Life as of Late

The last two months of 2012 we really super busy.  I guess that's to be expected, with the Holiday season and everything.  So here is what I've been up to as of late:
1.  Pinterest!  If you haven't heard of pinterest, you're probably gonna want to check it out.  It's an online pinboard that you can use to save pictures with embedded links to everything from recipes to home decor to style and everything in between.  If you're not careful, you can spend waste a lot of time on there but it can be really useful for new ideas, planning events, a good laugh, and organizing things you see on multiple websites in one place.  It can seem a little confusing at first but you'll get the hang of it and you'll probably get a lot of really cool ideas there!
2.  My birthday!  I LOVE birthdays.  Growing up, I loved having my friends over for birthday parties and recently I've been celebrating for an entire week if possible!  On my actual birthday, my amazing roommate woke me up at 6:30 in the morning with a homemade cake complete with lit candles...it was quite surprising and the best way to start the day!  I also went to see the Lion King which was so great (if it's ever in your area, it's definitely worth seeing...the costumes and talent are really something!), and, enjoyed a surprise birthday brunch with some of my favorite people at my favorite breakfast place.  My burrito came complete with lit candles, which was awesome.  And...to top it all off, TCBY (my absolute favorite fro yo place) opened right here in Fort Collins!
3.  Sweet Miss Sofia!  I'm happy to announce that I have another new niece and she is beautiful!  Her name is Sofia and she is a laid back sweet little peanut.  She lives pretty far away but I finally got to see her over Christmas break.  We hung out a lot (which consisted of her sleeping in my arms) and I loved every minute of it.  Can't wait to watch this little one grow!
4.  Christmas!  Oh Christmas break...it came so abruptly and went by in the blink of an eye it seems.  I made the trip home to South Carolina and was able to spend time with lots of family members that I don't see often, which was really great.  Thankful for sweet memories.
5.  The Orange Bowl.  So, it's been a while since I've talked about Clemson football but here's how it all went down.  We went 9-3 in the regular season, with two terrible losses at the end there, one to NC State and one to our biggest rivals South Carolina.  I hate losing to them but by then we knew regardless of the outcome that we would be going to the ACC Championship because we won our division so it made the loss a little less painful.  We went on to beat Virginia Tech (for the second time this season!) in the ACC Championship game which was a great accomplishment! With that win, we were guaranteed a spot in the Orange Bowl, which is one of 5 BCS bowls (and kind of a big deal!)  My mom decided if we made it to the Orange Bowl that we should make the trip to Miami, so when we beat VA Tech, we made our travel plans.  Sparing you the painful details of the game itself (we lost and it wasn't pretty), all in all it was a great experience and I'm so glad we made the trip! It's games like these that remind me of a quote one of my favorite high school teachers/coaches sometimes used. It goes like this, "You win some, you lose some, some get rained out!" So, as a Clemson football fan, we hold our heads high because we will always love Clemson regardless of how good or bad our football team performs, and we eagerly await the next football season where we hope that it will be better than the last!
So I think that pretty much sums it all up!  And now, for the pictures...

TCBY and it's self-serve...win and win!!

Kim and I rand the Turkey Trot 4 mile on Thanksgiving...the weather was beautiful in Denver!

Look at this peanut! She's so little and perfect!

Me and my nieces...I'm a lucky girl to get to hang with these two!

On our way to the airport on Christmas Eve...these two were superstars on the long flight!

My little Bear on Christmas. Oh how I love him!

ACC CHAMPS BABY!!! What what!

Merry Christmas Y'all!

I hope you are all enjoying sweet time with family and friends as you celebrate the Christmas season! Noah has been sick the last couple of days and went to bed early on Christmas Eve (if you know this kid, him going to be early is rare, so it's a bummer that he was sick) but luckily he has a little sister who still believes in the magic of Christmas, and I absolutely loved helping her prepare for Santa last night. We mixed oats and glitter and put it on the back porch as food for the reindeer, wrote Santa a note, and set out milk and cookies. This is what a three year old writes in a note to Santa:

"Dear Santa, I love your reindeers and I like how your reindeers eat food. Santa, there are cookies for you. There is milk also. You're the sweetest. Love, Holley."

Isn't that adorable?! I just love her sweet little heart! Watching the kids open presents and seeing the excitement on their faces as the took it all in made for a wonderful morning! I've been meaning to post these for a while, so here are a few pics from a Christmas party my roommate and I hosted a couple weeks ago followed by a silly pic of my sweet niece and nephew. I'll try to get some good pictures of Christmas morning up soon!

The drink bar

Hot chocolate bar

My favorite cookies: chocolate with mint on top. My grandma used to send a huge package full of cookies to our house every year at Christmas time, and I always loved these the most!

Peanut butter blossoms

Gingerbread cupcakes with fluffy cream cheese filling

Love this tree!

Favors for the guests: chocolate covered pretzel rods rolled in ghiradelli peppermint bark!

For to us a child is born, a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6