Friday night, December 23rd. Heading out to the Jordans' for an awesome Christmas party!
Yay for Jay!
The incredible Jordan home. We love our neighbors!
Well hey, Courtney!!!
Well, look who I ran into?? Jordan and Anna- two of my favorite girls in the world!
So awesome to see Katie and Caroline, too!!
After the party we headed to Courtney's grandparents' house to visit two of their newest additions: Jingle & Bear. Here is one of the puppies inside of my pocketbook. SOOO adorable!!!
And then there was...Christmas Eve!!!
What a whirlwind day that involved buying/wrapping/making last minute gifts, getting the house in order, much preparation for the Christmas Eve service at church, etc. To say I was exhausted at the end of the day would be an understatement!! As always, this Christmas Eve was definitely a special day for all of us. Here we are after church:
Shortly after the Candlelight service I was whisked away to the annual party at the Johnson's. I love these folks!
Some more of my favorite girls: Carrie and Lexie. They recently went to New York!
May the gift giving madness begin!
Meet Hope: one of the "littlest" of the bunch!
After doing some more last minute items on Christmas Eve I went to bed at about 12:00. We didn't have to go to church until 10:30 the next day, so I couldn't WAIT to sleep in. Little did I know that the Moodys have a torturous tradition of waking up obscenely early on Christmas morning- at 5:30 to be exact. When Ryan's alarm went off that early and startled me I thought there was a fire in the house! We left for his parents' house shortly after 6:00 when I could regain the strength to get up and get dressed. I fought the urge to crash on the nearest chair/floor and really did enjoy my time with his family, although I pointed out that I would have also had a wonderful time at 8:00 or 9:00...just saying : )
Later that morning the whole gang headed to First Baptist for our Christmas Day service.
Take one and mishap #1: while crossing my legs I stabbed Mama in the foot with my heel. Oops.
Take two.
After church and a delicious Christmas lunch it was pajama and gift time!
There is a story behind one of Ryan's gifts from my parents. Mama, Daddy, and Jay came to Columbia a few days before Christmas for eye appointments. We later took advantage of their visit by doing some shopping and set out to find Ryan the gift that he has been asking for for quite some time. We set out to the first store, and I was sure they would be sold out. Behold, what to my wandering eyes should appear was the last PS3 sports bundle to fill Ryan with cheer! I literally could not believe that they had one left, and I rushed to the counter and asked for it. In the mean time my parents were stumbling around the store with dilated eyes after their checkups and couldn't even read the signs to the electronic department. It was quite a sight. I told them that they looked like this:
I couldn't BELIEVE that we lucked out and got the last one, especially when I hadn't even called in advance. The guy at the register told me that they were selling them as fast as they were coming in. Ryan was most surprised when he opened it.
Among the things I gave my parents, one was a frame of pictures from the wedding. I love my parents so much. They would do a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. for me. Seriously. I could call them up at 3:00 am and ask them to do something, and they would do it. That's love, and that's awesome. They have blessed me beyond measure.
Later on Christmas Day we went to Ryan's Grandmother's house for another annual get together with the Moody side of the family.
Gotta love that sweet little Carson!
And here is Granny Earl with her first flip cell phone. After an intensive training on complex details such as the on and off button, locating the contacts, and successfully dialing a number, she'll be on her way!
On Monday we headed to Columbia to see my grandparents and uncle, but not without a few catastrophes first. Just before departing we discovered a pool of water underneath the cabinets in the sink. The first thing we had to look forward to upon our return: a visit from the plumber.
Just a few minutes later as we are pulling out of the driveway the garage door stops working.
...which made this man slightly annoyed.
After manually closing the door we were all happily on our way.
But wait! One more misfortune awaits. While at the stoplight in front of Zaxby's, a car in front of us runs out of gas and delays us even more. This couldn't be better if I made it up...
Yay: we finally made it to Columbia!
Nanny and Papa are such wonderful hosts : )
The next day we all had lunch at my house. The one and only Randy Carlson helped with the carrots.
Three peas in a pod.
I served one of my easiest/usual meals. Heaven forbid change!
Time to eat!!!
During our hilarious dinner discussion we somehow began talking about hot and cold natured people. I mentioned that Ryan likes not only the ceiling fan on but also a stand-up fan blowing on him like a Kansas tornado. "Every night I feel like I need to go bury the hatchet!" I declared. Puzzled, Jay asked, "Don't you mean batten down the hatches?? Bury the hatchet is to make peace." "Yeah, that- whoops!" Incredible laughter ensued. "Ok everyone, we better settle our differences and bury the hatchet. A storm is coming." Oh, me.
Soon after lunch it was time for dessert! Coffee and chocolate caramel pie (which I did not bake and do not eat, for the record. But everyone else loved it). I had also frozen and saved some of my Christmas punch. Now that's my kind of dessert!
Playing the piano for Papa.
To finish our wonderful afternoon we played this:
Here are the cards that I won.
That evening we came back to Dillon. As we are getting off of I-95 Mama reads a sign and announces, "New fries. Now serving. Jabs Fireworks is serving french fries???" "No, Mama, Burger King. Burger King is serving new fries."
I don't know why but I laugh hysterically every time I replay this conversation in my head. Can you imagine Jabs Fireworks serving french fries at the counter while they're ringing up sparklers and roman candles??? Confusion runs in our family.
That evening I had dinner with Joy and her family. Love her so much!!! We exchanged Christmas presents and then went to Florence to see New Year's Eve. Have I mentioned that I live on the road??
Speaking of amazing friends, then there is Meagan! I was so excited about taking her lunch on Wednesday and visiting with everyone. We ate pizza and watched this:
Of course I couldn't take my eyes of Noah and wanted to hold and cuddle with him the entire day. He is an absolute piece of Heaven and is without question one of the most beautiful and perfect babies I've ever seen in my life.
I just LOVE his little scrunched face in this one.
And then there is sweet Dawson! Here he is posing in front of his Christmas tree.
And showing me his cars, of course...
I also helped Meagan give Noah his first bath! It was so special : ) He decided to add to the water if you know what I mean, but he was the sweetest little thing and was much happier when we dried him off and put his warm clothes back on.
And those hands! Talk about melting my heart.
Just hanging out on my shoulder.
Dawson diverting my attention with his helicopter. That thing was cool!
Then he built a tent in the room.
Then he made me a sweet picture. I love that little boy!!!
To my delight, Anna and Jordan came over!!
You want a piece of me??
After a simply wonderful afternoon at Meagan's, I met one of my other dearly beloved friends, Lauren, for dinner at one of my all-time favorite places.
Later that evening I spent about FOUR HOURS cleaning my room and attic and going through things to give away. My mother has a love hate relationship with my organizational skills. She is constantly harping on my brother and me to keep our storage rooms clean. On any given day she could open mine and be buried in an avalanche. The attics have been the bane of her existence. Each and every Christmas, she asks me to clean it as part of her gift.
I have such emotional attachments to random things: old dance costumes, BEANIE Babies, my massive KNEX collection, old classic games such as Don't Wake Daddy, stuffed animals, old school projects (I finally disposed of a planet model when the sun fell over), sleeping bags, movie tickets, clothes from middle and high school, old notebooks from school (reading the notes to and from my friends are absolutely hilarious), puzzles, etc. My mother would probably sue me if I showed the before picture, but here is the after of my attic. I'd say I did a pretty good job. Jay's storage room may be another story...
Half of my life is in here!
This morning I went to Shirley Coleman's to visit everyone : ) Anna and Jordan introduced me to the newest Coleman addition: T Rex. They are unsure if it is a girl or a boy, but in the event that it is a girl, they can always call her "She-Rex." This little cat is so sweet!
Guess what?? I have a restroom named after me! I was so honored.
Later we headed to this place for some delicious lunch:
And last but certainly not least we went to see Meagan and this little angel:
We had lots of fun taking turns holding Noah and playing Don't Wake Daddy.
One time in 4th grade I had Meagan over on Friday to spend the night. The evening before I spent hours setting up every game I owned so that we could play them all. Each die, spinner, and game piece was in place and ready to go. Then my Dad ordered us a Big Foot pizza from Pizza Hut. Does anyone remember those?? Those were the days!
As of now I still have a few more days before I have to go back to work. Mercifully! I can hardly believe that 2012 is upon us. My cleaning extravaganza gave me a reminder. As the new year approaches, I need to make sure that everything in my life is in order as well. I read an analogy once about rocks and sand in a jar. The rocks are the most important things in our lives: God, family, friends, health, school, or your career. The sand represents all the little things in our lives: resentment, guilt, anger, and a host of other things. If we fill our jars with sand every day then there will be no room for the most important things. The tricky part is that sand particles are so tiny that they give the illusion of not taking up much space, when in reality they can consume us. My challenge in 2012 is to analyze my life, my "Katharine" jar. The truth is that if we put all of the important things first, everything else will fall into place.
2011 was incredibly special year for me. I got married, went through a triple bypass surgery with my Dad, among many other milestones. I recently got a book that I plan to read each and everyday:
I will cherish the last few days of this year with my family and can hardly wait to see what the new year brings. Happy New Year to you and your loved ones. May 2012 bring spiritual health and happiness to all who seek it. 2011, you were awesome!!!
