Enjoying myself...

Well, this week I'm not a-workin' at my full-time employer. Nope. Took me some time off. I have NEVER taken off at Christmas like this, but I can tell ya, I'm enjoyin' it. I like sleeping late and napping if I feel like it, piddling around the house in my pjs, yeah, all o' that.

My dad is doing pretty good with his recovery from knee replacement, in case you were wondering. He always outperforms when they put him to the test in the hospital. He is an overachiever of sorts... but of course his path to full recovery is not over by any means. Keep him in your prayers (and my little momma, who has to be his "nurse" when they leave the hospital).

This morning me and my beloved went for a late breakfast at the Barrel. Gotta use them gift cards up 'fore they spoil. hehe I decided it would be my last "cheat" meal and had me some of that cinnamon french toast (available for a limited time only...get it before it's gone!). It was delish! I highly recommend it...with a glass of milk in a frozen mug, Barrel style.

I got in a nap this afternoon, but that was mainly due to the fact I had the Mount Everest of sinus headaches. Ugh! Unfortunately, sleeping didn't make it go away. Stupid weather!

My beloved is a little puny so he went to the doc this afternoon and got a couple shots in the "hip" and some meds. Hopefully he'll be good as new by the weekend. He bought two tickets a while back for the Zac Brown Band concert (tonight) and the "eat & greet" (meal before the show with the band). I decided to opt out of this event because I'm not big on concerts and I've seen ZBB live twice anyhow. So our friend (my distant cousin) Brandon went with him.

My phone rang around 6 and it was my dear beloved. Oh, how I love him. He chit chatted with me a minute and the next thing I knew, Zac Brown was on the phone with me asking how I was doing. HA! I talked to him for a minute and he gave the phone back to Anthony, said he had to go warm up (his voice). Awww, my hubby is so sweet to do something like that, isn't he?! I wouldn't have even thought to try something like that, but Anthony has a knack with celebs. This is the fella who shook hands with Michael Jordan and once walked up to an NBA player at Six Flags, called him by his initials and chatted with him like they were college roommates or something.

So how do I spend a night alone? If you know me, you know I HATE TO BE BY MYSELF... I had a friend lined up to hang with me, but she stood me up for some shopping. Can't blame a girl for that! So since my Mount Everest sinus headache wasn't goin anywhere, I thought maybe some exercise would help. I went to church and ran 3 miles in the gym (and walked 1 mile). I did feel better after that. I went by my parents' house to check on Max (their cat), who was doing just fine...When I got home I did a little scrapbooking and then I took me a bubble bath. I'll chase a rabbit trail here for a sec - when I do a bubble bath, it's like I'm transported back to childhood. I find myself wanting to "swim" and swirl myself around. After the bubble bath, I curled up in the recliner (which I never get to sit in when you-know-who is home) and read a chapter of my new Sarah Palin book. And now, it's pretty much time to get sleepy. No way I'll be able to wait up for Anth. The show is over, but the traffic is a nightmare I'm sure...

A new knee 4 my daddy

Well my daddy has himself a NEW KNEE. Yeah, this is his second new knee... He got the other one done in '01 I think. Shew, ain't no tellin' what he'll try to do with TWO good knees...he ain't had that since he was in his 20s. ha! He already thinks he's Superman.

Oh and this is my first time to be online with my iPod touch & posting via a Wifi connection. Hehe Technology rocks!

Merry Christmas to all...

It's Christmas...for a little while longer... it has snowed all day (it started last night). This is the view from our back porch (sorry folks, that's as far out as I was willing to go in my pjs) -

We actually started celebrating Christmas last Saturday night with Anthony's bunch. . . we had yummy food, as usual, and we enjoyed talking and laughing together.

On Christmas Eve morning, we had breakfast at Anthony's mom's house with all her brothers and their families. (Sorry, no pics)

And then on Christmas Eve night we always celebrate with my family. As you can see, my clan is a buncha nuts! We always play games and act silly. If I had to pick the craziest one, it would be tough... it just depends on the night... but I sure do love 'em!

And as y'all know, Anthony and I don't have any kiddos yet... so our cat is kinda like our kid. Well, last year, she was still a kitten so she got "a pass" on her bad behavior with our Christmas tree. . . she almost knocked it over the FIRST NIGHT and later that week chewed a strand of lights in two. Thankfully, the lights were turned off for the night. (She used to get really wild late at night when we were sleeping.) And then there was the laying on packages thing...no, Tinsley, a shirt box is NOT a cat recliner.

Well, this year, her "thing" has been to chew on the corners of the wrapped boxes. Oddly enough, she didn't bother the gift bags and tissue paper. I had to rewrap a couple packages and just apologized for some that didn't get rewrapped... And she knocked off an ornament one day and used it like a soccer ball, batting it around the floor with her paws. Oh, and then there was the spare light she found somewhere; she was tossing it around last night. So anyway, I thought all of that warranted a photo collage for this here blog. he he She's a mess!

Anthony's work Christmas party was a few Saturdays ago and they had a pretty good lookin' Santa that they let us get a pic with.

Well, I must confess I've been pretty lazy today, but I'm giving myself a break because it feels like I've been in a dead sprint the last two weeks trying to get ready for Christmas. I'd like to proudly proclaim that today I had two, yes TWO naps. Some of you are jealous right now. ;-) The only productive things I did today were: putting away Christmas wrap, tissue, ribbons, etc. and most of our gifts (I can now see our kitchen table), making Oreo balls and I did manage to bathe. ha

Merry Christmas and THANK YOU JESUS for giving us a reason to celebrate!

Happy 45th Anniversary Mom & Dad

On Wednesday, December 22, 1965, my mom and dad got themselves hitched...

That was then...

This is now...

Well, my daddy, he's a man who knows what he wants. Ya see, in high school he spied Mom in the hallway and he took a likin' to her... he walked up to her, put his hands on her shoulders and said: "Me Tarzan, you Jane." And the rest, as they say, is history folks...  

Happy anniversary you two!

I sure am glad y'all decided to get married cuz I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you two fallin' in love.



My birthday dinner

Last night we celebrated my birthday at Cheddar's. Alan, Lisa & Riley and Charles & Annette joined us, which was a last minute blessing. I've known Lisa since we moved here in '87, so she's seen me grow up pretty much. I've only known Annette the last several years from attending church together, and through that we've become friends. But I'm a-tellin' ya, both these gals are great friends and wonderful ladies I respect a whole lot. And their hubbies are all right, too. ;-) But I can't ever get the guys to pose up for a pic. ha

Riley sat with me part of the meal, and eating with a kid in your lap is an adventure when you're not used to it. But I reckon he's worth it. It was definitely more entertaining than usual. . . we played and hugged and counted the bricks on the wall and giggled. He's a sweetie pie! If I were a dishonest gal, I'd probably hafta steal him for myself.  

Anyway, I guess technically the celebrating is over... Anthony wants to go see that new Reese Witherspoon movie, but I'm not sure if it's really for my birthday or if it's just an excuse to go see (what promises to be) a good movie. Either way, I'm good.

Another day, another year older...

Well, as promised, yesterday I started out my BIRTHDAY by opening my gift from Renee. It was THE CUTEST Precious Moments piece. It's called "Happiness is Best Shared Together" (ain't it the truth?!) I love that the little boy is eating one of those ice creams shaped like Mickey's head. Awww

Anyway, I had to work on my birthday, but that's okay. Cuz at work, I got a few birthday presents from friends and me and my friend Angela went ahead and exchanged Christmas presents. Or as Ang says, Chrima. LOL She's crazy! She says so many funny/cute things we call 'em Angela-isms. So the point is, I came home with some loot. Ha Oh, and I had several "happy birthday" texts and emails from friends and fam-uh-lee. I think it's awful nice when folks remember my birthday. (Havin' a birthday at Christmas can have its down side..)

Last night we went to a wedding at church of a little young sweet couple. It was really pretty and they seemed so happy. Reminds me of when I married my sweetie....11 years ago. (sigh) Where does the time go?!

When we left the wedding we had to do our Walmart trip...then when we got home I was trying to gather up the pics I want to put in my mom's pic calendar. Each year one of us makes her one and she and Dad just love 'em. This year it's my turn again and I'm of course doing it last minute. When will I learn? I finally got to bed about 12:30. . .

I had my photog class this morning and wow, my head was spinning because of some of our assignments. After that I had to run to Wolf Camera to do Mom's calendar. See, when it's this late in December you're kinda hosed on doing them online because it won't get here before Christmas. Soooo I had to go to Wolf to create it and have it printed. Well, I didn't really wanna wait on 'em to print it so my sweet friend Kelly is going to swing by and get it for me. I love friends!

So now I'm officially FINISHED with my CHRISTMAS SHOPPING...

Twas the week before Christmas (week)

Tuesday night I made some yummy chicken noodle soup (Karen's recipe), and this makes the third time I've made it. It's so yummy we always eat it two nights in a row. Campbell's, you can keep your "mmm mmm good" slogan cuz you proly tasted Karen's soup when you coined the phrase.

Wednesday we wuz all skeert (translation: we were all concerned) about the weather forecast cuz here in middle Tennessee the weathermen (not worthy of bein' called meteorologists) LOVE to predict bad weather. So all week we've been hearing ice, ice, ice is a-comin' on Wednesday. So THEY WERE WRONG. Big shock. (insert sarcastic snarl here) But because they were sooo confident it was a-comin' we didn't have church. I'd like to say me and Anth had church here at home, but we didn't. We watched Survivor after eating on our yummy chicken noodle soup. Remember, it was night #2 of it. Yum. Let me pause while I reminisce about its tastiness. 

Tonight me and my daddy went shoppin' for my little momma. We got some cool stuff and I hope Mom loves it all. Sometimes Dad and I will head out ON CHRISTMAS EVE so I appreciated his earlyness (is that a word?). . .

But on to bigger and better and more important things.
I got me a birthday comin' up.
Yep. Tomorreo. But I've already been celebratin' just cuz people apparently wanna bless me... my boss took me to lunch yesterday, and today the sweet gals I work with blessed me with breakfast. What's funny is, we usually do cake at 3:00 for everyone's birthday...but my friend Brandi musta been inside o' my brain cuz she came up with the breakfast idea. See, I had been thinkin' I'd rather have breakfast than the usual cake. But I didn't want to seem like a diva or appear "high maintenance" so I kept my pie hole shut. But low and behold... the lovely menu (from the little place in town we love) didst appear in fronta me... I had me a bagel sandwich with egg, ham & cheese and, wait for it, wait for it.... a blueberry scone. Mmmm it was delish! (Needless to say lunch was a moot point cuz my tum-tum was full)

Tomorrow morning I plan to start my day opening a cute box that was shipped to me all the way from Orlando, Florida from my sweet friend Renee. I can't open it until my birthday. She'll scold me. And I don't wanna have to lie to her. So I have it laid out on the kitchen island so I can tear into it quickly and easily in the early morn. Y'all know I barely function in the mornings, so I hope I can fully appreciate its giftyness. hehe

A Christmas program...and some snow

As they say "the show must go on." And go on it did...despite the bazillions of snowflakes rapidly falling in our fair city (er, town). Our program was called "Christmas: Where, When & Why." A boy and his dad were heading out to get their Christmas tree and the boy had a school assignment to write a paper about favorite Christmas memories. So along the way, he interviewed several folks and got their stories, including a couple colorful characters who ran the tree farm they visited.

Ms. Grace was wheelchair bound and told about the car accident that paralyzed her. The physical therapist she worked with invited her to a candlelight Christmas service and for the first time, Grace went to church, and that night she accepted Christ as her personal Savior.

Our teenagers did a great job with the acting. And our little ones sang their little hearts out. We were so proud! Dad said he'd give this program an A+ with no criticism. :-)

 

And like I said, it REALLLLY snowed Sunday. So here's how our house on the hill looks in the snow. Awww, almost postcard worthy...

An eventful Saturday

Our Saturday dress rehearsal for the church Christmas program was bumped from morning to afternoon so that opened up my schedule to be able to go to my first photography class. (Remember, the one I told ya about recently, that's F-R-E-E!!!) The good news: I think I'm gonna learn a lot and it's only 'til 9:30 or 10:00, not noon like I had in my head for some reason... The bad news: there are two tests. Ugh, I didn't realize that! Oh well. I'm sure I can handle it.

The afternoon dress rehearsal went pretty well. I think everything's gonna go fine. I hope the little ones sing out really good and the big kids remember all their lines. :-P And I may as well throw in a wish for me - hopin' my voice doesn't crack on the song I have to sing.

I was so pooped after rehearsal I didn't join Anthony at the basketball game. I ran by to see how my little buddy/sis was doing. Bridgett had her tonsils taken out Thurs. Poor thing. She's becoming quite friendly with a couple friends called discomfort and nausea. But Mr. Pain Medicine is paving the path to healing and recovery.

P.S. It's snowin' here really good. . . it's pretty, but I hope it doesn't keep the crowd away (for our program)... we've been in the Christmas spirit since September <sigh>

Sickly

I hate clogged up sinuses, icky smellin' doctor's offices, expensive antibiotics and stinging shots in the "hip."
:-(

Maybe I'm gettin' it over with before MY BIRTHDAY and Christmas...

Christmas portrait 2010 1st edition

Well, about a month ago a gal that knows Anthony's cousin Ashley called me about doing some pics of her little girl in front of a Christmas tree for their Christmas cards. She had seen the shots I took of Ashley's two little cutie pie girls and loved 'em. So we did the pics of the little squirt Monday night at a nursing home. No worries - there's no blue haired folk in the pics. hehe Just a cute 2 year old.

Well, I feel like these are the best of the bunch (I took 70something shots in about an hour)... this little precious treasure had two, count 'em TWO (what I would classify as) FULL BLOWN meltdowns in that hour. I'm talkin' screamin, red-faced, bowing her back and fallin' out in the floor fits. I sure earned my $ on this session. haha She's an energetic little thing.

Why Shutterfly has made my day

Shutterfly is offering 50 free Christmas photo cards to bloggers who blog about their cards. Easy? Yep! So, if you blog and wanna do it, too (cuz who doesn't dig free stuff?), here's where you go to do it - click here NOW!

This one is a cute one that caught my eye.. I'm a fan of the color chocolate brown and I like its unique design. It's called Merry Montage

This one's cute (you know I love polka dots) and it's called Cool Peppermint Dots

And this one's nice, too. It's Lovingly Wrapped and the really cool thing about this one is, when you buy it, 10% of the purchase goes to the American Lung Association. Every little bit counts, right?

That's what I like, but go to www.shutterfly.com and see for yourself. They have a TON of great cards.
;-) Thanks Shutterfly for makin' my Christmas a little merrier.

Keep an eye on your mailbox for one o' these precious little cards from us. . . and thanks to LJo for bloggin' about this little prize. Go check her blog out sometime - click here for a cup of Jo

Feelin' domestic

Today my mom took me to breakfast at the Barrel. That was fun (and tasty). When I got home I started on the laundry and then finally got on one of those wifely, domestic duties my dear beloved has been patiently waiting for me to do - pert near close to darning socks... Anth had a hole in his pocket of some work pants and a hole in some lounge pants. Well, if you wondered, I'm no expert seamstress here. I do well to sew on a button y'all. But I thought shucks, how hard could it be? My mom usually does our little sewing projects, but I thought eh, I'll give it a whirl.

So I threaded up the ole needle and sewed up the lounge pants with skill and precision. Ha, not really, but shoot, he's only gonna be wearin' the lounge pants up in the livin' room and the HOLEY work pants pocket was on the INside, so I was in luck!

I must say I felt kinda proud to be able to pull this little job off....and I only poked my finger once. To reward myself I decided an afternoon of scrapbooking was appropriate... maybe I'll show ya the pages I worked on. They turned out great I must say.

Now, I must go and get floofed up and cute for a Christmas dinner/party.
Later  :-)

Busy, busy week

It's been one o' those crazy, busy, feelin' pooped at the end of the day kinda weeks folks. Whew, TGIF baby!

I've been super busy at work and by the time I get home and we get dinner cooked and eat up, stick a fork in me cuz I'm DONE! One night I was asleep by 9ish, another I was snoozin' by 8:05 (ha) but I woke up a little before 9, watched a show I had recorded and went back to Snoozetown by like 9:30. Yeah, fell asleep in the recliner and woke up about 2:30 am, and realized I still had to wash my face before going to bed. <sigh> When will I ever learn?!

Monday night Anthony went to his first pee wee basketball practice. He's helping with (his nephew) Dawson's team. Maybe I'll sneak in one night and take a pic. Hehe

And let's face it - it's almost Christmas time so there's still shoppin' to do. I didn't get all of mine done last Friday. I got a little more accomplished tonight, but I have a couple friends hangin' me up... need to find a lil sumthin-sumthin that just lets 'em know I love 'em, ya know? I'll find that special thang...hopefully!

Before I sign off, I don't think I told ya, but we did manage to get our tree up on Thanksgiving day (after breakfast at the Barrel with Janice, Terry, Christy and Dawson). We also put garland and wreaths on the porch railing WITH LIGHTS. Of course it's purty and cute, but I haven't gotten a pic of it all yet... a certain feline brat has already messed with a strand of lights on the tree so I need to get a new strand and replace 'em before I snap a pic. Thankfully the strand that's out is on the bottom of the tree and there aren't that many ornaments down low because I learned last year that young kitties like to play with Christmas trees. Our new thing this year is apparently we're going to CHEW on the wrapped gifts. We're part dog? Idk... more to come on all that...stay tuned...

A shoppin' we must go...

Well, on the day after Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law, mom and I headed out to do a lil bit o' Christmas shopping. We started at Toys R Us, proceeded to the mall, headed over to TJ Maxx and finished up at Kohl's. The worst line was probably in American Eagle, and all considered, it wasn't that bad.. We each accomplished a lot, so that was great. Plus, it was so FUN to hang out with my gals.

I don't know if you can really tell from this pic, but the ole trunk was packed to the max and the bags on the ground had to ride in the back seat. hehe  

And yeah, it was pretty cold that day - as you can tell from my sweet little momma's chattering teeth.   :-P

It's Thanksgiving

In elementary school, they teach us about the Indians and Pilgrims. In middle school or high school, you start looking at it as a few days you don't have to go to school. As a grown up, you look forward to time off work and maybe a good meal with family. It should be more than that, huh? If we really reflected on things, really became thankful, we'd probably have a better outlook on life. I'm thankful for a whole lotta things, and my family is at the top of the heap.

We started celebrating Thanksgiving last weekend with a nice lunch at my inlaws. There was country ham (my personal fave), turkey & dressing, all the sides you could ever want and apple pie and strawberry cobbler for dessert. When the kiddos went outside, of course I (and my camera) followed...

There was basketball (played with a soccer ball - hey, sometimes you gotta improvise), scooter and bike riding, and the boys enjoyed making the wagon trailer go up and down. It was a gorgeous, unseasonably warm day. (And yeah, I took a "good" pic of the kids, but this one makes me smile...and miss childhood)

And it's always nice to get a right nice pic of me and my man... hmm, this one may make it on a Christmas card. . .

Wednesday night we headed to my parents' and chowed down. Turkey & dressing, spiral-sliced sugar cured ham (yummm), lotsa sides and peach cobbler, homemade ice cream, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies (from scratch) and my world famous Oreo balls for dessert.  

Dad played on his laptop and got Trevor workin' on it for a bit since he's the family techie. Some of us played Bananagrams, which was really fun. Then we all chatted a while. Then some of us played Triominos. Cullen declared it to be the worst game ever, even though he did pretty well. Camden quit, as usual, about halfway through the game. The big winner was Michelle.

This was the first time most of us have gotten to see Caleb since he went off to college. When I commented on his "facial growth" he said it was "no shave November." I think it kinda makes him look older. Anyhoo, he had been out all night bowling with some buddies the night before so he took a little nappy for a while. ha College kids - gotta love 'em.

This here's me and my sweet little momma (she's vertically challenged at a mere 5' tall, although she may claim tuh be an inch more)....everyone on the planet knows I look just like Daddy, but this pic makes me think she did a little more than just carry me in her womb 9 months... I see a little resemblance.

I'm surely blessed with great family! I'm out - gotta catch some zzzz's before tomorrow's big shoppin' day!

My birthday boy

My hubby is havin' himself a birthday today.

This is the look I get most of the time when I whip out the camera and take his pic...

I catch a good smile on him once in a while though. heehee

I sure do love him!

A champion in the family...

Well, on Monday I got a text from Jen that McKenzie won the spelling bee (there were ~52 students in the contest)... lemme back up a sec - Sunday Kenzie said she was ready for some more of those muffins I made (see my post dated October 18: Yummy goodness without the guilt) and I'll just be honest - I'm a sucker for someone braggin' on somethin' I made. So ... when I heard she WON the BEE I thought hmm... a CHAMP deserves a prize... hehe So I ran on out to my local Kroger and bought the three ingredients required to thereby make them there yummy muffs.

So this morning I got up and baked some of 'em for the CHAMPION in the family... I took 'em right out of the oven and walked 'em over in the rain mind ya (they live next door) and by golly, I was proud... I'll admit it. It felt good to GIVE (for once) and a cute kindergartener, Bryson, met me at the door with a smile. (Only after hollering IT'S LYNDY...after all, who comes knockin' on your door at 6:45 in the mornin, right?) I put them on the kitchen counter and walked right back out. Bry said I thought you were gonna talk for a minute. I think that was the first time I've ever gone in and come right back out. I told him I had to get ready for work. I think he replied with a "see ya."

And just cuz I figure a thin, cute cheerleader gal who's almost 13 didn't need TWO DOZEN muffins, I took the rest of 'em to work. My coworkers loved em; some even asked for the recipe. And now that my head is swollen (from havin' the big head), Anthony's workin' on enlarging all our doorways.
:-P

Turkey day's a-comin'

Well, folks, the eating, er, Thanksgiving season has begun. We had our work lunch this week at my friend Brandi's (beautiful) house. We had a great time grubbin' and gabbin' our lunch hour (or two) away...

This here is a pic of the ladies I work with...
well, the one on the back row with the dark green sweater went and retired on us last year, but we love her so much, we invite her back to our little parties. Her name is Mary Lou and she's one of the coolest ladies you'll ever meet. I tell her HER social life way outranks mine. Lou- if you're readin' this, lotsa love to ya!

This little cutie is Brandi's little girl. (She snuck into our pic above heehee) She's 2 and a sweetie pie, lemme tell ya. I keep threatenin' to steal her. I think she'd like livin' with me and Anthony (and Tinsley...cuz she's an animal lover and her mean ole parents don't have any pets for her to play with ;-)

 Look at the little ballerina with her daddy - ain't she a peach?!

I took pics of all four of Brandi's fully decorated Christmas trees, but I ain't a-postin' em on this blog because then, if I were to post pics of my tree you'd be comparing mine to hers and I don't want that. ha I call Brandi our resident Martha Stewart and Betty Crocker cuz the girl can sure decorate and do just about anything crafty she puts her mind to and she is quite the cook! If she's readin' this, she's probably mad at me right now cuz she doesn't like to be in the spotlight. But any the hoooooo...

I'm very blessed to work with a fine group of gals. I'm thankful for my job and for these ladies. It's easier to face the sometimes rough work day/week knowing what great people I work with...

Random stuff...mostly cat stuff

- Okay, so it's been over a week since we got back from our anniversary weekend in the mountains... but every night since we got home, EVERY NIGHT I SAY, this kitty has been in my lap. You say okay, Lyndy, so what? Cats like to sit in laps. But you don't understand - we call Tinsley our teenager because a lot of nights when we get home from work she stays upstairs "in her room" and ignores us (no, she doesn't really have her own room). But seriously, Tinsley has been in my lap, up my tail every night since we got back... on me like wet on a dog... she loves me. And I love her.
(She's in my lap as I type this...)

- This is how purty my mums got in October. . . I never got around to posting the pic as promised... and the pink cuties - they're my begonias I planted back in the spring and because of my faithful watering (A LOT of it in the mornings before I showered and got ready for work, mind ya) and sun, oh and the good Lord above, they grew to be full and pretty. Maybe you think PINK and YELLER don't go together, but shucks, I don't even care. I was proud of my little blooms. Ya see, these here were the first uns I ever tried at this house...

- This little cutie is my mother-in-law's cat Matty. When she named her, she didn't know if she was a he or a she, so she did one o' them gender bender names. She's very sweet and playful. Oh - I should tell you her story. My MIL's coworker had a litter of kittens and was trying to talk my MIL into taking one. And she was considering it. Anyway, the coworker lives about 15-20 minutes away from their work and one day she had come to work, gone out for lunch, returned and been back at work a while when she went out for a break. Noticed something under the car and there was one of her kittens...um, it had ridden to work (and out to lunch) with her apparently. Destiny? Yeah, I guess. The little squirt went home with my MIL that night and there she has stayed. She's a part of the fam now. And I'm glad. She's ALMOST as cool as Tinsley. hehe

- This big guy is my mom and dad's cat Max. He has a story, too. Dad was preaching a revival and some folks at the church had a new litter of kittens. Well, Mom fell in love with one and decided to take it home. IT....well, HER...Mom thought she was a she. She named her Maddie. Welllll, when the time came for Maddie to go to Mr. Vetty it was determined that Maddie was... you guessed it: a BOY! So Maddie had her name legally changed to Max. ;-) And that fits him anyhoo cuz he's a hoss! He's so long and tall. His tail is 13 inches long (Mom measured it). I think he's officially taken my place as the baby in the family cuz he gets to go camping with Mom and Dad now...

Lyndy's almost legal disclaimer (in case Tinsley ever acquires reading abilities): Tinsley is the best, most wonderful, prettiest, sweetest cat in the whole wide world. No cat compares to her!

Folks, we have a winner

In the 1-2 year old boys category contestant #3, aka Riley is a WINNER... for Most Photogenic AND the cutest little guy in the contest... which means he can ride in the Christmas parade with a banner proclaiming to one and all that he's got a title now. ha

Yes friends, he charmed the judges... he gave the thumbs up, he waved and smiled ever so cutely, and even blew 'em some kisses.  

He wouldn't be still long enough for me to get a good pic of him in his cool guy outfit and TWO trophies...I think it was because the Dimetapp had kicked in. LOL He was a little hyper for a while...

 Who knew you could do snow angels on a concrete floor. :-P

Eventually, between the Dimetapp (I guess) and the excitement of the morning.... ZZZZZ

A fun time with my little buddy.

Better than cleaning house and doing laundry, which is normally my Saturday morning routine.

We met Chris Sanders

Last night we attended a recording of a local Christian tv network show. My brother got a group together because if you bring 50 people, the network donates $1,000 to your church/ministry/worthy cause. So the $ will go toward the adoption of Kerby and Kerlandy (from Haiti)... cool!

Anyway, we had never been to one of these and you know how you sometimes go into something with preconceived notions... The host was Jason Crabb (of the Crabb Family, a southern gospel singing group) and it was a Christmas themed show (to be aired in December). They started out talking with the Bowling Family (part of whom are Crabb Family folk). Back in the summer, their tour bus crashed into the back of a semi on an interstate in NC. Thankfully, everyone survived, but one of the gals was in a body cast for like three months and doctors didn't know if she'd ever walk again. There were others with injuries, including their little girl who had to have surgery, but everyone has recovered. Even after all that, they're still praisin' God and serving Him. They're going back on the road in January.

A guy who used to be with Gold City came out and sang and he had a great tenor voice (Steve Ladd). Then "Sisters" came out, which are the Ruppes, minus the mother. I'm obviously behind on the southern gospel scene. ;-) They had beautiful harmony and they sang "Your Presence" (a Christmas tune talking about needing God's presence in the midst of the holiday rush and things that don't matter and are not what Christmas is about, etc.). Definitely gotta get that soundtrack! Two of my gal pals may be summoned for a lil trio come Christmas time, but they don't know it yet.. hehe

Well, the biggest surprise of the night was when former Titans player Chris Sanders preached. Wow! He was awesome. I won't repreach his sermon here, but suffice it to say he had plenty to say and definitely had the crowd going (for God). There were several things he touched on in his message that I'll remember for a long time. He spoke from his heart with a passion for God and about reaching those who don't know Him.

After service, Chris hung out and talked with everyone. I got a pic of him with Anthony.

Happy anniversary (to us)

Saturday was our 11th anniversary. <3 We spent the weekend in Pigeon Forge to celebrate. A certain kitty thought she was going to sneak into the suitcase...

We did a lot of resting. I read two books and Anthony watched some football. We slept late every day and I think I squeezed in a nap or two (remember: "Judge not, lest ye be judged.") It was nice to just get away for a few days... here's kinda the rundown of our fun!

Friday night "Big Daddy's Pizzeria" caught our eye. And happy we were.... the menu said they were so serious about using only fresh ingredients, that you won't even find a freezer on the premises. Is your mouth watering yet? Cuz it should be. That pizza was delish! 

On Saturday night (our anniversary), we decided to go the Italian route and we tried a place called Carino's Italian Restaurant. I had a divine grilled chicken bowtie pasta "festival" dish (complete with asiago cheese sauce-smack me now!) and Anthony had what appeared to be a plate full of cheese. ha It was some kind of tortelloni with six cheeses (shouldn't that be illegal or something?!)... Anyway, it was a nice place and the food was very tasty. Our waiter nicely took our pic ~ for my scrapbook :-)

Sunday we decided to ride up the tramway to Ober Gatlinburg. Here's the view from the tram. It was so pretty. There was still so much color up there in the trees. We were also excited that we could see snow on the mountain tops (in the distance).
*I'll refrain from talking about what a chicken Anthony was in the tram. He is, after all, my sweet beloved...

When we came back down the mountain, we walked....and walked....and walked some more. Had to check out what was happenin' in the 'burg... we worked up an appetite and shared a foot long corn dog. MMMM!

Walkin' sure makes a body hawngry... I had a hankerin' for a fresh baked cookie. Well, let me tell ya - if ya want fudge, caramel corn, taffy, the 'burg has got it. But cookies? Not so much. We were referred to the Donut Friar (in the Village). Well bless his heart the Friar had cookies AND donuts...had me one of each, yes sirree. Will worry about the calories consumed later....eh, maybe...

Sometimes when ya go shopping, do you ever find a silly hat YOU JUST HAVE TO TRY ON?! This one did it for me. And don't think I didn't consider purchasing this little treasure. He's just adorable, isn't he?! (Are you doing your best Kermit THE frog impression right now? It's not easy bein' green!)

And that, my friends, is a summary of our anniversary weekend up in "the mountains." I'm very thankful to celebrate an 11th anniversary with this handsome fella who is my hubby. He makes me happy EVERY day and I love him more than just about anything.