Our Year in Review

2011 was good to Andrew and I. We made lots of good memories. The end of the year always makes me thankful for my blog. I love to go back and look at all the things we did over the year. I can see times when we laughed, times when we cried, struggles, growth, and so much more.

As I was looking back I tried to pick a favorite memory from each month.


January We celebrated 7 years of marriage. Andrew was sick so there wasn't much celebrating. I cut off a large amount of my hair and gave it to locks of love.




February We enjoyed a snow day together and Andrew surprised me with a Kindle for Valentine's Day.

March Spring Break! We went to our first Razorback baseball game and had a blast. Winter Jam was definitely a highlight of the month. I was busy planning a surprise party.


April Andrew turned 30! His surprise party was a big success. We saw James Taylor in concert. Andrew bought a new car. We spent an evening stuck in the back of Wal-Mart during tornadoes.


May I wrote and performed my first rap. We celebrated lots of birthdays and graduations. I started Zumba!


June I spent a fabulous week on the beach of Destin with two sweet girlfriends. The trip included parasailing and my first tattoo (fake of course).

July We celebrated with my great-grandma as she turned 89 and with my parents as they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.


August Summer break ended and it was back to school for me. I turned 28!! My Daddy surprised me by bringing me cupcakes to work. Then we celebrated at DGP with friends and family.

September I spent the month playing with new camera. Football season started which made for some fun and exciting Saturdays.



October We had our first in house ping pong tournament and celebrated lots of birthdays.

November Of course we celebrated Thanksgiving with our families. One of my students went to be with Jesus. I made my first etsy sale. I practiced my photography skills on my fam.


December Lots of cooking, Christmas with family, DIY projects!! Scroll down to read about these adventures.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

Christmas 2011

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Words to describe this Christmas seem to have left me. I've sat down a couple of times and tried to blog about the past few days, but I don't know where to start.

It has been one of the best Christmases I've ever had. The past few days have left me feeling extremely blessed and grateful. Andrew and I have been able to spend time with our families and make memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

We exchanged gifts with one another Friday evening because my husband was so excited to give me my new iPhone 4s. He just can't help himself when he thinks I'm really going to like something. And like it, I do! I was truly surprised.

I was also excited to give him his Keurig. He has drank countless cups of coffee since Friday night.



Saturday we spent time with my family. I think my favorite memory from Friday was sitting around the house Friday night reminiscing about the past. We laughed until we cried. My brother's girlfriend, Melissa, came over for a little gift exchange. It was nice to get to know her a little better and spend time with her. She seems to make my brother happy and for that I'm thankful.
My parents, the husband, my brother, and I exchanged gifts from one another Sunday morning. I have to say one of my favorite gifts this year was a DQ shirt from my brother. I love me some DQ!!

I had Andrew take my pic with this tray of yumminess. Ya'll I actually cooked this year. And what's even more amazing- people said it was good!! So proud of myself.


Sunday afternoon we headed to Osceola to spend Christmas night with Andrew's family. Andrew is the youngest of six and they were all there with their families for the night...the whole night. It was one big sleepover. Lots of fun. I was able to get some precious time with each of my nieces and nephews. That was extra special to me this Christmas. I played video games with the older boys, paper dolls with the little girls, and watched The Grinch with little J.L.

My favorite moment of this Christmas was being part of a huge surprise for Andrew's oldest brother Chris. The whole family went in and bought him a new iPad2. He was definitely surprised and blessed I think.

The dogs traveled with us everywhere we went. They stayed in garages across Arkansas. I'm pretty sure they were more than happy to be back at home.

We have one more Christmas celebration to attend before the year is over. I'm sure it will be just as special as the others.

God has given me a lot to be thankful for, more than I deserve.

And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
Mark 10:16

Tuesday Tunes: We Are

This has quickly become a new favorite of mine. It has also become my prayer, that I will let my light shine.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Matthew 5:14

Merry Christmas!

This year it seems that I have been dreaming more than ever about future Christmases that Andrew and I will share with our children. I haven't been sad about it. Excited is actually the word I would use. I trust that someday God will show us that it is the right time for us to start adding to our family. I cannot wait for that time.

I have truly enjoyed hearing the memories that my friends are making with their young children. Watching them do whatever it takes to make their child's wish come true.

I cannot wait until we have our turn to be scouring the town and the internet looking for that special item.

Sharing about the birth of Jesus is the thing I look forward to most. I have gotten so many good ideas on ways to do this from friends and family. I want our children to know the real reason we celebrate Christmas and that it isn't about getting gifts. It's about giving to others because we ourselves have been blessed. It's about celebrating the birth of the One who came to this earth to save us from our sins.

I pray for those who are lonely this Christmas season, whether it be because, like us, they don't have the children they dream about, or because they've lost a loved one. I pray that they would find peace in Jesus and that he would be their comfort this season.

Merry Christmas to you and yours. We love you!


-The Weavers

Off to a Good Start

I am officially on Christmas break. I had to go to work today until 10:30 and then the fun started.

I called my Mommom on my way home to get the 411 on Christmas Eve plans. I ended up talking to her for two hours. I wish I lived closer to her. I'd like to visit with her more than I do.

I managed to do a little cleaning while on the phone with her. I was just walking around the house picking things up and putting them away.

After I got off the phone with her I started watching a cheesy Christmas movie that I DVR'd. The DVR is set to record quite a few cheesy movies over the next few days. I just love them. Don't you?

In the middle of my movie I decided that I was hungry for some DQ. I drove 40 minutes to Conway for some DQ. In case you were wondering, it was well worth it. While in Conway I decided to check out a toy store my sister-in-laws told me about. They always find the neatest little stores. This one didn't disappoint. As soon as I walked in, I text Jill that it was very overwhelming. They had everything you could ever dream of as a child. I just wish I still had little ones that I need to buy for this year. They were the first ones I bought gifts for.

However, I did find this amazing playmat.



I wanted to buy it so bad. But it was $50 and I don't have a baby to play on it. Some day though. :)

I came home from my shopping/DQ expedition and started scrapbooking. I scrapbooked our Christmas cards from last year and a few from this year. I love keeping them and going back and looking through them. It's fun to see how families grow and change over the years.

I finished my cheesy movie and then played around on the computer. For some reason, I don't get emails from my sister-in-law. She is the only one that I have problems with. I have never blocked and her and the emails aren't in my spam or any other folder. I have no idea what I can't get new emails from her. Replies work just fine. Any ideas?

Anyway...Christmas break is off to a great start. Tomorrow I have lunch with two sweet ladies.

These are going to be a good two weeks.

Our 2011 Christmas Card

I'm finally sharing our Christmas card with you. I wanted to wait until they were mailed out and then time just got away from me.

I've already posted about how photo shoot #1 was a complete disaster.

I was trying my hardest not to be too picky about our photos. The husband was being extremely cooperative and I didn't want him to get irritated with my being too picky.

After one bad photo shoot I decided funny was the way to go. I figured I would be more easily pleased if were were going for goofy and not serious.

That night after we had finished the bad photo shoot, I was out grabbing dinner which led me to drive by Goodwill. An idea hit me. We had cheesy Christmas sweaters for the dogs already, we just need some for the husband and I.

I came home and shared my idea with the husband. He liked it. So off we went shopping for cheesy, ugly Christmas sweaters. That turned into something slightly different.

Our card makes us smile and I'm happy with how it turned out. So without further ado here it is....





Sorry for the poor quality. I can't figure out to save it from the site


A funny story. We were out prop shopping and we had saved the pipe for last. We didn't know where to buy one, but figured we could get one at a tobacco store. Neither one of us had ever been in such a store before. The two in our town were both closed. It was between 7 and 7:30 on a Saturday night. The husband was driving around and I was searching for tobacco stores on my phone. There was one in the next town over about 15 minutes away. I decided to call before we drove out there. My first question was concerning their closing time. I then proceed to ask the lady, "Do you sell pipes?" She said in a strange voice..."We sell smoking pipes for smoking tobacco...." I thanked her and got off the phone. I was describing the strange way in which she answered my question to the husband. I was totally clueless. He just looked at me and said, "They probably thought you were wanting a crack pipe." HA! Never even occurred to me. :)

A New Look for a New Year

Can you believe a new year is quickly approaching? 2011 has flown by for me. It's been a whirlwind of craziness.

I started thinking a few months ago that it was about time for a new look here on the old blog. I've even been toying around with the idea of a new blog address. I'm just not sure I want to go through that pain. Have you ever switched blog addresses? How did it go? Worth the trouble?

New address or not I'm in the market for a new look. Lucky enough, my sweet friend Miranda is hosting a giveaway for a new blog design. I'm thrilled about this giveaway. I probably shouldn't even be sharing it with you because I want to win. :)

Go on over and check out her giveaway here. She does a great job! You won't regret it.

Baby It's Cold Outside

I am bad about not blogging about specific memories because I let too much time slip by. I don't want to do that anymore. If it is something I want to remember, I'm going to blog about it even if it didn't happen a month ago.

This post is about something that happened a week ago.

Last Tuesday I came home from school and started grading papers, while catching up on facebook. It seemed, according to facebook, that it was snowing everywhere but at my house. I had been craving breakfast for a few days so I text the husband and informed him that we were going to Cracker Barrel for dinner. What better way to spend a cold evening than by enjoying pancakes by their big fire place. We headed that way as soon as he got home from work.

Unfortunately it didn't go quite as planned. We didn't get to sit by the fireplace and all in all, it just wasn't the best experience. Oh well. We tried.

On the way to Cracker Barrel though, I may have whined mentioned to the husband that everyone except me was getting to experience the snow. He pointed out that it wouldn't stick and get me out of school. That wasn't my wish though, I just wanted to enjoy the snow. I love snow. It's beautiful.

To top of my cold evening I decided to enjoy a nice hot bubble bath with a good book when we got back home. Awww! Perfect ending to my day.

I soaked in my bubble bath for awhile and then almost instantly fell asleep once I was in bed. Isn't it amazing how relaxing a hot bath can be? I love it!

I felt like I had been asleep for several hours when the husband woke me up. He sweetly nudged me and said, "I thought you'd want to know it's snowing, babe." I wiped my sleepy eyes and climbed out of bed. Sure enough, big beautiful flakes were falling from the sky. It put a big smile on my face despite the fact that it was 12:30 in the morning. I took a few minutes to enjoy the snow and then went back to sleep.

I'm so glad he woke me up. It was a little think he knew would make me happy.

It was perfect. No ice. Gone by noon the next day with little mess. That's my kind of snow.

Say Cheese

I decided months ago what I wanted for our Christmas card this year. In my head it was absolutely perfect.

In real life - Well, it didn't turn out quite the way I had planned.

So then began the agony of trying to find a plan B. I had no idea what to do since Plan A failed. The husband and I never seemed to have a free day together when it was nice outside.

Until yesterday. We were both home with no plans and it was pretty outside.

We got dressed and headed to the backyard.

The only way to sum our photo adventure - FAIL!

I didn't like anything about our backyard. The dogs weren't being cooperative. It just wasn't a good deal.

My favorite picture of the day is this one.




Last night while I was out picking up dinner, an idea hit me. It was perfect. I came home and shared the idea with the husband. He agreed.

Plan C was on!

We got back in the car and set out do some shopping. Props were needed. We thought we had everything we needed. We came home and began getting dressed for a picture only to discover we no longer owned one of the needed props.

Photo shoot postponed.

I did some Christmas shopping today and picked up the last needed prop. Tonight we had fun taking our Christmas card pictures. We laughed which means you know they are some good pictures.

I absolutely cannot wait to get them in the mail. I think they will bring a smile to the faces of the recipients.

I don't want to share any of the pictures with you just yet. I want it to be a surprise. Once I've mailed them out, I promise to share the card with you. :)

Until then you will just have to wonder.

Miscellany Monday

*We finally put the tree up last night. It makes me happy every time I look at it. We almost didn't put it up again this year. I'm so glad that we did. I love putting my ornaments on the tree. So many of them hold a special memory. As I'm unwrapping them I fall in love with them all over again.



*Speaking of ornaments, I mentioned awhile back that I was participating in a blog ornament exchange. Well, my ornament from Faith arrived today and it is absolutely perfect!!! I LOVE IT!! I have a small obsession with owls. Okay the husband has taken to calling me the weird owl lady, but whatever. This little guy came in the mail today.


*I got pulled over today. My tags expired last month. Oops. The state trooper who pulled me over happens to be the dad of two previous students. That good man recognized me and let me off with a warning. Whew!!! Will be getting new tags tomorrow.

*Last night before we put up the tree I was feeling all crafty so I went searching through the husband's side of the closet and made myself a scarf from one of his old t-shirts.. I like it. I got lots of compliments today and all my female students wanted a tutorial. I'll be posting one here soon, but you can find it on etsy if you can't wait.

*We received our first Christmas card today. I love this time of year when my mailbox is filled with beautiful cards. I'm still hoping to get ours made and out this year. Friends and family may be getting our cards the day before Christmas this year. I've never been this far behind. Trying not to let it stress me out.