Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I'm Slightly Obsessed with Christmas Decorations

I love Christmastime! And I love decorating for Christmas. Actually, I am probably go way overboard but I just can't help myself. I getting it from the Smith side of my family. You should see my aunts houses.

Ryan was gone all last week so I took the opportunity to take my time and do all of my decorating. I had a blast decorating my new house as you can see from all the pictures below.

First thing first - lights on the outside of my house. I LOVE christmas light and knew I wanted to put them up. I actually did the majority of my house by myself. I used the light clips that hang on your gutters and and the roof shingles and they made things so much easier. Dad came over with his ladder and helped me with the areas I couldn't reach. The hardest part was over my roof. We decided that we were going to have to crawl on the roof to get them up there. I started to climb the ladder and dad said: "No way. I am getting up there" and then I said "Well it's my house so I am doing it" and he responded "You are MY daughter so I am doing it." I gave in at that point and watched as he climbed on my house.

Of course the purple bathroom had to get the purple tree
Now on to the kitchen.

These reindeer both have stories. The little stuffed ones were my mom's she got before I was even born. The big gold one I got last year. Mom, Dad and I went shopping after Christmas to find some deals. I found this at Pier One and I didn't want anybody taking it so I had Dad carry it around the store for me while I shopped. Everytime I look at it I laugh and picture him holding it.

Moving into the living room.

I love snowman. I collect snoman ornaments and snowman figurines.
The main attraction - my Christmas tree
And the little tree in my bedroom. Tackle wanted in the picture too.
Hope you like my decorations. If you are in town, come by and see me.
Merry Christmas Y'all!!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A Royal Wedding

The big announcement was made. Prince William is engaged and will be getting married next Spring or Summer. Just like Princess Di's wedding, the world will soon be enthralled by a Royal Wedding that I am sure will be just as big of an event.

When I saw the press conference come on CNN about the engagement, I immediately felt sorry for Kate Middelton, William's soon-to-be bride and Princess. I mean, really who wants to announce their engagement at a press conference? But.....don't worry, I haven't forgotten that she is now wearing Princess Di's 14 k Diamond engagemnt ring. Wowzers! Now that is a rock.

I wonder if she was one of those girls that dreamed about becoming a Princess when she was younger. I wonder if she ever imagined that she will ACTUALLY become a princess. Crazy thought because in months time she will have gone from lowly peasant to all mighty Princess. If Prince William is the next King of England, does that mean she will be Queen? Even crazier thought!!

Kathy, my future mother-in-law asked me today "So how do you feel about planning a wedding and getting married at the same time a Royal wedding is taking place?" Up until that moment, I hadn't actually thought about it that way. I guess because I wasn't even born when the first royal wedding happend, I didn't realize how much of an impact these weddings have on the entire planet. Everybody will be tuning in to watch the Prince get married. What if they got married the same day I am? Even if its not the same day, it will be the same year. The Prince of England and I got married the same year.

Who knows, maybe I can steal some ideas from the Royals for my wedding. (Please note the sarcasm in my voice as I type.)

Stay tuned for more details on MY "royal" wedding.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Washington DC - Site Seeing from the Back Seat

For a very long time the #1 city on my "Must Visit" list had been Washington DC so when I found out on Friday that I was leaving the following Monday to go to DC for a video shoot, I was super excited. I literally found out on 3 p.m. Friday and at 9:30 on Monday I was on a plane heading to our country's capitol.

We arrived late Monday night and were staying 30 miles outside the city so we stayed close to our hotel. Tuesday we drove in early before our shoot just to drive around and do some site seeing from the car. We didn't have enough time to get out and actually see anything so I was playing the part of dorky tourist and taking pictures from the backseat of our van.

As I suspected, DC is a place you need to go to for at least a week and do all the fun stuff. I can't wait until I get to go back for pleasure and not business. See my pictures from the back seat below.
The Capitol
The Lincoln Memorial
Union Station
The White House - this is as close you can get in a car now.
The Washington Monument at night - beautiful!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Happy Friday

I found this picture today and it made me laugh so I thought I would share. Happy Friday!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Adventures of Registering

I never knew what an ordeal making wedding gift regestries would be. We decided to start making ours early, before the holiday season, because we were already starting to get asked by our families for Christmas gift ideas. This way when they ask we can hand over the regsitry lists and say "here is a really big list, pick something from it."

Ryan and I made a game plan:

1. Start with Bed Bath and Beyond because that will be the biggest list
2. Go to Dillards second so we can pick out our china and crystal - that will be another involved task.
3. Go to Target and register for the leftover things - this should be the easiest.

Well we knew it was going to be a long and involved process when we spent 2 hours at Bed Bath and Beyond and didn't even make it through half the store. We had to leave because the store was closing. That was Day 1.

The next day we decided to finish BB&B and then head to our 2 other stores. Luckily the second half of the store didn't take as long so we headed to Dillards next. We were optimistic about Day 2

Dillards started off weird. First, we got the girl who had only been on the job for a couple of weeks so she wasn't sure of anything. Once we finally got in the system she then told us that she had to scan each item we picked herself. Can we say awkward? She was following us around like a puppy and listening to us rationalize every single thing. Ryan finally had the idea of telling her she was off duty while we went around the store, picked what we wanted and then she could go back through with us and scan everything in a few mintues.

We started with bedding and left that department after 30 mintues because we couldn't agree on anything. Next we went to China and stemware. I ended up standing in front of the shelf with dozens of china patters for 2 hours because I couldn't make up my mind. Finally Ryan reminded me that I didn't have to make a decision that day and pried me away.

We were in Dillards almost 3 hours and got maybe 10 items scanned. After that ordeal, we were exhausted. But we had to truck on to the third and final place. All registering had to be done today because it was going to be the last weekend until December that we had free to complete this task.

Target was our final spot and turned out to be ok. Ryan proclaimed that Target had the best scanner. I let him be the keeper of the scanner at all three locations. I had to do something to keep him interested.

Looking back on the registering weekend I have come up with a few insights.

1. It is ok to pick the things that aren't the cheapest brand. Both Ryan and I felt really odd making lists of things for people to buy us and on top of that picking out expensive things. After talking to several people, we took their advice to "get over it" and scanned what we actually wanted.

2. Thank goodness for online registering! By the end of store 3 we didn't have a clue what we scanned or what we might have missed. Being able to access it online is a life-saver! Ryan registered at Sears for a bunch of tools so he was able to do that online, without me and without going to the store. He said we should have done that for everything.

3. I have become a registering pro - if you have questions, ask me and I can probably answer your question.

4. Through this process I have been reminded of how truely blessed I am to have friends that want to shower us with gifts, families who are happily throwing us an amanzing wedding and for the man that I will call my husband in 8 months. God has blessed me beyond belief!!

A Day at the Farm

On Halloween Day Ryan, his parents and I went to the family farm that is just outside Eureka Springs. I had only been there once before this day but I have to say this time was much better. This is one of Ryan's favorite places. They have 160 acres that they camp and hunt on. Their whole family loves it and I know I will be spending many days there.

My Studly FianceMy first tractor ride - I am sitting on Ryan's lap - ha how redneck can we get?

We took the dogs with us and this is the first time ever that Tackle had left my sight at any point. He had a blast exploring and playing in the creek. Obvisously in the picture he was right by Mama's side.

It is such a beautiful piece of land.


And I found a turtle - Ryan named him Bill. We let Bill go at the end of the day.
Ryan also found a Copperhead snake and subsequently chopped the snake's head off - not the best moment of the day.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Happy Halloween!

After the game vs. Vandy Ryan and I headed back and changed for Halloween! This year we went as a ghost and ghost hunter! I have to get imaginative to get Ryan to actually "dress up" This year a sweatshirt and headlamp was what I came up with.

Flappers!
A scary werewolf