Surprise!

My hubby is so thoughtful… or maybe after six years of  complaining, he has finally realized that I like to celebrate my birthday! Ha!
Since my birthday is so close to Christmas, I rarely receive any birthday gifts. This is especially true as I have gotten older. Now, I know that sounds so selfish of me, but please know that I don’t expect a gift from everyone! As long as Brandon remembers and my family remembers, I’m cool. I have also rarely been able to celebrate my day because people are so busy even after the holiday season. This is just something I have come to accept… haha. Bran has actually never given me a birthday present in the six years we have been together! I reminded him of that many times this year, so he decided to do something about it. He threw me a surprise birthday party last night! It was a lot of fun to be able to hang out with our friends.
Here are some photos that my friend Jen took. She is the same girl that took are Christmas photos.

This is my “I wish I would've wore something cuter” face.

Jen, Cathryn, Megan, Me, and Katie
We are only missing Candy… She came later.
They are all great friends!

My birthday face?

Dairy Queen ice cream cakes are the best!

A couple of the couples

Great teacher friends

I wish I had a picture of me and the hubs. He really is a sweetie.
It was a great birthday gift!

Celebrations

Christmas was fantastic! We were able to celebrate with both my family and Bran’s family. Christmas Eve Eve we went to my parent’s house. I spent the night playing with my little nephew Drew. I wish I would’ve snapped some photos of him because he is absolutely precious. I also wish I could spend more time with him because he is so much fun at this age. Christmas Eve was spent at the house with my family. We went to my Grandma’s house for dinner. Christmas morning we woke up and opened presents at my parents, then went to my aunt’s house to eat breakfast and open more presents. Lunch was back at mom’s house and more present opening. We left that afternoon to make it back home to spend Christmas night with Bran’s family. His mom made a delicious dinner and there was even more opening of gifts. I had so much fun! I am very blessed with such a great Christian family.
Today is my 25th birthday. I feel so old! I am halfway to 50!! Bran took the day off to spend it with me. We ate breakfast at ihop. I had the most yummy chocolate chip pancakes. I then went to Hobby Lobby to find some deals. They were pretty much cleaned out though… I was so disappointed. I did buy some Christmas lights, extension cord, and timer for 50% off! I then went to Lowes and spent my birthday and Christmas money on door knobs and paint. Bran hauled off some junk from our garage while I painted our patio doors. He also hauled off a dresser and nightstand to a friend. We took that money from the furniture and ate at Chilis for my birthday dinner. It was so good! However, our check engine light came on, so we spent the rest of the night at AutoZone buying some parts to fix my car. That wasn’t fun!
I am so excited about this year. Even though I hate that my birthday it so close to Christmas, it is nice that it is close to New Years. It’s like I get to make New Years and Birthday resolutions. Ha! Bran and I were talking about what we are looking forward to this upcoming year and I was reminded how truly blessed I am. We are expecting God to do some great things in 2011!!

Christmas Card

Front

Inside

Scroll down a few more posts to see how I got fifty of these amazing Christmas cards for FREE from Shutterfly. I definitely received a ton of compliments this year!

Christmas Vacation!

It was so nice today not going up to school to get ready for this upcoming week. Instead, I was able to take a nice Sunday afternoon nap after church. It would’ve been better if Bran could’ve joined me, but of course he went to train. He might be fighting again in February. He’s still not home… He had to do a little bit of work today too. That boy is always so busy.
Fortunately, he made some time for me yesterday! We spent the entire day in Little Rock. First, we finished up our Christmas shopping at the mall. I do NOT like Little Rock. The traffic was horrible and the people were weird. Thank goodness for our GPS or we would’ve been so lost. I found some fantastic pictures on clearance from Kirklands. Even though I wasn’t supposed to be buying for me, I couldn’t resist.

That’s right! Only $4.97! I bought two: one for each bathroom! Now I just have to go and pick some nails up so I can hang them. We also bought some curtains for our bedroom from JC Pennys. We have talked about getting some, and I think waiting two years for curtains is long enough! Bran is just happy it’s not bright in our room in the mornings.
After shopping, we went to the Tran Siberian Orchestra concert at the Verizon Arena. They played all of the traditional Christmas carols with a rock-and-roll twist. It was awesome. I wish I had some pictures to post, but cameras were strictly prohibited.
We ate dinner at Carinos. I had a Chicken Parmesan Panini. It was yummy. However, the french fries they served with it were to die for. I actually ate the mound of french fries and took the panini home. haha! We had a great time together. It was nice to have all of my husbands attention. However, he really is not a good shopping partner.
One thing on my to-do list for my two weeks off is to get my new doors painted. I only have 2.5 done so far. They take FOREVER to paint.

Here is one that is finished. The door knob and hinges have an oil rubbed bronze finish. All the other finishes in my house are satin nickel… The new knobs were free though, so they will work for now!
 
Here is our door that still needs paint!

And I just thought I would throw this picture in from Bran’s fight last week!

Brrrrr….

It’s COLD outside! I love bundling up and drinking hot cocoa when it’s cold. However, I do NOT enjoy recess duty when the wind chill is below freezing!
Anyways, I am going to Orlando! My principal invited me to represent our building at a huge technology conference in Florida in January/February. It’s an entire week! I am nervous about leaving my kiddos for a whole week and dreading writing the sub plans, but it will be worth it. The only downside, I will be away from my hubby on his birthday.  We will have a big celebration for him when I get back though. I would like to think that the world will not able to go on without me. However, I know that everyone will be quite fine without me!

2-0

My husband’s MMA record is now 2-0. Here is the video from last nights fight. He did a great job!

BFF

Brandon has been gone every, single night this week. I have been so sad. He is busy training for his second MMA fight tomorrow. I hope he wins and doesn’t get hurt!
Anyways, I am so thankful for amazing friends. There are few things that are better than hanging out with your girls. Wednesday night Cathryn, a fellow teacher, and I went to Wal-Mart together to get some groceries and an ornament for a Christmas party. We ended up eating Mexican and having some good girl-time. Then Thursday, Cathryn and I crashed the Kindergarten teachers’ Christmas party. We all brought a dish and sat around the table for a couple of hours just catching up. It’s hard to make the time to just talk at school. It’s always so busy. Tonight, my friend Dara and I had a date at Cracker Barrel. We met at 6:30 and didn’t leave until 9:00!! I had the best time just having a great conversation with her. My friends are so amazing. Even though I have fell out of touch with some after getting married, I have gained so many more.
However, I do miss my best girlfriend… my mom! I wish we could hang out more. She’s the best shopping buddy and the best person to go to Neighbor’s Mill with. Hopefully we will get to go sometime over Christmas break though.

Bran, Mason, and I took our Christmas card photos today with my friend, Jen. She is one of the sweetest people I know! She is a great photographer and has a heart of gold. I can’t wait until she edits them so I can order my free Christmas cards from Shutterfly!
I made Thanksgiving dinner for Bran’s family yesterday since we were with my family for the holiday. I cooked a ham, dressing, rolls, corn, green beans, sweet potato soufflé, and homemade mashed potatoes. It was so yummy! I also baked an apple pie and pumpkin pie for dessert. I can’t wait until Bran and I get a bigger house with a dining room to do more entertaining. I love cooking for other people. I’m not a chef or anything, but it’s a lot of fun.
Bran’s aunt and uncle brought us our Christmas present from Bran’s parents… new doors! They are currently in my in-laws garage, but we will install them soon. I need to call the trash place to get a dumpster out here. We need somewhere to put our old doors. Along with new doors, our friend is coming out to look at our shower soon. It has a crack in the base and hasn’t been used for almost six months. Hopefully he has a solution for us that won’t cost an arm and a leg.
I’m out of grad school until January. I’m super excited that I don’t have any homework for a month! This time at school is so hectic. We have a ton of Christmas activities for the kids and three chunk tests in the next two weeks. I’m looking forward to our Christmas party and caroling and pajama day. It is a fun time of year for both the kids and me!