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...

Five on Friday

Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday!  Happy to be linking up again with April, Christina & friends!  Join me!?

1 - I noticed over on my blog archive on the right side of my blog that I have a measly 50 some posts this year.  Womp womp!  I guess that's what you get for taking 3+ months off blogging!  :( Lesson learned!

2 - How delish do these look!?

Orange Chocolate Coconut Clusters

I just pinned this recipe to my Paleo Pinterest board & I'm pretty sure they just went on my "to make for Thanksgiving" list!

3 - Speaking of Thanksgiving, I'm so, so excited for next week!

Brandon & I along with my siblings & their families as well as both of my grandmothers will all be down in Georgia at my parents house!  It's been a while since we've all been at their house together.  It will be loud, there will be 5 dogs, lots of air mattresses, and my heart will be full because we'll all be together eating lots of yummy food :)

It'll be nice to get away, too.  A mini family vacation couldn't come at a better time!

4 - Thanks so much for all of the kind words & SuperFit love!  I was definitely nervous going into my first competition, especially since it was sprung on me last minute & I hadn't been training too hard for it!  At the end of the day, it was a great experience & I felt so encouraged just to be in that environment!!

I shared my new Front Squat PR today on Instagram…

That was 115 lbs right there, almost my body weight!  For 2 sets of 5, so I was pretty pumped!  As I mentioned in the SuperFit post, I really am not sharing these things to brag, but to encourage anyone out there who might see them!  

There's a Facebook page called Women of CrossFit = Strong that posts tons of CrossFit stories from different women of all shapes & sizes who are doing something for themselves (for once!) and changing their lives, their bodies, their self image.  It's so encouraging!  And that's really what I hope to be, encouraging!

5 - Saturday, Brandon & I are celebrating our anniversary with a Spa Day, dinner & a little Christmas tree shopping!  I've never been so ready to have him home & for a relaxing day together, just the 2 of us!!

Happiest of weekends friends!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy belated Thanksgiving!!!

As always, I'm behind on blogging!  But I couldn't let Thanksgiving come and go without a little recap :)

We've had such a glorious Holiday break!!  I cannot lie, I think I was most excited for a break from school, the fact that my husband would be home for 5 whole nights in a row, and some dang good food and family time.  So thankful for that!

Last weekend, we finally got Berkley groomed for the first time!  We figured the upcoming holidays called for a first hair cut for sure...and he looked so handsome afterwards!

He wore his reindeer bandana all day on Thursday :)

My parents were up from Georgia and my bro & SIL were hosting Thanksgiving up at their house in Concord.  {We're hosting Christmas this year!!}

We were up to Concord by about 11.  We didn't want to miss out on any fun!  B and I both assumed the positions - he on the couch to watch Football and me in the kitchen with my momma :)

I took breaks and joined B on the couch every so often!

And snacked on all the appetizers - sausage dip, spinach dip, and cheese ball & crackers.

Our day was very enjoyable!  We had 12 people, an infant, 5 dogs & entirely too much good food!!  Our menu consisted of turkey, ham, dressing, noodles, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, pineapple casserole, green beans, fruit salad, and rolls.

Then for dessert, there was apple crisp and ice cream, pumpkin pie, key lime pie, pumpkin roll, berry bars, and chocolate peanut butter pie.  I chose apple crisp and key lime pie :)

I was STUFFED!!  Especially since I hadn't eaten that much grain and dairy in a while.  But this girl can't be Paleo on Holidays.  Sorry that I'm not sorry!  Haha, all in moderation!

Berkley was pooped from all the eating and the fun having!  He is all puppy still and his doggy "cousins" were just not into playing as much he was.  Lucky for him, my niece and nephews love to play! 

I've been trying to fight off a yucky cold and unfortunately, I think Thursday was the worst of it.  But it was a great day so I won't complain!!

B and I ended the night snuggled up with with the animals and watching {or sleeping through} a movie :)

As always, I have so, so much to be thankful for this year!  My awesome husband, our sweet fur babies, my amazing parents and siblings (in laws included!), niece & nephews (and the ones on the way!), our extended family, our health!!  I hope to never take these things for granted!

On a more trivial note, here are a few other things I'm thankful for...

-A steaming, turn your skin pink, scorching, hot shower.  Every day I walk into my hot shower I just want to shout out my thankfulness.  No lie, it's practically holy that's how good it is!  Amen.

-Target.  I love going there.  It never gets old!  I guess I wish I didn't give them as much money as I do, but I could seriously browse around there for hours and I pretty much always leave happy!

-When Berkley wakes up on non-alarm days and B tells me to "Just stay in bed, babe, I'll take him out."  SWOON!  Oh my goodness, my heart melts for that man at these words.

-Chocolate.  I am always thankful for chocolate!  Oh, and wine and a tall extra pump skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks.  All my vices!

Seriously, I hope you had a most wonderful Thanksgiving and that it was spent with those you love!  

I have big plans of actually blogging this week, so keep your fingers crossed for me?!  Just don't hold your breath ;)  Until next time.... xoxo

Thanksgiving Weekend Randoms

1. Let's just let it be known that I'm terrible about taking pictures.  So instead of a cute post filled with Thanksgiving family pictures, you get this random post with some Thanksgiving sprinkled in :)

2. I would like to announce that I successfully made Shuck family noodles - from scratch!!

Noodles!

That's right ladies & gents!  And they were a pretty big hit!!  Especially with Brandon!  Which is good since he told me our marriage was on the line depending on these noodles ;)

See these noodles don't exactly come with a recipe, it's more like an old-passed-down-recipe-feel-it-out type thing.  I made them once last year with my SIL for Christmas.  This was only my second go-round, so I feel pretty accomplished!

3. The process of noodle making isn't exactly an easy task, btw.  It took me a good hour plus to make the dough and then roll it out.  And that rolling out is no joke!  My left hand still has a cramp!  And B says "Ohh, now you can make these every weekend!"  UMM....NO! :)

4. Not only did I excel in the noodle making department, but I was pretty much queen, ok princess (my mom gets queen title!) of the kitchen!

Wednesday morning I had Pandora Christmas radio playing while I made Molasses cookies & Pumpkin Spice Muffins with homemade Cream Cheese Frosting!  The lovely frosting pictured above was my attempt at being a baker for the day :)  I used a zip lock baggie, filled it with icing, and cut a little hole in corner.  Ha, let's just say I'll be sticking to my day job!

Molasses cookies are another Shuck recipe that I've been given rights to ;)  I'll have to see if I can share it on the blog.

Then, Wednesday afternoon I slipped over to my grandmother's kitchen to help my mom put together the sweet potato casserole!  We used my aunt's recipe and its definitely one of my favorite Thanksgiving sides! Yum!!  I'm sure we'll make it again at Christmas so I'll have to get the recipe then and share, SO good!

Finally, Thursday, I put together the dressing.  Another favorite Thanksgiving side dish!

5. I think dressing vs. stuffing should've been part of the accent vlog!  I think I use the terms somewhat interchangeably, but I think my family, for the most part, says dressing.

6. Our Thanksgiving eats were delish!!  If you can't tell by the happy mess this little boy was :)

Sorry for the poor quality!  Taken off B's phone

7. Slowly, but surely, I have begun my Christmas shopping!  Emphasis on the slowly.  Ok well, more like I'm making my Christmas shopping list!  Ha, I've only bought 3 things.  So I've got to get on it!

8. It was a pretty good weekend in College football for our house!  Michigan beat Ohio State & VT beat UVA!! The best part about the Hokies win means we'll have a full house next weekend of cousins and friends in town for the ACC Championship game!

9. In other football news, my Panther's won today!!!  We beat the Colts (who are 0-11 now) so not much to brag about.  But a win is a win and I'll take it!!

10.  In reference to 8, I'm ready for next weekend already!!  And completely in denial about going back to work tomorrow :(  Where did my vacation go!?  The good news is....I get another vacation in just 17 more work days!!  I just love this time of year and I'm so excited it's here!

Christmas cards, shopping, wrapping, parties, ornaments!!  Yes, I plan to soak up every ounce :)

Here's to a quicky work week!

Give Thanks

via

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. Psalm 107:1

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, and everyday, I am thankful!  I have so much more than I could ever deserve and I am blessed beyond belief!

I spent the day with my wonderful husband and family enjoying way too much delicious food, fellowship, laughter, a warm fire, and sweet love from my niece and nephews.  I am oh so grateful!

My heart is full.

I hope your heart is full today, also!

Anniversary Weekend!

"1 year ago today, we were Jamaica bound for our Honeymoon!  Today, we go to work :)"

My Facebook status read something to this effect this morning.  Needless to say, today was not nearly as exciting as a year ago, but we sure did enjoy our weekend celebrating year numero uno!

Friday night we laid low, got our fav take out from Basil, and watched Water for Elephants!

I was so excited for finally watch the movie!  It was one of the most "true to the book" movies in my opinion. I just loved the characterization in the book and thought the actors and actresses captured it so well!!  Loved it!

Saturday morning, we headed off to Asheville for the night!  Since our anniversary is so close to the Holidays, we thought it would be fun to tour The Biltmore during their Candle Light Christmas tour as well as their winery.  Brandon had never been and we thought it would be fun to get the full experience!

When we first got to town, our hotel room wasn't ready, so we walked around downtown for a little shopping & lunch!  They were actually having a parade downtown so we caught a little bit of that while waiting to be sat at Tupelo Honey Cafe!

There was a bit of a wait at to get in at Tupelo Honey Cafe, but it was well worth it!  Those biscuits were to die for!!

After lunch, we were able to check into our room.  Turns out a little birdie (aka Brandon) told the hotel it was our anniversary so we walked in to a sweet surprise!

B caught up on the Michigan game while we sipped some Champagne, and then it was off to The Biltmore!

The gorgeous entrance!! 

Waiting for our wine tour, sampling some champagne :)

The Clock Tower - the 2nd most photographed spot, next to the house

Edith Biltmore's wheels & get up (in the corner!)  Her *estate car*

Large white wine fermenter's behind me!  (I think that's what they were called!)

The AMAZING house!!!

If you've never been to the Biltmore, you should definitely go at least once!  The house is spectacular.  Each room has such immaculate detail, the ceilings are my favorite!  They have such incredible features!!  I wish picture taking was allowed!

Since we realized we couldn't take pics by the GINORMOUS 33 ft tree inside The Biltmore, we had hoped to take our Christmas card picture by this lit up tree outside.  After a few practice shots, we realized it wasn't really going to work!  Haha, onto plan C....

After second look, I thought the giant lion in the background might be a little weird for a Christmas picture.  Plan D...

After The Biltmore, we made it to our dinner reservation at The Chop House.  Our filets with blue cheese crumbles and sides were delicious, but the service...not so great!  Or we might have just been tired from all that walking at The Biltmore.  Either way, not sure we'd go back.  We'll stick to our trusty Ruth's Chris when we feel like celebrating over a good steak!  Maybe one day when we're real baller (haha, oh to dream) we'll try out Morton's!

For dessert, we walked over to the French Broad Chocolate Lounge for some truffles and brownies to go :) We felt a little lame, but we were tired, so we retired to our bed, watched House Hunter's and ate our yummy desserts!!  The night was perfection!

Their truffles lived up to their hype, by the way!  And they ship those puppies, so if you need some nice Chocolates as a gift for anyone, go drool over their website!

Before we left our overnight get away Sunday morning, I wanted to snap one last picture.  I found this anniversary tradition on Pinterest and just for giggles we thought we'd try it out!

Brought our wedding photo and everything! I felt extremely awkward holding the photo while being photographed, ha!  I'm glad eventually this picture will be WAY down deep in the years of pictures since my eyes were so puffy.  Great look for me!  Not!

We had planned to grab brunch before heading back, but breakfast at the hotel seemed a little easier!  Once we got home, we turned on the Panther's/Lion's game and brought Christmas our from the storage unit :)

We had a house divided this week during the game, but Brandon didn't rub it in too much when to no surprise my Panther's lost and his Lion's won.  :(

I love our 3 new ornaments from The Biltmore!!

  We attempted a few more Christmas photo ideas so here's something similar to what they'll look like ;)

They're no where near professional looking, but I think our final one turned our pretty cute and I love the card I picked out form Vistaprint!!  I can't wait to mail them all out!  We used a wedding pic last year for our cards, and our picture this year was taken exactly a year later :)

We topped off our Anniversary weekend with a family dinner at my brother & SIL's new house last night!  My parents got in town yesterday for Thanksgiving and I'm SO SO excited!!

1 more day of school this week...

and tomorrow...

we start COOKING!!!

PS - bear with me while the blog is undergoing a little construction :) If you know how to upload a premade header and/or edit html and would like to offer your expertise, please don't hesitate!!

Lovin' It

The CMAs are on tonight and I am LOVIN' IT y'all!!!  I love country music, it's my favorite! It's in my blood after all!  :)

Carrie Underwood's legs are smokin' and she and Brad Paisley have some good writers are pretty funny!!  No, but really, I love all the performances and seeing all the artists!  And Luke Bryan can shake it for me anytime!  ;)

Anyways....I'm also LOVIN' this week and this time of year!  So so much to look forward to and celebrate!!

For instance, 1 more school day this week and then a 3 day weekend!!  That makes me super happy!!

This sweet thang has been crawling in my lap every evening and nestling in my hair :)  I think he's cold, haha.  We haven't turned the heat on yet so I just layer up and sit under a blanket!  And we LOVE that cheap power bill!

Not this weekend, but next, we'll be celebrating our 1 year anniversary in ASHEVILLE!!!  Are you serious!?  Where did the year go??  I'm so excited to visit Asheville & take Brandon to visit the Biltmore during their Candlelight Christmas Evening Tours!  Hello Christmas card :)  We're going to shop around downtown Asheville, visit the Biltmore winery, tour the house, etc.  SO, SO excited!

Around our anniversary, I thought I'd post some of my favorite wedding pics on the ol' blog since I hadn't started it yet this time last year.  I just love looking back through our photo book :)

After our Asheville trip, I'm down to 2 work days until THANKSGIVING BREAK!!!  

And Thanksgiving break brings family, fellowship, good food, Christmas decorations, Christmas shopping, parties, ugly sweaters, eeeeeee!!!!  I'm LOVIN' IT :) 

The trees are gorgeous shades of red, yellow, and orange here and I'll be getting a skinny Peppermint Mocha tomorrow morning to round out my 4 day work week and welcome the 3 day weekend!

Hope you're lovin' your week, too!