Spring aready?

Your not gonna believe me...I am currently sitting in a screened-in-porch enjoying 70 degree weather in Virginia. Crazy weather for two days after Christmas. I always say that I want it to be cold until Christmas and then go straight to spring. I guess I got my wish...let's hope it stays.

We had a good Christmas. David worked ALL day and I spent it with my family and David's. It was a nice quiet day. We were beyond blessed with what we received this year. I must have been really good this year? Actually, I think the hubby is trying to make up for all the time spent away from home. It works I guess.

Right now I'm up in Richmond, VA visiting family. I'll keep you posted. Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve

I love the Christmas Season...but today, Christmas Eve, is my absolute favorite day of the year.

Growing up, Christmas Eve was a special night for my family. I have always spent it with my dad's family. My Meme always makes homemade spaghetti sauce with homemade meatballs. It is what she is famous for. Our family would all gather at my grandparents house with friends who had no where to go on Christmas Eve and enjoy Meme's spaghetti. After dinner, we would all walk down the street to a neighbors for dessert. I remember as a kid looking up in the sky being convinced that every light from a airplane was Santa sleigh. Those nights were always so magical and that is what I love most about them.

Over the years much has changed for our family. My grandparents have since moved from that neighborhood and several family members are no longer with us. The friends who once had dinner with us now are long gone also. But no matter what changes have occurred, our family still gathers on Christmas Eve to have the famous spaghetti dinner. Luckily, I have been passed the tradition. Since DW and I have been married, I have have had the honor of hosting the Christmas Eve dinner. Our group has once again grown since we include DW's family in the tradition. Of course, Meme still helps with the making of the spaghetti. I mostly just roll the meatballs out (150 this year). Tonight at six o'clock, our two families will gather to continue on a tradition on a night that to me is still just as magical as it was when I was a kid.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Cookies and Rock Band

I haven't had much of a chance to post lately because I'm sure like everyone else we haven't stopped these past few weeks. Plus, I have been working to fill my time while being out of school so I am not home during the day which is when I do much of my posting. So what have we been up to lately?

This past weekend we had Christmas with my mom's side of the family. My mom and John came down Friday night so they could be here for the festivities. My Grandma cooked an amazing meal and I have seriously not seen that much food in my entire life. They had the regular family there and had invited several families from their church, so we had about 35-40 people there. Of course, my grandma cooked it all. The food was delicous and everyone walked away stuffed and there was still food left over.

Sunday night the parents decided that we could all open one gift. So Santa came a little early. They got DW's brother Rock Band for Wii. I think they let him open it because they couldn't wait to play it. Needless to say, we haven't stopped playing it...

We've gotten pretty good at it so far. Each person has something they are best at. Mine is singing followed by the guitar. Warning, if you start playing you will become addicted.

Monday night Momma Mabrey and I made cookies. They tasted good but my decorating left little to be desired. They make it look so easy on the cookie commercials.

Of course the decorating didn't stop anyone in our house from eating them.

Speaking of Phones...

Now that I have a cool new phone with a full keyboard to text with, DW keeps giving me a hard time saying that I will not be able to stay under our 250 text that I am allowed. For the record, I have always stayed under my allotted minutes and text. So, I pulled up our Verizon account online to check out how many text I have already used and guess what I found....

A $270.00 phone bill for next month. That's right...DW choked too when he saw it. And guess who was at fault...DW. He went over by 300 minutes. And guess what is the one thing that the Waffle doesn't pay for...district managers cell phone bills. Let's just say after the second speeding ticket in two months and now the cell phone bill, I have stuff on him for awhile. DW, that's what you get for accusing people of doing things they haven't yet to do. Looks like we're not moving for another month. Thanks babe!

Can I get Upgrade?

Have you seen this commercial? If your one of the few, along with the Amish, who haven't then consider yourself lucky. This commercial is played on every channel on every commercial break.



First off, Mrs. Knowles...are you really that hard up for money that you need to do direct tv commercials? I know your last CD and the whole Sasha Fierce thing isn't working out as well for you as it did for P Diddy, but come on seriously. Your married to JayZ who is probably one of the most famous and richest rappers on the planet right now and I'm sure you guys signed a prenup before you got hitched, but seriously, couldn't he float you a loan? Maybe the breakup of Destiny's Child wasn't such a great idea. Look what it's brought you too, singing while rolling around in some fake gold coins with a gold necklace in your mouth....come on, are you kidding me?

Secondly, Direct tv...those who are impressed with Mrs. Knowles wearing a short glitter gold dress and a upgrade necklace in her mouth (is it supposed to look like fake gold teeth) while rolling around in fake gold coins, can not afford your services because they are under the age of fifteen. Those of us who can, are not impressed and no it hasn't made me jump to the phone to purchase your services. In fact, I have now decided that I will never again subscribe to direct tv due to the fact that your commercials are just plain annoying and make me feel I have the intelligence of a twelve year old.

Thirdly, I hate the stupid commercial because of the fact it gets stuck in my head for days. In fact, it's been stuck in my head for the past four days. DW and I have been fighting over the one upgrade that comes on our phone line right now. One person can upgrade now while the other person has to wait till April. DW actually needs a phone because he uses his constantly, while I just want a new phone because I don't have a cool phone. So, what does a person do when trying to get the one upgrade....sing Mrs. Knowles upgrade song. Yes, for the past four days I have been walking around singing "upgrade" and doing my white girl version of the upgrade dance. So though the commercial hasn't succeeded in my wanting to purchase the direct tv services, it has worked to win me the upgrade on my phone. DW took me last night to "upgrade" my phone to a new cool phone. I think he really was just tired of me walking around singing upgrade and figured that was the only way to get me to shut up. Can I get a upgrade?

Toot, Toot!

What's that? That's me tooting my own horn. I've have been bogged down with test galore this past two days (seven tests to be exact) and the results are finally in...I got three A's and one C.

I will say that I am just as proud of that C as I am the three A's. I worked harder for that C than I did for those three A's combined.

So, my not working this quarter has not been in vain and the hubby is going to give me another shot at the full time college student thing next quarter.

No school for the next three weeks...I won't know what to do with myself. I have already stocked up on my vacation reading material...no law books for three weeks. That is my Christmas gift to myself.

Weekend Update...

First off, I haven't done Not Me Mondays in a few weeks because I've been so good lately I just don't have anything I haven't done...HAHA...no seriously I haven't done anything I thought worth writing and posting. Maybe next week...

We had our first normal weekend in seriously three years, so needless to say I was stoked and of course enjoyed every minute with my lovely husband who I haven't seen the last four months due to his new j0b.

Since DW didn't have to go back as usual on Friday night, we stayed home, ate leftover pizza and watched movies with a fire going in the fireplace...it was my kinda heaven (only we would be in our own house and wouldn't have others sitting around...one day soon).

Saturday morning we had a plan to get as much shopping done as we could before the crowds got to bad...I must say we did pretty good. We headed off to the IHOP for breakfast with DW's dad, and then the three off us headed off. Of course, in my true style, I had it all planned out to which stores we needed to hit and when. To make it a short story...DW's dad got all his shopping done and I finished up all of mine but two people by 10:30 Saturday morning and we hit up six different stores in a matter of two hours. The guys were rather impressed with my skills. They had already figured I had planned on a whole morning of shopping...I showed them. Plus, I didn't want to drag around two guys that hate shopping all morning and listen to them complain.

Saturday afternoon we headed off to my Grandma's to celebrate her birthday. She got some beautiful stuff. Evidently all her friends know that she loves anything that comes from the Cracker Barrel gift store, she got some beautiful things. I have pictures but I have loaded them onto the computer. I will post soon.

Saturday night we headed over to the Pope's for a Christmas Dinner with Friends. We had a blast! The food was delicious! Nicole's lasagna was excellent and Sheena's little tart things were so yummy (the one's sent home with us were gone that night). We had a great time like always with that group. I didn't get any pictures, but of course the Pope's did, so you can check them out over there. We did have great time and hope maybe one day soon we can have everyone over to our own house for dinner!

Sunday we decided we were going to have a relaxing day. We decided to get up and go driving around the area we're looking to move. We thought maybe we would have better luck finding houses to rent by driving around. Not so much...we only found three...

Potential house #1 was a scary old house that looked like no one but ghost had lived in for the past 100 years. I love old houses, but this one looked out of a horror movie. Only thing new on it was the front door, which probably had to be replaced when the old tenants busted it down trying to run from the ghost inside. Even DW said it was a little scary for him.

Potential house #2 looked as though it was sitting in the middle of a landfill and we seriously had to drive by twice because I could have sworn it looked as though the house had a condemned sign not for rent sign on it. Needless to say we didn't even write the number to call.

Potential house #3 was a half (yes, I said half) of a double wide trailer that had a built on apartment/garage thingy (i guess that is what you would call it) on the side. What's even better...someone lived in the apartment side. I told DW that if I was going to do that I rather stay here because I wanted to know who was living in my garage. We just kept driving.

So,after another frustrating day of house hunting, we've decided to put it on hold till after the new year. DW is going to be super busy with work till the beginning of the year, I'm going out of town, and we have tons of Christmas stuff between now and then. Maybe there will be more houses available in the area we like or maybe even dude will call us back on the we like and keep trying to go see. I've never heard of someone trying to rent a house who's too busy to show it. And yes, I know it's still for rent because I ride by there on a regular basis and it's still sitting there with the rent sign in the yard. Who knows...he must not like us.

We returned home Sunday afternoon after a productive day of house hunting to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneer's lose to the Falcons. Needless to say the hubby wasn't in the best of moods by then. He recovered and a few naps were taken to finish out our normal weekend. Now it's back to finals for me and work for DW. Tomorrow night is the Waffle House Managers Christmas Dinner so I am sure I will have some stories to share.

Can't wait for the weekend!

WooHoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This weekend for the first time in over three years, DW is off for a normal weekend. He has promised to be home by 5pm to start off our "normal" weekend and then he doesn't have to be back at work till Monday. It's a Christmas Miracle! We plan on getting the rest of our Christmas shopping done and of course the Pope's family Christmas dinner Saturday night.

Hope Everyone has a great Weekend! :)

My Grandma....

This past Tuesday was my Grandmother's Birthday. I being the wonderful granddaughter that I am, forgot to call and wish her a happy birthday. The saddest part of it all is that I spent the entire weekend with her and even talked about her birthday and still forgot to call. I know I should be shot. Anyways...

Years ago, I use to see my grandparents on almost a daily basis, but when my mom remarried and moved to Nashville, I saw them less and less each year. These past few months due to certain events, I've seen my grandparents more than I have in the last nine years and I have committed myself to see them on more of a regular basis. It's my new year's resolution for 2009.

A brief history...my grandmother is not biologically my grandmother. She is by legal terms, my mother's stepmother. My grandfather and her married when my mother was a teenager. We're not related by blood, but as far as grandmothers go, my heart belongs to hers. My grandfather always tells me it was love at first sight the first time my grandmother laid eyes on me. I believe that to be 100% true. Sometimes I feel she still looks at me that way.

I have only known this lady to be my grandma. Believe me, it was a shock at the age of five to meet a lady (my mom's biological mother) who called herself my grandmother and tried to act as though she had known me her whole life. Of course, I cried and quickly proclaimed to that stranger that she was not my grandma, "my grandma was my grandma." And then because I was so upset, they had to get my real grandma so she could calm me down. I honestly can't remember what my grandma said to me during that situation. But, I'm sure it had something to do with how much she loved me and would always be my grandma. Even today, she still tells me that. The family still laughs about that whole situation and for the record, I only saw that stranger one other time in life.

In these last few months, I've for the first time seen my grandmother through the eyes of an adult. My whole life she has always just been my grandma. These past few months, I've grown to see her for the person she is, not just a grandmother. She is a silent warrior. She is the constant caregiver for her 87 year old father and my grandfather, who six years ago was diagnosed with Alzheimers. Between the two, she never has a break. On top of that, she still continues to work a few days a week to make ends meet. I'm not even half her age and I don't have the stamina to keep up with her. The part that impresses me the most about her is that you will never once hear her complain or ask for praise. You can tell she does this out of the goodness of her heart.

When I think back, she is always taking care of someone. Though they had their problems like every blended family does, she has loved grandfather's children like they are her own. I only wish that my stepmother would have loved or at least accepted me the way she has them. Sometimes I'm not sure they realize how lucky they are to have her. Through the years, she has took in several children who have returned to live at home in adulthood and along with those, took in several grandchildren to help raise, I for a short time being one of those. She has taken in my grandfather's mother to care for in old age and then a few years later came her own mother. Now, she is taking care of her own father and the reality of it is she will have to take care of my grandfather in his last years. She doesn't shy away from the task and no matter what happens with my grandfather's mind, whether he remembers her or not, she will be there till the end. And in the end, when they are gone from our lives, she will never once ask for praise and repayment for all those years given up to others. And if you were to praise her on being the caregiver to so many, she will more than likely shrug her shoulders and then busy herself in the kitchen.

Unlike most in our family, she is quiet and usually won't say too much unless you ask her, in which she will then spill what's on her mind. She is always soft spoken but she is also stern and strict. She will quickly put you in your place if you misbehave, but you better believe she won't correct you in front of other, she always pulls you aside. She is strong in her faith, but not in the way that she would ever shove it down you. The only thing she ever expects is you treat others with the respect she has taught you to give to others, regarless of who they are. Saying "yes mam", "yes, sir" and "thank you" was and is still a must in her household, regardless of age.

This past weekend, I got to spend a lot of time with my grandma during our short trip to Nashville. For the first time since I've become an adult, I felt like I got to have an adult conversation with my grandmother. We talked the whole way up there and there were only a few moments of silence in the conversation. We talked about family members (just giving me the update on those I don't see regularly), books, marriage, and many other topics. She is always willing to give me advice and the majority of it always does help when I put it in practice. She is always encouraging me in whatever goals I am chasing and when she, it always seems so honest. That's one of the things I have come to love about her as an adult, her honestly with me. I know I can always count on her to give me her honest opinion. Like my current hairstyle, she didn't like the bangs, but she kindly let me know by several times asking me to pull them back with a headband. Of course she would never flat out tell me she didn't like them, she is too sweet for that. But, it's the honesty that counts.

This weekend though gave me a new perspective on my grandma. I realized that she is a person I want to strive to be like. DW always tells me that my job in life is my family. He says I am more compassionate about my kids that have yet to be born than anyone he has ever met. I hope that I can one day be the caregiver to my family that my grandma is to hers. I hope I can be that selfless to my family and care for them the same way she does. I wish for the same gentle spirit she shows others on a daily basis. I can only hope I have half the strength she does. She is the seriously one of the greatest women I know. I hope she had a wonderful birthday and don't worry I have already thought of a way to redeem myself.

Excuses...

It's that time of the quarter...finals. So, that means I haven't had much time for any blogging.

I shall be back soon.

Nashville

We 're back from a quick trip to Nashville this past weekend. My sister Liz and her finance Mike got married this past Friday! We left early, early Friday morning to pick up my Grandparents and head up to Mount Juliet, TN (a suburb of Nashville). We had a nice ride up there with the Grandparents and arrived in Mt. Juliet around 10am.

We hung out at my mom and John's house until time to head to the wedding. Due to several factors, they decided to just head to the JP with their close family and friends. The joke was to not let others out and go to park the car, cause you just might miss the wedding. Of course, I almost missed it because I was in the restroom. It was short and sweet, but of course beautiful as always when you watch two people bring their lives together as one. Their were a few watery eyes in the house and of course I was one of them. I think I've cried at every wedding I've been to.

The group then headed to Logan's Roadhouse to celebrate with lunch. It was great getting to know Mikes family and finally being able to put faces with names. They were great and we had a great lunch. Friday night after spending time with John and mom, DW and I headed over to Mike & Liz's new place. It was super cute and they've done a great job decorating in just the one week they've been there. It did really put me in the mood to want my own house again. I can't wait for January to come. We can't wait to go up there and stay at their new house. We're already planning a March trip up there. The newlyweds then took us to a new place to eat, Cheddars, and to see Christmas lights. We had a great time hanging out with them like always.

Saturday afternoon, John and mom hosted a reception for the newlyweds at their house. The house was packed with family and friends from both sides. It was good to see family we hadn't seen in awhile. The food was excellent and we left stuffed. We had to run out at 4:30 cause we had a long drive home. It was a short trip, but the grandparents needed to get back home to my great-grandfather Pop, at 87, he cannot stay too long by himself which is understandable.

I didn't get many pictures. I took a few at the wedding that I will try to get posted later. I hope the newlyweds are having a great time on their Honeymoon this week and I pray they have a safe trip back. Thank you John and mom for the hotel room. It was extremely nice.

Sunday DW had off to finish out his last few days of vacation he has this year. You use them or lose them at the Waffle, so he decided to use them for the weekend. We were lazy all day. We had to recuperate from our fast action weekend. We enjoyed a day of nothing for once. It was our last day of rest before the holiday rush.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Yard Men & Wooden Hangers...

The hubby and I like to play this game called "I know I've made it when..." Most people recognize this game as "if I won the lottery..." But, since we're young and the hubby's dream is to take over the Waffle House world, our version of the game is still a possibility. Especially since we don't play the lottery, "if I won the lottery..." doesn't really work for us.

Recently we had one of these spirited conversations dreaming of our what our future holds. The only rules to the game is that it has to be everyday things. Like, "I know I've made it when I can buy the country of Iceland," doesn't work. At least not in our version of the game.

Personally, my ultimate "I know I've made it when..." is when I can have yard men come and take care of my lawn on a weekly basis. I love nicely manicured lawns with flower beds overflowing with colorful flowers...who doesn't? But, no matter how hard I try, the gardening bug can't bite me. I have a mother-in-law who can garden all day long and she has on several occasions tired to show me her ways, but I just can't get into it. It's not that I mind hard work and getting dirty, I just get bored with it fast. So, as soon as a nice group of Mexicans (you know it's true-they do a heck of a job) can come on a weekly basis and landscape my yard and I'm not talking about just coming to mow the lawn and pick up leaves, I'm talking planting flowers too, then I know I've made it.

So, what is the Hubby's "I know I've made it when...?" He knows he's made it when all his clothes are hanging in the closet on wooden hangers. Go figure...that's all it takes?

So what's your "I know I've made it when...?" You know your thinking about it now.

Randomness...

Not trying to be a brat, but I really want one of these for Christmas...

The picture doesn't do it justice. I saw it in a New York & Company Store and fell in love when I tired it on. I want one bad. I have a weird thing for coats. I love them and ironically I live in the south and we usually only get to wear them two months a year. I sure do hope I get one under the tree. I have always been a red person but I the red bug has hit me hard lately. I've wanted everything in red lately. I even found the perfect zebra print scarf to match at my favorite little store Serendipity.

I also have a new love...

I'm not much of a makeup person, but I bought some of this last week. I think I just bought it because of the bright yellow bottle to be honest. I have been blessed with thick eyelashes, thanks mom and dad for giving me nice, thick eyelashes. But, I have gotten a ton of compliments since using this stuff. Several people have stopped to compliment me on my lashes. I highly recommend it. Plus, it's only like six bucks at wal-mart.

Plus, speaking of cheap. Has anyone stopped to check out the coffee of at the Racetrac gas stations? They have a coffee bar where you can choose about 15 different coffees and cappuccinos to choose from. You can mix and match all you want which I really like because sometimes Starbucks can be a little strong for me. They also have a little machine that dispenses chilled milk, half & half, etc. Very cool. The best part about it all...it's only $.99 no matter what size you get. My boss turned me onto it a couple of weeks ago and I'm now hooked. Plus since it's cheap I can always suggest to the hubby and he will stop.

Adventures in house hunting...

So I never knew how freaking frustrating this whole house hunting was going to be...

So, the house that I talked about yesterday...well, DW calls around 11 to ask the guy if we can come look at it because I had gotten done a little earlier than expected. Of course we can't because they still haven't evicted the peeps who are living there now. We are still waiting on the sheriff to come and evic them...nice.

But, don't worry because they really liked us (after a 5 min phone conversation?) and they even volunteered to move us for free due to our patience (they own a moving company) ...ummm ... something sounds strange now. They would call us in a few days to set up a time for us to see it.

So, DW and I decide that we are going to drive by since we had the directions...first we can't find it, gotta love mapquest...not. Finally it looks as though there is a clearing for a lake the next road over. So, we drive around this lovely neighborhood in which each yard is nicely decorated with junk, I mean stuff. The house wasn't what the ad represented which was a nice acre lot with lots of space inbetween the houses....which was a big fat negative. The actual house didn't look that bad. I was just a little worried about the neighborhood. I could already hear in my mind what my mother-in-law would have said first time she road through the neighborhood. Not trying to sound uppity or anything, but I don't want to drive through a neighborhood everyday that looks like a junk yard. Plus, I think the only reason the people "like" us so much is that we are probably the most educated sounding people that have called on the house so far.

Let's just say the hubby got to hear a big fat "told you so...you get what you pay for."

After that we rode back over towards the neighberhood I want to move into. Let's just say the hubby quickly raised his max of what we want to pay, which ironically was what the original rent max we had decided on until he found his little piece of heaven.

We didn't find anything new, but we called back our two prospectives over there. After riding back by (the first time was in the dark), we found one that we both liked due to the fenced in yard and little garage. We called the people again and they are out of town at the moment but want us to call back next week to come by and see it. Plus, it will fit better with our time line because there are people living in it currently and the house won't be ready till January, which is when we wanted to move originally. Plus, they allow dogs and the deposit is not astronomical like most other places. So, that was our adventures in house hunting. I think we will go look next week and if that doesn't work, we'll chill out till after the new year.

My biggest frustration comes from the landlords never calling you back. Seriously,we have called about eleven different places in three days and maybe half have called back. Plus, it takes two days before anyone will call back when they do. Plus, these houses are empty...I would think these people would be jumping to answer the phone for a empty house.

Plus, like we figured, we are having a hard time finding places that will let you have dogs. But, we've had our babies for years now and we're not about to get rid of them. We just got spoiled when we rented from DW's parents. But, I'll keep you posted on the progress. To make things better, last night DW had a business dinner with a big boss and he told him that yes, we didn't need to buy a house, but we do need to look into moving closer to his job (they pay for his gas). So, we defitnatly are going to have to do something soon.

So, keep us in your prayers. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Prayers...

So pray for us. We are going to look at a house tomorrow to possibly rent. D.W. is ecstatic to go look at it. It may have to do with the fact it's on 7.5 acres with a fishing pond. Of course, I'm not getting my hopes up until I see the inside. Problem is that the people keep acting like its going to be rented out within the next few weeks and we really are not ready to do anything quit yet, especially with Christmas around the corner. From the outside this house would be perfect for us, especially D.W., it is in our price range and it has a fishing pond....OMG! I just pray that if the hubby gets his hopes up that the people can work something out for us...it's his dream to live somewhere like this. So, send some prayers our way please.

Nope, Not Me...

I missed a week, but I'm back for more...

It wasn't me who ate entirely too much this past Thursday. I don't feel too bad though cause I'm sure that I am not the only one who didn't do this.

It wasn't me who went and saw the Twilight movie twice. I wouldn't do that cause it's a waste of money to go see a teenage vampire love story twice in 24 hours. Yes, I said 24 hours. I have much better things to do with my time.

It also wasn't me who started to watch a interview with my new vampire crush, Robert Pattison, and then look up and realize that I had spent the last two hours online reading articles and watching interviews about this 22 year old heartthrob. That's just embarrassing...I'm a married twenty-six year old woman and I don't have a celebrity crush on a teenage heartthrob and besides like I said, I have much better things to do with my time.

It wasn't me who two months ago promised my grandmother that I would paint her living room this weekend. It also wasn't me who was secretly relieved that my dad started the painting and pretty much did most of the work. It wasn't me who did the happy dance when I called Saturday and he told me to not worry about coming down to finish, he would finish it.

It wasn't me who was deathly scared of my cousins five weeks old baby on Thanksgiving. It wasn't me who held him like he was going to break. It wasn't me who thought twice whether I would be able to deal with that little of a baby one day. It also wasn't me who thought twice if I was even ready for a baby now.

It wasn't me who decided since the weather had been so crappy all weekend to stay in my sweats all weekend and not do anything but read and watch Hallmark Christmas movies.

That's what I didn't do. What did you not do?