Saturday, December 31, 2011

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

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

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

Friday, December 23, 2011

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

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

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.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

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.