holiday recap

Now that the holidays are well behind us (and the SEC has won another National Championship) I thought I might as well share a little bit about what I've been up to on my holiday hiatus.

Sleeping, lots of sleeping...it really is my favorite thing to do, and it was glorious.

But I digress...  I didn't do a ton of decorating for the holidays, but I did enough to host the family's Christmas Eve and a group of my high school friends after Christmas without feeling like a grinch.

My sister took this picture of the pond on Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve tradition has always been dinner and presents with my dad's side of the family, but as my grandmother has gotten older, she's been a little more comfortable going out to dinner, then coming back to her house for dessert and presents.  Last year we transitioned to dessert and presents at my house, and this year I cooked and we did the whole thing at my house.  (My family was surprised that I could cook a turkey, go figure, this was like number 6 or 7 for me.) 

My Grandmother was thrilled to have dinner at my house, and I think it was the first meal she had eaten in the house since my great grandmother passed away in 1991.  It was nice to see her happy in the house, especially since I know she wasn't thrilled that I painted the kitchen yellow.

I spent the week after Christmas visiting friends who were in town for the holidays, and anyone who was still in town the weekend after Christmas came by my house to get togeather.  It's crazy that my group of high school friends has grown to include babies and puppies, but it has, and I think they had the best time out of anyone!  Little Bobby and Anoush (Armenian for sweet) are seriously best friends now.  Any time Bobby was upset...and that is hardly ever bc he is so chill...Anoush made everything better.  It was fantastic.

Our girl scout came through on the fire (since the ground was soaked), and I have to say it was a pretty perfect night.  (Well except for the part where a friend told us that she had to back to the UK for VISA issues, but she will better be be back)

from @Chandlee's instagram feed

New Year's Eve is one of my favorite holidays, and I have always celebrated with friends.  This year Clemson was playing LSU in the Peach Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, and I apologized to the host in advance because I knew I was going to be preoccupied for the first half of the party.

Clemson vs. LSU was a pretty epic match-up, and going into the game I was nervous about how it was going to turn out.  LSU is good and consistent, Clemson is good, but no one can pretend that Clemson is the model of consistency.  Last year Clemson was on an emotional high coming off an ACC Championship, and was embarrassed by West Virginia.  So when I thought honestly about the game, it didn't look pretty. THEN Sammy Watkins was injured on the first drive of the game.  That was bad, there was a fumble, then LSU scored, but you knew that Clemson had success this year without Sammy, and all was not lost.  Somehow the team focused, rallied, improved at the half, and played the best 4th quarter of Clemson football that I have ever watched. (I've watched it about 3 times now, it was that good.)  4th & 16..4th & 16...it was just amazing.

Also over the holidays (but before Christmas, I know this is out of order) I got to spend time with an out of town friend that I don't see nearly enough.  The trip was not entirely planned, but we got to hang out, make a bazillion sugar cookies, and meet her new puppy.

Isn't she cute!!  She's a little sassy, but I think she's going to get a lot of that from her family (human and puppy brothers & sisters)

My holidays were great, and hope yours were too :)   And if anyone knows how to get rid of this 5 day work week, let me know, I feel spoiled!

baby shower and a bonfire

Confession: I'm a bad friend. Not as in I'm a horrible person, but in a 'I promised I'd throw you a baby shower & a bonfire a year ago, and your child is getting Christened this weekend' sort of way.

Confession #2: I am one of those people who needs a reason to do deep cleaning.  I don't mind doing it, but it's never on top of my 'I have a free Sunday, what should I do' list.

So I was thrilled when I got home Sunday night, and I had a voice-mail from said friend asking me if I wanted to host that shower we keep talking about.   Since I have been thinking about this shower for over a year, I had the guest list figured out, and thankfully almost everyone is available on short notice.  I also had a pinterest board going for the shower, so food took care of itself pretty quickly too.

But blue & green, because, well, the baby is a boy.

The only thing that needed to be done was getting my house what I call Christmas Clean.  Unpacking the last boxes from my move (almost a year ago), check. That hall closet that is supposed to be a coat closet, check. Light fixtures with bulbs that actually give light, check.  Media center hooked up and chords hidden, check. Refrigerator cleaned out & cleaned, check.  These are all things that I just needed a reason to do, and hosting the parents of your high school friends was that reason for me.... but don't let me fool you, I haven't done this in a flash without help.  My dad helped with light fixtures, and drilling a hole in my mantle, and my mom has helped me go through boxes and canvas grocery bags full of more stuff than I knew I had.  Again, all things that I had been thinking about, but needed a reason to do.

So I'm ready, and I'm excited.  In high school I always hung out with the guys.  And while I never was on their sports teams, I felt a part of the group, and consider them, and now their wives, some of my closest friends (even if we don't hang out as much as we'd like, and I was mia for a while...my bad).  That's why this shower is part shower/part bonfire, but 100% celebration, that's just how we do things. 

walker's wedding

Do you have friends you love no matter what?  I just returned from the wedding of one of those friends. If someone were to make a movie about Walker's wedding it would open with the following statement:.

"This is a movie based on a true story.  The events shown in this film are not stretched nearly as much as you might guess."

The stories are too numerous to share, but let me just say that the house next door literally burned down and it wasn't a big deal.  The key words of the weekend were "FIX IT, FIX IT, FIX IT!!" and believe it or not, everything important got fixed.  In the grand scheme of things it really wasn't a big deal that neither the best man nor his stand in made it to the rehearsal, or that more than one groomsmen was demoted after their custom made-in-Hong Kong suits didn't fit.  A size 12 ring was acquired, no one had to go to the hospital (including the girl who passed out during the ceremony), and the carriage carrying the bride and groom off into the sunset did not flip over.  Most importantly Walker and Eve got married.

That's when you know that your friends have always got your back, and you are making memories that will last a lifetime.

Congratulations to Walker and Eve, I wish you all the happiness in the world, and I know that I am on the long list of people who will help you "fix it" if there is ever anything in need of fixing.