SNOW!

it only seems appropriate to blog about SNOW! today as most of us here in Nashville are staying home and staying warm.

when my brother and his family were in town for thanksgiving, we took my nephew to Gaylord Opryland's SNOW! exhibit.  It was only it's second day of being open so there as much as there probably is now (given the real snow that just fell on top of it) but if you are 3 years old, you think it's awesome!!!  Here are some highlights!

this is a live reindeer!!!

 the snowman we built!

children's gift idea

As more and more of peers have children...and my siblings have children...I find myself shopping more for their kids then for them. Sorry guys.

Anyway...while I was trying to find christmas gifts for my nephew I saw these fun tempory hand tatoos from The Container Store.  (I've since seen them at Paper Source as well but they are a few dollars more there). 

We did Christmas with my brother and his family over Thanksgiving and Sean had a zebra and shark on his hands for the weekend!  I highly recommend getting them for any little ones in your life!  They make animals and monsters.

my little Ron

The word on the street is that red heads are a dying breed.  As one lady told me a few years ago when I was very single, "it's because no one seems to be marrying red heads."  I was fully aware...thanks lady.  What she meant to say is that red heads aren't marrying red heads, making the gene more and more recessive.  sad.

As you know, I have red hair.  My mother has red hair.  My grandmother has red hair. and so on and so on.  Naturally I would LOVE to have a daughter and for her to have red hair (and thanks to friends and my mother, she already has a name and trip to Disney World lined up).  Sadly Josh has normal brown hair...UNTIL (dramatic music) he grows a beard (which I really love)...RED people.  There is red in the beard.

and now that Josh has proved has he is willing to risk his life for his friends playing wizard chess..

(or help me with a photo shoot...either one)

We may just end up with some Ron or Jenny Weasley's after all!

pumpkin puppies

Oh dogs in costumes...it will always be funny.

I got Bauer a pumpkin t-shirt for Halloween...so his girlfriend got a pumpkin costume to match.

and for the record...they really do love each other...

Now, when Halloween rolled around we felt like Rosie Bell was maybe feeling a bit left out (this absolutely not how she felt, but our desire to have all the pups dressed up won out over her desire to never conform to what the other two are doing).  Luckily, Luna had a set of Halloween pajamas (naturally...what dog doesn't have an extra set of Halloween pajamas).  I know what you are thinking.  Luna is a SUPER small.  Rosie is fairly average...is this going to work?  well...why don't you be the judge of how it worked out...

ummm, hello adorable!!! (poor rosie...she was a trooper, it was a wee bit too small)

now...if you remember our HUGE pumpkin that we got at gentry's farm...Mom REALLY wanted to put Luna IN it.  HA!  maybe next year. We'll just settle for all around it. But putting her next to it does help you see just how big it really is.

hope you all had a happy Halloween! 

next up is Thanksgiving and on to Christmas! 

What a wonderful time of year!

the game of LIFE

I've actually never played it.  It always seemed boring to me.  Ironic, eh?  Well life is about to be nothing but boring for me.  In the next 9 months the following will happen:

a friend will have a baby
a friend (and roommate) will get married
I will get married
another friend will have a baby
a friend will move away
and another friend will have a baby

needless to say there will be plenty of shower pictures, baby pictures, wedding updates, and more than likely a few emotional blog posts about friendship and change and LIFE!  It's a good thing I love roller coasters and celebrating all the fun things in life with my friends!

so strap in...because you're coming with me!

lamkin

today is the Lamkin family reunion. This is what I made these invitations for.

that means Josh and I are in north Louisiana with all the other Lamkins for some family fun time.  It means I'm hanging out with this cousin clan.

it's ok. I know we were awesome.

brother-in-law birthday

this is jordan.  in less than 7 months we will be family. jealous?

Jordan is one of Josh's brothers...he's the 3rd down the line.  I tend to get Josh and Jordan confused when I look at childhood pictures.  And a lot of times it wierds me out when Josh will say something and it sounds just like Jordan.  Nonetheless...Happy Birthday Jordan!!!

Jordan works for State Farm...so if you need any insurance, he's got the hook up.  He's also really good at being the most complicated customer a waiter has ever seen.  Jordan's got a 3D TV...that is quite large.  I didn't know those existed, but could be fun to watch gilmore girls with those blue and red glasses (I'm sure that's why he has that TV).  If you ever meet all of Josh's family, be sure to meet Jordan.  He's a funny one.  Hope you have a WONDERFUL year...your present is that you get to have another sister!  Get excited!!!

might as well be family

I've now lived in Nashville for 22 years (with the exception of going to college in Birmingham for 2 of those years).  For the most part...a lot of my friends have been here just as long.  What's great about that is, we've remained friends. For those that have moved away (cough cough, cough cough, cough cough) we know their return is only inevitable.

Recently these fun people moved back after being gone 5ish years! 

It's so good to have them home.  and I get to hang out with this guy all the time!

had they moved back just a few weeks earlier they could have participated in these festivities...

homemade ice cream sandwiches are now a summer favorite!

little game night action...

ummm can we take a second to talk about how cute these two are?!

I like my family of friends.  They literally have been my family of support, prayer, encouragement, and too many good memories to count for the majority of my life.  I'm so thankful for each of them!

Emily and Myrtle

Have you seen Julie and Julia?  It's a cute movie.  Especially if you have a heart for cooking fun recipies.  The ending was kind of sad for me (maybe it's just because one day I would love to meet Martha Stewart and show her all the things she has inspired me to make, bake, and grow) but it was a cute movie none-the-less.

As I mentioned before, my granparents are moving and because of that they have gone ahead and let us take the things they want us to have.  The short of it - my grandmother was 100% southern hostess all the time.  We should have counted...but her cookbook collection was ENORMOUS!  Mom and I were able to take some of her favorites. Most of them you open up to find notes on the inside cover about which recipes are her favorites.  I was going through them I thought...oooo, maybe I should cook through these.  You know...like Julie did with Julia Childs.  Emily and Myrtle.  Not as catchy.  But still could be fun.  I mean...when you are working with these...how can this not be a best selling movie?!

I'm pretty sure she has a cookbook for every church they ever stepped foot in ... and then some.  I'm excited to try some of them out.  Maybe not EVERY day like Julie did, but often enough.  I want to make my grandmom proud.  Emily and Myrtle. Church cookbook conisours.

Have you ever challeneged yourself with new recipes? Has someone inpired you with that challenge?  I'd love to hear the stories...and learn the recipes!

happy halloween

from Sean

weekend glimpse

too cute

hilarious