Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Christmas was busy and a bit of a blur this year. I had a lot going on this year but still managed to see friends and family, while starting a new job that is 45 minutes from my house and trying to finish renovating my new house. A tradition that started about 10 years ago or maybe even longer, my dad, mom and I travel to Spartanburg on Christmas Eve to deliver presents and goodies to former neighbors and family friends. I absolutely LOVE this day (and it is a FULL day). This year we left our house at 8:30am and made our way to Union to my dad's former secretary's house, which he and my mom have become very good friends with. We exchanged gifts, chatted and then headed to Spartanburg to eat lunch at the Beacon. I was so excited to get to eat there again. It's one of the many things I miss about not living in Spartanburg anymore. Needless to say, our lunch was yummy! After leaving there, we headed to the Pittmans, Sistares, Roberts and finished at Mildred Knox's house. Even though we only see some of these people once a year, we truly realize what wonderful friends they are. It's like we see them everyday. This day is what really gets me in the Christmas spirit! After our final stop, we made the hour drive back to Anderson so that we could prepare for our 2nd Annual Santa Sighting! You see, my dad bought a Santa costume a couple of years ago and last year decided that he would be in my nephews backyard when they drove up from the Mullikin's Christmas Eve dinner. We coordinated the timing with my sister and it worked out perfectly. We dropped my dad off behind their house and mom and I parked on the side of the road and waited. We could see the headlights pull in the garage and then back out again and we could hear the bells he was ringing. Once my dad made it back to the car, my phone rang and it was my sister informing us that "Santa" had been in the back yard. Both boys ran to their rooms to get ready for bed but Mark just jumped right into bed, clothes and all. He said you had to be asleep or Santa wouldn't stop at your house. They could not get him out of bed to change his clothes. On Christmas day, Ben took Papa to show him where Santa was the night before and low and behold, what did he find? Two silver bells from the "sleigh". Both boys were really into The Polar Express, so this was very fitting. Well, that was last year. This year, "Santa" and his reindeer (aka, Molly) had their picture taken in a sleigh and we were ready and waiting for the call to tell us when to get into position. Again, it worked perfectly and the boys saw Santa in the backyard but we didn't see them run across the house looking out the window, we didn't get a phone call afterwards and the boys didn't really talk much about it the next day. Sad, I guess they are growing up! I just hope we have at least one more year of Santa!

Christmas Card Picture

My wonderfully creative and talented friend, Jennifer Turner, took pictures of me and Molly in front of my new house for my Christmas cards. I basically just told her I wanted the house in the background and let her tell me where I needed to be. I absolutely LOVE the pictures!!! Thank you, Jennifer!!!
Here is the one I used:

Some of the other choices that I LOVED:

And a snapshot of me and Molly-she can pose, can't she?

Elfed....Again

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Elfed

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Top 8

Top 8

8 TV shows I like to watch:
1. Friends
2. Cosby Show
3. Reba
4. Today show
5. ER
6. The Hills
7. CSI
8. Rock of Love Charm School (i know---it's horrible)


8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Fiesta Mexican
2. Flatrock Grill
3. the Thai place (or whatever the name is in Anderson)
4. Olive Garden
5. Misyima Japanese (I know that's not how you spell it)
6. California Dreaming
7. Outback
8. Chick-fil-A

8 things that happened today: (this just shows how interesting my days are)
1. I woke up
2. I got dressed
3. I drove to work
4. I talked to the other person in my office most of the day
5. I ate lunch
6. I checked my email
7. I sent text messages
8. I ate some of the goodies sent to our office

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. moving into my new house
2. Christmas party Saturday night
3. seeing a friend this weekend that I haven't seen in a while
4. finishing decorating my house for Christmas
5. Christmas!
6. having a weekend off from working on my house
7. seeing a close friend over Christmas
8. dinner :)

8 things on my wishlist:
1. to loose about 10 lbs
2. to visit a friend in Washington!
3. a maid for my house
4. to have a great Christmas
5. a husband
6. a husband
7. a husband
8. a husband
(sorry, about the last 4...it's my wish and I have just about everything else I could wish for!)

8 people I tag:
1. Betsy Mitchell
2. Riley Johnson
3. Ashley Anthony
4. Jennifer Turner
5. Ann Willette
6. Julie Warren
7. Clay Gilbert
8. Curtis and Kara Guy

I am so behind in my blogging!!!! Lots has happened in the past 2 1/2 weeks. Quit one job, start a new on Monday, went to a Falcons game with a former roomie from college, went to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra, participated in a 5k Thanksgiving morning, did our annual Black Friday shopping at 3:30 in the morning and had a chance to visit with some friends I don't get to see often. I also was able to put in a lot of time working on my house in order to get it ready to move in! This time off couldn't have come at a better time and a better season! It's my favorite time of the year :) Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is getting geared up for Christmas!!!

I'm Back!!

HELLO!!! It's been about two weeks since I've had the chance to write on here and I'm glad to be back. I actually put in my two week notice at work last Monday and since I am taking a job with a competitor, they told me I could go ahead and leave, with pay, of course. And, I had already planned on taking a week in between jobs, I now in my third week off of work :) It actually couldn't have worked out better. We are trying hard to get my house finished so I can get moved in by the end of the year and with this time off, I have been able to pick out my carpet, schedule some appointments and help my dad work on the tile. We worked morning to night for three days laying tile!!! I'm exhausted and we still have one small bathroom to finish. After this, I just need to get my carpet in and I should be able to move in. I'm so excited. Attached are some pictures and the last is of my pretty, red front door that I painted and my sister surprised me with wreaths for my door and windows. I love it!!! It was the perfect touch!

TAG....you're it!!!

7 Random Facts–here i go…

1. I LOVE to get up and shop on Black Friday. My dad and I go every year at 4 in the morning and every year I get more and more excited about it! We don't usually have much that we need or really want, it's just the trill of getting out there and seeing what we can get and enjoying our time together!
2. This isn't really a random fact but I love Christmas! I love all of the lights, the music (yes, even when it starts right after Halloween), the ornaments and trees. For some reason, it just seems that everyone is happy during this time.
3. I always wish for snow in the winter. I feel like a kid when they say we might get snow! I am that person who sits and watches the weather channel and updates, wishing and hoping! (I even go and get groceries!!!)
4. I love to fish! Yes, I bait my own hook and take the fish off. We don't usually keep the fish so I don't clean them but I have watched before and wouldn't mind if I had to clean it. I have always been teased b/c when I was little, I would "wash" the worm before baiting the hook. Everyone thought this was funny but I was really doing it to get the dirt off so I could see where the hook goes!
5. I have become addicted to coupons! My sister got me involved and we have stocked our pantries and closets full of necessities for very little out-of-pocket! Just this week I got $42 worth of groceries for $5.01, thanks to triple coupons! I was so excited!!! I love getting the things I need for almost nothing. I honestly think this satisfies my need to shop without spending a lot of money :) Sad, I know. It's the little things that make me happy!
6. I'm going to copy one of Jennifer's random facts....one of my ears is lower than the other. Not sure which one but when I wear glasses, I feel like they are crooked. No one else can tell but I can. Maybe everyone has that problem, huh, Jenn?
7. I have a pretty big fear of heights. I can ride roller coasters and anything going fast but to stand on the edge of something or even watch someone climb up high, makes my palms sweat.

so, i’m officially tagging everyone who blogs that reads this blog to post 7 random/and or weird things about yourself.

consider yourself tagged! go!

Loving Fall

Fall is absolutely my favorite season! I love the weather and all of the trees changing colors! There is nothing better especially when the view from my work cube looks like this :)

Happy Halloween (a little late)

Yes, I am a little late posting this but I forgot my camera Halloween night so I had to wait and get my dad's pictures. Halloween was a busy night. I went to my sister's neighborhood to see the boys in their costume and to see a friend of mine with her 1 year old little girl. I love to see little kids dressed up! Ben was a robot and Mark was a good knight....not just a knight, a GOOD knight. Sharon's little girl was a princess and adorable!! Molly even got a new costume but won't be able to sport it until next year since I didn't get it until Saturday on sale :) Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

6th Folder, 6th Picture

Okay, I was tagged by Carrie, and I am supposed to post a picture from my 6th folder and the 6th picture. Well, I'm at work and I don't have 6 picture folders so I just chose the 6th picture :)

This picture is from Meg's bachelorette party in Charlotte!

Ok...so now I tag Jennifer Turner and Betsy Mitchell. Follow these directions.

1. Open your pictures

2. Go to the 6th folder, 6th picture

3. Post the picture and the story that goes with it

4. Tag 2 other people.

More house updates

After another weekend of painting, I can honestly say that I don't want to paint again for a LONG time! It hasn't been that bad but after 6 rooms, I'm ready to be done. We still have to paint the baseboards and doors throughout the house and had started on it this weekend but ran into a small problem.....they were previously painted with oil-base paint so the little bit we had started on just peeled right off. Not exactly what you want to find out but at least we didn't get too far along. What we did accomplish this past weekend was to pick up my new refrigerator and stove Friday and install them. Saturday, we painted the den (2 coats) and the guest bedroom/office. Sunday, we had one less person since my mom had to go home to Greenwood, so my dad and I painted the master bathroom, touched up the den again and installed new light fixtures in the guest bathroom and over the sink in the kitchen. Pretty good, I have to say!! Next weekend we start on the wood flooring in the den and entry way. Should be interesting! Here are some pics.....

Before

After

Guest bedroom/office

After

New Refrigerator & Stove

Master Bathroom-still a little wet

Guest Bathroom-Finished

My 'lil punkin

While painting this weekend, I finally remembered to put on Molly's Halloween costume (well, shirt) and get a picture of her! She's not a big fan of wearing clothes but seemed to be okay with this one! Now's she ready to Trick-or-Treat!!!

SOLD!!!!!

Since closing on my house this past Friday, I have already started making changes. My parents came into town to help me start painting and to take a class on how to install tile. So, Saturday morning, we were the only 3 students in the tile class at Home Depot. I'll admit, I wandered around looking at paint and light fixtures for part of the class, but I did attend some of it. It was pretty interesting but dad got all of the details and I will be helping him when we can get around to it. The rest of the weekend was spent painting. It is so hard to pick out colors! I have so many ideas of what I want in my head but then coordinating them is another story. I have to make sure the kitchen colors match the den since they all flow into one room and the master bedroom is right off of the den and can be seen pretty easily, so that has to match as well. Whew!!! My brain is on overload this week. We did get the kitchen, master bedroom and guest bathroom painted. I love having red rooms but since I don't have a dining room to paint, I had to go with the guest bathroom. I love it! Imagine this picture with two more coats of paint rolled on. This was just the first coat :)
Before:

After:

Kitchen-Before:

Kitchen-After
I don't have a picture of the master bedroom yet but there will be more after this weekend. We are painting the guest bedroom and den! Oh, and just so things don't flow too smoothly, I bought a refrigerator yesterday. But, the space at my house is 1 inch shorter than most spaces houses provide for refrigerators. Not sure what to do about it but hopefully it will work out. Another stress breakdown moment.......

Viking Invitational!!!!

This past Saturday (October 11) was the 6th Annual Viking Invitational at Spartanburg High School. This is a cheerleading competition between several JV and Varsity squads. One of my friends, Page, coaches the competive squad at Spartanburg High and I have been trying to make one of the competitions for quite a while and FINALLY made it Saturday and was so excited to see how things have changed since I cheered there. Let me say, THINGS HAVE CHANGED!! They were awesome! Not that we weren't good back then but we weren't competing and flipping around as much. Anyway, check out some of the pictures!

The coaches waiting. Page on the right leaning up against the wall and Chance on the left.