New Years 2012

For New Years our good friends Luke and Taylor invited us to the Register's beach house at Ocean Isle for the weekend.  It had been forever since I was able to spend quality time with Taylor and it was awesome to spend a relaxing weekend at the beach with great friends.  The weather was gorgeous and definitely didn't feel like December/January.   Saturday morning we woke up to a delicious breakfast and took a long, leisurely walk around the island and the beach.  

Most of the group-  Happy 2012!

More sights from our walk-

Another highlight of the weekend was the endless cornhole playing.  Taylor and Luke made this set for her parents and we put it to good use!

Turns out Tay and I made an awesome team (who knew!?) and had the longest winning streak!  (Please excuse our un-showered selves :)

Their house is a quick walk to the beach, so we were able to catch an amazing sunset on Saturday night- the last one of 2011!

All fresh and clean- the whole group minus the Registers

We had a yummy lasagna dinner, played Apples to Apples and then went to a bar to hear some live music.  Sharkys (the bar) dropped their version of the ball at midnight- it was a shark of course!  I didn't lug my camera there, so sadly no pictures.  It was the perfect way to ring in the New Year.  Thanks again so much to the Logans and the Registers- we had an awesome time! Let's do it again soon!

Thanksgiving at the Farm

This year Nick and I were able to spend part of Thanksgiving day on my grandparents farm in Walburg, NC.  They purchased the land and built their house when I was young and we have so many great memories of the farm.  Over the years Papa and Grams have had cows, sheep, a donkey, chickens and a rooster among other things!  My cousins, Laurie and I loved swimming in the creek, climbing up in the hayloft in the barn, and hiking all over the 27 acres.

A few of the sheep-  over the years we have been able to hold the baby lambs in the spring-  so cool!

All four of the cousins (and hubbys) were able to make it this year which was so much fun! 

Sister and their babies-  Anna and Copeland

We were also able to celebrate Papa's 80th birthday that day! 

After lunch the guys challenged each other to what is becoming a new tradition- racing down the long driveway on scooters.  Here are their game faces-

nice game face Pat

 I actually got a few pictures of Nick and I- thanks Blair!

I love this next one-  all four cousins and our husbands! We have so much to be thankful for- I am so thankful for family and our relationships.  Love yall so much!

Christmas #3- Greensboro

Our third (and final) Christmas took place in Greensboro with my family.  On Christmas Eve we had dinner and dessert at my aunt and uncles house.  My aunt made a fabulous dinner and we had the best time catching up with my little (not so little anymore) cousins.  

Christmas morning we woke up to go to High Point (to my other aunts house) for breakfast with my cousins and grandparents.  I love this tradition- we have been doing it as long as I can remember.  I took a few pictures of the cousins (we missed you Anna and Kyle!) but we looked pretty rough.  I think Laurie and Blair will thank me for not posting them :)  As we were leaving, it started snowing and did not stop for the rest of the day!  We ended up with almost six inches of snow and a white Christmas!  The rest of the day was spent doing presents with my dad and sister, seeing True Grit (we recommend it by the way- it was great!)  and having bbq with my grandmother.   That night we drove around Greensboro to see some Christmas lights.  There is one neighborhood that puts these lighted balls in the trees.  So many houses participate- it's beautiful.  Although it's pretty hard to take a decent picture of lights and night, but here's my attempt-

We have spent the rest of the week enjoying more family and friends.  My family also got completely sucked  into Lost on Netflix. I'm not sure how I missed it the first time around, but we are definitely hooked now.

We feel so blessed to be able to celebrate with everyone that we love.  It has been a wonderful break!

Christmas #2- Raleigh

For Christmas number two we packed up and headed to Raleigh.  We spent the week with Nick's parents, and his sister Cait, her husband Josh, and our three cute nieces.  They were in town all the way from London.  We had the best time just hanging out, being entertained by these three cutie pies-

The girls decided we should act out a Nativity scene (or "activity scene") as they called it.  Before we left Blacksburg they called to see if Uncle Nick would be the sheep- because of course he would make a good one!  We had a practice one night and Annie was the director.  She had two complaints- that all Nick did was just lay on the ground and that Papa (the angel of the Lord) did not know his lines and maybe he should write them down.  Ha!  A few nights later, we tried again.  Here is the new and improved sheep- in costume I might add-

I am happy to report he took the directors advice to heart and did a much better job as a sheep the second time around!  Annie and Elle took turns being Mary (with a baby in her tummy of course!) and an angel.

The girls got these little cars called plasma cars from Grammy and Papa.  When they went down for their naps, guess who took them for a spin?

I think we enjoyed them just as much as the kids!  Christmas in Raleigh was so much fun, and we loved catching up with family and friends!

Christmas # 1- Blacksburg

Friday after Nick and I both finished school for Christmas Break (woo hoo!) we decided to celebrate our Christmas.  The end of the semester is always crazy for Nick- long, late nights, lost of projects, etc.  We were really needing a date night, so we kicked off our Christmas with dinner out at one of our favorite restaurants- thanks to a gift card from Cait and Josh- thanks again!  

On Saturday morning we woke up and had a delicious breakfast.  We had pumpkin cinnamon rolls, a spinach and caramelized onion frittata and fruit.  

We decided to just do stockings for each other this year, so after breakfast we opened those.  It was so relaxing to enjoy our morning full of lots of coffee, Christmas music and quality time together!

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

We have decked the halls, got several inches of snow this weekend, and it has been frigid the past few days (the wind chill is 5 degrees right now!)  It feels like Christmas!

Here is the "after" shot of our tree-

This is Nick's "nicktivity" as his parents call it.  This was his job to set up every year growing up.  We inherited it when we got married, so he still gets to set it up!

 

I love having our house all decorated!  We are going to curl up with a bowl of soup by the Christmas tree and try to stay warm! 

 Have a great night!

Thanksgiving Wrap Up

Since Nick and I got married, we have really enjoyed starting our own holiday traditions.  One thing we have loved is cooking our own Thanksgiving dinner, for just the two of us.  Since we spend so much of our holidays traveling to see family (which we love doing) we have our meal a few days before Thanksgiving.   

Here is our feast-  I made herb roasted chicken breasts (no need for a turkey for just us), gravy, garlic and parmesan mashed potatoes, green bean bundles, apple and onion stuffing, and cranberry sauce.  We also had pumpkin bourbon cheesecake for dessert, but I didn't get a picture of that.

Over our break, we visited Pinehurst, Raleigh and Greensboro- whew!  We had Thanksgiving dinner in Pinehurst with Nick's parents and Nan and Pops.  Friday morning we were in Raleigh and woke up to this beautiful table set up for Nick's birthday.  And yes, it was as good as it looks!

Friday night we drove to Greensboro and enjoyed a relaxing weekend catching up with family and friends.   We loved being in NC and seeing everyone!  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays- we have so much to be thankful for!