December 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I can't believe how fast time goes by. We started off the month with celebrating Jianna's 9th birthday. Yikes! how did that happen that my "baby" is already 9? I swear I am still working off the baby weight right? Maybe that's called peri-menipause..hahahaha.Anyways, Jianna declared that she would like to have an official "spa day" in lieu of a traditional birthday party. So we headed to a local salon that I have to say was fantastic and smelled wonderful, like all those Aveda products. She had a full afternoon of pampering including hair washing,blow drying, style, nails and toes too! She loved every minute of it.

Jianna at Lavender Hill Day Spa 12-3-2011

So next we visited at place called Midnight Pottery and painted together a small dish for mommy and a jewlery box for Jianna. We did pretty good. The hard part was waiting for their call to pick up our finished creations.

Earlier in the morning there was a Christmas parade going down the "main street" of town in Richmond Hill. Jianna said it was a big birthday celebration! It reminded us of the parade we saw the summer of 2010 in Custer South Dakota. They were even throwing candy and beads, which my kids scored bigger than Halloween. I swear I was throwing the candy back when they weren't looking!! The funny part was the dentist who had a float and did NOT throw candy...whewww.

Wildcats? Do I live in the movie High School Musical?

Don't know why but they made me smile!

Not Fire department...furr Dept.. that's our neighbor  Robbie in the overalls. Yeehawwww.

So, the parade was a hit with all of us. It was really cool to feel part of a community and see a whole town come together, shut main street down and have some good ol' fashion fun. And literally nothing else was open or going on in town until this was wrapped up at noon.
We also were able to attend the town chili cook off and tree lighting night with our new neigbors Nick and Jeanne and their kids Nick Jr. and Cecelia. There were hay rides and face painting and of course some very competitive chili cooks! The trophy for first place was taller than me!Our favorite was actually a white chili with chicken.

For those of you who heard my recap of this hayride you know why Jianna is smiling so proudly!

Well, after a busy few weeks leading up to Christmas and getting ready to celebrate a new year tonight, I'm glad things are a little quiet. Reflecting back on 2011, and thinking about the new year ahead, today I am filled with gratefulness for all the blessings of 2011, my wonderful family and friends and very hopeful for what God will bring us in the new year.Take care ya'll!!

Block Party and our Thanksgiving

Seems I have lots going on since my life slowed down. Actually, it has slowed down and been a lot of fun since my job is now unpacking my life and purging through anything not necessary. I recently heard a commentator for some daytime show talking about hoarders and how to NOT become one. So, I stopped unpacking, grabbed a cup of coffee and thought,, this could be interesting. I'm surrounded by stuff, boxes are winning 10 to 1, and we're going to listen to a show about organizing my life!! By mid show, I was compelled to start back to work determined not to let my stuff control me! I felt sooo much better considering I'm not as bad as I could be and well,,,it was free therapy. One take away line was when he said how to sort through your stuff. He said" just pick a random drawer or BOX(emphasis mine), dump it on the floor and then put away only the stuff you need". He determined this by saying, anything that is not adding value to your life RIGHT NOW should go. Well, that narrows it down. None of my stuff really adds value to my life. The bible says where your heart is, that is where your treasure is and I think about that and I know that my family and friends are definitely my treasures and all this stuff is just, well,,, stuff. Sort of made me put things in a different perspective, helped me let go of the things not adding value to my life and drive away later that day with full boxes to donate. At the end of the day, I gained a living room and a changed heart. Yes, we can actually walk into the living room now,,,yippee!!
As for the adventures for our family since my first post,we were invited to a "low country boil" and oyster roast from our next door neighbor Robbie. He was turning 40 and it was a good chance to meet some of the neighbors. We had a great time and felt like we were camping in our own backyard with a campfire, and the woods right there under the stars. They cook the oysters over the campfire with a grate and big burlap sacks that are wet. The "low boil' is done in a turkey fryer looking thing and had shrimp,onions,potatoes,corn on the cob, sausage and stuff in it. Very yummy. Have to say it was awesome.


Neighbor Robbie prepping the fire and the oysters..



The Fire......or in Georgia   the furrrrr..

Just swinging!

Don't let go!!

Yummy oysters!!

We managed to cook a turkey and have our Thanksgiving the following weekend and were all stuffed and happy.

We left Friday for a quick tourist type trip to Atlanta. We visited the Aquarium and the World of Coke. I would definitely recommend them both. At the world of coke the fun part was tasting all the sodas from around the world in this big room with nothing but plastic cups, soda dispensers and a very sticky floor.There were 60 flavors in that room,,think I was sick after like 20! One of my favorites was from South Africa,"Bibo", and our least favorite hands down was "Beverly" from Italy. It literally tasted like you were sucking on an aspirin..YUCK...

 Checkin' it all out at the aquarium...

Jianna, AJ, and Chase

 I dare you to try all 60+ flavors!

I think I need to burp.....

Welcome Home! We've Arrived!

For all those friends and family who wished I had a Facebook account,,well,, this is as close as I get! I hope you will enjoy our journey and a few pictures to make you laugh as we start our new life in our new home state of Georgia. So many of you made this transition go as smooth as possible and I have to say I couldn't have done it without you! All the love and support has been amazing.Thank you for everything!

So, now on to the good stuff. We left Las Vegas on November 14th full of excitement and a little restless. After all, it's been a whirlwind for all of 2011, and the moment has finally arrived. What would I do without the constant "to do" list and my crazy color coordinated calendar? You all who have seen this are laughing right now.

We arrived at the airport with 3 kids, 1 stressed out dog complete with airport approved carrier bigger than I can carry, 6 checked bags, 4 carry ons, 4 backpacks, one purse...whewwww. We say our goodbyes to Jessie and head for the gate.And of course, Jianna was the winner of a complimentary personal screening. I told her she should be that lucky and win us the lottery! But instead of being annoyed, I just smile. Of course we would have this happen...really? Once on board, we check 2 of the 4 bags because they are too big,,,oh darn...Up side,, no charge for this service and at this point I don't even care if it makes it to Savannah! I think every person on the plane thinks I'm crazy or feels mildly sorry for me as I am sweating trying to get everyone seated and fight the bags. And we are the next to the last row on the plane that has like 40 rows. You get the picture... Comical really if you think about it however, not in the moment.
Next it's refreshment time and yup,, you guessed it, on of my kids dumped there entire drink on their lap. No worries,, we have so much carry on I have the pj's from last night stuffed in a carry on! See,, a good reason to have a carry on!! Problem,,, have to walk through Atlanta airport in pajamas...Still smiling though!!








When we finally arrive,,on time I might add,, we were so excited to see Rob. He was hiding behind a pillar and jumped out to surprise us. It was awesome and the kids were sooooo excited!! This is the picture right then of them.

AJ, Chase, Daddy, Jianna

This is all our stuff in the back of Rob's truck....I know you are impressed now with my successful trip! And Rob didn't even complain once(he actually thought it would be worse)...