From 09 to 10 and a Giveaway

2009 has been a wonderful year for Andrew and I. It has been full of ups and down like any other year, but we came out better and stronger people.

In 2009, we:

* Finished some home improvement projects


*Celebrated 5 years of marriage


*Colored Easter eggs together for the first time.


*Celebrated as Drew turned 28.


*Enjoyed our first vacation together with just the two of us as we visited our Nation's capitol.


*Celebrated as I turned 26.


*Went to a concert or two.





*Celebrated the wedding of Shawna and Ben.


*Spent time with our families.



*Welcomed two new beautiful nieces into our family.

We stepped out in faith and joined a new church. This led us to standing up for what we believe and walking out of a church.

Watched dreams come true for our family members.

Watched God answer prayers.

Made new friends and spent time with old friends.

Made some decorative changes throughout our home.

Spent lots of cuddling time with Liberty and Liam.

So much more happened in 2009 for Andrew and I. Like I said, it was a wonderful year. For all you who have followed along beside us through this past year, we thank you.

Now we begin to look forward to 2010. We know that it will be even better no matter what happens. We plan to grab on tight to God's hand and allow him to lead us through each day all the way through the year.

I know that during this time people begin to make resolutions. I don't know about you, but I make them every year. And I break them every year.

I am not making them this year. I've decided to just work on my 101 in 1001. They are realistic goals with plenty of time to complete them. Hopefully 2010 will allow me to make a good dent in my list. You can check out my list here. If it doesn't, oh well... I have more time.

Now if you've made it this far through this post you definitely need an award. So here is my first giveaway of 2010.

In hopes of helping you start the year off right, I'm giving you the opportunity to win....


A Francesca Battistelli cd... which you know I love!!!



And... Miracles by Karen Kingsbury. This is a book of 52 devotionals. I haven't read this book, but I'm a huge fan of Karen Kingsbury. I've never read one of her books that I didn't find wonderful. God has truly gifted her. To be honest, I'm a little jealous that I'm giving this away. :)




To enter... Just leave me a comment telling me something about your 2009 and your hopes for 2010.

For an extra entry, post about this giveaway on your blog.

For another extra entry, create your own 101 in 1001. Leave me a comment letting me know if you have made a list.


This giveaway will close January 3. I will draw first thing in the morning on January 4.

Christmas Part Three: The Weavers

After presents and cinnamon rolls with my parents and brother it was time to head back to the Rock.

We got home in time to sit and breathe for a few minutes before packing up another load of presents and some more food. Then it was off to Jill's with Christmas with all of Andrew's brothers and sisters as well as his Mom and Dad.

For whatever reason, I didn't take any pictures at this gathering. Let me give you a mental picture. It starts with Mom and Dad Weaver. They have six children, all of whom are married. That's 14 adults. They also have 12 grandchildren. Lots of people and even more gifts.

When I tell people that we don't draw names but that everyone buys for everyone they are in shock. I guess to the average family, that does seem like a lot of gifts. I think people automatically think about the money that is spent. I don't think there is one single member of the family who truly worries about this. We all love buying for one another. It is a small way to show one another how much we love each other.

The Weavers do things differently when it comes to gifts. Growing up, no matter which side of the family I was with, we always took turns opening presents. WE started with the youngest and worked our way up. The Weavers, however, do not do this. The eldest Weaver child, Chris passes out gifts and you just open them as you get them. Now I completely understand why they do this... it would take awhile for 28 people to open gifts individually. But I hate that it is total chaos because you never know what everyone gets. I like to watch everyone else open gifts and this free for all style makes it difficulty to do that.

Either way, Christmas with the Weavers is lots of fun. I wish I had some pictures to show you just how fun it is.

After almost everyone had left Jill's, Andrew and I joined in a game of Bananagrams. Alex received the game for Christmas. It is like a fast paced Scrabble. I had never played before, but I love word games. I must say, I dominated the game. That means I LOVED this game. I think it is my new favorite game. Andrew and I will definitely be purchasing this in the near future. I'm alwasy up for a game where I can beat him. There aren't vey many games out there where I can beat the husband.


Weaver Christmas continued onto Saturday. We gathered at Andrew's Uncle Kevin and Aunt Sandi's house for more Christmas. This Christmas involved the Weaver clan, plus Uncle Kevin & Aunt Sandi, Grandma and Grandpa Mc, and Andrew's cousins. For the past two years, we have done some caroling at this particular gathering. We don't go anywhere, we sit in Uncle Kevin's house and sing. Now... I'm sure all the Weavers just LOVE this. You see all the Weavers can sing. It comes from singing around the piano has children. And yes they really did that.

However, I'm a Weaver by marriage. I did not grow up singing around a piano every night after dinner. I cannot sing. At least not well. I enjoy singing at Uncle Kevin's. I really do. But it can be a bit intimidating to a married in Weaver. I just try to sit away from the others and sing really quietly. :)

I only hope that one of the Weavers will be willing to teach my children how to sing, because I do love to hear Andrew and his siblings sing together. It is a beautiful sight and sound.

We also had some gingerbread house creations at Uncle Kevin.

Saturday night Andrew and I went bowling with three of our nephews and Andrew's parents. I was really hoping to meet one of my 101 goals. I originally wanted to bowl a 200 but the husband has convinced me that that goal isn't very realistic, so I've lowered it to a 150. Either way, no such luck this night. Maybe next time.

Here are a few pictures from Uncle Kevin's and bowling.

Christmas Part Two: My Fam

We spent Christmas Eve night with my parents and brother. Growing up, we always spent Christmas Eve lunch at Mommom's. We would then come home and Mom and Dad would open what Seth and I got them. When we were really young they would also open what they got each other so that Christmas morning was reserved for Santa only. As we got older they saved their gifts to one another for Christmas morning. Seth and I would open what we got each other as well as our gifts from Mom and Dad, again reserving Santa for Christmas.

Now that we are grown we open one gift from Mom and Dad as well as our gifts from each other. Mom and Dad do the same, one gift from each other and what Seth and I got them.

This year, since there was no Santa, we each opened one gift when we got back from Mommom's. We always do gift opening in an orderly fashion from youngest to oldest. So Seth opened one gift from Andrew and I. We got him three books, but one hasn't come in yet. It is very strange to buy books for my brother. Reading is a relatively new hobby for him.

I opened a Miley Cyrus cd. I've been obsessed with the song Party in the U.S.A. I listen to it over and over. Andrew opened a box of like 10 puzzles.

Mom opened her scarf from Andrew and I and Daddy opened a t-shirt from us.

Mom had a gift from Dad that was in a gift bag. Daddy, being a kit at heart, wanted so badly for Mom to open that gift. He kept asking her if she wanted to open her bag. Finally, he asked her if she wanted to open her plate. His hand immediately flew to his mouth. Oops. We all cracked up. My Daddy has never done this before. So of course, Mom had to open her plate. :)

After we finished opening gifts, Seth, Andrew, and I worked one of Andrew's puzzles. We chose one of the 300 piece puzzles so that we could finish rather quickly. Oh my goodness, the puzzle was so small.

Here is a picture of our final product.



Christmas morning Andrew and I opened our gifts to each other. He bought me the latest Tomtom to replace the one that got stolen. It has some pretty cool features. I'm ready to take a big road trip to get some real use out of it. Andrew like the shirts and hat that I got him.

Then we joined my Momma, Daddy, and Seth in the living room to open gifts.


Seth and I both got ipods. Seth got some video games and a movie or two as well. I got the Hannah Montanna movie, Up, and the Christmas claymation movies. Andrew got every season of The West Wing, another puzzle, and Night at the Museum 2. Mom got a digital camera and some diamond earrings. Daddy got a video camera and some little people for his train layout.

It was a great morning.

Mom made us cinnamon rolls why we all played with our new toys. Below are some pictures from the morning.

Not Me Monday

Throughout our several days of Christmas celebration, I did NOT wish that I had a baby. I did NOT bring up the baby issue with the husband yet again. He did NOT remind me that he wasn't ready.

I did NOT get my feelings hurt over Christmas preparations. I did NOT receive a gift that I don't understand.

I did NOT almost cry at the dentist today. I did NOT feel so proud of myself for having no cavities.

I did NOT feel a little down today as I realized this is my last week of Christmas break.

Christmas Part One

It's official. Christmas has come and gone. All too quickly if you ask me.

Andrew and I have had a wild and busy past couple of days. There is lots to share so I thought I would break it down into separate posts. I'm not sure how many parts there will be, but I know it is going to end with a giveaway. I know that you probably just received more stuff than you know what to do with (we did) but this is something I hope will help you start off 2010 on a positive note.

Anyways... Our wild Christmas adventures really started Wednesday night with our rescuing a dog. You can read about that in the post below.


Thursday (Christmas Eve) morning we got up and packed everything up to head north to my Mommom's for lunch.

We drove the two miles from our house to the interstate only to find that it was closed due to flooding. We went over to an old highway only to discover that it too was flooded.

Me, being directionally challenged, had no idea how we would make it to Mommom's without this particular interstate and highway. I immediately had flashbacks to our first Christmas together as a married couple. It snowed/ice that year and we didn't make it to Christmas Eve at Mommom's or Christmas Morning with my parents and brother. It was the first time I had ever missed these events and it wasn't pretty. I cried and cried and cried. Andrew, bless his heart, did everything he could to make me happy. Of course, I saw my parents the day after Christmas and all was fine in the end.

Apparently, Andrew had these flashbacks at the same time, because he looked at me and asked if I was going to cry if we couldn't make it. I assured him that I wouldn't cry this time.

Thankfully Andrew is not directionally challenged as I am. He managed to figure out a way around all flooded words. Our route felt like we were driving in a very zig zagged line, but we made it. Of course the trip to Mommom's is normally an 1.5 trip. Christmas Eve, it was a 3.5 hour trip.

We missed lunch and walked in right as they were opening the last of the gifts. I sort of feel like I didn't have Christmas at Mommom's because we missed it all, but we still got to visit with the fam.


Now... let me back up just a moment to say that the dogs were with us on this trip. Liberty Belle hates to ride in the car and I mean HATES. It stresses her out. Thursday was even worse because the roads were yet and she could feel it every time we drove through some water. She was also in the car for 3.5 hours instead of 1.5 after being up all night because a strange dog was in her backyard. By the time we got to Mommom's, my poor girl was just ready to be out of the car and have some peace. No such luck, there was a ton of people there, one of which is my little cousin who loves dogs. He immediately began chasing Lib and Liam which scared them to death. Liberty jumped in Ben's lap (my cousin's husband). A couple minutes later, Ben announces that my dog pooped in his lap. Andrew told me to clean it up and I told him too. I really thought Ben was joking because that is just how Ben is. But no.. Liberty really did poop in his lap. She was that stressed. I was so embarrassed. She has never done that before. Thankfully Ben is a good guy who just rolls with the punches. And thankfully it wasn't runny. HA HA! I know... TMI.

Here is a pic of everyone at Mommom's.


And that is our Christmas Eve adventure. Christmas Day...coming soon!

You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

Okay so let me just set the scene for you.

It's between 8 and 8:30. I am overwhelmed and stressed with everything that I still need to get done tonight. I finally lose it when my Mommom's gift isn't as easy as I had hoped. More on that later.

Now I'm in the middle of a full fledged breakdown. I'm bawling and overreacting to EVERYTHING. I go into the bedroom, where my dear sweet husband is 1/2 asleep. I'm stomping around putting close on, crying, and trying to explain to him that I have to go buy Mommom a new gift right at that very moment. He is half laughing at me and trying to figure out what in the world I'm so upset about. Like I said, he was half asleep.

Being in this overdramatic meltdown that I'm in causes me not to respond well to his groggy response to my overreacting.

I slam the bedroom door and get in my car to go find my Mommom a gift. By this time it is like 9. And did I mention that is has been pouring down all day.

I back out of the driveway and I see this little white hairy dog run into our front yard. He heads straight to the door. I can tell the little guy is just trying to find a dry spot. I get out of my car and call him. He comes right to me. I'm hoping he has a caller on so I can just take him home. No such luck. So I carry him in. I open the bedroom door and just stand there holding this white dog.

Andrew starts asking questions, none of which I know the answer to. He ask if it is a boy or girl. I hold the dog out for Andrew to see, but the little guy is too hairy to see anything.

We start figuring out what we are going to do. After about 20 or 30 minutes, I told Drew I was tired of holding the dog. Drew tells me to put him in the backyard. We have an awning back there where he could stay dry. I put him out there, and am standing at the back door watching him and for the first time I notice that his is hobbling. Then I noticed I didn't see a back leg. So I open the door and go pick him up. Sure enough... this little white dog only has 3 legs.

So now we have a 3 legged dog and no one is answering the phone. Drew tried calling humane society, local police, shelters... EVERYTHING. No answer. Drew even went out in the pouring rain knocking on doors, but had no luck. Besides, at that point it was too late to be knocking on doors.

We finally called the fire station who gave the number for dispatch. They sent a couple of police officers out to our house. They gave a number to City Hall who would be open in the morning at 8. So the little dog was going to spend the night in our backyard.


Fast forward to Christmas Eve morning (today).

We got no sleep at all last night. The white dog outside cried all night which led to our dogs crying all night. I was up until 2 with Liam crying. I think I might have gotten a total of 3 hours sleep last night. (Major cure for the baby fever)

At 8, Andrew got up to call City Hall. No Answer. About that time, we heard a guy standing outside our house talking about a dog. Andrew peeked out the window and there was this guy on his cellphone in the rain. Andrew threw on some clothes and ran to the front door. Andrew said he hugged the guy. His name was Scott and he was Zoe's owner (We finally learned her name). They don't know how she got out.

He was thrilled that he found her. We were even more thrilled that he found her.

Now it is almost 10. I'm getting ready to go to my grandma's. Andrew, Liberty, and Liam are fast asleep in the bed. They needed a nap before it was time to go. I will be sleeping in the car on the way.

Very adventurous night with thankfully a good ending.


And here is our 3 legged friend, Zoe.

Wrestling Christmas

Christmas is officially upon us here in the Weaver House. Festivities started on Friday night. We had a few friends over for a Christmas party. There wasn't really anything Christmas about it other than the paper plates and napkins. :) We just wanted to spend time with friends that we don't see as often anymore. We ate lots of food and played some Farkle, Uno Attack, and In a Pickle. Los of laughs, primarily by the men. They giggled like little girls all night.

Saturday we woke up and headed north to the hometown of my father-in-law. We gathered in a church fellowship hall to eat with Andrew's aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Saturday afternoon, Andrew and I went our separate ways. I went to watch my little brother experience a dream come true. I think I've told you before that my brother wrestles. He has watched and loved wrestling since he was like 10. We always thought it was a phase that he would outgrow like The Power Rangers. We were wrong. I don't think he watches it like he used to but that might be because he is actually doing it now.

He wrestles every Saturday night as Seth Sabor. This past Saturday, Seth Sabor got a special tag team partner. He teamed up with Jerry the King Lawler. Now, if you don't have any idea who that is, you won't understand this. I'm pretty sure Lawler has been wrestling longer than my brother has been alive, which is 22 years. He is in the WWE. He's a pro. Trust me, it is huge that Seth got to tag team with him.

It was a very neat thing to see my brother standing next to and then wrestling with the King. I was just beaming the whole time because I knew that for Seth, this was something he thought he would only dream about.

Lawler, being The King, always wears a crown. It sits on the announcer's table when he is wrestling. It is his trademark item. After Seth got the pin and won the match for them, Lawler put the crown on Seth. He did a good job of staying in character, but I'm pretty Seth was about to explode with excitement.

I got some great pictures, but I don't want to share them with you yet. I want him to see them first. I'll post some after Christmas.

Speaking of which, I can't believe Christmas is practically two days away. In just a couple of days we will be celebrating with my family and then with Drew's fam.

All of the presents have been bought and most of them wrapped. I will finish wrapping tomorrow.

I realize that I still haven't posted any pictures of our Christmas decor. Maybe I will get that done tomorrow. We'll see. My to do list for tomorrow is pretty long.
I still want to show you our Christmas card as well.

I have more I want to blog about, but I don't want this post to be forever long. So I will save the rest until another day.


**Edited to Add

I just completed my first goal in my 101 in 1001. All my blog post now have labels! Whoohoo!

There's Something About Mary

Denis over at The Quiet Quill has been sharing a series of post entitled There is Something About Mary. As of now, she has written four parts and there is more to come.

She is sharing the Christmas story in a way I've never seen before. I strongly urge you to take a few minutes and go read them. I think you will be blessed. I know I was.

"Not Me" Monday

I am NOT still laying in bed at 9:02. I am NOT curled up with my sweet boy, Liam Bailey.

I am NOT avoiding writing a post about my weekend. It would NOT be a long post. I did NOT have a fun, busy weekend with family and friends.

I do NOT still have Christmas shopping today. I have NOT let all my presents stay unwrapped to this point because of name tags. I am NOT being picky over the name tags.

I am NOT so very thankful for a Christmas break. I do NOT wish that everyone got to have to Christmas break.

I am NOT stressing at all about two presents not getting here on time.

Gifts

A lot of gifts are bought and wrapped this time of year. Lots of gifts given and received. I absolutely love to give the people I love a little gift during this time of year.

God gave us such a huge gift through his son Jesus Christ. This gift comes from a love that our human minds will never be able to fully understand.

I hope that people see through the gifts Andrew and I are giving this year a little of the love we have for them. I am so excited to give our family and friends the gifts we have found for each of them.

Giving is such fun. But I'm not going to lie. I love to receive gifts too. Go ahead and call me selfish if you want. I'm just being honest. I think most people would agree that they like receiving gifts too.

My heart has been so deeply touched over the past few weeks by my students. I have received some of the sweetest most heart felt gifts. Just the fact that a 7th grader is willing to buy me a gift means a lot.

There is just something about seeing one of my students walk into my classroom with a gift for me and have such excitement about it. They stand at my desk as I open just hoping that I will like it. And of course I do. I love that they wanted to pick something out just for me.

I have students who can't afford paper and pencil for class, but somehow find a way to purchase a gift for me. I think my most cherished things are the cards and pictures that students draw/make. They are so sweet.

I get tears in my eyes every time I open a gift from a student. It just really blesses my heart to know that they wanted to do something for me.

A New Favorite

Last Saturday, I discovered that I had a small box in the mail from my mother. I had no idea what it could be.

I brought it in and immediately opened it. This is what I found inside.



I got so excited when I realized it was a new ornament. I LOVE ornaments. Our tree has a wide variety of ornaments. No theme except bright and fun.

Anyways... then I noticed it said The Weavers at the bottom and got even more excited.

Then I saw that the two dogs had Liberty and Liam's name on them. Love it a little more.


Lastly, I noticed Andrew and my names on the two hearts.

The only thing better than an ornament is a personalized ornament. I absolutely love this new addition to my tree.

Thanks a bunch Momma!! I love it.

Give me your eyes...

So I'm home in bed again today. Feeling better than yesterday, but still yucky. I felt like I needed to stay away from people one more day. I don't want to make anyone sick.

Anyways.... I managed to get out of bed this morning long enough to drive through McDonald's for breakfast. On my way home, I saw a woman about my age with a little girl on the side of the road. They had a flat on their van. They were both pacing around their van. I drove right past. As soon I was past them, I realized I should stop and help.

Now... I know that I can't change a flat. I know the basics of how-to, but I've never done this and wouldn't trust driving on a flat tire that I put on the car.

But I did have my cell phone. The way they were pacing made me think that she was as clueless as I would have been in that situation.

I turned around and went back. I asked if she had called anyone for help. She had family on their way and thanked for me for at least stopping.

So off I went. I will confess that I felt so good about stopping. It was so easy to do and yet showed someone that there are still kind people in this world. She made the statement that most people just blow by without caring.

I will admit that the reason I stopped was pretty selfish. One of my goals on my 101 list is to help a stranger 101 times. I thought, "That's one more thing I could mark off." Type A personality? I think so.

On my way home, a verse came to mind.

And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ Matthew 25:40

I began to wonder how many opportunities like this one I let slip by because I don't have my eyes open. How often do I just walk past someone and never consider what I can do to make their day a little bright?

Sadly, probably more often than not. I made the goal of helping 101 strangers for selfish reasons. But now I'm looking at that goal in a different light. I want this goal to be a way to draw closer to Jesus. I want to have his eyes. I want to see people the way He sees people.

As Christmas is quickly approaching, people are getting busier and busier. The crowds are getting bigger and bigger. The traffic... thicker and thicker. Patience... less and less.

I personally love all of the above. However, some people don't. Some people get angry very quickly because of the above. What a perfect time to show people the love of Christ. To show people that Christmas is about so much more than buying the perfect present.

My prayer this Christmas season is to keep my eyes open. To have the eyes of Jesus. To see people the way He does. To purposefully look for ways to help those around me.

Home in Bed

Yesterday afternoon, I started feeling pretty yucky. Just felt achy all over. I got up this morning still feeling a bit yucky, but decided to go to work anyways. I really didn't want to miss, especially since I only have until next week before Christmas break.

I made it until around 11 today and just didn't feel like I could make any longer. Thankfully, we already had a sub on campus that could cover my class.

I'm now curled up in bed with Liberty and Liam.

I feel like I should be taking advantage of being home today. I have lots to do around the house and have a ton of research papers that need to be graded. But I just can't. I don't feel up to it.

I really hope I'm not coming down with something too bad. I want to be able to go to work tomorrow and then actually enjoy my Christmas break.

As for today, I see a good chick flick, a warm bath, and my book in my future.

Free Rice & Locks of Love

I have officially gotten somewhere with my 101 list. And I must say, it feels good. One of my goals is to donate 101,101 grains of rice at freerice.com. I stumbled onto this website this past summer. I thought it would be a great way to offer students some extra practice and help serve others.

Basically the way it works, you pick a subject and answer questions. For every question you answer correctly 10 grains of rice get donated through UN World Food Program. As for the subjects you can choose from art, geography, english, math, language, and science.

I have to admit that I enjoy doing the language. I work on my Spanish. It is fun to see what I remember from my two semesters of it in college.

Within a matter of minutes, I answered enough questions to donate 1,450 grains of rice today. It is a super easy way to help others.

If you have an extra five minute go check it out.


I've also started working on my goal to donate my hair to locks of love. It's been awhile since I've had a hair cut, so I guess I started on this one months ago.

I have to be honest. This is a goal I'm not sure I will meet. Having 10 inches of hair to donate means my hair has to get LONG!! I just don't know. We'll see how it goes.

Here is my list now. Things in bold italics are things I'm working on now. Things that are marked through like this are things I've accomplished.

Just for Fun:
1. Complete a 365 photo project.
2. Paint a piece of pottery at the local pottery store.
3. Go to a Razorback Game in Fayetteville.
4. Bowl a 200
5. Buy a tent.
6. Have 10 girls’ nights. (0/10)
7. Go ice-skating
8. Blog every day for a week using only pictures.
9. Go to a concert.
10. See a musical/play.
11.Learn to crochet.
12. Crochet a scarf.
13. Visit Mr. Madison at a Newark (Cedar Ridge) basketball game.
14. Host 10 Give-A-Ways on my blog. (0/10)
15. Go to the drive-in with my parents.
16. Do a jigsaw puzzle (at least 500 pieces).
17. Go fishing with my Daddy.
18. Visit a state I’ve never been to.

The Husband and Me:
19. Send the husband a loving text/note/email every day for a month. (0/31)
20. Take a trip for our wedding anniversary.
21. Go camping with the husband.
22. Make a video of me and the husband and/or dogs once a month. (0/33)
23. Go to the Memphis zoo with the husband.
24. Get pregnant.
25. Have dinner made for the husband when he gets home 101 times. (1/101)
26. Take photo booth pics with the husband.

Liberty Belle & Liam Bailey:
27. Give the Liberty & Liam a bath once a month for a year. (0/12)
28. Trim Liberty & Liam’s nails every two to three weeks for a year. (0/24)
29. Walk Liberty & Liam every day for a month. (0/31)
30. Teach Liam to shake.
31. Find a recipe and make homemade treats for Liberty & Liam.

Home Improvement and Organization:
32. Buy a new comforter.
33. Clean out hall closet.
34. Clean out my closet.
35. Make back-up disc of all the pictures on my computers.
36. Hang curtains and paint kitchen. (Curtains are up)
37. Transfer our wedding video to DVD.
38. Go through mail as soon as I get it for a month. Trash the trash and put away the important stuff (0/31)
39. Get rid of 101 things I don’t need. (0/101)
40. Clean and organize the garage (with the husband’s help)
41. Make or buy art for the guest bathroom.
42. Buy new towels for our bathroom.
43. Get the drawing Seth made framed and hung in my room.
44. Buy baskets to organize Drew’s clothes in the closet.
45. Don’t let the dishes pile up by washing them every night for a month (0/31)
46. Don’t let the laundry piling up by doing it twice a week for a month. (0/15)
47. Clean out the “junk” cabinet in the kitchen
48. Make the bed every time I’m the last one up for a month.

Work:
49. Be at work by 7:30 every day for a week. (0/5)
50. Read a book related to teaching.
51. Lay out my clothes the night before for a week.
52. Keep gradebook up to day for 3 months. (0/3)

Scrapbooking:
53. Finish 1st year of marriage scrapbook.
54. Create Liberty’s first year scrapbook.
55. Create Liam’s first year scrapbook.
56. Submit a scrapbook layout to a magazine or some sort of competition.
57. Complete Patter’s Scripture Challenge 2.
58. Create a paper bag album.

Because it’s not all about me:
59. Send birthday cards to family members on time.
60. Pay for the person behind me in drive-thru (but not during the month I’m not eating out).
61. Participate in the Angel Tree program.
62. Spend a weekend with Luke doing what he loves.
63. Spend a weekend with Livvy doing what she loves.
64. Give $5 to a charity for every goal I don’t complete.
65. Inspire 3 other people to make their own list. (If you participate because of this blog, let me know please)
66. Donate 101,101 grains of rice at freerice.com (3,100/101,101)
67. Give10 random gifts to my coworkers. (0/1)
68. Grow out my hair and then cut it all off to donate to Locks of Love. (Last hair cut 07/25/09)
69. Perform 100 random acts of kindness for strangers (0/100)
70. Share Christ with someone.

Books and Movies:
71. Read a biography
72. Read all unread books in my personal library.
73. Acquire all seasons of Gilmore Girls on DVD.
74. Watch every movie that is currently in my Netflix queue (0/141)
75. Create and maintain a list of books I’ve purchased for my future children.
76. Buy one book a month to add to my future children’s library. (1/33)
77. See 10 movies in the theater. (0/10)
78. Buy Party Central and get it signed by the author.
79. Buy 10 Disney Movies to add to my collection. (0/10)

Just for Me:
80. Go one month without eating out. (0/31)
81. Stop biting my nails.
82. Write down something I am grateful for every day for a month with no repeats. (0/31)
83. Memorize two Bible verses every month for a year. (0/12)
84. Get up without hitting snooze for a week. (0/5)
85. Wash my face every night for a month. (0/31)
86. Spend 5 days a month without TV or computer for a year. (0/60)
87. Go to the dentist without calling Andrew while crying afterwards.
88. Watch the sunrise 10 times. (0/10)
89. Identify 101 things that make me happy. (0/101)
90. Find out my blood type.
91. Shave everyday for a month. (0/31)
92. Attempt to learn enough html to make my own blog header.
93. Get a mani/peti.
94. Get my oil changed on time.
95. Make dumplings.
96. _________ every day for a week. (Personal)
97. Have all my Christmas shopping finished before December.
98. Walk/Run every day for a month. (0/31)
99. Try one new food each month for a year(0/12)
100. Buy a calendar and put all family and friends’ birthdays and special occasions in it.
101. Organize all of my blog posts with labels.

Christmas Fun

It is right around the corner. I am counting down the days until Christmas break. I have this week and next week.

Andrew and I have barely even started our Christmas shopping. We have a lot of people that we get to buy for. So far I'm not stressed over the fact that we still have a lot of shopping to do. I figure there is no point in stressing out. I'm not saying I won't get stressed, because I probably will. But right now, I'm feeling pretty laid back about it all.

We are going to be very busy this Christmas. The fun actually starts this Friday with our nephew, Jackson's, 2nd birthday. Then it is one Christmas event after another. I'm looking forward to lots of time with family and friends.

Andrew and I are hosting a Christmas party for a few other couples. Me, being the cheesy girl that I am, wants to play some fun Christmas games. I've been racking my brain but can't come up with anything that is new and different.

So what Christmas (or non Christmas) games do you like to play? We are open to all ideas.

101 in 1001

I stumbled onto this goal oriented project through another blog. To be honest, I've looked at so many people's list, that I don't remember where I first found it. Either way, I thought it was something I wanted to. Basically, you create a list of 101 goals to be completed in 1001 days. I'm starting today, December 7. This means I must finish my list before September 3, 2012. That seems so far away, but I know it will be here much quicker than I anticipate.

Here is my list.

Just for Fun:
1. Complete a 365 photo project.
2. Paint a piece of pottery at the local pottery store.
3. Go to a Razorback Game in Fayetteville.
4. Bowl a 200
5. Buy a tent.
6. Have 10 girls’ nights. (0/10)
7. Go ice-skating
8. Blog every day for a week using only pictures.
9. Go to a concert.
10. See a musical/play.
11.Learn to crochet.
12. Crochet a scarf.
13. Visit Mr. Madison at a Newark (Cedar Ridge) basketball game.
14. Host 10 Give-A-Ways on my blog. (0/10)
15. Go to the drive-in with my parents.
16. Do a jigsaw puzzle (at least 500 pieces).
17. Go fishing with my Daddy.
18. Visit a state I’ve never been to.

The Husband and Me:
19. Send the husband a loving text/note/email every day for a month. (0/31)
20. Take a trip for our wedding anniversary.
21. Go camping with the husband.
22. Make a video of me and the husband and/or dogs once a month. (0/33)
23. Go to the Memphis zoo with the husband.
24. Get pregnant.
25. Have dinner made for the husband when he gets home 101 times. (0/101)
26. Take photo booth pics with the husband.

Liberty Belle & Liam Bailey:
27. Give the Liberty & Liam a bath once a month for a year. (0/12)
28. Trim Liberty & Liam’s nails every two to three weeks for a year. (0/24)
29. Walk Liberty & Liam every day for a month. (0/31)
30. Teach Liam to shake.
31. Find a recipe and make homemade treats for Liberty & Liam.

Home Improvement and Organization:
32. Buy a new comforter.
33. Clean out hall closet.
34. Clean out my closet.
35. Make back-up disc of all the pictures on my computers.
36. Hang curtains and paint kitchen.
37. Transfer our wedding video to DVD.
38. Go through mail as soon as I get it for a month. Trash the trash and put away the important stuff (0/31)
39. Get rid of 101 things I don’t need. (0/101)
40. Clean and organize the garage (with the husband’s help)
41. Make or buy art for the guest bathroom.
42. Buy new towels for our bathroom.
43. Get the drawing Seth made framed and hung in my room.
44. Buy baskets to organize Drew’s clothes in the closet.
45. Don’t let the dishes pile up by washing them every night for a month (0/31)
46. Don’t let the laundry piling up by doing it twice a week for a month. (0/15)
47. Clean out the “junk” cabinet in the kitchen
48. Make the bed every time I’m the last one up for a month.

Work:
49. Be at work by 7:30 every day for a week. (0/5)
50. Read a book related to teaching.
51. Lay out my clothes the night before for a week.
52. Keep gradebook up to day for 3 months. (0/3)

Scrapbooking:
53. Finish 1st year of marriage scrapbook.
54. Create Liberty’s first year scrapbook.
55. Create Liam’s first year scrapbook.
56. Submit a scrapbook layout to a magazine or some sort of competition.
57. Complete Patter’s Scripture Challenge 2.
58. Create a paper bag album.

Because it’s not all about me:
59. Send birthday cards to family members on time.
60. Pay for the person behind me in drive-thru (but not during the month I’m not eating out).
61. Participate in the Angel Tree program.
62. Spend a weekend with Luke doing what he loves.
63. Spend a weekend with Livvy doing what she loves.
64. Give $5 to a charity for every goal I don’t complete.
65. Inspire 3 other people to make their own list. (If you participate because of this blog, let me know please)
66. Donate 101,101 grains of rice at freerice.com (0/101,101)
67. Give 10 random gifts to my coworkers. (0/1)
68. Grow out my hair and then cut it all off to donate to Locks of Love.
69. Perform 100 random acts of kindness for strangers (0/100)
70. Share Christ with someone.

Books and Movies:
71. Read a biography
72. Read all unread books in my personal library.
73. Acquire all seasons of Gilmore Girls on DVD.
74. Watch every movie that is currently in my Netflix queue (0/141)
75. Create and maintain a list of books I’ve purchased for my future children.
76. Buy one book a month to add to my future children’s library. (0/33)
77. See 10 movies in the theater. (0/10)
78. Buy Party Central and get it signed by the author.
79. Buy 10 Disney Movies to add to my collection. (0/10)

Just for Me:
80. Go one month without eating out. (0/31)
81. Stop biting my nails.
82. Write down something I am grateful for every day for a month with no repeats. (0/31)
83. Memorize two Bible verses every month for a year. (0/12)
84. Get up without hitting snooze for a week. (0/5)
85. Wash my face every night for a month. (0/31)
86. Spend 5 days a month without TV or computer for a year. (0/60)
87. Go to the dentist without calling Andrew while crying afterwards.
88. Watch the sunrise 10 times. (0/10)
89. Identify 101 things that make me happy. (0/101)
90. Find out my blood type
91. Shave everyday for a month. (0/31)
92. Attempt to learn enough html to make my own blog header.
93. Get a mani/peti.
94. Get my oil changed on time.
95. Make dumplings.
96. _________ every day for a week. (Personal)
97. Have all my Christmas shopping finished before December.
98. Walk/Run every day for a month. (0/31)
99. Try one new food each month for a year(0/12)
100. Buy a calendar and put all family and friends’ birthdays and special occasions in it.
101. Organize all of my blog posts with labels.

101 in 1001

Here is my working list. You can see how I'm doing as of today.

Things in bold italics are things I'm working on now.Things that are marked through like this are things I've accomplished.

Just for Fun:
1. Complete a 365 photo project.
2. Paint a piece of pottery at the local pottery store.
3. Go to a Razorback Game in Fayetteville.
4. Bowl a 200 150
5. Buy a tent.
6. Have 10 girls’ nights. (0/10)
7. Go ice-skating
8. Blog every day for a week using only pictures.
9. Go to a concert.
10. See a musical/play.
11. Learn to crochet.
12. Crochet a scarf.
13. Visit Mr. Madison at a Newark (Cedar Ridge) basketball game.
14. Host 10 Give-A-Ways on my blog. (1/10)
Francesca Battistelli CD & Miracles by Karen Kingsbury
15. Go to the drive-in with my parents.
16. Do a jigsaw puzzle (at least 500 pieces).
17. Go fishing with my Daddy.
18. Visit a state I’ve never been to. Oklahoma

The Husband and Me:
19. Send the husband a loving text/note/email every day for a month. (0/31)
20. Take a trip for our wedding anniversary.
21. Go camping with the husband.
22. Make a video of me and the husband and/or dogs once a month. (2/33)
23. Go to the Memphis zoo with the husband.
24. Get pregnant.
25. Have dinner made for the husband when he gets home 101 times. (10/101)
26. Take photo booth pics with the husband.

Liberty Belle & Liam Bailey:
27. Give the Liberty & Liam a bath once a month for a year. (1/12)
28. Trim Liberty & Liam’s nails every two to three weeks for a year. (0/24)
29. Walk Liberty & Liam every day for a month. (0/31)
30. Teach Liam to shake.
31. Find a recipe and make homemade treats for Liberty & Liam.

Home Improvement and Organization:
32. Buy a new comforter. 3/7/10
33. Clean out hall closet. 2/9/10
34. Clean out my closet.
35. Make back-up disc of all the pictures on my computers.
36. Hang curtains and paint kitchen. (Curtains are up and chair rail ordered)
37. Transfer our wedding video to DVD.
38. Go through mail as soon as I get it for a month. Trash the trash and put away the important stuff (0/31)
39. Get rid of 101 things I don’t need. (5/101)
40. Clean and organize the garage (with the husband’s help)
41. Make or buy art for the guest bathroom.
42. Buy new towels for our bathroom.
43. Get the drawing Seth made framed and hung in my room.
44. Buy baskets to organize Drew’s clothes in the closet.
45. Don’t let the dishes pile up by washing them every night for a month (0/31)
46. Don’t let the laundry piling up by doing it twice a week for a month. (0/15)
47. Clean out the “junk” cabinet in the kitchen (2/9/10)
48. Make the bed every time I’m the last one up for a month.

Work:
49. Be at work by 7:30 every day for a week. (0/5)
50. Read a book related to teaching.
51. Lay out my clothes the night before for a week. (5/5)
52. Keep gradebook up to day for 3 months. (0/3)

Scrapbooking:
53. Finish 1st year of marriage scrapbook.
54. Create Liberty’s first year scrapbook.
55. Create Liam’s first year scrapbook.
56. Submit a scrapbook layout to a magazine or some sort of competition.
57. Complete Patter’s Scripture Challenge 2.
58. Create a paper bag album.

Because it’s not all about me:
59. Send birthday cards to family members on time.
60. Pay for the person behind me in drive-thru (but not during the month I’m not eating out).
61. Participate in the Angel Tree program.
62. Spend a weekend with Luke doing what he loves. (2/28/10)
63. Spend a weekend with Livvy doing what she loves.
64. Give $5 to a charity for every goal I don’t complete.
65. Inspire 3 other people to make their own list. (If you participate because of this blog, let me know please)
66. Donate 101,101 grains of rice at freerice.com (65,998/101,101)
67. Give 10 random gifts to my coworkers. (0/1)
68. Grow out my hair and then cut it all off to donate to Locks of Love. (Last hair cut 07/25/09)
69. Perform 100 random acts of kindness for strangers (7/100)
70. Share Christ with someone.

Books and Movies:
71. Read a biography (Finished 01/27/10)
Going Rogue by Sarah Palin
72. Read all unread books in my personal library. (6/41)
73. Acquire all seasons of Gilmore Girls on DVD.
74. Watch every movie that is currently in my Netflix queue (5/140)
75. Create and maintain a list of books I’ve purchased for my future children. (2/20/10)
76. Buy one book a month to add to my future children’s library. (1/33)
77. See 10 movies in the theater. (1/10)
Alvin & The Chipmunks The Squeakel
78. Buy Party Central and get it signed by the author.
79. Buy 10 Disney Movies to add to my collection. (2/10)
The Hannah Montanna Movie (Christmas Gift)
Up (Christmas Gift)

Just for Me:
80. Go one month without eating out. (0/31)
81. Stop biting my nails.
82. Write down something I am grateful for every day for a month with no repeats. (0/31)
83. Memorize two Bible verses every month for a year. (0/12)
84. Get up without hitting snooze for a week. (0/5)
85. Wash my face every night for a month. (0/31)
86. Spend 5 days a month without TV or computer for a year. (0/60)
87. Go to the dentist without calling Andrew while crying afterwards. (12/28/09)
88. Watch the sunrise 10 times. (0/10)
89. Identify 101 things that make me happy. (18/101)
90. Find out my bloodtype
91. Shave every other day for a month. (0/31)
92. Attempt to learn enough html to make my own blog header.
93. Get a mani/peti.
94. Get my oil changed on time.
95. Make dumplings.
96. _________ every day for a week. (Personal)
97. Have all my Christmas shopping finished before December.
98. Walk/Run every day for a month. (0/31)
99. Try one new food each month for a year(2/12)
Corn
Smoke Sausage
100. Buy a calendar and put all family and friends’ birthdays and special occasions in it.
101. Organize all of my blog posts with labels. (12/22/09)

My new look

As you can see my blog has a new look. I really like it and definitely need to compliment Leslie. She did an awesome job! I'm still working on getting all the information under the appropriate sidebar title, so you will have to be patient with me.

Four Eyes

I got my first pair of glasses in the 3rd grade. We had done the vision screening at school and the nurse sent a note home to my mother. So off to the eye doctor we went.

My mother, being the wonderful woman she is, let me pick out my glasses all on my own. She wanted me to be happy with them. I chose the biggest reddest glasses I could find, I think. Here is a picture of me and my first pair of glasses.


The next two years, I pretty much picked out the exact same pair. They got a little smaller and a darker red, but still big red glasses were my thing. I have to tell you, because of the above picture Andrew says he will never let our kids pick out their own glasses. I of course disagree. My glasses may be dorky now, but I loved them then. And to be honest, I don't remember anyone making fun of me.

Either way as I got older my glasses got less cool. Not in style, but just because they were glasses. In 7th grade I gave contacts a go and hated them. I wanted them out pretty much as soon as the lady put them in my eye.

I tried again in 8th grade and that time they stuck. I've worn contacts ever since. In fact, after 8th grade I didn't own a pair of glasses.




Not until Andrew and I were married anyways. The first summer we were married, for whatever reason I decided I just had to have a pair of glasses. I think I told Andrew I wanted them for when I was up late studying and doing homework. WHATEVER! I just wanted cute black glasses.

So in September, my glasses came in. I thought I could just put them on and go. That wasn't the case. If you have gone from contacts to glasses, you know that at first the glasses will make you sick. I was used to my vision be corrected at my eye, not out in front of my eye. With my glasses, everything was curved and flat surfaces looked very steep. I wouldn't wear my glasses more than 30 minutes and I would quit. Andrew kept saying I had to get used to them. No thank you. I didn't care that as newlyweds we just made a sacrifice paying $300 for my glasses.

Back in the case the glasses went, the case went into a drawer never to be touched.

Last year, when we were putting the hardwood floor and everything was moved around, the glasses got lost. I came across them a couple of weeks ago. For some reason that I really don't know, I decided to give them a go. I honestly think I've worn my glasses more in the past two weeks than I have my contacts. If I go to school in contacts, I come home and immediately switch to my glasses. I really like them.

They don't make me sick at all. I'm not sure why I changed my mind. Maybe it was because someone said they make me look older. Or maybe it is because I've convinced myself that the glasses help me not look dead in pictures. Whatever it is, I really like my glasses. It doesn't even bother me that the sweet husband called me four eyes the other night. :) We might just get our moneys worth after all.

Glasses now...

Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow!

The trees are bare and the grass is dead. It's freezing cold outside. And boy does it feel like snow out there. Okay... so it's probably not cold enough to snow outside. You see, I don't do well with the cold. It could be 70 degrees outside and I will be cold. Either way, it is cold outside and it puts me in the mood for snow outside, a warm fire inside, and a cup of hot chocolate. If only I had a fireplace.

I'm not the only person in our family who is cold natured. Liam Bailey is too. I love this about him. Because he is cold natured, he LOVES to wear clothes. And I do mean love. When Mommy gets his shirt out, he comes running. I must say this thrills me to no end. When we got Liberty I tried and tried to get her to wear clothes. She hates them. Not Liam though. He comes running and stick his head in the shirt as fast as he can. I wish you could see him.

As I was looking for something in the hall closet the other day, I came across a Christmas shirt that we bought Liberty the first Christmas we had her. I found it at Holiday House and loved it. Despite her strong desire not to wear the shirt, I made her wear it long enough to get a picture for our Christmas Card picture. Here is Liberty two years ago. She was so small.
I couldn't find our actual pictures so this is a picture of a picture.

And now the shirt fits Liam perfectly. Here he is sporting the Christmas shirt.


By the way... it says Visions of Bones Danced in my Head.


Something else I love about this time of year is all the beautiful Christmas lights. We have several houses in our neighbor hood that put up some great lights on their house. I started to take a picture of them to share my favorites with you, but I wasn't sure if that was appropriate. I mean it is one thing to my house on here for the world to see, but should I go putting other people's houses on here? Probably not. You will just have to take my word, that there are some great house lights in my neighborhood.

Our tree is up and we are still working on the rest of the decor. Pictures are coming soon.

The new Christmas blog look should be ready soon as well.