Christmas all around!!!

I can't believe Christmas will be upon us in less than a week! I am done with my Christmas shopping and almost done wraping presents! Matt and I are both looking forward our vacation that begins Friday afternoon! We can't wait! We are both off work all next week! It will be nice to relax and do some things around the house!

My family is coming in town on Saturday!!! I am so excited to see them and host them here in our home! Hopefully, they will get here early Sat. afternoon! We will be praying for their safety as they travel! Well, as you can see I have been busy working on our stockings! Last weekend I finally finished my stocking and if I do say so myself it looks great! I am so proud of my accomplishment! Now it's on to Matt's stocking! It's a little more complicated! My stocking had 4 pages of directions! Matt's stocking has 12 pages of directions! I still want to finish by Christmas but more than likely it will be done by New Year's.

Enjoy the pics below of my finished stocking and some holiday decorations! We wish everyone a Very, Merry Christmas and a Blessed, Happy New Year!

Progress!
Our lovely Christmas Tree

Finished Product - Woohoo!!!

Our Gracie Girl!!

Decking the Halls

We have been so busy the last couple weeks since Thanksgiving! Last weekend we spent the whole weekend putting up Christmas decorations and getting ready for Christmas! It's been exhausting but very fun! I LOVE Christmastime and enjoying decking the halls! Finally, last night I finished decorating the Christmas tree! I still have a few more bows to put up outside then I will be done!

Now for my current project I'm working on...I'm making stockings for Matt and I. My Mom did this for both my brother and I when we were very little and I always loved my "mom-made" orginal stocking! I saw these kits at Hobby Lobby and thought "I can do that, what a fun project". So I picked out 2 stockings, got home and began sewing! Yeah, I don't really sew but I'm learning to by hand! haha I started with my stocking as you can see below b/c it looked like an easier pattern! I have really enjoyed making them and look forward to doing more when we have kids! I have done alot more on this stocking since this pic last week so I will post more soon! Hopefully I will get both stockings done before December 25 when Santa comes! Sewing my first stocking!

Here is my newest floral arrangement I got while at

Hobby Lobby that I just love! It's small grapes

on a vine with greenery! It ties in with my

kitchen theme so well!

Gracie's 1st Birthday!

I'm a little late blogging about this but last week on November 29th our little Gracie turned 1 year old! It's hard to believe she's been apart of our family for almost a year! She is a true delight and we can't imagine life without her now! We had a special celebration for her and she got to enjoy a special yummy b-day bone from Moochie & Co! What a cute idea! She even shared her treat with Annabelle! Happy Birthday Gracie!
She was way more interested in that
bone that looking at the camera! What a cutie pie!

I want that bone...NOW! Yum Yum!!

Annabelle got to enjoy in the b-day celebration!

She loves treats!

College Pick'ems New Champion

You are reading the blog of the new champion of Dan's College Pick'em!!! I have been participating in ESPN's College Pick'em this entire season! For those of you who are wondering what in the heck I'm talking about...you pick who is going to win the top 10 college football games each week and then rank them according to your confidence! Thanks to our friends Dan and Kristen who invited me to be apart of their pick'em group! It was been sooo much fun this season! I can honestly say I have never enjoyed watching college football and learning so much about it as I have this season! I have always liked watching college football but this season was extra fun and exciting due to the pick'ems! I must give credit to my Dad as well b/c each week I would call him and we would discuss our picks and compare notes! It's been great sharing this experience with my Daddy! He's the best! I always tell Matt he's got alot to live up to with my Dad!

Tennessee Tour - Knoxville to Memphis

Well last time I left you we were headed to Knoxville for the TN v. Vandy game! We had an amazing weekend in Knoxville a couple weeks ago! We stayed with my best friend Raych's Mom! I haven't seen her in a couple years so it was great catching up with her! They live in Sevierville right outside Knox. The game was AWESOME on Saturday! I always love seeing the sea of organge at Neyland! It's the coolest thing ever! The game started out slow but by the end I was on my feet yelling and screaming with excitement! Matt on the other hand knew he was getting beat and knew he was out numbered! haha! After the game when went to see Katie (Raych's Mom) in her show! She's an actor/singer for a murder mystery dinner theatre in Pigeon Forge! It was awesome! It was both our first time at a dinner theatre and we were truely impressed! Katie was amazing and the entertainment and food was awesome! We couldn't have asked for a better weekend!

We got to Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon...just in time to pick up our girls from the kennel! We missed them like crazy! We had 2 days to prepare before we headed to the other side of TN to Memphis to see my fam! We left Tuesday night and actually got on the road at a good time! Usually, we are running behind! I was excited to see my fam since we haven't seen them since July! We had a great time in Memphis! We really didn't do a whole lot! I cooked/baked some, ate, saw some friends, shopped and hung out with the family! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Lunch on Thursday! My mom and I shopped some on Friday! Saturday my Dad and my bro watched the TN game...seemed like it was all day long! The game was insane! It started at 12:30 and finally after the 4th OT it ended after 6pm! It was an intense and crazy game! Thankfully Big Orange UT beat KY! WOOHOO!!! Go Vols!

I will post pics from the game soon! I am sad to say we didn't take any pics from Thanksgiving! Don't worry, we will make up for it when the fam comes to Cinci for Christmas!

Happy Birthday to....ME!

Today is my uhmmmm 28th birthday! Wow, I can't believe im inching my way closer and closer to 30! Yikes! At work yesterday my co-workers couldn't believe I was gonna be 28. They said I didn't look a day over 23! That totally made my day! Unfortunately, I have a presentation tonight so Matt won't be able to take me to dinner but we will do something special soon! Matt did give me my birthday present last night before we went to bed! He got me a new Ipod Nano! I'm soooo excited! I didn't ask for one b/c I have a MP3 player I got a few years ago for Christmas from my brother! It's been working well and I didn't NEED an Ipod but now I'm really excited I have one! Can't wait to download some new music and photos and I can even download videos! I might have to check out the videos since we are driving to Memphis next week for Turkey Day!

Speaking of Turkey Day I am soooo excited to be going home next week and seeing my wonderful family! I miss them dearly and can't wait to be home and hang out with them and my old friends! We will be in town from late Tuesday night through Sunday! Woohoo lots of time to have fun! I am going to try and eat well while there but I know it will be hard! Pray for me!

On a very exciting note we are going to the UT/Vandy game this weekend!!!! Go Vols! I am sooooooo excited and can't wait to see my vols stomp the vandy comadores!!!! Matt will be rooting for his Alma Mater but I will be decked out in Big Orange! We are staying with my best friend's parents! Her mom is like my second mom! I've known her since I was 14! Love her to death! I haven't seen them in a long time so it will be great to catch up! A big plus is it's a much shorter trip to Knox than to Mphs.! Knox is only about a 4 hour drive! I am so excited about these next two weeks! It's going to be great and exciting and, of course, FUN!!!

Happy HOWLoween!!

Well, Annabelle and Gracie participated in a Howloween Dog Parade a couple weeks ago! They had sooo much fun! We enjoyed seeing all the dogs in their costumes as well! Even though we didn't win we definitely had the cutest pups there! The girls were exhausted when we got home but fun was had by all! Enjoy the hillarious pics below! Annabelle - Elvis Presley

Gracie - the Ladybug

Bobbing for hotdogs

The Big Bad Wolf

Pumpkin flirting with Elvis

Seabiscuit

Chickita Banana Girl

Chickita & Mermaid

Dinosaur

Strawberry

Scarecrow

Dracula

Princess Leah

King Charles V

Cubby

Bunny
Superdawg

The Priest

Our kids!

Rocker Dawg

Gracie's Surgery!

Yesterday our little Gracie had surgery to get two of her baby teeth pulled! Two of her very sharp canine teeth never came out when all her other baby teeth fell out! The vet recommended that we get them pulled to prevent any dental problems down the road! I dropped Gracie off at the vet yesterday morning and she did fabulous! She's a trooper! When I went back to pick her up around 2:30 she was still a little groggy but happy to be around all her friends at the vet office! The technicians have such a great love to Gracie and Annabelle! They love to see them come visit and, of course, they love the attention! Thankfully, Gracie was a little calmer last night however, it didn't last long, she was up and running this morning!

The Cincinnati Zoo

Saturday Matt and I went to the Cincinnati Zoo to have a picnic with some of his GE employees! We arrived around 1:30 and enjoyed some Montgomery Inn BBQ and good fellowship! The weather was perfect and a great day to go to the zoo! It was my first visit to the Cincinnati zoo and I enjoyed it! It's a very nice zoo, however lots of hills! Matt said though after being at the San Diego Zoo just a few months ago it's hard to fully appreciate and enjoy our Cincinnati Zoo! It was fun though and I look forward to visiting again!

Matt and I in front of the Zebra's

(Our attempt at taking our own pic)

Me in front of the Lions! RARRR!

Matt in front of the Zebras!

White Tiger

Polar Bear

Zebra

Magic of Kids

Friday night, October 12, 2007, was the 11th annual Magic of Kids Event for Kids Helping Kids, a Pathway Family Center! I spent the entire day helping Joyce, our fundraising director, get ready for the event! From filling balloons to setting up silent auction items to selling gift cards during the cocktail hour! We were quit busy! It was held at the Manor House here in Mason, OH! We had a wonderful time and raised alot of money for KHK! Joyce works so hard every year to pull off a great event and I'm so proud of all the hard work she puts in throughout the year! The food was great and the live auction was, as usual, very exciting! Some employees of the Manor House actually came in to see the auction take place!

Penny accepting her roses from Terri on behalf of her retirement from KHK

Penny giving her speach!

(Ignore the gold balloon in the background a little deflated,

Kelly must have blown that one up)

The famous Reds announcer, Marty Brenneman!

Matt's Hero - He was so excited to meet him!
Joyce (on the right), her daughter Carol,
and our auctioner Lance Walker (he's from Memphis)

The Table Setting

Me and Kelly - Miss her!!

Kelly and her Sister-in-Law Angie

Kelly's beautiful sister Nancy and gorgeous sister-in-law Angie

Kelly and her husband Steve

How cute are they?