I'm Showin You My Christmas!

Alright ya'll, I'm linking up to Show You My Christmas! 

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! 

It was um, strange, around here. That's usually what happens when your dad decides to just not show up. You know. No big. Not like it was Christmas and he chose to spend it with his stupid girlfriend instead of his kids.

So, I spent a little of my Christmas backed up against the shower wall sobbing because yet again, things couldn't just be normal.

But then? Then? I soaked it up and decided that Christmas was what I made it. And I was going to make it a good one.

Okay, that's only half true ... I felt a lot better yesterday when it wasn't Christmas and it wasn't as big of a deal if people were assholes. 

And you know what else is awesome about Christmas?? The real meaning, Jesus' birth, can never be taken away from me. It's always there, it's always the same and it's always perfect. So, I kind of held on to that little thought all day.

Also, I got some pretty awesome gifts. And gifts always do a good job of cheering a girl up. 

I got a lot of really great things, most of which I picked out with a few surprises thrown in, but I'm just going to show you my two favorites. We still haven't opened with our dad so that could change things but I'm not quite sure when I'm going to want to do that, so it could be awhile. 

DRUMROLL .......

From Drew

From Momma

And of course a Christmas post wouldn't be complete without pictures from our day so here are just a few ... 

Another Favorite. I wanna be her.

My Loot.

I'm going to be sad to take down our Christmas decorations. I love the light. But I can't say I'll be sad to see Christmas go. I'm always excited to have it come and happy to scoot it out the door.

Now on to a fabulous 2012!!

Sometimes plan B works out just fine.

Since Thursday & Friday were my Fall Break, my dad wanted to spend some time with me. 

I found out about Brown County park adding ziplines and with lots of effort, talked him into doing them with me yesterday. 

However, their website sucked and is a liar & one page said the lines were available all day & then when I went to actually book it, it said they were only open at 9 & 11 a.m.. I wasn't able to do either of those, so we just couldn't do it. 

I was really sad.

But, much to my surprise, my dad had plan B when I told him we couldn't do the ziplines ... he wanted to go horseback riding. 

'

So, we headed out to Brown County yesterday & afternoon & rode horses. 

We had about a 35 minute wait so I brought out my camera and took some pictures. I'm so glad I always have my camera with me, some of these turned out just beautiful! 

I didn't know this, but my dad worked out at this very horse barn when he was a boy, so he has lots of fond memories from that. He really liked telling me all about how he used to spend the night up in the top of the barn and how one Memorial Day (in 1963) they counted 4,000 horses because people brought their own.

I'm really thankful for the times we've been sharing together lately & I know I'll be even more thankful for them down the road.

Toes in the water, Booty in the sand

It's the first day of July which means ... It's time for the yearly family vacation! 

Can I get a, "thank sweet baby jesus" in unison please?

While you're reading this I'm probably sleeping in the back of the car or maybe reading a magazine or watching a Redbox movie. (thank goodness for Redbox.)

Anywho, I'm going to try really hard to stay off my computer & cell phone while I'm on this trip and just totally soak it up. 

I can't promise you wont see some picture posts but this little space of the internet will be lacking words for awhile.

I need a break! 

But don't fret! I have some fabulous guest-bloggers lined up for while I'm gone. You won't be disappointed.

See you on the flip side!

Smoochies.

Say Cheese!

Exciting News!! 

Our family is getting pictures taken the weekend after next! 

Okay, maybe that news isn't as exciting to you as it is to me but it's really exciting to me!!

I seriously love all things photography & since it's been 10 years a while since we've had any taken, I decided it's time.

We're using a local photographer, Angie Jackson, who does a seriously awesome job without requiring me to hand over my kidneys to get the prints like some photographers in town.

Will & Paige, the cuties I babysit.

Look at this cutie in his Butler gear!

Angie does lots of different kinds of sessions of course, but the one we're doing is called a mini-session.

 It will only be about 30-minutes in a location she picks but I'm totally fine with that because not only is it cheaper but my brother is not a fan of pictures so the quicker the better.

Now the fun part is picking out outfits!

My mom suggested blue jeans & white shirts but I let her know that matchy-matchy stuff is so 90's.

What color combinations do you love?

ps. I'm getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow so you may not hear from me for a couple days but you should definitely expect lots of funny pictures soon! 

Sweet Baby James

The highlight of the weekend?

Going to the James Taylor concert with my mom & brother (quite easily, my 2 favorite, most loved people).

A few months ago, my mom asked if I wanted to go to the James Taylor concert. She's quite the concert lover. I contemplated not going because, James Taylor? I like him, I thought, but I don't love him. But then I remembered who was footin' the bill for the thing & decided I should take advantage of the opportunity.

Apparently my brother felt the same way because he joined us too. 

He arrived at my dorm just 10 minutes before my mom did, so we got a quick talk in & then hopped in the car to go to Binkley's for dinner. I had made reservations online and we were seated as soon as we walked in. The atmosphere at Binkley's is amazing & the food is just as good. Kyle got a beer, mom got wine and uh ... I got water & we had great conversation that only happens every once in a while between all three of us. 

Our food came out quickly & let me tell you, my Tilapia topped with mushrooms & bacon was to die for. I'm so glad I didn't get that cheeseburger I had thought about getting because dang! good food is good food.

We quickly headed over to the theatre where JT was going to be playing & walked in to find that Kyle & I were the only ones under 50. Not really. There were some 30-year-olds. 

"I don't think I've ever seen so many old people move this fast in my life", Kyle said. Well put, buddy.

James Taylor came out on the stage soon after we got there & played one song before introducing his son, the son of he & Carly Simon, who is touring with him as well. Together, they played for almost 2 hours & I changed my mind. I do love James Taylor. His voice is like the sleep that comes after being the perfect amount of tipsy or like the breeze off the beach on a summer night. So soothing. Perfect.

 Sorry for the poor picture quality, we were pretty far back!

I was in my dorm asleep by 11:30 & despite the fact that I woke up to more than one text in the morning asking me why the heck I wasn't out partying, I loved the chance to hang with my 2 favorites in the presence of the wonderful James Taylor & his son, Ben Taylor.

Christmas At Last!

Christmas was lovely.

We worked really hard to make it that way.

Divorce & death have changed our holidays and in a very bad way. I was determined that the two ugly D's wouldn't run our Christmas anymore - and they didn't. Our Christmas rocked!

Christmas Eve started at 10 a.m. when my best friend, Nikki & her mom came over for french toast & gift exchange. Nikki's dad died last year and our families are miraculously alike (and our moms are both super awesome) so not only has our bond strengthened, but our moms hang out now too. Nikki & Judy are our best friends and it was so lovely to start the holiday out with a nice breakfast and our really great friends! 

After breakfast, we hurried up and got ready to go to our cousin's house because that's what we do every year. We only see these people once a year on Christmas Eve and even though my brother always thinks it's really awkward, I love it. More good food, more good family. What more could we ask for?

By the time we left our cousins house, we were super tired so we took a fast nap before church. 

Our church is really big, so we had 4 Christmas Eve services this year. We went to the first one, the kid's service. Holy Moly! It was hilariously adorable. It was a skit about throwing a birthday party for Jesus put on by K-4th graders. At one point, I was in tears laughing at an adorable little boy singing up front. It was so sweet to see the little kids all pumped about Christmas.

Drew's grandma has everyone over on Christmas Eve every year, and it's something I look forward to. The food is delicious and the people are fun and it almost always includes at least one game of Friends Scene it. Drew got me a really cute bracelet, some awesome workout pants and a sports bra that I really wanted. I loved it all! We decided that it would be a small christmas since we don't have much money and we're not technically together anyway. 

We matched!

His dad got a colts hat, obviously.

Since my family had already gone to church, I didn't join Drew's family at the midnight church service. Instead, I went home to wrap more presents and stuff stockings. By the time I crawled into bed, I was more than ready!

My brother got a really big gift (a MacBook Pro) from both of my parents for Christmas. Since the gift was from both of my parents, we invited my dad over to open presents Christmas morning too. It was so nice to have him there and for an hour or so, feel like our family was back together. 

I woke up to him making biscuits and gravy (probably why I'm not trying really hard to lose 5 pounds)

My brother, Kyle, never wakes up early on Christmas Day. For the last 2 years I've gone to other people's houses and come back before he's even been awake. Not this year! He was up really early & so of course, I had to document it.

 

Mornin Sunshine!

Santa had filled the stockings. And the opening began.

After opening presents & receiving way more than I should have, I got my clothes on & went over to Drew's to check out his presents. Together, we came back over to my house for my family dinner - homemade lasagna!

The night ended quietly with a fire rolling and Christmas lights gleaming. Our house was cozy and my heart was filled with love and gratefulness for the awesome family & friends we have and the first holiday that really felt great in a long time.

Joy is in the heart of the beholder

Last week, or maybe the week before, Blair at The Heir to Blair wrote about her joy - the things that make her happy, and she asked what makes our hearts happy.

I started to write about it because I like writing about happiness, but my words all felt so cliche and dumb so I clicked on the Facebook tab about the page and started mindlessly stalking.

But tonight, I'm done with finals and I'm home for almost a month and my heart is freakin' exploding with joy.

I never knew how much this house really meant to me until I left it.

Today was hard. The whole last week has been hard, but today was the hardest of them all. I was on the last stretch of the marathon that is finals week and I could barely keep running. I woke up at 8:30 a.m. to a friend popping her head in my room asking if I was ready to study yet. "I'm so tired," I said, "I just wanna sleep a little longer, I think I'll do better on the test." She said okay with a smile and left, but when I do that I can't ever really go back to sleep again. Not when I know I should be up gettin' stuff done. So we worked, I conducted an interview, showered, took a long test, finished 3 papers, packed up, dropped the papers off at professor's offices and drove home. I honestly didn't think I'd make it.

but I did.

I pulled up to my house at 3440 Forsythia (that has been my house since I was in utero) and I sat in front of it thinking about how pretty it is with the white christmas lights strung over the bushes and the big wreath my nana made right smack in the middle of the house with a spot light shining on it.

it's my house.

I walked inside to find beautifully decorated christmas cookies, the fireplace on, the dim lights of the christmas tree glistening and my momma on the couch.

and that my friends? is where I find my joy.

I find my joy sitting in this lay-z-boy that I pulled up in front of the fire place just feet from the T.V. with stockings on one side of my peripheral and the glistening christmas tree lights in the other. I find my joy in the sound of my dog's toenails on the hardwood, because that's familiar.

This is my home, it's my safe zone, and I find my joy here.

Every ornament tells a story

I LOVE getting things ready for holidays. Whether it be Christmas or Easter, I love decorating and all of the good things that comes with it.

And although I love all of the holidays, I love Christmas best of all. I love giving gifts and seeing people's faces light up when they receive something they didn't expect or were really wanting. I love wrapping those gifts, I love huge bows that my nana taught me to make. I love Christmas music and food and cookies ... Are you getting it yet? I LOVE CHRISTMAS.

I've always loved Christmas, but I never realized until this year, how much I really appreciate decorating the tree and all of our ornaments.

This year, as I put the ornaments on one by one, I realized how much meaning every single one had and I decided that it would only be fitting to write about my favorites, so here we go ....

This baby has been on our tree every year since I was four. It was given to me by my God-parents obviously, but I think it holds the most meaning simply because it's been hanging on our tree for almost as long as I can remember.

This isn't an ornament, but it's an ornament box that I see every year, one that held a special ornament I made for my parents when I was in pre-school. Can you spot the gingerbread man?

Nana gave Kyle and I ornaments every single year until we were about 10 and they were all Mickey & Minney. Not sure where she got them but since we no longer have her, little things like these mean a whole lot more

This guy is pretty hard to see, but he's a moose sitting on top of presents. Ornament exchanges were a regular event for my little group of friends in middle school and the moose was one of the ornaments I got from an exchange. I think he's so beautiful. & middle school was so fun for me!

We go to Ocean Isle, NC every single year and enjoy a whole week on the beach with our family. One thing we never miss doing while we're there, is going to St. Nick Nacks in Calabash. "Calabash Style Seafood" is a pretty hot commodity and so while we wait in the inevitable hour or 2 hour line at The Boundary House or our old favorite, Dockside, we shop at St. Nick Nacks which is close by. It's room after room after room of everything from yankee candles, to flip flops, to fudge and about 8 rooms of Christmas decorations. This turtle is an ornament I got last year. Who doesn't need a little beach on their christmas tree?

These guys are also from St. Nick Nack's. Aren't they so fun?

Ok, I'm not sure if I've said this before on the blog, but I really don't like birds. I think they're gross and creepy and YUCK. However, these clip on birdies (which you can find for a high price at places like Anthropology) were my mom's mom's .... so my grandma's .... but I never met her. I still love them though, because they're an heirloom that were on my grandma's tree, on my mom's tree and probably, eventually, on my very own tree.

This dalmation TV that you stick a light into, is the very first ornament I can remember getting that was alllll mine. I picked it out for myself.

I still think it's cute, don't you?

I think I took this picture while my mom was telling the story, whoops. But she said, this ornament was one that Nana gave to her the year after I spent all of Christmas climbing in and out of boxes.

Here's our finished tree!

With everything from ice-sicles to star fish, from birds to dogs and babies to vintage ornaments, our tree is full or stories.

What stories do your Christmas decorations tell?