Christmas Update

I thought I'd give you a teensy update on what's been going on since my break started on the 23rd. Jennie and I were reveling last night in the fact that we still have until January 8th before we have to see the doors of Fair Oaks again. This is the time of year I really love my job. :-)

Floataway Cafe

Bryan and I started my vacation time off at Floataway Cafe! This restaurant is part of the Star Provisions family - Bacchanalia is a sister eatery. We actually drove out to Floataway to purchase a gift certificate for Bryan's parents for Christmas. When we arrived at the restaurant, we realized: 1) How late it was. 2) How hungry we were 3) The menu was phenomenal.

I had some of the best food I've ever put in my mouth. If you ever have the chance to make your way to Zonolite Road and Floataway Cafe, you have to try the She Crab Soup. Neither Bryan or I had words to describe the creamy, sherry-induced goodness that made its way to our table that night. All in all, it was a fabulous way to start my Christmas Break.

Floataway Cafe

After a night of good food.

Kari's Here!

Bryan and I are currently on the hunt for a church a little closer to home, but the last couple of weeks we have visited West Cobb Baptist Church. What made this week's service even better was being able to sit beside my BFF (Best Faraway Friend), Kari! Les Massons are here in the good ol' U-S-of-A for ten days to spend the holidays with Kari's family. Our time together is always precious, and I really enjoyed being able to worship with her on Sunday.

I know when I get back from Weaver-vegas, she and I will have to make our way to Willie Rae's for fish tacos, fried green tomatoes and some of JJ's key lime pie.

Dirty Santa

As we get a little older, our Christmas traditions adjust to the lives of our growing families. Our traditional Christmas night dinner at my Uncle David's was moved to the evening of the 23rd so that we could all be together. This year, instead of exchanging a bazillion gifts, we played Dirty Santa instead. We each brought a "gag gift" to make the game a little more interesting. And boy, did it get interesting.

My Aunt Donna picked up a new "grill"...

DeeDee acquired a lovely Prostate Exam Kit (oh. my.)

Her exact words: "I'm goin' to beat somebody." :-)

I am also sad to say that the only Christmas pictures we took were that night after dinner. I'm really quite embarrassed. Oh well, there's always Easter. :-)

Boone Girl Cousins around the tree

Merry Christmas!

Love,

The Smyrna Zoo:

Bryan and Abby (Zookeepers)

and of course...

Buddy, Charlie, Lady and Herbie

Homeward Bound

I've been looking over my Thanksgiving pictures, making my homesickness even worse in the process. On a positive note, it makes me look forward to several things as I get ready to head home on Sunday.


1. Having someone to ride with. One of the things I've really enjoyed about Jennie being back in Georgia is that we are able to ride home together and share the drive. I love our three hour talks, random sing-alongs and the fact that we know we'll take turns taking naps. :-) I know that these rides are becoming precious sister time - since she'll be riding home with Chris after June 14, 2008!


2. Extra time with Kadee and JP! I am learning alot from watching Kadee and JP figure out how to divide their time equally between their families in different cities. I was so excited to talk to her and know that our WHOLE family would be together for several days. I will take all of the sister time I can get.



3. Snuggling with Nattie. She is the warmest bed-hogger I know. I'll take it.




4. Home Movies. You've never seen The Boone Girls break it down until you've watched our home movies.



5. Christmas Eve Dinner at our house. We spend about 2 days getting everything together. I love being in the kitchen with Mama and my sisters. I especially love potato casserole, blueberry salad, stuffed carrots and london broil.

6. BEATTY! There's a puppy at my parents' house. Need I say more?





7. Seeing DeeDee at least two times in one week.




8. Laughter.

Disclaimer for the general public:
Those are NOT my mother's real teeth. :-)

PS - Scroll down and see the Halloweeny-Post I snuck in via the wonderful world of saved drafts.

Congratulations Leigh and Dave!

Bryan and I spent the weekend in Charleston, SC celebrating with his family. On Friday, December 14th, his sister Leigh became Charlotte Leigh Hughes! It was a wonderful and relaxing weekend filled with lots of great memories. Besides - how often do we get an invitation to go to the beach in December? :-)

We started the weekend early on Thursday night with a yummy BBQ rehearsal dinner at one of the houses rented for the big weekend. It was a great night to spend catching up with the Spann family and getting to know the Hughes clan. After we wore all the grownups down, the younger crowd headed to Dunleavy's for a couple of drinks. I, being the bright wallflower that I am, sat back and snapped a few shots of the dance-happy crew.

The girls started The Big Friday off with a fantastic lunch in Mt. Pleasant at the Old Village Post House hosted by Bryan and Leigh's Aunt Charlotte and Grammy. It was absolutely fabulous. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend stopping by and trying the lamb stew or shrimp and grits.

Leigh opening her "First Christmas" ornament!

Leigh with Mama Hughes (L) and Mama Spann (R)

The Spann-Irwin Women
Back Row: Leigh, Aunt Charlotte
Front Row: Nanny (Spann), Emily (Mom) and Grammy (Irwin)

When we came back from lunch, we only had a couple of hours before it was time to walk to the beach! Around 3:30 we all walked across the street to the beach. Bryan was quite the trooper as he hoisted himself all the way to the beach and back on his crutches. :-)

The crowd waiting for the bride!

The groom and his motley crew waiting for Leigh. :-)

Leigh and her dad walked over to the beach once we found our "spot."

The mayor of Mt. Pleasant and a good friend of Leigh's, Harry Hallman, conducted the ceremony.

Leigh's Lovely Bridesmaids

The New Hughes!

David (with Emily) and Leigh (with Baxter)

My favorite beach bum. :-)

After the wedding and a short cocktail hour at the beach house, we all headed back into town to the Water's Edge restaurant for a delicious dinner reception.

Leigh and Pa

My dinner date!

Wyatt and Emily (my future in-laws!)

My sister-to-be :)

We headed home Saturday morning so Bryan could get back to work that afternoon (sigh) but it was an absolutely fantastic weekend. I am so excited about the years to come with Bryan's family - we are truly blessed.

I Said YES! (And so did SHE!)

Two engagements, two rings!

I am about two weeks late in announcing this, but I wanted to make sure that both Jennie and I were able to "tell" our close friends and family before announcing our ENGAGEMENTS on the world wide web! :-)

Clueless Sisters

(The night before at Chris' surprise 27th birthday party)

I knew Chris was proposing to Jennie on November 10th, but I had no idea that Bryan had been ring shopping and scheming with his family as well! I'll share Jennie and Chris' story first, and then mine and Bryan's. (Grammar Nazis... did I word that correctly?? Mine and Bryan's??) :-)

Chris and Jennie (and I) have a friend Brandon who has recently started a professional photography venture. He and Chris worked up a plan where Jennie thought that she and Chris would be taking pictures to help Brandon update his website. She didn't know they would be her engagement photos. They drove up to a farm property in Cartersville (owned by church friends) and started taking pictures.

After about an hour, they took a break and Jennie went inside for a few minutes. When she came back, they started taking pictures again. After a few minutes, Chris got down on one knee and proposed. Brandon caught everything on film and they have some really cute pictures of it.

Happy Couple #1

Bryan and I were supposed to go hiking (again) on Sunday, November 11th. He was going to take me back to the "mini-mountain" and surprise me with a picnic and proposal there. However, when he called me on Saturday to tell me he had just fallen off a ladder at work I knew the hike was off. He improvised. :-)

After about two hours of limping around at work, Sherlock's sent him home. When he finally got home, I could tell he was really hurt. He hobbled in and sat down on the sofa. He asked me very nicely to help him look at his foot to check for bruises or an obvious break. As I unwrapped the his foot, something very shiny and sparkly fell out of the bandages! MY RING!! My sweet fiancee scooted down on the floor beside me, took my hand and asked me to marry him. I was completely and totally flabbergasted.

Happy Couple #2

Jennie and Chris have set a date for June 14, 2008. She is already looking for reception sites, bridesmaids dresses and wedding gowns. That girl is on the ball!! To keep my parents from going into wedding overload, we have decided to wait until Spring 2009. Bryan's sister Leigh is also get married in December 2007. It's going to be a really fun year! :-)

Keep all four of us in your thoughts and prayers as we begin planning to start our lives together! :-)

Hallo-weeny Post

Maddie the Puh-Poodle and Bradley the Fighter-Fighter :-)

I know, it's WAY belated. BUT, I did want to share some photos from my "frick or freet" night with one of my favorite very bestest friends Megan (Mo) and her twins - Madison and Bradley. I know this has a November date... I saved it as a draft, but I will confess to finishing it on December 18, 2007. Sad, I know.

This was one of the few times Maddie had her headpiece on all night. Every time we would get it back on her we'd hear, "I hot."

Bradley was creating a feng shui "punkin" garden when I arrived. It was beautimous.

Frick or Freet!

Can you tell how excited they were that I was there?

A little cuter... Madison looks like she just tried her first Lemonhead. :-)

Bradley did NOT like Twizzlers

But he loves to play "Tug-o-Tootsie-Pop-Stick" with his Auntie Cha!

Maddie ends the night snuggling with Auntie Cha

Tales from the Trail

So, this tale is about a week old but I think it's worth the wait.


Bryan, being the supportive boyfriend that he is has encouraged me every step of the way on my weight-loss journey. If it meant going walking in the apartment complex with me, cutting back on (gasp) wine or getting take out from Doc Green's instead of KFC he was there to do whatever helped me. So, when I wanted to get out of the house last Sunday he suggested going hiking! I had not yet done my "cardio" for the day and we decided this would be a fun way to workout together.

He knows of a hidden piece of the Chattahoochee Nature Preserve in a Buckhead neighborhood that has great hiking trails so we headed over there. Evidently, there are several "Buckhead Bettys" who feel as though it belongs exclusively to them, but the "poor folk" go anyway. :-)

So, we go hiking. It isn't until we get there that I realize I forgot water bottles and I am wearing my oldest, most worn-down pair of tennis shoes. (Hint: The "worn-down" shoes will be important in a minute.)

We've been hiking for about 45 minutes when Bryan decides to play Boy Scout Extraordinaire. We go OFF THE TRAIL. I, being the trusting girlfriend that I am, do not realize we are going OFF THE BEATEN TRAIL. When I do recognize that we are NO LONGER ON THE PATH, it's because I see:

a. lots of snake holes in the ground.
b. an old hobo campfire.
c. a weird rock cave with more hobo remnants.
d. all of the above.

If you guessed D--- YOU'RE RIGHT!!

It took Bryan seeing the snake holes and a DEAD END for him to admit we needed to get back on the beaten path. Did I mention that the entire time we were traveling OFF the path, we were headed downhill? A very steep mountainous-like downhill?

Remember that little "my shoes are old and worn" tidbit I shared with you earlier?? This is when it gets to be important. We begin to CLIMB our way back UP this mini-mountain, surrounded by snake holes, briars and baby trees. There is nothing for me to hold on to. At a certain critical point, I had to grab onto Bryan's hand so he could pull me up. When I went to do so, I slipped (remember my shoes) and he - let - go - of - me!

I rolled down the mini-mountain. I slid down the mini-mountain. And, because my shoes were crap, I could not stop myself as I traveled unwillingly down the mini-mountain.

Evidence of Abuse. Photo 5-B-8.

Thankfully, no major damage was done. I cried. A little. My hands looked like they belonged to a 5-year-old who is learning to ride a bike. I have a gnarly bruise on my knee. Unfortunately for Bryan, I have turned him into DFCS for girlfriend abuse/neglect. I have applied for a foster boyfriend. Maybe my time in foster care will teach Bryan to take better care of me. Maybe I should just go get new shoes.

Notice the lack of band aids. Or booboo bunnies.
Photo 5-B-9.

:-)

DISCLAIMER: Bryan and I have 2 different stories from that Sunday. He claims he did not let go of me. But he doesn't have a blog. So there.
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On a fun side note, my best-faraway-friend Kari found a site that lets you test your vocabulary skills and donate rice to countries in need through the UN. Go play!

Oh Where, Oh Where Did My Little Blog Go?

I am embarrassed to admit it has been WEEKS since I last blogged. I'm even more ashamed of the fact that I haven't been taking many pictures even though...

• I went home for a weekend! My aunt is in the final stages of restoring our family's grist mill. The Francis Mill Preservation Society held their second annual Bluegrass and BBQ fundraiser. I came home to help with the fundraiser and spend some time with my family! I did get to see my FAVORITE boy in the whole wide world --- BOONE!

• 

He tried very hard to blow up a "bloon" on his own.

(Note: Any references to other small children being my "favorite" are null and void. I have recognized the error of my ways and I know that only children I am directly related to should be referred to as "my favorite.") :-)

• Bryan and I visited his grandparents - Nanny and Pa - at "The River" for Bryan's birthday. We had a fantastic weekend spending time with his family. His Dad and cousin Tracy came with us. When we left on Sunday, we were all a couple pounds heavier from Nanny's awesome cooking.

• I took two of my favorite former students out to dinner. Every time they have something to celebrate (all A's on a report card, a big project, getting accepted into advanced classes) we go out for a special dinner. Most recently, I took Dayra and Estefania to The Cheesecake Factory. YUM!

Happy AND Smart!

• There have been TWO Fab 5 birthday celebrations! Sherry and Michelle are both a little older and smarter.

Michelle's Birthday Mafia

• I have been spending LOTS of time with a certain almost-2-year-old. Recently, we spent some time trying on Thomas' favorite new toy - an enormous blonde wig!

• 

I know, you're all jealous and you want to borrow it now. Too bad. Thomas says no.