Back from Mexico

We are back. Nothing is unpacked and Brent has already passed out (granted it's 11:56pm) and we've traveled all day. I've been in psycho work email mode trying to fight fires that flared up while I was away for the past four days. We had a great time-- pictures will be up soon. My body HATES me for doing the zip line/ ATV excursion. It was completely out of my comfort zone and I loved every second of it. I'll fill in all the details in my next post. Goodnight!

Jackson Family Christmas

My dads side of the family is huge. Christmas Eve morning is always so fun there because of all the small children running around. Here are photos that attempt to capture the sweetness, chaos and love that makes up the Jackson Family Christmas Eve Morning gathering...

Us waiting to eat breakfast

Dad in his diva Santa Hat

Pawpaw & Lizzie before breakfast

Sweet Ella & her dad

Mawmaw taking it all in

Layton was so excited about his gifts

Nicole & Ella openings gifts

She is so cute!

Emily & Lily

MawMaw watching all the action

The people in these pictures represent 5% of those in attendance that day. I was shooting on manual and most of my photos will require some severe editing before showing off on the blog. I'll try to keep up and post about our other Christmas adventures as I time. Is it that time of year again yet?

Ready to Go

Next Tuesday we fly out of cold, dreary Birmingham to *hopefully* sunny, warm Mexico. I'm really excited. I feel like I've been working myself to death and this will be a much needed break. I'll be sure to post lots of pictures when we get back. My favorite thing about the trip is the food. All I do is eat all day. If you raise your hand a server comes to you on the beach and brings you whatever your heart desires. It is fabulous.

My throats starting to hurt tonight though so I'm avoiding a last minute gym session and instead will lay on the couch and watch this weeks Netflix: Confessions of a Shopaholic. I honestly think I could be in bed by 8.

Charlie's still sporting his sweater. Little guy has yet to take it off since his haircut last week. I think he is extra snuggly when he's cut short. I know it's been impossible for me to get up on time this week because it's so cold and he scoots right up next to me in bed. He's my own personal heater.

I've not spent a dime on clothing or shoes so far this month. I will have to say that I found a tank top at Old Navy last weekend that I liked and I asked Brent to buy it for me. He did! It kept me from breaking my 1 month of no spending on myself rule. Let's see if I can make it thru the end of the month.

Nothing much going on

We survived the lack there of blizzard of 2011. Our house got only a tad bit of ice. I did however get 1 1/2 days off work. It was nice to work from home in pajamas. I think I could get used to that.

The only major thing that's happened in the last 7 days is Charlie's haircut. He is no longer "wooly" as the groomer put it. I swear he doesn't even look like the same dog.

Before

After

I love him both ways. He's a bit cuter though when he's all fluffed up.

We are getting ready to go on our yearly trip to Mexico. Thanks to Brent doing well at work we will spend a few days relaxing in the sun. I will enjoy a much needed break from chores and work. Can't wait to lay in the sun and work on my tan while being waited on hand and foot by the fabulous staff at the Resort.

We did ride around town on Sunday and check out potential neighborhoods for our next home. It gets me excited to think about moving but also very nervous because I have a feeling Brent and I will battle it out over the style of our first purchased home together. I love our house now but sometimes we realize that we just need a bit more room.

I hope everyone has a good week. I'm off to watch tonights Bachelor episode on the DVR.

Brent & His organization

Brent's been on a tangent lately. It's all about the garage and shelving. On Saturday we finally went to Lowe's so he could buy the Rubbermaid Organization Track set he's been after since Christmas. He's also mounted several shelves that he says can hold 2500 pounds. Here are a few pictures of his progress (note: he HATES when I come near him, his space, or his projects with a camera)

I have no idea how two people and a dog can accumulate so much stuff. I swear if we ever build or buy another house we need to make sure we look for maximum storage space. I know there are probably things we have that we've never used and have more than likely forgotten about. My goal in 2011 is to follow Brent's lead and make our home more organized. Hopefully we can make it look like a magazine!

Ice Update

Three sad faces are in the Thomas house. We wanted snow, not ice. However, work is cancelled tomorrow so things aren't all THAT bad. Here are a few photos of the small pellets of ice in our backyard...

Sure wish we had the 4-8" of snow they were predicting on Friday :( 

Charlie's first sucker

Jennifer & Connor (Brent's aunt & cousin) got Charlie 2 dog treat suckers for Christmas. I was nervous as to how he'd react to them because he's not big on milk bones or other hard treats. I was wrong! As soon as he got the sucker he took off down the stairs and I was so scared he'd slip and get choked. When I finally managed to wrestle the sucker out of his mouth he was not happy. I then just held the stick and let him chomp away. These pictures are too funny not to share.

"No mom you cannot have my sucker"

"Okay I will just lick it then"

"Chomp Chomp!"

New Year's Day

Better late than never, right? Here is how we spent New Year's Day.....

The past few years we have started a new New Year's Day tradition. It is: Don't take your pajama's off! We succeeded. We spent the day at my Memaw & Papaw's in relaxation/ football mode. We got to breath easy as Alabama beat the pants of Michigan State and after that all took our fair share of cat naps. It's so nice to have a day where you are not expected to do a single thing. My memaw cooked the day before so we had plenty of treats to eat and enjoy. New Year's day is a favorite of both Brent and mine although when it's over we get sad because we know we've got a whole year ahead of us before we can have the lazy bum day again. 

Will this happen...

diagram courtesy of abc 33/40 weather blog

I sure hope so! Brent and I both went to the store (not for milk OR bread) but for things to make soup & chili. We ate good soup tonight and will eat it again tomorrow. They say this snows not supposed to start until Sunday night and is projected to continue on Monday. I can't remember a projection of this much snow since the blizzard back when I was in elementary school. 

Snow in my hometown made it to 4 inches on Christmas but it'd be so fun to have a little more here at our home.

We are keeping our fingers crossed for fun, safe snow that everyone can enjoy :)

4 Days In

I've been to the gym half the days of the year. If only the trend could continue. Can you imagine the change a body would have if you went to the gym half the days of the year? Lordy I'd look like those professional body builder scary women who are ready to punch out any man that crosses her path. I'll pass. I am attempting to go every other day until we hit Cancun up 21 days from now.

2011 has been eventful for our neighborhood. We returned home Sunday to find a whole row of town homes in our subdivision destroyed by a fire. It really hit home how anything can happen at any time. It's so sad to see the houses and I wish I knew what happened and how the families are. Living in a big city really takes the intimacy of knowing your neighbors away sometimes. If we were in a small town like where I'm from everyone would have known what, how and why within 24 hours. 

On a happy note I am dedicating myself to complete the 1 year Bible this year with my church. I was able to download an app for my phone that our Pastor helped have developed. It's nice to know I can access my Bible wherever I am. The app is called You Verse and the plan is "one year bible".

I'm actually still in the process of keeping my new years resolution. I have not bit/picked at my nails since December 31st. Time to keep it up!

Well I'm off to do laundry. Hope to have more adventurous stuff to blog as the year goes on :)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2011 finds you blessed and healthy and ready to take on a new year of adventure. Brent and I were talking last night and we are so thankful for how blessed we were in 2010. We once again rang in a new year in a mild manner fashion. We did get all decked out and have a fantastic dinner with Jessica and Michael at Grille 29 in Huntsville. We had firecracker shrimp & calamari for our appetizers. For main course Brent chose Salmon, Jess and I had crab cakes and Michael went with the grouper. I think everyone enjoyed the nice, fancy dinner and having time to catch up with old friends.

We originally planned to hit up a party at the Holiday Inn downtown Huntsville but didn't quite make it there. I think we all realized how old, tired and cheap we are! Needless to say I have $80 dollars in my wallet that thanks me for not spending it on our cover into the party.

We didn't think to take a picture other than this while at the restaurant.

 Even though our time was short I couldn't have had a better New Year's because I was able to reunite with the bff Jessica.

It's probably a good thing that Brent and I came home early because our town received a torrential rain storm that started around 11pm. Sad to say but Brent and I were both in bed prior to 11:45pm. I apologized for being so lame to him and he said it was still a perfect New Year's because it doesn't matter to him what we do or where we are at as long as we are together. I swear he's a walking Hallmark card :)

Today we will stay in pajama's all day and watch tons of football and eat tons of junk food. What a way to bring in 2011. ROLL TIDE!