100 days :/

I swear that I won't start a weekly countdown and update to the number of days left until graduation but you must understand that I am REALLY, REALLY, did I say REALLY ready to graduate... and just in case you were wondering, it is just 100 short days away!

Happy Birthday Mo!

Today is my oldest brother Morgan's 29th birthday... I will definitely be the one to remind him that he is getting OLD - one more year of being twenty-something has to be a little depressing... just saying! If I haven't told you before, my brothers are two of my absolute best friends. They go above and beyond their sibling duties to treat me like a princess. They are handsome and loving and well - they are mine so you should be super jealous :) Anyways, back to Morgan's birthday... on Tyler's birthday, I posted the top 10 11 reason that I loved him so of course, I must post for Mo, too :)

The top ten reasons I love you:


1. You are passionate about things... most people have one hobby that they love - you have several, and you give them all 110%. Golf, duck hunting, etc. Now, the true test would be if they made duck season during golf time-  which would you choose?? hmmmm... thoughts to ponder!

2. You were such a bad little kid but you have turned into such a wonderful man... but seriously, as a kid - TERRIBLE (from the stories that mom and dad tell, anyways). But I think you have redeemed yourself, for now anyways!

3. You are a hardworker - not that you don't like to sleep late but you will get up and get things done. You are a go-getter and very driven :)

4. You have the BEST little sister ever (wasn't that a given?)

5. The bond that you and Cotton have is hilarious to me - like partners in crime, I can tell that you two are kindred spirits because ya'll are so much alike... which is not a good thing!

6. Your dogs... they say a dog is a man's best friend and with you, that is definitely true. Everytime I feed your dogs when you are out of town, they see me round the corner and I can tell they are wondering where you are - so disappointed it is just lame Aunt Court :)

7. Your love for the outdoors is like no others - you are like a little kid when it comes to playing outside. Whether it is 20˚ or 100˚, you want to play outside... riding in the swamp or taking a river trip out of town.

8. The way you LOVE to fly kites and do stupid things like that. Flying a kite on a fishing pole WITH an audience at the beach is definitely something I will remember forver!

9. You have a sweet spirit- the drop anything, be there for a friend kind.

10. Your FORK, boots, and golf clubs- things that you are passionate about and love :)

and last but not least: you are one fifth of the greatest family in the world.

Happy 29th birthday :) I love you!!!!

Crafty Weekend

So, remember that I told you I have a slight major obsession with craft blogs... well, that has led to the craft fever at my house. I watched a video from this blog about freezer paper stenciling. Little did I know that in the same week, Sara caught the fever and watched the same video. She had already made her nephew Mack (who will not make his arrival until March yet already has a full wardrobe) some really cute onesies. She painted some using the freezer paper and fabric paint and then she appliqued some using fabric. Nonetheless, they turned out super cute. On Friday, we drug out all of our arts and crafts and began making some things. I made my sweet nephew Rhett a shirt with his initials in the cutest stripe fabric and I made my cousin Madison a onesie using fabric paint and stencils. As soon as I get those pictures loaded, they will be up.

Fabric Paint Onesie for Madison

Applique T-Shirt for Rhett

Nan who has a crafty sister in Huntsville showed me some really cute letters for wreaths or to put on doors by themselves. They are super cute and really easy. You blow your letters up to the correct size, trace it on plywood, find someone nice enough to cut it out for you, place scrapbook paper around to cover the entire surface, and then, using spray adhesive, attach the paper to your board. Once the paper dries, flip the board over and use an exacto knife to trim around the edges. Almost forgot the final step :/ Apply a layer of Mod Podge over the top of each letter. Nan and I figured it up last night that after purchasing the plywood, paper, and adhesive, we had about $5 in each of these letters. They are so cute and would make wonderful gifts. We are working on some more for next week. AND- if you are lucky like me Daniel, you have an initial that you can do both sides of and it will still look like the letter. If this is not the case, you should probably paint your letter beforehand so the back looks "done."

Easter "V" for Daniel's house




St. Patrick's "V" for Daniel's house



Spring Time "V" for Daniel's house





Fleur de Lis "R" for the Reynolds house



Valentine's "V" for Daniel's house



107 days...

If you are a friend of mine on Facebook then you may already know that 107 is how many days I have left until graduation. As a longtime school lover and goer, I am just tired. I know that through teaching, I will forever more be in school but I am ready to be more on the teacher side and a little bit less on the student side... that involves studying, online classes, 55 minute videos that are BORING, and all of the other junk that, after five years, I am tired of. I know the real world will be a big adjustment... but I am ready to do something different, the long drives to Livingston and the dark, late night ride homes are wearing on the body this semester (and we are only in the second week).

Luckily, I have sped through my Master's and I ONLY have 107 days. Some people are not as fortunate as I am to have a job that not only allows me to go to school full time but also helps me pay for it. I am also lucky to have parents who are willing to educate not one, not two, but three precious children... :) as negative as this post may sound, I am truly grateful for my many blessings (especially my education) I am really just ready for a break...

so ready for a break that I already have one planned...

Sara and I will be heading to the Gulf (and I know the water is not that blue in GS but you get the point) for a few days during the week between when classes end and when I make that final walk across the stage... for now, anyways!

Happy 2011!

Whew - it seems like I just said hello to 2010 and now it is gone like many years before. I know they say you are getting old when time starts flying by but seriously, it needs to stop... sloooooooooow down just for a few years so I can enjoy being young :) while I still am!

Seems like every year I resolve to do this and that... but this year, I am serious - I am going to lose some weight and exercise regularly. I am also resolving to save money and stay in contact with more old friends. I will keep you updated on the progress that I make with my diet :/

Daniel hunted all day on NYE so I spent the day with Amanda and Rhett - he loved my new rain boots Santa brought me :)

We rang in the new year with lots of friends and fun.

It was nice to get some sugar at midnight for the fourth year in a row from Daniel... 2011 is sure to be a great year - I finish graduate school and hopefully I will get my first big girl job (like the full time kind). I am open for whatever else comes in 2011. I am always excited to see a new year in and to see old ones out.  It is such a good time to start over. So far in the new year, I have been super productive... calendar numbers and bulletin boards for January AND February... clean closet, Valentine's present(s) ordered, and made Daniel's mom a calendar... all of that and I slept until lunch yesterday!!

So, here's to all that will come in 2011 - I can't wait!

Christmas Break

I have slacked on my blogging due to Christmas break - and the busy-ness of it all. Sooooooooooo -  here is what I have been doing:

-visiting with Daniel
-shopping
-enjoying Mom being home
-Christmas movies
-playing with Rhett
-shopping
-wrapped presents
-Christmas movies
-Roy and Amber's wedding
-Titanic (Saturday night and Sunday morning)- sucks me in everytime
-church with the family
-Christmas movies
-lazy Sunday
-shopping with Mom
-working in classroom with Kaley
-lazy Tuesday night watching Christmas with the Kranks

So, other than working in my classroom today - all day - I have watched Christmas movies and shopped away my break - and it has been wonderful :) Tomorrow, Cole and I are going on a "date" to see a movie  - and lunch. Can't wait! then more shopping, wrapping, and of course - Christmas movies! 

These are some of my favorites:

      

  

I have a slight obsession with these movies... they make me happy :)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

WARNING: This is a SUPER long post... sorry :) I combined two weekends!

Let me begin this by saying that I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Christmas - the season, the holiday, the reason for the season, everything. There is not a more fun time in the entire year :) I love to drive around and look at Christmas lights - I love to wrap presents and fluff Christmas trees... two of the things that I more often than not hear people saying they hate to do.


As of this moment, I have decorated 1. Daniel's Mom's house/large tree and two small trees, 2. Net-Net's house/10 foot tree/eight nativity scenes, 3. My house/tree 4. Daniel's house/large tree/four small trees, 5. my classroom tree... I did the math - I have personally decorated about 53 feet of tree... and yes, they all had to be fluffed :) and I have loved every minute of decorating. I have sprayed cinnamon and lit Christmasy candles any and everywhere I can think of... I love this time of year.


Even Christmas shopping - which stresses most people out - brings a joy to my heart... I love to see people buying gifts for people they love. This year, we are doing Christmas different - Morgan, Tyler, and I have decided that since (like it or not) we are adults... that we would not do presents for each other. Morgan suggested we call DHR to sponsor a child for Christmas... so that is what we did... I should also mention that earlier (in November) I was walking down the mall when the Christmas spirit overtook me and I got an Angel off of the Salvation Army Angel Tree - so I we already had one child... make it two - the more the merrier. Anyways, I did the shopping for these two precious girls and it made me have the best feeling. I am not patting myself on the back or trying to say what a good deed I did, I am simply saying that if people knew the joy it would bring to your heart, I think more people would give. So, that is my goal... I want to let people know how amazing it feels. Every toy or item of clothing I picked up brought a smile to my face. I already have big plans for next Christmas... I am so fortunate to have been raised in a family where I never wanted for anything... I hope that at least one day out of the year these children can have a reason to believe in something and not want for anything...


On a completely different (not near as depressing) note, Daniel let me have a Christmas party this year...when I say he is the best, he seriously is... I cannot imagine what I would do without him. I called him one day in November while on my way home and said, "I want to have a Christmas party at your house" - without hesitating, he said "okay, just let me know what I need to do." - and yes, it is like that with everything I ask/need. So, I went to planning (my favorite thing to do).


The first thing I did was decorate. I had already decided that we Daniel was going to have a tree in every room of his house... so I bought four three foot trees. I went to Daniel's a few weeks before Thanksgiving and decorated them. There was an Alabama/houndstooth themed tree in the office,

 a gold/brown rustic tree in the guest bedroom,

a red/gold tree in the master bedroom (which I will post a picture of later), and a flatware tree in the kitchen (complete with pot holder tree skirt)...

so I got all of those trees decorated and put up in the closet - no decorating before Thanksgiving :(
 My next project was to find a big Christmas tree and enough ornaments to fill it up... I wanted a tree that was special to us - not one that looked as if it popped out of Southern Living - that's just not my style. I already had some ornaments I got last year (when I began collecting) for 75% off... that was a good start but not enough to decorate a whole tree. There is no telling what the grand total of that tree would be if we added up all the ornaments. We bought from Wal-Mart (every time we went), DG, and everywhere else that sold ornaments... I was like a kid in a candy store. Whether or not Daniel really cared, he played along and pretended to love certain ornaments as much as I did. We ended up with enough ornaments to make the tree look full but we still had to use some filler ornaments - maybe next year : )

Once I had everything done, all I had to do was wait... for Thanksgiving... it finally came and the Saturday after, Daniel and I went back to his house bright and early to decorate... it was soooo much fun. He did his fair share - putting the tree together and helping me fluff... and I was like a little elf doing the rest. At the end of the day, I turned on all of the Christmas trees, the garland around the bar, and the fireplace DVD that his mom gave us... and relaxed. It was perfect. I added a few knick-knacks that I had bought here and there and some that I had stolen from his mom's Christmas stash... all in all, we had plenty of decor - maybe too much.

Then the party weekend arrived. I had been making list after list, I would add and subtract things, finally deciding on a chili supper with dips and cookies. PERFECT :) except I have no clue how to make chili... lucky for me, Momma had the Friday before off and she needed to get her hair done (in Tuscaloosa) - so she drove the extra miles to Vance and made the chili - on Saturday morning, all I had to do was put it in the crock pot on low and VOILA!
We grocery shopped and cleaned and got all ready for the party. It was so much fun. I made chicken dip, onion dip, salsa (poured straight from the jar into a festive bowl), cookies, and brownies. The chili was ready and everything went off without a hitch. We played dirty santa and I wound up with some cute earrings and a super cute pink scarf from Christy... Mama Hornsby : ) The party was perfect. Once again, Daniel is wonderful for letting me treat his house as my own... and he was super helpful!

I almost forgot... I have a confession. I am a stalker. A blog stalker. A CRAFT blog stalker. I cannot help myself. One post leads to another and two hours later, I have nothing to show but a list of things I want to try. Okay, so I found this one that was a homemade custom candle holder. It looked super easy except I needed Daniel to cut some posts for me. Long story short, he ended up cutting the boards, sanding them, drilling the holes for the tea-lights, painting them, crackle painting them, and painting them again... I, on the otherhand, used my Cricut machine) that he gave me to cut out some letters. Here is the finished product:

I think I have a handy-man... what about you?


Soooooo - you would think I would be party/planned out but no, one more for the year... the Country Club Christmas Party was last weekend and guess who is in charge? You guessed it :) I am super excited, we had a fabulous band (Mama's Mojo)... see pictures below...

My brothers - I only slightly embarrased them :)

My HOT date...

Morgan and Sara - aren't they cute?



The BEST family ever :)


 I should mention here that there are quite a few more pictures - not posed :) on the dance floor. We will keep them to ourselves and our memories! Also, if you are ever looking for a great band... Mama's Mojo is the bomb. They let me play the tambourine, Sara the drums, and I got to sing - "Ice, Ice, Baby" - I will leave you on that note :)

until next time...