It has been awhile...

I know, I know...I dropped the ball over the holidays.  For some reason I found myself made myself really busy over the last couple of weeks.  Not to mention I think I got to a point where I was just over being on the computer.  Christmas and holiday season were incredible this year.  CJ and I traveled to Nashville to spend Christmas with my family then made it home to have Christmas with our own little family.  It was a nice and relaxing time for us.

We were also able to spend some quality time with one of my close friends who I don't get to see very often, Jessica.  It was great catching up with her and letting Elena and Lily get to spend some quality 4 year old time together.

2012 will be a big year, I can feel it!  I start my new job tomorrow which I know will be challenging as I am going to be doing something very different from what they teach you in school...I will be spending half of my time doing clinical work and the other half doing administrative/expansion/management type work.  It will be fun to learn the business side of things but I have to admit that I am not sure how to do that.  Good thing I am a fast learner.  I have the opportunity to work with some experts in Autism and developmental disabilities.  I am beyond thrilled to start this journey and so thankful for the people who fought to create this position for me.

Here are a few snapshots from the holidays...more to come later!  And this year, no resolutions!

Fun holiday get together with my small group girls to hear Misty sing and do a little dancing!

 Jingle Jog with Jessica, my running buddy!

 Elfie Belfie saw us painting the night before and decided to paint so pictures while we were sleeping!  He even painted Lily an ornament to put on the tree.

 Jessie came to visit!

 Christmas at the Brantley house...

Lily was SSSOOO excited to give me this dress.  She didn't want to open any of her gifts until I got to open my present.  When she wrapped it a week or so before Christmas she wanted to give it to me and CJ said not until Christmas morning.  A few minutes later she handed it to me and told me it wasn't a Christmas present but a present for my birthday or any day and I needed to open it right then.  Minor meltdown when I put it under the tree and told her we had to wait just a few more days.  She has a very similar dress and wanted us to be twins.

 I love CJ's face in this one.  His grandmother gave me a bunch of his childhood pictures when we were there over Thanksgiving so, for one of his presents, I made him a scrapbook of his childhood.  He was excited.

Making Jesus a birthday cake (thanks Waumba Land for making this a holiday tradition that Lily wants to do every year)!

 Mmmmmm, yummy birthday cake.  She made us put a candle on it and sing to Jesus as well.  Of course Lily helped him out and blew the candle out!

 Jessica and 2 of her beautiful kids!  What a fun day to play in Piedmont Park :-)

 And this is where the fun really began...

 And this is what happened when we got home...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I started this post a few weeks ago and it never made it (maybe because while writing it I said to heck with it and got out the Christmas decoration boxes)….

Oh, its that time of year again.  My favorite time.  You know it will soon be Christmas when you start seeing my favorite holiday commercials.  Target.  Oh how I love you!

Growing up we had a tradition.  We would not decorate the house for Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving.  No Christmas music until AFTER Thanksgiving.  On the ride home after spending Thanksgiving at the Brantley family farm my mom would give us all the catalogs she received in the mail and we would make our Christmas list while blaring Tender Tennessee Christmas throughout the car.  I made my list almost two weeks before Thanksgiving this year.  Does this put me on the naughty list?  I feel guilty getting in the spirit really early this year.

So the question is, when is too early to decorate?  I had been trying so hard not to get a head start but I wanted to put the tree up!  It doesn’t help that all the stores I went in have their Christmas decorations all bright and shiny, calling my name “You know you want to.  Come on.  Join the rest of us.  Just do it.  DECORATE already!” Hobby Lobby had their Christmas items displayed in SEPTEMBER!  Seriously!

The reason I haven’t decorated and my family always waited was to not overlook Thanksgiving.  I have fall decorations in my house but it isn’t like I cover the house in Thanksgiving décor.  And for me, the Christmas season is all about giving thanks.  Thanking God for sending His son, our Redeemer.  And Christmas music!  I am not a fan of secular Christmas music.  It doesn’t move me.  Seriously, I on only think of two secular songs I would turn on voluntarily.  I do, however, love Christmas music that truly encompasses the meaning of Christmas, Baby Jesus.  So, to give me the chance to sample some of my collection before Thanksgiving, here are some of my favorite Christmas songs/albums…

1.    Oak Ridge Boys 1982 Christmas Album (I have been listening to it since I was born.  Even though I have the CD, I still have my parent’s vinyl record.  We have not been allowed, and this still rings true today at 29 years old, to come downstairs to see what Santa brought us until track #1 Jesus Was Born Today is blasting on the stereo).

If you watch the video, the guy at 1:27 and 2:45 is my all time favorite!!!  My family can always count on me to sing that part (loudly).  The Oak Ridge boys did a Christmas concert in Athens my senior year the night before the UGA/GA Tech game.  Somehow i convinced my family to go with me.  My parents, my sisters, and I were the youngest people in the crowd by a long shot.  Lauren, Jessica, and I stood up and sang at the top of our lungs almost the entire show.  People were looking at us.  They were confused.  One of my favorite concerts.  Ever.

2.    Little Drummer Boy (Josh Groban…AMAZING!)

3.    Love Has Come (Amy Grant)

4.    Tennessee Christmas (Amy Grant)

5.    Go Tell It On the Mountain (Tenth Avenue North)

6.    Winter Snow (Audrey Assad)

7.    Sweet Little Jesus Boy  (Trisha Yearwood)

8.    It Wasn’t His Child (Trisha Yearwood)

9.    Everything Changed (Eddie Kirkland)

10. Santa Baby

11. Baby It’s Cold Outside (although someone brought to my attention how creepy the song is if you really pay attention to the lyrics…now the song isn’t the same anymore)

12. I haven’t bought it yet but so excited for Michael Buble’s album

Okay, enough for now.  I am sure as I exhaust my Christmas collection (I think CJ is already tired of my Christmas craziness) I will have more Christmas songs to entertain you with!

Merry Christmas :-)

 Lily helping decorate the tree.  And not a single ornament was broken!  She did a great job!

Check out the recipes tab for a great spinach soup which literally took me 10 minutes to make and was super tasty!

Giving Thanks

This Thanksgiving was different from the others.  We still celebrated our family in Kite, GA.  Must be close to the country's smallest town.  It is 0.8 square miles large.  The 2000 census says it has 241 people.  They must have counted the dogs, cats, and goats.  I think the population is closer to 50.  One flashing stop light and a penny saver gas station.  That's all.

 
Mom couldn't make it since she was still feeling the effects from her last chemo treatment.  Lauren had to work the day before and the day after Thanksgiving so she did not make the long drive down.  Jessica and dad made the trip from Nashville and we had an incredible time!  Lily made her first Brantley family Thanksgiving debut.  She was the hit of the party!!!!  Our first day there started off with Lily leading us in a dancing game.  We all started to participate and then she looked at my grandmama (who Lily nicknamed "Cowgirl") and said "It's okay.  Old people don't have to play."  I thought "Cowgirl" was going to fall out of her seat laughing so hard.

After our game, we went outside to enjoy the beautiful day and to play on Lily's plasma car.  We all tried it :-)

Oh Jessie and Lily, making silly faces...

Thanksgiving day fun.   A little dance party.  A trip to the playground at the "Kite Community Center".  A walk through downtown Kite.  Pretending to be turkeys.  Some delicious food.  And girl time painting nails.

After we recovered from the turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, dumplins, and sweet potatoes to name a few treats, we headed to the family farm to check out the horses and moooo cows!  And Lily kept the family tradition going by learning to drive at a young age.  I wish I had a copy of my picture learning to drive in my granddaddy's pick up truck at the same age!

 Lily thought her dancing and posing would get the horses' attention and make them come closer to the fence so she could pet them...it didn't work.

Don't worry.  The driving was on the back of the farm on flat grass.  She drove from one end of the barn to the other, successfully (maybe with a touch of help) turned the car around and drove back to the end of the barn.  Then CJ took over.  Uncle Jerry is a trooper for joining in on our little ride :-)

After the farm we embarked on our annual pecan pick up adventure.  Dad knocked them out of the tree with a combination of a long stick and throwing a softball in the tree while the rest of us broke our backs picking them up.

 Uncle Jerry didn't think my dad was doing a good enough job so he thought throwing a brick in the tree would be a good idea...until it caught the power line in the tree.  Uncle Jerry's words of wisdom:  Don't throw bricks in the tree.

A Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without a little french braiding while the men watch football.

 Jeremy telling Justin how to braid:  "It's like the three man weave in basketball"

Jessie and I dreamed of the house we want to build on the farm for all the cousins to stay in.  Now I will spend too much time on Pintrest creating my farm house :-)