Just a small town girl that's been all around the world and back again...Now settled into life as a fabulous wife and momma of two darling daughters if I say so myself. And I do say. Enjoying loving and living this life!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

These are a few of my favorite...

These are a few of my favorite things.

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things!"

Mostly agree.  Except on the kittens line (NOT really a fan of cats or any other animals in particular), but the others would do.  For me, it's more like: 

These are a few of my favorite things wishes :) 

"Sheepskin Cuff Boots and Classic Short Sparkles
Furry Chanel bags and Stadium Stompers
 Fun, festive decor and new holiday dishes
These are a few of my favorite wishes!"

Click to play this Smilebox collage

And now, I am contemplated translating yet another stanza into the language of corri.  :)

Do you see what I see?

Do you see what I see?
Look closely at the two little candy canes - It must be Santa's helper cleaning the car like a good little girl!
[As babe is filling up on gas, Briley decided to hop out and give my car a good wash with the 'little stick.']


Me?  I am just sitting back, taking it all in ;)
<3 the two of them <3


Monday, December 13, 2010

c.b. LEADS to long nap LEADS to late night LEADS to early morning...

Love Sunday afternoon's that go like this: (just like yesterday)

After church, Briley announces that she, "would like to go out to eat at a restaurant."  (hmmm, what's new?!)  

After all, this is my motto...



And we found ourselves pulling into the Cracker Barrel just across the street and through a light. Convenient - yes!  Packed - yes!  (what did we expect for the after-church crowd on a rainy and cold afternoon - they wanted to go somewhere where they could get a 'home cooked' meal and curl up by the fire - just like us.) 

Luckily the checkerboard was open and there we were playing while waiting for our table for 3 to open.  The fire was crackling.  Bliss.  The blissful part was watching Briley jump those little round pieces forwards, backwards, sideways - had no idea of the rules and regulations - just making her own up as she went along.  She was playing with daddy and they were winning and after a look at my sad face, she switched sides so she could 'help' me a little as well.  As usual, the girls did come out on top. 






We played the peg game (C.B. standard) and made friends with our waiter who was studying health and nutrition at J.M.U.  Yes, a little embarrassing as we ordered:  The FRIED catfish meal with 3 fixins':  mashed potatoes, green beans and hashbrown casserole (another C.B. standard), which probably would have been enough to feed a small country, but we continued with the meatloaf meal also complete with 3 sides:  FRIED okra, mac n cheese and sweet baby carrots.  Then we made mention of something to the waiter friend that, "she would just share with us."  And the little punkins piped up, "Oh, I wanted one pancake and a sausage."  (I swear we had tried to ask her several times what she wanted, but she was too wrapped up in which peg to jump.)  So, we added that on and we indulged in all things terrible for you.  And of course, there were NO leftovers.  It was wonderful. 

That lead right into a Sunday afternoon nap - a long one - one where we slept until 5:30pm.  And that lead into our Briley girl being up into all hours of the night / morning.  I think she finally dozed off in between us a little after midnight (opps).  Don't judge, we really aren't that bad of parents (teacher says she is the smartest one in the class).  She was in her bed, in ours and back and forth again.  TV was off then on, then a story and then another.  She just 'wasn't' tired.  I was hanging some clothes out of the washer and heard little footsteps coming down the stairs, "punkssss, what are you doing up again?!"  "Ummm, I don't know."  So she sat on the couch and watched with big eyes as she was too 'tired' to help with the laundry. ;)  You should see our office - the floor is completely covered with Tinkerbell cut outs that she ammused herself with as we did some late night work on the computer.  It's 'eleven three three' we heard her say - Briley, "close your eyes."  It's 'eleven three five.'  She is too cute. 

As I dropped her off to school this morning I asked her if she was tired or if she was 'ok'?  "I'm ok" she replied kind of slowy and sleepily.  <3

Friday, December 10, 2010

Oh to be a princess...

Briley was invited to her little friend Alexandra's 4th birthday party - princess theme. 

Dear Briley, 

I had so much fun getting ready with you tonight....

You told me you wanted curly pigtails and glitter on your eyes.  When you picked your shoes, you picked these pink ballet slipper types, and as you were putting them on you said, "thank you for buying these for me, they are so comfy."  

You are oh so pretty both inside and out. 

And of course I couldn't get you ready without throwing a tiara in my own hair (you let me borrow one of yours) and some glitter on my eyes, too.  You wanted to make a king hat for daddy 'real quick', but (like usual) we were already running behind. ;)

But, we did make time for a few quick photos of you playing with the Christmas tree, dancing, spinning, posing and re-hanging ornaments.  

I love you so much!








Alexandra is such a sweet girl and heads and shoulders shorter than Briley...it's too cute.  The girls played, colored a huge castle, had their make-up done and nails painted.  They even had butlers serve them their food!!  Sounds like my kind of night.  A couple shots from the party:





YAY!  I did it!  (posted for two consecutive days).

lazy?? nope, nosy! :)

I have no excuse other than the typical, "just been sooo busy."  BUT, that doesn't quite cut it in the blog world - I realize that now.  I can't run the risk of losing readers because I haven't posted in 2 weeks! ;) 


I have seriously come to the realization that I AM OBSESSED with reading other people's blogs (I mean flat out nosy) - I read, read, read and read some more and then I am too tired to post or come up with my own material.  I have thought, on more than one occasion, wish I could just copy and paste this baby right into my blog!  (not kidding)


Some of my most favorites that I have stumbled across here recently...notice they post everyday in the cutest of ways:


http://thepioneerwoman.com/
http://magidbaby.blogspot.com/
http://www.kellehampton.com/
http://www.keytomytart.blogspot.com/


So, I have decided that I think want a crew to follow me around and take pictures, videos, make fb status updates and post tweets...just like that song by Joe Nichols.  "Dancing around like a fool.  Starring in her own little show.  Give me that girl that the rest of the world ain't lucky enough to know...."  Yep, I like to star in my own little show...Oh, that Travis gets me 24/7 - one lucky guy. ;)


Ok, let's play a little catch up!  TOP 10 HIGHLIGHTS over the past couple of weeks:


1.  Don't Look Back
Not gonna lie.  I have been thinking of posts over these past couple of weeks.  I just haven't followed through.  Plain and simple.  Trying to be cleaver one day while driving and this came to me.  Look at the beautiful scenery...and drive on ahead towards your future...don't spend time 'looking in the rearview.'  



So, I will take my own advice and not look back on how poorly this blog has been managed and I will keep on keepin on from here. ;)


2.  Pink or Brown?  
Shopping for Briley is something I enjoy.  I mean enjoy! - a littttle too much. Everything looks so cute on her.  Sometimes I think it would look cute on me - but the bigger the size gets - well, let's just say - the least amount of fabric, the better. 


 Pink, obvi.


3. Favorite things.
Road Trip/Great Friends/Gaylord Resort/Dr. Suess' ICE!/DC/Yummy Food/Fun
Our small group from church is AHHHHMAZING!  Here are a couple clips from the day...(fav part was lunch because it encompassed some of my favorite things:  it was hot (like summer), but christmasy, on the water complete with boats, food was inexpensive and oh so good, and a great ambiance).     













4.  Curly q.
I am so random sometimes...walking through Target and the bright pink sponge curlers caught my eye.  Hmmmm, don't mind if I do pick these up: 





5.  Aunt Linny comes to town.
My sister, Lindsay, affectionately referred to as "Aunt Linny" came into town from Charlotte the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  After a jaunt around Costco to pick up the infamous pumpkin pie that will feed 15 people for $5.00, we decided to hit up the Indian Restaurant across the street.  An experience I was pretty sure Lindsay and I would enjoy.  Babe - NOT so much.  In fact, he hated it. H.A.T.E.D.  Couldn't tell you what we had, maybe you can tell from the pictures below snapped from the blackberry??



6.  Hostess with the Mostess
Never have I ever...hosted a thanksgiving meal before.  It pretty much goes without saying that I have absolutely no talent in the kitchen.  None. Zip. Zilch. Zero.  And no desire to brush up on my skills.  The best thing I make:  Reservations.  However, with one sister living out of town and the other already hosting one meal, it left me....oh. my. gosh.  Well, it didn't turn out so bad - I quickly offered to be responsible for the main meat (none of us have any special attachments to turkey, so the main meat would be easy - a pre-ordered VA salty ham from the greatest little country shop - $70 and NO hassle) and the dessert (a pumpkin cheesecake delight - straight from the Cheesecake Factory).  Sisters were responsible for all side dishes - they are unbelievable!  We had way too much food, but enjoyed every moment of stuffing our faces and playing games.  Little Hudsy even spent the night with Uncle T, Auntie and Cousin Briley.  Decor and Food - both delish!
See for yourselves: 







7.  Turkey Bowl - Gooooo All Stars.  
 Babe is one hot babe.  Especially in a football uniform.  Briley and I love cheering him on!!




8.  Girls against Boy...and the girls win!
Travis deserves a gold medal. Briley and I wandered up and down the long paths at the Christmas tree farm ohhing and ahhing over every tree and changing our minds every second.  Then we laid eyes on this one.  Daddy didn't like it.  At all.  Said it was the ugliest tree he had ever seen, but followed the sentence up by saying it wasn't about him...it was about his girls.  And that ladies and gentlemen is why we love him and why he deserves a gold medal. :) 










9.  PW reunion.
Love these girls.  LOVE them. It all began in the Spring of 2001 when Tiffany and I pledged Alpha Phi sorority at Virginia Tech.  Kara and Kelly were sophomores and ready and willing to show us the ropes.  Now - almost 10 years later - no matter how much time passes - we are still the best of friends.  We love to talk, eat and just be.  We will be doing lots of that over the next several months as we prepare for Kelly to walk down the aisle with us right there by her side!  (and the best part about that is she doesn't mind sharing the stage - and I quote straight from her mouth, "no one puts a pw girl in the corner". ) ;)  xoxo




10.  A Tinsletown Christmas. 
Love a good party and that it was.  Decorations galore, mostly crafted by Kate, food, talent and a gift exchange.  What part of that does not sound like a great time with great friends?  Exactly.  A perfect excuse for me to get a little dressed up and T to wear his new Robert Graham shirt.  

one of the hostesses who did a fab job!! (also fellow super cute cheerleader and blogger - find her on my page at cellardwellin)
one of the hostesses who did a fab job!
the home owners/vegans....first time carving a turkey - haha!


yummmmmmmm
lovely ladies







And there you have it....the good, bad and ugly.  Now, hmmm, what's tomorrow's post going to be?!? ;)