Brent and I had a very merry ELECTRONICS Christmas!! We definitely got our fix of electronic toys for the year. We knew a while back that we really wanted a nice camera...one with all the bells & whistles!! My mom and dad got us a really nice one! My mom actually got it the day after Thanksgiving during one of those crazy "show up at 2am and get a great deal on stuff" deals! haha. It's a Nikon CoolPix L110 and boy is it fancy :)
It has an "action setting" and can take about 15 pictures in a couple of seconds...for instance Brent took one of me throwing a snowball and it got each part from the moment it left my hand until it hit the ground. It's pretty neat.
We also got a GPS( from Becky and Bill ) b/c we didn't have one yet!! It came in very handy when we were coming back from West Virginia. We tracked down a Starbucks in Huntington with it( Starbucks are rare in WV!! )...it was actually across the street from Marshall University. It was cool to see the school since I had seen the movie!
It's the newest TomTom and it's great!!
Next up on the electronic present list...A new stove!!( yea, it's not "an electronic" BUT it's electric!" ) Jeff and Shannon got us a brand new Kenmore stove to match our kitchen. It's black and has a flat top and it's getting delivered on January 3rd. The one we currently have is from the 70's! It's the original stove from when the condos were built and it works great but we definitely needed a newer one!
Yay! I love flat tops!! They're so easy to clean!! Can't wait for it to get delivered :)
And last but not least...Yes, it's our iPad!! We love this thing! We got giftcards from various family members along with generous cash gifts and this is what we decided to spend some of the giftcards on!! The story of where we got it is kind of funny. We were going to get it the Monday before Christmas so we could take it on the road for the 7 hour trip to WV. Well, no Best Buy( this is where we got some giftcards to ) in the whole state of TN had an iPad! They actually told Brent that the Best Buy in Bowling Green, KY was the only store in the whole south that had a few at the time. We actually pass right through BG on our way to WV! Brent ordered it Monday night and we picked it up on Thursday on our way to WV!!
Leaving the store in Bowling Green!
Needless to say, we received awesome gifts this year!! Thank you to all of our wonderful family for these amazing gifts!! All very useful :)
My grandparents live in Ripley, West Virginia and that is where we head every year for Christmas! Brent got to go with us last year and he went again this year. Next year will be our year to stay here in Nashville with his family...let the every other year holidays begin! My grandparents live on a couple acres and their place was covered with TONS of snow when we arrived last Thursday.
It was wonderful!! I always like a White Christmas! On Friday my Papa, Brent, and I went out to the back yard and had fun in the snow. My granny lent Brent and I her and my Papa's ski suits and we were ready to go!
I was in charge of making the bottom part...
It's coming together...
HAHA!! It was so much fun!
Here are some random pics that we took out in the yard:
this is standing down by the creek looking back up towards their house
the creek was so pretty with all the snow
* SNOW POSE # 1 *
* SNOW POSE #2 *
* SNOW POSE #3 *
Here are some action snowball shots that Brent took of me with our new Nikon Camera!
So on Christmas day...well starting on Christmas Eve @ 8pm...TBS plays a "Christmas Story" for 24 hours. I love that movie! I can sit and watch it over and over and over...i think we watched it twice before turning to something else! haha. My grandparents have so many things from their childhood that they have kept which I think is really cool...
Hey Ralphie, you want a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas right?? Well guess what?...
My Papa has the same exact one! He pulled it out and showed us while we were watching the movie! Cool, huh?!
My Aunt Lisa and cousin Rebekah got to WV on Christmas Day around 1pm. My other cousin, Daniel and his wife, Jennie went to her side for Christmas this year. My Uncle Tim and my Aunt Gayle couldn't come until this Wednesday so we didn't get to see them :( After Christmas dinner we opened presents. We each pick a name of another relative so we don't buy for everyone except the kiddo's. I had my Uncle Tim's name = Dick's giftcard! He is a high school football coach so I know that will get him something that he wants!
I made these for my grandparents. They're 2 huge frames filled with various pictures of our family!
It was A Wonderful Christmas!!
Brent and I went to our first Titans game of the season this past Sunday. Tim, one of the state reps(the one Brent helped in Paris TN for 5 or 6 weeks back in October/November ) gave us his tickets. The seats were great! Right on the 35 yard line and fortunately on the East side. I think the high on Sunday was in the high 30's but we were in the sun the whole time so we never got cold! I also had a hat on, 4 layers on the top including a sweater and a fleece, and both Brent and I had wooly socks on! The Titans played the Texans...
VS
The Texans have come super close to winning their past 2 games so I was anxious to see how our team looked this week! They looked great...esp up close and personal haha! They played well and the defense rocked this week.
We were in club level which is a great view...we were actually closer than my camera makes it look.
I'm glad that we made it to at least one game this year!! Oh and yes, the Titans won!!
Brent and I both love love love cooking. We come up with yummy meals all of the time! I actually made homemade beef stew tonight. We eat a lot of fresh foods for dinner. So I cut up all the yummy veggies and then added the cubed beef to the liquids. It was so delicious if I say so myself...Brent says so too :)
Now baking on the other hand is a different story! I hate baking. It's so messy. Flour gets all over me & the counter, I usually end up with a sink full of dirty dishes afterwards( ugh! ), and I always end up dropping ingredients on the floor that my cats come and gobble up before I can bend down and grab! So Brent and I wanted something sweet the other night and I knew just what I was going to make. We have bags of peppermints that were left over from the wedding just laying around so I pounded up half a bag and made...Peppermint Bark! Brent didn't know what I was talking about. I was surprised that he hadn't had it before. I thought everyone had eaten peppermint bark. There are only 2 ingredients( white chocolate and peppermints ) and it takes about 5 minutes to make and about 20 minutes for it to harden...easy!
We also wanted something chocolate-y so I made one of my most favorite quick desserts...peanut butter crackers covered in chocolate. I like making some with creamy p.b. and some with nutty p.b. They're so yummy.
And this dessert...only 3 ingredients
Lots of melted Chocolate!!
yummy!! I think I will actually go have a few :)
Hope everyone has fun making their favorite holiday treats!
