MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We're having a white Christmas here in Georgia...it's the first time since 1882! Oh, those big flakes look so pretty falling from the sky! They said we can expect an accumulation of 1"-3"! I say...BRING IT ON!

I hope each of you has had a very Merry Christmas and are enjoying time spent with family and friends. We've had a wonderful day, just the four of us! Tomorrow, we'll be traveling to South Carolina to spend a couple of days with Chris' family. So, sometime after the first of the year, I'll be sure to give an update on all we've been up to. For now, though...I'm having the time of my life with my husband and my girls!

Thinking of you all!

This, That, And The Other Thing

I've been so very busy these past several days! I've been trying to get ready for Christmas AND having Brittany come home from college...with her new boyfriend in tow! Then, last Friday night, I was diagnosed with a severe bladder infection (my first!) and was put on a round of antibiotics. Yesterday, I had an appointment with my urologist to make sure the bladder infection was cured and that it wasn't caused by my kidney stones. Good news is that the infection is gone, but my doctor said I could very likely be in the process of passing a stone(s). If that truly is the case, please, oh, please, let it be after the holidays! I'm not in any pain; only feel intermittent twinges of discomfort just below my left kidney. I feel pretty confident that everything will remain status quo for awhile....HOPEFULLY! :)

After I got home from the doctor, I scrambled around and finished cleaning the house, make homemade banana pudding, chocolate chip cookies, and spaghetti sauce. Brittany and her boyfriend, Daniel, arrived around 6:15 PM. Daniel had to rush downstairs for a quick shower before we could head over to see Abby sing in her choral performance at 7:00 PM. She did such a good job! Unfortunately, we were in such a hurry to head out the door that I forgot to grab my camera. Thankfully, I did take a picture of her and her select ensemble group when they sang at Barnes and Noble just recently. She's the 5th one from the right in the front row.

Now, I do have to share a little story with you about a certain "someone" in our family who's anxiously waiting for Santa's arrival. A few days ago, we wrapped Maddie and Bella's Christmas presents and put them under our tree. Maddie sits right beside hers and guards it all day long and into the night. She even naps beside it! If anyone even comes near the Christmas tree, she lets out a low growl to warn them to keep their distance. Keep in mind that Maddie doesn't have a mean bone in her body, but she does take her Christmas presents VERY seriously! What's even funnier is that she's gotten into a habit these past couple of days of walking over to her present, picking it up in her mouth, and quietly walking away with it in hopes that no one will notice. Well, I've caught her red-handed every single time and here's proof of what a sneak she is...

I just don't know if the poor ol' girl will be strong enough to wait 'til Christmas!

I'm going to do my best to pay you all a visit...just might take me a day or two to do so! I have a lot going on right now with Brittany home with her boyfriend. She's a bit frustrated with him right now because he NEVER offers to treat her to lunch or dinner. In fact, on their way home yesterday, she bought him lunch. They went to the mall today and he didn't even offer to buy her lunch while they were out and so they came home and warmed up leftover spaghetti. I'll update more at a later date. I'm so not ready to travel this road, again!

Have a HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Pioneer Living Isn't For Me!

Wonderin' where I've been? Probably not, but thought I'd explain my absence, anyway! :) You see, we've been without hot water for the past 3 days! Our water heater went on the brink. Oh, and to add to the DRAMA, Chris is out of town...just my luck! So, I've been having to boil 4 pots of water just to be able to bathe! Not a fun experience, mind you! The temps have been in the low 20's, so you can just imagine!

Needless to say, I had a close friend come by yesterday to try and rescue me from the predicament I was in. He was here for 7 LONG hours working on the water heater. He clipped wires, removed screws...you name it! Finally, though he wasn't able to "fix it", he was able to temporarily rig it so that Abby and I were able to take a hot shower last night. Boy, did it feel GOOD!

I put in a call to the plumbing company that installed our water heater first thing this morning. A technician came out and took a look at the work our friend had done...and just shook his head. He said, "He did more damage than good"...and my stomach sank! Basically, in a nutshell, he told me that what our friend did could have caused our house to go up in flames very easily. Plus, he said that gas could have leaked all throughout our house! WHAT??? How scary is that? Of course, you never really know if those guys are giving it to you straight or are they taking advantage of you?

Long story short is that the fix cost us $177. Oh, well, it got our hot water back and I, personally, couldn't be happier! I'd never make a good pioneer woman...I'm convinced of it!


P.S. My sweet and , oh , so crafty bloggy friend, Robin, over at The Robin's Nest, is having one amazing giveaway right now...go check it out!

The Path Of Destruction

Last week, just about 3-4 miles from where we live, an F2 tornado touched down and left behind an estimated 5 million dollars worth of damage to over 50 homes and businesses. We drove by the neighborhood yesterday that was hardest hit and here's some of what we saw...

This used to be a greenhouse at a nursery directly across the street from the neighborhood. It's completely demolished.

I was at home when the tornado hit, but I never heard a tornado siren go off. In fact, I didn't even know anything had happened until Abby came home from school late. She said they'd delayed the buses leaving due to the tornado and I asked, "What tornado?" Of course, it was all over the news in a short amount of time.

Thankfully, there was no loss of human life, but many families are displaced right now due to their homes being so badly damaged and many lost a lot of their personal belongings. However, it could have been SO much worse. Really makes you feel grateful to have been one of the "lucky ones".

All Decked Out!

Thought I'd show you some of my Christmas decor. If you're anything like me, you love to snoop around other people's homes, so here's your chance! I couldn't really go "all out" because our house is on the market and you have to veer away from having too much stuff sitting out.

Here's our Christmas tree all decorated. We set it up in our sun room right in front of a wall of windows. I'm really beginning to lean towards bronze, gold, and burgundy ornaments, though I do have some silver and a few whimsical ornaments on there, too.

Here's ol' St. Nick himself ready to greet any visitor who walks through our front door.

Chris bought this nativity set when we were early into our married life. I remember that he went down to Service Merchandise and bought it for me as a surprise and it's been an addition to our Christmas celebration ever since. Of course, I broke the hand and thumb off the angel's hand and had to Super Glue them back on. Abby pointed out to me that I glued her thumb on backwards. Hopefully, no one will ever be able to tell! :)

Sorry for this teeny tiny picture, but this is our mantel and our TV is hanging right above it, so I thought it looked best to cut it out. Might need a magnifying glass to see it!

This is the buffet in our dining room. The tree lights up and adds such a warm glow to the room.

Of course, I do have some favorite ornaments on our tree. Here's one I picked up this summer when we were in Hawaii...love those sea turtles!

This one is my brother, Kevin, who passed away in 2002.

Here's my dad who passed away in 2006.

Of course, here's my mom, who passed away in 2000.

Mom loved hummingbirds, so I hang this on the front of our tree up high in her memory.

And here I am with my brothers when I was just a baby.

So, as you can probably tell, many of our Christmas decorations for me are all about family memories. I simply wouldn't have it any other way. Hope you have a fantastic weekend! It's supposed to be COLD here in Georgia! Wintertime has definitely arrived!

I Did It, I Did It!

I'm still not feeling so great. The cough seems to be getting better, but I just have ZERO energy...I'm completely zapped! I'm beyond ready to start feeling like my old self, again. Hopefully, that will happen sooner than later...I'm running out of patience!

I wanted to share with all of you the wreath I made all by myself! My sweet bloggy friend, Jen, over at Tatertots and Jello was the inspiration when she showed how to make one on her blog. It really wasn't all that difficult, just a little time consuming to wrap the styrofoam balls with yarn. Now that I've made one, I feel pretty confident that I can do an even better job should I decide to make another one down the road. As I've said before, I'm definitely "craft challenged", so this was a huge accomplishment for me!

Not too bad for a newbie, huh? Sometime this week, if I can EVER get over this sickness, I'll be sharing more pictures of some of our Christmas decorations. Oh, how I love this time of year!