New Toys

Today while I took down the Christmas decor Josh played with the new toy I got him for Christmas. At first I wasn't sure if he liked it or not but now I know the truth...he loves it. In fact, I've created a monster!

Josh wasn't the only one who got to play today. While we were busy with his new "pod" the doorbell rang. To my surprise my new digital camera was on my door step. It wasn't supposed to be here for another week so I squealed with excitement.

The battery for my new camera is charging at the moment. I hate that I can't play with it quite yet but it is only a matter of time. It should be up and running soon! I can hardly wait.

**Note: Josh noticed the t-shirt he is wearing in these pictures is also one he wore in some other recent pictures posted on my blog. I told him I would be sure to let you all know that I requested he wear this t-shirt today. You see, my mom bought us "matching" shirts last week and I've been promising her we'd take a picture wearing them. I'm going to put mine on soon so we can capture the moment.

Happy Birthday, Emily!

Today Josh and I went over to Laurie and Steve's house for Emily's birthday party. She turned 2 today. I can't believe it has already been two years since she was born. Emily had a lot of fun at her party. One of her favorite things to do was play "hit the balloon" with Kelly.

At one point Emily got a little tired of entertaining all the guests so she and her friend Reese went to play in her bedroom with Emily's new kitchen.

They had a lot of fun playing together! They are very good friends!

Emily received lots of neat gifts. She was thankful to have Josh there because he helped get them out of their boxes.

I was glad because Emily opened the present I got her all on her own. It was the Beth Moore book, My Child My Princess.

I had a lot of fun at the party. It was great to see Emily and spend time with some of my favorite friends.

Better Late than Never

Unfortunately I've been sick this week so I'm just now getting around to posting pictures from our Christmas gatherings. Christmas Eve is the big to-do for my family. It has been our family's tradition to open our presents on Christmas Eve and then receive our gifts from Santa and our stocking on Christmas morning. And although my sister and I are both adults we still get presents from Santa. We're going to enjoy it while it lasts b.c once kids make it into the picture I'm sure the Santa gifts will become non-existent. Oh, perish the thought!

Those present for our Christmas Eve festivities were:

Josh and my dad

My mom and Granny

Josh and Me

Me, Courtney (my sister), Chloe, Mom

Our first item on the agenda was to go to my aunt's house so my extended family could meet Josh. They wanted to give me their seal of approval. Fortunately he passed their test. I knew he would! After that we went back to my sister's house to eat Pizza Parlor pizza. YUMMM!!! Then we opened presents and drank hot chocolate. If you like hot chocolate then you have to try this kind. It's the best!

And on Christmas morning the highlights were:

Watching Chloe get into her stocking...

...and eating the most delicious croissants. You can order them here.

Branson Bound

Saturday morning, EARLY, Josh and I got in the car and headed to Branson to spend the day with some of his family. Before we left I packed a bag for the car of "things to do" on the way.

I was so excited because I was going to be able to use my new bag...a Christmas present from my friend Kelly (she also got me a super cute necklace that I love). When we got to Josh's aunt and uncle's house we sat around and chit chatted then we ate a great breakfast. Afterwards Josh and I made plans to go to The Landing and then to meet back up with the group at Silver Dollar City to see the Christmas lights.

Here's a picture of Josh and I in front of the fountain at The Landing. It's a little light because of the glare off the water.

After we left The Landing we drove around a while (went to Target and got me some gloves and a scarf for later) and then met everyone at SDC. The weather was pretty good all day until we got out of our cars at SDC. It started to sprinkle a little but nothing much.

This is Josh and I on the trolley.

Once we made it to the park it started raining a little harder...and harder...and harder.

Josh took shelter on a rock under a tree.

Once we met up with part of the group we decided to wait for everyone else inside the bakery. Hallie, Josh's 5 year old cousin, was with us and she and I entertained ourselves with the camera.

Josh took this picture

I took this picture.

Hallie took this picture. Notice her glove over the lens.

Once we met up with the rest of the group we made our way through the park...in the pouring rain! Not only that but the temperature dropped about 20 degrees. We were cold and wet. We tried to stick it out but we couldn't. Half of the group stayed and half of the group let. I only took a couple of pictures on our way out. Oh well...there's always next year!

Gift Exchange

Friday night Josh came over so we could exchange our gifts.

Josh knows me well! When he first arrived he presented me with these fabulous cupcakes...my favorite food and what should be a food group all its own!

These are all my gifts from Josh. He got me a bunch of small things and I got him on big one.

My favorite gift is the knob on the right. For a while now I've been driving around my car without one b/c it broke. It was rather embarrassing but I got used to it and didn't give it much thought. Josh, however, did give it some thought and he found the exact one online. It matches the other perfectly. He's so thoughtful! We had a great time opening presents. Afterwards we ate dinner and watched a movie. Or should I say Josh watched the movie and I "rested me eyes."

Surprise!

The other day I had the BEST surprise!! My friend Katie and her handsome baby Zach came over for a visit! It absolutely made my day! He's one month old today and he's as sweet as ever! The last time I saw him was in the hospital room soon after he was born and my how he has changed! Seriously, he is just the cutest thing! And he smells soooo good! The whole time I was holding him I kept smelling him. Katie was so gracious to let me hold him and love on him for such a long time. My arm was sore the next day but it was well worth it. Katie is one of my best friends and I'm so thankful to have her, and now Zach, in my life! I can't wait to see him grow up and become a fine young man! He sure is off to a good start!

Could he be any cuter? Not a chance!!

Roomie Christmas

Last night we had our roommate Christmas. Technically I only have one roommate, Holly. Our other roommate, Ashley, moved out this past year into her own house. Regardless of the technicalities I still refer to them both as "roomies." Holly and I loaded up our presents and headed to Ashley's house for dinner. Afterwards we sat around, chit-chatted, and then opened presents.

Holly and Ashley

Ashley's tree, Longar Longar* and our presents

We all got lots of really neat things! As for me, I got some Land's End house shoes, flour sifter, potholder and oven mit, Barefoot Contessa cupcake mix, cupcake holder, socks, gift card to Maggie Moos, pullover fleece, a canvas storage bin, and super soft socks. I'd say I had a really good night!

*On Saturday whiled watching the Hogs basketball game against OU I was inspired with another tree name, Longar Longar. This is the name of one of the OU players. Since I already have a name for mine, Holcombe-Faye, and Josh has a name for his, Perrilloux, I was deserpate to find someone worthy enough of the name. After seeing Ashley's tree I knew Longar Longar would do the tree well.

Just Beat It!

First of all let me start by saying I am a little disappointed we didn't get more snow. There was a small period of time when the snow flakes were huge and beautiful but it didn't last long.

Oh well! At least Josh make it home safely!

Most of the entertainment on Saturday came from our cleaning extravaganza. Holly, my roommate, is having her inter Christmas party at our house on Tuesday and so a lot of work needed to be done. Cleaning is not one of Holly's favorite things to do so she needed inspiration. She thought some good "tunes" would do the trick.

You might not be able to tell who that is on the tv so I'll tell you. It's Michael Jackson. Holly put in his Number Ones DVD and we jammed while we cleaned. Josh thoroughly enjoyed it and it certainly inspired him to help us clean. No one liked it quite as much as Holly though.

Pizza, It's What's For Dinner

Last night for dinner I decided to be lazy and just get pizza. It's been a long time since I've had Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza so I thought we'd give it a whirl. Kelly and Scott get it quite often and rave about it. Earlier in the week I got online and did my research on it i.e. the menu and nutrition information. I do this anytime I go eat somewhere. If I know in advance I look it up, see what looks good, and check out the fat and calories. Mainly because I want to know how much I need to work out to eat a particular thing or how good I might need to be for the rest of the day. When I looked up Papa Murphy's I discovered they have "deLITE" pizzas...half the carbs and calories. That sounded great to me! Last night when I went to place our order I got Josh a Papa's favorite (pepperoni, sausage, beef, onions, peppers, mushrooms, olives) and I got myself a pepperoni deLITE.

They were both sooooooooo good! As you can see we have lots of leftovers. Yea!!

And afterwards Josh was so full he had to stretch out.

One Year

Tomorrow, 12/15/07, is mine and Josh's one year dating anniversary. And because he is so sweet he sent me these flowers today at work. He knows my favorite flowers are tulips and they are beautiful, aren't they? I'm very thankful for my flowers and for Josh. He's great! He loves the Lord and he loves me! Does it get any better than that? I don't think so! I can't believe it's been a year already! It's been crazy and wonderful!

For those of you who don't know me I'll give you the background of how we met! Last year I had the privilege of co-leading a college girls Bible study through the BCM on the University of Arkansas campus. It was great! Taylor was one of the sweet girls in our Bible study and she had an idea! Last November she sent me an e-mail and told me she wanted to set me up with some guy named Josh. Taylor was one of the college students that worked with Josh's youth (in case you didn't know he's a youth pastor) when she attended a different university. Both Josh and I agreed to it so we began talking. We met each for the first time on December 9th and had our first date on December 15th. Since then we've been fortunate to spend almost every weekend together. Having a long distance relationship is difficult but God has blessed us!

So there you have it! There's our story so far! Stay tuned because this is only the beginning...

Let It Snow

I must say, there are a lot of anxious people around here because the local meteorologists are forecasting snow this weekend! That's right, snow! If it actually happens it will be the first snow of the season. A lot of times they'll predict it and it will just miss us here in Fayetteville. But I have a feeling, or maybe a hope, that it really will snow. I'll certainly stop at the 40/29 weather blog frequently to keep up with the latest news. It's been soooooo rainy and gross and I think a little snow would do us all some good. The only bad thing about these kind of forecasts is that the grocery stores will be crazy! Even crazier than the normal holiday rush. I guess that means I better make my list today. I think it's the law that when it's supposed to snow you have to buy milk and bread. Even if you don't need them. I'm sorry, but if I were to get stuck inside (and this isn't supposed to be a big snow maker so that shouldn't be the case) I'm pretty sure I'm going to want more to eat and drink than milk and bread!

Christmas Fun

I received a "Christmas Fun" email from several different people so instead of filling it out multiple times I've decided to post my answers on my blog. If you're in need of some blog content you should do it too.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial

3. When do you put up the tree? The weekend after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? After New Year's

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes!!!!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? mini bake oven

7. Do you have a nativity scene? A partial one...Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus

8. Hardest person to buy for? My dad

9. Easiest person to buy for? My roommate...she always tells me exactly what she wants

10. Worst Christmas? The year my mom told me all of my presents (she did it to teach me a lesson b/c I bugged her to death about them)

11.. Mail or email Holiday Christmas cards? I don't usually send them, but mail!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Miracle on 34th Street, Christmas Vacation, Elf

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?This year I started in October

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? CAKE

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night

18. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? I travel but only 40 minutes away

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donnor, Blitzen, Rudolph

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Christmas Eve
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? All of the hustle and bustle.

23. What I love most about Christmas? spending time with friends and family; eating good food

#4 and #5

Two more of my favorite "things" are my friends Laurie and Kelly! Last night the three of us had our Christmas celebration. We ate good food, opened presents, and had some great laughs. They are both two of the funniest people I know! I'm very fortunate to have them as my friends. I didn't bother posting pictures or even giving details about the night because I knew Kelly would already have it posted in detail by the time I made it home. Sure enough I was right! So for more details about our fun evening go here.

Saturday

Part 1:Sanford & Son

Saturday morning my parents loaded up a truck (generously provided by one of my dad's friends) and headed to Lamar.

Background info: My parents cleaned out two storage units of theirs and told Josh and I we could have it all if we wanted to have a yard sale. We decided a little extra money was worth it so we agreed to it.

Josh and I met them to help unload it all. I was pretty amused at the sight of my dad and a truck. For those of you that know my dad this is definitely not in his comfort zone. In fact on the way to meet us he and my mother had some issues filling up the truck with gas so a nice trucker stopped to help them. I think they looked pitiful enough that he had pity on them! Anyway, we all worked super hard to get the truck unloaded and did so in record time.

Afterwards my parents took us to lunch.

Part 2:Mary Did You Know...?

Saturday night Josh and I had the privilege of participating in the Living Nativity in his community Christmas celebration. Each church was responsible for a specific scene of the Christmas story. All of the scenes were set up at the City Park and people were able to drive through and look. It was a great ministry opportunity in the community. I for one was thrilled that there are still places in this country that allow things like this to take place and make it a community wide event. Anyway, back to the participation. Josh and I were Joseph and Mary.

Our particular scene was the one in Luke where Joseph and Mary met Simeon and Anna, two prophets, at the temple to present Jesus.