Christmas for the kiddos!

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is buying presents!

Especially for my kiddos. 

{aka my two nieces Whit & Cas and my nephew Nash}

It was a lot of fun buying for a baby again.

Whit & Cas are getting harder to buy for the older they get.
So I just bought them a couple of things to unwrap and then I am taking them shopping to pick out a few outfits.
I would hate to pick out something "uncool!"
Here is some of what they will unwrap Christmas day:

W
Pea Coat from Old Navy

Well charm necklace

C
Pea Coat from Old Navy

Well Charm Necklace

N

Clothes
{mainly from Old Navy & Target}

{the shoes are in the same color as the plaid shirt in the first pic}

Bouncer from Amazon

His 1st Christmas outfit from Target

It looks like the dude racked up.
But the girls will surpass his haul when I take them shopping!
I am really excited about seeing the girls in their coats.
These are the first "grown up" coats that they have had.
Honestly, they do not really need them in South GA.
But I wanted to get them something nicer than a hoodie to wear!

As you can tell I LOVE spoiling my kiddos!
And probably go a little overboard.
But it is just so much fun!


Who are your favorite people to buy for?

meet me at the well

Remember this post,

where I asked for prayers for my sister's pastor & his wife?

They had just lost their 4-year old daughter, Makiah, in a car accident.

A family friend of theirs is selling well charms in honor of Makiah.

About 2 weeks before the accident, Makiah's Sunday School class talked about raising money to build a well for children in Africa.

She was so moved by this story, she told her mom that she wanted to give all of the money in her piggy bank so the girls in Africa could have water to drink.

What is so cool about this story,

is the lady who approached them about selling these charms had no idea that this happened.

It was a total God thing.

{via}

Once 600 charms are sold.

Cameron & Rachel will receive a packet with pictures of the dedication of Makiah's Well.

Right now 308 charms have sold.

I purchased one for myself and 4 more as Christmas gifts.

I love giving gifts with meaning behind them.

Three of the charms are for my sister and two nieces.

They were all close to Makiah.

And my nieces will think it is pretty cool to have something that honors Makiah's memory.

The charm is actually really cute.

I like the fact that the charm has some weight to it.

It will help me remember to be thankful for every single moment I can spend with those I love.

Because you never know if that hug, smile, shared laugh, or even text will be the last one.

This is the link to the facebook group, Makiah Kaitlyn King Well Project, that was set up for the charms.

And this is the link to donate directly to the well project without purchasing a charm.

Thank you so much to any who consider buying a charm or donating to honor Makiah's memory.

Please continue to keep Cameron & Rachel in your prayers.

Thanks!

Also this is the link to Rachel's blog, An Unexpected Journey.

Just make sure you have some tissues handy before you visit it.

This is Rachel's explanation for why she started blogging.

I have never wanted to be a blogger until this morning (10/23). For some reason I awoke feeling the need to share this journey. My four year old daughter was killed in a tragic car accident on October 8th, 2010 when our car was struck by a teen on marijuana. This blog is a small window into the brokenness of my heart and perhaps... one day, the healing. Do not mistake this for theological discourse. Jesus, not our circumstances, equals perfect theology. Be warned, this is raw...

movies, movies, movies

I love movies.

I love going to the movies.

I hate paying theater prices.

And do not even get me started on this stupid 3D kick.

But I love the experience of watching movies in a theater, even if it is a bad movie.

There are too many movies out or coming out soon that I want to see right now.

It always happens.

No good movies come out for weeks.

And then...BAM!

All of the ones I want to see are released at the same time.

What a dilemma!

{taking my nieces to see this, probably, the day after Christmas}

{I am there this weekend!}

{not really a fan of Jack Black, but I love Catherine Tate}

{I ♥ Reese!}

{I know this has been out FOREVER but the craziness of grad school prevented me from seeing it. Side note: Chris Pine is GORGEOUS!}

{*sigh* Johnny Depp...enough said}

This is a pretty awesome compilation of the Movies of 2010!

What movies are on your "must see" list?

what Christmas is all about...

Precisely wrapped packages.

Stockings.

Bright colored lights.

Jingle bells.

Snow.

Santa Claus.

Sales and bargains.

Extravagant parties.

Delicious food.

Family time.

Tradition.

What do you think of when you think about Christmas?

Please do not misunderstand me. 

I LOVE all of these things.

But Christmas is about so much more.

It is about a Savior who willingly chose to become a man.

To live on this Earth to be betrayed and sacrificed.

It is about the birth of Jesus Christ.

I know many only believe he was a good man.

I believe he is the Son of God.

His life and His message are profound.

And I think that gets lost in all of the trimmings and trappings.

I am not an eloquent writer.

And this is not coming out the way I want it to.

But hopefully, you get what I am trying to say.

Jesus loves you.

He died for every single person reading this post.

Even if you only believe he was just a good man.

I think it was summed up best in A Charlie Brown Christmas:

playing catch up

My life since Thanksgiving in pictures!

{sorry for the quality, most of the pics were taken with my phone}

I am one of those annoying people that have all of their Christmas shopping done in October.

This year I was actually finished at the beginning of September.

But I did not have time to wrap them.

I had the Monday before Thanksgiving off from both jobs, so I took the opportunity to get all of my presents wrapped. 

I go a little overboard wrapping gifts.

Honestly, it is my favorite part of gift-giving.

I always buy little things to add to the bows, like jingle bells, candy canes, & ornaments.

I baked lots of goodies for Thanksgiving!

Peach cobbler, lemon meringue pie, chocolate pie, & of course pecan pie.

I only got pics of the peach cobbler & lemon meringue though.

We put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving!

We call it our "funky" tree.

Because all of the ornaments are in "funky" colors. 

My research partner and I delved back into our research for IT Management the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

We finally derived a formula that would work for our research.

This is what the white board in our study room looked like.

I am sure we were giving the poor freshmen that walked by nightmares!

My little man turned 1 month old on December 2nd.

It is hard to believe I have only gotten to spend about a week total with him since he was born.

My sister is really good about sending me a picture at least once a day but it is just not the same.

Especially since I moved in with her & her hubby for 3 months when my oldest niece was born and we lived together when her 2nd daughter was born. 

My sis, the kiddos, and I lived together until my youngest niece was 7 & I moved away for school.

It is super hard to watch my newest kiddo grow up in pictures, but I am going to get to see all 3 of my kiddos for a whole week at Christmas.

I CANNOT WAIT!

 {look at those chubby cheeks!}

 {first Santa picture!}

{I could not resist buying this}

Well, I think that about sums up the past few weeks.

If you made it to the end of this post, I have probably bored you to tears.

Sorry about that, but thank you for your dedication!

hey stranger!

I have been MIA for a few weeks, sorry!

The end of this semester was CRAZY busy.

Last night was the first full night of sleep I have gotten since Thanksgiving.

But last night was my last final and this semester is finally OVER!

And guess what?!

I only have one. semester. left.

I graduate with my Master's degree

Friday, May 13th @ 1:00 pm!

That is only 5 short months away.

I have a ton of pictures to share with y'all.

Especially some I took over Thanksgiving.

But I am writing this at work so the pics will have to wait for another post.

If you cannot tell by the pictures on this post...I REALLY want to see some snow this year!

Some parts of Georgia saw snow flurries yesterday, which is unheard of this time of the year.

But, sadly, I did not see one single snowflake.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are having a Happy Christmas season so far!

Now that classes are over I will be able to comment on y'alls' {where do I put the other apostrophe in this word...lol...only in the South ;) } blogs again, too!

{click on pics for source}

mixed bag of life!

• I would like to introduce y'all to the most precious little boy in the WORLD! {Of course, I am completely unbiased!} My little burrito is just perfect; with 10 fingers, 10 tiny toes, and chubby little cheeks!

• My sister went through the c-section fabulously! There were no complications and everything went really quickly. She went back to the OR at 7:15 and he was born at 8:02 am. For some reason I thought it would take longer.

• Unfortunately, my sis has not been doing that great since he was born. This past Saturday she was having trouble breathing and they had to rush her to the emergency room. The doctors found out she had fluid in her lungs so they kept her overnight. They did let her go home Sunday but it was a scary few hours waiting on news. Thankfully, she is doing much better now!

• This morning I found out I won a free month to a local gym here in town. I randomly entered into the giveaway when I was at the fair a few weeks ago never thinking I would actually win. {btw, I HATE to exercise} I have been trying to get in better shape lately and this is a blessing. I am not the type of person to be self-motivated when it comes to exercise and this membership comes with a personal trainer as well!

• I have been praying about what I want to do career-wise once I graduate in May. And I am seriously comtemplating joining the Air Force. I have always been a deeply patriotic person and joining the military was something I considered when I graduated from high school. I am still praying about it because I want to be sure I am doing what God wants me to do.

• This is another reason the gym membership and personal trainer are a blessing. I have to get in shape to even consider the Air Force. So, my goal is to be able to pass the Physical Fitness Test for the AF by May. Even if I decide that the Air Force is not the route I want to take at least I will be in really good shape! I just do not want something as controllable as my weight/fitness level to keep me from a wonderful opportunity.

• It is going to be an interesting 6 months thats for sure! And for all of my readers that pray, I would be extremely grateful for a prayer or two sent up on my behalf. I have some big decisions to make regarding my future. I know that I do not graduate until May but time has a tendency to fly, especially when big decisions are involved. And I just want to make the right decisions and follow where God is leading.

{click on pics that are not mine for source}