Mom's Christmas Picture

You'll never guess how long it took to get this shot. Try two puppies that are only about 

1 1/2 years old...a 6 year old lab and an 11 month old baby all in one picture!

 It was crazy...but it's what Mom wanted...so that's what she got.

 Just thought I'd share!

Christmas Party!!

Our annual Christmas Party was a success! It was so much fun. We don't get to see each other very often since we're stretched out all over the state, but when we manage to get together it's a blast! Anthony and I got a Wii for Christmas from my parents so we were having fun with Mario Kart and such...and Jeromy and Anna brought their XBox 360 with Guitar Hero World Tour. If you haven't seen it it includes a guitar, a drum set, and a microphone. We had a guitar already so we had a 4 person band! One on vocals, one drummer, a bassist and a lead guitar...what fun! We have to rock to the songs and pull together as a band to pass the level. It was awesome!

 

Everyone was here and it was great. Collin on drums, Anthony, Jeromy on bass, Anna on lead, and Erin on vocals....not pictured: Me (of course), David & Kelly, Melissa and Gary.

Love them!

AHHH! Chocolate Monster!

Ok...so Lile LOVES chocolate!!! We discovered this when we came home from work one day after Halloween and she had eaten 3 bags of mini M&Ms and 2 mini Snickers! I freaked out. Her belly was huge and she smelled delicious! I called the vet and they said there was nothing we could do unless it was within 4 hours of ingestion. We had no idea when she ate it so we just waited to see what would happen. Nothing...hooray!

So we had our annual Christmas party this past weekend and without thinking I started cleaning up the house. One of my students had left some hot chocolate mix in the classroom and I brought it home and tossed it in the floor. After Gary and Anthony and I got home from the park on Saturday this is what greeted us at the door!

It's SOOO hard to be mad at her when she's this darn cute! I popped her before I looked at her mouth, then Anthony showed it to me and I couldn't help but laugh!!! We cleaned her up but she smelled like chocolate for the rest of the night! 

Check out her Christmas picture! 

Hooray!

School is finally out!!

I love those little guys...but it's sooo nice to be home and resting! I really needed a break. This has been a great year, but it's still so true that absence makes the heart grow fonder!!

I've finally finished all my Christmas shopping, and just today I finished wrapping all my presents today. It feels so good to be finished! 

I'm so excited about Christmas! I can't wait to see my family and eat all that yummy goodness! I have a HUGE sweet tooth and I can't resist my grandma's fudge and peanut butter balls!!

Hope you all have a GREAT and happy week with your families. 

Merry Christmas!

Great First Run

Anthony and Gary and I went to Sugar Mountain this Sunday for a great first ride down the mountain! It turned out to be the coldest day we've had yet! When we looked up the temperatures before we left the house it was only 9 degrees at the summit with 17 degrees at the base! Talk about chilly...but at least the sun was out. We all decided to snowboard this time even though Gary and I are both originally skiers. 

Needless to say we spent alot of time on our bums (Gary and I did, anyway...Anthony is a pro!) and I fell almost every time we got off the lift. Now our bodies are so sore we're getting up and down like old wrinkled people. I've got bruises and sore muscles that I didn't know existed, but we had tons of fun. It was a beautiful day and a great time spent with friends. Hopefully we'll go again soon.

Change of Plans

We didn't go snowboarding after all....I got sick yesterday and didn't feel up to it. Hopefully we'll meet up with Gary next weekend and hit the slopes! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was wonderful and it's always great to see the family together.

Only one month till Christmas!!!

Thankful

I just wanted to tell everyone how excited I am about Thanksgiving! I love seeing my family and having quality time to spend with them. Not to mention all the FABULOUS food! Turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans and pumpkin pie! We've got Anthony's family's lunch tomorrow...then on Friday my whole family will migrate to my mom's house for some delicious goodies and some quality time. It will be a fabulous day!
Anthony's itching to snowboard so badly! Our mountains have been getting inches and inches of snow...and that's not normal for our region this early in the season. So Thursday morning early...we're heading up to Sugar Mountain to carve some tracks! I haven't decided if I'm going to ski or snowboard yet...but it's supposed to be a beautiful day! I'm sure it'll be great.
I'll let you know how the conditions were!
We sincerely hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday weekend and enjoy the time spent with your family and friends!
Check out my gorgeous nephew, Zane!

Twilight Movie Review

Don't read this if you haven't seen the movie...or finished the book even. There may be spoilers!

Anthony and I and a friend went to see Twilight on Opening Night, Friday. I was really, super excited about it, but I knew I might not like it. I LOVED the book and I was sure they wouldn't do it justice. Here's what I thought:

Edward was HOT! At first I didn't like Robert Pattinson as Edward, but he did a great job. Definitly hot enough to be Edward.

Bella was great. Kristen did a great job...super sweet, high school girl love.

Jasper was WEIRD. Why did he always look so funky? And what about his "special" abilities? They weren't even mentioned!

Rosalie and Alice were kind of what I expected. Although, Alice needed more of a part than she was given.

Carslisle was not at ALL what I expected. I didn't like him at all. He was the palest and pastiest of them all! Gross! He was supposed to be Hot like Edward.

Jacob was too pretty. I mean I think he was cute in the book..but he wasn't 'pretty'.

There was only one part where I was REALLY upset during the movie: *spoilers*

When she finally figures out what he is and they walked into the woods (what was that?) and he suddenly tells her she has to see him in the sunlight and he grabs her and runs with her up the hillside. That Bothered me! That's NOT how it happened...where was the meadow with the sweet love scene? How hard is it for them to hike to a meadow and have a sweet scene. I didn't like the shiney skin either...I expected more of a radiance..a kind of glowing reflection of the sun that shone off his skin. Either way..that whole 5-10 minutes really bothered me.

I really liked the baseball game...and I liked the VERY end as the credits were rolling. I won't say much ore for those who haven't seen it!

Who's ready for New Moon?

PS. Why can't I be a hottie vampire?!

Look what I found!

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Halloween Fun!

I can't post all the fun pics of our favorite trick-or-treaters, but I wanted to share all of them with you. So check out our Picassa Web Album of Halloween goodies!

http://picasaweb.google.com/vwkyla/Halloween2008#

Anthony and I don't make any plans for Halloween...cause I LOVE trick-or-treat! It's so exciting to see all those kiddos dressed up and acting crazy! Plus...our house is the Place to Be. We always have a full house of people visiting with their kids. Anthony said that was a sign that we should have some kids of our own. If we're the only house that's kid-less then we need to work on that! We'll see....

Anyway...here's a preview...with Monster Lile! She was the hit of the party!
There are also some pics of Anthony and Lile and me at a cornmaze near our house. It was lots of fun...we got lost...and there were no restrooms on site. Talk about exciting!
It was a pretty fun day though...our sweet little family picture is in the web album, check us out!

Way Cool!!

So our weekend in West Virginia was really awesome. The only bad part is that it was realllly cold! We took Anthony's parent's camper so we didn't freeze to death and it's a good thing! When we woke up on Sunday morning the ground was covered in frost!! Not only that, but Saturday had been forcasted for beautiful and sunny...and it was for about 10 minutes! The clouds covered the sun an the wind really kicked and on that bridge it was freezing! We still had a great time. Imagine a fair...lots of vendors and food and hot dogs and funnel cakes....stretched out over a mile across the bridge. It wasn't a busy as we expected, so that was a pleasant surprise. We ate hotdogs and s'mores and tons of junk! But that's what camping is all about.

They look like pretty, pretty butterflies! This was the most we saw jump together...there are 5 of them. The jumpers seriously just walked off the end of the platform...and there they went! I'm sure I could not do it. Anthony was dying to go...but you have to have a license and have a certain amount of jumps before you can go.

Gary, Anna, Erin, Anthony & Kyla

Camping!!

So excited!!!
Our group is headed for the hills this weekend! We're going up to West Virginia again to camp. We're a little nervous about it being cold, so we borrowed Ant's parent's camper. Hopefully we can crank the heater up and stay toasty.
We're headed up again because it's Bridge Day. One day a year they close the hugified bridge up there and let people base jump off it. And before you guys freak out...NO we're not jumping. We're just going to watch! However, there is a zipline from the top corner of the bridge down to the New River banks below...over 600 feet! I hope we get to....it'll be freaking awesome!!
I'll post crazy, beautiful pics when we get back.

So Frustrated...

I sooooo can't wait to be done with grad school. I'm so frustrated with the work and the time that it takes. I know I shouldn't be whining...I signed up for this junk. But that doesn't make it any better. I'm so tired of homework and group meetings and online crap. And when we meet with our groups, why does everyone want to wait until almost 9 or after to meet?! Do these people not go to bed?!
Anyway..I just needed somewhere to vent. Sorry...
I try to remember the light at the end of the tunnel....I'm supposed to graduate in May. I hope it gets here SOON!!

Can't WAIT!!

Fireproof

We just went to see Fireproof last night! WOW!!! It's by the makers of Facing the Giants. What an awesome, awesome movie! Talk about an inspiration, romantic movie. If you thought Facing the Giants was good....you've GOT to see Fireproof. I don't want to tell you what it's about, but you can check out the links above. You'll need tissues, and you should definitely go with your spouse!
All I can say is that this morning I got breakfast in bed and was serenaded by a beautiful guitar! Go see it...tell me what you think!

A Sad, Sad Day...

It's so hard to believe that one year ago today we were on the sunny island of Oahu, in the beautiful city of Honolulu. We were enjoying palm trees, refreshing breezes and exploring our beautiful boat, Pride of Aloha, from Norwegian Cruise Lines. Our super friends, Ren & Anna that we met on our cruise, mentioned two weeks ago how sad they were that a year ago we were in Hawaii. How true that statement is!! On this day last year we were setting sail on a fabulous 10 day cruise around four of the tremendously beautiful Hawaiian islands. If you've never been to Hawaii...I know I can speak for Ren and Anna and Anthony here....we GREATLY recommend you make some plans.

I can honestly say that Hawaii is the only place we've ever vacationed that I long for. I really, really want to go back and spend more time there. It was the most incredible vacation I've ever been on and we enjoyed every minute of it.
In memory of this very sad day...this day of rememberance...here is one of my favorite pictures of our Hawaii vacation, our tall friends, Ren & Anna.

NEW YORK!!

It's here...It's here!!!

Ok..so I told you they were coming! There are so many I can't put them on here, but I made a web album of some of my favorites. Keep in mind that I took HUNDREDS of pictures while we were there and this is just a sample. I was making a CD for Erin so she'd have a copy of our pictures and it took 5 CDs just to hold them all!! CRAZY! We had such an amazing time...there's just no way to describe it if you haven't been. You just need to go.

Erin, Amy and I flew to LaGuardia, hopped a cab and survived the ride to Erin's gramma's apartment where we stayed for our trip. It was a great way to save money, and she was so cute! Amy and Erin have both been to New York, but it was my first time there. We walked miles and miles every day and were exhausted every single day. We only managed to stay up late one night. We went to the top of the Marriott in Times Square to The View. It's a rotating rooftop restaurant/lounge and it was just beautiful. They offer a dessert bar with a never-ending chocolate fountain and all the dippers you could imagine!

We saw Mary Poppins on Broadway..and it was incredible! We really wanted to see The Little Mermaid but we were not disappointed with Mary Poppins. So energetic and the songs are so catchy, I'm sure you know a few! Supercalafragilisticexpialidocious! Just amazing.

I think one of my favorite things was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. I know it doesn't sound terribly exciting, but it's beautiful. It's a great way to see the city and the bridge itself is a fantastic structure. I took more than 70 pictures on the mile walk across!

The pictures sort of speak for themselves...so you'll see what we did. The only big drama we had happened on the first day, on the first ride on the subway. I had my over-the-shoulder camera bag on and my cell phone was attached to the shoulder strap. The first stop we made, someone was shuffling out the door to exit the train and he bumped my bag and my cell phone fell into the floor. He bent to pick it up, but kicked it instead and it fell between the subway train and the platform, down onto the tracks. I didn't realize what had happened until it was too late and the doors had closed and we were on our way. We turned around and came back, the Metro people came to look for it, but we couldn't find it. They said someone must've jumped down onto the tracks and scooped it up. How ridiculous! We went straight to a Verizon store to have my service suspended and reported it lost/stolen.

Have no fear...as soon as I got home I got a new phone. It felt like I was missing an arm! I didn't know anyone's number by heart, except my mom's and Anthony's. I couldn't call anyone, I was worried about my Thirty-One business...what if they called me and it told them I had been disconnected? How does that look? Anyway...no harm no foul. And according to Amy it was for the better...I finally have a phone that doesn't beep/die constantly!!!

Enjoy the pics....tell me what you think!

http://picasaweb.google.com/vwkyla/NewYorkSummer2008

You'll see pictures from the Brooklyn Bridge, Southstreet Seaport, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, The View, Times Square, Central Park, The MET, Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building and soo much more!

Campin' and Creepin'

June 24-26 we went camping with Anthony's cousin, David, and his 5 year old son, Will. We camped in Blowing Rock and it ended up being surprisingly cold! I'm so glad I had just bought a new sleeping bag that kept me nice and toasty. But poor Lile had just recently had her hair cut, as posted earlier...and she just shivered! She had to climb under Anthony's sleeping bag so she could sleep! It was adorable.

Anyway...we took our kayaks and the boys did some kayaking at Price Lake (I had a Thirty-One party that night and got there after dark). Saturday we went to Damascus, Virginia and rode down the Virginia Creeper Trail. It's an old railroad track that has been transformed into a nice, smooth, downhill bike ride that takes about 3 or 4 hours, depending on how often you stop to enjoy the scenery. And trust me, you'll want to stop and look around, but you'll reallllly want to stop and take a rest off your bottom! There are also some really super cute country stores and restaurants who cater to the tourists on the trail. We had some really good ice cream and a great hot dog.

Will went along behind David's bike on a kid's tandem. That was so nice! He had a blast, as these pictures show. I wanted to share them all with you so I"m including a link to the google web album from Picasa. It's the 2nd time I've done the Creeper Trail and it's tons of fun. I'm sure we'll be back again soon.

BTW, Lile was spending the day with our friend Erin, and her doggy friend Hattie while we were enjoying our bicycles. She was well taken care of, I assure you.

No doggies were harmed in the making of this adventure!

http://picasaweb.google.com/vwkyla/CampingVirginiaCreeper

July 4th Fireworks

Yeah..I know it's late but let's just talk about how busy I've been! I'm going to try to catch you up on what's been going on around here!

Anthony and I went to spend our 4th of July in Boone with our good friend, Erin. We picked up a couple of friends along the way, too. We used to house-sit/babysit for a family in Boone that are members at the Grandfather Country Club, so we have the hook-up so to speak.

They called and put us on the guest list and we were able to go to the club house and watch the fireworks as they were reflected over the lake of the country club.

It was one of the first times I've put my NEW camera to the test..Fireworks are a very challenging subject if you've never tried! I think it did pretty good.

These were the best fireworks I've seen in YEARS! WAYYYY better than anything we have around home. What do you think?

We sat in the lawn beside the lake under the shadow of Grandfather Mountain's "Mile High Swinging Bridge." For those of you who don't know, it doesn't actually swing anymore! It's quite safe.

The fireworks were perfectly reflected! This was a series of fireworks that zig-zagged back and forth across the water. They were beautiful!

I think this one looks like a flower and it's my favorite! This one will definitly be printed and framed!

New York is Coming!

Just wanted to let you all know that New York blog is coming! I have a TON of pictures and a TON of stuff going on right now...
Also...Anthony and I are going to the beach Sunday - Wednesday, then going to West Virginia from Friday - Sunday....
Many pictures will follow! I know it's been a while and I'm sorry! I'll try to catch up.
Summer classes are almost over! Hooray!

Lile's first Homemade Haircut!

So I love my little Lilehana...but I don't love the $30 it costs ever time she needs a haircut. So my friend Michelle and I were shopping at Big Lots and we found a kid's haircutting set. I thought....Hmmm...this could work!

So I bought it and brought it home....what an adventure!

As you can see....she wasn't terribly happy about it! I took this picture in the middle of the haircut! I thought she looked like a lion...she now has VERY little hair! And the day I cut it she shivered the whole time she was in the house! We had to cover her up with a blanket because she was cold!

This is a pile of hair...in the middle of the cut! You should've seen it when I was finished! It was like a snow storm!

Gatlinburg!

Ok...so I know it's been a while...but what a while it's been!

So you all know we rented a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN for all of our friends so we would be able to spend some quality time together. We went June 12-16 and we had a GREAT time! Here are a few of our adventures...

We all enjoyed walking the streets of Gatlinburg...this is in front of the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum..This is a ball of solid granite floating on water. You can stop it from rolling, or change its direction with only a finger..it's pretty cool.

From left-to-right we are...Anthony,Gary, Collin, Erin, Melissa & Baby Faith...Jeromy and Anna joined us later.

Faith figured out a way to squeeze all the money out of all of our pockets! But she was just so darn cute tossing coins into the fountain...

We always make a point to play Putt-Putt while we're on vacation. This is Hillbilly Golf...you have to ride a little cart that carries you up the mountain to get to the playing areas. It's up the side of a mountain and completly in the shade. It was a great break from the super hot temperatures...Ok, Ren & Anna..maybe not super hot like Arizona...just keep in mind that our hot is extremly humid hot, and is completly different!

Anyway..we had good times here...until Faith got cranky!

The boys actually did some crazy bungee thing...and almost all of us rode go-karts and played video games and such...but Erin has those pics and I haven't gotten them from her yet...so I'll show you when I get them.

The girls did plenty of shopping...all the outlet malls and cute little stores downtown make for a great place to spend your money. We also spent alot of time eating...not just the girls, but everyone! That seems to be a theme with our group!

Our cabin was really nice...and pleasantly "cozy." It slept 8 people, but only had two bedrooms and two baths. So Anthony and I shared a bedroom with Jeromy and Anna on the futon. Gary and Erin were on the pull-out couch in the living room and Collin, Melissa and the baby were in the big bedroom downstairs. The two bathrooms were inside the two bedrooms...so when Gary and Erin needed to potty in the night they had to come upstairs to our bedroom to tinkle...and our bathroom door was the LOUDEST, squeakiest door you could ever imagine! What an adventure. Not to mention that there was practically NO insullation anywhere, so there were no secrets...we could actually see the light from Collin and Melissa's bedroom through our floor boards. But it was great..

Our next big adventure was our visitor!

I found this guy in the shower...right before I stepped in I noticed there was something in the corner near the drain. I almost just swished him down the drain with water...but I decided to put my glasses back on and see what it was. I said "Anna...you've gotta come see this bug, it looks like a scorpion." She says..."No way, Kyla...it can't be a scorpion, that's silly." So she finally gets up and comes to see it...and she was like "Oh my goodness, Kyla, it really is a scorpion...it's even got a curly tail! WOW!" So we checked it out and sure enough..it really was a scorpion! We googled it..and this type of scorpion is native to Eastern TN, and Western NC mountains...it also said that life-long residents should consider themselves lucky if they actually get to see one of these guys.

What a surprise!! I sure am glad I put my glasses on and checked it out before I just hopped in!! Anthony scooped it out and put him back out across the road, safely away from our shower!

We had a great time...and we've decided we need to do this every year...but somewhere different next time. I'll share more pics when I get them from everybody else....

My new endeavor...

I just became a consultant for a new wonderful company. It's called Thirty-One and it's a Faith-based company founded on and around the Bible verse, Proverbs 31..about a virtuous woman who deserves reward.

The products are beautiful and so very useful. I haven't booked my first party yet, but I'm hosting a party next week at school. If you have the time or interest,

Wednesday June 11 from 12-3 my friend, Rebecca, will be setting up in my classroom to showcase the products.

If you would like to see the products or maybe shop, but can't make it to the party... if you log onto Rebecca's website: http://www.mythirtyone.com/rbridle and click on the right on "My Events" a June calendar comes up. Just find my name and click, you can shop and view the catalog. There are many promotions for discounts and things. Personalization and monograming are included on most items for free! So get creative!

You guys should check it out...its so great for gifts of all kinds!

HALLELUJAH!!

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!

It couldn't be a better day! The rugrats left for the last time today!

I have babies to keep, people to see, a puppy to love...

My girlfriends and I are going to New York City..I've never been and I can't wait! My new camera will definitly be put to good use!

Anthony and I are planning on doing something, but haven't figured out what yet...we've mentioned several things, but nothing sticks out. We'll just play it by ear I guess!

What a great day!

Linville Falls

Saturday we took our little family for another outting! This time we headed north towards the Blue Ridge Parkway and ended at Linville Falls. For those of you who are Criminal Minds fans, the Falls were featured on this week's episode...except it wasn't really Linville Falls they were showing on TV while they were mentioning the Parkway. Funny how that happens.

Anyway....we took Lile for her first BIG adventure and she was wonderful! She walked so good on her leash and stayed right with us. She was sooo tired by the time we headed home! Poor little puppy had never walked that far in her whole little life! We just love that little thing!

We kinda thought it was funny that we went to school in Boone, and live only about an hour away from Linville and neither one of us has ever visited there. You can hike, camp and take beautiful photos. You can hike up to the top of the falls..or follow a trail to the basin of the falls. We opted to take the top of the falls trail this time.

We'll probably hit the basin next time.

This is a picture of the upper falls...they're pretty small.

This is a picture of the lower "big" falls...we were WAY up above this! But thanks to my SUPER new camera...I got the close up pic, too!

For you, Ren....I got a Canon 40D...it's awesome! Maybe you guys can come visit and we'll show you all this cool stuff in person!

Look what my new camera can do!

Sunday fun!

Today we decided to throw our kayaks into the car and paddle around the lake! It was a gorgeous day and we had tons of fun! It was Lile's first experience with a large body of water... other than the bathtub...and she had NEVER been in a boat before, much less a kayak! She did pretty good...she only tried to jump out of the boat twice...she was riding with Anthony and wanted to ride with me. He has more experience and we thought it would be easier for her to ride with him. Anyway...she almost jumped out and then when her feet hit the water she was scared, like she didn't realize there wasn't land there!

Here are a few pics of our family outing!!

These turtles were sunning on the trees...they just sat patiently while we paddled by. Until Lile started barking and scared them!! She wasn't sure what to think of them!

How cute are we?!?!

This is Lile having one of her "mommy moments." She almost fell in the water trying to get into my boat...

Testing!

Bear with me here....testing to see if this file will play from my blog..
So many of us are in grad school and we all have tons of projects to complete....

Thanks!

www.fileupyours.com/view/178228/bowling.wmv

We're going on Vaca!!

Ok, so we just booked our reservation for our first summer vacation! We're planning to take all our friends to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a long weekend stay. See...our friends (and us) are mostly short on cash...and if we don't try really, really hard to get together, we won't get to be together. The last time we were all on vacation together was when we were still in college, for Spring Break. That was quite some time ago!
So we booked a cabin that sleeps 8. We're planning on having 8 adults and one very cute and adorable child, if everyone does actually come!
Here's the link to check out where we'll be calling home for a few days in June.
http://reservations.cabinsforyou.com/Reservations/TCSRWeb.dll/PropertyInfo?PropName=Wild%20Rose&Arrival=6/12/2008&Departure=6/15/2008&NumberOfAdults=8&Temp=&Header=Header.htm&Footer=Footer.htm&TravelAgent=HomePage

Anyway....We're already excited...if you couldn't tell. I LOVE MY FRIENDS!

Picture Fun!

Looking back at my posts I realized I haven't posted anything fun or with pictures in a while....So, this is fun for me!

I took some pictures last weekend of a friend from work and her boyfriend. They wanted to have some portraits made but didn't want to spend a bunch of money...they knew I wanted to get into photography more so they asked if I'd take their pictures. What fun we had!!

My friend, and photographer,Monica has a studio in her basement so we met over there for some fun, casual pics. They are such a cute couple and are very photogenic. Monica was really helpful in setting up the backgrounds, which were really cool, and helping me get my camera set up for the lighting situation. I hope to get to take more pictures soon...so I thought I'd share some of them so you could enjoy!

I really had a good time and Sarah & Jason really liked them. I hope to take some pics of my favorite babies soon...Easter is approaching!

Lemme know what you think!

Wicked!

Hooray!!!!

Anthony wins "Husband of the Year" award today!

He bought and surprised me with tickets to see Wicked!!!! This is the show that sold out

in Charlotte in less than 8 hours!! He said he's been working on them for months and

finally found some on ebay for a "reasonable" price! Those scalpers are crazy!

I'm so excited!!! I wanted to go SSOOOOOO bad...I've read the book for

book club a few years back...I've already decided to make Ant read it before we go

so he's not lost and understands what's going on......

I can't wait!!

How lucky I am....he's such a great guy!

Vote for Lile!

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to let you all know that I entered Lile in the Bissell VIP Pet contest!! Please

check out their website and vote for her!! We could win a new vacuum!! Lile's cute picture could

even be on the front of the Bissell box!

Visit this website to vote for her! This is voting period 8..so you need to vote again!

http://www.bissell.com/redirect.asp?page_id=47101&Pet=7752.jpg

She's so adorable!!! Help us win!

My Jessica

I just felt like I needed to make a post about my bestest girl, Jessica. She was admitted to the hospital today for another chemotherapy treatment since her cancer returned. For those who may not know, Jessica was diagnosed last year with Hodgkins Lymphoma and went through a full chemo treatment plan as well as radiation. She was considered healthy for about three months before the cancer was rediscovered. As it turned out, her cancer was actually growing even during treatment.

I should probably mention that Jessica just turned 27 this month and is the proud mom of a beuatiful almost 5 year old, Thomas and a gorgeous 1 year old, Macy. She was diagnosed with cancer two weeks after Macy was born. What a rocky road it has been.

She is currently undergoing a super round of chemo drugs, hoping to push her into remission so they can perform a stem cell transplant. There's so much information, and I'm sure I'm not getting it all right...so I added a link to her website under my friends links. It's a website designed and reserved specifically for cancer patients so they can journal what's going on and keep up with friends and family. Please remember her and her family in your prayers. She has been a great friend to me since middle school. We even went to high school and college together.

She has so many hard days it's not easy to stay positive, but with all of us praying together we're sure to be heard.

One last detail. If you're in the neighborhood on March 1st, there is going to be a "Cut-off" in her honor. Local salons and stylists will hold an all day cutting marathon with all proceeds going to help Jess and her family with their medical bills, and every day expenses. There will also be baked good available for purchase. IF you can attend for a hair cut that would be awesome! If not...sending some cookies individually wrapped for the bake sale would be awesome! If you would like more information...just make a comment and I'll get you the info that you need.

Please pray for this family....they truly need your thoughts.

Thanks.

Tagged

What is his name?
Anthony...but occasionally it's Sugar Bear!

How long have we been married?
2 years

How old is he?
29

Who eats more?
Definitly Anthony!! Who knows where he puts all that food! If he's been working out....watch your fingers!

Who said I love you first?
Me for sure! Anthony didn't mind at all!! *wink*

Who is taller?
Ant

Who sings better?
Probably me...but Anthony is really good when he sings in the car!

Whose temper is worse?
This is a hard question...I think I lose mine faster than Anthony, but when he gets mad it's not good...he prefers not to fight, so I get the silent treatment.


Who is smarter?
Definitely Anthony...can you say MENSA member?

Who mows the lawn?
Anthony, and it always looks so good!

Who pays the bills?
We use both of our monies....but Anthony is very particular, to say the least, so he actually pays the bills.

Who does the dishes?
Depends on who cooks...but usually Anthony.

Who cooks dinner?
I do, usually. Although, Anthony has started helping me once a week now, it's a nice break.


Who drives when you are together?
Almost always Anthony...he doesn't like the way I drive! If I drive to dinner..he takes the keys from me and drives home! HA!


Who is more stubborn?
I think Anthony...

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong?
We both have trouble here...but I think I say I'm sorry first.

Who has more friends?
We have mostly shared friends...but I have girlfriends that I hang out with too...

New Year's

So I know it's been a while since New Year's but Anna just poined out that I hadn't posted anything fun in a while...so I'm back-posting!

For New Year's Eve we went to Boone to spend time with all our friends! We stayed with Erin, she was house-sitting for some friends. They have a great house and a wonderful hot tub that we enjoyed. It was SO cold! We stayed up LATE, played the Wii, played pool and soaked in the super hot water! It's been a while since we were all together. It was a really fun time.

We went to the Mountain House for breakfast. It's the BEST place in Boone for breakfast, unless you enjoy soda (but that's another blog!).

The Mountain House was also the site of our rehearsal dinner when we got married, 2 years ago. It was also instrumental in our engagement...it was part of the scavenger hunt that lead us to our final destination and to the proposal!

Sometimes we drive to Boone just to eat at the Mountain House...good thing it's only about an hour away!

First Snowfall!

We had our first snow of the year! It snowed on Wednesday night and we didn't have school on Thursday! It was even a snow day for teachers! Lile and I went outside and played.

At first she wouldn't even put her toes in...She didn't want anything to do with it. She finally realized it would move when she walked on it and that it made noise.

Here's a funny video of her playing!

Then I took some fun pics... There's not much snow, but it was enough for us to play. Lile got nasty because she started to dig in the yard and found the mud. Her face and paws turned red!!

Then we got all cleaned up....she's so cute!