Senorita Megan

Blast from the Past: My last December in Texas and How I ruined Christmas

2012-02-12T04:51:00.000-06:00

Here's another golden oldie: Christmas...El Paso Style December, 2008

3 years ago, this past December, marked what would come to be my final holiday season in Texas. The long December flew by in just the blink of an eye. Heather and Michael came to visit and unknowingly set into motion the chain of events that led to my migration to the southern state of Alabama. My two best friends drove 1800 miles from Pell City and got to stay with me for an entire week which we filled with non-stop fun and games. Of course Eric and the babies were super excited to have company, so they begged my mom to let them spend the night at my apartment and we had a super awesome slumber party which we filled with video gaming and endless baking (you can't celebrate Christmas without baking delicious treats). During the days leading up to Christmas Eve, we went to Putt-Putt, visited scenic drive, and became a gang of elusive antennae ball bandits. Our descent into the criminal underworld began on a day like any other...Heather, Michael, Eric, Laura, Anthony, my mom (yes, she was an accomplice), and I were driving around the Cielo Vista Mall parking lot when Heather spied a super awesome Dallas Cowboy antennae ball. We just had to have it, so covertly parking in a nearby space, I got ready to gun the Jeep into motion while she swiftly relieved the car's antennae of its weighty topper. Peeling out in hysterics (and with my mom screaming in the backseat for us to stop being such hellions), we decided that 1 just wasn't enough. Over the course of the afternoon, we successfully acquired a rather impressive booty of various antennae balls. (Don't judge us...we have since learned the error of our ways). The night before Christmas Eve, we gathered at Pearl's mother's house to celebrate Jason's marriage. This was...rather awkward. Heather, Michael, the kids, and I sat on the couches counting the minutes until we could run for freedom and desperately trying to avoid eating the fresh dove carcasses that her family kept trying to shove down our throats. Seriously, do people eat stuff like that??? BLECH! On Christmas Eve, we went and enjoyed the spectacular light show at the Fred Loya House (a huge mansion that sets up a light show synced to the Trans Siberian Orchestra's Christmas carols...it's really amazing) before driving to the West Side to spend some time with my dad's family. Christmas morning, the three of us headed to my mom's for a day filled with holiday merriment. We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast, opened presents, and played outside on Anthony's Ripcord skateboard (way too hard for a klutz like me) before my mom's side of the family came over and we did it all again. I love the Christmas season in Alabama, but there really is nothing like being home for the holidays. Of course, the fun and laughter had to come to an end at some point...why not ruin everyone's joy and merriment immediately after Christmas is over, I thought. The day after Christmas, I decided to be a super nice person and treat everyone to the movies. The biggest group of animal lovers on the planet all gathered together and headed to Tinseltown to watch Marley & Me (BIG mistake). At the end of the movie, everyone was red-nosed and teary-eyed from watching the loveable dog meet his demise and I was berated on the entire ride home because my kindness had ruined everyone's lives and they would never recover from the sadness they felt. :( Still, to this day, I am reminded of how I, single-handedly, made everyone wish that they could cut off their heads and use them as a punch bowl. Pretty awesome, huh. Oh El Paso, I miss the memories, but I don't miss you :)

The pictures are really out of order, but it's 4 AM and I'm too lazy to organize 500 pictures...deal with it :)

An awesome portrait at Jason's wedding reception

The kiddos on the couch...Can we please leave NOW?!

Anthony is so happy to have someone to play Madden with him

Anthony helps boil the chocolate for our Christmas cookies

Anthony playing on his new toy

Ripping open the pile of presents on Christmas morning

Anthony steals Michael's electronic drumset and plays some music

Eric spots Anthony so he doesn't crack his head open

My two lazy furballs wishing for their freedom

Uncle Carlos on Christmas Eve

Lexie and Charlie

Chocolate chip mini-muffins with Hershey's kisses

Pat, Dani, and the girls on Christmas Eve

Michael does his favorite thing...Google's things on his phone

Eric is beyond thrilled to be alive

Me at Applebees

Yup, see how thrilled we are to be at a wedding reception

Laura, Heather, and, Michael...in the 9th circle of hell

The four of them cram on the loveseat...as far away from the dove as humanly possible

My mom takes us all to eat at Logan's

Jason and Hurla

Eric and Charlie

Eric and Katie

Eric and Michael in the car on Christmas Eve

The best present ever...a box of books! Yes, we are a family of nerdy bookworms

Eric's new ski-mask...he should wear it everyday

What the hell is that?!

He's a pirate, all right

Michael outside the Fred Loya House

The amazing light show

Getting ready for Christmas Eve

Heather and Laura on Christmas morning

Me and Heather on Christmas Eve

Heather gets the Gilmore Girls' boxed set

Me and Heather outside of our elementary school

Me and Heather driving around El Paso

Even then, we loved taking 90 billion pictures

Yup, here's another one...us on Christmas Eve

Heather and Michael at Putt-Putt

Heather and Michael at Rosa's Cantina

Heather and Michael at the Fred Loya House on Christmas Eve

Heather and Michael open some Christmas decorations from my mom

Heather and Michael on Christmas morning

Heather at Applebees

Heather driving to Texas

Heather on Christmas Eve

The girls hang out outside

Me, Heather, and Laura

Heather tries not to break a leg on the Ripcord

Heather, Michael, and Eric at Dani's on Christmas Eve

Holding on for dear life

Anthony actually gets the hang of it

Jason and mom at the wedding reception

Jason and Hurla on Christmas day

A pre-Christmas wedding

Perusing their new book

Jason models his new head-lamp

The wedding rings

Helping mom with the turkey on Christmas morning

Jason takes his turn

Pearl, me, and Jason

It's always fun to try out new Christmas toys immediately

Laura and grandma

Baking at midnight

Laura

Laura opens her new manicure kit

Laura, Heather, Michael, and Anthony

Laura, Katie, and Eric

Traipsing around downtown El Paso

Margaret and Steve share a wedding dance with Jason and Pearl

Me and Heather

Me and Heather at Putt-Putt

Me and Heather again

Me and Heather at Scenic Drive

I love stabbing Laura in the neck with a fork

Aww...sisters...barf :)

Me and Michael at Rosa's

Me and Rosie

Dani, Me, Pat, and the girls

Everyone knows my love for The Office :)

Stepbrothers...another great movie

See, more Office stuff

Michael and Artimus Maximus

Michael gives Axl some love

Heather and Michael open presents

Michael by the tortilla machine

See how happy we are to be forced into a stranger's house...LET US OUT OF HERE!!!

Michael is unsuccessful on the Ripcord

His Chuck Norris shirt from yours truly

Laughing hysterically as we drive to the West Side

His electronic drum kit from Heather

Rascal and Lana in the window

Michael gives us a beat

Mom and Anthony

Mom hands out presents on Christmas morning

Ah, the mural art that lines the streets of El Paso

Richard, Lilia, and Stephanie at Dani's on Christmas Eve

Rosie wants to play too

They are so photogenic

Bunny ears...how rude!

Amanda, Tim, Celia, and Michael on Christmas Day

The cousins on Christmas Eve

sitting around in mom's living room

The cats laze in the window

We bake all night long

The view from Scenic Drive

Artie and our treasure of stolen antennae balls

Blast from the Past: Seattle, Washington August, 2007

2012-02-08T00:13:00.000-06:00

So, today I was exceptionally lazy (I didn't want to move from the warm cocoon I made for myself on the couch...90 billion pillows, a perfectly soft t-shirt quilt, three snoring furballs, my laptop, and Pandora Radio) and in my lethargy, I spent a good portion of the day reading through old blogs (that's right, all 261 of them). Boy have things changed! My friends and family know that I am a compulsive blogger...I absolutely adore it, not only does it serve as a reminder of the big and small events in my life, but writing totally calms me down and relaxes me...I just love journaling and taking 90 billion pictures and it combines these two things. During my blog-read-athon, I realized that there were so many other defining things in my life that I want to preserve via online journal that occurred before I started blogging a few years ago...so I decided to do a few choice "Blast from the Past" blogs...not every humdrum thing, but the big events that really had an impact on me. So be prepared for a walk down memory lane (and a lot of really bad pictures :)).

Montwood Rams go to Seattle, Washington August, 2007

Because I'm a really lucky girl, in my second year of teaching at Montwood High School, I, along with several other teachers, had the opportunity to go on an all-expenses paid trip to Seattle for an educational conference. I know what you're thinking, educational conference? BLECH! But how could I turn down the opportunity to visit one of the places that I had always been dying to see. So, right at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year, my colleagues and I boarded an airplane and made our way to Washington State for four days of BORING lectures and a ton of sight-seeing. The plane ride was terrible (on the way back we flew through a lightning storm and I thought poor Barbara was going to have to give me a tranquilizer), but Seattle was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Despite what everyone says, it didn't rain at all while we were there. Every minute not spent behind closed doors in conferences, we spent traipsing up and down the city streets (we did so much walking that I actually broke the straps of my sandals). We ate lunches overlooking the Puget Sound, watched the workers in the fish market (I even bought the famous Salmon jerky for my family to try), spent hours in the public market looking at all of the wares and filling our arms with bouquets of beautiful flowers (for only $5...if I lived there I would have fresh-cut flowers in every room of my house), visiting museums, the Space Needle (which I enjoyed from the safety of the ground...I was way too scared to go to the top), and watching the ferry boats go back and forth. It was one of the best trips I've ever been on (minus the conference part). Seattle is definitely somewhere I will see again (bucket list, anyone?!).

The MHS teachers eating dinner at Rockbottom

Me, Dianna, and Andrea by the Puget Sound

Dianna, Andrea, Me, Gina, and Lori at the airport

The brave ones (Ken, Lori, Ben, Dianna, and Andrea) who went to the top of the Space Needle

Seattle from the top of the Space Needle

Barbara, Me, Dianna, and Andrea under the Space Needle at night

Taking a daytime pose at the Space Needle while we explore the city

Looking down from the observation deck of the Space Needle, Boy, I'm glad I stayed on the ground

Me by the Puget Sound

Me again, after shopping with the girls

Me, Dianna, and Andrea at the Public Market

Another airport shot :)

Mt. Saint Helens from the airplane

One of the ferryboats

Getting ready to shop 'til we drop :)

The Seattle Art Museum

The view from our lunchtime restaurant...so beautiful

Another shot of downtown Seattle

Our plane is finally arriving in Seattle...another amazing shot

The Museum of Rock and Roll

City Nights: movies projected on the sides of buildings...so awesome

The Space Needle

The sun goes down on the Puget Sound

The view from our hotel room

Watching the ferryboats

Because you're never too old to play dress-up

2012-02-07T19:59:00.000-06:00

"Monday SUCKS" used to be my oft-repeated mantra. Now that Monday is the middle of my weekend it's a little bit easier to embrace...more so when you have super awesome party people to spend it with. My suck-free Monday consisted of sleeping way too late (ahh, I love my bed), attempting to play Super Mario Brothers (not as easy as it sounds when your spawn-of-Satan kitty pulls the power cord out of the wall every five seconds), and then heading to Ashville to hang out with Nick, Josh, and Caitie. What began as a mini jam session turned into a 12 hour night of hilarity. We laughed until our sides split at old song parodies, played several rounds of Truth or Dare (because I think we are still stuck in middle school), had a Halloween costume fashion show/photo shoot (because you are never too old to play dress-up), and watched some classic murder/cannibalistic movies (Thankskilling, Parents, and Big Nothing) before crashing on the couch at 7 AM.

Movie marathons, jam sessions, middle school games, and costume parties...Mondays definitely don't suck anymore :)

I thought we were friends until Josh tried to slit my throat.

Nick is the wicked witch of the West

Josh as the Green Lantern cape-wearing Pillsbury Doughboy

Josh and Caitie

I'm the #1 Grandpa...how awesome is that!

Nick and Josh

Really Josh again with the knife...quit trying to kill everyone

Nick

Jason comes to visit

I could never be a hockey mask-wearing serial killer...it's just too stuffy in that mask

Nick loves making everyone uncomfortable by standing around

Josh

Never fear...Super Girl is here!

Me and Nick

Now I'm a pirate...ARRG!

It's the super witch

Does anyone think Chucky has a weight problem? His ribs are showing a little

Be nice or I'll make you walk the plank

Chucky is contemplating who his next victim will be

I try to pose as Captain Morgan without falling over and accidentally chopping my head off with this very sharp knife.

I'm gonna gut you like a fish

Doesn't Chucky know that smoking KILLS?!

A pirate with an eye patch...now I just need a peg leg, a hook hand, and a talking parrot

Caitie's brains are not safe from Zombie Chucky

Josh as Chucky

Thinking about who should go in the boo box

If I don't like the music you play I will break your guitar over your head

Nick

Josh keeps trying to tell us a story, but no one will listen :(

I think Nick wants a knuckle sandwich

Harley comes to visit

Josh, don't you know that cats have pea brains...you're not going to get a very good meal from that

Harley

A Snow Mountain Adventure

2012-01-30T01:30:00.000-06:00

All winter long we had dreamed and wished and hoped for snow. Not a lot of snow (we aren't greedy), just enough to go sledding and make snow angels and smash each other in the face with hard-packed balls of icy sludge. After waiting and waiting and waiting (with Mother Nature laughing in our faces, "They want snow...I'll give them 60 degree days and tornadoes instead...BWAHAHA!"), we decided to take matters into our own hands and head to Atlanta to frolic in the man-made winter wonderland that is Snow Mountain (You lose, Mother Nature). With barely two hours of sleep under our belts, our alarm clocks blasted us into consciousness at the ungodly hour of 6 AM and we loaded up and headed to Oxford to meet up with Cassie, Brent, Kanina, and Zach. We gobbled down a quick breakfast of black coffee and blueberry muffins and smashed into Michael's Corolla like a bunch of sardines and passed the time by serenading each other with off-key renditions of guilty pleasure country music (Goodbye, Earl and Sin Wagon made several appearances). We FINALLY got to Snow Mountain, stretched our aching legs, donned our warm winter coats, and raced to the entrance. "Children: Beware...we will trample you in our efforts to make the most of our time in the snow!" The seven of us spent the first few hours building a make-shift igloo fort (after we got in trouble for pelting each other with snowballs, that is) and covertly throwing snow onto the crying children who kept getting a little too close to our igloo masterpiece. At 1 PM our fort-building time was up and we grabbed a bunch of inner tubes and raced to the top of the sledding mountain so that we could tube and tube and tube. It was a blast! Considering it was 60 degrees outside and the snow was fake we had a really awesome time tubing and having snowball fights and igloo-building contests. Before heading out, we took the tram (which I loathe...heights are my mortal enemies) and hiked around the top of Stone Mountain taking 90 billion pictures and praying that we wouldn't trip and accidentally plummet to our deaths off the side of the mountain. Safely on the ground, we drove into downtown Atlanta for a delicious, authentic Italian dinner at Baraonda and then took a cab ride (because we were too lazy to walk two miles and thought paying $20 for a 5 second ride seemed pretty reasonable) to the nearby Westin Hotel because everyone (besides myself...again, I HATE, LOATHE, and DESPISE heights) wanted to see the amazing view from the 73rd floor of the Sun Dial Restaurant. Swallowing my fear of dying in a freak accident, I huddled into the corner of the glass elevator, smashed my eyes shut, and prayed for the slow ascent to the top to be over. Once we reached the top, Heather, Michael, Cassie, and Brent took pictures of the gorgeous views of downtown Atlanta lit up at night while I plastered myself to the wall, holding onto the railing until my knuckles turned white. I probably looked like a complete freak of nature...what can I say, heights just aren't my thing..and several people laughed at me (the cowering cry-baby) while they walked by :(. The five of us enjoyed a scrumptious dessert in the fancy, fine-dining Sun Dial restaurant and then crammed back into the car for the ride home. Not one to waste an opportunity to make our friends feel good, Heather and I filled the ride home with super fun games (leaving Cassie at the gas station when she needed a restroom break, then locking her out of the car, turning the AC up as high as it goes for a fabulous game of Freeze Out while Cassie complained of being hypothermic, and screeching Metallica songs into her ears every time she tried to doze off...we are really awesome friends!) At the end of the night we were beyond exhausted, sun and wind burned from our epic day outside, but happy and content. We got our day of snow fun...and that's all we really wanted!

The 7 of us pose in pretend tubes before our actual tubing adventure

Me and Cassie crammed into the back on the ride to Atlanta

5 sardines in a Corolla can :)

Yay! Snow Mountain...We are HERE!!!

So happy as we race to the entrance

I love snow days...even man-made ones

Our tubing passes

Yup, we have to take advantage of every photo opp. I love looking like the misfit friend...thanks self-timer for only giving me 10 seconds to race around the maze of benches and jump into the picture :)

We also got to see a short 4D film which was awesome with the exception of the water that was continuously sprayed in our faces.

Entering the snow play area

My first steps on snow all year

The first thing you should always do when surrounded by snow is pelt each other with balls of ice...even if it is clearly against the rules :(

Starting our igloo/fort-building project

The snow blower sprays us with flakes

All you need to make an igloo is a shovel and a rectangle sand castle mold...and a bucket to sit on if you are old and decrepit like we are...our legs just can't take crouching for two hours while we work.

Making bricks of snow for our igloo

We would never make it as real-life brick layers...look at the sloppy, crack-filled job we are doing

Zach, Kanina, and Cassie build a little snowman

Heather, Michael, Brent, and I work on the fort

The sad little snowman...seconds before it is crushed to death

We pose by our half-built igloo...we got tired and gave up...tubing was calling us

Zach pushes Michael into the fort...completely destroying all of our hard work

The rules say no snowball fights, but they don't say anything about snowbrick fights...poor Cassie is always the one we gang up on

We get in a few more snowballs before we race to the tubing section

Zach takes a break...he's real tired from all his igloo-destroying efforts

Heather and Michael on the tube...ready for take-off

Me...ready to tube

Michael and Brent on the way down

The tubing lanes

Cassie, Kanina, and Zach are in lane two

Woohoo...sledding is so much fun

We pile onto the conveyor belt that takes us to the top...so much better than walking :)

Heather stands in line for the single tube ride

Michael eagerly awaits his turn

And she's off...

I covertly take pictures on the way down, although the mean lady at the bottom yells at me for not holding on with both hands

Me on the way down

Kanina flies to the finish

Cassie stands in line on our millionth turn tubing

Me waiting for my next turn

We survive the tram ride and make it to the top of Stone Mountain

A panoramic view from the top

I love when Kanina photobombs my pictures :)

The girls at the top of Stone Mountain

The boys at the top

The downtown Atlanta skyline from Stone Mountain

Some water-filled craters...it's like we are walking on the moon, sort of

Another panoramic view

Heather, Cassie, and I

This is as close as I can get to the fence without my knees getting weak

Michael

The three of us on Stone Mountain

Michael, Brent, and Cassie are ready for our 4D adventure

Me and Heather...looking awesome in our dorky glasses

Because we are ghetto and poor, we take a picture of the picture they take of us upon entering the 4D show

The delicious Italian restaurant where we eat dinner

Crammed into the back seat of our taxi-cab

The taxi that took us on our first Atlanta cab ride

*GULP* 73 floors is REALLY, REALLY high :(

Michael takes scenic pictures for me because I am too scared to unclench my fists from the railing in order to enjoy the view

Me, Heather, and Cassie at the top of the Westin Hotel

Michael and Brent

Heather jumps in for another picture

The five of us...73 floors above Atlanta

Lounging around in the bar area

A toast...to friendship and awesomeness...and amazing day trips with the people who matter most :)

Me...trying to hide my fear of heights with a sun-burnt smile

Heather drinks her fancy Diet Coke like a lady...with her pinky extended

Our dessert...the perfect amount...a bite of each for everyone to satisfy our sweet tooth

Running...Because Biking Just Doesn't Do It For Me Anymore

2012-01-24T20:45:00.000-06:00

I'm pretty sure that there are people out there who can run without looking like colossal morons. Me, I'm definitely not one of them. For the past few weeks, I've been toying with the idea of getting back into riding my bike. I used to ride every day, 12 mile rides without thinking twice (Once I even rode from Jacksonville to Georgia and back, 60 miles,...one of my proudest moments), but I definitely fell off of that wagon. I haven't gone for a ride in about 6 months and it makes me sad. There are a million excuses as to why: I'm tired, there's not enough time in the day, my bike tires need air, I'm a little nervous (I had a bad accident where I flipped head first over my handlebars and really tore myself up...thank God for helmets, as dorky as they look), blah...blah...blah. You can always find a million excuses to not do something. Yesterday, I decided to stop being so whiny and just get up and do it. I laced up my sneakers, gulped down some water, and jumped on my bike and just rode around the neighborhood for a few miles. Not only did I realize that I am really out of shape (I guess taking 6 months off is not a good idea), but I really hated it. I used to love biking, I'd blast some really angry girl music (music that I wouldn't listen to in front of people, but is awesome for pumping you up while exercising), pump my legs up and down, and just bike my little heart out. Biking was a time when I could just be...no thinking, no worries, nothing to stress about...just me and the road. As crappy as the ride was, I just didn't want to throw in the towel, but, at the same time, I didn't want to force myself to do something that wasn't fun anymore. So, today I decided to give running a chance. A runner I am not, I've known this since my youth when I'd pray for a broken leg, a sprained ankle, anything that would keep me from the dreaded PE suicide drills that made me want to throw myself off of a bridge (I guess they are named appropriately :)). Lately, I've been reading a lot about this couch to 5K program that many people love and I decided to try my hand at it...I knew I'd never be able to run without stopping on my first attempt, so this seemed perfect for me. HAHA! What a nightmare...I quickly discovered that I suck at running, I don't breathe right, my shoe laces came untied 90 billion times, and I probably looked like a complete idiot (you know the Friends episode where Phoebe runs, well I probably looked something like that...I'm just grateful that none of the cars passing by stopped to laugh or throw tomatoes). The switching off between walking and running is totally doable though and I got through it without having a heart attack, Yup, I'm awesome! As ridiculous as today was, it was a lot of fun....just what I needed to get back on the wagon, exercise wise. Hopefully, the more I run, the less I will look like an idiot, but seriously, who cares?! I was surrounded by beautiful scenery (country roads at sunset), listening to my guilty-pleasure jams (Pink, Avril, Maroon 5), and putting one foot in front of the other (without any embarrassing face plants, might I add..YAY ME!). Who knows, maybe running will become for me what biking used to be. I guess we will see, one day at a time :)

"The One Where Phoebe Runs" Yup, that's about what I looked like today :)

You have to stretch first...me in the backyard

Half-way done...1.5 miles down...not too shabby

Running is easy, all you need is sneakers and the road...plus some motivation

Enjoying running through the country at sunset...Alabama really is beautiful

I made it home in one piece, but sweaty and tired :)

Nina and Georgia think the mini trampoline is their new cat bed...what a bunch of pea-brains!

The BEST way to spend the day...

2012-01-23T02:41:00.001-06:00

Sunday is my favorite day of the week for a lot of reasons...the most important being:
1)Since we are off Sundays and Mondays, it is the start of our weekend, so sleeping in is ALWAYS an option (and when you go to bed when the sun is coming up staying in bed is not only awesome, but totally necessary)
2)Sweat pants and movie marathons with my two favorite people, Heather and Michael
3)Weekly dinners...cooking, baking, and sitting down to eat a delicious, leisurely home-cooked dinner

It doesn't take much to make me feel happy and content...here's the secret to the perfect day (according to moi):

-Curl up in bed and immerse yourself in a good book (thanks, Laura, for getting me addicted to another series...Matched, I haven't been able to put it down)...comfy blankets and sweet kitties just add to the blissfulness of it all
-Warm bubble baths, mint tea, and some Pearl Jam blasting from the speakers...just don't get too comfortable, you don't want to find yourself in a panic, sputtering water out of your lungs because you got too relaxed, fell asleep, and nearly drowned :) Yes, I have done this before and, No, it was not fun!
-Cooking a scrumptious meal for yourself and your friends. Today was bean casserole (sounds weird, looks gross, but tastes amazing), spicy Rotel rice, and the EASIEST pumpkin muffins in the universe (I swear...only two ingredients and, VOILA, you have yummy treats to munch on). What can I say, I'm a nester and working in the kitchen calms me down.
-Do-it-yourself manicures...since Heather and I are way too cheap to pay for weekly manicures, we usually plop ourselves down on the couch after dinner and paint our nails while watching movies. Michael is such a good sport to put up with the smell of acetone and the grating sound of nails being filed :) Sometimes a little pampering is all a girl needs...that and keeping polish on my nails prevents me from putting my hands in my mouth which is a nervous and DISGUSTING habit :)
-Movie marathons (thank you Redbox and Netflix for giving us so many options to choose from)...anyone who knows us knows that there is nothing we'd rather do than watch TV (okay, okay we are couch potatoes) and lazy Sundays are perfect for this activity. This Sunday's flicks included: Super 8, The Help, and One Day (good, great, and amazing). Popcorn, subtitles (yes, we like to watch movies with captions...don't judge us), and warm blankets equal 3 happy campers

I love Sundays...they totally make up for the chaotic weeks we all seem to be having :)

My book of the day...Matched...a cross between The Giver and The Hunger Games...so far I LOVE it :)

The easiest pumpkin muffin recipe ever (1 15 ounce can of pumpkin and a box of yellow cake mix...all you need, but I added cinnamon and nutmeg because they make everything better...25 minutes at 350 and you have delicious muffins)

Georgia the Hutt always has to stick her nose into everything :)

Cake mix and pumpkin...YUMMY, plus no gross eggs :)

She's so hungry...little Oliver Twist can lick the spoon

Me baking up a storm...one of my favorite past times

The finished muffins

Bean casserole and rice for dinner...just because you are a vegetarian doesn't mean you can't eat well :)

My attempt at the Lisa Frank zebra strip nails...before you judge: I have really unsteady hands :)

Heather captures Nina because she needs some kitty love

How we spent our night

Be Our Guest, Be Our Guest

2012-01-17T00:24:00.000-06:00

Beauty and the Beast is, by far, my absolute favorite Disney movie in the entire universe! I saw it when it first came to theaters 20 years ago (jeez, I'm OLD!), wore out several VHS copies, bought a replacement DVD which I've seen 90 billion times, and saw the off-Broadway (okay the Jacksonville State Drama Department's) production, so, of course, when Heather and I (she LOVES it too) saw that it was being re-released in 3D we just HAD to see it on the big screen again. Since Monday is like our weekend (no school, no work, no responsibilities) we decided to turn the day into Movie Marathon Monday (the best way to spend a Monday EVER!). Cassie came down from Alexandria and, after a lunch of delicious chili relleno burritos, we drove to Trussville to spend 90 minutes of our lives in utter bliss, watching Belle, the Beast, Gaston, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts and singing along under our breath (we know every single line of the movie...thankfully we didn't get kicked out for our off-key crooning). After the movie (which was SOOOOO wonderful), we drove to Myers Auto Collision to wait for Michael to get off of work, then headed to Five Guys for a delicious dinner. Should we go home or watch another movie??? Umm...another movie, please! Back at the Regal Theater we decided to watch Mark Wahlberg in Contraband (which was amazing as well) before heading home. Musicals + sexy men in action movies=the best way to spend the day!!!

My favorite Disney movie EVER

Cries at the back door for 2 hours only to roll around on the concrete for two seconds before running back inside...yup, he's awesome!

Me and Artie

Heather's baby, Jack

Molly loves Georgia's tunnel

Jack and Molly face off

Too poor to buy movie theater concessions? Bring your own :) That's just how we roll

Cassie guards our popcorn while we drive to Trussville

Cassie and Michael at Five Guys

Me and Heather....so happy after watching Beauty and the Beast

Movie Monday: an awesome musical+a great action flick

Georgia has five thousand toys, but would rather dig around in my purse for trash to play with...what a moron!

Too good for cat dish water...sleeps on the counter until I let the faucet drip

The Pell City Winter Olympics...LEGENDARY!

2012-01-15T13:06:00.000-06:00

Saturdays are usually pretty humdrum in our lives...between a full, hectic week at work and all of the other 90 billion things that come up on a day to day basis, we are usually ready to fuse ourselves to the couch for Netflix marathons after getting off of work...not this Saturday though. Instead of embracing our laziness, we decided to have a few friends over and just hang out. Our relaxing "come over and chill" evening quickly turned into a marathon sporting event. The night started with a few rounds of Just Dance 3 (which Bryan dominated at...what is it with these boys being better dancers than we are?!), then turned into a ping pong battle royale in the kitchen. Let me tell you, we really STINK at ping pong...I think we spent more time chasing the run-away balls and trying to avoid getting brained by paddles than we did actually playing. :) At midnight, Me, Heather, Michael, Bryan, and Callie were all that was left of our friends (everyone else was lame and had to go to bed), instead of calling it a night, Michael remembered the croquet set that they had been given. Midnight croquet in 20 degree weather...YES!!! Bundled up, we set up a chair/lawn mower/ramp obstacle course and attempted to play croquet (complete with accents...although we ended up sounding like idiotic Australian/Chinese/Mexican people...we are no good at accents). We played croquet (or "Megan is the WINNER" as I like to call it) for several hours, taking breaks to sword fight with our croquet sticks (because, let's face it...the Dark Side is pretty tempting at times...and croquet sticks make excellent light sabers), pound croquet ties into the ground while singing "I've been working on the railroad" at the top of our lungs (I'm sure the neighbors loved us), and trying to be the first person to get their croquet ball through the obstacle course and over the ramp. Game ON! 2 AM arrived...time for bed...NOT...who needs bed when you can have a boys against girls kickball tournament :) Pele we are not, but we had a blast kicking foul balls, stealing bases (lawn chairs), and blocking the boys from getting home runs any way we could (holding them down, running away with the bases so they couldn't be safe, throwing the ball over the fence). Dancing, ping pong, croquet, and kickball were not enough...after having mild asthma attacks from running around in the backyard for hours, we headed inside to play TABOO (which the girls dominated at, of course), attempt a game of Monopoly (which didn't even last one round because we were too tired), and watch an hour and a half of stupid videos on YouTube. What a night...a mini-Olympics in our own backyard...it was LEGEN-wait for it-DARY!!!

Me and Heather...playing kickball at 3 in the morning

Senor Miquel

A lap full of puppies...at least I'm not always the crazy CAT lady :)

Kanina is ready for some Just Dance

Zach is thrilled to be alive :)

Round 1 of Just Dance...GAME ON!

Dancing to "Apache: Jump On It"

The boys are such better dancers...I don't know if this is a good thing or not?!

Kanina and Cassie move their butts to some Britney Spears

Bryan gets ready to serve...and the ping pong battle begins

Heather and I play, but spend more time chasing the ball...ping pong is not our forte

Michael takes his ponging seriously

Croquet at 2 AM...sounds like a good idea :)

Bryan loves his blue ball

Heather and Callie

Michael thinks he is going to win...boy is he WRONG!

Bryan and Michael show us their balls :)

And the games commence

Heather loves posing instead of taking her turn

Game off...time for a light saber fight

PHEW, PHEW, PHEW...who will win the sword fight...suck it up, it's only a flesh wound

I have no clue what we are doing...it's 3 AM and still going strong

I'm the WINNER!

It's Callie Morgan on first base as Bryan pitches the kick ball

I kick the ball over the fence...HOME RUN!!!

Setting up Monopoly...30 minutes to put together, 5 minutes for us to give up :)

Heather is the slowest banker ever...she's just real tired

Callie

Me at 5 AM...boy do I look tired :)

Battle of the Bands at Zydeco

2012-01-08T22:40:00.000-06:00

Today, the Polar Grizzles took the stage at Zydeco in Birmingham to rock out in the Battle of the Bands competition. Heather, Michael, and I decided to go and support our friends (and because we like being obnoxious fans). After suffering through 2 "musical acts" (okay, the first one was decent, the second one made me want to rip my own ears off), Bryan, Andrew, Daniel, and Josh went on and, once again, put on an amazing show. A 30 minute set (too short if you ask me), 6 original songs (which included my favorite, "Only in Hell"), and an all-around fabulous performance by The Grizzlies (they get better every time we hear them) all made for a spectacular Sunday evening. Muchas Gracias, Polar Grizzlies, for feeding our never-ending appetite for awesome music :) You guys ROCKED...again!

Michael, Heather, and I at Zydeco...waiting for The Polar Grizzlies to take the stage

Zydeco in Birmingham

Michael tries his hand at pool while we wait

Heather will definitely never be accused of being a pool hustler :)

Taking a break from the smoke before the bands go on stage

Me, ready to rock out

Michael and his purse...little Willy style :)

Bryan gets ready to take the stage

Heather takes a load off between sets

Josh, The Polar Grizzlies' drummer

Bryan does sound check

Andrew is ready to shred his guitar

Daniel, no ripped pants this time...HURRAY!

Nick gets ready to start a mosh pit

Performing "Inceptions Gone"

The Polar Grizzlies

Michael is their #1 Fan...WHOOP DIDDY DIDDY

Michael, Heather, Bryan, and Me

More amazing songs

Andrew shows us how it's done

90 billion pictures from a 30 minute show...yup, that's how I roll :)

Michael and Dante

Me and Heather

Performing my favorite song, "Only in Hell"

Daniel is amazing again!

Great job, Grizzlies :)

The Crappiest Adventure Ever

2012-01-05T03:12:00.001-06:00

Once upon a time, in a city named Pell, two girls went on an adventure to see a spectacular meteor shower. It was 1:30 AM on a cold January night, Megan was curled up in her warm, comfy bed laughing hysterically to Adam Sandler in "Just Go With It" when she received a frantic phone call from her best friend, Heather. "Are you awake? There's a meteor shower starting in five minutes, let's go see it!!! Hurry!!!," Heather screamed into the phone while she pulled on her warm clothes without waking the sleeping Miguelito who had to be at work early in the morning. Megan bounced out of bed, excitement making her heart pump faster, "I've never seen a meteor shower in real life, I'm coming to get you RIGHT NOW!!!" The girls, in separate houses, pulled on their warm winter hats, grabbed their sky-watching equipment (cameras, binoculars, and camp chairs) and tried to keep their excitement from getting out of control. As Megan raced to pick up Heather, she was questioned (via facebook) by her science-saavy friend, Stevan, about the accuracy of her thought process..."Are you sure the meteor shower is tonight??? I thought it was yesterday!" Thinking Stevan must be confused, Megan failed to heed his warning and she and Heather headed to the darkness of the country where they might observe the meteor shower untempered by the obscuring lights of the city. As they made their way down the highway, Megan expressed Stevan's concerns to Heather..."My friend just told me the meteor shower already happened? Are you sure it's tonight?" Heather, secure in her genius-like thought process, vehemently supported her claims about the meteor shower was taking place this evening..."I just looked at AOL News, the meteor shower starts at 1:30 CST Wednesday morning...hurry up so we don't miss it!" Megan kept driving for a second, then looked at Heather dumbfounded, "Umm...technically it's Thursday morning...I think we missed the show!" Both girls simultaneously realized their epic fail. "WHY ARE WE SO STUPID?" they cried to each other as disappointment and depression set in. Since they were almost to the park, they decided to stop anyway thinking that they might be lucky enough to catch a meteor shower remnant. Not only did they not see anything amazing in the sky, but they also got questioned by a policeman who pulled up in his cruiser to see what two hooligans were doing in the middle of the park at 2 AM. Flushed with embarrassment at their epic mistake, the girls had to explain to the officer that they were too stupid to realize the difference between Wednesday and Thursday. The police officer obviously felt sorry for the two nearly frostbitten girls because he drove off without laughing...although the girls were sure he wanted to. They were a pretty sad sight, two twenty-something friends, bundled up against the cold, weighted down with cameras and binoculars, staring at the dark sky wondering, "Where is the beautiful show that we were told to expect?!" Can you say, STUPID??? Dejected and thoroughly frozen, both girls loaded up their sky-watching gear and headed home, "I guess we can Google pictures of a meteor shower and pretend that we know what it's like," they told each other. What should have been an amazing night of sky-gazing (had they paid closer attention to dates) turned into the crappiest adventure in the world...maybe one day the girls will get their heads on straight and be able to enjoy nature's awesomeness firsthand instead of watching YouTube videos and imagining what it would have been like if only they had understood that Wednesday was a totally different day from Thursday :(

Excited to watch the meteor shower...little did we know how moronic we were :(

Heather loads up the camp chairs so we can watch the shower in comfort

I'm so excited!!! I love meteor showers!

Heather gazes at the sky as the police officer pulls into the parking lot :( Whoopsie!

What we could have seen if we hadn't been so stupid!

What we did see...the moon...who the heck cares about the dumb moon :(

Heather gives us an astronomy lesson as we trudge back to the car :( No meteor shower, but at least we get to gaze at some of the constellations...GREAT! :(

A Birthday in the Gutter

2012-01-02T12:50:00.000-06:00

Well, bowling sucks, or better yet, we suck at bowling! :) Yesterday, to celebrate Brent's 22nd birthday, Cassie and I decided to take him out to dinner and a movie. We drove to Trussville and ate a leisurely meal at Olive Garden, but when we were finished, we still had almost two hours to kill before the movie was scheduled to start. How do you kill 2 hours on a Sunday evening when all the stores are closed??? Head to Lightning Strikes to go bowling! None of us had been bowling in a LONG time, so we figured we wouldn't be asked to join any championship leagues, but even I was surprised how badly we played. At least one ball from every frame wound up in the gutter...whoopsie, but thank goodness none of us stepped over the foul line and slipped down the lane (which I've done before...more than once) and all of our balls stayed in the right lane (which hasn't always been the case). Despite our bad form and LOW scores, it was really fun and we finished just in time to head to Regal Cinemas to catch the late night showing of Jonah Hill in "The Sitter" which was pretty funny. A good meal, a fun game, and a hilarious movie=the perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday evening...Happy birthday, Brent!

Me and Cassie at Lightning Strikes

Brent sends his first ball straight into the gutter

Cassie is going to try for a strike...but she loves the gutter too much

Brent and I "boo" her attempt and her ball goes into the gutter

I love bowling even though I stink at it

This time she actually hits two pins...what a professional

Gutter, or no gutter?!

I'm the champion...three pins down :)

Brent flings it down the lane

Cassie tries again

Hmm...are these warning actually necessary??? Yup, they are...I've slipped down the lanes, not once, but twice...what a klutz

Bowling shoes=SUPER GROSS!

Brent, the birthday boy

WAAH!!! Another gutter ball :(

Cassie thinks that cooling her hand on the vent will make her a better bowler...boy is she wrong

Brent gets ready to bowl the final frame

Cassie's last turn...we get worse as the game goes on

The final scores...we suck, suck, suck, but I am THE CHAMPION!!!

Cassie shows us how to rap, white girl style, on the way to the movies

The Sitter=slightly disturbing (the kids were monsters), but pretty hilarious

What a lazy bum...is he dead or sleeping?

Law & Order on Netflix to relax from my long day? Yes, please :)

2012: A New Year, A New Chapter

2012-01-01T18:20:00.000-06:00

I love the clean slate feeling that comes along with the arrival of a brand new year. It doesn't matter that 2011 was less than perfect (which is the understatement of the year), we survived and are still standing despite a few bruises :) Looking back over my 90 billion blogs from 2011(I have a problem..."Hi, my name is Megan and I'm a blog addict!"), I realized...maybe last year wasn't as bad as I thought...either way, we sure had a lot of fun.

2011 was definitely a year for change. Major life changes, a change of address, a change of perspective, reconnecting with my two best friends after a 10 month stand-off to see who was more stubborn (I win!), bad decisions, a whole lot of love, forgiveness, and, most of all, feeling blessed and grateful for everything that has helped shape me into the person I am today.

Today, chores be damned! I am spending the first day of a brand new year curled up on the couch in my favorite sweat pants and worn out Dodgeball t-shirt watching a marathon of Law & Order (life just doesn't get much better). The laundry needs washing, the floor needs vaccuming, my bike needs riding, but my motivation can kick in tomorrow. Today is for me...bumming around, watching the kitties attack twist-ties on the floor, and basking in the fact that life is sweet and we've been given a whole new year to fill up with love, laughter, friends, and silliness.

2012 is finally here!

Heather drives everyone crazy blowing her horn every 5 seconds

Goofy, but ready to ring in the New Year :)

The prime rib buffet at The Tavern

Brad loves carving the prime rib

Heather and I at work...not the most exciting way to spend New Year's Eve, but the night turned out pretty awesome anyway

Karaoke party in the pub :)

I'm excited for midnight

The kitties spend New Year's doing what they do best...sleeping like bums on the couch and the floor :)

Let's go to the movies!

2011-12-30T13:13:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, for the first time in months, Heather, Michael, and I all had a weekday off together, so we decided to drive to Trussville to relax at the movies and have some dinner. After a delicious lunch at Logan's, we headed to the Regal Theater to watch New Year's Eve. The movie was absolutely hilarious (although we were the only ones in the theater laughing...I guess the rest of the world lost their sense of humor) and, damn, Zac Efron has really grown up ;). When the movie was over and we finished browsing at the Pinnacle, Heather, after months of debate, decided to give up on her dream of being Lady Godiva...riding a horse with hair so long it covered her nakedness...and chop off her long hair. She had been growing her hair for a year and a half and was really apprehensive about cutting it, especially after the HORRIBLE bowl cut debacle of 2003, but the end result looked really cute and sleek. Haircut complete, we wanted to see another movie, but had about an hour to kill, so we went to Munoz's (our favorite Mexican restaurant) for dinner and then went back to the movies. This time to see We Bought a Zoo, another fabulous movie. None of us had seen a movie since Harry Potter came out in the Summer and it was so much fun to waste an entire day in the theater watching awesome movies.

Me and Heather, being driven around Trussville by our chauffeur, Michael

My new (to me) couch for the office :)

My favorite boy, Artimus Maximus

How sad...I guess the only way for him to get my attention is to sleep on my computer

Going to get a haircut

Heather's long locks, pre-cut

Saying goodbye to Beardy

Me at the salon

7 inches gone

Michael shows us his guns :)

Short and fabulous

Me at Munoz's

Michael

Heather loves her new 'do

A day at the movies=the best day ever :)

A Christmas extravaganza and proof that we are the WORST dancers in the world

2011-12-26T16:23:00.001-06:00

Sometimes the simplest days make the best/happiest memories. Christmas was a prime example of this. After baking until 3 AM with Heather and Jan on Christmas Eve, we were all looking forward to sleeping in and having a low-key, relaxing Christmas day. The first thing I did when I woke up Christmas morning (okay, Christmas afternoon) was to run to my window and check for a Christmas miracle...snow..., but I was sorely disappointed, only rain and fog :( The wrong type of precipitation, Santa...maybe next year you can get it right! Still in my pajamas, I headed over to Heather and Michael's where we made a Christmas brunch of cinnamon rolls, breakfast burritos (egg for Michael and kidney bean for me and Heather), and country-fried potatoes...YUM...and then we hunkered down in front of the fire on the couches with baby Jack and the puppies to open our presents from Santa. We must have been really good this year because, even though Michael and I got bags of coal in our stockings (chocolate covered kettle corn), we all got everything our heart's desired. Heather got a beautiful new jacket so she won't die from hypothermia, awesome Nikes so she can run really fast, Just Dance 3 so we can show off our sweet dance moves, and a bunch of other fabulous things. Michael got some cool power tools so he can give himself a homemade lobotomy or tinker on cars at work, new Nikes so he can jump really high, an NCAA football game for the XBOX, and a nice warm robe so that he can be a man of leisure. I got all the candles and wax scents that I wanted so that my house would smell like a Christmas tree even after the holidays are over, the rolling Christmas tree storage bag that I wanted so that my tree will be protected from the sharp fangs of Georgia the Hutt, and a bunch of movies, including the newest Harry Potter on Blu-Ray so that I can embrace my nerdiness and have Pottermania marathons whenever I want. After our presents were opened and we cleaned up the mountains of wrapping paper and destroyed boxes, we got ready to head over to Jan and Tony's for our Christmas dinner. Cassie and Brent joined us and we enjoyed a feast of turkey, green bean casserole, spicy spinach macaroni bake, pigs in blankets, and a crisp vegetable/cheese tray finished off with the 90 billion pounds of cookies and treats that we had made the night before. With out bellies full, we headed outside to play on Colin's awesome new Rockboard scooter (it's the coolest thing ever, you jump on it with one foot in front of the other and pump your legs up and down to get it to move), we rode up and down the street until we were frozen and even though we are old and extremely uncoordinated, no one fell off of the scooter or broke any limbs. While we warmed up and ate dessert, Michael and Brent set up Colin's new Wii and we got ready to battle each other at Just Dance 3. 3 hours later, sweat dripping from our brows, we realized that A) we SUCK at dancing and B) we should NEVER allow anyone to have a video camera in the room when we are playing because it just immortalizes how uncoordinated and goofy we are...so much for our dreams of forming a spectacular dance team :( Sufficiently embarrassed by our lack of skills, we headed home to watch the final holiday movie of the season, A Christmas Story, and then crawled into bed full, happy, and feeling extremely blessed. As this year comes to a close, I am just more and more grateful for everything we have been given...the love of our families, fabulous memories, a surplus of happiness, and the best friends in the world...what more could anyone ask for?!

The gang on Christmas day

Baby Jack poses on the counter

Heather and Michael, Christmas morning

Me, super excited on Christmas morning

Heather starts making our breakfast burritos

Cooking brunch :)

Yum...kidney bean and cheese burrito, country-fried potatoes, and a cinnamon roll

Heather and Michael enjoy their Christmas brunch

Michael eats his breakfast burritos

Baby Jack eats some eggs on the table

The puppies and Jack scavenge for crumbs

SANTA!!! SANTA CAME!!!

Me and Molly on Christmas

My Christmas stocking

Heather and Michael with their stockings

Michael plays Santa and hands out gifts

AW MAN! I got some coal in my stocking :(

Heather gets some hand sanitizer to protect her from germs :)

Michael gives Jack his squeaking mouse toy

Me and Daisy and Molly with our pile of presents

Heather and Emy with their presents

Michael loves his Budweiser t-shirt

Heather gets the best movie ever...ELF

Daisy loves her dog treats

Michael practices being a man of leisure

Heather's new Nikes :)

Michael's new shoes

I love movies :)

Molly with her purple bow :)

Another awesome t-shirt for Michael

Bath and Body Works...so I won't be stinky :)

The best game ever...Just Dance 3

Michael and his new tool set

Heather loves her brand new jacket

YAY!!! My Harry Potter collection is complete

Heather models her new jacket...no hypothermia for this girl

Jack plays in the piles of trash

It's a Molly in a stocking

Georgia doesn't need presents...she loves climbing into boxes

Watching a little SVU while I do some cooking

The beautiful planter/drink holder for the patio

A delicious veggie tray for dinner

Pigs in blankets for the meat eaters

Heather gets a purse manicure kit

Colin opens a bag of rocks...now he can make stone soup for dinner :)

Jan opens her present while Tony watches football

Watching Colin open his presents

Heather

Tony loves his redneck wine glass...and he uses it right away

Heather gets a fold-up insulated shopping bag for when we go couponing

Michael gets another XBOX game

Hanging out at Jan's

Making spicy spinach macaroni bake :)

I love Christmas

Colin rides his old scooter since all the adults stole his new Rockboard

Hurray!!! I successfully ride without breaking any limbs

Brent takes a spin

Heather shows Cassie how to do it

Heather rides Colin's Rockboard

Me, trying to stay warm outside

Heather helps Cassie get her balance

Heather and Colin

Michael, Brent, and Cassie

Everyone waits while I try to set up the self-timer

Heather and Michael

Jan and Colin

The girls on Christmas

Heather, Jan, and Me

Michael explains to everyone how to play the Wii

Our Christmas dinner

Delicious

Shaking our groove thing :)

We are the best dancers ever...PSYCHE

Heather

Cassie embraces her inner gangsta

Everyone is so serious when they look at their dance scores

Michael and Colin are the best dancers in the group

It's important to stretch :)

Heather, Brent, and Colin

Colin and Michael have a deep conversation while we dance

The dance party continues

Who is the winner?!

Cassie, Brent, and I really get into it

Me and Cassie

Cassie, Michael, Heather, and Colin dance some more

We love Just Dance :)

Heather and Michael's Christmas lights

In Anticipation of Christmas

2011-12-25T11:00:00.000-06:00

The final two days leading up to Christmas were exactly what I needed to kick my Grinch-like attitude and FINALLY get into the holiday spirit. I don't know what has been wrong with me this year, I usually love Christmas, but I just haven't been feeling it lately...I think I came down with a bad case of Bah-Humbug-itis and it really sucked. All December long I pretended to be excited about the upcoming holidays. The day after Thanksgiving, I half-heartedly put up my tree and Christmas decorations, I sang along to Christmas carols (even though my ears started bleeding every time "Santa Baby" came on the radio) in Heather's car because she refuses to listen to anything else until Christmas is over, I sent out Christmas cards to my family and friends, I pretended to be entranced by the beautiful lights at Homestead Hollow, and I faked having holiday spirit every day in hopes that one day I'd wake up and wouldn't have to fake it anymore. I didn't even get mad when Georgia the Hutt managed to pull ornaments off of the tree and scatter them throughout the house (I just love finding The 12 Days of Christmas ornament balls in the bathroom, underneath the couch, waiting for me by the front door, etc. :) Thankfully, Friday morning, I just couldn't be a Scrooge any longer. I think I have Heather to thank/blame...her crazy enthusiasm for the holidays was just so contagious that it finally broke through my anti-Christmas force field and infected me with Christmas cheer...thank God!!! My lack of excitement was making me depressed and I was beginning to feel like a cotton-headed ninny muggins :(

Friday morning, Heather, Colin, and I woke up at 7:30 to finish up our holiday shopping (because it's just not the Christmas season if you don't have 90 billion things left on your list two days before Christmas arrives) and raced around Trussville buying last minute presents, wrapping paper, groceries, and having the fastest 30 minute lunch with Michael at Munoz's before hurrying back to work for the longest night of our lives. :) There is nothing like having to be at work on a slow night when you have 5 million presents to wrap, houses to clean, and cookies to bake...needless to say, the minutes ticked by until FINALLY we were off! Heather and I raced to Walmart for only the third time that day to get the things we had forgotten, picked up some pizza, and hunkered down for a LONG night of present wrapping and baking. We had good intentions to complete wrapping and baking, but when 4 AM rolled around and the final gift had barely been wrapped, we decided to forgo baking and just go to bed :( The cookies could wait until Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve day didn't start out too well...in my rush to get ready (we were going to Michael's parents for lunch and Dirty Santa) I slipped in the shower and nearly broke my neck while simultaneously ripping the shower curtain rod out of the wall, spilled wax all over my favorite pair of jeans, and, in my mad rush to Publix for vegetables and cheese for the relish tray we were bringing to Chuck and Gayle's since we had been too tired to bake, I dropped an entire row of biscuits all over the floor popping several of them open...that's not embarrassing! Still in one piece, the three of us loaded up the car and headed to Springville for the Christmas Eve festivities. The afternoon was really fun, we got to visit with Michael's family, play football with Colton, learn that Heather and I have absolutely NO skill when it comes to hula-hooping, and steal presents from each other during an awesome game of Dirty Santa. Michael's family always makes me feel so welcome during the holidays and I was glad to be able to spend the day with my best friends.

After leaving Michael's parent's house, we battled the crowds at Walmart (I know, I know...we go to Walmart way too much...we are just really scatterbrained and forget half of the things we need, even if we make lists) for last minute grocery items, and then headed home for a tortilla soup dinner, baking marathon, and Christmas movies. Christmas Eve was perfect...Heather, Jan, and I baked cookies (chocolate chip, chocolate peanut butter, and chocolate covered pretzels) until 2 AM while we watched Miracle on 34th Street (the 1947 and the 1994 versions), sang along to Christmas carols, and took turns basking in front of the warmth of the fire.

The holiday spirit has finally grabbed a hold of me. I have a feeling Christmas day is going to be completely excellent...cinnamon roll breakfast and opening presents with Heather and Michael, a delicious holiday feast at Jan and Tony's, and lazing around on the couches watching movies until the wee hours of the morning with everyone. Here's to another fabulous Christmas day with my closest friends :)

Heather and me on Christmas Eve

Artie warms himself in front of the fire

And Georgia the Hutt blocks the heat

Last minute present shopping in Leeds

Colin poses by the Christmas tree

Georgia and Artie don't need presents...just give them a cardboard box and they are ecstatic

Me and Heather at the Tavern

Baby Jack sleeps on the new couches

Heather and Michael's beautiful tree

Molly climbs all over the presents we've hidden under a blanket

Ready to start wrapping at 1 AM

Heather loves wrapping 90 billion presents in one night...thank God for teamwork

Molly stays in my lap all night long...what a cutie-pie

The mess we make on the floor

Heather hard at work curling ribbon

My wall of Christmas cards :)

A furball in the hallway

Georgia tries to look innocent with the ornament she knocked off the tree

Me, ready for Christmas Eve

The veggie/cheese tray we made...crisp and delicious

Heather is an excellent cheese-cutter

My Christmas green converse

Sassy wakes up for some treats

Presents and candy :)

Colton gets an Auburn pillow pet from Nanny

Crystal, Lee, and Chuck get ready to open presents

Nanny gets an Auburn redneck wine glass (made out of a mason jar)

Michael shows off his shirt from Lee and Crystal

Colton loves helping everyone rip their presents open

Colton, Brent, and Michael on the couch

Heather loves her new vest

A cat pin for a crazy cat lady :)

Michael attempts the pogo stick and nearly plummets to his death

Colton shows us how it's done

Heather helps him balance while he hops

The boys play some football while we whine about being cold

Colton is a good punter

Michael is not so good :)

Heather takes a turn kicking the football

Christmas Even and football :)

Michael plays with Roxie

Chuck takes Brent and Colton for a ride

Heather "tries" to hula-hoop

I spend more time picking up the hula-hoop than I do actually hula-hooping

Colton shows us how it's done

The present pile for Dirty Santa

Me and Artie on Christmas Eve

Nina loves having her picture taken...NOT

Me and Georgia the Hutt

A Christmas Eve dinner of tortilla soup, spicy rice, and pigs in a blanket (for Michael)

Georgia makes her rounds for begging

She's just so hungry :)

Heather and Jan make peanut butter sandwiches

All you need for delicious chocolate peanut butter cookies

The girls bake while Michael watches movies on the couch

A pile of peanut butter sandwiches

Dipping the peanut butter sandwiches in white chocolate

It's just not Christmas without these delicious treats :)

Michael keeps the Christmas movie marathon rolling all night long

Heather adds some wood to the fire

Watching Miracle on 34th Street

Georgia loves hiding behind the fire screen

Our chocolate peanut butter cookies

Making chocolate covered pretzels

A delicious disaster in the kitchen :)

Georgia checks the food for poison

White chocolate covered pretzels

Chocolate covered pretzels

A pile of homemade chocolate chip cookies

A Week Until Christmas

2011-12-18T18:33:00.002-06:00

7 days...Christmas will be here in a mere 7 days (cue panic)! How can it be the end of the year when it feels like just yesterday we were ringing in 2011??? Plus, it is absolutely ridiculous that our "winter weather" consists of being cold for two seconds and then turning into short sleeve and flip flop weather for days at a time. Where is our White Christmas??? Back in El Paso, my family is having fun sledding and making snowmen (yes, the heat-riddled desert has already gotten several inches of snow) while we, in Alabama, are being forced to use our air-conditoners to stave off a heat stroke :( Life is just so unfair!!!

The final week before Christmas is going to fly by, I just know it. There is so much to do...shopping to finish (okay, okay, I haven't even started), presents to wrap, holiday baking, etc. We need more hours in the day! I absolutely love this time of year...there is so much to look forward to: Christmas Eve with the Watford family, then a spectacular Christmas day with my Alabama family (cooking, food, presents, movies, and, best of all, spending time with friends). The countdown to Christmas is getting kicked off with our traditional lazy Sunday...dinner, movie marathons, blazing fires, and lounging on the couch. :) Ahh...life is good!

My Christmas card picture...just in case anyone had any doubts about my "crazy cat lady" status :)

Watching How I Met Your Mother with Georgia the Hutt

Me on another lazy Sunday

Heather tries to get Georgia to pose with her candy cane fur coat, but she hates it and runs away

Artie thinks Heather is giving him something delicious...boy is he disappointed

Heather rolls sushi for dinner

Georgia keeps trying to steal the crab meat while we make dinner

Our sushi-rolling station

Dinner is served

Artie and Georgia play with the laser pointer in the hallway

Mr. and Mrs. Watford-Claus

Getting Frostbite at the Pell City Christmas Parade 2011

2011-12-13T12:53:00.001-06:00

Last Thursday, on one of the coldest nights in the history of the world (or maybe it just felt that way because, by the time the night was through, every inch of my body was frozen solid) the Pell City Christmas Parade came to town. Every year, for the past three years since I've moved to Alabama, the parade has been a holiday tradition, so, of course, we were all pretty psyched to put on our Christmas shirts, bundle up, and make our way downtown to enjoy the festively decorated floats and listen to the local high school marching bands play "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" over and over again. At the last minute, Heather ended up having to go into work to cover a shift because some people (who deserve a high five...in the face...with a chair) aren't responsible and won't do what they say they are going to do, so she missed the annual parade. Not wanting to let little Colin down, Jan and I went ahead and took him to see the parade by ourselves. Despite the frigid temperatures, the parade was pretty awesome. Nothing says Christmas like light-covered semi's and pontoon boat floats :) 12 more days until Christmas!!!

Jan, Colin, and I...smiling through our frostbite :)

My Christmas tree and Artie sleeping underneath it

Colin is ready to snatch up all the candy

Me...wishing I had five more jackets and a ski mask...BRR!!!

The weather said 37, but I really think it meant -37...soooooo cold

Jan and Colin

The PCHS high school marching band plays, "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch"

A horse-drawn carriage...now if only we had some snow

The JROTC brings by the flags

Home Depot's Christmas Cottage

A float with stockings and lights

This screams, "CHRISTMAS"...a semi decorated with lights

A snowman and reindeer float

Even Wal-Mart has a float

A gingerbread house float

An igloo with lights

Cinderella and her pumpkin carriage

A Fox and a Christmas tree :)

Santa brings the parade to the close