Thanksgiving recap

We had a great time in Ohio!

Some highlights:

• Both of our bosses let us leave early, so our trip got off to a great start!
• Packing, baking, and eating! I made these, and they were a big hit! Cathy & Jim are making the move down to their house on Sanibel Island, Florida so we had a lot of work to do to get all of David's stuff cleaned out & packed up.
• Dinner at the Crawfords. BEST food and company! I just love David's family.
• Black Friday. I left with Beth and Nicki and 3:30am to hit the stores! We were pretty successful, though David (who left at 4:45 and was back in bed by 5:30) got the best deals.
• Ice skating. We got to spend time with some of the best friends- Hannah, Sara and Raef! I just love those people, and we had a blast.
• Thanksgiving, Part Two. Grandparents, Johnsons & Geyers reconvened for leftovers. It was just as good the second time around and so good to spend time all together again.
• Uhaul. 5x8 trailor packed full. We brought home a lot of goodies from the Geyers, and our garage is still full!

And now, the pictures...

Brianna is obsessed with Tohny. The rest of us = chopped liver.

Back at home our lives were not nearly as exciting (as evidenced by my lack of pictures). We pretty quickly unpacked the trailer and car, though stuff only made it into the garage at first. Patrick & John came over to help Dave move the heavy stuff inside and upstairs, which helped a lot. We ate dinner with the whole Bryant fam (I love it when MS is in town!) and went back to the lake house to watch the Tennessee game slash fall asleep on the couch (cough:me:cough).

By the end of the weekend, we had accomplished quite a bit. All the laundry was done and put away, all of the inherited stuff that had a place was put away (the garage is still full of stuff that will probably have to live in the attic for a while), we saw the movie Blind Side (it was awesome. I cried like a baby.), did the grocery shopping, put up the Christmas tree and most of the decorations, wrapped all of the Christmas presents, and went to bed early. Whew.

Anyone else ready for a weekend?

thankful.

A: Amigos. Hey, we love that place.
B: Blogging.
C: Calvary Chapel Chattanooga.
D: Dunkin Donuts in town!
E: ESPN (this one was David's contribution).
F: Friends that are like family and family that are so great, we chose to be friends with them.
G: Geyers- a great family-in-law.
H: Harley Dog.
I: iMac.
J: Jesus,duh. The fact that He loves me is totally overwhelming.
K: Kraft macaroni and cheese. Still my fav.
L: Lawson Street, and our little abode.
M: Marriage. The greastest gift ever.
N: Nevada. Las Vegas. we're going there next month!
O: Ohio State Buckeyes.
P: Popsicles. My new favorite dessert.
Q: Quiet evenings when I'm home alone. I really have been loving that time lately.
R: Rochas. Our bffs.
S: Sewing machine, and a new found love for craftiness.
T: Technology. I love getting my email on my cell phone.
U: UTC. A job for me to be challenged in, but learn to love.
V: Volkswagen. A job for David to learn more than he ever expected to.
W: Walks around the neighborhood.
X: Xrays at the ER that came back negative. that come back negative (more than once this year).
Y: You for reading my blog.
Z: zzzz. Sleep at the end of a long day. Naps on Sunday afternoons.

my brother: the star

Last weekend Greg was in a play at school called Edges. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see it, but Ashley surprised him and showed up. I'm so glad she filmed parts of the play so I could see it! I'm seriously in awe of my brother's ability and I am so proud of him!

weekend recap

We had a great weekend- and now I'm ready for a vacation!

Fortunately, it's only a 3-day work week (the best kind).

Thursday night the Earleys came to visit! Matt, Arrington and Stevie spent the weekend with us and we loved having them. Friday they went to the Creative Discovery Museum (a Chattanooga must with a little one), and we ate at Amigos for dinner (a Geyer must). Saturday morning we didn't waste any time getting started on our day. We drug everyone out of bed early to hit up some pre-Thanksgiving sales. The big event of the weekend was the Ohio State v. Michigan game. Matt converted Dave into a die hard OSU fan during college, so it was fun to watch the game together. We invited some other fans over and had a great time!

Patrick came, but brought this ugly thing:

We can still be friends with Michigan fans, see??

These sweet girlies had so much fun together!

Too cute!

Saturday afternoon we all had food hangovers and needed some serious nap time! After we rallied the troops, we headed up to Lookout Mountain to Rock City's Enchanted Garden of Lights. Stevie loved it, and even the rest of us had a fun time.

Sunday consisted of church, craft time, rainy day naps (well, for D) and dinner with church friends!

Stevie quotes of the weekend:

• While we were walking Harley on Friday, I told Stevie that she was going to stay at our house for a few days. Her reply: "Yeah, because I brought a lot of panties."
• While the adults were upstairs watching the football game, the little girls watched a movie in our room. At one point, Stevie (who could not remember Adalie's name), came and told Matt "Matt, the little girl is stuck." [Addie had gotten her legs stuck in our baseboard. She was fine though.]

We are SO looking forward to this week. We're leaving Wednesday to drive to Ohio for the Geyer family Thanksgiving events! We can't wait to be there and to see everyone!

confessions

1. Whenever David's Monday night class has gotten out early (which has happened several times this semester), we have met at Amigos for taco night. This was the case Monday night. I had been trying to get a lot of work done around the house, so when he called I wasn't thinking very clearly. I hurriedly put the dog up and ran out of the house. While I was stopped at a stop light (about 3 blocks from Amigos), the man in the car next to me frantically got my attention. I [nervously] rolled down my window only to hear him say "You have about 25 feet of rope hanging from the back of your car- and the car behind you is parked on it!!".
Oops.
At one point in my evening I was working on things outside, so we use this rope to tie the dog to a tree - or in this case- to the hitch on the Trailblazer. In my haste to meet David, I apparently forgot to untie it. At least I untied the dog.

2. Last night David and I divided and conquered to maximize our evening. We were getting the house ready for the Earleys to come (yay! they're here!) and hoping to make it to D's boss's sons's soccer game. He ran to the grocery while I cleaned at home. He called me after a little while to tell me he had forgotten his wallet in his car (he drove the Tblaze to the grocery, but he typically drives the Accord), and I needed to bring it to him. I was annoyed, but got myself together to leave. I quickly called him back and said, "It's going to be hard for me to get there without my keys. They are in my purse in the Tblaze!" Ugh! So, we were both annoyed because we realized that meant David would have to come home and get his wallet.
Or not.
MY purse and wallet was in the Trailblazer! With David!
Duh.
Fortunately he figured it out before he made it all the way home, and we had a hearty laugh about our foolishness.

3. Later that evening (on our way to the soccer game- house clean and groceries put away), David checked in with the Earleys on the road and told Matt that wallet-in-the-wrong-car story. We were still laughing about it (kind of a lot), but Matt didn't react. You know when you don't realize the person on the other end of the call has been disconnected so you just keep on talking? Yep, that happened. We were both hysterical, and Matt didn't even hear the story! It made it that much better :).

On a different note, we watched Javier's son Raul play on the Normal Park soccer team last night, and it was so fun! Despite it being pretty cold and Normal Park losing the game, seeing the look on Raul's face when he realized we were there to watch him was TOTALLY worth it! Javier was equally excited, I think!

sweet little girls

A few weeks ago when my parents came to town, they brought several bins full of my stuff from their attic. They figure I can keep my junk in my own attic now :).

So, of course, I had to look through all of it- reminiscing the whole way. I was able to clean out and consolidate a little. I went from 4 bins to 3! They were mostly full of Holiday Barbies, school work (I'm a pack-rat who keeps all of that stuff) and cheerleading and gymnastics uniforms/medals/ribbons/etc. If you know anyone who wants to be a Calvary Christian School cheerleader for Halloween, I'm your man.

I also found these 4 pictures that are too sweet not to share:

Kimberly McIntosh, Megan Cannon and I were best buddies, and we always took pictures together on Easter (obviously).

A couple of observations:

• Whoa, bangs.
• I hope hats come back in style. I'll probably make my kids wear them- at least for Easter.
• That brown recliner is still in my parent's house. It has been recovered more times than I know! It's blue now.
• In the first picture, Megan looks like my friend Melissa's sweet baby Vale. 

It's so fun to look back on good times. These were good times!

my excuse for not blogging...

Today kicks off the online auction for our United Way campaign. It is going to be the end of me. Click here to check it out. There are hundreds of items! The online part is just pre-bidding for the actual auction that takes place December 2, so the fun (read: sarcasm) will last for the next few weeks! Yipee.

booth of photos

a few of my favorite things

As the weather turns colder, I am reminded of my favorite wintery things. Yes, I love the holidays, but I have a few favorite clothing items that get me excited about bundling up.

Disclaimer: I have no fashion sense. none. I love these items purely because of the comfort they provide.

North Face Women's Aconcagua Vest

David surprised me with this vest last winter (I had been eyeing it for years) and I hardly take it off. I'm wearing it right now over my sweater at work (totally doesn't go together). It is the perfect weight to add to any longsleeved shirt- and it's super warm too!

Patagonia Women's R 1.5

(apparently they don't make this anymore...)

I got this when we had a pro deal with Patagonia at camp (1/2 off!) and am so glad I did. Mine has started to get pilly and dingy, but I don't even care. It is the best pullover ever. Lightweight enough that you can wear it spring and fall, but heavy duty enough that it does provide some serious warmth.

Long-sleeved tshirts

I love wearing long-sleeved tshirts. This is my favorite one, and I can't believe I'm showing it to you. I got this shirt on a youth trip to Awanita in 2001. It wasn't even a great trip (in fact, the only thing I remember from the trip was the death-defying Hummer ride up a mountain that I hated every second of), but it was worth it for the tshirt. Now, 8 years later this shirt has seen lots of love, and it has the holey sleeves to prove it. Sometimes it isn't the source of the shirt that you love, but when you find a shirt that fits you just right and feels just right you can't help but love it (right, SaraZ?).

What are your favorite things to wear when winter arrives?

adventures in homemade

I've ventured into a new era- making things I would normally buy! Now, I'm not very "green" (I'd like to be, I'm just not that motivated), but I'm finding that there are simple ways to be more earth-conscience and save some money.

Example A: Changing from Swiffer dusters to washable microfiber cloths.
This was so simple! Of course, the idea came from Young House Love and I scurried over to TJMaxx to pick up my handy pack of 8 (!) washcloth sized dusting helpers for a mere $4.99 (one refil pack of disposable dusters costs about $9!).

B. Laundry detergent.
Inspired by the Duggars but motivated by Lanie Beth.
I had read about this before, but I was leary about it's effectiveness. When Lanie Beth endorsed it, I thought I should give it a try! My only problem was that I couldn't find washing soda ANYWHERE! I checked Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, Dollar General (some store said they had it), Bi-Lo, Walgreens and Ace Hardware with no luck! I finally ended up ordering it from Ace Hardware online and they shipped it to the store, but now I can't even find it on their website. Amazingly enough, Amazon has it for sale. The box I bought at Ace was the same size and about the same price ($6.99 for 55oz.). In fact- Amazon has Borax, Fels-Naptha and washing soda together for "Frequently Bought Together"  items for $18.27 total! That much stuff will make you laundry detergent for years. Seriously. Buy it.

C. Dish detergent.
YHL posted an awesome list of all-natural and homemade household cleaners. Since I already had the Borax from the detergent (I could only find a massive box of it at Walmart), it was pretty easy to throw together. However, after figuring it all up (I doubled the recipe: 8 packages off-brand KoolAid= $1.20, 4 cups baking soda= $1.90, 4 cups borax= about $2.64. TOTAL= approx. $5.74! I definitely don't usually spend that much on dish detergent. Sooo, this will probably be the last time I make this one.

We inagurated both detergents last night and everything seems to work just fine! Our clothes and dishes are nice and clean- and we were a little kinder to the environment than usual.

bench warmers

Our guest bedroom has an overhaul in the near future and it begins with a new bench!

I've been looking around for a bargain, and I found one at Liquidations by Lila with Beth a few weeks ago.

Before:

After:

and just because of the cute puppy:

The fabric on it is possibly temporary due to the TBD elements of the room makeover.
For now, it works like a charm!

long [fun] weekend

Last week I took Friday off and started our weekend early!

Thursday night my parents came into town to go with us to the grand opening of the new Carmike theater in town. Our family friend, Fred VanNoy, is the COO of Carmike and he gave my dad tickets for us. The event was a little crazy, but it was a fun excuse for my parents to come visit!

Friday night we watched the most special football game at Baylor. It was the last home game of the season (first round of the play-offs),  and Chuck's last home game of his high school career. The best part was that he got to start!! It was such a fun night to watch him play his heart out and lead his team to a mighty victory. We have loved watching him play over the years, and I am sad to see this phase come to an end.

Also Friday night, the Samford soccer team was in the first round of the SoCon tournament in Greensboro, NC. Unfortunately they lost (after 2 overtimes and 2 sets of PKs...). Kevin & Lynn Bryant went to NC so we kept the other kids at our house! We had a blast! We made brownies and stayed up late like a big slumber party.

Saturday we all slept in (which was soo nice) and had a lazy morning. After I finished up with a Samford conference call and the boys ran errands, we started our day (at about lunch time!). It was a gorgeous afternoon, and we enjoyed it at Normal-Palooza.

While the boys watched football all afternoon, Hayden and I had our own fun. First we took Harley to the Chew Chew Canine Park.  He LOVED it and it was fun for us too! When we got home, we decided to have craft time! We cozied up on our bed, put in a movie and made Harley some new toys. We just used left-over stuff I had at the house and they turned out pretty fun.

{Harley approved.}

Saturday night we went to Baylor to watch Grace in the play "You Can't Take it With You". She was Mrs. Wellington- and she was fabulous.

{Margaret Anne being a cutie}

{with the star!}

And Sunday, after church, Panera and the Market, I started a fun new project! I'll show pictures soon!

And now, on to another week!

Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your Name

In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

what noise does a peacock make?

I made Brianna's Halloween costume for this year -- she wanted to be a peacock! It turned out pretty cute and was more durable than I thought it might be. She wore it to our church's Harvest Night on Friday and to RBBC's Trunk or Treat Saturday.

(click on the picture to see it larger)

And we saw this sweet lady bug!

Happy [belated] Halloween!

crafting with B

Beth and I planned lots of crafts for the weekend they spent here! I was so excited to make fun things for Brianna - while she was actually here!

We completed 3 projects:

1. headbands

hahaha....

2. bow holder

3. cape

Inspired by this, but with a fun fabric!

(it'll probably look cuter with a long sleeved shirt and pants instead of Dora pjs :))

Halloween dress

Remember this from last year?

It fits now!

Samford vs. UTC

The Samford soccer team came to Chattanooga! The last game of the regular season and Samford won!

Cutest grandparent award!

The Hudson/Mosier/Bryant/Mosier crew. Love these folks.

Yay, MS! We are so proud of you!