10 years ago today...

I am taking a break from preparing the most fabulous New Years Eve dinner ever to look back to 10 years ago. I was 20 years old and a sophomore at UT. So I was not legally old enough to go to bar to celebrate. I went with some of my friends to Charleston, SC to celebrate New Years. We stayed at a friend's condo and had the most awesome NYE party. There was only maybe 10 of us but that did not stop the party from being fabulous. I remember we spent the day watching CNN to see them ring in 2000 in other parts of the world....just to be sure that whole Y2K thing was not real. We got the biggest kick out of the celebrations in Bangkok. Who names a city Bangkok? We spent the rest of the day yelling "It's midnight in Bangkok" to each other and anyone else we ran into. That is all it took to entertain us.

At midnight the power in my friend's condo went out and scared us all!! Her brother shut the power breaker off at midnight. The funniest part was that we were taking a picture at midnight and actually have a shot of them behind us running for the power breaker. If only my scanner was working right now I would show it to you. It was classic!!!!

That was a great NYE!!!

Fabulous Award!!!

We have been awarded!!! Yay us!! Casey at The Starnes Family has given us this lovely award.The rules are pretty simple...list 10 things that make you happy!!! Well....there are a lot more than 10 but here goes....

1. Lots of TN orange mixed with lost of TN friends...and that spec of blue we call Dave.

2. Mako Wako....my first born kitty.

3. Mahi Wahi...my baby girl.

4. My engagement ring...isn't it just lovely. I still get at least one comment a week on it. It makes me happy. Especially since I had nothing to do with picking it out. And yes this picture was taken on the beach in the Bahamas just moments after Dave proposed.

5. Dave...while sometimes I want to through his dirty dishes at him there are many other times that he makes me happy.

6. Harry and David pears....best pears ever!!!

7. Cooking for other people...it's what I do.

8. The Bahamas...I got engaged and married there.

9. Mom and Dad....how could these two not make you happy???

10. My Sweetpea...she will always be my little pookie....even when she is 80 years old.

So now I am going to pass the award onto to the blogs that make me happy.

Devin and Jeff...My twin sister and lottery addict. She keeps me laughing.

Jessica and David....two of my favorite people.

YackYackYack...Always has something to say and always entertaining.

Another Online Mom...real life and blog friend that is always there for me.

My friend Nikki is awesome!!!

She ran into Taylor Swift today at the Pancake Pantry in Nashville and got an autograpgh for me. Yeah...that's right....Taylor loves me. Are you jealous???

Ready for the New Year

I have never in my life made a New Years resolution. I find the whole thing aggravating. If you want to make a big change in your life why put it off until Jan. 1. That is procrastinating!! If I want to make a change I do it as soon as I think of it. I especially get frustrated when people plan to start dieting or working out on Jan. 1 and then they are lazy and eat everything over the holidays leading up to it. So you gained 5 lbs in the past week and now you have to work extra hard to loose that extra weight??? I don't get it. Why not eat small portions over the holidays and squeeze in a workout whenever you can over Christmas. But that is just my personal opinion. If New Years resolutions work for you them more power to ya!! But it does not work for me.

Random thoughts on 2009:

1. This is the first year in a long time that I did not leave the country. Boo!!! I only got to take mini vacations this year...mostly to TN. I do love to see my family but I also love to see the world.

2. I think I worked out an average of 6 days a week this year and I actually have muscles you can see now. I am prepping myself for a post baby workout that I hope to one day need to do.

3. This started out to not be a good year. Dave lost his job. I lost an Aunt. And there was an inexperienced Democrat in office. But things started to turn around. Dave started a business and it is doing well. I gained a grand nephew and found out that I will gain another niece next year via my Sweetpea. And as of today the U.S. is still up and running.

4. Devin and Jeff got married this year. The family is growing more and more. This is fabulous!

5. I saw Britney in concert twice this year. Yay Britney!!

6. I still have my job and I love my job. That is a lot more than most people can say this year.

7. I got to go to Disney and Universal many times this year for free...a major perk for living in Orlando. Some people save their whole lives to do such things.

8. A lot of famous people died this year...way too soon. But I guess that is the price you pay for fame. Fame is something that I have no desire for. While some people strive for the glitz and glamour that is Hollywood all I see is the pain and destruction. But I do like to read about it on Perez Hilton or watch it on TMZ. It makes me feel better about my life and appreciate what I have....like real friends and a loving family.

9. Facebook has taken over the world this year. I still strongly believe that you should not find out about life changing events through Facebook...or at least when it comes to close friends and family. If someone close to me is having a baby or in the hospital I deserve a phone call. I should write a Facebook etiquette book.

10. 2010 will be a better year than 2009.

And now a random Christmas story....
On Christmas Eve Mom convinced me to go to Wal Mart...the mecca for last minute shoppers. She was looking for a talking Elmo to give to Sweetpea for the baby. Apparently she saw a girl in the doctors office a few days earlier with a crying baby. The girl pulled out a talking Elmo and the baby stopped crying. So it was obvious to Mom that the way to stop a crying baby is with an Elmo. So we must have one of these...even though the baby is not due until May. Anways...she did not want to fight the crowds so she dropped me at the door so I could run in to see if they had one. She had left her cell phone at home so I told her just to park at the very end of a particular row. I did not mind walking as long as I could find her. I zipped in and out of Walmart....no Elmo. So I proceeded to walk to the end of the parking lot. No Mom. I wondered around the parking lot with all the crazies for 10 minutes and could not find her. Did I mention it was cold and super windy??? Then my phone rings. It was Mom calling....but she left her cell phone at home. Well...she went home to get it. And she abandoned me at Walmart on Christmas Eve...with all the crazy people. At this point I decided to wait inside where it is warm. Have you ever just hung out at Wal Mart on Christmas Eve and just watched people. Not a pretty site. So that is my Christmas memory of 2009...my Mom abandoned me at Wal Mart.

Christmas Loot

I decided to share of our Christmas goodies with you all. We took some of the Christmas money from Mom and Dad and got a new camera today....we got the aqua one. Isn't it pretty? I stole this picture online. It is kind of hard to take a picture of a camera. Dave got these super fabulous Armani Product Red sunglasses...aka the Bono glasses.

This is Dave's favorite....the mini dirt devil. It is perfect for crumbs in the kitchen or the car.

I got Dave this t-shirt. If you watch "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" you will think this is funny.

Dave also got some new X-Box games.

I got lots of jewelry from Na Hoku....my favorite jewelry store. Black pearl earrings and matching necklace.

White pearl earrings. Pretty, pretty.

And look what Santa got me....the Michael Kors bag I asked for. Yay!!

We also used some of our Christmas money at Home Depot...we needed a new kitchen sink in a bad way. We got a new faucet, garbage disposal and water filter system. So we pretty much replaced the kitchen sink without actually replacing the kitchen sink. Notice everything is still in the box. We will see how this goes. I foresee a flood in the kitchen.

Santa obviously got the memo about me loving purses. I also got this fabulous Juicy purple bag.

Cookies, Cookies and more Cookies. Mom sent us these from QVC. Best cookies ever!!! I guess since her name is Cookie she likes to give people cookies and then they think of her every time they eat one.

This will make you laugh....we also used some of the Christmas money to rent a carpet cleaner. The kitties threw up everywhere while we were gone. The carpet looked horrible after I attempted to clean it up. It looks great now. Last time we paid $400 to have the carpets cleaned. This time we spent $30 and did it ourselves. Same results!!

We also got this tv/monitor for Dave to use when he teaches webinars. Dave is more excited about this than me. I am still not sure how I was talked out of buying boots and into buying a monitor with our Christmas money. He says I can use it as a tv when he is not using it. I will make sure this happens.

There were lots of other goodies as well. Fuzzy socks, monogramed travel jewelry case, fabulous bare minerals make up, Tommy Bahama shorts, Juicy track pants, new running shoes and so much more.

We like to go overboard with Christmas for now. Only because we know in the future it will be all about toys!!

I hope you all got some fabulous gifts!!!

And so this is Christmas...

I hope that you all had a fabulous Christmas. We sure did. It all started with a wonderful, relaxing, food filled trip to Nashville. Just check out Dave and his sausages!!! He loves his German food. There was lots of Xbox and Wii in Nashville....don't I look so excited???
We made it back to hot, humid Florida around 9pm last night. We exchanged some fabulous gifts to the likes of Juicy, Michael Kors and Armani. Who knew Santa had such great taste??? Mahi especially loved her catnip filled reindeer.
And today we went to the Magic Game. Unfortunately the Magic lost but it was still a Christmas Miracle...I went to a sporting event and did not complain the whole time.

Mimi, Dave's Mom, got to join us for dinner tonight and it was a lovely Christmas dinner.

But we all know that Christmas is not about the gifts and food.

I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday filled with lots of love and family.

Supper Time!!

It all started with a blessing....yes, I took a picture during the blessing. I just didn't want you all to miss out. This is where Maggie stayed during dinner...right under Dave. But she doesn't beg. She just sits there and waits patiently. All she got last night was a blueberry. BTW...it was Mom's idea to take a picture of Dave's crotch. Nice.
I am not sure how this happened. I think I was talking when Dave took this picture. It was pretty much the only picture of me from last night.

The "designer" Cheesecake...from the one and only QVC.

Devin is trying to make Jeff smile...it is not working.

Time to cut the cheesecake....oh wait...the "designer" cheesecake.

And then there was red velvet cake.

Mom and Dave are both eyeing the red velvet cake...who do you think will win this one...how about the one with the giant knife.

And that was dinner...a blessing, knives and cakes.

Wasabi fun!!

This is what it looks like when you don't catch the flying rice in your mouth. And this is what it looks like when you do.

Rice catching perfection!

Holy Coldness!!!

We made it Nashville yesterday afternoon. Luckily our flight was only delayed 30 minutes. There were a lot of flights canceled yesterday due to that snow storm. And there were some mad people at the airport!!! It was chaos.

It is soooo cold here. I am so happy that I have my big furry boots here with me!! We ventured back out to Wasabi again last night for a repeat of our Thanksgiving hibachi experience. This time our chef decided to throw rice at us to see if we could catch it in our mouths. Only Dave and Sweetpea have that special talent. It was yummy and fun.

Dave and Dad are at the Titan's Dolphin's game right now. I am sure that Dave is frozen by now. I am sure he was frozen before he ever got to his seat. But he has been so excited about going to this game that a little cold was not going to stop him.

That is about all the excitement for now. I will have pictures up later.

The most wonderful time of the year...

It is almost Christmas!! Yay!! We are heading back to TN very soon. I am looking forward to seeing the family again. I think it might even snow this year. To get you in a festive mood I thought I would share some random holiday memories.

One year, while Mom and Dad were our shopping on Christmas Eve (their favorite day to shop), my sister and I decided to make a red velvet cake. We were maybe 12 or 13 years old. I am not sure exactly what happened next...but then there was fire!!! I think we set the empty cake box on the burner and then turned it on. I don't know but there were flames in the kitchen. We panicked. Somehow we wind up getting Sweetpea's biological Mom on the phone. I am not sure why we would have called her instead of 911...maybe she just happened to call us at that time. Anyways...she told us to put salt on it...what??? That did nothing. But I am pretty sure we looked really silly holding the salt shaker up to a fire. Somehow we put out the flame and finished the cake. Then we dropped half of the cake on the ground. But that was okay...we just made it the bottom layer. Who was going to notice??

One Christmas my brother ran over our cat, Frisco. We were sure he was a goner. He went into shock and a clear liquid was pouring out of his mouth. He was literally flattened. Poor kitty. He lived another 5 or 6 years after that though. In his 15 years his was run over, shot (the bullet was still in his hip...and no we did not shoot him...we have no idea who did), crushed by the garage door, left at the old house for 3 months when we moved because we could not find him and I am pretty sure he had many other crazy adventures. He really did have 9 lives. And I promise we really were good cat owners. He just liked to live on the wild side and would disappear for days at time. He would then express his love for us by delivering a half dead chipmunk to thr front door. Don't worry...Mako and Mahi are inside cats. They are safe.

When I was little I would take all of my doll ornaments off the tree to play with them. I thought they made better toys than ornaments. I wonder what ever happened to my Holly Hobbies and Strawberry Shortcakes. I loved all of the real dolls that Santa used to bring me....Cabbage Patch Kids, Baby Skates, Kid Sister, Cricket...Santa doesn't bring me dolls anymore. But I am okay with that because now Santa shops at Dior and Juicy.

I remember when Sweetpea was a little girl and I got to pick out her Santa gifts. I would make a great Santa!!! I used to tell her that I could call Santa from my watch when she was bad. I would hold it up to my mouth and say "come in Santa....Sweetpea is being bad." It worked every time.

In 2004 I took Dave to Nashville for the first time. We got stuck in Atlanta on a layover for 8 hours and then they lost our luggage. It was so lost we had to go back to the airport the next day a look for it. We did find it. My Dad rented a limo to drive us around to look at all the big fancy houses decked out in lights...most belonged to country singers. Devin drank two bottles of wine all by herself and opened the same gift 8 times. She then proceeded to get out of the limo and make snow angels when there was no snow. And at some point in the night my grandmother started rubbing Dave's leg...still not to sure how that happened. This was Dave's first impression of Christmas with my family.

That is all I have for now....I know there are a lot more memories hiding in my head....they just don't want to come out right now.

Freezing Cold!!!

Yesterday was my company Christmas party. It was fabulous. Especially since it was in the middle of the work day. They took us to lunch at the Gaylord Palm's all you can eat buffet. Those are always fun!!! I ate more desserts than anything. Then we all got to go to ICE. It is 9 degrees in this exhibit. You have to wear a heavy duty parka just to go in. But look at all the fun things they make out of ice!!!

Here is me and Elia, one of my fabulous coworkers. Check out the cute Eskimo girl!!!
This polar bear was taking a dip in the water.
The whole carousel was made of ice.

I loved all the colors!!!

The expression on Santa's face was cracking me up. He looks scared.

It is king of hard to tell what this is in the picture. But it is four ice slides. I did not go down the slide. I was frozen at this point and sitting on ice did not sound like fun. My little Florida self cannot handle the cold.

Check out this frozen tunnel....it makes me shiver just looking at it.

It was a fabulous party!!! I was so cold all day long that last night I had to go to Roy's for a hot chocolate souffle' just to thaw out. Yes....that made everything better!!

Disney Fun Day!!

Today my department from work decided to have a Disney Fun Day!!! We started our day at Epcot. Here is a group shot on Soarin'. Epcot had lots of Christmas decorations up all over. Here is a little peak at the decorations in Germany.

You know that it is one fabulous Christmas tree when it has to be held up by wiring.

We ate lunch in Japan. This was our chef. She was super fabulous. She is posing here with her volcano...which later turned into a smoking Minnie Mouse that we were not allowed to take pictures of. She also shares Sweetpea's love for the Japanese white sauce. We could tell this when she started hugging and kissing the bottle.

Here is another group shot at Epcot.

Next we all boarded the monorail and headed to the Magic Kingdom.

The Magic Kingdom was also decorated for Christmas.

We are such posers....

We had to stop at the Confectionary on Main Street...I have a serious addiction to all things sweet.

But iced cookies will always be at the top of my sweets list!!

The rest of the gang went for the ice cream.

The perfect picture spot...with Cinderella's castle of course.

And the day would not be complete without a ride on this....

It's a small world after all....

It is days like these that I am happy to live in Orlando. There is nothing like skipping work to play at Disney!!!