22 Days Until Christmas

One of my favorite things to do for Christmas, and I do this all year is collect ornaments.  Since I travel all this time and Michael and I vacation a few times a year, I wanted something to remember our trips.  Some people collect magnets and I like that idea but one I would have tons of them and two I have a stainless steal fridge.  Magnets were not going to happen.  Then I thought I could collect shot glasses.  Well, we don't drink a lot of shot glass type drinks, so that wasn't a great idea.  Then on one of my work trips, a co-worker suggested ornaments.  She does that for her trips.  I thought that is a GREAT idea.  And so it began.  We have collected lots and it is fun to put up the tree and think about the trips we have been on and the places where we got the ornaments.  It is perfect and very memorable.  I have some that are especially meaningful to us and that makes our Christmas time very special.  Here are a few of my favorites.  It was hard just to find a few I loved.

From our honeymoon to St. Thomas, when we went to St. John.

Our most recent Hawaiian vacation, from the Big Island.

Bachelorette Party

Work trip to Phoenix (where I saw Urban Meyer and tons of other NCAA coaches)

Ornament we received from a friend, but the first one to include Gabby.

23 Days til Christmas

Love this photo of us from my wedding

Today, I am grateful to one Very Big and Great thing.  My bestie, who currently lives in South Florida, has been working for a little while on a new job.  Well same company just a new position.  I have been dying to tell the world, but didn't want to jinx it.  Why would talking about it jinx the new job?  BECAUSE SHE IS MOVING HOME!!!!!!!!!  YAY!!!!!!  I have known it was a possibility for a few months.  I don't know...seems like 6 months.  A few weeks ago she accepted the new job.  I should let Michael talk about what I did after/during the call where she told me.  I should also say she told Michael first...she was looking for me.  Needless to say I was told on the phone in Wal-Mart.  Too bad you can't find the tape.  I did a little dance and song.  I think all night I kept saying I get my friend back I get my friend back.  Michael just laughed at me.  She should be completely moved back in 2 weeks, before Christmas.  SOOOOOOOOO excited!!!!  We have been friends since high school and lived 5 doors away from each other in college and in the same apartment complex after college.  I am really excited to share clothes again and she is excited to have me cook for her again.  So today, I am thankful and grateful that my best friend, Megan, is moving back to Arkansas.  LOVE YOU!!!! 

Doing what we do best...getting tan on the beach

Old Old Picture, from College (okay not that old)

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving.  I know we did.  I am pretty sure I could have skipped meals for two days and my body would have still thought it was full.  My family is wonderful.  We always have a big group for Thanksgiving, probably had 25-30 this year.  A big group of people means LOTS of good food.  My favorite is my Aunt Jackie's chocolate fudge.  I am pretty sure I almost made myself sick on it this year.  Everyone brings a side and a dessert.  Yummy yummy.  


My side item is my Granny's dressing/stuffing.  As she got older and it was harder for her to stand for long periods of time, I started going to her house the day before Thanksgiving and helping her make her dressing.  It is made from scratch and it is probably the only thing in the world I can make without measuring a thing.  I taste and eyeball each ingredient.  I do it the way we used to make it, even though it isn't exactly the original way.  The original way was made with real eggs and the way we made it was with egg beaters (my Granny had high cholesterol...like ME).  So, I made it the day before, and I actually messed up a batch of it.  I grabbed Southwestern egg beaters instead of the original ones.  I noticed of course after I poured and smelled it.  YUCKY!!!  I got really mad and went to the store bought all the ingredients again and started over.  I really was more sad than mad.  In all the years I have been making it with her and now the two years I have been making it on my own I have never messed up.  I will say this, the do over batch was the best I have ever made.  In my opinion.   


So we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family and Saturday night had some friends over to the house for a little football watching and a game night.  It was a great way to end the holiday.  


Now, my house is ready for Christmas.  It is decorated and the lights are up on the outside of the house and Christmas music is playing.  Yes, while I work I play Christmas music.  It puts me in the best mood no matter what.  I will be doing a little Christmas count down.  I will share all my favorite things about Christmas over the next 24 days.  

Hawaii Day 3

There is one thing you have to see in Hawaii if you only have time to see one thing.  Pearl Harbor.


Pearl Harbor is a great historical location.  Our third day in Hawaii, my family went to Pearl Harbor.  Michael and I went the first time we were in Hawaii, but they have updated and change a lot of things, so we knew we had to go again.  I have once piece of advice if you are planning to go to Pearl Harbor....arrive EARLY.  Going to the Arizona Memorial is free.  Yes FREE.  They hand out cards if you want to go to the Memorial and it has a time stamped on the back.  We arrived a little before 8:00AM and our time was 9:45PM.  Don't worry about finding something to do with that time.  They have changed the area and there is so much to see.  The area is updated and beautiful.  So, we walked around the area.  We checked out submarine information and looked at anchors and all kinds of interesting things.  When it was our time, we went into a theater and were shown a documentary about the day Pearl Harbor was attacked.  It makes things somber and then they load you up on a boat and take you to the memorial.  The saddest parts of the memorial are knowing the men on the Arizona were never brought to the surface and the fact that oil is stilling leaking from underneath.      

You can really look through and see things

Submarine

All who died

Oil coming to the surface

Arizona Memorial

After our tour over to the Arizona, the family went over to the Missouri.  The Missouri, or Might Mo, is the last Battleship ever to be launched and decommissioned.  She was also the location where Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces ending World War II.  Now that you have a little historical information on the ship, let me tell me my personal opinion.  I have now seen this huge ship twice now.  It is very cool.  Especially if you like history.  They have tours of the entire ship, and tours of just a few decks.  Michael and I have done both.  The longer tour is awesome and was super fun.  I think my parents got a lot out of the shorter tour.  I knew a few more bits of information that I learned from the first tour, that I was able to share with them.  I also learned a few things I hadn't learned in the first tour.  So overall I recommend taking the tour and seeing the Missouri.  

Big guns

Where the Japanese surrendered

Mom, Dad, and Eric hanging out on the top deck

View from the top deck of the Missouri

Resting our feet

We were pretty exhausted from all of our walking around that I decided we would take my parents over to see Hickam Air Force base.  Michael and I stayed at our friend's house on base and they wanted to see where they lived.  We decided to take everyone to their house to relax before our next big adventure.  Our plans for the evening were to go to Paradise Cove.  Paradise Cove is a luau.  It is very amazing.  We were apart of the deluxe package.  This package gets you the VIP treatment.  HAHA!  Well it gets you free drinks, front row seats, table service, pictures, and a souvenir.  So, really you get nothing.  On Oahu, this is the Luau you have to attend.  They have great dancers, and the food is good.       

Dad won a prize

Waiting for the show to start

Making head pieces.

South Oahu on Dwellable

Babies and More...

No, I am not about to announce we are expecting.  That would be crazy.  I do have several friends who are pregnant, which is very fun and exciting.  My best friend, who we just recently went to see in Hawaii is preggers.  The last time Michael and I went to see them she was also preggers.  I think it is a theme.  Right now she is about a month away from having her second baby.  A BOY!!  I am super excited, because that means I get to be an Auntie again.  Her little girl is so fun and adorable and really is one of the closest kiddos to Michael and I.  Even thought she lives halfway across the world/country, I still refer to her as my niece.  Trust me when I say that little girl knows who her Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Michael are and she definitely took a liking to her Uncle Michael while in Hawaii.  So of course, when I learned of this baby and learned it was a BOY I got very excited.  I think boys are so much fun.  Girls are fun too, but boys are just super fun.  I grew up in a family of all boys, so I am a lot bias.  I was a tom boy, so I know how to deal with boys better than little girls.  I have improved on my girliness over the years, so I am not as bad as I once was, but I still enjoy sports and don't mind getting dirty.


Enough about me...back to my wonderful friend.  When we were in Hawaii she asked that I take some maternity pictures for her.  I am by no means an expert photographer, but I do know how to take pictures.  One morning, we got up early and went out to snap some pictures for her and baby boy.  She has a name picked out, but I am not sure if she has fully revealed the name, so I will just refer to him as Baby Boy.  It was a lot of fun taking pictures for her.  She does some photography herself, and I know it isn't fun being on the other side of the camera, so we just tried to have fun with it.  My broken computer is being shipped off...stupid computers...but I did get some pictures done for her before it left.  Let me know what you think of her maternity pictures.  I took several belly pictures, but I feel those are personal and have decided not to share them.

           

Virginia

Last week, I spend 4 days in Virginia.  Not the DC area of Virginia, but middle of no where, two hours to any airport, middle of no where.  The hotel/resort I stay at was very nice.  Getting to the hotel and flying into the area, not so much fun. 


Since, I travel a good amount, I am used to problems along the way.  Last week, I left on a Tuesday.  Whenever I woke up Tuesday it was raining.  Not a whole lot but it was still raining.  I grabbed my suitcase and drove the 30 minutes from my house to the airport.  At about the halfway point to the airport the rain started coming down really hard and I started to notice lightning.  I don’t mind flying when it is raining.  Rain doesn’t normally delay flights.  Lightning on the other hand delays flights.  I was a little worried because my connection was only 40 minutes.  Yikes!  But, at the airport my flight was showing on time.  I never believe this, mainly because sometimes they don’t show a delay until it is already past delayed.  Sitting in the airport, the flight next to me got canceled.  Great, I was thinking, we are next.  The gate agent told everyone the plane had be struck by lightning not once but twice while landing and now could not be used.  Awesome!  At that point I started my please don’t be delayed please don’t be canceled speech.  I was flying into an airport that has two flights a day from Chicago, and the last one arrives at midnight.  (plus two hour drive=no fun).  My flight ended up delayed, of course!!! While in the air all I could think about is how I am wet, because of the downpour in Arkansas and the three inches of water in the parking lot, and how I am going to miss my connection and be stuck in Chicago. 


If you ever fly then you know that they usually come on closer to your arrival city and tell you your connecting gate information.  Our arrival gate was G18 and my departing gate was G17.  All I could think was this is a miracle.  I literally got off my flight and walked straight into the boarding line of my next flight.  Of course, at this point, all I could think about was my luggage is not going to make this flight.  The connection is too tight.  Even though the planes were next to each other, I just knew.  So, when I landed in Charlottesville, Virginia I was was not surprised one bit to not see my luggage.  The only problem was now I have to drive to this hotel two hours away with no clothes or anything.  This was the worst trip for the airline to have delayed my bag.  The hotel I was staying at has a dress code for dinner.  Ladies in dresses or suit, and men must wear ties and jackets.  Great.  I am in jeans and tennis shoes.  When I got to the hotel I spoke with American Airlines about my lost bag, which at this point they didn’t know where it was at in Chicago.  How do you not know?  Well, I explained my situation to the nice lady and she allotted me some money to go make a few purchases.  Great new stuff.  The only problem I had with this, was that I was at least an hour from any store, Wal-mart, Target, department stores…NOTHING.  So I went to the shops in the resort, which scared me a little because I am a picky shopper.  But, they had some actually really cute clothes.  I was able to get a few items to help me survive until my bag arrive the next day.


The hotel was beautiful and the grounds of the resort were wonderful.  They had horseback riding and fishing and apparently even have a ski slope.  Michael will be going to this conference with me next year.  It snowed there the last night and I woke up to a little blanket of snow, it was more like a sheet than a blanket, but it was still nice.  I have to thank American Airlines for always taking good care of me and ensuring I have something to wear.  This is why I only fly American and no other airline.  We have a wonderful relationship!