Happy Easter

As I prepared Eli’s first Easter basket I asked myself how can we make sure he gets the “true” meaning of Easter. Granted he is 5 months old and is not going to get the Easter Bunny either. I find when thinking about it that the Birth is so much easier to explain than the burial and the Resurrection, BUT without the burial and Resurrection where would I be. I pray that God gives me the wisdom and words to explain this to our little man. This year we got him the Bernstein Bears Easter Story which is great and I plan to read it to him.

Right now amidst the eggs, candy, baskets, and bunnies I just want to take a moment to celebrate the fact that JESUS arose on the 3rd day and sit at the right hand of the Father. AND because of this I am forgiven. HALLUJIAH!

 

Happy Easter! He is ALIVE!

This time last year . . .

So February 13, 2011 was when we officially found out that we were having a little Acorn It is hard to believe that it has been a year. I went back and read my journal entry that I wrote that night, and it was so much reliving that moment. I was a bundle of excitement and fear and just truly felt like we had been blessed. AND we have been we have a beautiful, healthy baby boy that is truly a gift from God. AND the best and most memorable Valentine’s gift ever.

Although I may not get all the sleep I need anymore, and I wear spit up a lot but it is totally worth it!

And when I come home and see this little face nothing else matters anymore.

Here are my 2 favorite guys in the world! I love them both dearly and I am so blessed to have them!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

This Christmas . . . .

So as promised I am bringing you the Christmas blog, and it is not 2 months late. WHOO HOO! Almost 1 month late but hey who is counting. Much like everything else that has happened since we had Eli- I felt like Christmas snuck up and attacked like a rabid bear! I felt like I was literally down to the wire getting everything done. I have vowed to be more organized and put together next year. Despite my organizational  chaos we still had a fantastic 1st Christmas with our little man, and that is really all that matters!

Here he is in one of his Christmas outfits, complete with reindeer feet that you can not really see in the pic.

Every year since Nick and I have been married we have taken a family pic in front of our Christmas Tree and this year we were excited to have our newest family member in our pic. This is a tradition I hope to keep going for many years to come.

Ch

Christmas 2011

He wasn’t actually looking at the camera but he was there and that is all we really need!

So what did Oaks 3.0 do for Christmas well let me just tell you in as few words as possible . . .

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with the extended Oaks Family where we go to Skype with the Oakses in Italy, have a nice dinner, and open gifts.

With Uncle John

Nicole ready to open her gift

Someone was a sleepy man . . .

We ended the evening back at home with the reading of the CHRISTmas story from a book my sister got Eli for Christmas. It was great and a tradition I plan to keep going next year.

Christmas Morning

Santa came! I am not sure if Eli knew or not but he will next year This year we put all his presents in one bag and I actually stored them in plan sight in his room.

Andy quite upset that this gift was going to be opened and he would not be able to lay on it.

1st Christmas Card- yes I read it to him!

The cutest gift!

Eli and his Iphone Apptivity case- Doesn’t he look excited!

A cute gift from Chris, Megan, Topher, Cannon, and Mela!

Thank you!

Christmas Day

Christmas Day itself was shocked full of activities. Starting with lunch and gifts with my family, visit with my Papaw, and visit with my Mamaw, and the last and final stop a visit to my Aunt Lu’s to see my cousin Amy and her family.

I see Mommy . . .

Visiting with my  Great Mamaw

In my cute overall outfit which I promptly peed through forcing Mommy and I both to change clothes.

Is that enough pictures for you?? Honestly I will have to say that is my one regret, not taking enough pictures during the holidays particularly with family. I have resolved to do better next year.  All in all, our 1st Christmas as a family was FABULOUS and very special. We were blessed to be able to spend so much time with family.

I know this is a little late but MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you! Really can’t we celebrate it all year long? It began with the birth . . .

I ♥ President’s Day

Let me just say that I have a new found love for President’s Day and appreciate every President and was more that happy to celebrate there birthday with a 3 DAY WEEKEND! Nick and I took advantage of our day off and spent some time together in Gatlingburg/Pigeon Forge. Initially I wanted to just do some shopping, but that was not fair to my dear sweet hubby who wanted to hike. So we ended up doing a hiking/shopping/eating day. Everyone was happy!  Win-Win!

We started our day with a short hike to Laurel Falls one of the most popular water falls in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The trail is 1.3 miles 1 way and is paved, making it an easy trek for almost anyone. It was a beautiful day for a hike the temperature was just right and there was a slight breeze, which actual turned into a fierce wind later while we were shopping.

Hiking for us also meant Picture Taking Time!!! I got to get my big fancy camera out for the first time in a long time. I am so hoping to get more photography practice is as the weather get warmer. Here are a few of our favorite shots from the day:

Sun in the trees

Deep Thoughts . . .

At Laurel Falls

Bottom of Laurel Falls (Nick took this)

Laurel Falls again (My pic)

A so-so self portrait

I love the reflections you can see in this pool of water.

After our great hike we hit up Calhoun’s for some yummy ribs. I had actually told Nick when we were driving in that we needed to eat somewhere new this time because we always eat at Calhoun’s. BUT I had a total change of heart when we passed the Calhoun’s sign that said “Best Ribs in America.” Man, there ribs really are FABULOUS and I had to have some.

Once we took in our wonderful lunch we hit 5 Oaks and ended the day with fantastic shopping. 40% off the entire store at Old Navy- Need I say more?!

It was a truly a blessing to have this day off together. We had so much fun! Thanks again to the President’s!

Hello 2011!!!

Well, 2011 has arrived! It’s a new year and a new day and I am excited and anxious to see what is in store for us. As we are coming into a new year I felt it would be appropriate to look back on 2010 here on the blog. So I have reviewed all my blogs over the year and have from you the 1st line of my favorite blog for every month of 2010. Great idea huh?! I can not completely take credit it for it, I saw this concept on a friends blog, but I have slightly altered it. Ohh and you can click on the month to see the complete blog.

January- The snow is gone!

Okay so the first line of this blog does not do it justice. The full title was The Snow is Gone and so is Lane Kiffin. The blog represents my thoughts and feelings at the time of the Kiffin departure, and I will have to say those feelings have not changed to much.

February-  Back when Nick and I first started dating we took a little shopping trip to American Eagle in the Johnson City Mall.

This is the emphasis Green Shirt Blog. One of my favorites, and yes the Green Shirt lives on!

March-  First and for most I would like to apologize on behalf of the “Site of the Week” for not posting last week.

Ohh The Site of the Week, how said it is that I could not keep it going. This Site of the Week, was about the Fuselage one of my favorite lost sites. Good times!

April-  Drum roll please . . .we moved into our MASTER BEDROOM this weekend.

One of my favorite moments of 2010, moving into the Master Bedroom. What a sweet and wonderful day!

May- Well, the time has finally come, we are less than 24 hours away from the big series finale of Lost.

A bitter sweet blog written prior to the Lost finale. Still sad that it is over.

June- Yesterday Nick and I celebrated our 3rd Wedding Anniversary :)

A special blog commemorating our 3rd anniversary!

July-  It’s summer and that means longer days, grilling out, fresh produce, and COBBLER!

The cobbler blog where I shared my love for cobbler and he recipe I use.

August-  Vera? Whose Vera you ask?

This was my blog about all my Vera Bradley bags and how I always have a different one in every picture. Nick has the green shirt I have Vera Bradley bags!

September- Invasion of the super nerd- I have cooked a dished entirely inspired by an episode of Star Trek Voyager.

September was a slow blog month due to the Italy trip, but this was one of my favorites. How could you go wrong with Star Trek Voyager and Pancakes!?

October- It is the moment you have all been waiting for: the ITALY blog has arrived!!!

ITALY! Need I say more!

November-  All of my family means so much to me and I am happy to have each every family member as a part of my life :)

November was filled with the 30 blogs of me and this was one of my favorite blogs from that series.

December- As we eat, wrap gifts, open gifts, watch movies, listen to our favorite Christmas Song, and spend time with our families it is all to easy to forget the true meaning of Christmas.

The last blog of 2010, remembering the true meaning of Christmas!

Good bye 2010 and Hello 2011!  May 2011 be a happy, healthy, and blessed year for all!

Someone Had a BIRTHDAY!!

Yesterday my dearly beloved celebrated his 29th birthday! Whoo hooo, Happy Birthday Nick! Well, what did we do celebrate this important life event you ask? We stayed home so Nick could play video games! A good friend of ours said that I was a good wife for letting him do this,and I thank them for that. It was actually pretty hard for me since I am a bit of a “go and do” type person. However, since we stayed in I was able to accomplish SO MUCH! Including a 2 hour shredding session with our new shredder. I shredded a whole bag of old bills and paper work that needed to go. It felt so good to be rid of that stuff!!! And yes I am in irrationally in love with the shredded! But I digress back to Nick’s birthday, here are a few pics of the day:

The Birthday Boy! Isn’t he CUTE!!

The Back to the Future Trilogy on Blueray!! What a surprise!!!

Nick smoked his own birthday hen, it looked pretty but sadly it was a little tough It was a good practice though!

 

Yellow cake, video games, phone calls from family, shredding, overcooked hen, and a spaghetti dinner what a birthday it was for Nick! Happy Birthday Sweetie . . .I LOVE YOU!!!!

PS- I would be reminisce if I did not wish a very Happy Birthday to Nicole, the sweet sister that was born one minute before my husband. Happy Birthday Nicole!

A Champion Christmas Sweater

Wow . . .So I took a bit of a long hiatus following the 30 Blogs of Me, but I am back now and feeling pretty festive. The Christmas season has snuck right up on me as usual. Though there will be no 12 Blogs of Christmas this year I can promise you several Christmas related blogs starting with this one!

This year I attended one of the best Christmas Parties ever, The Ugly/Tacky Christmas Sweater Party and yes I can now claim to be the first ever HR/Training Team Ugly/Tacky Christmas Sweater winner!!!

What does take to achieve this greatness do you ask? Well, let me just tell you . . .

1. You must have a truly Ugly Christmas Sweater. I would like to the thank the great folks at Christmas Vintage on EBay for selling me this gem. Nothing says Merry Christmas quite like fuzzy swans.

2. Accessorize! This is one instance where LESS is NEVER MORE! This outfit features a wonderfully awful necklace with giant Christmas light bulbs, jingle bell earrings, and some awesome reindeer antlers. I am also wearing red and white toe socks with flip flops. I know you cant’s see them in the pic but trust me I am wearing them!

3. Let your Mom help you! I would like to give a special thanks to my Mom for letting me borrow the very special turtle neck I am wearing. It features a hugging snowman and snow woman. I was told this really MADE the outfit.

4. Make your spouse dress up too! No one should be tacky alone. So naturally I dressed my dearly beloved up too Thanks for playing along Nick!

5. Don’t be afraid to have fun with it! It’s ugly, it’s tacky but it is ohhh so much fun to have an excuse to look bad! As they say . . .Go big or go home!!!

Follow these simple steps and I am sure that you can be an Ugly/Tacky Christmas Sweater Champion too!

PS- My sweater is available and it is a WINNER!

Day 30- My Favorite Song

LAST DAY! Last “Blog of Me”!!! WHOO HOO! Not sure about all you out there in blog land but I am sure excited to complete this challenge!!!

So to end it up I am suppose to come up with my favorite song. I love music and have many favorite songs. So since Christmas is swiftly approaching I thought I would share one of my favorite Christmas Songs . . .

This is my ABSOLUTE favorite version of Joy to the World!!!

Enjoy and let that CHRISTmas spirit flow!!!

Thanks for sticking with me through The 30 Blogs of Me. I hope it has a been an enjoyable experience for you all. I certainly enjoyed it but I ready to talk about something besides me! (You probably are too).

What will the next blog be? Who knows you will just have to check back to see ;)

Day 28- A Picture of Me Last Year and Now and How I Have Changed

So I got a FEW days behind on doing this one, but hey I am doing it now and plan on finishing out this 30 Day Challenge on Saturday! Then it might just be time for Holiday blogging so stay tuned.

 

April in November 2009

 

&

April in November 2010

 

Well, it is honestly hard for me to say if I have changed any in the last year. Of course I am another year older and I think a couple of pounds lighter!!  I live with myself everyday so it is hard to say if there have been any subtle physical changes. But mostly I am just the same old ME! A stubborn worry wart that likes to laugh and have a good time.

Maybe some of you all have a different take if so feel free to share! :)

Ohhh and  . . . .

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And be safe out there if you are taking on the Black Friday crowds! Just remember your life is worth more than a $2 DVD!

4th of July Fun!!!- Part 2

As promised here is Part 2 of our fun filled 4th of July weekend. I am only about week late getting the post up due to frantic packing for our Charleston trip.

The fun continued on July 5th with a cookout/carport party at my parents house. We had a great time at this cookout visiting with family and also some good friends of the family Barbara and Russell. As expected our 4th of July eating continued and we had some more FABULOUS food! Along with the expected burgers which were wonderful, we also had some bacon wrapped chicken breast which were particularly yummy! My Mom also fixed a scrumptious fruit bowl, which counted as our healthy eating for the entire weekend.

Here are some pics of the Callahan Cookout:

My Mom and Nick checking out the Ipad

 

My Mom and me

 

My Parents- aren’t they cute!?

 

With my Dad

Jennifer

Barbara & Russell

 

Along with the great cookout fun I also got in some photography practice at my parent’s house. Here are some of the good ones:

A great picture of my parents cat Bob.

 

Sparrow on my Mom’s bird feeder.

 

Redbirds in the tree

The 5:30 bee swarm at my parent’s hive.

 

And of course some pictures of the bees . . .

 

 

 

 

Kinda looked like she was looking at me.

One last solo bee shoot . . .

 

All in all, a fun time was had by all and we can’t wait to do it again next year!!

Be on the lookout for the Charleston Trip blog coming later this week (hopefully).