Merry Christmas to all....

Christmas this year was very spread out for us.....

Saturday, the 20th, we went to Mint Hill for mom's family's annual Christmas. We draw names, exchange gifts, and eat...a lot! It's always exciting to see how much the kids have grown, everyone changes, and who gets the prank Christmas gift of the year!

Christmas Eve is my favorite...we get together with my brother & his family to have an early dinner, open gifts and attend the Christmas Eve service at church. It's so peaceful & reflective, and really puts things in perspective about what Christmas really is.


Me, Kylee & Mom after church










Micah putting on Kylee's new light up jelly shoes from Papa

















Kylee telling her daddy "No no way!" when he tried to help open a gift






Of course, this year's service had a little bit of a twist, with Kylee sitting on the row with us and Jacob, her cousin on the row in front of us. It went a little like this "Ky-wee!!" when Jacob saw her, and then "hot" from Jacob repeatedly while we were lighting candles. At least he knows! Kylee even talked a little herself!

We gave Kylee a sit-n-spin, which she really seemed to enjoy standing on. Mom & Dad gave her a cute dog that played music so she danced!

After church we went back to Micah & Amanda's for dessert and more entertainment provided by Kylee. Papa fed her a little dinner so she could have a "COOKIE!!!" I think Papa ended up wearing a lot of the cookie as well!

Kylee next to her Christmas tree


Kylee & Papa with her lime cookie

Christmas Day was very relaxed....slept late & ate lunch around 2:30. A few visitors, then Thomas & I stopped by to see Paula & her family on the way out of Columbia. Once we got home we decided to take a picture to document our first Christmas!

Saturday after Christmas was our Christmas with Thomas' families. We went to Burlington Saturday a.m. and opened gifts at Thomas' mom's house. Joshua was very intent on playing with his "train" and the "track."

Thomas entertaining us with Joshua's keyboard & microphone!





Joshua & Uncle Thomas

For lunch we went to MeMaw Brooks' house with Thomas' dad, stepmom Patty & stepbrother Brandon. MeMaw Brooks cooked a LOT of food, and her wonderful Brownstone Front Cake.

MeMaw Brooks, Deborah, Nancy & Norman


Me with my best friend/ cousin Larissa


Brandon actually looking at the camera!

On the way back to Huntersville we stopped in High Point to visit Thomas' Granny B. It was a very foggy night, and misting rain. But it was nice to see her and look through some VERY old photo albums!

We arrived home at 11:00 p.m., worn out and ready for bed! Now for the fun of next week....packing up Christmas decor and getting ready for Disney World!

Stand Mixer, Part Deux!

After the debut of the stand mixer, I decided to leave it on the counter until the holidays were over and I was pretty sure there would be no heavy-duty cooking for a while. Good idea.

Decided to make Key lime zinger cookies....YUMMY! The mixer was GREAT at getting the flour mixed in. Well, after I let it mix SLOWLY before turning it up fast. Flour creates this nice white dust over everything it comes in contact with, so I once again get to clean the mixer. But it's NOT as bad as last time!

Saturday we had Christmas with mom's family in Mint Hill, so we weren't too far away. Miss Kylee was there and hamming it up...pictures will be posted soon, as they're on mom's camera in Columbia! We had a great time seeing everyone, but had to leave early to make it back to "our side of Charlotte" for the Sunday School class party. Great time of laughing during the ornament & gag gift exchange. The mullet wig & remote control spider were some of my favorites!

Thomas took tomorrow off work, so we'll be headed to Columbia in the a.m. to help mom finish getting ready for our family dinner and then it's off to church at 6:00.

I love Christmas Eve service. It is the one time of the season that everything is just STILL. PEACEFUL. There's time with family & friends. Time to reflect on the TRUE meaning of CHRISTmas. It's not commercialized. It's not political. It just....IS.

Well, that's all for now. Back to making Christmas cookies, packing up presents, packing suitcases & my favorite part....meeting Thomas for dinner at Five Guys tonight before he goes in search of my Christmas present. HA! Typical guy!

Debut of the Stand Mixer

One of the things I REALLY wanted as a wedding gift was a stand mixer. I knew it was a long-shot, but I have just wanted one...bad....for a loooong time. Thought it would make the mixing of Granny's 7-up Pound Cake recipe soooo much easier. There's lots of creaming of butter (lots), margarine, eggs (lots), sugar (LOTS), 7-up, flour (LOTS), etc. It really wears your arm out with a hand-held mixer! Plus, you have to keep stopping to add stuff....Granny was VERY specific in this recipe....eggs ONE AT A TIME, flour & 7-up are added ALTERNATELY. Seriously, you just have to do it right or it's not, well, RIGHT.

Step 1 - take mixer and parts out of box. This involved moving every box that was in front of the mixer box. Not too bad. Washed needed parts, dried them, and set mixer on counter.

Step 2 - attach bowl to mixer. Not a problem, although I was a little worried about breaking it when I twisted the bowl.

Step 3 - tilt mixer head back and attach beaters. These are COLOR CODED (woo hoo!) with red for the special mixer that's "countoured to fit the side of the bowl" and white for the standard mixer. I'm not color-blind, so got this one.

Step 4 - cream butter, margarine & sugar. Here's where things got a little hairy. I put the ingredients in the bowl, and turned the dial to "cream." BAD idea, especially since butter was not very soft. Luckily I was able to quickly wipe the butter/sugar flings off our navy blue kitchen wall leaving no permanent stains. My clothes are another story.

After turning the dial down, I realized that I may need to melt the butter a little. Here's the fun part...you can't put the bowl in the oven, microwave, or on the stove. So...

Step 5 - I decided to place it in the sink with hot water surrounding it. NOT a bad idea, and seemed to do the trick. Luckily I didn't turn the bowl over and managed not to get any water in the batter. YAY!!!

Step 6 - Pull bowl out of water, dry bottom off on towel without turning bowl upside down. (THOUGHT) mission was accomplished. Return bowl to stand, twist to lock in place, and decided to SLOWLY cream butter, margarine & sugar.

Step 7 - Add ingredients as specified. EXACTLY as specified. Kept mixer on low speeds, worked wonderfully! Still had to stop periodically & scrape around sides with a spatula, but I had to do that with the hand mixer also, not really a big deal.

Step 8 - Pour batter into greased & floured bundt pan. Here's where I cheat a little. Baker's Joy with Flour is a GREAT thing...if you can keep the nozzle unclogged! I should have remembered after the last 2 cake-bakes that it was not working right, but nope....came out in globs & I had to smear it around the pan. This creates a greasy mess, but that stuff works really well if you do it right.

Step 9 - At this point I go ahead & remove the mixing bowl from the stand. No problems, until I realize that the water I THOUGHT was dried off the bottom was in fact STILL THERE. About to drip into my messily floured bundt pan. NOT happening. Trying to dry a bowl is one thing...trying to dry the bottom of a bowl with lots of heavy cake batter is a much different story. "Luckily" some of the mixture had left the bowl earlier, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Step 10 - clean up mess made on pans, beaters, mixer, clothes, kitchen counters and walls. That mixer has cake ingredients in various stages of mixing all over it....flour, finished batter, sugar & butter mixture....all over it. Not to mention the batter I'm sure to find later when I'm moving things around on the counter.

So as I sit here licking one of the beaters (which I was smart enough to detach from the mixer first), I ponder.....Was it worth it?!?!

Oh yeah, it's worth it! And that better be the best darned cake I have EVER made!

Our first Christmas....

Thomas & I have been getting in the Christmas spirit...Decorating the house, Christmas lights, and my favorite...volunteering at Operation Christmas Child packing shoeboxes! Mom gave us "Our First Christmas Together" ornament for our tree. Thomas & I went to Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens to walk through the lights 12/13....we were hoping to make it to McAdenville on the way back, but after sitting in traffic for 2 1/2 hours the lights were turned off at 11 p.m. We finally made it at 11:10 p.m., so there were very few houses still lit up and the town lights were OFF! Big disappointment, but we entertained ourselves anyway.

I've finally completed the move to NC....got my NCDL today after taking the test (yes, you have to take the written test & sign test up here), finished vehicle registration, and all that other fun stuff! Thomas & I joined Lake Norman Baptist this past Sunday, and Thomas should be baptized sometime in January or February....YAY!!! We've been visiting on & off for the past 3 years, but really feel comfortable with the people and love the pastor.

I'm still looking for a job, and praying that God will put me where he wants me in that department. It's not very "appropriate" to put "I want a job with less responsibility and no 24/7 on-call" on a cover letter. I LOVED my job at the shelter and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. But it was HIGH stress and calls in the middle of the night with child-related issues and other house malfunctions. I'm a very hard worker, but I would like to have a job where I can enjoy time with Thomas & would be more stable when we have children.

Oh well, that's my ramble. We're gearing up for Christmas time with our families, Sunday School Christmas party and all the other festivities associated with the holiday season! So here are a few pictures from our recent activities...

The Orchid Tree at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

Moving...

So I have been told that I have GOT to update my Blog....but with everything going on that has been the LAST thing on my mind. Right now I should be making an appointment to take the written test for my NC driver's license (yes folks, you can't just go to NC and get a DL), but I'm updating it for my "loyal followers!"

For an update on Marisa's world....

1. I finally left my job. We had our employee appreciation banquet Friday night, and it was great. It was nice to see most of my staff and be able to tell them goodbye. They are all so wonderful, and do their best for our children 24/7. I have truly enjoyed working with my staff and our Board of Directors for the last 4 1/2 years, and this was such a difficult decision to leave. One of the highlights of the night was that our former Executive Director, Marion Atkins, was able to attend the dinner.

2. Since I have left my job, I am finally moving to NC with my husband! We have done some work around the house, and will begin working on a few other home improvement projects soon. He is just THRILLED about all the "junk" I will be moving into our "cozy" townhome, but he'll get over it!

3. My brother & his wife are expecting baby girl #2 in January. This is great! Kylee will be 2 in March, and she is a handfull!



4. Thomas & I are going to Disney World. We will be heading down January 2-9 with James & Lisa to see the Main Mouse himself. Since our honeymoon was slightly "entertaining" with the knee brace & my bronchitis, we're hoping this one will be more fun and filled with much less illness!

That's about it for now. Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels!

Pssghetti

This weekend Thomas & I were in Columbia for Gamecock football and some fun times with my (singles) Sunday School class. Thomas got to hang with the guys for some entertainment, and I spent a little time with my cutie-patootie niece Kylee! Here are some pictures.....










And make sure to have your sound on for this one!

Childress Vineyards & great friends....

So yesterday Thomas & I met James & Lisa at Childress Vineyards for lunch and a tour of the winery. Lunch at the Bistro was great...and the view from the terrace made it so much better. We enjoyed seeing the wine-making process and sampling some delicious wines. Of course, the company was great too!

Check them out at http://www.childressvineyards.com/

"married" weekend

Thomas said that he actually felt "married" this weekend....what that means I have NO clue. But it could have something to do with the fact I've been in Huntersville since Thursday night. Working from home Friday and today is BORING....especially since I'm having to concentrate on one thing. But it will be worth it in the long run when I've got new staff trained and can be in NC full time....so Thomas will ALWAYS feel married ! HA!

Seriously, this has been a bland weekend for us. Basically sitting around watching the Olympics. Thomas loves the shots of China...he's seeing places he's familiar with, and the historical bits they're throwing in there. The opening ceremonies were just AMAZING!!! Some people are so talented and creative. The part that got me the most was watching Yao Ming, this HUGE man, walk in with a child.....whose heart was huge also. Hearing how that 2nd grader ran back inside his school to save other children, then walked with his sisters 7 miles to safety. How awesome is that?!

Now we're watching the events...it fascinates me to see all the skill, dedication and talent of everyone out there. What an amazing experience!!!

Anyway, several posts back I said something about posting wedding pictures. So here are a few....

Disjointed....

So we're still doing the distance-marriage thing, at least for a couple more months. My goal is to be in NC full time by mid-November. Thomas would like it to be sooner, but since we can't find a Development Director I hate to leave the shelter in a bind. We have golf tournament coming up October 19-20, and I always love that event!!! The guys at Travinia are wonderful, and make my life so easy in several areas during that event....plus the food is great!!!

Anyway, as I digress....in NC again this weekend. We did registry completion stuff at Bed Bath & Beyond last night, Target hopefully today. Thomas just loooooves doing this....he tried to sit in the car last night while I was shopping. HAHAHAHA!!!

Today we're off to see his great-uncle Mac in Salisbury who is very ill. We keep praying things will get better, but it's all in God's timing.

On a brighter note, Thomas bought a mini-season ticket pack for the USC games....woo hoo!!!
I've got him helping me come up with personalized tag ideas....something to do with the "real" Carolina, b/c I refuse to have just a "normal" NC tag. Maybe next year we can get them for the full season....but I do know that on August 28 we will be in the stands at Williams Brice cheering on the Gamecocks and hoping they beat NC State!!!

Back to the grind....

Well, Thomas & I have completed week 2 of married life! It's been very "entertaining" and in some aspects hopefully not an indicator of what is to come...lots of illness! He sees the Physical Therapist for the first time in the a.m., although his knee is doing much better.

We went to church together for the first time in almost a month.....we just love Lake Norman Baptist, and have been attending there for 2 1/2 years. Hopefully we'll find a sunday school class within the next month or so. However, I do hate to be leaving my gang at TBC behind, and am sure I will be there visiting.

This has been a busy weekend...washing new dishes, moving out old furniture and having new sofa & chair delivered, setting up the kitchen, and doing some other cleaning. Phew! Today has been a little more relaxing, but I still feel like I need a loooong nap.

Hope to have some pictures up soon of the house! :)

Working at it....

So this is my first attempt to try to get better at blogging....figure I better start, since it will probably help keep in touch with friends and family.

Thomas & I have been married for just over a week, and it's been VERY entertaining. We've tried out the "sickness and health" vow a little early! Thomas hurt his knee playing golf the day before the wedding, landing us in the ER at Baptist around 1:00 Friday. Thanks to some great friends, doctors, and nurses we were in & out in no time, Thomas with a knee brace & crutches.

The wedding was entertaining, with Thomas using my grandfather's old cane. The cane and brace also traveled with us to Mexico! About halfway through our WONDERFUL vacation, I started getting sick. By the end of the week I was ready to get home, and as soon as we unloaded the car Sunday we headed to Carolinas Medical Center Urgent Care....I had bronchitis and a sinus infection!

So....it's getting a little better. We're going to be doing the "distance marriage" thing for a little while, with me traveling to NC on the weekends. Very frustrating, but at this point not optional.

We'll see where this wonderful journey takes us!!!

For pictures from our honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace in Riviera Maya, Mexico, visit the following link.....

Hopefully we'll have wedding pics up soon!!!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZN2jRq4bOWLtI&notag=1

Wedding Planning

So I have been completely slack on this blog....which I figured I would be.

Wedding planning is coming along well, but coupled with planning for our major fundraiser at work it's actually turning into Stress-central! Bridal portraits are this week, Chesney is Friday night, and my last shower Sunday! It's so exciting, but so busy. And my hand is cramping from all the thank-you notes! But it's all good...and will be over before I know it.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined." - Henry David Thoreau

Missing...

Two years ago today my grandmother passed away. My last grandparent...my granny who baked us chocolate layer cakes for birthdays and picked us up from school. As difficult as it was 2 years ago, it's even more difficult with the wedding approaching knowing that I won't have any of my grandparents there.

But the one thing that comforts me is knowing that she's finally with my grandfather, singing at the top of her lungs in heaven praising her Lord, and that I will see her again someday. I know that she is truly in a better place than she was the last few years of her life, and that dementia was such a terrible disease for her and my family to deal with (again).

I would like to think that she's smiling down from heaven flattered that God chose Kylee to be born on her birthday - her first great-grandchild, and that they're all watching as Thomas & I prepare for our wedding. Oh, and telling me to "behave yourself" and that I'm the "apple of her eye." I see her in that blue dress, which happens to be my favorite color and the color of my bridesmaid dresses, so prim and proper.

What a blessing...to have been raised with such wonderful Christian parents and grandparents, and to know that I have 4 angels watching out for me!

Newbie

Well, I've never blogged before, so I thought I'd give it a shot....probably bore people to tears, but oh well...won't be the first time!

I'll be getting married in 3 months (minus 5 days) to my fiance' Thomas. I'm extremely excited, but overwhelmed with all the preparation that's going into it. My job stays very, very busy and to add to the wedding planning we're having a major fundraiser 1.5 months before the wedding. So, the planning gets a little confusing.

Other than work and Thomas, the rest of my life revolves around family, friends and church. My brother and his wife welcomed my precious niece Kylee to the world last March. She is such a blessing, and was born on my her great-grandmother's birthday. The sad part of that is my grandmother passed away a year before Kylee was born. So it was a very bitter-sweet "birth" day.


Anyway, that is all for now....will update later!