3 big birthdays!

Our family celebrated the birthdays of 3 special men last month!---My dad, Uncle Bobby, and sweet Jones!

Our best attempt at getting a picture of them all!

Happy birthday, guys!

birthdays, baseball, babies, and EASTER (whew!)

Since the last time I blogged....

I've helped my Mamaw celebrate her 90th birthday...

....celebrated MY 31st birthday...



...helped Jones celebrate his 2nd birthday...



...spent a good bit of time at Dudy Noble field for a little MSU baseball...

...met the newest addition to the Overstreet family!  Congrats Kane, Katey, Camp, and Paxton!...

...and celebrated Easter with my wonderful family!

  Things are crazy busy, but that's still no excuse for neglecting the blog!  I'm going to get better again.

Is anybody still even reading??
Please say yes.

sweet thing.

Noelle Adams got dedicated at church yesterday morning.

Look at this sweet little face. 

What a precious blessing she is!

Christmas here, Christmas there, and AN ENGAGEMENT!

Hoping you and your family had a very blessed Christmas!

Here are a few snapshots of our family Christmas this year:

With family in Starkville...

NA, Henry, and Jones.  Love it.

Sisters and cousin, Jake.



My dear cousin Jake



Me and J.

H and me.

Me and that sweet baby girl...

Jones and Mom.

Dad and NA--her first Christmas!

Kristen and her sweet family...

...and Heather and hers...

Christmas with family in Collinsville...

First cousins!

My cousin Brian opening the gifts I gave him!  He loves the bulldogs!



I'm also super pumped about my cousin Jake getting engaged on Christmas!  I love his sweet fiance, and am so very excited about an upcoming wedding in the family!

Congrats Mary Kate and Jake!

traditions...

Growing up (as children AND well into our teenage years!), my sisters and I decorated cookies for "Santa".  And everything was homemade.  Mom made the cookie dough and the icing.  I still remember the bowls we used for the icing and how I would stick my fingers in them when no one was looking!  Her icing is the best.  Cookie making and decorating is one of my most vivid and precious Christmas traditions with my family. 

This is the first Christmas in--ummm--I'm not sure how many years-- that my sisters and I have all lived in the same town.  I love it so much. 

We all got together tonight so the boys could decorate their Santa cookies (a continued tradition perhaps?).

My heart was so happy tonight seeing this:

It was so neat for me to sit and watch them decorate and see their sweet personalities shine.  While each of them is so much like their daddies, I clearly saw my sisters in each of them tonight.  Henry (the older of the 2 and son to my older sister, Kristen) was in such charge.  He's a leader and he's very vocal!  He wants everything "just so" and gets flustered when things don't go his way!  It's just so Kristen.

Jones (the sweet "little"one and son to the little sister, Heather), is the entertainer.  He's just hilarious.  He's so chill, and everything he says and does is precious and funny.  It's so Heather.

I love the simple reminders that God gives me when I'm with these sweet ones. 

I used to think that if I never get married or have children of my own, I'll never feel happy or complete.  Or that I'll spend my entire life being completely lonely.

Obviously God only knows the plans of my future--but right now I know that my life is happy and complete.  I'm complete because I have the most amazing parents in the world, 2 sisters who are my best friends in life, a BAZILLION other best friends, and 2 nephews and a niece that I truly love as if they were my very own. 

I AM BLESSED and particularly thankful for Henry and Jones for reminding me tonight that my life is full of love and happiness.



...and it'll be oh-so-fun when this little princess gets to join her brother and cousin in Christmas decorating in a year or 2!

So...on the topic of Christmas traditions--what are some of your favorites? 

Please do share....

And a happy happy Thanksgiving to you!

Here's to hoping your family's Thanksgiving was as happy as ours!

Sweet siblings...


Blurry picture of me and my buddy. I love it that he now knows what "cheese" means!



The girls...



guys...



Sweet cousins... 

Love this sweet wink!!!!

 







ABCs...

A couple of years ago, I compiled a list A-Z of things for which I'm thankful.  I created a list for this year and compared it to my first one.  Though some of the things are the same, there are many new things added this year!

Here's my 2011 list:

A: Another day!  Though life is hard and exhausting, I'm grateful for each new day I'm here on this Earth.

B: Brothers (in-law)!  They're just fantastic.

C: Computers!  What was life like before Internet, email, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, and Pinterest?

D: Deep South Pout!  My new favorite boutique in Starkville.  Love the clothes and atmosphere but love the people even more!:)
E: Eight-year-olds!  Though my students drive me nuts sometimes, I still love them dearly (all 25 of them!)!
F: Friends!  I have THE.BEST.
G: Grandparents!  They all hold a special place in my heart. 
H: Henry! My almost 5 year old nephew.  My buddy!

I: Independence. I'm 30 years old and single.  Being on my own and knowing I can make it on my own, is a wonderful feeling.  I'm thankful that I am don't depend on a spouse (or anybody else!) to survive!  God really is all I need. 

J: Jones!  My 1 1/2 year old nephew.  My favorite little man.

K: K-Love!  Besides country music radio stations, this is the only other station I listen to!

L: Laughter.  As Charlie Chaplin says "A day without laughter is a day wasted."  Couldn't agree more.

M: Max!  My pup (duh).

N: Noelle!  My sweet new niece...

O:  Old people.  Seriously. You can learn so much from them!

P: Parents!  I'm blessed.

Q: QUIET'NESS'.  Those who know me well, know that as social as I can be, I also very very much love "me" time.

R: Relationship with God!  It's the most important of them all!

S: Sisters!  They're my favorite!  I would be a sad person without them.

T:  Teacher friends!  What would I do without them?

U: MY University--Mississippi State of course!

V: Veterans!  Never will we ever be able to repay all of those who have served or are continuing to serve in the military and fight for our great country.  As I've gotten older, I've begun to appreciate the selflessness of these men and women more and more.  If you are one of them, then THANK YOU!

W: Wireless capabilities!  Confession: I love my cell phone!

X: X-mas.  Not a fan of the "x" replacing the "Christ", it was the best I could do with this letter.  Christmas is, after all, the most wonderful time of the year!

Y: Yesterday.  Not literally, but you know what I mean here.  I'm thankful for my past.  I've felt lots of happiness and lots of sadness.  My heart has been broken, abused, stomped on, cheated, and hurt, but I'm THANKFUL for that.  I wouldn't be who I am without the good times (and bad times!) of my past.

Z: zzzzzzzzz.... Never will you meet someone who values a good night's sleep as much as I do!

I'd love to read your ABC list!  If you create one and post it to your blog, leave me a comment and
let me know so I can check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving week!

Let's go camping!

Henry and Camp celebrated their birthdays last night (Henry's 5th and Camps 6th) with a "camping" themed party. 

Precious and oh so fun!

You should be able to click to enlarge...

 Happy birthday, boys!

a little bulldog talk...

 Greetings friends!

It was MSU homecoming last weekend (yay for a "W"!!!).  The weather was beautiful and I got to hang out with some really fun people!  I love tailgating.  LOVE it.

Noelle and me.  This is my new favorite picture.  Look at her little face! 

Fun college friends!!! Amy (yes...that's a harmonica necklace.  Totally jealous!), Jennie, and Lauren.  Love these girls.

My dear Bambi!  She's the reason I'm able to stay somewhat sane at school! :)

We play 'Bama on Saturday. Though the odds are against us, I sure would love to see this happen again:

Don't you??!!