Five on Friday

Happy Friday!!  Linking up with April, Christina & friends for a little Five on Friday: Pre-Christmas Edition!  Christmas is 5 days away!!!  Say what!?!

1 - That is our tree last year!  A beauty, right!?  Sadly, our tree looks nothing like that at the moment! It's still present-less!  I had high hopes of wrapping ALL of the gifts on Wednesday and I got about 8 wrapped {which are still sitting in the bonus room Santa's Workshop because I need to suck up all the dry pine needles first!}.  That puts me about 1/3 of the way there!!  Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow night!?!

2 - Speaking of dry pine needles, I think our tree is on it's last leg.  The bottom half of it is…droopy! Literally, branches are brushing the floor.  I'm not sure what's going on, but I think we kilt it.  Whoops! I'm not sure it going to make it to Christmas!

Elana's Pantry Cinnamon Bun Muffins & Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting

3 - These!!  Oh my, I can't wait to make these for our Christmas Eve brunch!  I'm also attempting Elana's {we're on a first name basis} Chocolate Pecan Pie!  I love being in the kitchen this time of year & I love trying new recipes!  I'll keep you posted as to the results!!

4 - Please do not think I've been Mrs. Perfect CrossFit Trainer picture of health over here.  Ohhh the fat girl inside me has been clawing her way out!  The sweet tooth is alive & well & I'm trying to tame her!!  But seriously, did you see that picture above!?  Oh man.  I have a lot of refocusing to do ;)

via

5 - I've had a rough time getting into the Christmas spirit this week.  Kinda bah humbug-ish.  I think having my husband home {for almost 2 whole weeks!!}, a clean house, and a few more presents under the tree should do it!  I'm looking forward to lots of sweet family, good food & a Christmas Eve service to remind me why we celebrate this holiday in the 1st place!

I may or may not be around over the next week, so if not, I wish you & yours a very Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Card Carousel 2013!

Merry, Happy, Holly Jolly Christmas friends!!!

Ben cat doesn't come to the box, so he didn't make the picture, but he wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, also ;)

This is my 3rd year to link up with Faith for her 6th annual Christmas Card Carousel!

It's one of my favorite link ups all year long & my way of sending a virtual Christmas card to all of you!!  Our 2010 & 2011 cards are here and last year, 2012.  I love looking back on them & seeing all of yours, too!

Cheers!

Tis the Season to be…Busy!

Oh, is that not how the song goes!?  Haha, I thought it was appropriate ;)  Things are definitely great busy around here, that just leaves little time for blogging.  Whomp.  But I'm back at it today & excited to link up with Faith tomorrow for her 6th Annual Christmas Card Carousel!!

Last week & this weekend was a whirlwind of fun!  I checked so much off my Christmas shopping list last Wednesday.  With a red cup in hand of course!  Then later that night I attended the 3rd Annual Charlotte Blogger's Ornament Exchange!  Classic Annie was sweet enough to host us all at her beautiful home!

Pretty ladies :)

It was so great to get to hang out & catch up with some sweet bloggy friends!  We of course keep up through our blogs, but it's fun to hang out in person, too :)

My little recaps of the 2011 & 2012 Ornament Exchange are linked accordingly!

I had every intention of linking up for Five on Friday last week, but we flew out Friday night to a snowy Michigan for Brandon's company Christmas party!

We're so thankful that work trips translate into a little extra Michigan family & friend time.  We stayed with B's sister & bro-in-law Friday night & got some sweet snuggles from our little baby man nephew the next morning before heading off to WOD with our friend Pauly B!

How cute is that…Brandon wore Paul's CrossFit Lake Effect

shirt & Paul wore B's CrossFit Pineville shirt!  They didn't even 

plan it!  They're too cute ;)

We met up with B's family again for some lunch.  Cute little man stole the show…

After lunch we drove out to Spring Lake to get all gussied up for B's work party!  I think we clean up pretty well…

It snowed all weekend in Michigan!  The little downtown of Spring Lake was just the cutest...

And inside wasn't too shabby either...

After the delicious dinner, dessert & obligatory speeches, there was obligatory karaoke!  The boys sang "I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and well, it was pitiful!  Haha

My group 1st sang "Rudolph" and then were called back for a sing off & we sang "Frosty".  Clearly we had some innate dance moves that won each of us a $100 Meijer gift card!!!  {You've probably never heard of Meijer, they're not down here.  But we will be spending that when we are back in a few weeks ;) }

It was definitely a fun little night!!  B's work crowd sure can throw a good party!  This was my 4th Christmas party with them!!  {2010 was pre-blog, 2011 & 2012}

We ate breakfast with the whole crew the next morning & then made our snowy trek back to the airport!  Can you believe that...

All that snow & we still managed to say on time!  It's a Christmas miracle!!  As always, we were glad to be back home to our white dog & Ben cat!

Are you busy hustling & bustling as well!?  I plan to wrap up a storm tomorrow, there will finally be presents under our tree!  And be sure to check back tomorrow to see our Christmas card :)

I'm a serial liker...

For real.  I'm a serial liker.  I have a legit liking problem.

Instagram is by far my favorite social media {you can follow me here ;) } and I check it probably about 73,000 times a day.  That's a lot, I know!  And I also hit that little like button on every other picture.

If you click the little quote/heart button at the bottom & scroll over to "following" to see what pics your friends have liked, it probably says something like "mrsshuck liked 53 photos".  I can't help it!

I sincerely liked that picture of your cute baby in a beanie hat, the video of your little toddler's sweet voice, that hilarious quote, the picture of your healthy dinner, your workout selfie, the flowers your husband sent you, your dogs spooning, that buddy the elf ecard 3 of my friends posted, your new lifting PR, the Panther's action shot, your Christmas tree, you standing in front of Central Park, your kid screaming with Santa, Trainer Bob's workout, & your new purse.

How can I not like all of those!?!  My habitual liking may come off as insincere, but I assure you it's not.  I really, really like all of those things.

And more :)  It's a problem.  But at least I can talk about it, right?!

Weekend Recap

It's Monday again…and a cold & dreary one, at that!  Berk's so tried of the rain, he just wants to run around outside!!  Poor guy :(

The weather's done a complete 180 from last week!  It was in the upper 70's & sunshiny Friday {blissful} and now we're in the 40's & rainy.  Yuck!!  I'm thankful it's not snow though, that sort of cripples us in these parts!  I am excited to maybe see some snow, though, this weekend in Michigan!

The yuck weather didn't stop our Surprise 80th Birthday party for my grandmother!

Memaw (center) with her brother & sister!

Memaw & 5/8 of her adult {are we really all
adults now?!} grandchildren :)

Helping their great-grandmother blow out the candles! {3/5 of the
great-grandkids ;) }

Memaw was very surprised by her party & felt very loved!  It was great to see some family, even just for a little while!  Our house full of guests was short lived…they all left Saturday night to head back home due to the possibility of icy weather.  But they'll be back for Christmas celebrations is 2 weeks :)  And you better believe I ate some of that cake.  Whoops!

Saturday night, we threw on our tacky Christmas sweaters for a few hours & stopped in at our friends' party!

We relaxed a bit Sunday morning before a good long workout at the gym, followed by naps {ok, only I napped}, Dexter & taco soup.  I tried to not eat the Hershey Mint Truffles & Candy Cane Kisses I bought {why do I ever buy those things!?} and then I cried myself to sleep after a dismal 1st half in the Panther's v. Saints game :(  

Sadly, I didn't wake up to better news, but we still have a chance to redeem ourselves in 2 weeks! And 8 wins in a row is still pretty impressive!

Here's to a productive week, I have a little shopping left to finish & lots of wrapping to do!  How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

Five on Friday

Linking up again today with April, Christina & friends!  Leggo!

1 - We picked up the final season of Dexter last weekend!  We're about 4 episodes in already & I can't wait to watch a few more this weekend!!  I'm so sad it's coming to an end :(  I'll sure miss my favorite serial killer!  I think we want to start Homeland next!

2 - I ordered our Christmas cards this week!  They're no where near professional, but hopefully they turned out pretty cute!  At least the proof looked pretty good.  Here's a sneak peek of an outtake…

I ordered from Vistaprint once again.  I looked at some other places (Tiny Prints, Minted, etc) and they had gorgeous cards...but I just couldn't bring myself to pay those prices!!  Maybe I'm cheap!? Maybe I'll change my mind when we have professional pics or kiddos on there!?  I just couldn't bring myself to pay upwards $130 for a greeting card (that sadly might get thrown away!).

3 - This weekend is my grandmother's 80th birthday!  We're having a surprise party for her (don't worry, she doesn't read my blog, ha) this Saturday & lots of family is coming in town.  I love playing hostess & having my cousins stay with us!  Should be a fun weekend!

4 - My cousin Jon wrote this hilarious post about surviving the 'Christmas Shoes' song.  He's so right, you can't unhear that song, but you want to so, so bad!!  I think I'd be ok if I never heard that song again!

5 - I'm so excited for the 3rd Annual Charlotte Bloggers Ornament Exchange next Wednesday! Should be such a fun night!  I can't wait to catch up with some wonderful girls I haven't seen in a while, meet some new faces & bring home a super cute ornament :)

Happy weekend!!

My Big Girl Car

A week ago today, I became the proud owner of this new beauty….

Meet Tracy, my brand new {slightly used} 2013 Ford Explorer!!!  If it's possible to feel love for a car, then I'm in love with Tracy!!

I'm not really sure how I came up with the name Tracy, but when the name occurred to me, it just felt right.  So Tracy it is!  And she now sits in our garage next to Rachelle, B's Ford Raptor!

It's a tight squeeze in there, fo real!  They're in love ;)

We weren't exactly planning to get a car right now…my corolla was paid off so we figured we'd wait until babies came along before I got a new car.  BUT….B's company has imposed a few changes on their company car rules which means we wouldn't be driving his company car up to Michigan for Christmas.

We certainly were not going to pack ourselves into my manual corolla that doesn't have cruise or power doors or windows for a 12 hour potentially snowy drive.  We toyed with the idea of spending a small fortune in gas to drive the Raptor to Michigan, but weren't thrilled with that idea.

A week ago Monday, when we found out we couldn't use B's car over the holiday, his exact words to me were…

…followed shortly by an email with a link to a beautiful 2013 Ford Explorer on AutoTrader!  So clearly, this is all his fault!!  {I've had a long standing crush on Ford Explorers & when they new body type came out, my crush turned to some major lust!}

I called on the Explorer from the link, set up a test drive for 3pm & the rest is history.  I knew I would love the car, there was no question of that!  It has every bell & whistle in the book, is super sweet & I feel so stinking blessed & unworthy to be driving this beauty!!

A lady was actually coming to test drive the Explorer at 330 that very same day.  She was previously looking at a 2011 Explorer they had that was sold right from under her nose, so she was coming back to see this one!  We acted fast & totally won :)

We picked it up last Wednesday afternoon & drove it straight to Atlanta!  She drives like a dream & now I'm suddenly looking for errands to run this week ;)  We traded in my little corolla, she & I had a good, long, brutal run together, including knocking the driver mirror off when pulling out of the garage this past summer.  Whoops!  I don't think I ever really loved her, though.  I never even gave her a name :(

It's funny how this car makes me feel like an adult.  Not being married, not owning our own home or business.  Nope, buying my potential "Mom" car.  THAT makes me feel like an adult!!  Whoa!  No car seats for Tracy yet, but maybe one day soon :)

And yes, I'll give you a ride in her!!  I know that's what you're all wanting ;)

Happy December!!

Happy December friends!!

December!  Can you believe it!?  I definitely can't, but I do love this month, so I welcome it with open arms!  

I loved Rachael's post on December today!  It's easy to get caught up in reflecting this month & then looking forward to the next year…but we've got 31 whole days this month to make count!

I just love the hustle & bustle of this time of year….the shopping, the parties, the family time!  I love walking in to our tree & wrapping gifts & ornament exchanges.  I hope to make this month count more than ever, though.  I don't want to over indulge on food, just to look back & feel bloated.  I don't want to over indulge on plans just to look back & feel tired.

So there's 2 main things I'm going to do this month - 1) keep my workout routine.  No extra slack days this month!  2) build in some rest time with Brandon & our families.  I want to not have tons of plans when our families are here, I just want to be with them & enjoy!

I started a 10 day cleanse yesterday to keep me on track!  I don't really care if I don't lose a single pound from it, but when doing something like a cleanse, it helps keep me focused.  "Should I eat that?  No I'm on my cleanse right now!"  Keeps me motivated, working, you know?!

This could be a good look for Santa, right!?

Anyways…we had a wonderful little Thanksgiving!!  We ate yummy food & played with nieces, nephews, & dogs, went shopping, napped, and just enjoyed one another!  I did a terrible job taking pictures, per usual.  But here are a few…

Wells wearing my slippers :)

Ya know, just doodling!

Thanksgiving kisses!

The granddogs getting some love!

A little football action with Uncle B & daddy!

Gluten free pizza for the win!!

Abel loves him some Huckleberry!  Sweetness.

Yesterday was pretty busy gearing up for another busy week, but it ended just like this & I'm so thankful for that!  :)  Love my boys...