Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

Andy and I absolutely love Christmas!  We get two weeks off from school, we spend a lot of time with our families, we eat really good food, we get to give and receive presents, everyone is happy, and it's our Savior's birth.  What's not to like about Christmas!?!

Christmas really snuck up on us this year.  Our last day of work was Friday, and we left to visit my family in Shiner on Sunday.  Thankfully we had already been done with all of our shopping for about a week.  We celebrated Christmas with FIVE families this year.... So bear with me, this could take a while.

Christmas #1.  Andy's grandmother on his dad's side.  Weekend before Christmas. 
We always "exchange" stocking gifts at Mimi's house.  You saw the stocking stuffers I made in a previous post.  We met at Kellan's (Andy's aunt) house for snacks and stockings on Saturday afternoon.  We really enjoyed catching up with Andy's family!

Christmas #2.  My mom's house. Sunday before Christmas. 
We ate snack food during the afternoon and had burgers for dinner.  We exchanged gifts with my mom, my step-dad, Kevin (my brother), Blair (Kevin's girlfriend, and Jaimee (the foreign exchange student living with my parents).  We had a great time and really enjoyed everyone's company.

Blair and Kevin

Andy and I

My brother and I

Andy, me, Jaimee, Blair, Kevin

My mom and her two children!

My mom and step-dad

Christmas #3.  My Granny and Popo's house.  Christmas Eve. 

This has always been a BIG celebration because there are just so many people.  My grandparents have 6 children of their own, and they are all married with children.  We have only one great-grandchild but lots of grandchildren.  We always fry fish and fries for our meal with lots of desserts.  We sing Christmas songs and say prayers.  It's such a good time of loudness, drinking, fun and fellowship.  I couldn't imagine my family being any other way.

Jillian (my cousin) and I
We could be sisters!

Me, Blair, Jillian

Me and Blair
Love her!

The whole family!

My mom and I

Christmas #4.  Our house.  Christmas morning. 

We drive home late Christmas Eve night and get up early Christmas morning for Andy and I to celebrate Christmas together.  One day it will be us and our kids, but until then it's just us and our furry kids.  This is probably our favorite celebration.  Just Andy and I.  Andy opens his presents first, one at a time, and then it's my turn.  Then we do our stockings, and then our pets' stocking.  Yes, Maddie Mae and Lonestar have stockings too.  They used to get lots of presents, but now they pretty much have everything they need so it's a few treats and toys.

 

Christmas #5.  Andy's parents house.  Christmas morning. 

As soon as we've opened our presents and the pets have eaten at least one of their treats, we head over to Andy's parents house for Christmas there.  It's crazy!!  We have us, Andy's parents, Maddie, Lonestar, and Sawdust.  There's tissue and wrapping paper all over the floor.  Seriously, it's a madhouse!  But we love it.  After opening presents and stockings, we head back home and go through all of our presents and then head back to Andy's parents for a mid-afternoon lunch.

Andy and I
Maddie wouldn't cooperate for the picture.

Andy's parents and Sawdust

The Rice Family

Seriously, we love Christmas.  Thank you God for the birth of your Son, our Savior.  We would be nothing without You.  Thank you for your many blessings that you give us every year.  Thank you for a healthy family to celebrate with.  Ultimately, thank you for sending Your Son to die for our sins so that we can live with You eternally.  Jesus is the real reason for the season.

 

New Gun

Last spring Andy bought me a Smith & Wesson .38 Special.  I absolutely LOVE it!  I have taken it to the range, and I must admit, I'm not too bad of a shot.  After the recent gun control push, I told Andy that if he really wanted a 9mm that he needed to buy it soon.  Little did I know that soon was going to be this past weekend.  He found the perfect gun at Academy.  It's a Sig Sauer 9mm P250. 

While we were in Shiner for Christmas, Andy had a chance to try out his new gun.  My parents live outside of the Shiner city limits, so he was able to shoot on their property which was nice since the the local gun range was closed.  Andy was extremely pleased with the gun's accuracy and performance.  He wasn't too bad of a shot either!!

First shots... Not bad!

 

 

He's not a bad shot!

 

Holiday Crafting

I have done some "holiday crafting" over the last couple of weeks, so I wanted to share.... :)

Christmas cards.  I already mentioned these in a previous post, but here is the finished product.  I was very excited about them!  

Front of card

Inside of card

At Andy's grandmother's house, we buy stocking stuffers for everyone.  This year Andy came up with the idea of making the "recipe in a jar" mixes for everyone.  I found the recipes and did the crafting.  It was Andy's idea to use the Shiner Bock beer labels for the guys' gifts.  The girls got a cookie recipe and the guys got a beer bread recipe.  They were a huge hit!

 

Andy's mom decided to do something similar for her gifts for the neighbors.  I made the tags for her jars.  I thought they turned out quite nicely as well.  

No Dent!

We finally got the dent in my car fixed!  Yippee!!  No, the kid who hit it with the golf ball did not pay for it.  We filed a claim on our own insurance since our deductible was ridiculously low.  The crazy thing though is that it cost $1300 (including the car rental) to fix that little dent.  That's a lot of money for something so small.  But, I am just excited to have the dent gone and my car back!!

The dent is gone! :)

Exhausted, Tired, Worn out

Exhausted, tired, and worn out is the story of our life right now.  Our lives usually get this way around winter time every year, especially since it's basketball season.  We just seem extra tired this year.

Andy hasn't probably been in bed before midnight for the past two weeks.  On work days, he is at school by 6:30 am because the head of our maintenance department at school is too lazy too take 5 minutes to make a gym key for the freshman basketball coach.  Andy put in a request for the key about two weeks ago.  On top of early mornings, he doesn't get home until about 6:30 or 6:45 at night because of basketball practice.  Thankfully, I have gotten more sleep than Andy, not much more but still it's more.  I have been at school around 7:10 every morning because my afternoons are cut short by Andy's basketball games.  Yes, I am an extremely supportive wife, and I go to ALL of Andy's basketball games that are outside of my workday.  A lot of people think I'm crazy that I follow him everywhere, but I couldn't imagine not supporting him.  He doesn't receive a lot of support (actually hardly any) from the school we work at so I need to be there for him.

We are both very tired of our jobs.  Teaching is just not enjoyable anymore.  Andy's priority is coaching not teaching, but our education system and probably our school district puts more and more restrictions on extracurricular activities every year that it no longer seems worth it to be a coach.  Now, football coaches are definitely an exception to that rule since we do still live in Texas.  I, on the other hand, am tired of teaching kids who really don't care.  It's really tough to motivate those kids that look at you and tell you they never need what you're teaching them.  And it's true.  So, why am I teaching them to begin with?  I have seriously been considering getting my masters degree in math education so that I can teach at the collegiate level.  But we all know, Andy and I can't afford me pursuing higher education on our salaries.  We have some job options in our future, so we just keep praying asking God what His plan is.

Because we've been running around all over the place and because of Andy's coaching schedule, we have not been running/training for the half marathon we wanted to do at the end of February.  Running really is theraputic for Andy and I.  Plus, it's some quality time that we have together to just talk about anything.  Hopefully, his schedule will get better, and we'll be able to start running again.

Bottom line, it's been a tough last couple of weeks for us.  Actually, it's been a tough last few months for us.  I know I have no need to complain because someone else's problems are probably worse than mine.  We are healthy, have jobs, love each other, own our home (not renting), have two vehicles to drive, have good insurance that we can afford, have two pets that drive us crazy and then are cute and cuddly, have great parents who support and love us, have money to buy groceries, and last but not least we have a God who loves us unconditionally no matter how many times we disobey and fall short.  With all there is to be thankful for... it's still been tough.

Silly Kitty

Last week sometime Lonestar decided he wanted to play in the sink.  Well, he got his claw stuck in the drain plug, and the picture is too funny to not share.  Look at his face... All he wants is this drain plug off his claw.  Maybe he learned his lesson.  Doubt it though.



Christmas Tree

It is our tradition to put up our Christmas tree and Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving while we're out for school.  In the past we have put them up the Saturday after Thanksgiving; however, this year we were too tired after traveling with the camper so we waited until today to do it.  We love our house with all the Christmas  decorations!!  As Andy said, it makes our home "cozy," which really means everything gets squished in the small space we have.  But really it is cozy and it's ours.


It may not look like much, but Andy
is an excellent packer.

Andy always puts the star on.
It's a dangerous job! lol

The white fence keeps Maddie Mae out!

 

This year we are going to trust Lonestar to not climb up the tree.  The first year we had a Christmas tree, we came home to a gaping hole in the tree where Lonestar had perched throughout the day to relax.  And then another time, we actually found him in the tree just chillin' like it was his second home.

Our tree looks so much better now...
I didn't realize how few ornaments we had.
This was our first "official" Christmas though.

Crazy Cat!

Thanksgiving Break

Andy and I spent our Thanksgiving Break camping in San Marcos this year, and we invited his parents to camp with us.  Sometimes I think if it weren't for us, they would never use their camper.  (lol)  The drive was pretty long, especially since we stop to take breaks.  But I believe part of camping is the drive to campground, so we try to make it fun and just take our time.  Once Maddie settled down, the trip was much more bearable.  As you can see below, she found comfort in sleeping on Andy.

On Thanksgiving day we drove to Shiner to celebrate with my family.  Unfortunately my brother was with his girlfriend's family, but we definitely enjoyed the company of my mom, step-dad, grandparents, and my mom/step-dad's foreign exchange student Jaime.  We ate an absolutely scrumptious meal of turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, mashed potatoes, pecan pie, chocolate sheet cake, banana pudding and much more.  My mom is an incredible cook!  Andy's mom had never been to Shiner and his dad had been only once a long time ago.  So he gave them a tour of my little but famous hometown.  I think the Green Dickson Park was their favorite.  Actually when I moved from Shiner to College Station and now to Cleveland/Tarkington, I didn't realize that some towns didn't have nice parks like the one in Shiner and the several in College Station.  Supposedly Cleveland is in the process of building a park, so we'll see if we're here long enough to see it.

My mom and I

My mom, me, and Jaime

My mom, me, and Andy's mom

This was the second or third picture
and he was ready to be done.  Still cute!

On Friday I finished making my Christmas cards.  Well, I made only 20 and the rest are store bought cards.  I still need to address them and get stamps.  I hope to get them done sometime this week and for sure next weekend.  You can't go to San Marcos without shopping at the Outlet Mall.  Andy's mom and I decided to wait until later in the afternoon to do some Black Friday shopping.  I had a pretty successful trip.  I didn't do any Christmas shopping, just shopping for anything that I liked or Andy would like.  I spent about $150 and got TONS of stuff for us.  Definitely like the Outlet Mall!

On our way to do a little shopping!

We were going to put up the Christmas tree and decorations tonight, but we decided to watch the A&M football game instead.  And of course, I'm blogging too. :)  The goal tomorrow is to get the tree up.  I love it when our house is decorated for Christmas!

Instagram

I recently discovered Instagram and InstaCollage.  Love them!  I have always seen my friends on Facebook add photos from Instagram, and I finally tried it myself.  Here are a few...  Yes, I'm a little addicted...

 

 

 

 

 

Fishing Trip

Andy went on another fishing trip this weekend.  This time not in his kayak.  He and his dad actually went on a guided trip.  They had a blast!!  They left about 4:30 this morning and didn't get back until about 5:00pm.  Unfortunately, most of the fish that they caught were too big or old.  Apparently the meat on bigger fish isn't has tender and "fresh" as the meat on smaller fish.  I assume the bigger the fish then the older it is which would make sense about the meat not being as delicious.  They did have at least one keeper though, and I am sure Andy will want to grill it tomorrow.

Andy with his new warm camo gear!

First catch of the day!

 Next week is Thanksgiving, and we have a camping trip planned to visit my parents in Shiner.  Our camping spot is in San Marcos, and it's actually across the street from the Outlet Mall.  Too bad I'm not much on Black Friday shopping because that would probably be one of the best places to stay if I were.  We have a full day of school on Monday and a half day of school on Tuesday, and then no work for three (five if you count the weekend) glorious days.  It will be so nice to not be at work, away from everything that stresses me/us.

Thankful

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I think about all that I have been blessed with throughout my life... 

My husband.  I can't even begin to describe the deepness of my love for Andy.  He means everything to me.  He has given me confidence in myself, he has shown me how to stand up for what I believe in, he builds my self-esteem up daily, he encourages me, he always supports me, and he loves me no matter what.  He is an amazing husband and my best friend.  I couldn't imagine my life without him in it.

My mom.  My mom is one of my best friends.  She loves me unconditionally.  She supports me in everything that I do and have done.  I don't think she ever missed a single cross country meet, basketball game, or track meet throughout my junior high and high school career.  She is always there for me when I need someone to listen.  I am so thankful to have her as my mom and no one can ever replace her.

My brother, college education, job, family, friends, home, cars, food, pets, in-laws, health, money... God has blessed me with much in my life.  I don't deserve any of it; yet He continues to bless me and my family.

One of Andy's basketball players lost his father in a car accident last weekend, and it just makes you stop and think.  There are so many things that I stress about in life, but in the end does it really matter?  What matters are the people around me... us... that support us, love us, and care for us.  The life that God has given us is so precious, but I take it for granted every day.  My hope and prayer is that I can really reflect on this past week and remind myself of what is truly important in my life.

Crazy Saturday

This morning was Andy's basketball scrimmage for the new season.  We had JV and Varsity kids mixed up together, so it's hard to get a feel for how the season is going to turn out.  There are definitely some things that we did well (very well, actually) but there is a lot of room for imrovement.  I just pray that we stay healthy and no injuries this year.  Looking forward to the first real game on Tuesday!

Our volleyball team at Tarkington played in their Regional Final match today and has made it to the State Tournament next weekend.  This will be two years in a row that they've made an appearance at State.  Last year, they lost in the semi-final game, but hopefully this year they can make it to the final game and actually win State.  School is going to be crazy this week!

Gig 'em Aggies!  A&M beat #1 ranked Alabama this afternoon!  Whoop!  It was such a great game.  Definitely shocked that we won, but I'll take a victory over the reigning National Champions any day.  It's been a great season with all the changes - new conference, new coaches, some new players, new morale/attitude.  It's nice to finally see some success for a change! :)

Stole some pictures from the Aggie Athletics facebook page...  Just some of my fave people!

Coach Sumlin

Kliff Kingsbury

Johnny Football!  Yay!

Mike Evans

Ryan Swope

I mean, seriously people... WHOOP!  Aggie Football makes me so happy right now.  I am always proud to be an Aggie, but it sure is nice to be proud of good football too.

Tomorrow is my family Thanksgiving gathering on my Mom's side of the family.  I really look forward to spending time with my extended family.  Despite our differences, we really do make a great family.  We have celebrated Thanksgiving around my grandpa's birthday for as long as I remember.  We always make Christmas lists and then draw names.  I like the surprise on Christmas Eve of finding out who got your name.  I know my family is close when even though we may not have seen each other for months it always feels like we've never been apart.  This will also be the first time I've seen my mom in about 4 months... Gee, I miss her a lot.  Maybe one day I'll live closer to her.

One more thing... We've decided to run in the Rock 'n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon.  Pretty pumped up about it.  Andy has already made our workout schedule.