I love this place...

Last night I (along with 50+ other "Starkville girls") went to a Christmas Ornament Party at The Grill.

SUCH FUN!I think I'm already excited about next year's party!

Griswold family Christmas!

Who doesn't love "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation"?

I went to a "Griswold" Christmas party Friday night, and in case you can't tell by the pictures, each couple was to dress like characters from the movie! :)

Allow me to introduce you to:

Clark and Ellen... (and another view of Clark..genius!)
...Cousin Eddie and Kathryn...

...Uncle Lewis and Aunt Bethany... ....Todd and Margo (that's me!)...
..."Snots" and the lovely wrapped cat from Aunt Bethany...

(And NO...unfortunately I didn't get pictures of every couple there! They were all great!)

And here are some more pictures from the night:

I started making a list of my favorite quotes from this fantastic movie (no doubt, one of the BEST), but I just couldn't narrow it down.

Sooo...allow me to ask you: What's your favorite quote from this movie?

"TIS THE SEASON TO BE MERRY!"

Katey!

My sweet, beautiful, wonderful friend Katey is 30 today!

How blessed I am to know this girl and call her my friend.

Happy birthday Katey!

I LOVE YOU!!!

30 day blog challenge- DAY 30!!!

Day 30- a picture.Here's me and my wonderful Mamaw.

What an amazing person she is! I was just so excited to get to see her on Thanksgiving day this year.

I've been so blessed to have 3 out of 4 of my grandparents to live into my adulthood. Both of my grandmothers are still living now, and I'm just beyond grateful to still be close to both of them. I've learned to never take the times I spend with them for granted.

Grandmother-grandchild relationships are simple. Grandmas are short on criticism and long on love. ~Author Unknown

30 day blog challenge- day 29

Day 29- My wishes

I wish that...
-calories didn't matter.

-my sister lived closer.
-all of my friends lived in the same town.

-gas was free. I can think of some many other things on which I'd rather spend my money.
-there was a Target in my town.
-I hated chocolate.

-there was no such thing as cancer.

-I could afford to travel more.

-I were musically talented.

-I could be friends with Dr. Phil.

-I weren't quite so competitive.

-I could cook like my mom.

-FOR ONCE, I could be content with my body. (I'm a woman. What do you expect?)

-Mexican food didn't taste so dang good to me (please see above at my 1st wish)!

-I enjoyed reading more than I do.

I'm sure I could think of a lot of other things I "wished," but either:

a. They didn't come to my mind at this very moment.

b. They're inappropriate to post on my blog (just kidding! Kind of).

What are your wishes?

He's 4!

Sweet Henry is 4 today! I can hardly believe it!

Happy birthday to my "big boy" nephew!
(It's hard for me to believe how long ago this was!)

30 day blog challenge-Day 28

Day 28-Something that stresses you out

I think I worry more than I stress, so honestly, there weren't too many things that came to my mind for this post.

I DO get stressed when:

1. ...I'm running late! I can't stand being late for anything, and if I happen to be riding with somebody who's running late, I sometimes feel like I'm going to have an anxiety attack.

2. ...things are unorganized! People who know me well will tell you that my house and classroom are very organized. I just like things to be in their correct places! Being a second grade teacher and understanding that it's almost impossible for things to be neat and organized all of the time, I do think I'm easing up a little on this. (But only, a little).3. ...I'm in extremely large crowds! This is a recent thing I've noticed about myself. Now, I don't mind speaking in public, but if I find myself just standing amongst a large number of people, I sometimes feel like I'm going to hyperventilate. Unless there's free food and/or good wine involved, I try to steer clear of big crowds.

What stresses you out?

Henry's 4th birthday party!

Henry turns 4 on Wednesday and insisted on having a "Tennis Party" this year! He was so excited and I think he and his friends had fun. :)

Here are some pictures from the party yesterday:

Happy Birthday to my dear little nephew!!!

30 day blog challenge- Day 27

Day 27-Pets

Well duh. This is a no-brainer of a post.

Say hi to Max.

He's the only pet I've ever had to myself and although he's crazy and neurotic at times, I can't imagine what my life would be like without this little guy!

Here are a few things I love about him:

1. He LOVES tolerated Santa long enough to get his picture taken with him. 2. He loves me. Sometimes he "shows his love for me" by not allowing others anywhere near me. Some find this trait annoying, but I take it as a compliment. :)
3. He hates Ole Miss. That's my boy!
What's not to love about a dog?

"If you don't own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life."

Roger Caras

30 day blog challenge- Day 26 and a nice GOLDEN EGG!

Day 26-Picture of your family

Here's the most recent one of all of us (and yes, I realize I just posted this one a few days ago!).

I will now be leaving you with this image.

Egg Bowl Champs 2 years in a row!!! Couldn't be more proud!!!

Have a wonderful week!

Egg Bowl time...

You've probably learned by now that:

a. I love LOVE college football

and

b. I'm a Mississippi State fan like none other.

Tomorrow is the annual Egg Bowl and honestly, I probably won't sleep much tonight in complete anticipation of this event. Even though, my bulldogs are predicted to win, it's being played at the very annoying school up north. And as many can tell you, when it comes to this game, you never can know what'll happen. The unpredictability (is that a word?) of it makes me crazy.

Anyway, a few posts back I was eager to hear some of your predictions. Leave a comment (if you haven't already!) and give me your take on: 1. Who you think is going to win, and 2. What you think the score will be. If you're correct, you'll receive a "happy" from me in the mail!

The only predictions I have so far are:

*Wade's World says:
MSU wins 24-14.

*My mom says:

The Bulldogs over the Bears: 28-13

*My friend Laura Mims says:

Bulldogs 30

Black Bears 14

*...and poor Tracy (it's all out of love, Tracy!)says

Ole Miss 24

MSU 13

What do you think? You have less than 24 hours to post your prediction!

GO BULLDOGS!!!!

30 day blog challenge- Day 25

Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

"You are the Best Thing"-Ray Lamontagne

"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"- Sara Groves

"You Make My Dreams"- Hall & Oates

"Keep You"- Sugarland

"Single Ladies" - Beyonce' :)

"The House That Built Me"- Miranda Lambert

"Postcard from Paris"- The Band Perry

"Home" -Marc Broussard

"Sweet Caroline" - Neil Diamond

"He's Always Been Faithful"- Sara Groves

30 day blog challenge- Day 24 and a Happy Thanksgiving to you!

First of all, I hope your family was blessed this Thanksgiving! I'm beyond thankful for the many many blessings in my life. Thanks be to God!

And the challenge for today:

Day 24-Something you've learned

Honestly, if I were to create a list of things I've learned, I think it would be very similar to this list that I recently compiled. Feel free to click back to that particular post if your little heart desires.

What things are you particularly thankful for today??

30 day blog challenge- Day 23

Day 23- Favorite Vacation Place

You probably know that I can't just choose one favorite of anything. When it comes to a favorite vacation I've had, there are several. They're all favorite places I've visited for different reasons. Here are a few fun places I've visited (and LOVED!):

- Seaside, FL. Oh my gosh. Everything about that place is heavenly. We took a family trip there last summer and I've wanted to go back ever since.

-San Antonio, TX. I actually went there on a teacher conference a couple of years ago and loved everything about it (except maybe the meetings!)! We stayed on the Riverwalk and it was so very fun. I'd love to go back.

-New York, NY. This was another family trip taken during my freshman year of college. I love the busyness and "fun-ness" of this place! We did a lot of the touristy things when we went, but I want to go back and just have fun shopping and eating at fun restaurants.

-Colorado. I've actually been to CO at least 3 different times (Aspen, Keystone, Denver, Colorado Springs, etc), and it's just an absolutely beautiful place. I enjoyed snow skiing but that's honestly not something I necessarily desire to do again. I just enjoy the atmosphere of this part of the country. Who doesn't like wearing a sweatshirt, drinking hot chocolate, and watching it snow outside?

-Highlands, NC. I've been to this wonderful place twice (?) I think. It's by far one of the most beautiful, relaxing places I've ever visited. If you've never been here, you MUST. (Looking at this picture makes me want to go NOW!).

-Charleston, SC. This was another family trip. I've only been there once but like the other places I've mentioned, I want to go back so badly!!! I could definitely live in this beautiful city.
Where is your favorite vacation spot?