Scenes from Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas spent with those we love most, and I couldn't be more thankful for that. We did a tour of Tarrant County on Christmas Eve, but it was worth it to see both of our families and worship at our own church. (Hurst to Aledo to Hurst to Fort Worth to Colleyville. Whew).We spent Christmas day in one place (Colleyville at my parent's) which was perfect. I hope you and yours had a very merry Christmas too.

These photos were all taken Christmas Eve.

8 Years and Counting

I've droned on and on about my inner circle plenty on this blog, but it's because they are such a big part of my life and I am so.thankful. for them. All six of them. We got together over the weekend for our EIGHTH annual girl's weekend: Christmas edition and it was such a good time. We started this little tradition when six out of seven of us were still in college, facebook had just come to Baylor and flip phones were cool. The "weekend" used to be a day trip to Salado to enjoy their Christmas stroll, eat like VIPs at the Mansion (no longer in business) and browse through their cute little shops. A few years, some grown up jobs and a few weddings later our day morphed into a weekend that rotates. We were in San Antonio last year, Grapevine the year before and this year we stayed at the new Dumas casa in Allen. Plans are already in the works for 2013 when our little tradition turns ten. We're going big. The party planning committee is currently scouting locations. Suggestions welcome.

Here's a snapshot of our weekend. You can imagine there was a lot of laughing, storytelling, reminiscing and EATING ;) We're pretty good at all of the aforementioned.

we were asked to be on a tourism video for the city of frisco. so randomly funny.

Slice Up the Fruitcake



Don't you just hear this song when you read that? Ok, maybe it's just me. I heard that song on 94.9 the other day and for some reason I was so tickled by it. Who knows why, but I knew I wanted it for a little sign in my kitchen. Never mind that this in no way matches anything in my kitchen, or the rest of my house for that matter. It sure looks cute in an old black picture frame though. I love re-purposing. Not sure if I'll keep it, but for now it makes me smile. Feel free to download it if it makes you smile too.

Another thing that's bringing a smile to my face today: It's the annual Inner Circle Christmas weekend and I can't wait! Woohoo!

Last Minute Christmas Idea

Anyone looking for a last minute Christmas gift idea for me? This would look awfully nice in my office. Framed of course.

P.S. Did anyone see RG3's acceptance speech last Saturday night? I skipped a wedding reception to watch it live, and I bawled cried like a baby as our beloved quarterback so eloquently accepted such a prestigious award. It's been a rough couple of decades for the tried and true Baylor football fans, but it was all worth it for this fan last Saturday. Sic 'em Griff!

Festive

I think I inherited the festive decorating gene from my mother. I put something (most of the time a lot of things) out for nearly every "holiday." I don't, however, go to near the lengths that my mom does. (31 Christmas trees anyone)? I do enjoy feeling festive, though, especially at Christmas. This is my fifth Christmas in my house and the first that I don't have a scheduled dinner party or event to host. It's kind of sad and kind of nice. I have a few friends coming over here and there, but nothing big. Because of that I didn't feel quite the pressure to put everything Christmas I've ever owned out, instead, just my favorites. Speaking of favorites, here's a little peak at my favorite room in the house: my sun room. I kept it simple. Those sprigs are fresh and smell delicious and the pine cones are from our camping trip to Arkansas last year. The sun room tree (yup, I've got two) is decorated with only vintage ornaments, most of them from my parent's first tree. L-O-V-E. Glad tidings friends!

Knick Knack Hunting

best corny dogs ever. mmm.

December is such a crazy busy time of the year. It's the best kind of busy though, right? In spite of the overloaded schedules and commitments my aunt and I carve out a day each year to go "knick knack hunting" (as Justin calls it). Read: day trip to Canton. We've been doing this for a few years now and it's definitely something I look forward to. My aunt and I have always been close and we enjoy the little mini getaway. This year we both spent a little too much money, but we got some great deals and I marked a few things off of my Christmas shopping list! We also splurged on some fried goodness. Totally worth it.

little piece of heaven on a stick

fried "taters"

 Now to hit the gym...

Happy Birthday Nat!

My best friend from Baylor, Natalie, turned the big 3-0 on Monday. (I'm sure she loves me broadcasting that, but she owns it and makes 30 look pretty fantastic). Not that I'm in any hurry to see for myself. I choose to hold at 29 thank you. Anyway, six out of seven inner circle friends + significant others met for lunch and then surprised Nat with a birthday tailgate before the Baylor/tech game at Cowboys Stadium. You can thank us for the lovely winter cold front that blew in just in time. We had a great time celebrating Nat and watching our Bears stretch their winning streak to four. A great birthday present in my opinion.

We hope your day was special Nat, as you are so special to all of us. Thank you for entering into this scary new decade first and showing us that it's not that bad. We're right behind you! I'm thankful everyday that you so "coincidentally" bumped into me in the Barfield Drawing Room bathroom on that summer day in 2000. I love you, friend!

Yup, that happened

via Baylor Athletics

Baylor beat OU. For the first time EVER. And Justin and I were lucky enough to see it in person. It is without a doubt one of the biggest wins for any Baylor team and certainly the largest in the last decade. It felt so good. The game also helped boost RG3's Heisman standings and almost assuredly guaranteed his ticket to New York. It's a great time to be a Bear. And a really great time to be a season ticket holder. I'm going to relish in this win for a long time coming.



nat cried. i was too shocked to cry. what a great night.



it was exceptionally humid on saturday. cool, but humid. excuse the hair...

Celebrations

It's been a week of celebrating around these parts and I'm currently (fittingly) celebrating the fact that it's the weekend! Woohoo. What's so exciting about this weekend in particular? Next week's a short week and after Thursday I can finally listen to Christmas music without feeling guilty. I may or may not but definitely will force ask Justin to listen to Christmas music all the way back from Beaumont on Friday. Good times ahead.

Back to the celebrating. We kicked off the week a little early on Sunday afternoon by taking Keira to the park. We were rewarding her for doing so well with potty training. She's turning into such a big girl and we love spending time with her. It's clear I'm her favorite aunt. Never mind the fact that I've got the market cornered seeing as I'm her only aunt. Semantics. Anyway, we had a great time with my first niece.

she told me she was trying to touch the clouds while she was swinging

determined

Monday night I trekked it to Plano with mom, dad, Aimee and baby Micah. We celebrated several family birthdays and had a great time enjoying each other as a family. I'm completely sad that we won't all be together for Thanksgiving. Bebe and Dede (my grandparents) will be in Arkansas for Dede's job. (He could easily retire, but loves working). Justin and I will be in Beaumont with his family. My first Thanksgiving away. Feels weird, although I'm excited to experience the holiday with Justin's family. Anyway, dinner was fun, minus Keira falling out of her chair and getting a nasty goose egg. Scary time, but she's okay.

Tuesday night the celebrating continued with Justin and I celebrating our two year anniversary of dating. He sent me my favorite flowers and we re-created our first date. We even set in the same booth. We nixed the movie part due to the fact that it was a Tuesday night, we were both tired and Justin had to drive home. It's okay, we enjoyed dinner and reminiscing.

The week ended with a super fun girls night with some very dear friends at one of my favorite Fort Worth spots. I may or may not have completely embarrassed myself by running into an (immaculately) clean glass wall. Not one of my finer moments. Thankfully, my friends decided to have dinner with me anyway and it was fabulous. Both the dinner and the company. And the s'more calzone. Yikes.

Finally, here's hoping we're celebrating Baylor beating OU tomorrow night. We'll be there to see it either way. Fingers crossed. Sic 'em.

Manic Monday



via

 Today is not my day. This morning I spent too much time reading the paper (on my phone) when I should have been getting ready for work. That resulted in me accidentally leaving the house without mascara. How I did that I still do not know. I don't wear a lot of makeup, but I've always said that if I could only use one thing out of my makeup bag each day it would without a doubt be mascara. Red hair = blond eyelashes people. I don't really have a choice. Anyway, somehow I managed to just simply miss a step in my morning ritual.

My au naturale eyelashes wasn't the end of it either. I was pulling into my garage for lunch (I love living five minutes from work) and hit my side mirror on the side of my garage! Ugh. At least it didn't really do anything to my car. At least nothing that can't be buffed out. I guess I'm just a little off of my game today.

So why isn't this a horrible day? Well, for starters, a little fresh face and a scratch on my car aren't exactly earth shattering occurrences. Second, Justin called me this morning just to tell me he loved me. Sigh.

thanks

I am loving all of the "30 days of Thankfulness" posts floating around the blog/facebook/twitter world. I don't pretend to be diligent enough to post daily, but I love reading everyone else's posts. I am thankful for a lot of things, mostly things I don't deserve at.all, but I'm too flaky to remember to post them everyday anywhere. While I'm thinking about it, here are just a few of the mundane and not so mundane things I am thankful for.

a boyfriend who is my biggest fan and loves me for me

family who love me for me

friends who love me for me

a cozy little house to call my own

a job that allows me to think outside of the box and do what i love for a living

my baylor season tickets. sic 'em bears!

my fur baby avery

a church home that meets my needs on multiple levels

my circle

reunions of all kinds

flavored coffee and cold mornings

two healthy grandparents that are very much a part of my life

two beautiful nieces that made me love like i didn't know i could

forgiveness and grace

everlasting life through jesus

someone to share hopes and dreams for the future with

Too sappy? Maybe, but it's all true. Tis the season.

P.S. I took the photo above at Serendipity when I was in New York last summer. I love the colors and the vintageness. Add that to the list. I'm thankful for opportunities to travel and fun places to explore. And vintageness. I'm thankful for vintageness.

Homecoming 2011

My favorite weekend of the year has come and gone and it did not disappoint. Justin and I took off early on Friday and headed south to the 254 for Baylor Homecoming. We left early to make it to my Baylor bestie's ribbon cutting for her expanding business. (She owns a dance studio in Waco and just opened her second location). So proud, Nat! We managed to make it to all of our traditional favorites and take all of our traditional photos. My heart is full. The cherry on top was probably the Baylor win over Missouri, putting us one win away from becoming bowl eligible. Maybe we're coming out of our mid-season funk. I hope so. We are now 5-0 at home! Season tickets = best buy of the year so far. Sic 'em Bears!

my new green and gold spirit fingers. thanks mom.