Girls Night Out - December

Another fantastic girls night out. We met at Capri's on Woodruff Rd. It is always so good to see everyone! We decided to do a $5-$10 gift exchange. There were alot of neat presents given. I gave a WHHS sports bag, considering we all graduated from there. It was kinda cool, no matter who received it. I received the cutest little picture frame. We decided for our January get together to go to The Glazing Pot. I can't wait!

*From top left to right clockwise: Nikki, Amy, Kristen, Lauree, Lyndsay, Tonya, Crystal

Thanks girls!

SURPRISE !

So I threw PV a surprise birthday party this weekend. He had no idea. We went to eat sushi (his favorite) around 6pm at Yrashai. We had the normal Super Crunch and popcorn crawfish. We also tried two new things - Chicken Little roll and Mussells Yaki. I actually got him to try the Mussells Yaki. He LOVED it! We left around 7:15pm and headed for our house. Little did he know he had more than 15 people waiting for him. Thanks to good friends we pulled it off. The Clemson ACC game was on. We played hard but didn't come out on top. Hey, can't win them all right. Still love my Tigers! The party was great, after some good jokes, a few people pyramids, and bad pictures that will never resurface again - we passed out until morning. Thanks to all of our friends for a great time!

Decorating

Well its that time of year...we started decorating this past weekend and finished up Monday night. Every year we make homemade ornaments with the boys. We have made paper ornaments, painted ornaments, and the last couple of years we have made dough ornaments. I love a Christmas tree with all handmade ornaments, especially when most of them are ones the boys made. It makes the most beautiful Christmas tree ever! Its fun to look every year at their ornaments from past years and see their artwork progress. This year I decided since the boys were a little older to do something a little more grown up. We painted glass balls. They turned out really good. The boys had fun decorating the tree and Charli had fun laying there watching. She was being so good I decided to take some pictures of them with the Santa hats - they turned out GREAT! Can't forget the sausage balls we made while decorating - yum yum. I wish every night could be like tonight. I have put up some pictures of our night - enjoy and Happy Holidays!

School stuff

Cason had to create a ginger bread man that represented himself. I would say if he were a ginger bread man, he would look like that! He wanted to pick a tiger shirt since he is a BIG Clemson Tiger Fan. He picked big eyes (not sure why) and brown pipe cleaners for his hair. It turned out really cute.

Tyler needed to do something for extra credit for his strings class...so he picked to play in front of an audience. We called my sister and had her arrange for him to play at the nursing home on Friday. There was about 15 residents that came to watch him. I was so proud of him, he did great. He played 3 songs - Cruisin, Midevil Wars, and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. Then he had them sing the Xmas song at the end. They seemed to enjoy it!

Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will; When the road you're trudging seems all uphill; When the funds are low, and the debts are high; And you want to smile, but you have to sigh; When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest if you must, but don't you quit. Success is failure turned inside out; The silver... tint of the clouds of doubt; And you can never tell how close you are; It may be near when it seems so afar. So, stick to the fight when you're hardest hit - when things go wrong that you mustn't quit! -author unknown

Be thankful everyday, this week is no different....

I am thankful everyday for the things I have been blessed with:

Husband: I am so very thankful for my husband, he is my world. I would not be the wife I am today without his help. Everyone grows up differently and has different beliefs on what a family should be. Together, we overcame obstacles and learned how to build what works for our family. We will be celebrating our 8th anniversary in 3 months and I look forward to 50 more!

Children: My life pretty much revolves around my children. If they are sick, I am there to hold them. If they are sad, I am there to try and make them smile. If they need discipline, I am there for time outs or to take special things away with hopes one day they will understand why. I am thankful to have 3 beautiful & healthy children.

Parents: I would not be who I am today if it wasn't for my mother. She raised me to be an independent woman. I have been an independent and responsible adult on my own since I was 17. I could not have done it without the guidance from her. I am also thankful for my dad. Even though I spend part of my childhood without him, I have been reunited with him and it feels great to share love with both parents. Also, I don't want to forget my in-laws. They have welcomed me into their family with open arms. They have been there for us many times when needed and for that and their unconditional love, I am thankful.

Job: I have currently been employed with Swift for 10 1/2 years. I am thankful that my work ethic has always been where it should and paid off. My job has allowed me to be here for my family when needed and continue to have a job. I am thankful for my paycheck!

Extended Family: We are blessed to have wonderful sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandma, grandpa, cousins etc. Every ones love, thoughts, and prayers are always there when we need them.

Friends: Last but not least, we have great friends. You can always depend on your true friends to be there when you need them. We have had some rough times and some special times this year and have come to realize who our true friends are - the ones we know we can call no matter when, where, or what time and they are there for us.

Thank you God for all my blessings. Some times things are taken for Granted and we do not take the time needed to stop and count our blessings. This is indeed the time of year that everyone seems to be overwhelmed with thanks, however, we should be thankful for what we have all year - this week is no different, it just proposes us to say them out loud. I promise to try harder going forth to speak out my thanks and count my blessings and not take anything for granted.

I am thankful for my faith!

Hobbies or Addictions?

So I have some things that I feel I have to do at least every other day if not daily...What determines if something is a Hobby or an Addiction? If they are fun and excite me - you would think they would be Hobbies of mine? However, I hear drugs and drinking are fun and exciting to some people but those are considered Addictions, right? Does a Hobby have to be something you make or something you physically do like a sport? Or is something you make just a craft and a sport just a sport? Mmm that is the question.... Here are the definitions of the two - Hobby: an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation Addiction: the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice The activities that I do for pleasure and relaxation, and in my mind are very habit forming as I feel I have to do some of them daily, every other day, or at least every 3 days are Facebook, Farmville, and Blogging. I don't watch much TV so maybe these have taken the place of tv? Either way, I feel happy about these as I get to share my thoughts and feelings and even get to farm a little on the side while doing it! I have several other things I am interested in at the moment, however, I do not feel as tied to them nor do I have to participate weekly. Maybe I will write about all of my interest in blogging to come. As far as I am concerned these are considered a few of my current interest, not necessarily hobbies or addictions :)