Merry Christmas

“Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,
Christ the Savior is born!
Christ the Savior is born.”

Christmas 2011 was just wonderful.  Jason and I got to spend a lot of time with a lot of family.  Christmas Eve we attended the candlelight service at FBC and it was simply and very beautiful.  It really set the mood the weekend.  After the service we ate supper with Jason’s parents and sister.  We were able to watch one of my favorite Christmas movies, A Christmas Story, while we were there and exchanged gifts.  Later that night we came home, where my parents were waiting and opened more presents.  Then it was the yearly tradition of watching Christmas Vacation.  We have all seen this movie so many times that we laugh before the parts happen.
Christmas morning we woke up early and Santa visited us again! :)  I got a Keurig coffee maker and a reminder of my iPhone I had received a few months earlier.  Jason got a real record player and some Jimmy Buffett records. 
After a huge breakfast of chocolate gravy and biscuits and breakfast casserole with my parents we headed over to Jason’s aunt’s house to eat another HUGE meal.  Wonderful meal and even better company.
Our last stop of the day was Booneville, MS to of course eat some more and see my grandparents and cousins.  The night was filled with telling stories and laughing as hard as possible.
I am amazed every year about how blessed Jason and me are to have our families.  This time of year it is so special to be able to spend time with everybody.  It seems like we stay on the go but it is all worth it.
Countdown to Christmas 2012 has officially started ;)
“Merry christmas to my saints and guardian angels
Who protect me as i roam
‘tis the season to remember
All the faces
And the places that were home”
Jimmy Buffett

Christmas Decorations 2011

Christmas spirit filled the McCormick house once again this year.  Inside and out Christmas was everywhere!  There are a lot of sparkles and I will be sweeping up glitter for a few months after Christmas is over.
Here are a few highlights:

This is our favorite Christmas decoration of all.  My Mama Jane and Max give us a piece of the Willow Tree Nativity scene.  Ours is almost complete, next year we will add 3 Wisemen.  I can’t wait!!
Kitchen above the cabinets:





Another one of my favorite Christmas traditions is the Santa plates that my mom gives me each year.
Santa plate for next year:

Buffett even got in the Christmas spirit:

Mantle:

Start of Our Reindeer Plate Collection:

Welcome To Taylor-Greene

I made cute little Snowman Soup happies to take around to the new neighbors in Taylor-Greene for my first official duty as hospitality chair for our HOA board.
Snowman Soup
Was told you’ve been real good this year.
Always glad to hear it!
With freezing weather drawing near,
You’ll need to warm the spirit.
So here’s a little Snowman Soup
Complete with stirring stick.
Add hot water, sip it slow.
It’s sure to do the trick!

Sounds Of The Season

My Mama, Mama Jane, and Max came to town and treated Jason and me to see the Sounds of the Season show at the Ford Center.  It was so wonderful and we left more in the Christmas spirit.  The Tupelo Symphony Orchestra was amazing and I could listen to them all day.  Mary Haskell and Guy Hovis (proud Ole Miss alums) sang and performed and the whole thing was hosted by Doris Roberts. Also the current Miss America, Teresa Scanlon made an appearance and I was really impressed with her poise on stage.  I was most excited about Doris Roberts, who is best known for her role as Marie on Everybody Loves Raymond (one of my all time favorite shows).  She was so funny and really seemed to be impressed Oxford, but really who isn’t? :) All in all it was a great memory to start off the Christmas Season.

Tree #1

Baby It's Cold Outside

It’s SNOWING in Taylor, MS!

The Real Tree

Jason and I went shopping for his real tree.  We searched and searched for the perfect one and finally found one!

A lot Like Christmas

Christmas decorating has started at the McCormick house.
This is how far we have gotten…..
I hope to be finished by the end of the week! :)

Thanksgiving

This year Jason and I got to spend Thanksgiving with almost everybody in our families.  I saw some of my family that I haven’t seen in years!
Our first Thanksgiving was with my mom’s side of the family.  We met Mama Jane, Max, Teresa, Ken, Anna Kate, Caroline, Connor, and my parents in Tupelo on Wednesday night.  It was so fun and felt so good to be around all of them.
Our next Thanksgiving was at the campgrounds with Jason’s parents and Jason’s aunt and uncle and cousins.  There we ate way too much good food and enjoyed watching some football.  The weather was really nice and the company was awesome too!
Next we ventured to North Mississippi to eat with my dad’s side of the family. I have not seen a lot of this side in years and it has seemed like the family has multiplied!  My dad has 2 sisters who have 3 kids each.  Now each of the kids have a husband/wife and at least one kid of their own!  I think I counted 30 people all together!  This was the only place I took some pictures.
 
 The originals!  My mom and dad, My dad’s sister Ann and her husband Billy, My dad’s twin sister Donna and her husband, Keith

The first cousins: (back row) Brian, me, Rena, and Jason (front row) Laura, Jenny, and Robin
 
The Kids: (front) Hunter, Taylor, Ethan (middle) Jace, Brady, Grace, Kyleigh, Ella (back) Baylor and Emma

This is what it looked like getting the picture together! :)
Lastly Jason and I traveled to Starkville to have Thanksgiving with some of my Starkville adopted family.  We ate a wonderful lunch at the Sansings with my best friend from high school, Jessica, her husband and parents, and my mom and dad.  It was so great to be able to catch up with them.  The girls just sat at the bar in the kitchen after we ate and talked just like we did so many times in high school.
 
Just a cute one of Jess and me! :)
Jason and I were so blessed this Thanksgiving to be able to spend so much time with all the loved ones in our lives.

Last Tailgate

Ole Miss played LSU at home and we tailgated for the last time this season.  The Grove is always an interesting place when LSU comes to town.  LSU is ranked #1 this year and of course it showed at the game. LSU won 52-3.  Aside of that it was a beautiful day in the Grove with wonderful company as always.  I only got one picture the whole day and I actually stole it from my mom.
This is me and my cousin Jennifer.   She got to come to the game on a date night with her husband, Jeremy and tailgate with us and it was great to see them!

Work Conference

Trina, Chasity, and I got to escape from OED for a few days to go to a conference in Tunica.  It is always fun to get away with the Oxford girls.  We learned a lot, ate good food, listened to good music, and got some Christmas shopping finished.  It was a great trip!

We tried out a new restuarant in Tunica, called the Hollywood Cafe.  It is known for their fried dill pickles. We of course had to try them and they lived up to the hype.  The atmosphere was so cute.

Both nights there was a really good band playing at the place where we were staying.  The band’s name was Triggerproof and they played a little bit of everything.  All the members could sing and play an instrument.  It was a lot of fun!

Can’t wait till next time!!! :)

Goodbye Long Hair

For the longest time I have been wanting to cut my hair, but Jason loves it long.  Well Jason doesn’t have to fix the mess of my hair everyday!  So finally I talked him into letting me get it cut and I LOVE it.  Jason actually likes it too!
Before (yucky ends!)

After

It’s so much easier to fix!  I can’t wait to try it curly!

Vote

I VOTED TODAY and I got the sticker to prove it.

I am really ashamed to say that today was my first time to vote ever. My Mama Jane would be so upset with me and Jason said he was embarrassed! But until this election I was never really passionate about an issue.  My life had never been so directly affected by an issue as it was this year.  I have learned my lesson now about how important it is to vote.  As Americans we are so privileged to live in a country where we can choose to vote when and how we want.  I think for a long time I took that for granted.
 
I hope everybody gets out and votes today and doesn’t sit on the sidelines like I did for too long!

Just Because

I got the best “just because” surprise at work today.  My wonderful parents sent me flowers and they are beautiful!

“He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” Isaiah 40:11

Mr. And Mrs. Jody Lowe

Last weekend I had the honor of coordinating Claire and Jody’s wedding.  Claire and Jody are good friends of ours and Jason has worked with both while at Ole Miss.  The wedding was an outside wedding at the Barksdale-Isom house and it was gorgeous!  I wish I had taken pictures of the wedding site but I was too busy!  After the wedding we headed to the square for the reception at the Oxford-University Club.  The day was perfect and so much fun!

Tailgate Shower

“There is no more beautiful spot to tailgate, nor one richer in tradition; the Grove has been the site of pregame picnicking for more than half a century.” Sports Illustrated
This weekend I hosted a Tailgate Shower in the Grove for two of my favorite people Taylor and Tyler.

Taylor and I have been friends since our first year at Ole Miss.  We lived in rooms right next door to one another in the dorm and then lived together in an off campus apartment the next year.  Taylor and I share a lot of fun memories and I am so blessed to have her in my life.  Taylor and Tyler both mean the world to me and it was so much fun to host this shower for them.
Here are a few pictures of the super fun shower!
Food Tables!
Our menu included: chilli (thanks to my dad!), chicken tenders, a variety of chips and dips, meat and cheese tray, chocolate acorns, pretzel footballs, strawberry cake, fruit salad, and so much more!
(Flowers by my awesome Mom)


Of course we have T.V. in the Grove :)

Gift Table
(Tablecloth by my talented Mom)

My gift to the couple

The Bride’s special Grove Sticker

The Hostesses

And of course the beautiful Bride and me

I truely enjoyed every minute involved in this shower!  Now I can’t wait for Taylor and Tyler’s wedding festivities!  May 26, 2012 will be here very soon!!!

All Dogs Go To Heaven

                                     “All dogs go to heaven because,
                 unlike people, dogs are naturally good and loyal and kind.”

One of the biggest parts of our lives is our dogs.  We treat them like children (because they are, right?).  My mom (who is a dog mother also) and I often joke about how empty our life would be without our furry babies.  Jason and I have 3 dogs at the moment.  We have our original 2, Reilly Quinn and Rosa Belle and then we have a foster (maybe to keep) Heidi Mae.
Reilly Quinn is our oldest.  She is 6 years old.  I got Reilly for Jason our first Christmas together.  She is a black lab without the papers to prove it.  We were never able to get the official papers on her because her dad’s papers were lost in Katrina.  She is the sweetest dog in the world.  She loves everybody.  She is really well-behaved when her dad is around.  She likes to play duck duck goose and look for birds.  She really is the best dog and I’m not just saying that because she’s mine.
“Labradors are lousy watchdogs. They usually bark when there is a stranger about, but it is an expression of unmitigated joy at the chance to meet somebody new, not a warning.”
  ~Norman Strung

Next is Rosa Belle.  She is 4 years old.  My parents got her for me when I graduated from Ole Miss.  I knew she was my dog when I picked her up and she tried to eat my diamond earring.  She is all mine, she loves her mama more than anything and anyone.  She can be stuck up but will usually warm up to other people.  She LOVES toys.  I have never seen a dog that loved toys as much as her.  Who couldn’t love that face!!

Lastly we have Heidi Mae.  She is 5 years old.  She is a rescue from the local Animal Shelter.  Jason saw a video of her on facebook and we both fell in love.  Currently we are just fostering her.  But we love her so much who knows we might just keep her. :)  She was abused for many years by her previous owners so she still has some quirks.  But she is SO sweet!  She loves to play with Reilly and Rosa.  She also loves to shake hands, but we have figured out that really means she just wants you to love on her more.
 
“A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things - a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty.”
John Grogan, Marley and Me, 2005

All Things Creepy

I absolutely LOVE this time of year.  I love that is football season, the colors of fall, that I can start wearing boots, and the hint of cold in the air.  I also love Halloween decorations!  Jason doesn’t like all the creepy things but I love it!!

Here is the start of our house Halloween decor

and our mailbox decor

Jason says the crow is creepy.  But I think he’s so cute!  I created all the decorations from supplies from Dollar Tree!  Probably cost a total of $15 all together (pumpkins are not included in this).  I love crafting for cheap!
 

I hope to add more in the next few days.  I really want to try this stacked pumpkin idea, maybe I can get to that soon!

First Blog Post Ever

So….where to begin?  I never thought I would do a blog but I saw on a friend’s blog the idea to blog for her kids. And I thought wow that’s a wonderful idea.  Years from now I want my kids to be able to look back and know things about me and their dad’s day to day life.  By no means is our life very exciting but it’s ours and I want to be able to document it in some way!
So to start with this is Jason and me.

Jason is a parrothead and I am just a music lover. So Jimmy Buffett is something we both love!  And this picture was taken at the Jimmy Buffett concert on the beach in Orange Beach.  Wonderful time. Wonderful Memories.

I can’t wait to add to this blog and have something to cherish and look back on and appreciate the wonderful life God has blessed us with.  We have our good times and we have some really tough times, but in the end I wouldn’t change one thing.

“Pick me up, love, from the bottom
Up onto the top, love, everyday
Pay no mind to taunts or advances
I’m gonna take my chances on everyday”
Dave Matthews Band