P.S.

We aren't completely finished with either tree. I'll post the finished product later!

Trees.....Trees everywhere

ASHLYN'S PINK CHRISTMAS TREE ;)

THIS IS OUR TREE

HOPE YOU LIKE THEM!!!!

What's the deal?

LOL!!!!!!!!! What did I do to deserve ALL OF THE CAR TROUBLE THAT I HAVE?!?!?!?!?

Let me start off with the first story.......On Thanksgiving Day Britt decided to wash my car for me while I was busy cooking. A few minutes later he came back inside the kitchen and proceeded to ask me if I had pissed anyone off at work. What???????? Me piss someone off........NO!!! I get along with everyone that I work with! He then tells me that someone has loosened all of my lug-nuts on my front tires! I was missing 3 on one tire and 2 on another. The ones that were left on were ALL LOOSE! If Britt wouldn't have noticed the missing lug-nuts my family and I could have been seriously injured or killed! Britt rotated my tires a couple months back, and he used a power wrench to put the tires back on. There is NO WAY that these just happened to loosen up and fall off on their own. Someone is either out to get me, or was trying to steal my tires. I really can't figure it out. My car is either in our garage at home, parked at work with people in and out every minute, or parked in a busy parking lot while I'm out shopping. This just disgusts me! I travel with a 2 year old almost everyday.......what if one or both of my wheels came off while I had her in the car!?!?!? It just really gets to me that people can be so mean!

My second rant is my flippin' car! I'm sure that you remember when my car stopped on my in the middle of the drive thru line while getting breakfast. I took it to Advanced Auto Parts and had them hook my car up to this computer that would tell you what the problem is. They gave me the printout. It said that we needed to replace all four of my Oxygen censors. We went and bought 4 new O2 censors, which was close to $200, and Britt replaced the old with the new. Up until yesterday everything was fine.........until I was in the drive thru line at CVS to pick up a presription. And it stopped.....AGAIN! What the heck? SOOOOO..........something else is wrong! Just my luck! Britt is supposed to take it to a garage today to hook it up to a machine. I just hope and pray that it's nothing major. If so that may be our Christmas present to one another. =) Lovely!

Ashlyn Receiving Her Bible

Picking Out the Perfect Tree

Ashlyn, Alaina, and Reid

Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas trees......what a combination!

All I can say is.....what a BUSY weekend! Thursday we had lunch at Britt's Grandma Cody's house. The Cody family is huge. I think that there are 10 great grandchildren. It's always nice to get all of the kids together. They love it! After lunch we headed to my parent's house for dinner at 5:00. We have both sides of the family (Sherrill and Drum) for dinner, so Ashlyn got to see everybody. She was on cloud nine! When we finished there we went to Britt's Mom's for their family Thanksgiving dinner. We just ate dessert there. We were stuffed from all of the food that we consumed throughout the day. I'm glad that Thanksgiving only comes around once a year!
We spent the night at Joyce's. Kerry, Britt's sister, and her family also stayed the night. Poor Joyce had all three kids in the bed with her. I know that she didn't get much sleep at all Thursday night! Friday morning we had breakfast and then headed to the mountains to pick out our Christmas Tree. The kids were very eager to get there. Once we got there all three kids were getting fussy......so the fun began. =) It didn't take us long at all to pick out a tree. Last year we searched for the perfect one, but this year we took home the first one that we both agreed on. All three of the trees were perfect and full. After loading the trees on Britt's truck we took off to the Mast General Store. I hadn't been there in a very long time. They have a little bit of everything inside. I found me some really cute shoes, but once I looked at the price tag and saw that they were $120 I decided I didn't need them that bad. Now I'm not claustrophobic, but the store was PACKED and I was beginning to feel that way. You couldn't hardly walk around in there, and the floors were creaking. I was just waiting on the floor to fall in. I have no clue how this OLD store can hold that many people! It was insane. By the end of the day Ashlyn was one worn out and grumpy girl! When we finally arrived back at our house both of our Labs had gotten out of their kennel. They had chewed up the wires to BOTH of Britt's trailors......AGAIN! I honestly thought that they were going to be dead dogs. And not only did they chew the trailor wires. They also chewed our cable wire in half!!!!!! These dogs do not learn. Britt was LIVID!
Saturday Ashlyn and I didn't do a thing. We just rested up from Thursday and Friday. Britt had a Foard Alumni Basketball Tournament over the Thanksgiving Holidays. Ashlyn and I went to watch his game Saturday evening. His class won the tournament. And he did a great job! Ashlyn was so proud of her daddy! She kept saying "Good job Daddy!" and cheering for him. Too darn cute! Mom and Dad came by the house on their way home from Hickory. They took Ashlyn with them so that Britt and I could go over to a friend's house for a get together. We had so much fun! Before we knew it was 2:45 am and were still hanging out watching everyone sing karaoke. I didn't get in the bed until almost 4:00.
Sunday I helped with a baby shower for Britt's cousin Stephanie. She is due on January 16th and has gained only 20 lbs. She hadn't gained weight anywhere except for her belly. I was so jealous. =) She looked great! Once the shower was over I picked Britt up to go to our church. They were presenting Ashlyn with her first Bible last night. When they called her name she ran up and got her Bible and ran back to us with the biggest smile on her face. Priceless! She wanted to go home with Nana and Pappaw, so we let her stay with them last night, and we went home and put up Christmas decorations. I LOVE DECORATING......everthing but putting those darn lights on the tree. I would almost pay someone to come and do that part for me. I hate it! I'm surprised that Britt and I are still married after trying to tackle that task!
That's my 4 day weekend. We were busy every day! I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving as well!

Thanksgiving is almost here!

I can't wait! I love Thankgiving! It is definitely one of my favorite holidays.......between the yummy food, the family, and the shopping; what could be better? Well....I don't think that I'm going to be fighting the shopping crowds this year, but for many people it's the greatest shopping day ever.
Instead of shopping for Christmas gifts we are going to be shopping in the mountains for our Christmas tree on Friday. We've made it a tradition to go every year. I just love it.....the cold air, the mountain views, and best of all we get to pick out and chop down our very own Christmas tree.
Growing up we always had an artificial tree. It is by far much easier to put up and down, but there is something really great about having a real tree. Especially the family time that we have together while picking it out. I do hate vacuming all of the pine needles, but other than that I love it!
Now I'll back up and tell you about our weekend. Usually when Britt has a weekend off we just lay around the house and do basically nothing, in the evenings that is. There's always something to do durning the day like some kind of cleaning or yard work. But this weekend was different. We were busy bodies.
Friday night we went to Kobe's and had supper. Yum Yum! That place will never get old. Then we went and picked up the parts for my car and stopped by Blockbuster to pick up a movie for the night. We hardly ever have time to watch movies anymore. That used to be all that we did. I don't know what happened. I guess it was having a child. LOL! Anyways we rented 'Crash'. It was a very good movie. It was one of those that really makes you sit back and look at the big picture. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend checking it out.
Saturday Britt fixed my car. It needed 4 new Oxygen censors.......whatever that means. That afternoon I took Ashlyn over to Britt's mom's house. Joyce had volunteered to watch her overnight so that Britt and I could go out for a little while. We had dinner over at Jamie and Renee's house. Then their neighborhood was having a block party so we headed over there for a while. A few captain and cokes later we went to Angry Ale's in Denver to hear my friend Danny's band. They were Awesome! We had such a good time that night.
Sunday we were feeling a little rough so we skipped church and slept in. I didn't do ANYTHING all day. At 5:00 I headed to Mooresville for the meeting regarding our 10 year class reunion. Gosh.....it makes me feel old just typing that. We have a few ideas in mind that I think are going to work out fabulous! Hopefully it will be the best 10 year reunion EVER! I just can't believe that it's almost that time. Man I feel old. =)
So that's my weekend. It went by way too fast! I'm so excited that I only have to work 3 days this week, and then I get a 4 day weekend. Yeah!
I hope that everyone has a GREAT THANKSGIVING!!!! Just eat until you can't eat anymore. It only comes around once a year! =)

My mind......

I don't know why but my mind is in 1000 different places. I can't seem to focus on work right now, so I decided to take a little break and blog......just write everything that is running through my mind at the current moment.
First off.....what is my life plan? I'm happily married with a wonderful daughter........ the only thing missing is my career goal. I'm 27 years old and I still don't know what I want to do. Well, I know what I want to do.......open my own children's boutique, but I don't even know where to begin. You've got to have money to start your own business, and money is tight around our house right now. I know that we could get a loan, but what if the business doesn't work? It would just be alot of money down the drain. I know that with starting your own business you have to take some risks, but it scares me to think that we could use money for other things, and what if the business doesn't do as well as I think it would. My mind is going 100 miles a minute right now. Sorry for the rambling. Like I said. I'm just writing what is going through my head at the moment.
My friend Holly is going to teach me how to sew. I'm hoping to learn how to make crib bedding and children's bedding and accesories. I know, I know......I'm laughing at the idea of me being a domestic housewife too, but I REALLY want to learn how to do things like that. Holly is so crafty. Hopefully she can teach me a thing or two. And then I can make all of the bedding myself. Like I said........I'm just dreaming right now.
I haven't been sleeping well lately either. I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago for a regular female physical. fun fun ;( I have been having these terrible night sweats. I mean so bad that the sheets are soaking wet......it's really nasty. Poor Britt gets to sleep with me. He won't even touch me when I break out in these sweats. And the funny thing is that it's only my legs that sweat. Weird! I just knew that something was seriously wrong with me. I am way too young to be going through the life change. She had some tests run, and I had been stressing about how the results were going to turn out. I got the results in the mail a few days ago, and everything came back normal. Whewww! I'm not a hypochondriac, but I worry constantly about having some sort of horrible disease. It's crazy.....I know. I guess it stems from my biggest fear being death.....Seriously! I know that I'll be in a much better place, but I can't get past the thought of not being able to see Ashlyn grow up.
I've just had so much on my mind lately. I needed to get some of it out. This is only part of what's been running through my head. Maybe I'll get on here a little later and finish. I better get back to work for now.

WHY!?!?!?!

1. WHY DOES MY HUSBAND NOT UNDERSTAND THAT WOMEN GIVE THEIR FRIENDS GIFTS DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON?

2. WHY IS IT OK FOR MEN TO SPEND MONEY ON GOLF, NFL SUNDAY TICKET, PLAY STATION GAMES, ETC... BUT IF WE GO OUT AND SPEND MONEY ON CLOTHES OR GIFTS WE HAVE WASTED OUR MONEY?

3. WHY IS MY CAR NOT FIXED YET? (IT BROKE DOWN ON ME TWICE TODAY)

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST.........

4. WHY ARE MEN SO STUPID?

Let the Christmas Shopping Begin

Saturday night I met Mom and Dad for supper at Tripp's. We had a great dinner. After that Ashlyn and I went shopping. I was going to find a few new items to add to my wardrobe and do some Christmas shopping. I have lost some weight (not alot, but enough that my pants won't stay up) since last year, so my pants aren't fitting very well anymore. I feel like those boys that wear their pants down to their knees. =) And of course I sold all of my clothes that would fit at a yardsale that we had a few months ago. I didn't think that I was ever going to lose that baby weight!
I had some coupons and things for Belk, so I bought a few items there. Then off through the mall to look in all of the other stores. It was packed! I wish that all stores would put their racks far enough apart so that I don't do an excersice routine trying to maneuver through this maze of clothes. It drives me nuts! I bought a few more items for myself at Victoria's Secret. They have a new bra out now.......and girls I LOVE it! It is the best thing since sliced bread. It's so comfortable. You'll have to check it out.
After spending hours at the mall I had not gotten any of my Christmas shopping accomplished. I guess that I'm just going to go to Concord Mills and North Lake mall one weekend and try to get it all done at once. The only problem is you have to have money to shop.....and the way that things break around our house we hardly ever have any extra money to spend. ;) We have some in savings, but we need that money for when things do break. LOL!
I already know what I'm getting the Nana's and Mammaw's. Shhhhhh don't give it away. Moriah...you know what it is, and everyone else should too. I think they will LOVE it! But I don't have a clue what to get everyone else......even Ashlyn. She would love anything that I get her, but I like to have some sort of idea of what I'm looking for. I want to try to get all of the shopping done early this year so that I don't have to worry with it any longer.
Other than Christmas shopping, I am SOOOO ready for Christmas. We are going to day after Thanksgiving to pick out our Christmas tree. We're making it a family tradition to drive to a tree farm in Boone where you pick out your own tree ,and they give you a saw to cut it down yourself. It's so much fun! I can't wait to start decorating! And I can't wait to go to Tanglewood and McAdenville! They always have a magnificent showing of lights!
I'm getting ready to go to Kohl's now. Everything is 50% off today. Hopefully I can knock a few items off of my christmas shopping list. Wish me luck!

T.G.I.F.

I didn't think that Friday was ever going to get here.....and so far this has started out crappy! I skipped lunch yesterday and went home at 4:00 because I had a headache all day, and it was slowly getting worse by the minute. I crawled in the bed around 5:00 and didn't wake up until midnight.....and that was only to eat supper and watch Grey's Anatomy. You know I wasn't feeling well if I missed Grey's. I went back to bed at 1:00 and didn't wake up until 7:15 this morning. I got ready in no time at all since today is casual Friday. I was actually going to be early for work ,which is a rarity, so I decided to go through the Sonic drive-thru to pick me up some breakfast. While waiting in line my car just completely stops running. I tried restarting it and nothing. It wouldn't turn over, it wouldn't do anything. The girl comes out with my food and I begin to let her know what just happened. I told her just to let everyone know to drive on around me, because I can't go anywhere. She was very kind.....it almost seemed as if she had been in the same predicament before, or at least seemed to understand how bad luck can feel. =) I called Britt and told him where I was and what had happened. He told me to try restarting it again since it had been sitting for a few minutes. It did finally crank up. I drove onto work without any problems. Who knows what's wrong with it? I just hope that it's not something that's going to cost me an arm and a leg. So, that's how my day has started.......very sucky! I'm meeting Ida for lunch though, so I'm sure that she'll find a way to make it better. She can put anyone in a better mood.

ASHLYN'S FIRST HAIRCUT

AFTER

DURING

BEFORE

My Halloween Fairy Princess

Atlanta Wedding Weekend

Saturday morning my parents and I were on our way to Atlanta for Marty and Laura's big day. Britt couldn't get off of work to go, so it was me all by my lonesome. I left Ashlyn with Britt's mom because I didn't know how well she would handle a 4 hour ride down there plus sitting through the wedding and reception without any tantrums. That would have been asking a little too much from a 2 year old.
The wedding was beautiful! It was held at the largest Presbyterian Church in the United States. This church has over 10,000 members. It was HUGE to say the least. After the wedding it was off to Buckhead Country Club for the reception. This place reminded me of Rockbarn, but bigger and much nicer. There was an open bar with all the beer, wine, and liquor that you could drink. Needless to say we were all feeling pretty good by the end of the reception. The food was spectacular........lamb chops, duck quesadillas, steamed veggies, tenderloin, shrimp and grits, crab cakes, sugar cured bacon, fruit, cheese.......I could go on and on. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Also they had a live band. The reception was awesome. I think that it was the nicest wedding and reception that I have ever attended.
Once the reception ended my mom drove Matt, Kellie, and me back to the hotel. We changed clothes and then headed out to a bar for what was about to be a very interesting night. Ryan, Heath and his fiance Megan went out with us too along with a few others. The bar was packed! We were all feeling really good at this point in the night. For some reason I got mad at Heath and threw some beads across the table at him.....it was Heath, so I'm sure that he did something to piss me off. Then he got really pissed and poured a drink on me. I was EXTREMELY PISSED now! I was yelling at him and calling him all kinds of names. His poor fiance! She was already pissed off at him before we even went out, and by the end of the night she was livid. Right before we left he finally apologized. I accepted his apology and told him that I forgave him, but that he should no better than to pour a drink on a female. Come on now!?!?!
Once we got back to the hotel I called Britt to tell him all about our adventurous evening. While sitting in the lobby talking to him I hear a loud commotion. I ran into the waiting area for the elevatiors to find Matt and Heath swinging at one another. Matt's shirt was ripped open and Ryan was holding Heath back. There was blood all over both of them. I'm still not really sure what happened. It was the funniest thing that I have seen in a long time. Neither one of them were hurt too bad. They both had a busted nose and a few bumps and bruises. That was definitely the highlight of the night. =) I am very tempted to call the hotel up and see if they have the surveillance video of the two of them duking it out. I would pay good money to own that video.
On the way home Mom and I stopped at the outlet stores in Gaffney and did some shopping. I found Ashlyn the cutest outfits. I haven't been there in a really long time, but I'm going to definitely start going more often. They had some really good buys.
It was a fabulous weekend. I'm struggling a bit today from the lack of sleep, but all in all it was very interesting.

Gotta love this pic! =)

TOO FUNNY!!

We are working on potty training Ashlyn. She used to want to go on the potty a few months back, and now it's almost a battle to get her to use it. Last night she told me that she needed to stinky. I asked her if she wanted to go to the potty and she said no. I told her that if she went in her diaper and not on the potty that she had to go to bed. So then she jumped up and was ready to go potty. She was sitting on her elmo potty really trying to go. She kept telling me that her bottom hurt. Finally she looked at me with those puppy dog eyes and said "Mommy, my bottom hurts. Will you kiss it?" LOL!!! I guess since Mommy kisses all other boo-boos and makes them better she thought that I could make that better too. I looked at her and told her that I would kiss any boo-boos, but not her butt. She just giggled at me. She still didn't stinky, so off the potty she went and back in the den to play. I made sure to tell her again that if she goes in her diaper she had to go to bed. Britt was down in the floor playing with her when all of a sudden a got a whiff of Ashlyn. She had gone in her diaper. I looked straight at her and asked if she had stinkied. She totally ignored my question. A few seconds later she backed her butt up right in Britt's face and said "Smell Daddy!". She is so full of herself. She's such a little comedian. It's so funny to hear the comments that come out of the mouths of children.

My week

It's been another busy week for me. On Tuesday I wasn't feeling well at all. I woke up with a TERRIBLE headache and a sore throat. I decided to take the day off and get some rest. I just laid around the house all day. I haven't had one of those kind of days in forever. That may have been the reason why I was sick in the first place. If I don't get enough rest I'm not a happy person to be around. Britt is the exact opposite. He can go for a whole day without any sleep and still won't be crabby. I have no clue how he does it. By Wednesday I was feeling a little better. I still had the sore throat, but no headache. And today I'm feeling more like myself. It's just been a long and nasty week. I am so ready for the weekend to roll around!

My brakess went out on my car. I mean completely went out, so Britt decided that he would replace them for me. He had all of my tires off, ready to change the back breaks, and the pressure or something wouldn't release for him to fix them. He had to call a parts store. They didn't have the part that he needed in stock so we had to order the part and wait for it to come in before he could finish the job. So while I was waiting on my car Britt's dad lent me his Excursion to drive. I love that thing. I feel like I own the road in that thing! Finally my car is fixed. Britt finished it up last night. Thanks Honey!

On top of that our dryer went out, so Britt had to go and buy a new dryer. If it's not one thing it's another. I mean does it ever stop? I'm just waiting on us to win the lottery. With all of the bad luck that we have, surely there is some really good luck to follow! =)