Happy NEW Year...err.. Biggest Loser

It's January! NEW life, NEW year and NEW beginnings! I'm so anxious to see what God has in store for 2012.

Brant and I had a quiet NYE, which was ohh so nice. We rang in the New Year with take-out from Chili's and Carson Daly on NBC. Nothing better!

One of our hopes was to bring home a Gamecock win from Orlando - success! I'm sure I will see one happy hubby when he walks through the door tonight.

“We’re a happy bunch of guys,” Spurrier said. “Like I told the guys, next year’s team, they’ll try to win 12 because 11 already happened. So we’ll have some new goals next year.”

Resolutions for 2012

 Read {finish} at least one book a month

Regularly attend Sunday school {church is a must}

Lose 10-15 lbs & start running

Spend 30 minutes a day cleaning/organizing

Save $$$

Keep your fingers crossed I can accomplish all of these!

My work is starting "The Biggest Loser" this Friday. I hope I'm ready for the 12 week journey - which is until the end of March. I'm somewhat optimistic, because March is just around the corner. I can give up Zaxby's for three months..errr..no problem! 

I really would like to get some areas of my body back in shape before I lose all control. So after Friday, I will either be on our elliptical in the spare bedroom {which is collecting dust}, or working out with Jillian with her 30 day shred DVD.

Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted of my results!

Merry Christmas Eve, Eve!

This has got to be the warmest Christmas season on record. It's literally t-shirt and shorts aka {skirt} kind of weather.  I have been very MIA from the blogger world. I work at a hospital....we never shut down which has it's advantages (job security) and disadvantages (never any time off).  When I do have a day off, I'm just sluggish or "lazy" by choice.

I finished my Christmas shopping around the first of December....and I feel so great about it. I decided to run a quick errand to the mall this morning, but  saw the madness. No way will I ever be a last minute shopper....ever! It's not worth the traffic, long lines, or stress. 

My family and I saw one of our favorite Christmas movies A Christmas Story performed as a play at our local community theater. (You'll shoot your eye out!) I was amazed that they were able to fit all of the scenes of the movie into the play. They even had an adult Ralphie narrating the story the same as the movie! Kudos to Greenwood Community Theater.

We had a Christmas get together with our friends. It was fun as alawys, but definately low key. We have some friends that had just had their baby a few days before who could not make it (understandably). We also had some others missing too - so it was not our usual crowd. We did have the option to wear any ugly Christmas sweater. Being that my Mom is a teacher, she was able to help Brant and myself out. Thanks, Mom!

Each year, our church has a live drive-by nativity scene. This was the first year it was not freezing cold {due to global warming} or raining. (It was also the first year we did not have any live animals, which can be a good thing.) I'm pretty sure we have a lot of prayer from our congregation about the weather prior to the event each year. Their were some answered prayers! 

Now, I hardly ever get sick, but I was one sick cookie this year. My head, throat and stomach hurt. It was not my best...and I think our Pastor felt bad for me. I just hope I did not spread the germs when wearing the costumes. Brant and I did get to play Mary and Jospeh the first night. The best part about playing Mary is that she gets to sit down.

Sorry for the darkness in the picture. The shepard on the left is my Mom, Olivia.

Since my brother and sister-in-law live in Charleston, we usually do not get a chance to spend Christmas together. We celebrated Christmas the week before with them along with our extended family on my Mom's side. It was fun. I have not downloaded my pics yet, so I will post soon. We made smores, chatted, played dirty santa and all focused our attention on my nephew Elijah as expected..he's so cute. 

We have some celebrating to do with Brant's family tonight and plan to have a low key Christmas. I'm sure I'll share more details soon.

they are precious in his sight...

Considering that I'm {not} a professional with the camera, I'm pretty proud of myself. I purchased my Nikon SLR camera last year in hopes of having the process mastered by now. However, that is a big fat fail. I honestly do not know more than the day I bought it. My mission in the next few weeks are: watch the DVD (that came with the camera) & read the manual. I'm thinking I'm missing out on so much that my camera can do. Oh well....give me another year and I should have it down pat!! 

Below is our niece & nephew - Brylie & Brayden

Christmas spirit..

It's officially December! Ahh, I LOVE the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season; not to mention the music, movies and memories!  Fun times.

Brant and I adopted an Angel Tree child this year through my work. I must say, I'm pretty proud of myself. I can only {hope} our sweet girl loves her gifts. She will be rockin' with new clothes, boots & toys. I know what we have to give her is probably a fraction of what she needs. We live in a tough society in which it's very easy to identify the less fortunate.  I pray these gifts we give make it easier to "fit-in" with today's surroundings. At least we feel blessed to help out!

For some reason, I wanted to take some outdoor pictures of Brant and myself while the leaves were in full force and incredible. Since Brant and I are working on our 3rd year of our marriage, I figured we needed some 'other' pictures besides our wedding. This will probably be our last professional picture together of just "us"...tear!  No I'm not pregnant...sorry to let you down.  I'm just saying, it may be another two years before we have another professional picture together and a lot can happen during that time. I would hope to have a child or {twins} as Brant soo thinks we will have. Either way, I will be happy.

Boy..I better get off this gibberish...lol!  Here are some sneek peeks as mentioned in the paragrah above. I cannot wait to see the others.

Our Preacher and his wife have a cottage at Connie Maxwell Children's Home here in Greenwood. Each year, he encourages our congregation to visit their campus to see the Christmas lights and take part in other activities. It's always fun, even if you just drive through...It will put you in the Christmas spirit...I promise! It is only going on through this weekend, so be sure to check it out.

 http://www.conniemaxwell.com/html/christmas.html

Have you seen the comerical for the McDonalds McCafe Peppermint Mocha? 

We made a "pit" stop by McDonalds before going to Connie Maxwell to look at the lights last night. You know, If I'm going to look at lights, I need to have the taste of Chirstmas in my mouth. I will rate this as okay. It gets the job done...but does NOT compare to Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha....oh well~

Two is better than one!

Congratulations to Abbeville High School for winning yet another State Championship!  We're proud of the panthers. They made history by successfully achieving the title for two consecutive years in a row. That's an accomplishment in itself.

Final score 20-0

Leaves, Panthers & Shopping!

Here is another totally random blog; get excited!! 

I'm really LOVING the leaves. I'm sure it pains my husband for me to write this, since he blows the driveway about every other day (which is an understatement). Oh well, they are b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l!  I want to snag some outside pics before they are gone.

My Alma mater  (Abbeville High) is playing for the Upper State Championship tonight. Go Panthers!  Disclaimer: I come from a school that is pretty awesome at sports, especially football. We typically go far in the playoffs.  It is definitely a town affair each Friday night during the season. My Dad was on the 1971 3A State Championship team. They were honored a few weeks back in which they proudly showed off their newly purchased rings. Bless it, they did not get rings like our guys do now.  My brother was also a member of a State Championship team in 1996.  There is always a debate in the house about which team was the best Abbeville team in history.

Brant's cousin (Jamie) is also in the pictures below.  He is the current head coach at Abbeville.  He also won a state championship as a player in 1981.  He was a coach on the 1996 team my brother played on.  Last year, he was able to win his first State Title as a head coach.  Hopefully, the team wins the next two games and that will be another championship. So, for the record football is a BIG deal for my family - on both sides!

 

Brant and I plan to head to Columbia tomorrow to watch the Gamecocks play and do a little shopping. Some people do not like early games, but I'm all for it. I'm about 1/2 way through on my Christmas shopping - which is good. I plan to be done, fin, complete, by the end of this month. So, if your on my list - you better tell me what you want. We have a slam packed December and there is no time for shopping. Brant and I have to play Mary and Joseph in our church nativity - no joke.

Twenty-five minutes until kickoff. Goooo Panthers!

All I want for Christmas....

Don't be fooled, these are definitely "wants" and not "needs".  Here are my top three wants this Christmas season.

Uno

I'm really wanting a Coach cross body bag.

 I love the bag below, just the right color and size.

Coach Kristin Metallic Leather Hippie

If I can't have this bag, something similar will do!

Dos

Call me crazy, but I love to iron my clothes. We just have an iron that gets the job done. I need something that is quick and powerful. Here is what I found:

Rowenta DW9080 Iron

The reviews speak for themselves and the positives definitely outweigh the negatives on this one! The Q and Amazon sales this iron. (I'll be watching the Q to see if this comes on as a TSV.)

Tres

I'm also wanting a new camera lens for my Nikon D5000. I think pictures speak a thousand words...as long as they look professional! I have a good camera, so why not get a good lens! Here are the two that I'm looking at:

Nikon AF 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR

Compact 5.5X DX-format telephoto zoom lens with High Refractive Index lens element and ED glass is Ideal for capturing distant subjects at athletic events, family pictures, dramatic sunsets, travel and more. VR II image stabilization for handheld shooting at up to 4 shutter speeds slower than would otherwise be possible, assuring dramatically sharper still images and stable video capture.

AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED

This high-power, high-performance 4.3x telephoto zoom with VR image stabilization lens allows better hand-held telephoto shooting ED glass.

I can definitely live without all three of these items. But do feel that I can look and love!