Christmas Morning

jack henry's 2nd Christmas!

Meemaw and Boppa singing Christmas carols

he liked my present the best!

the boys....

the girls....

Christmas was so different this year. I officially felt like an adult. Not only because I cooked dinner, but now that we have a second generation running around the living room, opening presents is more like.... quick! open the presents! the baby's going crazy! While we were opening presents, he would pick them up and throw them (he thinks everything is a ball). It's pretty entertaining... and quite hectic, in a good way. I was cracking up actually. I can only imagine what it will be like when there are more than just one running around! I am definitely looking forward to next Christmas, when Jack Henry actually knows what's going on and can open his own presents and get excited about Santa. It will be so fun! I love how the center of attention is always on the baby... he thinks the world revolves around him. And sadly (but not so sadly), it basically does.

Christmas Dinner Success!

Our Christmas dinner was amazing! I am so impressed with my sister's and my cooking skills! We had some anger and frustration during the process, but everything worked out flawlessly. We cooked the most amazing dishes in the whole world... and I am still stuffed. I loooove good food!

Christmas is here!

Christmas is finally here! Yippee! This is the first day that it actually feels like that time of year!

I have had such a great time with my family and friends here in Atlanta. I get to spend time with my old friends from high school, who are and always will be my very best friends in the whole world. Plus, Drew lives only 30 minutes away so he has been able to visit me here and I have been able to visit him there... how convenient!

Every time I come back from college I remember how much I absolutely love living in Atlanta, and I fall in love with it more and more every time. Even though Charleston is amazing and beautiful and so much fun, I think my heart will always belong to Atlanta. Its so diverse and culturally-rich and has a little bit of every kind of person and place... Plus, its in the south, where its warm! And... my whole family lives here.... can't beat that.

So now it's Christmas..... and we are going to sit in our living room, which is only used once a year, and admire our wonderfully decorated $25.00 tree while we open up the presents that were placed there yesterday.... (at least I'm not the only procrastinator in my family)

My sisters and I are cooking dinner today, so hopefully it goes well! AAHHH! I'm nervous!

Here's our menu:

Artichoke dip as an appetizer

Honey Baked ham

scalloped potatoes

green beans

butternut squash

a delicious salad (with goat cheese, of course)

crescent rolls

cosmos as our signature cocktail

and... spice cake with a cinnamon cream cheese icing for dessert

ummmm.... YYUUUMMMM!!!  I love Christmas!

My Meemaw <3

My grandma, I call her Meemaw, has been admitted into the hospital for the second time in the past couple of weeks.  She has pneumonia and is getting fluid drained from her lungs for the second time. She has been trying to regain her strength and mobility at a rehab center, but she desperately wants to go home. Luckily I will be able to drive home tomorrow to visit with her and help out my mom who is taking care of her at the hospital. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she continues her recovery.

 I've collected a few of my favorite photos of her to share with you so you can see just how amazingly awesome she is. She really is, literally, the best grandma ever!

She and my grandpa at their 60th wedding anniversary... cutest couple in the world

Holding her great-grandchild, Jack Henry!

Playing my cousin's wii.... how technologically advanced she is!!!

Performing an amazing belly dance for our family (she used to be a belly dancer)...

Her and my grandpa go to the gym in their sports attire every day!

She is the most amazing 88 year old lady I know.... I love you Meemaw! Can't wait to see you tomorrow!

A Charleston Christmas!

I love Christmas in Charleston. The weather amazing (except when it rains...). We have a few warm days every now and then, and the cold nights are just cool enough to feel the Christmas, wintery feeling, but not cold enough to make your fingers and nose feel like they're going to fall off. The city is decorated all over with wreaths, red bows and Christmas lights, which gives me warm fuzzies when I walk down the street. I must say, Christmas palm trees are the prettiest thing I've ever seen!

Of course, Cupcake at Christmastime is so fun! We listen to the Nutcracker soundtrack, while decorating cupcakes with candy canes, sparkles and festive sprinkles. We also go a little overboard sometimes and make ridiculous, inedible cupcakes to display, like this enormous snowman made of extremely sugar-filled icing.

Spending time with my favorite people decorating gingerbread houses with the largest candy supply in the world was definitely the highlight of my Charleston Christmas. We had tons of fun laughing at each other's fallen, broken houses (mine and Drew's) and envying the perfectly decorated and put-together ones (Olivia and Tyler's....) I have eaten way too much sugar this season!!! I have no self-control.

Octopi...

Watch this amazing video about octopi... I told you they were cool! They are so smart... they've started using tools. How exciting! This video is so strange and hilarious, it fascinates me!

Octopus Snatches a Coconut and Runs

Semester Officially OVER! and a Charleston Christmas Parade!

Okay... finals are done, car stuff is taken care of, house is clean and I can finally sit back, relax and have literally nothing to worry about. That is until next semester. This is the first time I have actually been able to sit at my desk on my computer... That is terrible, I know. I basically use my desk as a place to store binders, books, papers, bills, etc... during the semester. Where do I do my school work? In my bed and on the couch.... so pathetic, I know, but oh well!

Last week, while I was winding down from school, Olivia and I were in Charleston's Christmas Parade! I was actually a little worried about it beforehand. We went with Cupcake of course, and I was in it because no one else would volunteer and I told Olivia I wouldn't do it unless she did too! It turned out to be an absolute blast! Co-worker, Noodle, and I ran beside the cupcake cars and handed out candy, gift tokens and coupons the entire time. It was so hilarious! I would get so far behind the cars that I had to run full speed to catch up. I looked like such a goon... but so did Noodle. Olivia decided she would just sit in the back of the Cupcake station wagon and wave to the crowd instead of running around... smart decision. I was so tired afterward!

So I was literally dressed as a pink ball of fur... and I ran around like a crazy person. People were yelling at me from all directions to give them candy! It was a little stressful but absolutely fantastic at the same time. Drew's parents were in town that weekend (what great timing...). Lucky them, they got to see me look like a goon and take embarrassing pictures to send Drew... fabulous... but I was so excited to see familiar faces on the sideline! It made my day.

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The underwater world fascinates me

We went to the Atlanta Aquarium. It was so amazing! I am fascinated by the underwater world. It really blows my mind that there is literally a whole second world on our world that is even bigger than our world... does that make sense? The ocean creatures completely amaze me, they are so strange and interesting. I especially love the octopi... they completely amaze me. It's also my life goal to see a Blue Whale. Seriously, the most amazing creature on earth, mainly just because its huge but I would absolutely DIE of happiness (and shock) if I ever saw one.  The aquarium in Atlanta is the largest aquarium in the world (weirdly enough), they have Beluga Whales annd whale sharks plus every other kind of creature you can imagine. Its pretty awesome.

So, while we were there these people gave us these special tickets to go see some kind of shark exhibit. I was pretty excited because they are like $30, and we got them for free. I really wanted to get tickets to the 3-D show about a cartoon fish named Deepo, but since we got tickets for the shark thing for free, we had to go. I thought it would be fun and interesting.... but no. I couldn't be more wrong. It was the longest, most boring museum of my life. Well, maybe not the most boring, but it was pretty bad. I am not a museum person, I'm too ADD to pay attention and read everything. I just look at the pictures and keep moving. However, Drew is the complete opposite. He wants to read every single little thing. I was so impatient, I was literally acting like a 5 year old and tugging his arm to keep moving. Since when is Drew so interested in SHARKS??? WHO CARES about what each kind of shark tooth looks like??? or what a shark diving cage is made out of??? NO ONE! It had nothing interactive in the entire museum and no real sharks to look at. I was dying. I would have much rather bought tickets for the 3-D cartoon fish movie.

Anyway, after the boring shark museum we got to go to the place where you can pet real live sharks and sting-rays, and that was WAY more up my alley. I was actually in heaven.

The world is against me...

Sooo... I was driving back from my very last final of the semester. I was thinking, ohh my life is back together! I have a rental car, my other car is getting fixed and my last final is OVER!! Ohh joy! Then.... all of the sudden....I get hit... hard. WWHHAAATTT???!?!!!! I couldn't believe it, what is my luck???!!! This time I wasn't even scared and shaken up like last week, I was just pissed off and annoyed.... but then I calmed down pretty much right away and thought, well, everything will work out. Once again, I'm just glad everyone was safe. One car was totaled and the other had to get towed away. Luckily, I was the one with the least damage and could drive away safely. It's okay, though... accidents happen, right? And sometimes bad things always happen all at once, so hopefully, this is the last bad thing for awhile. I can always hope!

I can cook! (some things)

While I was home I took advantage of my parents spacious kitchen, their various appliances and the abundant amount of ingredients to make some awesome, delicious food. First, I cooked this butternut squash lasagna that olivia made for one of our dinner parties a few months ago. I messed up during the process of making it, of course, but it still ended up tasting great! Good thing!

And for dessert... I continued to cook some amazing. delicious. mouth watering. pumpkin chocolate cookies. I have to say, I cooked them perfectly, but the batter was for sure, without a doubt, my favorite part. Seriously, best cookies ever. And they're really not hard to make at all!

Can't wait to go home for Christmas break so I can cook even more! It makes a world of a difference when you can actually chop vegetables on top of a counter, instead of a washer and dryer... like in my miserably cramped kitchen here in Charleston....

I got fat and I don't care, because I love Thanksgiving!

I love to stuff myself full on Thanksgiving! I always get a bit of everything and then mix it together and eat it. Yuumm. My uncle makes the best turkey in the whoooollleee world. It is always so delicious!

I made the croissant rolls... because they're pretty much impossible to mess up!

Rita made lots of delicious dishes including an amazing salad with goat cheese and a balsamic mint dressing... oh it was fantastic!

My mom made the most delicious stuffing in the world....

Our dining room table was so pretty and festive for the holiday!

And my favorite part of the whole day, was finding out that my sister trained her baby, Jack Henry, to make this face whenever you say, "funnyy facce!!!" It was soooo adorable and hilarious.

We also went to see the Blindside, and I highly recommend it! How I looooovvvve Thanksgiving!