Operation Christmas Card

Crazy as it may sound my thoughts are already on Christmas. It is not just the idea of our first Christmas in our new home or the fact that Christmas is nearly 5 months away. As I plan for Christmas, there is one project on my list that actually needs to be completed before fall. For the last two years I have made Christmas cards to send to Operation Gratitude. If you have not worked with them before let me tell you that it is a wonderful organization that provides many different services to our soldiers, veterans, and their families. One of these services includes sending care packages to our troops. On the lists of items that they ask for is Christmas cards. They have to have them before fall in order to send them by Christmas.

One night during the summer, I get together with friends to craft as many cards as we can. It is a great time to spend together eating, crafting, and hoping that our cards will make their way into a soldier's Christmas box this year. This year, I would like to encourage all of you to join me in creating and collecting Christmas cards for our troops. Whether you make one card or 100s, every card will help.

To add to our fun, I thought I might offer prizes in three different categories for those that are interested. The first prize will be for Cutest Card. The second prize will be for Cutest Card Party. The third (and most elaborate) prize will be for the Most Cards Collected. Here are the details:

1. Each blogger may email me to enter one or more of the contests. Participants, please, please, please share this information and promote this project on your own blogs as well. It is for a great cause!

2. Cutest Card and Cutest Party participants will need to send me photos of their submissions (as many as they would like to send). I will post these images on a separate page on my blog. Bloggers may vote in the final week to decide the winner.

3. Most Cards Collected- after you have collected all of your cards, you will need to email me your final count total.

I will continue to post each week with ideas and information about this project. You are welcome to join at any time between today and August 24th. All images and totals must be submitted no later than midnight August 24th. Voting will be open to all bloggers starting August 25th. Winners will be announced September 1st here on my blog.

Please, I encourage any of you that are interested to join. This is a great project and of course a lot of fun as well. These cards mean so much to our servicemen and women. It is just a small way to say thank you and bring a little bit of Christmas to them. Please share this information with anyone you know and talk it up on your blogs. For more information you may visit the Operation Christmas Card page above. I can not wait to hear from you! 

P.S. Care to share this post? Please do! You may copy and paste the image below.

He Says / She Says

I don't know that we are the only couple to have this happen, but...

Not long after settling into our first home in our apartment, I found that my husband and I spoke two different languages. Now I believe we can both still consider English as our first language. How we use words however was something of a shock. As often as we had spoken in the past, it was not until we were married and in our home together that I found we don't always speak the same language.

          He Says-                        I Say-

           Icebox                      Refrigerator

           Icebox                         Freezer

          Napkins                     Washcloths

     Channel Changer              Remote

          Washer                      Dishwasher

          Washer                 Washing Machine       

Icebox- what I call the "refrigerator" or the "freezer" my husband simply refers to as the "icebox". More than once I have had to explain the difference between the top and the bottom, the left and the right side of the refrigerator icebox cold, box-shaped appliance in our kitchen.

Napkins- this has only caused momentary confusion. After helping me fold a load of clothes one day, yes, I did look surprised when my husband asked me where the "napkins" went. I later found that my husband has extremely sensitive hearing and the rubbing sound made from paper napkins makes him as miserable as the rubbing sound from washcloths when you fold them. Nope, I didn't know that they made a sound either.

Channel Changer- this one is fun! I can't hand over something that I don't know he wants, right? :) "What is a channel changer?" We play about this one a lot.

Washer- this one I figure out depending on where he is standing. If he is in the kitchen, obviously it is the dishwasher he is talking about.

It's funny how many words can be used to describe the exact same thing. Anyone else find that their husband speaks a different language?

Paige

Friday Road Trip!

I know that it is Saturday and no one will see this until at least Monday, but with Justin playing his game I have to take this time to tell you about yesterday...

First, I just want to say that I married a very good man; a very good, smart, hard-working man. These last few months especially have been a little rough for him though. He has steadily been given more and more responsibility and with that has come interrupted lunch breaks, weekends, and evenings. I love watching him work & I love more that he knows so much about what he is doing. Still, anyone who works hard deserves a break from time to time. I first attempted to surprise him with an overnight trip. It was scheduled for this weekend & with a good number of points on our new card the room would cost less than a third of it's real cost. He was SO excited when I told him...and then the craziness ensued. I won't get into all of the details, I will just say that work schedules, hotel schedules, and other times would not work together for us. In the end, the reservation was promptly canceled, but we did find ourselves with a 3 day weekend nonetheless. Now aware of my original intent, and fully on board with a day's rest, Justin declared Friday, June 20th, 2014, to be Natchez, Mississippi day.


Mississippi Bridge! It's VERY tall and pretty long. I have grown up crossing it plenty of times.

We woke up at 8 (just like Justin wanted). An hour later, we were out the door and headed to Taco Bell for breakfast. Sorry, no pictures this time. I was just coming down off that morning high I find myself on when rushing to get ready for a trip. The drive was nice. It was peaceful and long and, with new music on the MP3 player in the car, we were happy!

View up the Mississippi River. You can't see it, but the water was moving really fast.

That would be the bridge we just crossed. Oh, and that is Louisiana on the other side, or as I call it HOME!

We arrived in Natchez just after 11. Justin was adamant we eat first, and with the lunch hour just around the corner I was ready to find our seats at the best burger place in town. Actually, we had looked forward to these burgers all year long and we drove 2 hours to enjoy them. Slick Ricks in downtown Natchez is definitely worth the drive. Beating the rush, we were excited to see we could eat upstairs this time. I snuck some pictures.

Even though we were the first ones there, we still had to wait about 30 minutes for our order. The burgers are amazing and the fries are hand-cut, so it is understandable. Warning: Do not sit above the kitchen! Heat rises. By the time we got our meal, we were so hot that we weren't very hungry. These burgers by the way, may look small, but they are stuffed! We plan to stick to the plan next time and just share a burger.

Justin ordered the Hawaiian Specialty (house patty, root beer glazed ham, grilled pineapples & cherries, provolone & bbq)

I ordered the Double Bacon Burger (Smoked bacon piled high topped with cheddar cheese, green onion sauce, vine ripe tomatoes and spring mix).

Afterwards, we headed out to do some walking. Y'all this is something that I love about Natchez. Justin and I can park our car facing the Mississippi River and walk back towards and all through the downtown area. It is open and clean and very nice. If, however, you are already hot, June is not a good time to attempt walking without a plan. We had no plan. We walked into a few stores & then prayed we would find another with air conditioning. At one point we walked back to the restaurant just to buy a drink. We were just about to give up when we came across this one store that had caught Justin's eye.

Justin picked the Viking duck & I picked the Victorian duck!

Y'all, look what they had! I don't know why, but I have had a secret soft spot for rubber ducks for some time. I always want to buy the really cute ones that I see, but always leave them behind. For $1.75 during a special trip, I gave in. They had every kind imaginable- Christmas themed, Pirates, Nurses, Armed Forces, Construction...the list goes on.

With our ducks in hand, we walked back out into the heat. We made the block again and sighed. It was only 1:30 and we had done all we could think to do. The stores we remembered had either moved (and we were too hot to look for them any longer) or they were closed. Now please know there are museums and homes to tour in the area, but neither of us had planned on it yesterday and we had become so hot that touring a nice home was no longer an option.

View from the river- part of the downtown area.

Walking back to the car, we stopped for nothing. We hopped inside and turned the air on full blast. Only a southerner could create such a beautiful, wonderful necessity! I am sure the police officer parked nearby was having a good laugh at us. Even we were laughing at ourselves. As soon as the air kicked in and we could both breath steadily, we got back out again. We walked along the path to snap a few pictures because, in spite of the short time that we were there, we really did visit Natchez yesterday.

Me in my new favorite shirt. Love it!

Justin was having way too much fun snapping pictures. See the eyelet tennies? I was ready for some serious walking!

Me exclaiming "OWWW!"

He even caught one of me smacking my hand on the bars after catching an ant on my arm.

I caught a few of him, too. Have to love that "Captain" pose. :)

After getting home, we decided to stay out a while longer. Yes, even with this temperature! Only in the south! :)

100 degrees at 4:30 in the afternoon!

Altogether, it was a great start to the weekend & Justin enjoyed his break! Hope y'all are having a good weekend with your loved ones as well!

Real Love

Across the street, in a bright blue house, there lives a family. They moved in about a month after we did. While we immediately became accustomed to their older son's 4:00 basketball games at their grandparents home (next door), it is their other outdoor activities that has caught our attention. I know, we sound crazy right about now, but let me explain.

They have a little boy- an adorable, little boy with a bowl-cut haircut and chubby little arms and legs that can not be more than 3 years old. I fell in love the first time I saw him attempt to run away with his older brother's basketball. Poor thing, his brother yelled and ordered him to drop it. He was on the run too, but coming to the end of the driveway he realized he had hit a dead end. With as much defiance as he could muster, he dropped threw the ball as hard as his little arms could manage without falling forward. As his brother rushed to recapture his claim, the little boy heaved a heavy sigh and stormed off into the house. I love when he wanders into our yard while visiting his grandparents. I think it's adorable that his grandparents bought him his own basketball goal. My husband, while equally amused, is more interested in studying their dad.

Y'all, it is adorable. My husband is in awe of our neighbor. He thinks he is "the coolest dad". His eyes light up when the whole family comes out to play baseball in the 12x12 yard. He smiles when the dad knocks brushes past his toddler to steal base. He points out when the dad picks his toddler up for the winning shot in basketball. Oh, and the day the dad rode in a little red wagon attached to a mini-four wheeler with his toddler driving...let's just say it is on my husband's bucket list now. :)

Daddy and me a long, long, LONG time ago!

While I think of my parents as the example of what parents ought to be, I'm sorry to say that my husband does not have the same gift. I wish...no, I don't wish that I could understand why some parents can be as they are. I don't understand how someone can need you so much and be so helpless, that you can be their only hope, and you can overlook them. How can you miss their want? How can you miss the simplest things? Not just miss it. How can you see it and ignore it? How you refuse a child a hug or a goodnight kiss? How can you want to push them away or purposely break their hearts?

I never doubted that I was loved. I never truly wanted for anything. As a child I am sure there was a toy or two that I thought I could not be happy until I had it for myself, but what child doesn't think that from time to time. Truth is, my happiness rested on no toy. The only time I was ever upset was when I was in trouble. Feeling as though I had let my parents down bothered me more than anything. The fear that what I had done was unforgiveable scared me more. Yet it never failed. Daddy would often hug me immediately afterwards. That in itself hurt more than the punishment because it reminded me that I had hurt someone who loved me. My mother would soon start to play or talk with me after my punishment was over though. Nothing, nothing ever appeared unforgiveable to them, even when what I did hurt them the most. They never gave up on me or pushed me away. They always talked to me. No matter if they received the responses they wanted so much to hear from me, they never stopped talking. They never stopped telling me how important my feelings, my thoughts, my wants were. They always wanted things clear between us. It was perhaps the thing I deprived them the most of, though it was no fault of their own. It was mine. Even so, I know without any doubt that I have the most wonderful parents- the most loving and caring parents. My parents gifted me with happiness. They dried tears, taught me to ride a bike, played barbies, and gave me siblings to play with. They gave us a home full of love that was safe and happy. They gave me the gift to choose- to make my own decisions & to accept my own mistakes. They gave me the gift of responsibility and the pride of a job well done. They gave me love- real love.

I have braces, so I'm guessing 16, 11, 6. This was actually one of the few times they got me in the pool!

When you marry the person you love, you want to create all of these new memories. A lot of memories that you love you think you can create again and relive it from now on with your husband or wife. My husband missed out on so much; little things like Disney movies, or slice and bake cookies, or dessert for dinner and dinner for dessert, or kids meals. I can do all of these things with him. We can play games and my sister and brother seem more than happy to welcome him into sister/brotherly teasing and taunting. My mother can bake her family-famous meals and welcome him with hugs. Daddy can open up a little more each time and joke like we all know he does and even offer bits of advice and encouragement when he sees the chance. What I can't do though is give him back what he missed. I can't keep him from knowing the feelings that haunt him of being pushed away or left behind. I can't replace any of it and it is one of the hardest things I have ever had to know because there is an unfairness to it all. I know life is not fair, but when you are brought up to stick up for those who can't stick up for themselves, to love unconditionally, and to treasure memories and make your own, and to share every happiness you know...it makes it a hard fact to accept. It makes me miss my family more and it makes me appreciate them more than I thought I did before.

I have hope though. One day we might have children and the combination of my want to give what I was given and my husband's want to give what he wanted, our children will never go unloved. Actually, in between us, my parents, my sister, my brother, and his grandparents they will certainly always know love. :) I just wish everyone could know what I have enjoyed my entire life.

P.S. If you never see a picture of my mother on here, I promise she exist. She knows where I live though and I know she'd beat my adult butt if I posted her picture. That said, my sister and I look just like her! :)

Our Honeymoon

Okay, I have to thank my husband for this post. I had forgotten that our honeymoon pictures were on his phone until he sent me a few the other day. Now I can finally tell you about the trip that followed our wedding!

First of all, I stepped back from the honeymoon plans just a few weeks into our engagement. My reasoning was...
1. He needed a project. I'm sort of a control-freak and I was tired of explaining every choice I made where colors and food were concerned. At the same time, I knew he wanted to be involved, too.
2. He was paying for the trip, and it seemed wrong at the time for me to have the sole say.
3. He would be driving, so it only seemed fair he choose the distance.
4. He had never been anywhere. I wanted him to enjoy choosing this vacation.
Now don't misunderstand either. I did not leave him to guess his way through it. I made a few requests so he would have an idea what to look for (ex. secluded, woods, cabin, small town). Goodness, did he come through! He actually chose one of my favorite places- Blue Ridge, Georgia. He looked through the long lists of cabin rentals and narrowed it down to about seven. From there he let me have the final say. Ladies, I have to tell you that this was a huge relief. He even went so far as to book us a hotel only four hours away from our wedding for our first night.

We left our wedding ceremony (officially) around 6:00. My mother actually packed us 2 jugs of homemade apple cider, snickerdoodles, cakepops, caramel apples, and several paper plates and napkins for our trip. After stopping at Chickfila for dinner (because, let's face it, you are starving after your wedding), we made our way to Meridian, MS.


Front of our cabin

We woke up the next morning at 9 and quickly got ready to leave. Rather than opt for a McDonalds breakfast, we ordered two burgers and medium fries for us both. Crazy? I still think so. We drove for the next 8 hours, stopping only for gas and to stretch our legs. Unfortunately, after a snack break around 3:00, I was plastered to the passenger seat in pain the rest of the way. I still don't know what it was (maybe stress) that caused the sharp pains in my upper abdomen, but I could not move and I refused to let my husband know this as it occurred. I later found out he wasn't feeling too great either and nearly asked me to drive for a little bit, but thought I was asleep next to him. Ha! Lovely start, right! 

Living room- Yep, that is the front door to the left. No blinds , so we put up blankets because it was just creepy

We reached Blue Ridge around 6:00 that afternoon. Our first stop was Ingles for groceries! It saved us a good deal of money and it was fun being able to practice cooking during that first week. By the time we left the store, it was getting dark. Needless to say, we had an interesting drive around the mountain and up gravel driveways to find our cabin. Once we were there, we were thrilled. It was beautiful.

We ate our first dinner at that bar! It was the first time we had ever had tomato soup and grilled cheese!

We had originally planned to visit Biltmore (2 hours away) while we were there that week, but by Wednesday, my husband confessed he REALLY did not want to get back in the car any sooner than he had to.


Side Porch- took pictures here

Back porch

In fact, he decided we would definitely be stopping in Meridian that Friday because he could not handle 12 hours in the car in one day. I agreed, but we did have to go to town later that day. When we got back, he snapped a few pictures outside.

Before I forget, we actually heard something up in our room one night. It woke us both up. Justin turned on the light and searched the room and suitcase, but found nothing. It had clearly sounded like something scratching and moving around up there. We were upstairs, too, so it wasn't an animal passing by the room. Weird!

Friday soon arrived and we drove into town. We were ready to head back home and start organizing the million boxes waiting for us. While in town, we decided to grab a bite.

Downtown Blue Ridge, GA

I admit neither of us appreciated the menu with no prices. This in mind, we ordered a bagel with cream cheese, scrambled eggs, and water. Surprisingly, it totaled $7 for both of us together.

L&L Beanery- Our breakfast location that Friday

Still, the women were not very friendly. At one point I had noticed a wall decoration with the price tag still attached and I actually considered the pleasure that would come from telling them of their mistake. I did not actually do it.........but I thought about it. We left and drove another 8 hours, stopping in Meridian again. It was a nice drive, but I got bored. Thank goodness for those extra pens I stash in my purse!

I'm sure I will pay for this when Justin sees this post, but...it's totally worth it. Let me explain the pictures that are not self-explanatory. The infinity sign times infinity refers to the At&t commercial where the little kid says it in response to a question. We love that commercial! The little man on top of the mountain- Mountain Man. My husband decided shaving was not part of his vacation plan, so I teased him and told him he was starting to look like a mountain man. "Will is SO sweet!"- Will is my parents' dog. Will bit him the first time Justin came to their house and was still barking at him at this point. "Nicholas is my HERO!"- Nicholas is my sister's shitzu. Justin and Nicholas sort of hate each other. If Nicholas fell in a well, Justin would fall over laughing and then stand at the well taunting him. If Justin fell in a well, Nicholas would bark until he was hoarse and then find the lid. Yeah, they have relationship issues to work out.

Well, this was our trip. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!