a few christmas highlights...

i loved my time in atlanta for christmas this year!

here are a few photos of some of the highlights...

making "happies" with thomas and addie has become a tradition:

thomas loves himself a kiss:we started a new tradition this year: mother/daughter lunch! tami took us to "flip." as she says "it was started by some guy who won top*chef or iron*chef - one of those chef shows." the food was delicious and the company unbeatable!tami and i shared a nutella/burnt marshmallow milkshake for dessert. i am licking my lips just writing about it!the next day elizabeth, sikes and lilly came for a lunch date. it was so great to see all of them!
i asked for, and received, some good aunt kissy snuggles with all the kiddos:love this pic of tami, me and my mom:

and i love this pic of the kids and poppy reading a book. too cute! many thanks to uncle steve and aunt marilyn for the new reading material! oh, this picture is hilarious. but, you kindof had to be there. i'll just say this: "hell-ooo"on our way out the door to christmas eve service: i snuck one of me and addie. she's adorable!dinner by tami and char...always a hit!

always good to spend christmas with the lansings:and last but not least some favorite christmas presents:we sim-ply, had us, a wonderful christmastime!

big night out in the a-t-l...

i got to see a bunch of my a-t-l friends on sunday night when we got to town. it was so much fun! i loved being the "uninvited guest" to a party where everyone was happy to see me! but, they'd be happy to almost anyone, i have a feeling. because they are great people. check em out:

patrick and pat had a feud over the georgia snuggie that surfaced in the white elephant gift exchange. patrick prevailed:i love these ladies...so good to catch up with them:and of course, i loved seeing b-chitty: tami has great friends. i even got to meet the infamous laura*ford.

she lived up to all the hype! : ) thanks elizabeth! thanks patrick! what a fun night with terrific people! i'm looking forward to next year already. maybe i'll actually make the official invitation list next year! here's hoping...

family christmas fun - round one

i spent this past weekend in memphis celebrating christmas with my extended family on my mom's side. we always enjoy time together and this weekend was no exception! here are some of my favorite pics.

first...a ladies photo:grammie and addie are BUDDIES!always have fun with tami.the barkley gang...they are super people! hanging out outside on friday afternoon...the weather was perfect!i'm REALLY into thomas and addie: all the kids...with some reindeer antlers, of course! : ) and i just had to include this one. because she is so darn cute!

nothing says "merry christmas" like...

...dinner at janet's with the grace group:...saying goodbye to a b-town favorite:...lunch with a couple cute ladies and couple cute kids:...practicing with your new bump*it:...lunch with two of your favorite people:...a brush with "fame" at panera (janna is HILARIOUS!):...and last but not least, a new MONOGRAMMED snug*gie: good times!!! now, let the travel begin.

memphis tomorrow...atlanta on sunday.

christmas...here i come!

my own little "shout out"...

consider this post a public THANK YOU!

to make a very long story short: my friend kristin and her husband aaron really helped me out this past weekend. aaron spent all day saturday running back and forth to home depot, purchasing all the right paraphernalia, and installing gutter guards on my whole house, IN THE RAIN.

wow! what a guy and what a gift! i am so grateful!

so, thank you kristin, thank you aaron, and thank you gutter guards.

may the rain find an unrestricted route to the ground in you for years to come.

on a scale of 1 -10...

a quick book review, by the numbers.

on a scale of 1-10:

entertaining: 8

easy to read: 9

kept my attention: 7

insightful: 2

meaningful: 2

worth your time: 5

a quick movie review, by the numbers.
on a scale of 1-10:

entertaining: 7

kept my attention: 7

insightful: 1

meaningful: 1

amount of this movie's "worldview" i agree with: 0

worth your time: 3

kindof stupid, but relatively entertaining: yes

so, there you have it.

all you need to know before you hit the movie theater or your nearest bookstore tonight.

you're welcome.

: )

take a deep breath...

i had quite a weekend. and i lived to tell about it! : )

the fun started friday night. i got to help my friend brett celebrate the big 4-0.jenn had a "trivia night" in honor of brett. he is the trivia king! and he proved it. the boys won. it is hard to admit, but, it's true. none the less, it was a great night celebrating a great guy!then i returned home to a sleepover christmas party with these girls: what fun! they know how to celebrate the holiday, let me tell ya! loved being a part of it. and look how cute our mantle looked for the event:
then saturday i got to help miss sara beth celebrate turning...can you guess?yep, that's right....5! her momma threw her a candy land party and it was all just too cute! i sure love those janke's:and i sure love these ladies. we all helped ring in 5 years of SB! : )then sunday (are you exhausted yet or is it just me?) i went to first baptist to see the children's program starring these ladies:they did a terrific job!
janna, mk and i decided we wanted our picture too. why not, right?after church i headed over to karen j's for her annual christmas tea. it was a very festive event. her home is SO beautiful and PERFECT for a holiday celebration. last but not least, sunday night i went to my church for our kid's program. it was a family friendly event. we had some rockstar grandparents in attendance:

as you can see, i had a very full weekend! it may take me all week to recover. but, it was worth it! now, i've REALLY got to finish shopping! yikes!