! I just love him so much!!

7 is a Lucky Number

When Googling 7 - right off the bat, I discovered it is a number, a movie, a jeans company, and an art gallery in Miami. Without Googling 7 I know that it is the number of years that David and I have been married. On this day, back in 2004, David and I got all dressed up, went to the church, and got MARRIED!!!

Marriage, like anything involving time, is a funny thing. It is so hard to believe that it has been that long since David and I stood before our families, friends, church, and God to pledge our marriage vows to one another. On the other hand, it seems like we have always been together. Although I have memories before he came in to my life, it feels like we have shared everything to this point.

I am so thankful that over 10 years ago God brought me to North Greenville College (University now) and led me to Marietta First Baptist Church so that I could meet David and fall madly in love with him! It is funny to try to imagine what your life would be like if you took one different turn. Would I have met David if I didn't move to Tigerville to go to school?! If so, wonder how I would have met him?! Hmm...interesting thoughts!!

One thing that David and I have talked about for years is going to the Biltmore House, especially at Christmas time. This year (thanks to some bonus money I got from GHS) we decided to do that for our Anniversary trip. We spent most of the day touring the house and the grounds and had a blast doing it!!

We we got to the house, they gave us this tour guide that had a lot of info about each room that we visited. We also got the headsets that had audio guides for each room. I HIGHLY recommend doing that if you have never been before. It was very neat to hear the background of the rooms and decorations as well as stories that took place in those particular areas. I'm a bit of a history buff and David is becoming more and more interested in his older years (not so much when he was actually in school!), so it was really neat to piece it all together!

David took a few pics of the house from the outside, but it is so massive you really have to go back a long way to get it all in. When looking at the house, this is on the left side, closest to the gardens.

 David and I did our famous self portrait with the Biltmore in the background.

 Another highlight was seeing one of the Vanderbilt's cars that is on display in the winery. It is crazy that they had as much money as they did back then! This car is one of ten that was made, so there is no telling how much it is worth today!!

All in all, today was a super fun day of hanging out with my love. I won't get all mushy on you (believe you me, I could!). I will say that one of the things that I love most about my relationship with David is that we really love spending time together. It doesn't matter if we are doing something fancy like going to the Biltmore House or running errands around time, we enjoy being with one another.

So, here's to another 7 years (plus many more)!!



Bucket List Wrap Up

As you will recall (hopefully), I posted this Fall Bucket List back in September with the hopes of checking off all of these activities. I know that Winter doesn't technically begin until December 21 (true story...it doesn't) but I figured it was about time to wrap this whole thing up.   

I was able to do all of these except - make leaf art (truthfully, I don't really know what that even means), go on a hay ride (although we did SEE a hay ride when we went pumpkin picking. I just didn't get to ride on it), and make fall cookies (I made cookies, but I don't think they were specified "Fall Cookies"). As for the 2 dates, David and I do so much together that we don't have to have set "date nights". I'm sure at some point in our future we will, but for now we just go as we please. 

I don't reckon 13 out of 16 isn't that bad. I'll consider this a successful adventure!

I have seen several Winter Bucket Lists similar to this one. They all have a bunch of stuff that I know I would never do, so I'm not even going to bother with those.

Lottie is at it Again

If you have been in a Baptist church around Christmas time, I sure hope you have heard the name Lottie Moon. (If not, look her up here)

Every year at the beginning of December our church does a Lottie Moon Dinner to kick off the Christmas season of giving. Our WMU director, Mary Alice, does a great job each year to find some missionaries to join us as the guest speakers. This year was her best find yet - my parents! They were able to come and share about their past and future work in Guatemala. I was so proud of them, and even more proud of the wonderful things that I have heard about them since then.

Too bad you all don't have parents as great as mine! Hate it for ya!! 

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goes straight to the missionaries on the field. This money goes to pay for cars, homes, and other necessities for those serving around the world. Please consider giving to this offering. If you are not a member of a church that participates in this annual offering, please A. Ask talk to your church leaders about that and/or 2. Visit the IMB website (here) to give. It is crucial that we fund the missionaries on the field so that they can do the work that the Lord has called them to be a part of!

Pinteresting Inspirations

Every year for our work Christmas Party, we bring a $10 present. In the past, I have lucked up with cheap presents from Guatemala or Costa Rica. This year I had no idea what to bring. I guess I could have gotten something in Mexico, but we really didn't do any shopping there. 

In the past I have tinkered with some painting (see post here). Again, I will attribute that to Pinterest and my friend Marquin at Vino and Van Gogh. I have taken a few of Marquin's classes and loved each of them. She really makes painting seem much easier that I ever thought it would be.

For my present this year, I thought I would buy a canvas and see what I could make. I started surfing Pinterest to see if there was anything that inspired me and that was easy enough for me to tackle. I found two paintings and ended up painting both of them over the weekend. I won't lie...I was kind of impressed with myself. Maybe that's bragging, but oh well!! 

Here is how they turned out...

This was my original sketch. You'll see I varied from it a little, but I think it was a good plan.



This was the first layer with my base paints before I added the words.

And here is the finished product.

Next up was an elf...

 This is my base layer. David made fun of it, but I had to remind him that it was just the base.

And here is the final product. It's no Van Gogh, but I don't think it turned out half bad.

I do have another one up my sleeve, but it shall remain a secret for the time being. I'm hoping that I can pull it off, but we'll have to wait and see.



Glitter, a Mouse, a Gun and a Bedroom Slipper

I have no idea if this story is going to be as funny to those of you who are not in my family, but as promised, here is our story.

This is really 3 stories in one. Every Christmas at the Railroad Bed (the name of the property since it is literally an old RR bed) has a lot of great memories, but this one was by far the funniest! I don’t remember exactly what year this story took place, but I’m guessing Mir and Stephen were probably in early high school or late middle school which would put Jonathan and me in early middle school.

A Little Background Info...

The House

My dad was “reared” (don’t you hate when people say that?!) in Adrian, GA. *Skip a lot of years* My dad’s oldest sister and her husband were able to buy that house along with some land surrounding it and fix it up. During my childhood my siblings and I stayed there at Christmas time with another of my dad’s sisters and her husband (there were 10 kids in my dad’s family!) and their children. I’m not exactly sure how my parents got out of staying there with us. I’m sure they used some lame excuse about there not being enough room or something like that. Regardless of their excuses, we loved staying there with Aunt Lynn and Uncle Leon since they went to bed relatively early and let us stay up as late as we wanted. With the renovations, the house had two bedrooms and living room/kitchen combo. The house was heated using a wood burning stove. Aunt Lynn and Uncle Leon slept in one room and the rest of us crashed wherever we could – beds, couch, floor.

The Mystery

All my life I have heard about “The Lady in White”. She lives on the land surrounding that house. I personally have never seen her, but my uncle and several cousins swear that they have. Truth or not, I’m not sure, but I can tell you I was pretty afraid of her when I was little. Every Christmas we played War. I don’t know why we called it that. It was basically Hide and Go Seek in the Dark. Because the house is in the middle of nowhere, you could literally lie in the field uncovered and the “seekers” could not see you until they were right up on you. This made for a fun game, but also a lot of looking over your shoulder for The Lady in White.

The Rivalry

My brother and my cousin Jonathan acted more like brothers than cousins in some aspects – mainly the arguing, pestering, and fighting. Stephen is about 2 years older than Jonathan. Jonathan loved to aggravate Stephen, mainly because Stephen was easy to set off. On most days, they pestered the fool out of each other until the fighting began.

The Story

This particular Christmas story started like any other year. We were all piled on the sofa beds and chairs in the living room talking and having a good ole time when a MOUSE ran through the light right above the couch!! The lights in the living room are the long fluorescent ones, and he ran all the way across from one side to the other. This sent Mir and Holley flying across the room, jumping over furniture, and screaming! After the shock of seeing the mouse wore off, and we realized he had to be somewhere in the attic, everyone calmed down and returned back to normal (at least what is normal to us!).

Later that same the night Jonathan put a pecan on top of the wood stove. I don’t know the thought process that went on in his brain after that, but he grabbed the nut (now red because of the heat) and dropped it down the back of Stephen’s shirt. As you can imagine, this made Stephen MAD!! Jonathan (knowing that look in Stephen’s eye from previous experience) took off running. Stephen quickly followed. Now keep in mind, we are in a tiny house. They ran laps around and around the kitchen table. On one of the laps Stephen picked up one of Aunt Lynn’s slippers and threw it at Jonathan. As luck would have it, it smacked right down on the center of Jonathan’s back. Jonathan stopped and grabbed the BB gun (like a rifle) that was right beside him. Jonathan pointed the thing straight at Stephen threatening to shoot him. Holley (Jonathan’s sister), Mir, and I started hollering at Jonathan to put the gun down. Stephen is yelling, daring Jonathan to shoot him. Aunt Lynn and Uncle Leon were fast asleep in the other room. After a minute or so of the standoff, Jonathan put the gun down and we convinced them both to chill out in separate parts of the room.

Stephen decided to make a pallet beside the door and went to sleep. Jonathan must have had a memory lapse, because he thought it would be funny to put that hot nut in Stephen’s bed. Stephen woke up fighting mad apparently covered in glitter. He started yelling immediately and then went on a rampage about us having poured glitter all over him. We tried to calm him down and explain that no one knew about the glitter, but he wasn't having any of that. Not only was he mad, but he was tired too. That is a dangerous combo for anyone, especially Stephen. He yelled for a while then rolled back over and went on back to sleep.

To this day I have no idea how the glitter got there. Anyone that knows me knows that I had absolutely nothing to do with a prank involving glitter!! The only explanation that I have to offer is it had to be the Lady in White!!

25 Days of LOVE

I saw a pin the other day that said there should be a way to check off things that you actually make or do on Pinterest. I agree. I feel like I have accomplished something major when I make something that I have pinned, especially when it turns out well.

I thought I would share one of the pin ideas that I decided to do for David for Christmas this year - The Spouse Christmas Countdown. I found the idea on The Dating Divas. I am not typically a rule follower (shocking, I know), so I don't usually follow my pins exactly. This one is no exception. I love her idea, but it isn't 100% feasible for us to do it like she did. I wish we could, but our lives are so hectic and our schedule is so crazy. Not only is our schedule crammed with the typical Holiday Activities, but David also has annual his K-9 Certification in December. That means that the weeks leading up to it, they train hard and long - truthfully I can't keep up with his schedule right now, so there was no way to plan any fun activities for us to do throughout the month. We will just slip those in when we can - no card needed. :)

The idea of this is to start on December 1 and countdown to Christmas in a fun way. She made cards that included Compliments, Service and Fun Christmas Activities. I just did 25 cards of I Love You Because. Her cards are much more fancy than mine, but I did decorate them a little bit. In looking at what all she did, I'm pretty sure she doesn't work full time or she started making hers in January!!

I renamed mine "25 Days of Love". I made a board, covered it with white paper, and put it up in our bedroom where I knew David would see it every day. I hung my first card last night for David to see when he got home and the second this morning for him to see when he woke up. I won't bore you with the 25 things that I came up with, but I'll try to remember to take a pic when it is all done.

It may be kind of cheesy, but I thought it was a neat way to countdown to Christmas and compliment David all at the same time.