New Year's Resolutions!

Here it is folks! A BRAND NEW YEAR :) I'm not exactly sure why I'm so excited, or why it seems that way. I know this is a little late but things have been hectic around our house, so better late than never.

I know everyone always has those New Year "resolutions" that we plan on sticking to once the new year arrives. Let's be honest people, who really sticks to their resolutions for any long period of time? I know I sure don't!

It seems like every year my #1 resolution is to lose weight. I'm taking a new approach this year. See below:

I am planning to get healthy. I know myself better than anyone, and I know it isn't realistic for me to start a diet and quit EVERYTHING cold turkey. If you can do that, more power to you :) Below is a list of things I am doing on my journey to "Get Healthy"

• Stop drinking soda. I know I said I wasn't quitting cold turkey, but if I don't quit this cold turkey, I never will. I'm not a diet-soda kinda girl, therefore it's all H20 coming my way in 2K12 :)
• Stop eating out. This will help my #2 resolution (to save money). Being a family of just two it is so easy to just stop by McDonald's and grab some dinner instead of cooking when we get home. However, it's not always a "stop by McDonalds" that might cost $10-$15 its $40.00 dinner to a steakhouse, more than once a week. Don't get me wrong, J and I make good money, but if we ever want to see that money add up to something, we have to stop!
• Get my lazy butt out of bed and eat breakfast. Justin and I have timed it just right that we can sleep until 7:30 and still make it to our jobs on time at 9AM. It doesn't take that long to eat breakfast, therefore our alarm now goes off between 7AM & 7:10. Also, eating breakfast will get my metabolism started for the day.
• Take my lunch to work. This will help with #2, but it will also help my stomach not begin to eat itself at 10AM and have me counting down the minutes until lunchtime. Better yet, on those afternoons that I just don't have the time to pull myself away from my desk to grab lunch, it's here and ready for me.
• EXERCISE. I know I am going to start walking around our neighborhood nightly. Although, last night was a bust because it was rainy. I'm not sure if I want to get a gym membership or not yet, but it's on my to-do list for sure.

#2 Resolution - SAVE MOOLAH!

Justin and I make pretty good money for our ages and education. Unfortunately neither one of us finished college, but we would both like to do so. We have nothing to show of it! If we stop going out to eat so often and I stop shopping for unecessary things ;) we can put some cash in the bank for a rainy day!

#3 Resolution - BLOG MORE!

I have had my blog for almost a year now (well in May) and it's just lame. I can see why I don't have many followers. I need to spruce up it's look first of all and could definitley use a tutorial from all of the pretty blogs I follow. I also need to blog more. I haven't blogged since right before or right after Christmas, which is just sad. So from here on out, while I am eating lunch at my desk, I will also blog. I need to participate in more link ups as well, maybe that will help the look.

So to recap, I have given myself 3 resolutions: GET HEALTHY, SAVE MOOLAH, AND BLOG MORE.

Here's to 2012 and knocking these resolutions out of the park :)

Christmas Vacation...Not the Movie :)

Christmas was wonderful. There is no better way to describe it than that. Wonderful.

We headed down to my parents house and had a delicious turkey dinner on Christmas Eve.

This was followed by Trivial Pursuit and another game I can't remember the name of.

We played boys against girls and there was some serious "I wanna win" attitudes going on.

There was tons of yelling and laughing.

Hands down, best Christmas Eve EVER!

We can't forget about Twas the Night Before Christmas, as that was read too!

We all retired to the living room and relaxed.

My brother took his girlfriend home.

He got back and realized he lost his wallet.

Then began our journey to find it.

I rode with him to the gas station,

where we witnessed a Christmas Miracle :)

Two guys found it and brought it inside to the clerk.

All money and cards were still inside!

We woke up Christmas morning and went to church.

We came home and had roast for lunch. It was AMAZING!

At one point I think all of us were napping on the couch, the floor, a chair, where ever we could.

Jessica (my brother's gf) came over.

Poppa got home from his sisters.

The opening of presents started!

Boy did we all rack up :)

We must have all been extra good this year because there were tons of goodies under the tree.

Just to name a few:

This girl got TWO, not one, but TWO pairs of diamond earrings from my honey

a pink sapphire and diamond ring from my momma

two charms for my pandora bracelet

$100 to TARGET

$100 cash

a 31 bag I've been dying for

and plenty of other things :)

I know Christmas isn't about the presents, but hey I'm just thankful for what I got!

We then headed to my grandmas for a little bit and then made the trip home.

All in all it was so wonderful.

I did a little post-Christmas shopping and scored some pretty cute Christmas decorations.

I also found this gorgeous purple and teal pandora-esqe bracelet watch for $12.99 on Zulilly!

I am now headed to spend a few days with my family since they are still off from Christmas!

Christmas Presents

I get paid every other Friday. The month of December brought five total Fridays, three of which fell on a pay week. Therefore there was basically an entire paycheck that no bills would be coming out of. Therefore I decided to get Justin a new, bigger TV. He was having some serious "TV envy" as we like to call it. However, Justin ruined the surprise by insisting on us buying one together around Thanksgiving "since theere were such great deals". I finally had to come out and tell him that I was already planning on getting him a TV. I may have even made him feel guilty about ruining the surprise ;)

So we've been enjoying a new 42-inch TV for about a month now.

However, I still felt awful that he would be presentless (at least from me) on Christmas morning so I still bought more.

I also received a nice Christmas bonus from my wonderful boss and decided to do a little spoiling on my parents, brother, his girlfriend and my grandpa who lives with my parents.

I decided to wrap presents seperately, or mostly seperate so that there would be more to open. Under my tree looks ridiculous! With the way it looks you'd think we have a few kids....and we do not!

I told Justin last night that I am going to have to be the mom who starts buying Christmas presents in June so that we aren't poor!

I just enjoy giving to those I love, so what if I am doing a little spoiling this year ;) God knows my parents spoiled my brother and I for so many years, and still do to this day!

I am just very thankful and blessed that I am able to do this. While presents are not the meaning of the season it still makes me happy to give presents!

Christmas Traditions

Merry Christmas Ya'll :)

So first of all it has been FOREVER since I have posted anything. I have honestly been to busy at work to post and when I get home the last thing I want to do is get on my computer. Sorry! However, with Christmas in 5 days work has begun to slow down quite a bit and I can take a break to post.

Christmas is in 5 days! I can't believe it either...I mean it seems like just yesterday it was Christmas and here it is again. I decorated fairly early on and have added to what decorations I had. I plan on adding every year. Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year and I love having as many decorations as possible! Our tree turned out pretty. However, I think I have convinced myself that next year I want to buy a real tree. I feel like ours looks fake because of the way the branches are and I do not have the patience to sit there and play with every branch to make it look perfect.

We had Christmas with my mom's side of the family this past weekend. With everyone getting older, its hard for everyone to get together at the same time. Only two people were missing which for us is a great accomplishment! We decided to cater in Smithfield's Chicken & BBQ and it was delicious! We had tons of desserts and had a wonderful time.

Now on to more traditions :)

1. Christmas music - I could really listen to Christmas music all year long, but I wait until it starts playing on the radio :) So I've been listening to Christmas music in my car and on Pandora at work since before Thanksgiving! Justin however is not the Christmas music lover that I am. We have come to the agreement that beginning the week of Christmas he has to listen too when I'm in the car :)

2. Decorations  - So I said a little about our decorations up top, but I have some other festive things to share as well! I love coming home to a decorated house with Christmas smells. It feels so home-y and Christmas-y! Here are a few more pictures of our decorations!

Our front door :) 

"The stockings were hung on the mantle with care"

PS - please notice Justin's new TV - yes a Christmas present that I did NOT want to give a month early...he ruined the surprise! 

One of my favorites! Got this at Kirklands for $19.99 I think! It's on the kitchen table 

Another favorite! I got this at Ross for $7.99! 

Our Christmas Wreath :) I definitely can't take the credit on this! I got the wreath pre-made at Target for $25.00 and the bow at Michael's for $6.99.

3. Baking - I like baking any time of year, but especially at Christmas! Maybe I'm a little more like Santa than I thought with my addiction to cookies ;) I think I've probably baked chocolate chip cookies at least once a week this month!

4. Christmas Movies - I adore Christmas movies! The Grinch (the cartoon version), A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, Elf, & Christmas with the Kranks just to name a few are some of my favorites! TBS shows A Christmas Story for 24 hours beginning at 8PM on Christmas Eve. It stays on my TV pretty much the whole time. As a kid if I couldn't fall asleep on Christmas Eve, I'd watch A Christmas Story :)

5. Twas' the Night Before Christmas - This is and probably will always be my favorite tradition. My grandma (my mom's mom) read this story to all the grandkids every Christmas Eve. My uncle gets a conference call thing set up and everyone calls in. She read the story to her kids beginning when my mom was born and we have incorporated all the additions to our family since then. My grandma found out she had cancer in May of 2006. By Christmas of that year her voice was pretty raspy due to the radiation (she had throat cancer) but she still read the story. The next year she was pretty much at a whisper anytime she spoke so my grandpa read the story. She passed away in March of 2008. Christmas of 2008 my cousin Elizabeth read the story. The next year would have been my turn but I knew I wouldn't make it thru without crying so I passed it on to the next person, my cousin Justin. Last Christmas my mom read the story and will read it again this year. I just love this part of Christmas!

Lastly, Justin and I travel to my parents house on Christmas Eve. We spend the night playing card games, eating goodies and watching Christmas movies. This year we will wake up and go to Church with my parents. We will then come home and have lunch. Around 4, Jessica (my brother's girlfriend) will come over and we will all open presents.

This is the first year we haven't opened presents as soon as we woke up and my brother is not exactly thrilled :)

I am so happy Christmas is almost here :) I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas with your families and friends!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

My Best Friend's Wedding!

It's finally here folks! Tomorrow my oldest friend will be saying "I DO" :) The past year has flown by. I still remember it like it was yesterday that I was driving down I-40 checking Facebook and saw that she was engaged. I think I let out a scream to my empty car and immediately called her! The months of planning, parties, and events are over and tonight is the rehearsal. Justin and I have to be there at 6PM, followed by a catered dinner in the church's fellowship hall. Tomorrow the festivities start at 10:30AM with my hair appointment.

I have been one busy little bee this week. I started Sunday night looking for a dress to wear. While I have a few in my closet that I could wear, this is a special occasion and I can definitely justify spending money on a new dress. However, I'm about to the point where I am over online shopping, at least for clothes anyways! I found this gorgeous green satin dress that I wanted to wear with black heels. I recently dyed my hair back to its natural "darkest brown/light black" and I figured the green would absoultely pop! I get the dress Wednesday and it was made for a girl with absolutely no hips and no butt. This girl here has both, and plenty of it!

Frustrated me headed to Old Navy to return it and frantically search for something else. Of course, most of the dresses were made the same way. I find this very odd because normally I have no problem buying clothes from Old Navy. I scurried over to Belk and found a more flowy, comfortable number that was originally $98.00, but on sale for $30.00 :) My kinda deal!

I did finally buy some leggins and I tried those out with a tunic and books yesterday and I am in L.O.V.E. I will most definitely be buying a few more pairs.

Off the wedding subject for a bit and on to the Breaking Dawn, Part One subject :) I was one of the crazies out at midnight last night seeing it! While I have a little headache today, the people were rude leaving the parking lot, not to mention it was FUHREEZING, I am so glad I did it! BEST.MOVIE.EVER! Not kidding.
My favorite line of the movie is as follows:

"No measure of time with you will be long enough, but we'll start with forever" - Edward Cullen

How amazingly sweet is that?

Now I'm off to fix this bushy unibrow problem that I've been putting off way too long, and to get a few last minute things. Then to do a little cleaning and packing!

I am so very happy for Morgan and Blake! :)

ECU Game

First off, this extra hour thing isn't helping. I woke up at 7:15 (which I guess was really 8:15) but still, I could have slept longer. I woke up all because the sun was shining brightly thru my windows.

Mental note to self: I need curtians ASAP :)

Back to the real reason for the post: The ECU Game I went to yesterday with my family! We had such a wonderful day! This was the first time that my parents, Justin and I and my brother and his girlfriend have spent an extended amount of time with each other and it was fun!

The day started with Justin and I getting to Greenville about 11. We all decided to start drinking. BAD IDEA. This girl hear was Ms. Drunko for a good part of the afternoon. In front of my parents. First time ever for that! Oh well, at least I did it legally :)

We headed to the game which started at 4PM and were 3 rows from the VERY top of the stadium. However, the seats were really good and it we were pretty much at the 50 yard line. ECU started off great with a touchdown right away, but Southern Miss got away with a touchdown and took it from there.

We decided to leave around halftime and go be fat asses and get our grub on. We headed to Texas Roadhouse and the steak I had melted in my mouth it was so good!

By the time we got done eating it was pretty late so we all headed home. Overall though it was such a fun day :)

Now for some pictures, as I was a good blogger and took lots!

 {Momma & Daddy}

 {Daddy & I}

 {Justin and I

 {Jessica, Me and Momma}

 {Jessica & I}

 {Justin and I again, heading to the game}

 {Me and Momma outside the stadium}

 {Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium}

 {Daniel & Jess}

 {Justin, George, & Daniel}

 {All of Us}

{Momma & Justin}

Some Recaps

Here it is folks, November. For one I can't believe we are all ready here! It seems like just yesterday it was November and we're already back to it. Although, I can't complain. I love November, not as much as a love December, but its my second favorite. I am a Christmas fanatic! I could start listening to Christmas music now and be just fine all the way thru Christmas! The only reason I haven't started chaning from my fall decorations to Christmas decorations is because Justin would probably shoot me ;)

So much is planned for this month! Justin and I are headed to Greenville this weekend to enjoy some tailgating and Pirate Football with my parents, brother and his girlfriend. I haven't been tailgating since my freshman year of college, 5 years ago.

Then Sunday is Morgan's last bridal shower, given by our church. I am so happy for her, but so ready for all the showers to be over :)

Then next weekend her grandma is throwing a bridesmaids brunch which will be fun, followed by her bachelorette party in Myrtle Beach. Her wedding is the following weekend, I am so excited for her!

However I can't leave out that this week I purchased my midnight showing ticket for Breaking Dawn Part 1. It turns out that I will be off the Friday that it comes out for Morgan's wedding, so Carrie and I will be going to see it Thursday/Friday morning at 12:01AM. I am SO stoked!

Then comes Thanksgiving.  Don't get me wrong I'm excited for three days of work, turkey and time with my family. However, I'm not excited for the fact that Justin and I will not be togther on Thanksgiving. He only has Thursday off and therefore has opted to not go to West Virginia for Thanksgiving, but spend it with his grandparents here. While that's fine, I can't go another year without seeing my grandparents on Thanksgiving or Christmas. So I will be headed to my momma's this year.

After Thanksgiving I can finally start decorating for Christmas! I think this is what I am 100% the most excited for. It may sound lame but I can't wait. This will be the first time I can truly decorate for Christmas, tree, stockings, the whole nine yards! Justin and I already figured out how to arrange the living room so that the tree will fit. Right now, I am looking for some inexpensive glass cylinder hurricane type things (I think that's what they are called) to fill with ornaments for the mantle. Kind of like this:



However, now I better get back to work :)

Happy Wednesday Ya'll!