First Christmas in VA!

Hey guys!

Last Christmas post of 2012! I'm excited to be writing this and ready to move forward with the new year! :)

So on the 27th, we headed up to VA. Our first stop was John's dad and stepmom's ( granddaddy and granny Nell to Declan;) We stayed there for a few days. We exchanged gifts, enjoyed time together, good food, and family. Declan got a high chair from his grandparents and a bag full of goodies from his Great Aunt Anita and Great Uncle Dwight. Declan also went to church for the very first time at the church his daddy and many other relations have spent much of their lives. He did very well especially during worship. We didn't have to go to the nursery until the sermon started, I think he may have stayed for most of it, if it had been solely a worship service. ;)

We then headed up to John's mom and stepdad's ( Nona and Papa to Declan) Declan enjoyed a lot of time with his Nona , Papa, and daddy. I unfortunately, rang in the new year sick. :/ I got a bad cold, thankfully, with everyone's help it only lasted three days. Declan got several goodies from his grandparents as well as a gift from his Great Aunt Jeannie and Great Uncle Wayne. I was very happy to feel well enough to enjoy our last night and morning there. Hopefully, next visit I won't catch anything!

Pictures and a video will be posted once I get everything. :)

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, now let's continue to enjoy the new year! :)

<3 Anna

First Christmas in our home!

Hey guys!

Our first Christmas at home was so fun! We watched Christmas movies, I cooked and baked cookies for Santa. :) It was pretty relaxing, or as relaxed as it could be with a three month old!

On Christmas Eve, we ended the evening reading The Night Before Christmas and The Poky Little Puppy's First Christmas.

Christmas morning, after the usual morning routine----we looked in our stockings and exchanged gifts. We ended the day by reading The Christmas Story and A touch and feel Curious George Christmas book. :)

Here's a few pics!

Our Christmas Tree!

Sophie all festive in her bandana. It says Hugs and Kisses! :)

Declan just after his stocking. Sleepy head!

White Chocolate Mocha Starbucks copy cat! So good and easy to make! ;)

Onesie my mom got him---"All mommy wants is a silent night!"

Declan wearing his hat from St. Nick. Sophie tore one of the ears off. ..Lol.

Declan sporting the hat his Aunt Kayla and Soon-to-be Uncle Tim got him. ;)

***Next up Christmas in VA to complete, Christmas 2012!

<3 anna

First Christmas in Georgia

Hey guys,

 So I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked this Christmas, but the grandparents definitely saved the day on that end! (I'm going to do these in separate posts, I think the posts won't be as bulky! ;)

 We went down to Georgia for the weekend of the 14th. It was a lot of fun. We had a nice dinner of ham and all the trimmings. Then it was time for our first annual Dirty Santa swap. John got some cologne and I got the better gift---Will Smith dvd set---Hitch, Hancock, The Pursuit of Happyness, and 7 pounds. ;)

We got stockings filled with goodies from my mom and Declan got a pretty nice haul as well. ;) The best part was spending time with the family and just thinking about how God has truly blessed our family this year!

Holding Declan's stocking from his Nana.

Declan with his stocking. :)

5 generations (Me, my grandmother, Declan in the arms of his great-great grandmother, and my mother)

I had to post this one, just because he looks like he is plotting something. ;)

Next up our Christmas and Christmas in VA!

<3 anna

Christmas: Part 3 Virginia fun!

Hey everyone,

Before I get started with this post, I have to say that I have really taken my fingers for granted. Now I know that sounds a bit odd, but yesterday while cleaning my new Ninja master prep drink maker, I cut my thumb and index finger on my right hand. I now have two band aids there because they bled like no tomorrow! It's interesting how the little things in life can remind us to be grateful for what we have. Just a thought, I wanted to share. :) Btw, if you haven't realized it from reading my posts, I'm incredibly accident prone. So this won't be the last post about a random cut or bruise.

So on to my last Christmas post! Yay! Tomorrow I will finally be able to post my New Year's thoughts. :)

Christmas Day Night: John and I made a pit stop at his father's house to drop off Sophie. We then made the short drive to his grandmother's. This trip was a big deal because in the 6 years that John and I have been together, I think he has only been to two of his grandmother's gatherings. So we were so thrilled to be able to make it this year. We started the evening by listening to his grandmother read an inspirational story, apparently they started this tradition last year. I thought it was such a great idea. For all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be able to listen to their (great) grandmother read and share her heart. We then said the blessing and had a buffet style set-up for dinner. My plate was pretty pitiful because of the virus. I was happy to be able to talk with everyone and enjoy being together anyway. After everyone enjoyed dessert, it was present time!
The Leviner clan really loves Dirty Santa, so every year the grown-ups do that. I have to say that this year's Dirty Santa was pretty nice. There were great gifts and not too much stealing. John scored a $25.00 Red Lobster Gift card and I got some bath gel and lotion from Bath and Body Works. :) The kids of course, opened their gifts before this. We had only two little ones present this year. Everyone also gives John's grandmother gifts. It's always nice to see her opening her gifts. She is one of the classiest ladies I know. She is the complete definition of a proper lady. (Funny Story: John and his brother got a book of etiquette from her one year for Christmas! ;) After presents and some chit-chat, we headed back to the in-laws.

We exchanged gifts there. This is where I got my amazing, but mean Ninja...lol. John got Iron Man and Green Lantern, which I was also excited about! We then headed to bed after a long night.

The next day John went to work with his dad and I enjoyed a day hanging out with John's grandmother, aunt, and my step-mother-in-law. We went to a shoe store and Belk. Our last stop was my favorite though! We stopped at a place called The Bread Basket. It's a local store owned by a Mennonite family. They make homemade bread, dip mixes, soup mixes, candles, and much more. When you woke in the store, the smell of fresh bread cooking just grabs your nose and holds on for dear life! Such an amazing place and so peaceful! We returned to home base, with a big surprise! Not only was John and his father there, but also Michael (John's brother), Rebecca (his fiancee), and Dean (good friend of John and Michael's from high school). It was so great to see them all! Micheal and Rebecca live in Virginia Beach and we rarely get to see them. We had plans to eat dinner at the local Mexican restaurant, so we all got ready to meet John's aunt and grandmother there. I seriously love Mexican food and I always order the same regardless of what it's called. I get rice and chicken covered in cheese sauce...so unhealthy, but so good! ;) We ended the evening with desserts at John's grandmother's.

Our last day at John's dad's: We enjoyed a delicious breakfast and got to packing the car. I surprised John with a trip back to The Bread Basket for lunch. ;) Lynell (John's step mother) had bought cinnamon raisin bread the first trip and John loved it! So we got a loaf of that and a loaf of sour dough, we also got two sandwiches for lunch. It was all amazing and didn't make it to our final destination...HOME!

After some window shopping and a Starbucks stop, we arrived at John's mom's. (Michael, Rebecca, and Dean had arrived earlier.) We enjoyed dinner together and everyone else played UNO. We then did presents.

I have a pretty amazing mother-in-law: She got me a Nook! (John had told me I was getting one, but I wasn't so sure.) I also got a stocking filled with assorted goodies: Mary Kay products, candy, etc. And a cute hat and wrap from Mark (Avon).

John got: A hat, some money for clothes, and some goodies in his stocking. (I can't remember what all he got)

We also got some nifty flashlights, and Christmas kitchen decor from family members.

Michael and Rebecca got us About a Boy and Roman Holiday (I seriously need to check my collection and make sure I don't have two copies now. I can't remember!) John got a gift card to Game Stop...one happy boy he was!

So that wraps up all the Christmas gift giving for one year! It's not about the gifts, but spending time with all our family makes me feel truly blessed and loved. :)

The rest of the visit was pretty leisurely. One highlight would be spending a day shopping with Rebecca. I got to know her alot better and it felt good hanging out with another girl and developing a better relationship with her. Since this move it has been a little hard. I miss so many of my friends right now. That trip really helped. We went to Yankee Candle and I got some super cute tea lights with owls...my current obsession! I also got a Lemon Lavender candle that smells so good and fresh! We then stopped by Bath and Body Works and I got some hand soap, between this purchase and my mom and mother-in-law, our bathrooms will be covered for hand soap...lol.

The last day of the trip was a hard one. I won't go into details here, but I want to ask all of my blog friends that pray to do so for me. My brother-in-law has a son and it seems that there is no other way to deal with visitation than to go to court. Michael desperately wants to spend time with his child as well as the rest of the family. Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers. I hope that this all can be resolved in this new year and Oron's best interest will be thought of. (Thank you!)

So that pretty much sums up our Christmas. I will get pictures up when we get our camera back. Hopefully, this weekend.

<3 Anna

Christmas: Part 2 Our Christmas and more!

Hey all,

I hope you all are having a beautiful day. If not, then sit down and give yourself a few minutes of quiet time. Pull up a seat and grab your favorite drink and enjoy some of your favorite blog posts. Hopefully, including mine. ;)

You know how you can meticulously plan something and your plans still fall through? This was our Christmas. I had planned a nice dinner and was excited about friends visiting before our VA trip. All of these plans were changed because the Thursday before Christmas I came down with a horrible virus. It was absolutely horrible and I wouldn't wish it on anyone---not even my worst enemy (not that I have many any of those) I didn't sleep most of that night. My wonderful husband was understandably horrified. He had never seen me that sick. (I get stupid colds all the time, but thankfully I usually get away from these evil viruses.) He was a real trooper though and made sure I pushed fluids and had plenty of rest. (I slept until 2:30pm!)

All of this worked and I was able to eat a light dinner that evening. This worked out great because we were able to meet up with one of my best friends and our godson at Zaxby's the next day. We enjoyed a nice lunch and were able to catch up with each other on life. It was so great to see them both and to see how big Balian has grown! It is amazing to me that he is running around all over the place, using sticks as light sabers! ;)

That evening, Christmas Eve, I made lasagna and bread sticks for our Christmas dinner. I was still re cooperating so I wasn't able to eat very much. We watched It's a Wonderful Life and I started on Peppermint Oreo Truffles and made Blondies for our upcoming Christmas festivities. We then headed to bed.

The next morning, I woke to a very excited Sophie, believe it or not---our dog knows about her stocking...lol. She enjoyed her goodies from Santa Paws and we checked our stockings for goodies. I got John some funny boxers, candy, and a Lego Star Wars pen. John got me Ruthless, the last PLL book, some beauty products, and candy. We had already exchanged our big gifts so it was fun that we waited to do stockings. :)

I then finished making the truffles and made Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bread. We then packed up the car and were on our way to Virginia for Christmas with John's side of the family. :) Stay tuned for those post(s).

***Sorry for the lack of pictures, with the virus I completely forgot. :/

***Be sure to also check out Christmas Part 1!

<3 Anna

Christmas: Part 1 The Georgia Crew

Hey everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. I don't know about you, but I'm super excited for this new year! (More on that later) Right now I need to catch you all up on our Christmas fun. :)

Me and my love

My youngest sister, Jessica!

Sophie, a cute present!

My sister, Brandi!

Our little family...hugs!

My sister, Kayla!

Jessica and Derrian goofing off. :)

December 16: My mom, sisters (Brandi, Kayla, and Jessica), and Jessica's boyfriend, Derrian, came up for Christmas. I had spent much of the day cooking and getting our home ready. I was so excited for them to see our new place in person! They arrived that evening and we enjoyed tons of finger and snack foods. Then it was present time! ;) I love watching the expression on a person's face when they open a gift from us...warm fuzzies and all!

I got:

Some great pjs and an extra pair of pj bottoms (Seriously, needed these because I live in pj bottoms!)

An adorable owl ring...as you can tell from my layout, I'm currently obsessed with owls!

A candle cover with an owl on it! ;)

A Winter Night candle, which smells heavenly...gotta love good smelling candles right?!

Season 6 of Boy Meets World

Marmaduke and Shrek

and various stocking goodies!

John got:

funny t-shirt

pj bottoms

cloth tool box (He desperately needed it!)

and various stocking goodies

My grandma also sent us a food processor and a gift card to O'Charleys! Yay!

I think Santa (my mom and sisters;) were good to us this year! As I mentioned before, I love seeing people open presents from us, I was especially excited about seeing Derrian open his gift. We weren't sure how everyone was exchanging gifts and I wanted to be sure he had something to open too. So I got him a box of Turtle chocolates. This was especially funny since we have a sort-of inside joke about turtles.

After the Christmas presents, we all loaded up into my mom's van and looked at various Christmas lights in our area. It was super fun, jamming to music and joking with Derrian and Jessica. (We read Your mama jokes and cheesy pickup lines on Derrian's new phone...lol) We did have a few moments of quiet during the lights, and I don't know why but looking at Christmas lights in the quiet reminds me of the true spirit of Christmas. It makes me very reflective. Do any of you feel this way?

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. " Luke 2:10-12

December 17: We had a big festive dinner and a relaxing day in (playing Mario Party 8). We enjoyed ham,stuffing, dressing, macaroni and cheese, green beans, pineapple casserole, etc. Plus various desserts. (Stuffed just thinking about it!) We ended the day watching Marmaduke, a very cute movie, if you haven't seen it, you should and great for the kiddos!

December 18: We had a breakfast casserole for breakfast and took Sophie to the nearby park. Jessica and John threw the ball and frisbee for Sophie to fetch. I think everyone enjoyed watching our crazy dog use up some of that energy! It was then time for everyone to pack up and head back home. It was a wonderful visit and we can't wait to see them all again (hopefully, sooner rather than later!)

<3 Anna

Holiday Hiatus!

Hello all my lovely blog friends!

I am taking a break from Facebook and Blog land for the holiday season. I plan to return no later than January 2nd. I'll have plenty of fun posts to return with and I hope that you will remember me while I'm away! ;)

and

I hope that you all enjoy a wonderful Christmas with the ones you hold dear and that your new year's is filled with all the happiness each and everyone of you deserves!

<3 Anna

Weekend Roundup!

Hey everyone,

I hope you all had a fun filled weekend. Ours was okay...we were stuck at home again. John rarely gets a cold, but when he does he keeps a cough for forever. :( So we spent our weekend enjoying these Christmas movies.

The first two are my hubby's picks:

These are more to my liking:

What are some of your Christmas favorites? Do you enjoy any of our picks?

<3 Anna

Christmas Time is here!

Hey everybody!

First I want to share with you about a new feature I'm adding to my blog. I'm going to blog (from time to time, no determined day) about my new town, Hickory. The series will be called I <3 Hickory and will share with you tourist attractions, shopping, restaurants, etc. I hope this will be a fun way for me to learn about my new home and for you guys to want to visit. ;) OR at least be an entertaining read. So be sure to keep a look out for that.

 Last night, I found this Christmas survey on A Crafty Southern Chick and I thought I would join in the fun. :)


1. egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate, my hubby loves egg nog so we get a small carton for him….it grosses me out!

2. does santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? When I was a kid, most years Santa would just place them under the tree, but one year I requested them wrapped---my poor parents…lol.

3. colored lights on tree/house or white? White, I grew up with colored lights, but hubby and I prefer White.

4. do you hang mistletoe? Nope.

5. when do you put your decorations up? Any time after Thanksgiving, I like to give each holiday it’s due. ;)

6. what is your favorite holiday dish? My great-grandmother’s Hershey bar cake…it’s to die for!

7. favorite holiday memory as a child? Each year we would go to my great-grandparents house. I also loved going to the Christmas tree farm, to get our tree and great-grandmother’s tree.

8. when and how did you learn the truth about santa? I was a little old, I’ll be honest…probably about 8/9…though my parents---believe I was 13!

9. do you open a gift on christmas eve? Yes, every year my mom would give us one present to open. My husband and I do the same. :)

10. how do you decorate your christmas tree? White lights, various ornaments, no real color scheme---just a very traditional/nostalgic sort of look.

11. snow! love it or dread it? Love it! I hope that we get more here in NC, than we did in GA…we should!

12. can you ice skate? I’ve never tried, but would love to!

13. do you remember your favorite gift? My husband and his mother made me a blanket…it was the first homemade gift I ever received and I bawled over it.

14. what's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Remembering Christ’s birth, (regardless of whether or not this was his actual birthday. His birth should always be important, but I think the least we can do is give Him a month!) Spending time with friends and family, and remembering the giving spirit of St. Nicholas.

15. what is your favorite holiday dessert? I love dessert, so I could never choose just one!

16. what is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas morning---once with my mother and sisters, and now with my hubby. :)

17. what tops your tree? A white and gold star

18. which do you prefer: giving or receiving? BOTH! Loooove to open gifts--don't even care if it's big or small, I just love the fun of it all--but I really, really love giving to others!

19. candy canes: yuck or yum? They are okay. I usually eat one each year.

20. favorite christmas show? Elf---It’s too funny!

21. saddest christmas song? Blue Christmas

22. what is your favorite christmas song? Carol of the Bells

<3 Anna

Welcome to Our Home

Hello everyone,

Today I've decided to (finally) share with you all our new home!

Front door and our new wreath

Picture in our kitchen

New clock (we had to replace due to the move)

The painting my sister did for our new home. <3

Living Room

So excited we have a fireplace! :)

Laundry area

Coat closet

Hallway

Guest Bedroom---where we are currently sleeping. Forgive the mess!

Master Bedroom (gotta get a bed in there!)

His/her closet---love that it's walk-in.

Master Bathroom (Rustic mountain theme, you can't really tell from this pic. :/ )

Guest Bathroom

We are doing a beach theme!

The Shower connects the two bathrooms.

Screened porch

Sophie loves the porch, I have a pic of her somewhere enjoying the view...I'll have to look for it.

We are loving our new home. I'm so happy to have a bigger kitchen. I love to cook and bake, so it's so nice to have more space! I'm so excited to have a fireplace and can't wait to use it. We have so much more space---closets in every room and medicine cabinets in both bathrooms. Sorry if I sound braggy, but we love our new place!


Christmas Decor

The snow globe John got me last Christmas

As you can see our house is becoming a home. I think that the touch of Christmas has really helped with this.

I hope that you all are enjoying the holiday season. Remember to enjoy all things great and small today!

<3 Anna