8 Random Things Tag

Jacquie tagged me the other day to list 8 random things about me, so I thought I would give it a go today. This is harder than it seems! Let's see...

1-I am not a picky eater at all. I can only think of 3 things that I don't like. They are olives, liver, and pimento cheese!


2-I think if I wasn't a teacher I would either be a social worker or a nurse.


3-I think of myself as a really girly girl, but I don't like to do some of the things that most girls like to do like shopping and decorating. I love to have my house decorated cute, but I get overwhelmed by making so many choices (wallpaper, paint, counter tops, etc)! And, even though I LOVE new clothes, I like the mall less and less the older I get. I would rather just shop online!


4-I don't really like to talk on the phone. I would rather talk to you in person or send you an e-mail. I think it's just that I'm so busy, I feel like I am wasting time on the phone.


5-I started taking piano in first grade and took for eight years. I still love to sit down and play hymns or just songs out of my song books.


6-I love spicy stuff. I like my food so much better if it has a "kick" to it! My mom says I loved really hot chili even when I was still in my high chair! :)


7-I have never had a massage and I don't think I would really like one. It seems like I wouldn't be able to relax having someone I don't know massaging my back.



8-I am not a big worrier and I am not really afraid of very much.


Of course, everyone worries sometimes! I just mean things like...I don't get nervous when Steve is out of town and spiders, bugs, and bees don't bother me at all. I often leave my house and car unlocked just because I don't think about it! Thunderstorms are fun to me and I have no problem going places alone. My mind just doesn't go to scary thoughts very often (thankfully)! I think the thing that makes me worry the most is anything related to my kids!

You are welcome to play along if you would like to! :)

Christmas Cards and Christmas Music

I am so excited because I got my Christmas cards made today so at least I can check one thing off my Christmas "to-do" list! :) I love sending and receiving Christmas cards! We get so many cards from our friends at Christmas time...some of them are friends we have known for years and don't get to see very often, so I love seeing how everyone's kids have grown and reading their letters telling about what has happened in their life since last Christmas. I save each and every card and I put everyone's picture on my refridgerator so that every day I can look at them and be reminded how blessed we are to have such great friends. Here is what my refridgerator looks like right now!


But soon I will be able to change out all these pictures and put up the new ones.

At Wal-Mart today I got the new Josh Groban cd and I have been listening to it all day. Doesn't he have the most beautiful voice?


What are your favorite Christmas cd's? I have a few that I play year after year and I never get tired of them. Probably my very favorite is The Carpenters. I think they have such great harmony and all the arrangements on that album are just so beautiful.


And I also love Celine Dion. I listen to this one every year, too.



Amy Grant always has the BEST Christmas cd's and I think I have three of hers!!


And I also love Charlie Brown and Kenny G!




And I love all the oldies too like Perry Como and Andy Williams. They are just about synonymous with Christmas to me!

Tonight Steve and I had a fun date to Carrabas and then to the Charlotte Bobcats game. They were playing the Boston Celtics and it was really fun. We always have the best time together! I am sad that this long weekend is almost over. Only one more day and then it's back to reality! Sniff, sniff!

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas!

We got our tree and all of our Christmas decorations put up today except the wreaths on the front of the house! We went to Starbucks first thing this morning for some coffee and pastries. When we got home we started pulling out all the boxes and got busy decorating. I have to admit that this is not one of my favorite activities, but it helps when there are lots of people pitching in. Steve, Laura and I did most of it, though, because everyone else had appointments. Ashley and John got their engagement pictures made today. I will show you the link when they are ready! I caught them right as they were walking out the door and had them pose for me real quick! :)


And Lindy got her hair cut today. I think it looks really cute!


We also took a few pictures for our Christmas cards. That is my project for tomorrow. I am going to go get the Christmas cards made.




I will wait to show you all the decorating because I think I am going to do Boo Mama's Christmas Tour of Homes!


As I was putting all my ornaments on the tree today, I was thinking about how glad I am that I have lots of ornaments with the kids' pictures in them through the years. They are nothing fancy or elaborate...lots of them are just made out of felt or popsicle sticks. But they are the sweetest ornaments on the tree. I just love looking at them. If you have babies or small children, make sure to take lots of pictures and make them into ornaments. You will love looking at them every year!






Today is Steve's mom's 69th birthday. We went to his house and had pizza and cake and ice cream with his family. She has been a wonderful mother to five children and lots of grandchildren! I am thankful to her for raising such a wonderful son who treats me so well and takes such good care of our family. Happy Birthday Granny!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had the best Thanksgiving...full of lots of food and parades and football and a house filled with family and hugs and laughter and conversation and pictures and a few fun games of ping pong! I didn't even take any pictures of all the food we had, but believe me, we ate like there was no tomorrow. Then we loaded up our plates again and put them in the refridgerator for later on tonight. I don't think I can eat any more though!! I am so full! Here are some pictures of our day.

Steve and me

My girls!

Having fun...

Mark and both his grandmothers!

Ashley and Grandaddy

Uncle Mike with Lindy and Steve's niece Rebeccah

Steve's sister Debbie and her husband, Bob

Lindy and Granny

My sister-in-law, Angie and me!


All the cousins...

Ashley, Laura, Brianna, and Lindy


This is my mom and dad and both my brothers with me!

Britney and Bailey

Lindy and me...

There were soooo many more pictures, but I don't want to bore everyone. I just feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family and to be so spoiled with so much food and a warm house and clothes and every blessing I could really think of. I do not take those things for granted and I hope I tell God every day how much I appreciate all He has given me and done for me!

Thanksgiving Eve

So, I got up early this morning and started my laundry. This is what it looked like as of this morning.


Can you BELIEVE???? There are so many wonderful things about having a big family, but this is NOT one of them. I think I have done 12 loads of laundry today. But I got it all done!!

Then I got my peppermint mocha in hand and went to the grocery store to get everything I needed for my Thanksgiving cooking. I made my strawberry pretzel salad, spinach dip, a cheese ring appetizer, Heath bar dip for apples, copper pennies (they are marinated carrots with onions and peppers...we have them every Thanksgiving!),


and I have a turkey and glazed ham ready to put in the oven tomorrow. Ashley and Laura and Lindy all helped me, so I got it done quicker!

My sweet little niece Bailey came over to spend the morning with us. She even went to Chick-Fil-A with us for lunch. She is so precious and kept us entertained all morning! Laura is stealing some of her sugar...



I got my tables set, too. This is my dining room table.




The kitchen table is a little less formal. Since I have 21 people coming, I have to use paper plates since I don't have that much china.


But that's okay. It makes clean up a lot quicker!

Tonight Steve's mom had us over for chili which was so sweet. And I even have time to relax and watch an abc family Christmas movie. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I hope you all have a wonderful day of football, food, and family! I am so thankful for all of God's blessings in my life! He has been so good to me.

Sweet Treats

Today I packed up my room and left school by 2:30. I think I set a new world record! haha I was just really ready to start my Thanksgiving break. I know I have a lot to do over the next few days, but it will all be fun.

Before school was over I had a mom bring me this gorgeous pecan pie.


I had to try some when I got home. And, believe me, it tastes as good as it looks. It has cream cheese in the middle!!! Her husband is a chef and he baked one for me and my assistant. That was so sweet.

And a friend of mine at work was raving about this today:


It is Peppermit Mocha creamer from Coffee Mate. So...after school I went to the grocery store and picked some up. It is in the refridgerator waiting for the morning when I will be trying it.

Tomorrow I will be...

*grocery shopping
*ironing tablecloths
*setting out dishes and cups and glasses
*chopping and stirring and mixing and pouring
*doing laundry and cleaning bathrooms

...just getting ready for a fun family day on Thursday! I'm thankful for my sweet neighbors who have offered me their ovens and refridgerators and driveways over the next few days while they are out of town (like they do every year)! I will totally be using them. I can't fit everything in my own refridgerator and oven!

Tomorrow night we will definitely be ordering in or going out! :)

Coziness

It is very "Novembery" here today. The sky is gray and drizzly and Ashley and I were noticing that all those pretty fall leaves that we had about two weeks ago have just about fallen off now and the trees are looking more like winter. It is very cold, too.

But inside our cozy house, this is what it looks like around here tonight. Mark is home and loving not having anything to do!



I think Rocky would go ahead and climb right on into the fireplace if he could. He loves it so much!


We went to La Unica for dinner with Steve's family, but to be honest, I was so tired I was just thinking about coming home to my pajamas and my bed! :)

And since it is the season of thinking about things we are thankful for, I wanted to just list a few that come to mind tonight.

1-my fuzzy slippers

2-hot showers

3-an extra blanket on the bed when it is cold

4-only one day of school left this week

5-not having to cook dinner tonight

6-fireplaces

7-TiVo

God really does bless us in lots of little ways!

Sunday

It has been a good Sunday. Sunday is much better when you know that you only have a two day week ahead of you!! We had a wonderful service this morning which was the finale of our Missions Emphasis weekend. Here we are about to leave for church this morning.


This afternoon Steve got to work on raking the yard which was a big task.


I think we have about 5 huge bags of leaves sitting out front right now! Lindy had to work, so Laura and I did a little shopping and got some cute stuff at Target. We even stopped by to visit Lindy at Justice, the little girl's store where she works. I wanted to take her picture, but she didn't want me to. ;)

I have called everyone that is coming to my house for Thanksgiving and I have the whole menu lined up! It is going to be so yummy. I do the turkey and usually a ham, too, plus lots of appetizers and a few sides. My mom always brings the dressing and Steve's mom makes amazing pecan pie and sweet potato casserole. Then everyone else is bringing tons of different vegetables and salads, etc., so I know we will probably eat ourselves silly!

One of my kids' favorite things that I make is Strawberry Pretzel Salad.


I thought I would share the recipe with you in case you are looking for something to bring to your Thanksgiving Day get-together.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad
¾ cup margarine
1 (16 oz) package frozen strawberries or 3 cups fresh strawberries
3 T. brown sugar
2 ½ c. crushed pretzels
1 large package strawberry jello
1 c. sugar
2 cups boiling water
1 small carton Cool Whip

Cream margarine with sugar. Mix in crushed pretzels and pat into buttered 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Cool. Dissolve gelatin in water; add strawberries. Chill until partially set. Cream sugar and cream cheese, fold in Cool Whip and spread over cooled crust. Pour gelatin mixture over. Chill until firm.

Believe it or not, the crust tastes like pecans!

And I wanted to give you the Twilight report. Laura and Lindy saw the movie the other night and they both LOVED it! So, they said they would definitely recommend it if you are thinking about going!

Oh...and one more thing. I saw the CUTEST idea for a Thanksgiving or Christmas hostess gift on Jennifer's blog today. It is a hot chocolate tray! Go here and check it out. Really original and thoughtful!

Hope you have a great week!