Crazy-Busy December

It's amazing how time flies, and this month has been no different. We've been buzzing from one event or party to the next with little down time in between. Here is a recap of the month so far, and a few pictures to document...

December 1: SEC Championship game. Party at the Hardy's.

December 2: Our Small Group Christmas Party at Mike and Jessa's. So much fun. I made hashbrown casserole and 4-layer chocolate pie. The dinner spread was impressive and we had a mean game of Dirty Santa. Justin and I came away with a scarf/glove set and an electronic dartboard... both of which were brought by Maghan and Hal. Ironicallyl, Maghan and Hal ended up with OUR gifts! I brought a candle and Christmas tissues, and Justin brought a tiny but powerful flashlight... a gadget guy's dream.

December 4: My good friend, Roni Holland Haskell and her husband Adam had a baby girl, Elizabeth Morgan Haskell. She lives in Charleston, SC now, so I haven't gotten to see the baby in person, but here is a picture.

Elizabeth Morgan Haskell

December 4, 2007

December 7: Lighting of the Green at Ross Bridge! This is one of the biggest events held in our community. Each year (3 so far), the community has gathered for this Christmas kickoff. Santa and his elves put on a great show on a big stage with lights, kids from the elementary school sing, and Santa puts on a great pirotechnic show to illuminate the big christmas tree and the Welcome Center! As soon as the tree is lit, fake snow fills the air... for most of us there, it's the closest thing we'll see to snow this year. Santa is escorted inside where kids have an opportunity to sit in his lap and tell him all their Christmas wishes while filling up with sweets and cider. There is a grand carriage drawn by clydesdale horses that takes it's passengers on a brief ride around the park and back. It's fun for everyone there... but especially exciting for the children. Didn't get very many pictures, but here are a few.

A terrible picture of the stage area where kids are singing the sweet song from Polar Express.

Failed attempt at a Christmas card picture... but good enough for the blog! :-)

P.S. This night, we also babysat triplets from church... well, they're practically triplets. They are 3 brothers born a month apart... twins (Baylor and Basden) and another boy (Parker)... all adopted by our minister. They all just turned 1 and are a handfull, but we had fun watching them with our friends Maghan, Hal and Rachel!

December 8: Signature Homes' Christmas Party... always a fun party. I am blessed to work with such great people, and we always have the BEST time! Here are a few shots from that night.

The best work partners ever. Leah, then me, Kate and Kelli

Me and Justin

Me, Brandi and Jonathan (Brandi is in interior design with our company and is Jonathan's wife, Jonathan is part owner of our company) and Kate (my partner... the one with the baby twins)

December 13: The Best Sales Meeting Ever!!! I know that sounds weird, but this one was amazing. We arrived at a model home in Beaumont, another community where we build to a breakfast feast of ham and egg casserole and mimosas. We played dirty Santa and I came out with a great Christmas-thing (sorry for the sorry description) that hangs up. It's totally precious. After Dirty Santa, we went outside and saw a stretch Hummer limosine driving our way. Somewhere around 20 of us piled inside equipped with envelopes loaded with $200 cash. Rule #1: Spend the entire amount over the next two hours, or give it back. Rule #2: Spend it on yourself, not on anyone else. They dropped us off at the Galleria, and away we went. After scurrying around the mall looking for just the right thing, I settled on a Coach wallet that somewhat matches the purse Mom and Dad gave me for my birthday. The sad part is that I had to add to what was given to me by my generous bosses. Yes, ADD TO... just for a wallet! I would have never bought it on my own, so I appreciate the little incentive. Thank you so much Dwight and Jonathan for the fun shopping spree!

December 14: Daniel Corporation Christmas Party. This is the other company I work for... much more "corporate" than the first. Usually, this is a rather stuffy party with a sit-down dinner and some sort of entertainment (last year, it was a comedian who had no idea who her audience was). This year, the party was held at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. The venue was quite impressive with what seemed like thousands of cars and motorcycles dating back to the early 1900's. The food was good, and they gave out great door prizes... but I didn't win anything.

Me and Holly, another agent in Ross Bridge, but not my partner

December 16: FUN Night at the Hardy's. Church was cancelled this night because our annual Christmas worship service was to be held the following night. So, instead of meeting with our small group for Bible study, we thought it might be fun to have a completely optional "FUN" night. I'm not big on mandatory fun, so it was a come-as-you-are, low key thing. The guys ended up playing the Wii most of the evening and the girls made homemade sugar cookies and decorated them with homemade icing!!! It was so much fun. I broke out my gigantic Kitchen-Aid mixer for the first time and was totally impressed by the way it turned butter into cream in NO TIME! I usually use my hand mixer for this type of project, but I really enjoyed the big mixer. Now, our Christmas cookies looked more like baby shower cookies by the end because the icing didn't quite take the red and green food coloring well, but they still turned out cute.

Rachel, me and Martina with our platter of yummy Christmas cookies

Just a few more events to post, and then I'll be caught up, but I'm running out of time, so I'll leave you with a teaser. This past Monday night, I sang a solo during our Christmas Worship at church. I'll post pictures and a full update another time. Hope you all are having a VERY merry Christmas season!!!