2014 - It's Going to Be A Scream

New Year's Eve was a pretty calm night. We just spent the night hanging out at the house, enjoying the quiet after the business of the holiday season. It has been really cold all January, and we even had a bit of snow at the house.

 

 

I love crafting, so this week Mom, Mrs. Pamela, and I got together to make some adorable Valentine's Day crafts. It was so much fun and I love the results!

 

Today was beautiful outside, so we played outside with Zeppelin for a while. I wore my Valentine's Day present from the Corks...my awesome new shirt! In case you can't tell, it has my initials on it too. SO ADORABLE! I plan on getting a lot of use out of this shirt!

 

And for a house update, we have been painting the trim, using Christmas money to buy odds and ends that we need, and continuing to decide exactly how we want everything set up. Most of the rooms are still needing a few things to be complete, but with the exception of the trim being painted, I finally have one room that is basically done! Thanks to Kim for my adorable curtains for the laundry room! I love the curtains and overall décor in this room! Nice and simple, but with a fun color and pattern. I finally feel like we are making lots of progress.

 

My goal for 2014 is to post at least one update per month. We have some trips planned and I know we will be working on the house to really make it our home - so there will be lots pictures to post. I am so excited for 2014 and the fresh start a new year brings. We are trusting that God will continue to help us grow closer to Him, each other, and to the family of believers. Please join us in praying that we will seek God's will this year!

Ain't Life Grand

My 26th birthday was one of the best I've ever had, because I got to spend it with so many of my favorite people! That morning, mom came over and made me blueberry muffins for breakfast and then we just spent the morning at my house hanging out. We met up with Whitney and Mrs. Pamela for lunch at Chocolate Covered Strawberry, where we enjoyed girls time. These three women mean the world to me and I feel so blessed to have them in my life!

 

 

 

I'm not sure why I don't have any other pictures, but Whitney and I spent the rest of the day getting pedicures and crafting, before meeting up with our husbands and families for dinner at PF Changs. Then all of us came back to the house for cake, darts, presents, and time together. It is so nice to be able to spend so much time with people I love!

 

On Saturday, my friend Grace and her husband came to visit us. It had been awhile since we had seen each other, and it was so great to hug her neck...and see her teeny tiny baby bump. I am so excited for them! We met up for lunch at Chocolate Covered Strawberry - it really is that good!

 

 

Then after hanging at the house for a bit, we drove them around downtown Nashville, and then went to see the Christmas lights at Opryland Hotel.

 

After seeing the beautiful lights, we headed back to the house for dinner and darts. It was really fun, and the boys had way too much fun trying to beat each other at darts! After breakfast on Sunday, they had to leave to drive back to Michigan. I feel so lucky that they came over the Nashville to spend the weekend with us!

 

I am looking forward to this next year in my life. While we are never sure what the future may hold, I am trusting in God that it will be a year of growth, change, and excitement. Here's to hoping my 26th year of life is the best one yet!

I Wanna Wish You A Merry Christmas

Christmas was so great this year! Kim and Dan came into town the weekend before Christmas. Kim and I made cookies, but we were in luck because I had an electric cookie gun. No bad words were said, and we finished all the cookies in less than 2 hours!

 

 

Apparently this is a feat, as normally these cookies take all day. We played darts with the boys while they were baking. It was definitely the start of a new tradition for the girls.

 

We played a bunch of games of darts. Girls vs. Boys, Mom/Son vs. FIL/DIL (father-in-law/daughter-in-law) - I was on the winning team every time! It's because I am really good at darts...yeah. Let's go with that.

 

Dan was under the weather, so we bumped elbows to celebrate our victory!

 

We exchanged gifts and enjoyed time all together. Such a sweet time with family!

 

On Christmas Eve, Matt came over to hang out with us. The boys played darts and spent time together hanging out.

 

On Christmas morning, we all went over to my parents house. We had a nice lunch and opened presents. The guys all had a jam session featuring Chris on the acoustic guitar, Matt on the electric, and Dad on the drums. We facetimed Kim and Dan so they could enjoy the music!

Christmas evening my parents, Chris, and I went over to the Cork's house to celebrate with them. We ate a delicious dinner, had a very hard quiz on Christmas song trivia, played spoons (with candy canes), KEMPS, and opened presents.

 

I consider everyone here family and it was so nice to be able to spend time with everyone together...except Michelle - we missed you! Between college, jobs, and life, it is very rare anymore for us all to be together at the same time. 10 out of 11 ain't bad :)

 

Chris and I spent the rest of the night just enjoying the quiet and talking about the day. Not only did God send Jesus to the world to release us from the boundaries of the Law, he has blessed us immensely! Happy Birthday Jesus! 

Papaw-Claus is Coming Town

The best thing ever happened this week. Papaw came to visit us in Tennessee! The whole family went out to dinner on Thursday night, and I took Friday off. Papaw spent the night with us on Thursday so him and I could have a breakfast date on Friday. We went to Pancake Pantry for breakfast, and then drove all over Nashville looking at the different sites. I tried to just truly live in the moment and soak up every minute I could spend with this sweet man. He is such an amazing man and I am so thankful he is my granddad. We met up with mom and dad for lunch and then went to Opryland Hotel to see the lights.

 

On Saturday, Mom and I drove Papaw up to Aunt Sheri's house. We went to Uncle David's Cantata at church with Andrea, and then got to meet Adam's finance Jessica. It had snowed there, so we all bundled up and went outside to play in the snow. Adam, Andrea, and I went sledding on boogie boards which was a blast! On Sunday we went to Andrea's Cantata, met up with everyone for lunch, and then Mom and I drove back to Tennessee. In case you are ever driving from Saint Louis to Nashville, don't plan on stopping for Starbucks because they are all in malls, hospitals, pretty much not easy to get to...because we sure tried!

 

I am so thankful Papaw came to visit and I got to see some family I don't see often enough! God sure has blessed us this Christmas season!

 

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

After Thanksgiving, we seemed to hurry into the Christmas season very quickly since it fell so late this year. This is such a great time of year, and I enjoy spending time out and about with Chris. One afternoon we wanted to try a new restaurant, so we decided to go to Sushi Train. It was so much fun and we were able to try a ton of different types of sushi for a very reasonable price. Can't wait to go back again!

The past few weeks have been such a fun time of decorating our house for Christmas. Deciding where we want to place decorations, making new traditions in this house, and just enjoying this special time of year in our new house has been great. Since we don't have a kitchen table yet, it seemed like the perfect place for our Christmas tree. Hopefully next year, we will have to find a new place!

 

I love to try new foods, but sometimes it is easier to make something tried and true. Chris loves all things bacon, so BLTs were on the menu recently. He was so proud of how he "stacked it up" so he wanted his picture taken. Love this cutie pie!

 



 

Can't wait for Christmas and birthday celebrations to begin!