Out with the Old; In with the New.

It's New Year's Eve and I couldn't be anymore excited for 2011 to begin. Josh and I are going to be so super busy this year and tons of fun, exciting, and wonderful events will be taking place. But, before we begin a new year, let's take a quick look at 2010.

January: I turned 24!!

We had a crazy snow storm where I had to walk to save my momma, then we both

trekked back to my house. Josh also had to park his car on the side of the road and

walk home, which meant walking back to his car in the morning so we could have a car

and get to work. The good thing about it, Lola got to play in the snow for the first time!

February: We had a tree fall on our house and my car. Enough said.

March: I bought my Blazer, Randy. (I don't think I ever actually introduced him, but that's his name.)

April: We found out we would not be able to move back into our old house, and began looking

for a new place to live. We also took some beautiful pictures at our church's gardens.

May: We moved into our new (and current) home.

June: My best friend, Amy, got married on the 12.

My other best friend, Rikki, married a friend of mine from High School, Austin on the 26.



July: We were super busy with work, and really didn't do anything fun. :(

August: Josh and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary.

September: Josh turned 28...AAAAND WE GOT ENGAGED!

October: We were busy, busy, with Halloween parties. Rikki and Austin's Zombie Dinner and

both our bars had parties we had to dress up for.



November: We celebrated Thanksgiving with Josh's parents.

December: This Christmas we had both of our parents at our house. It was lots of fun to be able

to have everyone together. OH, and it snowed!

Wow! I really didn't think that a lot had happened in 2010, but once I started looking back, we had a lot of good, and bad in our lives! All in all, it really was a great year, but 2011 is going to be even better! I just know it...I mean, I am getting MARRIED! Anyway, I hope 2010 was good to you all, and that 2011 brings even more happiness. Be safe, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A Very Merry Christmas

This Christmas was a little different than other years. Usually we load up the car and head up Signal Mountain to my parents' house for Christmas festivities. However, this year, Josh and I had to work on Christmas Eve AND his parents came in town to celebrate Christmas with us. So, this year Josh and I hosted Christmas at our house. Around 11 A.M. my parents arrived and we started the day with my mom's wonderful egg casserole. Then it was time for presents. Everyone really loved their presents, I got a beautiful necklace and bracelet from Josh, he got some games for the PS3 and some tools, Mom got a really pretty jewelry set from Dad; who got a TomTom from Mom, and Josh's parents got some books and a really pretty handmade Humming Bird feeder. By the time we finally got done with the presents, Santa was very good to us all this year, it was time to bring out the snackies and start working on Christmas Dinner.

While my mom, Josh's mom, and myself were busy preparing dinner in the kitchen, the boys stayed in the living room playing the Wii. For dinner we had ham, Parmesan potatoes, homemade mac and cheese, green bean casserole, holiday veggies, and the famous Landis family rolls. There was sooo much food and we are still trying to finish it all. After dinner we all relaxed on the couch and swapped Christmas traditions and favorite stories about Christmas' past. Then once we weren't so full from dinner it was time for some dessert ( shoo-fly pie and a cinnamon swirl cake with homemade butter cream icing; thanks Mom.)

We spent the rest of the night playing the game Apples to Apples, which Josh and I got from Santa. It was so wonderful to be able to spend this special holiday with both of our parents. I was really nervous about cooking such a large meal and then I was even more nervous because my parents almost couldn't make it because of the snow. And luckily they stayed the night on Christmas because of the weather. Don't need any accidents on Christmas. Everything turned out beautiful and we all truly enjoyed each other's company and being able to make precious memories. I can't wait to be able to have that quality time with everyone again. But, enough talk, here are a few of my favorite pics from the day.

All the pretty snow we woke up to.

Lola and Kitty's stockings hung up, ready for Santa.

Yay for presents!

Lola in her Christmas PJ's all snuggled up with Papaw (a.k.a. my dad)

Josh was really excited about his presents.

The dinner table all set.

The wonderful desserts that my mom brought to share.

My favorite part. As much fun as it is to get presents, it's good to remember the reason why we celebrate this wonderful holiday. It's a time to step back and think more of others than ourselves and be thankful and happy with what we have, and that's family and friends. None of this would be possible if this one small child had never been born. Everybody and everything makes an impact on the world, Merry Christmas and have a very, very, happy and blessed 2011.

A Big Chill Christmas

On Monday, I got to celebrate Christmas with my Big Chill Family. It all started the same as last year with a quick drink at Hair of the Dog and then car pooling out to Scottie's, our boss, house. There we had a spread of Bojangles fried chicken, cole slaw, green beans, biscuits, and Scottie's homemade pepperjack mac and cheese. After some lunch and joking around with each other, it was time for the present exchange. Every year Scottie and Scott, our manager, get us all something really nice for Christmas. This year Scott got all the girls bathrobes and slippers and from Scottie I got a Wii Fit. I was sooo excited about; she had heard through the grapevine that I was really really wanting one. Then the whole crew brings a present for a Dirty Santa gift exchange. Which is always a good time since you never know what you will end up walking away with and it's fun to see what everyone wants to steal .

After we packed up all of our goodies, we loaded back into the cars and headed back to Hair of the Dog to start our annual Pub Crawl. We stayed there for a couple games of pool and rounds of darts then headed over to Honest Pint, which just happened to be opening for the very first night of business. After a drink or two there it was time to head to the Big Chill to see what was going on at our most favorite spot. Then we sang a few songs at Sing it or Wing it, danced some at Raw, and by the end of night we right back at the Big Chill. It was a great time with people that make my job so much fun. We have been looking forward to this party for quite awhile. We have so much fun with each other, but hardly get to hang out all at the same time...I mean, someone's gotta be runnin' the bar right? So to be able to have one night out of the year set aside specifically to hang out with each means a lot to us and creates a great bond between the Big Chill Family. And of course there are ALWAYS great pictures to go with it.

Sky Blue Pink with Purple Polka-Dots

When asked what his favorite color was, my Grandfather (Mom's Dad, we called him Poppop Chipmunk..and that's a whole nother story) his response would be Sky Blue Pink with Purple Polka-Dots. And for those of you who I have never explained this to, what he was referring to is that certain point, either as the sun is rising or setting, when the sky still has some blue in it, but the clouds are changing to a really vibrant pink and purple at the same time. It's a beautiful mixture of color in the sky that always brings a smile to my face. The other morning I woke up (Yes, I said woke up..not going to bed. It was strange for me as well.) And saw this outside my kitchen window.

Thank You, Poppop. You are always loved and missed.

It's a Monster Mash

I realize that Halloween was oh, like 3 weeks ago, however I never put up any pictures from all the festivities. First off, just as usual, we decorated our cute little home

And of course we carved some pumpkins for our front porch.

Then came time for the parties. Rikki had a Zombie Dinner Party that we attended. Rikki and Austin did a fantastic job decorating there house and getting everything ready for the party. They managed to have everything go with the theme of the party and it all looked absolutely wonderful.

Last, the Saturday night before Halloween was The Big Chill's annual Halloween Party. Tons of people, tons of fun. We had everything from vampires to the Golden Girls, and even someone dressed as a Shakeweight (they tied for first place in our costume contest).

I decided to go as a guitar this year, and over at Sing it or Wing it, Josh dressed up as Ozzy Osbourne. By the end of night we were well ready for some relaxation, but first we had to get a Big Chill Family Picture.

And of course Lola had to dress up on Sunday to help me hand out candy to the neighborhood kids, not that we had any, but Lola was a good helper anyways.

I Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween; even if it was 3 weeks ago..

Let the Countdown Begin!

We are officially ONE YEAR AWAY from our wedding day!!! Granted we still haven't booked sites, so I don't REALLY know if it will be November 5, 2011. However, I really don't see much of an issue in getting the date since it is ONE YEAR AWAY! haha. Yeah, so the whole site thing is still an issue and is at the top of our To-Do List, and by our I mean mine, but I let Josh know what needs to be done. Things are gonna start getting done and I plan to post as much as I can about everything, but of course, some things will be a secret. But do check back, I will have Big Chill Halloween Pics and recap of the crazy day soon!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

Ok, I know I have only been engaged for 3 weeks now and that being a little over a year away from the wedding, I don't have to be making any big decisions right away. However, I can't even make little ones right now; and I am getting discouraged. We know for a fact that the wedding will be in November of next year. I was thinking of using browns and champagnes for our colors, but the more I look at wedding things, the more I am drawn to deep reds and oranges. Which yes, I could use all those colors, being it is a fall wedding and those are in fact fall colors...but I just get confused.

Then there is the tinsy winsy little part of where to have the wedding and reception. I have exactly what I want pictured in my mind, but I can't find it ANYWHERE! Very disheartening. I even got so over it yesterday that I started to look at wedding planners....like I can afford one.

Oh well..like I said, I know we are only 3 weeks in and 1 year out...but when we work crazy hours and sometimes never even see each other during the week, I feel like more should be getting done when we do see each other. Ugh....no I've stressed myself again. I need to lay down.

WE ARE ENGAGED!!!

That's right folks, Josh and I are getting married!! Josh proposed last week on his birthday! The day started off just as any other. We woke up and laid around the house until we thought we were going to die of hunger. So, we headed to Provino's for dinner. Neither one of us had ever been there, and since they do a free birthday dinner, we figured Josh's birthday was the best time to go try it, and boy was it DELICIOUS! So, then Josh decided he wanted to go ahead and head downtown, but before meeting up with friends for the celebration of his birth, he wanted to go to Rembrandt's for desert. We had a lovely desert on the patio, and while sitting there Josh mentioned that he had never really explored the Art District before and suggested we walk around for a little bit. I would have been totally for this idea any other day. But this day since it was his birthday and I wanted to look extra pretty, I was wearing 4.5 inch red stilettos. Not ideal for walking. So, we ended up walking. Yeah, I sucked it up and walked in those bad boys, how could I turn down the birthday boy???

Josh took me all over that dang Art District. We walked over to the glass bridge, down towards Walnut St. Bridge, back up to the museum. EVERYWHERE. At one point we stopped just before Walnut St. Bridge where there was a little overlook spot. He walks up to it and says, "Wow, this is a cool little overlook." He looks down, looks back at me, "You wouldn't want to jump for here though." I say, "No, no Josh you wouldn't. I would imagine that would hurt a lot considering the pavement of the road and the amount of cars coming and going." I then turn and head to walk back towards the museum.

Then we as we reach the museum, he says, "Hey, is that a horse? Is that horse made of wood?" If you have been up in that area, you know exactly what I'm talking about, but if you haven't, there is this huge sculpture of a horse and it looks like it is made of wood, but it's not. It's actually cast bronze. It's actually pretty cool. Well, we are standing there looking at it and Josh turns and walks toward the entrance to the museum. There he finds another little outlook spot, but this one instead of being over Riverside Dr. is actually over the river. We stand there, talk about the city, look at the pretty lights, and notice that there is a boat with it's search light on, clearly looking for something.

Then, next thing I know, Josh is tying his shoe lace. I didn't think anything of it...his shoes are ALWAYS coming untied. The boat shines his little search light again, I make a comment about the boat still searching for something, and to that I heard " I am too, but I think I found what it already." I turn, and there Josh is with the ring. I just stare at him, which he just responds with," So, what do you think, what do you say??" Of course I say "YES!" take the ring, put in on my finger, and then promptly just stare at how sparkly it is for a few good....minutes.

So, that is the story of Josh's proposal. The rest of the night was a celebration of engagement and birthday, and Josh kept saying that giving me the ring was a birthday present to himself and that it was a perfect birthday. (Isn't he so sweet?!?!) And the best part, (yes, there is more) my engagement ring is actually one his great-grandmother wore, which makes it so very, very special to me.We are planning for a wedding in November of 2011. Sooo...keep checkin' back as I go through a year of wedding planning. It's going to be so much fun!!

3 Years!

Yesterday, August 3, Josh and I celebrated our THREE YEAR Anniversary!! It's crazy how quickly the years go by. So to celebrate he took me to Allea Italian Restaurant in the up and coming Southside. It was a gorgeous restaurant; reminded me of a castle where the Court would dine and mingle with the King and other royalty. Then we just spent the night out on the town, enjoying the beautiful weather and each other. I couldn't be happier...I have a wonderful, caring, loving man to share my days with. He makes me laugh when I need to laugh and he lets me cry when I need to cry. He has been by my side through some really tough times in these 3 years and I can never thank him enough. He is my best friend and my one and only. I love love love him!

August 3, 2007

August 3, 2010

My parents also celebrated their Wedding Anniversary yesterday. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS! They are so luck to have found each other and to have the courage and love to last 25 years. That is a huge accomplishment in these days and I couldn't be any more proud of them. They have shown me what it takes to make a marriage last and hopefully one day Josh and I will have the same honor to celebrate our 25th year. Congrats to my parents. We love you very very much.