Christmas 2012

I hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas and Happy Holiday! 

We traveled the whole state of Kentucky and Ohio, and even through in a visit to Nashville all within 5 days. Busy busy holiday for us! Now it's time to relax and hang out at home for a few days!

On Saturday, we went down to Glasgow to see Ben's family. Ben had just got back from traveling for work LATE Friday night. Poor thing wasn't even home 12 hours before we got on the road Saturday morning. 

Ben's family went to the Western Kentucky - Louisville basketball game in Nashville, so we decided to go and spend the day in Nashville as well. We went to the hospital to visit Ben's family friend who had a bad accident in early December. Luckily, he is doing much better and gets to go home Monday!!!

Sunday, we celebrated Christmas with Ben's side of the family. We went to church and then had "Christmas" lunch. 

 

Perry liked to help everyone open their gifts. And use the ribbons for a bow!

After opening gifts, we went to get some drinks with some friends who were also in town!

Monday morning, we got up early and came back to Lexington to unpack from Glasgow, and pack for Columbus. Quick trip home, and back in the car!

We got to my sisters in time to change and get ready for Christmas Eve dinner at my aunts house! 

  

My sweet little niece was the gift passer outer :) 

Quick picture with the little Elf :)

Annual Sissy antler pic 

Daddio

Mom and I <3

My Uncle had 100 year old bourbon. Obviously a hit with the men in the family!

My sister framed an art piece of mine from 2nd grade! Such a cool gift! 

Family Pic!

We had a great time spending Christmas Eve at my Aunt's house!

Next, it was time for all of the Christmas day activities. 

We woke up early and went to mass. Ben survived Christmas service at the catholic church :)

 Attempted a family picture with Perry, ha!

It was a busy busy day and weekend/week, but we had lots of fun and I'm so glad we were able to spend time with both families! 

Ben drove back Christmas night because he had to work on Wednesday. My mom and I were planning on leaving WEdnesday morning to hit the outlets and Ikea in Cincinnati, and then back to Lexington. Then the snow storm that was supposed to hit changed over to an ICE storm, followed by more snow. The roads were AWFUL so we delayed our departure back to Lexington by one more day. I was perfectly okay with this because it meant I could go to my favorite restaurant, Figlio!

Early birthday drink and gluten free Chicken Diablo. I couldn't ask for a better birthday dinner 3 days early :) 

We left early Thursday morning to head back to Lexington. 

The roads were only bad in Columbus (and getting out of my sisters driveway/alley)! Then once we hit the Interstate, the roads were perfectly clear. Shew, what a trip!

We had a GREAT Christmas but I'm so glad we are back home now and can unpack and unwind :)

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!!!

Christmas Recap

I hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas and Happy Holiday! It was a jammed packed trip for us. I'm so glad to be at home and relaxing for a few days!

We were planning on leaving for our first 1/2 of Christmas in Columbus on Thursday after Ben got home from work. I was busy running last minute errands for Ben and my sister. I swear, that's the only bad thing about being off the week before Christmas... Everyone wants you to do their shopping, and gift wrapping and errands! HA!

So Thursdsay afternoon, I get a phone call from Ben saying he was leaving early and would be home soon so we could pack the car. I had everything out by the front door so we could just do a few trips to the car, and hit the road! As I was waiting for Ben to finally get here, I get a phone call.... "My car is acting really strange and the brake and battery light keep blinking.." I seriously didn't think anything of it and just said I'll see him in a little bit and to be careful. Well... his car basically died on the side of the road, literally 1 minute from our house, THANK GOODNESS! He called me saying he was on the side of the street and needed me to steer his car so he could push it... In the pouring rain..... I almost thought he was joking. 

Long story short, we got the car pushed into our parking lot, thanks to a passerby helping us get it over the bump when you first pull in. It was ridiculous. It was raining so hard last Thursday, Ben was still in his work clothes and dress shoes, and here we are pushing his car down the road. Yeah... not a pretty sight!

So, we decided we would wait and call a tow truck in the morning, and delay our trip to Columbus until the next day. Sadz we were missing a night out on Thursday :( but SO THANKFUL it didn't break down on us while we were on the interstate. Oh my word, that would have been awful!!!!

After dropping the car off to the garage, we packed up the car and headed north. Ben finally got a call that it was his alternator and battery. Great timing, huh?!

We actually didn't have bad traffic Friday morning, and made it to the Outlets in time to exchange a gift for Ben's dad, and hit up a few Pre-Christmas sales. And then made it to Columbus by early afternoon. 

Perry met his cousin, Lucy, which is new best friend! 

They loved each other, it was so cute!

Friday night, we celebrated the December birthdays - My dad's on December 20 and my birthday on December 29. It was so nice to see everyone! We had Tommy's Pizza, mmmm. And Graeters Ice Cream pie. I have had a Graeters Pie since I was in elementary school!!! It is a tradition to always get it on birthdays in my family. My dad called me Friday and told me they no longer carry the Grasshopper Pie (Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream). SO SAD! I have had that for my birthday for the last 16 years, at least! 

 b-day cake last year

Instead, my dad just got a vanilla and chocolate/caramel pie. Of course, it was delicious!

Saturday, we were pretty lazy. Ben wasn't feeling up to par (probably from all the bourbon and sprites he had the night before....). We went to my dads for breakfast, and then ran some errands with my sister. Then I cooked some of my favorite dishes for our X-mas Eve dinner!! Cheesy potatoes with corn flakes and a whipped fruit salad. Mmmm

Saturday night we went to my Aunt and Uncles for X-mas Eve. We had so much fun spending time with family in Columbus!

Dad and his girls. The hat from the movie Elf was making its rounds on people haha. 

My niece was the little Elf and helped pass out the gifts. Must have been an exhausting job because she was passed out in the chair an hour later :)

Sunday morning, we left earllllllly for Glasgow. It was a long 5 hours in the car, but luckily there was NO traffic at all, haha. Perry and I slept in the car :)

 

And got to spend Christmas day with Ben's family. 

I am so thankful we were able to spend time with both sides of the family this Christmas. I was sad I didn't get to see my mom though :( She had surgery on her ear last Wednesday and couldn't fly because of it. Hopefully I will see her in February though!! We did skype her using the iPad when we were opening gifts at my dads Saturday morning! It was better than nothing :)

I love having the week off post Christmas. I can't imagine having to work after all the festivities. I'm still trying to get the house in order and all of our gifts put away!

I hope everyone is having a relaxing week!

Ben and I are going to put the new Ice Cream Maker and Jeni's Ice Cream cook book to use tomorrow and attempt the amazing Salty Caramel. I can't wait to see how it turns out!!!!!

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving Break flew by, of course. 

But it was great to get away for a little bit, spend time with Ben's family, get things done around the house, catch up on sleep and get ready for Christmas!

Wednesday, I was busy running errands. Perry came with me in the car, and we didn't get home until a little after 5:00. I still had to pack everything to go out of town, and we were supposed to leave at 5:30. Oops! Sometimes errands can take you 30 minutes in Lexington, and other times, it can take you hours running from one end of town to the other!

We finally got out of town at a decent hour and made it to Glasgow in time to meet up with Ben's friends from high school. We didn't stay out too late because we were planning on running the Great Turkey Run in Bowling Green the next morning.

Thursday morning, Ben woke up with a sore throat and stuffed up, so we passed on the race. Ben's mom and I took Perry on a walk around the neighborhood. At least we did some kind of cardiovascular activity on Turkey Day, right?!

We had Thanksgiving Dinner around lunch time and it was amazing, as always. Ben's dad is a GREAT cook and never disappoints when it comes to big family meals. Here is a glimpse of the t-day meal:

Perry had a great time playing with all the little kids. There was a little one just over a year old, and Perry was so good with him! He would get down really low and just lick the baby. So cute!

Thursday night, some went to the movies to see the Muppet movie. I was going to go but we figured out the outlets in Tennessee were opening up at 9pm instead of midnight! We got in the car around 7:30 and made our way down there to scoop up some deals before it got crazy. 

We got there right after 9pm and made it to Brooks Brothers where everything was 40% off. Then over to Polo, which was didn't have a lot of great stuff out but I found a sweater that was originally $75 and I got it for $30 after all the discounts. Finally, we went over to the Nike outlet and found lots of running goodies! The dry-fit and sports hats were $5.60! Ben got 2 Kentucky hats, 2 dry fit hats, and I got 1 dry-fit hat to run in. We also found long sleeve tech-shirts and rain jackets to run in. Everything was so cheap in there. Most items were 40-60% off whatever the ticket price was. 

Not only did we find great deals for stuff we need/want, we found some Christmas gifts as well!! It was well worth the drive down to Lebanon. 

Friday was a relaxing day. We really didn't do a whole lot, besides run errands around town. We went to a local shoe store in Glasgow that has discounted shoes. As soon as I walked in I saw the new black uggs with the side button in my size... for $14.99! Seriously, crazy good deal. Some of the stitching is messed up on the back, so they were on mega sale. You can't even notice it, especially since they are black! I also found some cute Steve Madden Booties for $20. Love finding good deals on shoes in GLASGOW, KY  of all places, haha!

And of course, it was Perry's 1st birthday. He acted spoiled all day. I think he knew it was his birthday :) 

Saturday we went to Bowling Green for the Western Kentucky game. 

While it was a great game and a beautiful afternoon, I was obsessively checking my phone and the ESPN app for the UK-TENN game! We FINALLY beat Tennessee after a 26-year losing streak! And of all years to beat them, it was our worst season yet. But I still don't care, I proud of the team for finally beating our biggest rival! We came back to Lexington late Saturday night and decided against going out. I began to put the tree up instead. White Christmas tree with blue ornaments, aka our UK tree. I love it :) 

I still need to get a tree skirt for it though....

Today, I have been LA-ZY!!! I seriously was in bed ALL morning just laying around, watching TV and catching up on blogs! I finally got out of bed around 1:00 and decided I needed to be a little more productive. not to mention there is a large pile of Laundry I need to tackle soon. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Can you believe December 1st is only days away?! Where has the year gone.... I can't wait for Christmas though :) 27 days and counting.

What I've been up to the past few weeks....

This month has really flown by!!!! Where does the time go?! 

Anyways.... We have been busy busy! We went to Louisville so Ben could see his favorite band, the Pixies. Concert was interesting to say the least. I was just excited for the shopping the next day :) we went to Lynn's Paradise Cafe for breakfast. Ah-mazing!!! 

Then went down to the Zappos outlet and found these boots!

Love them! The Zappos outlet is hit or miss, but when you can find something you like and in your size, you get great deals! 

That weekend, we went back to Louisville to go to Churchill Downs with Ben's family. We had a great time, and Ben even hit a Super Trifecta! It only paid out $60 some dollars but still very cool he picked it!! Too bad it wasn't a larger bet.....

The next day, a few girlfriends and I headed down to the Holly Day Market put on by Lexington's Junior League. I found a few Christmas presents for others, and of course, some things for me/around the house stuff now! 

Some vendors that were at Holly Day Market that I bought from and loved:

Molly Mudpie

Table Jewelry

All of us 

Tastefully Simple 

Charleston Soap Chef

The next week of work flew by! And we had our school carnival on Friday night. My classroom held a bake sale to raise money for our Community-Based Instruction trips! It was a success, but it was a lot of work to get ready for. I spent all Thursday night baking things for the bake sale, and for the kiddos to make. 

We found a few ideas on Pinterest for thanksgiving-themed desserts to sell. Here are the picture from Pinterest, I forgot to take pictures of our actual product, but they looked the same! Look how cute they are!

Sunday-Tuesday I went to a conference in Louisville. It was the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children at the Galt House and I went with my good friend and fellow teacher Tracy. We had a great time and loved all the breakout sessions we attended! I love attending trainings and seminars such as the one this week, it gets me so excited about my own classroom and the impact we have as educators. 

The decorations around the Galt house were beautiful!

Today, I'm cleaning the house, running errands, and packing our bags to head down to Glasgow for Thanksgiving. Perry can't wait :)

Speaking of Mr. Perry, he has a BIG birthday coming up this weekend!! I can't believe he's already a year old :(