Winter Bucket List Review

I just realized that I never posted our finished Winter Bucket List. Silly Tax Season makes me lose all track of time. Anyway, it's a little late, but here are all the things we were able to accomplish this past winter!

[click image to enlarge]

Like always, we weren't able to complete every desired activity for the season, but we thoroughly enjoyed getting to mark off each of the ones that we did! Maybe, eventually, I'll get around to posting about some of those events (ahem, Christmas!) when I get some time.

I have compiled a list of Spring things we'd like to do, but I haven't been able to actually create the pretty version of the bucket list. You may not actually see it until it's all completed! (Read: After Tax Season.) I hope your springtime is off to a beautiful start!

Winter Bucket List

Bucket lists have become some of my favorite things to do. I love dreaming of all the fun things we can achieve each season, regardless of whether or not many of the activities are far fetched. And I even enjoy creating the actual list, and putting all of the items into a visual format with shapes and spacing and stuff. I'm kind of a nerd like that. But it's so fun to go ahead and get into the seasonal spirit by tapping into the colors and themes of each particular time of year just for the list itself. I was so excited to make this year's winter list "sparkle!"

I love Christmas, and all things having to do with Christmas traditions, so I do believe the winter bucket list has more items featured than any of my past ones. I can't wait to venture into this wonderful holiday season!

[click to enlarge]

And just in case you're wondering, here's the finished autumn bucket list. I still can't believe we were able to do some of those awesome NYC things! (I can't wait to blog about our trip!) However, like the summer's list before it, we were unable to cross off every item. Some incomplete tasks aren't that big of deals. Some we're kind of disappointed that we didn't accomplish. Oh well. Maybe next time.

[click to enlarge]

What about you? How excited for Christmastime are you?? What's on your winter to-do list? Do you have traditions you do each year? I'd love to hear about it. I'll take any ideas you're willing to share.

Merry Christmastime!!

Henry the Neighborly Snowman

Brad and I are too busy (aka, lame and lazy) to utilize all of this Southern snow as it was truly intended. However, some neighbors of ours are smart enough to not let the opportunity pass them by, and I get to vicariously live my youthful, wintry life through them! Check out this big guy that I get to pass on my ways in and out of the neighborhood. Since I don't know what name they've officially given him, I've decided to go a head and call him Henry. I especially like his "bow tie." Haha. These neighbor strangers of ours are very clever.

Have you made a snowman yet this winter? Hope you don't catch a case of the Mehaffeys and miss your chance while it lasts!

Snow Babies

Look at my sweet girls enjoying their first snow!

They're best friends already.

 Sweet Charlie Joy

 Snow Angel, Layla Grace

 This picture of the girls together is precious. (And this picture of Kris panicking, trying to hold Layla up is hilarious!)

 But this sweet one of him and his baby girl makes up for that one.

And here begins the duel meltdown. 

 Poor, sweet girls.

They had enough of that cold snow!

I just love these girls like they were my very own!

It's electrifying!

This dry weather produces so much static electricity! It's making my hair go crazy, which is totally driving me nuts. However, I definitely don't have it as bad as poor little Chester, whose whole body is completely covered with staticly charged fur.

Our sweet pup likes to "dig" on his blanket when he gets excited (or when he gets ready for bed, or when he's bored, or when Brad riles him up or when they play hide-n-seek). He frantically digs with his paws and rubs his head this way and that across the fleece fabric.

The process alone is always funny, but when it's combined with the staticy surroundings, it results in some pretty hilariously wild hair, as well.

Whoa.

Brad and I had a smidge of sympathy for him, but mostly we just laughed and laughed. Then we threw the blanket right back over his head and did it all over again! (Yeah. We're kind of mean parents like that. But what can I say? That's hilarious!)

Let's look on the bright side. No matter how much this dry, winter air drives me crazy with my clingy, staticy hair, at least I don't have it as bad as my baby boy!

Winter Wonderland

Nashville has seen so much snow this winter! I just can't get over how beautiful it is. Here's the view from our back door yesterday.

I thought Walter was cold before, but look at him now! All you can see is the tip of his little gnome hat peaking out from under the fresh snow blanket!

According to our calculations, there was a solid three inches of snow on our picnic table. And that was even before it had all finished floating down for the day!

Chester hasn't quite enjoyed this particular snowstorm as much as usual. Since it's so deep, he can hardly trench through it to go potty. And when he comes back inside, he has little snowballs gathered around all four of his legs and even stuck to his belly and chest. He steps into the house and just stands there, frozen, like he doesn't know how to move with all that cold stuff on him. Ha. I think he's so cute. So each time, I try to knock off as many of the mini-snowballs as I can just for him to then eat them up off of the floor. As long as he doesn't eat any of the yellow snow, I think we'll be fine.

Have you guys gotten tons of snow already this winter? I feel like it's coming down everywhere! Have you actually played in it? We've been to lame to bundle up and make a single snow man or snow angle all winter. I'm ashamed of ourselves.

Tacky Christmas

Hosting parties and random get-togethers with our friends is one of our favorite things to do. But no party is ever better than a Christmas party, because a Christmas party is at Christmastime! And what good is a Christmas party without tacky Christmas sweaters? No good at all, I tell you!



Monday night, our Life Group (which is basically our best friends) and a couple new friends (YEA for new friends!) showed up at the Mehaffey residence dressed to impress. Every last one of them was sportin' a superbly tacky Christmas sweater. New Andy and Emily (yes, another Emily) even made their own just for the occasion. Now, that's dedication!

Brad created a coveted "Most Tacky" award by placing a classic Goodwill tie (adorned with a puff-painted "You're Tacky!") into a nice gold frame. After each person placed their anonymous vote into the elf hat, New Luke and Laura won the honor of being the tackiest guests of 2010. Don't you agree that they totally deserved it?

The night ended with a rousing game of Quelf. Seriously, this game is hilarious! We just can't get enough of it! Some highlights include Luke and Laura rapping about their appearance (how fitting), me dominating New Emily in a thumb war, Stacey and Laura patty-caking, Charles talking like a charismatic preacher, Brad and me jumping up and down like chickens (when we weren't being forced to point randomly into the air for an entire round without saying a word), Wes and Stacey cheering for people every round, then giving them a score after each turn, and Kris retrieving a stick while panting like a dog, to name a few. I mean, for real, you could not facilitate more random occurrences (or more laughs) than this game creates. It.is.awesome.

Pretty much, the First Annual Tacky Christmas Sweater Party was a complete success. I absolutely love making great memories with great friends, and I couldn't be happier with the people whom God has surrounded us with. So much fun!

Are you dressed for the holidays? You better get ready. It's sneakin' up on us fast!!

Snug as a Christmas Bug

This weekend I had the privilege of enjoying one of my very favorite past times of the season:

Cuddling up on the couch in our Christmas house, wearing last year's Christmas PJ's and reading a good book by the glow of our Christmas tree. Ahh...

There was only one thing that could make it even better, and that was a steaming mug of hot chocolate hiding underneath a preposterous amount of marshmallows.

Perfect.

Merry Christmas Week! I hope you enjoy what's left of Christmastime! (Try not to just be sad that it's already coming to an end, like I am.)

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Seriously, brrr...

I'm getting some conflicting reports on the specific temperature.

But no matter how you shake it, it's freezing outside!

I thought the South was supposed to be warmer? This is nuts.

Better bundle up out there!

Snow Day!

We got so much snow yesterday! Definitely a lot for Nashville, at least. Look at poor Walter! He's got snow up to his thighs!

He doesn't get to often, but Chester absolutely loves to play in the snow. I tried to get a picture of him out there, but he was running around so fast that it was hard to capture him in the frame. Aren't his little paw prints adorable, though? That bottom picture of him is on our front porch; we had so much snow that it even drifted all the way up to our front door!

So, what did Brad and I do today, you ask? Well, we stayed home, of course! I called in to work due to the icy roads (along with the majority of the office), and we bundled up in our pj's, slept in super late and watched Christmas movies all afternoon. The hospital ended up calling Brad and telling him not to come in tonight, which  meant we even had the whole evening together! We woke up and are going to sleep together for the first time in a very long time!

So our evening has consisted of football, beer (for Brad, blegch, water for me), and PIZZA!! Not lame pizza either. This is no Totino's, or other frozen, or Little Caesar's, which all have a rightful place, but are totally not big deals compared to Papa John's!! And since I agreed to let Brad spend his unexpected evening off watching football, he let me get pineapples on half of it just for me! Yum, yum!

Pretty much, the (entire) day shut in with my love has been quite a blessing. It reminds me of another time we were snowed in. I guess, every once in a while, God just tells us to slow down and enjoy time with our favorites. Who are we to argue?

Lights at Heights

Emily bought some Christmas lights on sale last year and simply could not wait to decorate the outside of her house with them. However, Kris is pretty much afraid of heights and not at all excited of the prospect of hanging them along the high rooftop. So whether or not she would be able to convince him to string the festive lights for their neighbors us to see was kind of up in the air.

When Brad got the panic stricken text message from Kris this past weekend pleading with him to "just come watch, maybe catch me if I fall, and try to make sure I don't die" as he decorated his house,  I should have known that it was obviously code for " please crawl all over my roof, climb to the very highest point, and do all the scary high up work to hang these lights for me so my wife will be happy and and stop begging me to do it."

I snuck a few glances (and pictures, obviously) out of our window while I was getting ready for the church Christmas party, and I wasn't at all surprised to see Kris' feet planted firmly on solid ground or to see Bradley climbing around their rooftop like a monkey. I suppose that's what friends are for. I think it's even in the BFF Agreement, Article 7.

All the combined hard work definitely paid off, though, because it really looks super awesome. I love looking out my window and seeing the twinkling outline of a good friend's home. Makes me all full of warm Christmas fuzzies.

Now, if I could just talk Brad into hanging lights up on our own house, I'd be even happier...

Cozy

We've had snow in Nashville the last couple of days! Now, granted, snow in Nashville isn't quite the same as snow, say, anywhere farther North. These were more like consistent flurries, but it still counts!

So, when Brad and I got home from church yesterday, we immediately changed out of our Sunday Best and into some warm, fleece (past Christmas) pj's and ate one of my favorite winter meals: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup. Then we bundled up under a blanket on the couch to take our customary Sunday afternoon naps.

There's just something about this meal that makes me feel so cozy inside, especially when it's combined with snow and warm pj's... I love this time of year!

What are some of your favorite winter foods?



Red and Green and Jeans

So Lindsey, my BWF (best work friend) and Chester's surrogate mama, realized that she and I are very Christmasy when we go outside together! Guess that's why we make such a great pair.

Also, did you notice those jeans that we're wearing!?! At the office!? Oh yeah! We can totally wear jeans to work right now while our office is undergoing an extensive (overdue) remodel!

Right now, our entire office is dust and sheet rock and hammers and nails. Walls are being removed and new offices are being built and we're getting all new carpet and changing all of the paint and decorations. The end result is going to be amazing! I just hope we can make it through the reconstruction without losing our minds. They claim that it'll be finished by the end of the year before Busy Season 2011 begins. We'll see.

Luckily, my area hasn't been demolished, yet. Since the reception area and lobby is what clients see when they come in, they're waiting until the end to destroy it with hopes of a super speedy recovery. When it's finished, I think it'll be awesome. The location of my desk is shifting and I'm getting a new coffee bar and mini fridge for refreshments! Holla!

With that end result in mind, and the fact that we can wear jeans to work as we battle the drywall dust, I'm pretty much a happy camper.