Thankful Thursday

Hey guys!


It's time for another Thankful Thursday with the lovely Miss Cami! I truly look forward to these posts each week and the great feeling that comes with acknowledging all that God has done for me. 

Today I'm thankful for:

My hubby has the whole week off. It has been wonderful! Yay! Vacation!

My health and my sweet son's health!

Tomorrow we will be heading to Georgia for most of the weekend. My youngest sister and cousin are graduating high school! I look forward to spending time with family and catching up with a few friends.

God blessed us with our tax return coming right on time. That money has been such a blessing to us!

I am now (finally!) officially a Scentsy Independent Consultant. If you are interested in purchasing something or getting more info, comment below. Thanks!

I'm going shopping this week for much needed clothes and shoes. 

I love getting mail and we have a few packages on the way!

Last week, John and I went to our first small group meeting. It has been wonderful. It's great to meet new people and make connections in our new home. :)

I have been using a different approach with my bible study time and it's really been helping me.

God has given me peace about the future and I'm excited to see what is in store for us!

What are you thankful for today?

<3 Anna

Thankful Thursday

Hey guys!


It's time for another Thankful Thursday with Cami! :) Be sure to check out her blog and the other great bloggers who link up! :)

This week I'm thankful for:

* Yesterday was a really hard day. I was feeling really insecure. I'm getting bigger...obviously, I'm pregnant. My thoughts were really negative and most of my insecurities were on loud speaker in my ear. Okay, so that was the bad. The good was that I was reminded of some truths. It's amazing the way God uses people to get his points across. My wonderful husband was able to speak some encouragement to me and a conversation I had earlier in the week with a dear friend on an unrelated subject, actually applied to what I was feeling at the time. Reminders are the best right?! :)

*John has the whole weekend off and it will probably be the first in awhile that we don't have any plans and are free to do whatever we wish. Yay!

*I'm happy to see my family and friends are doing well. I love getting good news about them! 

* This recipe is amazing and I made it last night. Cami has had me thinking about brownies for awhile now. lol

*I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends in the upcoming months. :)

* If you don't know Lesley, you should definitely go check out her blog. She is one of sweetest bloggers out there and she recommended me to this site. My new obsession! :)

*I'm finally getting things crossed off my to-do list. It feels good! 

*I'm participating in a Photo-A-Day Challenge on fb. (I'm working on taking more pictures.)

So what are you thankful for this week?

<3 Anna 

5 Fantastic Gender Reveal Ideas

Hey guys,

As you all know I recently revealed the sex of our first child. So today, I thought I would share 5 fun ways to share with family and/or friends the big news!

In no particular order:

1. Make a t-shirt. There are many ways that you can do this. Get a t-shirt with the color of your choice and decorate it. You can use iron on letters and pictures (as we did), you can draw or make a design of your choice, etc. The possibilities are endless, just be sure that the message is clear and you are happy with the end results. :)

As you can see, we used the iron on letters and designs. You can't tell but we had a little skull crossbones as the apostrophe and the blue flames to set off the word boy. ;)

2. Cake or Cupcake reveal. These have become very popular. (This is one of the reasons we decided against this idea, and also we had our gender reveal in a restaurant and didn't know their policies on bringing in outside food.) If you haven't heard about this idea, you make a cake or cupcake and the filling is blue or pink to reveal the baby's gender. This would be great if you had family close by and could have a gender reveal party.

Source: flickr.com via Anna on Pinterest

3. Balloons. Fill several pink or blue balloons with helium and put them in a box and let the balloons tell all. This would be great to do in person or could be done in a video for far away family.

Source: betsymariephotography.com via Anna on Pinterest

4. Youtube video. If you have family and friends far away, how about documenting the big moment with a super sweet video. Here are just a few cute ones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUBxxe_sso8&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bz1OCzvgJ4&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsZXK1x5Zxw&feature=player_embedded

5. Build-a-bear. Make a Build-a-Bear and choose two cute outfits for it to reveal the sex. This website also suggests getting a recorder box with a recording of the baby's heart beat. How sweet!

What do you think of these ideas? If you are a mommy, what did you do to reveal your baby's gender?

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

<3 Anna

Thankful Thursday

Hey guys,

Just wanted to stop and take the time to think about all the wonderful blessings in my life.

Today I'm thankful for:

My hubby is getting out of training early today! yay!

My sweet baby boy! I can't wait to meet him! <3

Head and Shoulders Green Apple---it smells great and is helping keep that yucky dandruff away!

My sweet husband is grilling burgers for dinner tonight...yum!

My relationship with God. It isn't perfect, but I'm learning to seek Him more and more and He is teaching me so much.

Getting a handle on the house, after last week's illnesses---I've made a list and am crossing stuff off!

What are you thankful for today?

<3 Anna

My Top Guilty Pleasures

Hey Guys,

So I was browsing one of my most favorite blogs today, Miss Cami's. She had the coolest post up on her Top 10 Guilty Pleasures, and I hope she won't mind me sharing some of mine. ;)

My Top 7 Guilty Pleasures:
(In no particular order)


*Bubble baths- I don't get them very often, but when I do....it's heaven! (I'm sure I'll get them even less often once D is born...BUT it will make me appreciate them even more. ;)

*Soda- I know, I know. Soda is absolutely horrible for you. I'm guessing it's the flavor and practically being raised up on it. (If anyone has any suggestions on how to wean myself off, please share. I'm seriously wanting to get off after Declan is born. I want to lose weight and have some goals I'm brainstorming at the moment. Btw, I don't keep soda in the house. We do have some here now, but normally I get it when I go out.)

* My Grooveshark playlist(s)- I have one completely dedicated to soundtracks, which includes many, many, of my favorite musicals and songs from Glee! and The Voice. One of the others includes anything from BSB to Hootie and the Blowfish to The Rat Pack.

* Mani/pedis- I haven't had many opportunities to have this done professionally, so many are done at home. BUT they are always so relaxing.

* Desperate Housewives- Okay, I know what you are thinking...most people think this show is completely shallow and is completely about sex...but from episode 1 (I started watching on Netflix last year) I was hooked...the mystery, the women (Bree is my absolute favorite), the storylines are strong and keep you wanting more, and so much more.

*Retail Therapy- Like most girls, I love to shop. I can spend hours in stores (it's not always clothing stores, in fact, I hate some clothing shopping...like jeans...agh!) What makes it even better is when I have a coupon and a sale. :)

I don't consider myself a shopaholic, just love this movie. ;)

*Baking- There is something about baking, that relaxes me. I think it's because I love making others happy and it's a piece of myself that I can share with others.

So those are mine, feel free to comment and share! :)

<3 Anna

New Beginnings, New Life

Hey everyone,

We have had an amazing and busy weekend! So excited to share with you all what's going on with us. :)

IT'S A BOY! His name is John Declan Leviner. He will go by Declan. Declan is of Irish origin and means "full of goodness."

Friday: The big ultrasound day! My appointment was at 3:30 and I was on pins and needles waiting to get called back for it. The ultrasound tech was very nice and asked me what I thought I was having. I told her a boy. (This was my suspicion from day one.) She quickly confirmed that I was right and we talked and she took a massive amount of pictures. I then met with one of my midwives for a tummy check and talked about all of my results. John and I left the doctor's office, on cloud nine. We are having a boy! We now knew exactly what to shop for and would be able to finish up our registries. :) We grabbed a snack, told Sophie she was having a baby brother, took her out, and headed back out to get groceries and do some other shopping. Our first stop was Aldi's (I seriously love that place!) We got all the non cold grocery items we were able to and then headed to Target. John went to Game Stop and got a game and I went into the local Christian store. I got some thank you cards and a gift for my youngest sister. (She is graduating high school next month.) We then went to Target. I did some more gift shopping and we looked at some of the baby stuff there. We then went to a couple more stores including Walmart and finished up our grocery shopping. I was excited to look at more baby stuff and we bought our first gift for our son. We got a Little Golden Book collection of Sleepy Time stories. We ended the evening with dinner at IHOP. I was a happy girl, I had been seeing commercials for IHOP's new $7 menu, and I had been craving chicken and waffles...I finally got some! lol. Once we got home, Sophie greeted us, we put up our groceries, and I read "Goodnight Little Bear" from our new book. :)

Saturday: I woke just before 8. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up and took Sophie out and heated up leftovers for breakfast.  We then started getting ready for our busy day. We made a stop at Lowe's to get Sophie a paint brush roller. (We have a very silly dog who loves to play with paint brush rollers. This is her new favorite toy. I think it's because it's fluffy and a challenge to destroy...lol. Just before we got in, there were some boy and girl scouts out front selling gift cards. The card has various restaurants on it, so we got one. After a quick stop at CVS, we took Sophie to the park. She desperately needed some exercise. She ran all over the place and enjoyed some play time in the creek. We dropped Sophie off at home and then headed back out for lunch. We decided to check out one of the local places on our card, Bistro 127. I'm so glad we did. It was so perfect. The atmosphere, the food, everything! If you are ever in Hickory, you should check them out. John got the Artisan Panini and I got the Bistro Club. These both come with a choice of sides, John got fries and I got their roasted potatoes, both perfect! Before we left, I noticed they had a little display with doughnuts and other pastries, we didn't get any...but I'm sure we will return. ;) After that, it was on to Mount Airy. We got inside The Main Oak emporium, just before the rain hit. We explored the three floors and talked about returning for Christmas shopping. ;) We also went to the local book store and looked around. I got a decaf mocha and didn't get sick! Wa-hoo! I was so happy about that. If you have been following my pregnancy updates, you would know that I haven't had the easiest time with coffee of any form since the first trimester. Once we finished up browsing shops, it was time to head to 13 Bones, the restaurant, we would be having dinner with John's parents. We met John's dad and stepmother in the parking lot and they shared pictures and videos from their visit with our nephew Oron, he is walking and crawling all over the place! It's hard to believe! They gave him his birthday present and they have a picture of him kissing the toy dog we got him. We are so glad he liked it! It was prom night in Mount Airy, so there was a little wait for our table. Once we got inside, I went to the restroom and changed my shirt. John and I made a special shirt for the gender reveal. I came out and John's dad immediately noticed. We thought John's stepmom had beat him in the reaction, but she hadn't realized....they were so excited. John's stepmom had told me she was hoping for a boy. :) We got to our table and ordered our drinks, then John's mother and stepfather arrived. We showed them the shirt. They were happy also. John's mother was one of the few people who had thought we were having a girl, so she was surprised. We had a appetizer of fried pickles, I was a happy girl and then a delicious dinner. We talked and shared pictures and it was a wonderful night. I sent a mass text to a few friends sharing the big news and then I update fb once I got home. John and were exhausted but happy. It was a wonderful day and a wonderful weekend!

John's dad and Oron, growing so fast!

The gender reveal shirt (18 almost 19 weeks pregnant here)

John's dad's reaction to the shirt. This was one of the few shots we got, it was a busy night!

<3 Anna

Thankful Thursday

Hey guys!

Today I'm linking up with Cami for my first Thankful Thursday. I'm really excited about adding this as an edition to my blog because it's a goal of mine to be more positive. There are so many benefits to being positive and I want to see those in my own life. Just as I'm sure you would yours.


Today I'm thankful for:

This beautiful day. It went from being sunny and hot to a gentle rain and that has cooled us down. I love it!


My health and a healthy baby! Yesterday we heard Baby Bean's heartbeat again and got to see a bit of his/her personality. He/she kept moving away from the heart monitor. It was pretty funny. 


We will learn Baby Bean's gender by the end of April!


No more nausea! John is cooking right now and I'm not running to another room. I think I'll be back in the kitchen very soon! Yay!


I was able to go for a walk yesterday and it was nice to be able to be out and getting my energy back.


I've gotten a lot of great suggestions this week on how to stay hydrated. Thanks for those! 


Sweet texts from a dear friend, I hadn't talked to her in awhile it was great hearing from her!


I have the sweetest dog, she has been especially loving lately. (It's like she knows I'm pregnant! lol)


I love our new home. Hickory is so beautiful! I'm so glad we were given the opportunity to live here.


My wonderful husband, I feel I love him more and more each day. :)


<3 Anna

Beautiful you

Hi guys,

I'm going to be making some changes on my blog very soon. I'll share with you a little more on that later.

First I was wondering if any of you caught this segment from Anderson?

http://www.andersoncooper.com/2012/03/06/stuck-in-the-1950s-doris-story/

I definitely can identify in some ways with Doris. I have often felt that I was meant to live in a different time period. I love vintage clothing and if I had the money, I would definitely want to be as comfortable in my own skin as she seems to be. I don't think I could pull off the red lipstick and fake eyelashes, but there is definitely a confidence boost from wearing red. I've heard that red is a color that looks fabulous on any woman. I think some people may disagree with me on that, but that's what I've read.

Anyway, I just had to share how neat her story was and how I truly admire people who are true to themselves, that don't try to impress anyone and just be who they are. If you are trying to impress someone. Stop and think about what you are doing. Is it really worth it to sacrafice who you are to impress this person? I'm sure it's not.

So my message for all of you today, is to be who you are. You are beautiful. You don't need to be anything more than who you are.  On this lovely Friday, I hope that you will do something that makes you feel happy. Then spread that happiness to others, treat a friend to a movie, take some extra time to snuggle with your kiddos/hubby/fur baby, call a friend and offer an encouraging word.

You have no idea how your words can improve not only your life, but the lives of others. I'll never forget a story I read from one of The Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul's books, (laugh if you must, but I was a sucker for these and I have a copy of the Couples and Dog and Cat Lover's books now...lol) The story was about two friends and how one friend called the other and left this very kind message for her on her answering machine. The other girl called back in tears, she thanked her friend and told her that it had been the worst day of her life. She had actually been contemplating suicide as she received the message from her friend. The friend that made the call was in shock, she had no idea that her friend was in such pain. She was so thankful to talk to her and give her encouragement in her time of need. I don't remember all the details of the story, but the underlying meaning rings on several years after reading this story. I hope this story was thought-provoking to you as well.

I could have probably gone on and on with these points, but I think you get the idea. ;)

<3 Anna

Encouragement

Yesterday, John and I checked out a service at Christ Church. It is a local non-denominational church and the first church here that we actually would like to visit again. John and I are not big on jumping into churches. We have been hurt in the past and we don't want to repeat history. We are very much ready to find our place though. So it is very exciting to at least find a church that we would like to visit again! 

The sermon was week 4 of their Sync series. (The good thing was this sermon stood well alone and we didn't feel like we missed anything or didn't understand where the pastor was going.) Here are some notes from the service: http://www.youversion.com/events/70428. The part that really stood out for me was Problem 2 Living Bound up. This problem talks about the fact that most of us are living bound up in the anger, disappointment, frustration, etc. of the past. The only way we can move forward is to learn how to live in the freedom God gave us and the only way to do that is by:  

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23

This is something that does not come naturally and has to be something we put into practice daily. You will mess up, but one of the best things about God's love is that it is unconditional and He forgives us despite all of our shortcomings. 

This isn't something new I learned, but sometimes you just need a good reminder. There is so much peace that can be gained, when you realize that you don't have to be perfect and that you can't achieve perfection. It's also wonderful to know that being perfect is pretty over-rated anyway. ;)

Make this week a good one!

<3 Anna

Friday Favorites!

Hey guys!

How was your week? I hope it was better than this, but if it was pretty bad.... I wish you an amazing weekend to make up for it. ;) My week wasn't this bad, but I just loved this picture and understand the sentiment.

So here's a few things that made this week brighter. :)

This is just amazing! I can't stop watching it...(lol) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF9XBYHrwtk

These pictures:

Such a lovely thought!

Just like a cat! ;)

Such a wonderful reminder!

*Last night we got dinner-to-go from Red Lobster. It cost us 40 cents! Gotta love gift cards. :)

* Getting some more followers and finding new blogs to read and enjoy this week.

*I've decided to start reading The Hunger Games series. The cool part, my hubby and I both have Nooks and we have decided to read it at the same time. He is already 50 pages in and hooked. :)

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

<3 Anna

Pretty Pretty Princess

Hey everyone,

Yesterday, I watched Anderson (one of my favorite shows). He always has such interesting topics and guests and this particular episode was no exception. The episode asked the question, "Are girls growing up too fast?"

The guests for the show were two mothers from Toddlers and Tiaras and their daughters. Just fyi, I'm not a fan of pageants and things of that nature. If I had a daughter that wanted to participate I would definitely consider it, but it's not something I will be hunting down to get involved with. With that being said, I think that this show brought up some interesting points.

The Pros of Pageant life (according to the mothers and audience members):

Pageants give confidence.

Pageants teach skills such as poise, interview skills, and communication skills.

Pageants encourage creativity.

The Cons of Pageant life (according to audience members and author, Peggy Orenstein, Cinderella at my daughter)



Girls are taught from an early age to focus on outward beauty rather than inner.

Girls usually start off in pageants at a very early age, and can't voice how they really feel about what they are doing.

Some parents are very involved in the pageant world: opening Twitter accounts, having their children's eye brows waxed, marketing products with their child's name. It seems they are setting their child up for a life in the spotlight, whether that is their dream or not.

This portion of the show was very interesting, but there was one portion of the show that really blew my mind.   A lady was visiting a children's store with her husband, when they were shocked to find that the store was marketing crotch less panties to young girls. The mother was so outraged that she filed a complaint at the mall and the mall manager contacted the store and had the products removed.

This truly broke my heart. What message is our society trying to send to these young girls? I know that this has always been a problem, but I feel it pressing on my heart that it's only getting worse. It is imperative that we raise young girls to grow up confident and with the knowledge that they are beautiful on the inside and out. They need to know that they don't have to act a certain way or dress a certain way to be loved.

I hope I haven't upset anyone as far as the pageant part of this post goes. I mean no disrespect, I'm very aware that there are pageant opportunities out there that don't involve these extremes. ( I hope that everyone can see the point of this post isn't to bash pageant mom's or people who particpate in pageants.)

Please feel free to share your thoughts. If you would like to learn more about this particular episode you can here.

<3 Anna

Friday Favorites: New Year's edition

Hey everyone,

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Today's Favorites post is all about the new year. If you missed my New Year's goals post, (Just scroll over New Year's and click to be redirected there. ;)

Before I go on with today's post, I forgot to mention one more goal for the new year.

6. Take more pictures---I enjoy taking candid pictures of my family and documenting our life. (My blog!) Thank goodness, we will get our camera back tomorrow! :)

This pretty much covers my feelings on the new year:

Source: flickr.com via Edna on Pinterest

I hope that we all can continue to keep up this spirit and achieve our goals this year.

So as I've said I got a Ninja master prep blender for Christmas. I'm pretty much obsessed with making smoothies for breakfast now.

I got this recipe from The Pink Method diet

Pink Breakfast Smoothie

What you need:

1 cup of almond/soy/rice milk

1 cup of strawberries

1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder

Add to your blender and mix. Enjoy a pretty tasty treat!

I came up with this similar recipe:

Anna's Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie

What you need:

1 cup of almond/soy/rice milk

1 banana

1/4 cup peanut butter

Add to your blender and mix. Enjoy! (This recipe has more calories than the first recipe, but is a good source of protein and perfectly compliments the banana.:)

The blender and these great recipes have really helped with my goal.

My cousin finding me on Facebook. We haven't talked in a few years. I was so excited to hear from him! I hope we will be able to keep in better touch now! :)

Do you enjoy saving money? Of course you do! BJ's is offering a free trial membership.

All you have to do is copy and paste this link into your browser and follow the instructions. :)

http://www.bjs.com/one-day-pass.content.join_one_day_pass.A.join_consumer

BJ's VALUE
BJ's Members can save over $500 on groceries a year!*
BJ's is the only club to accept manufacturers' coupons!

BJ's BABY
BJ's carries top brand names like Pampers®, Similac®, PediaSure®, Safety 1st®,
InSTEP®, Little Tikes®, Eddie Bauer®, Disney®, Gerber® and more!
BJ's even carries products you can't find anywhere else, like
Pampers® Cruisers® +Ultra Absorbency—extra-absorbent zones help give up
to 12 hours of protection against leaks!

BJ's BEAUTY
BJ's has a great selection from the leading brands of hair care, skin care, oral
care, deodorant and vitamins, even some cosmetics.

BJ's LOCATIONS
Shop any time, anywhere at BJs.com
BJ's Wholesale Club stores are only located in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida,
Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia.

So for all of my blog buddies in these areas, take advantage of this money saving opportunity!

(I am not being paid for this promotion. Just sharing a good deal with friends. ;)

This post from Katherine at Irish Italian Blessings, such a great idea. I'm stealing it and putting my own spin on it! ;)

That's all for this week! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Be sure to check back Monday for my Weekend Roundup!

<3 Anna

New Year Thoughts

Hey everyone,

I'm finally ready for this post! I would like to begin by saying that I have some very creative and thoughtful blog friends. You guys have some amazing goals and thoughts for the new year. You really got me thinking about what I would like to do this year.

Before I share with you these goals and thoughts, I would like to talk about what usually happens when I have a resolution. My biggest issue: I get sold on the idea. I get so excited, I have the best of intentions! I dive right in. It is then, that I realize that I'm in over my head. I revert back to old tendencies and I feel like a big fat failure.

So I made a vow to myself that this year would be different. It took a horrible day, Tuesday, for me to realize...I was repeating past mistakes. I had dove in once again and was miserable! So the goal I was working toward got edited a bit and I'm much happier now.

So what are my goals for the new year? (In no particular order)

1. I want to find a church home and meet new people.

2. I want to feel better about myself and be healthy. (This was the goal I had to adjust. I'm proud to say I'm eating more veggies than I can remember ever eating, I've cut down on sugar, and bread has been removed from my diet.)

3. I want to read 50 books this year. Last year, my goal of 60 was too high. So I have set the bar a little lower this time.

4. Unplug. (When my husband is home, I don't want to be on the computer, phone, etc. unless he is doing his own thing.)

5. I want to be more dedicated to praying and reading God's word.

So those are my goals for the new year. I'm pretty excited about them, but remembering to keep my cool and don't dive in head first.

<3 Anna

Weekend Roundup!

Hey everyone,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Friday: John and I went out on a date/ shopping trip. We enjoyed a nice meal at O’Charley’s. We love their food especially their cinnamon doughnuts! We got a great deal accomplished, despite still not feeling 100%. We got some Christmas shopping done and some essentials for our new home. :)

Saturday: We slept in and had a leisurely morning. We then had another busy day of shopping. First stop, the local shoe store, for work shoes for John, then a few other stops for Christmas shopping. (Just in case family is reading this, I won’t list off everything.;) Our last stop of the day was Goodwill, we dropped off a box and I got some goodies. ;)

Some favorites from childhood for my collection

Plus I remember reading these books in school!

Plus these two cardigans!

For $14.99..sweet!


I cooked a quick dinner and we watched our recording of The Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting and Home Alone, to kick off Christmas.

Sunday: This day was all about the cold that won’t go away! My head felt loopy and made me feel dizzy most of the day and poor John has had a couple of nosebleeds. :/ So we stayed in and did some light house work and finished watching Home Alone, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (This isn't one of my favorites, but it’s a classic in my husband’s eyes. ), and The Santa Clause.

I have always thought this elf was so pretty!

So say a prayer for John and I, we are still feeling bad. John has training this week and he really needs to be focused and have peace.

<3 Anna

Weekend Roundup!

Hello everyone,

This is my favorite time of year---love gearing up for the holidays and how this time of year seems to bring out the best in people. (It also brings out the worst, but I choose not to dwell on that!)

(Thanksgiving) Thursday: John and I woke early, packed the car, grabbed some breakfast and were on our way. We spent our Thanksgiving at my great-grandparent's. I made a pumpkin pie---our tradition, my hubby loves pumpkin pie and it's a requirement for Thanksgiving...I can't say much, I love it too! I also made some Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits. I got the recipe from a dear friend, they turned out okay. I wasn't pleased with them. I think this is because I had to make them the night before and they are better fresh. Oh well, they all got eaten. ;)

We arrived in Georgia and waited for the rest of the family to arrive. John said the blessing and we enjoyed some delicious food. I forgot how amazing my great-grandmother's dressing is! Everyone was stuffed and as always, everyone ate dessert at their leisure. A tradition for my family is for all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren to decorate our great-grandparent's Christmas tree. We enjoyed taking pictures, chatting, and decorating the house. It was a wonderful day and it reminded me of all we have to be thankful for. :)

Friday: With the move, I didn't have extra money for Black Friday shopping---so we didn't participate in that. I was a little disappointed, but it was okay to not get out in the craziness. We enjoyed a lazy day. We watched tv, took Sophie for a few walks (my great-grandparents have a few acres of land, so this equals one happy puppy!), and enjoyed a delicious late lunch with my mom. She makes the best lasagna! We then met up with my friend, Andrea and walked around a local park and caught up on things. (She didn't get to see us before the move, so it was great spending time with her!)

Saturday: My sister and I showed John some historical sites in our hometown. It was fun sharing this with John and learning and re-learning new things! :) That night, my youngest sister returned home---the lucky duck, spent Thanksgiving in the Bahamas! We were so excited to see her on her return home and hear all about her trip. (We also met my other sister's new boyfriend) Once it was just us family, my mom gave us each a Christmas ornament, with us all growing up she wanted us all to have an ornament for our tree to share. I can't wait to put ours on our tree!

The Georgia Guidestones

Old Dan Tucker's grave

The monument for the first Christmas tree in Elberton.

Sunday: John and I woke early. We ate breakfast and took Sophie for a good walk. We then packed and loaded up. We made a pit stop in Greenville and got to visit some good friends. So great to catch up with them. The only thing that would have made it better, was the visit being longer! We are hoping they will be able to come see the new place in January! :) Look forward to that visit! :) We got home before dark, checked the mail and watched some tv. Then headed to the store to pick up some essentials and a few Christmas goodies. Then it was early to bed, hubby's first day of work to follow.

John is enjoying his first day of work. I'm watching the National Dog Show (recorded) and Sophie, well she's a little wiped out! ;)

Wishing you all a wonderful week! Don't forget that even though Thanksgiving is over, we should still remember we have much to be thankful for. It is my goal for the rest of the year and the upcoming new year, to remember all the wonderful blessings God has given me! This includes all things great and small (my peppermint mocha---this morning, ahhhh-mazing! ;)

<3 Anna

PS. We are having some serious issues with our camera. Does anyone have any recommendations of a good camera, for someone who loves taking pictures, but doesn't really care about a whole bunch of bells and whistles...? Recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!

Weekend Roundup!

Hey everyone,

It's the start to another week! (For us, MOVING week!) So I just wanted to take the time to share with you about our weekend. (I also am unsure about my posts this week or the following week, with the move there is much to do and I won't have internet access at some point.)So bear with us, we look forward to settling into our new home and I can't wait to give you all a "tour." ;)

What a view!

I love the mountains and waterfalls :)

My mom and my sister, Brandi.

My sister--Jessica, and her new beau, Derrian.

Mom, Jess, and Derrian

Me---being silly

Resting after walking the park

Everyone loves trying on crazy hats!

Aren't they the cutest?!

So as you can see we had a blast! Wishing you all a wonderful week!

<3 Anna