2007 Recap

I love having this blog because not only is it just fun and I love reading other people's blog and making blog friends but it is a great way to journal our lives. Last year - I did a little recap of 2006 and I thought it would be fun to just feature the highlights of 2007.

These are the big things that happened this year:

Scott got baptized in March

We went to Las Vegas in late April/early May

My brother got engaged!!!

We went to Gulf Shores with Laurie and Steve

My friend Megan came to visit!

Lots and lots of Razorback games - and a new coach to top the year off! :-)

Hosting TEN sweet 10th grade girls for DNOW

Seeing David Crowder in concert

Celebrating our 4th anniversary

and the other highlights would be spending the holidays with our families and all the time we spent with our wonderful friends. Another highlight would be that this year was the very first year of my life that I had a consistent, daily quiet time and the first year that I honestly tithed like I should. And because I have been more obedient - I can see how God has blessed us so much. The verse that just sums up the year for us is this:
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. Malachi 3:10

God truly has poured out more blessings on us that we deserve or could imagine this year. And I only hope that next year - I will know God even better than I do this year. I hope I will spend more time reading His word and talking to him than I do watching TV or reading blogs. I hope I will serve Him in any way that I can and that people will see God's love through me.

Happy New Year - I hope 2007 has been as good for you and I hope 2008 will be even better!

Christmas is over

There is only one thing I don't like about Christmas - taking down the decorations. Not my favorite activity. I spent the afternoon getting it all down and put up. It only took me about three hours. I tried to keep it as organized as possible by tubs so that the next year is pretty easy. Now I just have to scoot off to Wal-Mart to get a few more tubs and vacuum up all the glitter and fake pine needles that are covering our floor.
The good news is that I have the next two days off and our only plans are to relax and veg in our PJ's. I think I may make a quick jaunt to Tar-Jay tomorrow. I got a gift card for Christmas and I want to check out after Christmas sales. Other than that - I plan to watch a lot of TV and movies and get ready to start a new year at work.
My house always seems so empty after I take down the Christmas decorations. Don't you all feel that way?

Emily is TWO!

Today my sweet little niece, Emily, turns two! She had a fun little birthday party. Laurie made spaghetti and meatballs and salad and bread and then we had cake and ice cream!

Hillary and Josh were there having a ball!

Emily's maternal grandparents got her this rocking horse. It was a HUGE hit at the party!

This is Jaime and her little boy Jackson - one of Emily's friends from church

Me and Hillary

Emily's paternal grandparents got her this kitchen and she loves it! (Can you tell she is the only grandchild on both sides ?)

Here is Emily opening her gifts - she was crazy about this strawberry shortcake doll!

After the party - Scott and I headed out for some Christmas Sales shopping. It was really about Scott because he needed some new pants and he has needed new shoes forever. His parents gave him some shoe money for Christmas so we got him a brown pair and a black pair.
And I got a new purse at T J Maxx. I've been carrying this HUGE satchel that everyone makes fun of - my friend Ginger asked me if I had packed an overnight bag one morning when we were headed toward the choir loft. I can't help it - I like to carry a lot of stuff. You just never know what you might need. ha! I thought this was cute and normal sized.

Has it really been 17 years?

I was so excited today because one of my very best friends from Junior high and High school flew into our airport today with his wife. He lives in Atlanta and I rarely get to see him and I've never met his wife (even though they have been married for 8 years.
Doug was the smartest guy in high school as well as a great athlete. I always thought he would be President one day (and I still think there is a good chance). He went to college in Atlanta and later went to Harvard. His sweet and beautiful wife is an emergency room doctor.
Thanks to facebook - we have recently connected again. If you are not on it - you should be! :-)

We got to sit and visit for a little while. They were on their way to our hometown to have Christmas with his family.

Here we are today and then in 1991 the year we graduated. We were Mr and Miss FHS. ha!

Do you think we have changed in 17 years? I feel like Doug doesn't look a day older. I believe my hair has changed a little. ha! (In size and color. )

Christmas with the Stamps

Scott's parents got here last night and I made Christmas dinner and then we opened gifts. I got a fried turkey from Copelands and made potato casserole, green bean casserole, salad and rolls and then we had coconut cake and peanut butter pie. I believe we stuffed ourselves silly.


We got all kinds of cute things and fun goodies. Too many to list and more than we deserved. Dawson's favorite gift was this stuffed duck that quacks. He played with it all night long.

We gave and got lots of razorback things - here is Scott's dad with his razorback jacket. I got Scott one too so they could be twinkies.

Scott's mom loves coffee so we got her a starbucks basket of goodies

I got their dogs some cute little bandanas that they hate wearing

Dawson just loves Christmas!

I had to work today and this afternoon we went to the movies to see "I am Legend". Save your money. Scott's parents haven't been to a movie in 20 years and I'm afraid they will never go to another one now. It was horrible and scary. Then we ate at Chili's and then went and got coffee on the square.

Psalm 37:4

I wanted to share what Laurie got me for Christmas. Her neighbor makes signs and so she asked me what I wanted. I told her to do this verse - it's always been my favorite. You can't tell but it is green and chocolate brown. That's the colors I plan to do our nursery in. This will one day hang in there to remind me of how I had to trust God to bring us our baby.
We found out yesterday that we aren't pregnant this month so we will be trying a few new things this month with my doctor. Please keep us in your prayers. What I'm trying to remember right now is what the angel told Mary when he told her that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant. He said "for your cousin who is barren and old in age (me) (ha!) is six months pregnant. For nothing is impossible with God!" I know that is true!

Great Minds Think Alike

We had a great Christmas at my parent's house. It was so nice to be home and just to relax. We ate lots of good food and just enjoyed being together.
This is where my parent's live. I love going there and being out in the country. It's so quiet and pretty and peaceful. Dawson can run around and roam. They have 5 -15 deer that come in their front yard every day at 4 to eat so we enjoyed watching them.
This was our Christmas tree. We exchanged gifts yesterday morning and then had a big lunch.
This was my main present. My mom and dad got me a sofa table. I have been wanting one forever. This one is so much prettier than any I had seen. It came with a beautiful mirror and can be used as an entry way or foyer table but our house doesn't have one so I'm storing the mirror and I'll use the table behind my sofa. I'll picture it once I find every thing I want to put on it and get it fixed up. I love it! Thanks mom and dad!
My mom and I saw these glass beverage dispensers on TV and have wanted one ever since. They make a great way to serve drinks at showers or parties. So Saturday when we got there - my mom gave me a beautiful one. And then she told me she had bought one for herself. Well - I got her one for Christmas. So I'm taking it back and getting her something else. Great minds think alike. I can't wait to use mine for some upcoming baby showers!
We got my dad this picture of Razorback stadium. He was so excited that he had it hung before we even ate lunch! Since we have a new coach now - our love for the hogs has been restored. Otherwise all of the razorback presents he and Scott got would be going up on e-bay. ha!
We came home yesterday afternoon and Scott's parents will be here soon. I got up and went to Wal-Mart at 7 this morning to buy groceries and look for holiday bargains. I got a new tree on sale 50% off that will go in our dining room window next year. I'm already planning the colors I will use! Can't wait for next year's tour! ha ha ha ha!

Fa LAH LAH LAH LAH LAH

I'm SO excited because one of my best friends from college has started a blog. Leigh Ann was my suitmate until she transferred after our sophomore year. She is probably THE nicest person I've ever known and so funny. I just adore her. I wish we lived closer so I could see her more often. She married a guy while we were in school that was equally as sweet and cute. He just finished serving in Iraq and I'm so glad he is back home with her. She has two beautiful children. I just told her about my blog and now she has started one. I'm so happy to be able to keep up with her better.
You'll have to go and say hi to her! Her initials were LAH (and still are because her maiden and married names both start with "H".) So we have always called her LAH.
She is in trouble because she has posted the WORST pictures of me from my fat and dark haired days at OBU. :-)

For Leigh Ann: (and Kandi if you read this): I added some more fun pictures of us our sophomore year in college. Love you girls!

Greetings from Flippin!

We are in Flippin and having a great time. We got here yesterday afternoon and my brother came a little later and then my aunt and uncle came and we had BBQ last night for dinner and my mom had me a birthday cake!
This morning we went to church. It's always fun to go to church at home at Christmas because we get to see friends we don't see very often.

This is my brother Chris and I and two of our good friends growing up. Tracie is the blond and Jamie is the red head. They are cousins. Tracie is the girl I always idolized growing up. She is so sweet and pretty and has such a cute family. Her younger sister was a good friend of mine in junior high and high school and she's getting married in a few weeks in Jamaica! Jamie is one one of my dearest friends.
This is Jamie's younger sister Micaela and her little boy, Jeryn. She also has the prettiest little girl in the world - Jaiden. Jaiden and Jamie's little boy, Rhett, were born one day apart. Micaela has always been one of my favorite people in the world. She and Jamie are two of my oldest friends and are very special to me.
This is Jamie and her little girl Alexee. She is precious and such a sweet, happy baby. She and Jeryn are a couple of months apart so they are very close cousins.
This is our family after church today. We are relaxing and watching football right now and then tonight we will go to a candlelight service. I love church at Christmas because it's the real reason we are celebrating - that our Savior was born!

Birthday Eve

Scott surprised me tonight with a birthday card and a gift certificate to a spa in town! I'm so excited! I'm going to save it until the summer to get pedicures and/or a facial. No reason to do it now because my feet just stay hidden (thankfully) all winter.

I promise we didn't try to dress alike. But Brown is my favorite color.

We went to eat at Outback and then hit up Starbucks for an after dinner treat. Yum!

I've had a nice Birthday (even though it's really tomorrow). Thank you Scott for making it special!

A Smorgasbord of Topics

There are times (in business or in personal life) that I like to send e-mails with bullet points. This is one of those days because I just have a bunch of random topics. (Only I couldn't get the actual bullet points to work).

I was beyond THRILLED yesterday because I looked over on boomama's site and she has mentioned me in her post. I called my mom immediately and we were both squealing. We just love boomama and big mama. Boo had mentioned using a clipboard for her grocery list and I thought that was a great idea. I found this one on Etsy yesterday I just might have to order. SO cute!

Yesterday my office took me to lunch for my birthday. (one good thing about my birthday is that everyone is in a good mood and ready to celebrate anything). So I picked mexican because there is nothing I love better than chips, salsa and white cheese dip. The waiter brought me a birthday flan. Notice the "21" in whipped cream. He guessed my age. I love that place! ;-)
This morning a lady in my office brought me this cupcake for my birthday. Yes - it's a plate of frosting. My boss brought me Krispy Kremes. Seriously - I know I like to eat but.........sugar overload!!!!!


I am so excited about going home tomorrow and spending almost four whole days with my family. Just to relax and eat and watch movies and read blogs with my mom. :-) I love Christmas time!