Christmas 2010 {in pictures...and a few words}

Tyler has been taking a pottery class the last 6 weeks and he made this just for me. It is gorgeous and I love it.



Tennessee "White Christmas"



Dinner with my mom and little sister.



Guess who did not want her own camera for Christmas?

Nope, she had rather use mom's SLR.

And I am ok with that.

She is pretty stinkin good at it.



Grandma Pat and Aunt Ashley made salt dough ornaments with the kiddos while we went to dinner...



With the S.M.U.T.S. and their spouses.



My new cutting board from Crate and Barrel.

Hubby got major points for this.

Mentioned I loved it months ago and he remembered.



My mom gave me these vintage candy dishes she found here while shopping downtown.



I love everything about them.

Still trying to think of creative things to keep in them though.

Any ideas?



Maggie's Lisa Leonard necklace engraved with her favorite scripture.

So dainty and precious.



Lots of baking went down here.

I have a whole new jiggle in my thighs to prove it.



Lemons.



For the cheesecake my mom made.

Did I mention I also have a new roll that now hangs over my pants?

Maybe it is a good thing that she lives in Florida.



I believe I single handedly ate at least 4 bags of these little jewels.

You think I'm pulling your leg don't you?

Nope.

It is a skilled craft people.

So is wearing yoga pants.



And finally I would like to introduce you to my new addiction.

I scoffed at any talk of these things for so long.

I prefer to stay in my cave with my flip phone and my walkman.

But the world and all it's technology keeps rolling and growing into a snowball of techno chaos that I cannot seem to get out of the path of and at some point I am forced to jump on.

By "forced to jump on" I mean my husband pushing me into it's path.

He is the reason my flip phone and I parted ways.

He is the reason I have the iPad.

He is like my electronics dealer.

And I am now an iPad junkie.

Maybe you can relate?

Maybe I will see you in iPad Anonymous?

Maybe there is an App for that? :-)



Seriously this thing is amazing.

I have read more the past week than I have in the last 6 months.

Books.

Bible Study.

You name it.

Even has an App for my Weight Watchers!

And I am feeling a tad more organized.

Which is always a good thing in my world.



How about you?

How was your Christmas?

Were you snowed in?

What was your favorite gift?


"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

White Christmas {Sweet Shot Tuesday}

First one here in Tennessee since 1993.



Linking up here:





"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Holiday {Sweet Shot Tuesday}

Linking up here today with Darcy:



"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

You may never want to go to the dentist again.

Ever know someone that seems to have the craziest things happen to them?

And only them?

You know, like one in a million chance type things.

Well if you didn't, you do now.

Seriously if it can happen it will happen....to me.

Those of you who personally know me are shaking your heads in agreement right about now.

Lightening may be in my future.

Or the lottery.

It could go either way.

*God is in control. Sovereign over everything that happens in the course of my life. There is no such thing as "luck". I am very aware of this truth. This is simply my humor. A coping skill. Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.*

******************************************************

This Tuesday was no exception.

I was supposed to be running into the dentist just to get my permanent crown put on one of my back teeth.

Typically this requires no use of anesthetics.

But of course when they pulled my temporary off there was a little cement located where it should not have been and they needed to get it scraped off for proper fit of permanent.

They tried this a few times with no meds.

Not pretty.

I'm pretty sure I was just one scraping of the nerve away from letting a cuss word fly.

So they decided to numb me "just a bit".

This is what I got instead.



Perforated blood vessel with needle full of lidocaine anyone???

Oh oh!! Me!!! Pick me!!

An entire cheek full of blood.

This picture was snapped about 5 hours after it happened.

There was a swirl of {calm professional} panic going on in the room and eventually oral surgeons were consulted by phone.

And I was asked "You don't have any issues with bleeding or clotting do you?"

Apparently, according to a female in the room, "this can happen but we've never seen anything this bad in the 20 years I've been here."

This picture was snapped today which is 3 days later.



She's a beauty isn't she?

I never was a fighter.

I now know why.

There is pain involved here folks.

I was given pain medication and antibiotics that I am supposed to take 4 times a day.

Which translates to twice a day.

On a good day.

Tell me I'm not the only one that struggles with taking anything more than twice a day?
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When I'm not busy chasing unicorns in Lortabland, I can be found making ridiculous amounts of these lately.

I have no idea why.

I got a hankering for some a few days back and it's gone downhill from there.

You see my daughter has figured out how to make them now.

This has now doubled the likelihood of me eating No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies for breakfast.

As you can see we have a pull up a seat and grab a spoon policy round these parts.



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I decided to let Maggie use my camera for a bit the other day.

Unsupervised.

I know right?!?!

This is what I found the next day.



She has an eye for sure.

Who knows, maybe I will have to give her my camera and upgrade like Ruthanne.

Just a thought.



"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Tina's Taco Soup

I have 20 minutes till the school bell will ring here at my house and my precious lunch break will be no more.

I wanted to throw this up real quick though.

For most of us, winter is upon us.

It is cold.

Windy.

Perhaps snowy even.

Your lips are chapped.

Your hair needs to be doused in fabric softener.

You put enough lotion on your hands to keep Avon in business for 50 more years.

Ok so this is my lot in life and I should maybe speak for myself.

With this weather comes the perfect time for soups, chili's, and stews to keep us warm.

I made this yesterday and just had a bowl of leftovers for lunch so I thought I would snap a photo and share this wonderful recipe with you all.

One of my fellow S.M.U.T sisters gave this to me years ago.



This was taken at our annual Gatlinburg trip this year.

We have a thing for the big wooden cowboy statue I suppose.

Nothing like a group of ladies that you can be real and raw with enough to be challenged towards growth.

They know me.

The good.

The oh so bad.

And the sometimes very ugly.

They love me and accept me.

Yet pray for me and encourage me.

That's Tina in the green sweater.

The first friend I made when we moved to Tennessee 7 years ago.

My Tina Fey.

She shares my affinity for elf culture.

And the "Friends" years.

I heart her.

This recipe is SOOOOO easy you will feel like you are cheating on dinner.

And so delicious it should be a crime.

Taco Soup

1 lb. Lean Ground Beef (browned)
1 Can of Rotel
1 Can Diced Tomatoes (I prefer petite)
1 Can Whole Kernel Corn
1 Can Kidney Beans
1 Can Chili Beans
1 Can Tomato Sauce
1 Packet Taco Seasoning
1 Packet Ranch Dressing (powder)

Here's the beauty of this recipe folks. Cook your meat. Then open and dump! No draining!

You can add sour cream, cheese, and tortilla chips to top it off. My hubby like to also put jalapenos on top.

Your own little Mexican Fiesta in a bowl.

I personally cook my meat and then convert it all over into my crock pot so that I can leave it on low all day with no worries of scorching and such.

Enjoy!



“Come join SoupaPalooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dishsponsored by KitchenAid, Red Star Yeast and Le Creuset”









Tidy Mom {I'm Lovin It}





"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

O Tannenbaum

Our tree farm man was back this year!!



Whoo Hoo.

We had to go somewhere else last year for a tree and it just did not feel right.

Like we were steppin out on our tree man.

Scandalous.

We were so tickled to see that he was home safe and sound from serving our country in Iraq.

And more than happy to give him our business.

And so the tradition of getting our Christmas tree on the day following Thanksgiving resumes.















Trust me.

It was much easier to get in the house, in a vertical position, and decorated than last year.

A bungee free tree.



How about you guys?

Do you have your tree up yet?

Do you wait?

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I will be linking up here.








"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Thanksgiving 2010

How was your Turkey Day?

Did you eat too much?

Are you still working on leftovers?

Do you wish adult pants came in adjustable waist?

I do.


We had a fabulous Thanksgiving.

Even though I could have lived without the two hour drive in the rain. Each way.

I like road trips and all.

But my ADD gets the best of me and I have to keep myself busy.





We had the standard Southern Thanksgiving spread.

Turkey.
Cornbread Dressing.
Cranberry Sauce
Chicken and Dumplings.
Green Beans.
Sweet potato casserole.
Pumpkin pie.
Coffee.
Repeat.

I gained at least 5 pounds just by walking in the door.

So grateful for another year with my Grandpa Fisher.

The man that used to rock me to sleep on his chest.



I am his oldest grandchild and he is the only grandparent I have left.

He is a pistol I tell you.

Cancer survivor.

Frequent flyer.

Preacher of the Gospel.

Living life to the fullest.

He has even written and published an autobiography of his life.

An amazing story.

Thankfully he left out the time he pinched my leg in church to shush me up and I yelled out "Grandpa you pinched me!" for the entire congregation to hear.

Poor guy...he was the preacher...and we were on the front row.

No need to include it I suppose.

As many times and my grandma told it I am sure no one could ever forget.

My children do not have a huge memory of their other great-grandparents so I feel especially blessed to know that they have a deep rooted understanding of this man and his life.

And his legacy.



I have so much respect and admiration for both he and my dad and treasure each time I get to see them.

Good food.

Family.

Four generations under one roof.

Truly something to be thankful for.

The new jiggle in my thighs?

Not so much.



****************************************************

On our way back home we stopped in to see my best friend Stephanie.

We have been friends since Jr. High.

But became much closer as we went through High School.


















That's us on the right our Senior year.




And us on Thanksgiving 16 years later.

We still look good Steph. Even after 3 kids :-)

We have shared more laughs, inside jokes, and shopping bags than two people ever should.

There is something very special to me about this friend that goes far beyond sleepovers and trips to the mall.

Stephanie was the one holding my hand when I accepted Christ.

She cared about my soul enough to ask me to go to church with her.

Her entire family did in fact.

They invited me in to their home and loved on me as one of their own.

They somehow looked over the mess that I was as a teenager and saw me through the eyes of Christ.

And it made all the difference.

Only 3 little miles separated us back then.

I wish that were true today.

Thank you Steph for loving me and my small shoulders all this time.

I love you.



"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"