2010 Top 10 Lists

Since 2010 will be coming to an end in just a couple of days, I see it only fitting by bidding it farewell with 10 Top 10 lists from 2010.

Join in with the fun if you would like.

List #1
My Top 10 Experiences of 2010:
10. Deeper Still
9. Learning the art and science of couponing
8. Knitting hats for the needy
7. Participating in my first 5K & 10K
6. Greg getting a new job after we up and move to GA for the first job
5. Kirsten getting potty trained
4. Finally closing on our house after 8 different closing attempts
3. Renovating the whole house before we could move in
2. Saints winning the Super Bowl
1. Meeting Kirk Cameron

List #2
My Top 10 Georgia Experiences of 2010:
10. Lenox Square on New Year's Day
9. The Pink Pig at Macy's during Christmas season
8. Driving myself for the the first time on I-20 and I-75 in Atlanta
7. Spending days with Kirsten at Centennial Park and surrounding areas...CNN Center, World of Coke, GA Aquarium, and Imagine It Children's Museum
6. Thanksgiving Day 5K
5. Race For the Cure through Atlantic Station and midtown Atlanta
4. Season passes to Whitewater
3. Braves games
2. Meeting 11 Alive's Weatherman Chesley McNeil
1. Running in the Peachtree Road Race

List #3
My Top 10 Favorite Places I Ate in Atlanta in 2010 (not saying they're all swanky, just good)
10. Sweet Tomatoes
9. Cheeseburger Bobby's
8. Olive Tree
7. Doc Green's
6. Fabiano's
5. Gumbeaux's
4. Maggiano's
3. Cheesecake Factory
2. Ted's Montana Grill
1. The Real Chow Baby

List #4
My Top 10 Favorite things about Atlanta that MS didn't offer:
10. Lots of TV shows and movies are filmed here
9. Lots of stars live here and you can sometimes catch them out and about
8. Any type of traveling entertainment comes to Atlanta
7. We have Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel stores
6. Cheesecake Factory, The Real Chow Baby, Doc Green's, Cheeseburger Bobby's, Jim-N-Nicks, etc.
5. Coke Zero is served in almost every restaurant or fast food establishment and every vending machine
4. Dunkin' Donuts everywhere (cheaper coffee than Starbucks)
3. Chick-fil-A on every corner
2. Publix, Food Lyon, and Whole Foods grocery stores
1. 11 Alive News...not your normal newscast

List #5
My Top 10 Purchases of 2010:
10.Vanilla Coke Zero (tastes just like dessert)
9. Tuition/Enrollment to Kirsten's preschool (we're very satisfied)
8. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (it's really magic and it really erases practically anything)
7. My Coupon Buddy book (keeps my coupons organized...even if it's nerdy to you, it's saving lots of $$$$ for me)
6. My SPIbelt (this tiny belt with a tiny pocket that can hold my entire purse plus t/p and extra socks, and you can't even see it under my shirt)
5. My Polar F6 heart rate monitor (I've lost 30 lbs. since I started working out with it, and I shaved 5 min. off my 5K)
4. Deeper Still tickets
3. 2 piece removable shower head (I can get in the shower with Kirsten and bathe her without even getting myself wet)
2.. Blinds for our house
1. Our house

List # 6
(You actually thought I would leave this list out)
Top 10 Quotes from the Real Housewives of Atlanta:
10. "Close yo' legs to married men." -NeNe Leakes (to Kim Z.)
9. "Who's gone check me, Boo?" - Sheree Whitfield (to her event planner)
8. "I just want to bring my girls up with the same morals and values that I have."-Kim Zolciak
7. "Kim, I'm weirded out that you think you can sing, I'm weirded out that you wear a wig, and I'm weirded out that you're in a relationship with a married man." -Cynthia Bailey
6. "Phaedra's baby shower was boughetto!" -Kandi Burruss
5. "*%#*# don't know when she got knocked up?" - Sheree Whitfield (about Phaedra's pregnancy)
4. "So I've made us this friend contract..." -Cynthia Bailey (to NeNe Leakes)
3. "Now I think I'm ready to do film." -Sheree Whitfield (after her 1st time acting in community theater)
2. "I guess he was in prison for six years. Maybe he murdered somebody... six years is a long time." -Kim Zolciak (about Phaedra's husband, Apollo)
1. "Just because you stripped out of a nurses costume at the Cheetah Club, does not qualify you to be a registered nurse, baby." - Phaedra Parks (about Kim Zolciak, claiming she was a nurse)

List #7
Top 10 People I'd Like to Have Lunch with:
10. Donny Deutsch
9. Ann Curry
8. NeNe Leakes
7. Dave Ramsey
6. Sarah Palin
5. Beth Moore
4. Tyler Perry
3. Hoda Kotb
2. Mandisa
1. Gina Neely

List #8
Top 10 Ways to Serve Chicken:
10. Chicken Teriyaki
9. Chicken and Rice
8. Chicken Rotel
7. Chicken Taco Soup
6. Chicken Strips
5. Chicken-N-Dumplins
4. Buffalo Chicken
3. Engagement Chicken (soaked in lemon juice and pepper)
2. Mexican Chicken
1. Chicken Parmesan

List #9
Top 10 TV Moments of 2010:
10. Simon Cowell's final appearance on American Idol
9. Conan O'Brien returns to late night TV
8. Bristol Palin makes it to the finals on Dancing With The Stars
7. Finale of Lost
6. New Kids on the Block and Back Street Boys make music history by singing together on AMA's
5. Patrick House from Brandon, MS wins The Biggest Loser
4. Betty White hosts SNL
3. University of Southern Mississippi's marching band, The Pride, performs in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
2. The miners from Chile are rescued
1. The Saints win the Super Bowl

List # 10
Top 10 List of Goals and Things I am looking forward to in 2011:
10. Get more comfortable driving on Atlanta's scary interstates
9. Getting fully moved in our house
8. Hoping we'll have or at least be expecting baby #2
7. Pay off credit cards
6. Get office set up, and kiln hooked up so I can get back to work
5. Go to Disney World
4. Studying, Jesus The One and Only Bible study with my girls
3. Catching up with some old friends
2. Kirsten will be participating in her first wedding as a flower girl
1. Celebrating 10 years with Greg

Hope you all have a Happy New Year. Be safe out there.

Christmas

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas this year. We sure did. We were so blessed to be able to spend Christmas together in our new home. After traveling last year during the holidays we decided that is definitely not the way to go. Not right at Christmas, anyway. 1 Camry, 2 adults, 1 child/car seat, 1 dog, 4 states to travel through, 8 hours of driving to Destrehan, LA and 6 hours to Benton, MS, 2 families worth of gifts, and luggage does not make for an easy going trip. We can't forget Santa Clause either. Kirsten was very good this year, and she needed to be at her house to see what Santa brought her.

I do hate that we weren't able to see family, but we were finally able to start some Christmas traditions of our own.

These are a few things we started this year that we hope will continue, and some we want to start when Kirsten's a little bit older:

Shopping at Perimeter on the 23rd

Making Christmas goodies and candies as a family

Making Jesus a b'day cake

Making reindeer food

Christmas Eve:

Doing something nice for others like serving at a soup kitchen, or nursing home, or orphanage or something

Church

homemade pizzas for Christmas Eve dinner

make cookies for Santa

put out reindeer food and cookies

Christmas Day:

See what Santa brought us

Have Christmas brunch food

Stay in pjs all day (optional)

open family gifts

watch Christmas movies

white Christmas (please)

go to movies that night

Day after Christmas:

Shop for Christmas decor for next year

We've been fortunate to have Greg home with us some this week. I'm so glad to be able to spend some time with him and get a few things done around the house that's hard to get done while he works. We needed the family time too, to just catch up. Merry Christmas!

Catching Up

Wow! So much has happened since the last time I had a chance to blog. I'll try to keep this at a reasonable length, but I make no promises.

Aunt Suzie got married!!!

November 13, 2010, Greg, Kirsten and I went to New Orleans to celebrate Greg's Aunt Suzie and Chris' wedding. Highlights:

Wedding

Suzie & Chris/Bride & Groom

Getting to know Chris a little better (he had me at the pink tie)

Seeing family from New Orleans we don't get to see as often as we'd like

Getting to see family from Texas we don't get to see as often as we'd like

Getting to meet Suzie's Houston friends

Wearing a dress/dressing up

Cutting up and having fun

Watching the kids/cousins have a great time together

Food (which deserves a list on it's own)

Gumbo, Crawfish etouffee, red beans and rice

Zea's grilled chicken salad with pepper jelly vinegrette

Fried Cheese Sticks

Tiny muffalettas

Wedding Cake

More Wedding Cake (I promise if Heaven had a taste, this would be it)

Copeland's Banana's Foster French Toast

Bop's splenda chocolate milk shake with a touch of peanut butter

Bop's hot chocolate with a scoop of splenda custard and whip cream

We had the best time, but our stay was definitely too short.

Kirsten's Preschool Indian Village:

My baby had her first preschool program. My parents happened to be coming through town on their way back from Charleston, SC, so they were able to attend. I was so proud of Kirsten. She did a great job. I cried as I watched her, realizing she was growing up right before my eyes and I couldn't do one thing about it, but treasure every second. She was the cutest Indian ever.

Thanksgiving:

My parents and Hayley came to our house for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving morning, Hayley and I ran in the Atlanta Thanksgiving Day 5K. It was so much fun. I'm not a fast runner at all, but I really enjoy doing these events...mainly for the t'shirts and medals. I did improve on my time from my last 5K which was back in May. My time for that race was about 41 minutes. My time for the T'giving Day 5K was 36:38. Hayley and I made it home by 9:00am.

Deeper Still:

I've been looking forward to Deeper Still since Oct., 2009. In fact, for Mother's Day, Greg got me a Deeper Still ticket along with the money to go. Deeper Still is a weekend long spiritual event for women. The speakers at Deeper Still are Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore, and Kay Arthur. This particular Deeper Still was in Birmingham, AL, and guests Kelli Minter and David Platt joined the mix. The worship was lead by my 2nd favorite, only to Mandisa, Travis Cottrell and his Praise Team.

Along with being one of my greatest friends, Tracy Short is my spiritual conference buddy. We've been to quite a few of these events together, and we know what to expect from each other. I love how we can play slumber party, stay up late and share our lives, struggles, and words of wisdom with each other. We talk about what all we got out of the worship and messages from the speakers. We'll offer each other encouragement and prayer without judgement. I pray everyone can have godly friends and influences like Tracy. Sometimes, Tracy and I take others along with us. This time we went with a couple of ladies from my Bible study group. We didn't get to have our bonding time for the risk of keeping the others awake. I really missed it, so I hope we'll get a chance to make that time up sometime soon.

I went to the Deeper Still in Atlanta a couple of years ago and it changed my life. This time, I was in a totally different place in my walk than I was 2 years ago. This time, I've done Bible studies by all of the speakers, including Kelli Minter. Two years ago, I was only familiar with Kay Arthur and her studies. I didn't know much about Beth Moore since I had not done one of her Bible studies or read any of her books. She blew me away, and so did Priscilla Shirer. I suppose I was hiding under a rock or something because I was really missing out. These are some amazing women. I am so glad I was able to see them again before they stop doing Deeper Still.

Hats:

Finally, to wrap up this post, I want to share with you about my hats. I've been trying to get some sort of ministry going with knitting hats for the needy, less fortunate, and/or sick. It's been a little tough trying to get others involved, but there are a few great women who have taken on the challenge. A few friends from Bible study and I made some hats for our church's Hope For Christmas event. We teamed up with a ministry that knits scarves for the less fortunate. I am hoping that our ministries working together on this project will end all discrimination that lies between the tops of our heads and our necks, and we can join together as one ministry. We want to keep America warm one top of the body at a time, or something like that. No, seriously, there is no greater blessing than being able to do something for someone that needs it. Also, this allows opportunities to share Jesus and His love with others.

Halloween

Kirsten had a great Halloween this year. We celebrated all weekend.

We started off Friday night with Trunk-or-Treat at church.




Saturday night Kirsten met up with her partner in crime, Jacob Crane. It was only fitting the two of them went at Woody and Jessie.



Yesterday morning the kids got to wear their costumes to church. And last night, we concluded our celebrating with traditional Trick-or-Treating around the neighborhood with some friends.

I hope everyone had as much fun as we did this Halloween.

Playing Bible Study

As you may or may not know, on Monday nights I host Bible study in my home. Every Monday afternoon Kirsten helps me move furniture, bring out the folding chairs, clean the living room, put her toys away, dust, etc. She gets so excited that "the girls" are coming over, because she thinks they are coming to see her. She also knows that Monday nights are date night for her and her daddy. They have been having picnics upstairs in our bedroom. They'll lay out a blanket, eat a digiorno pizza and watch a movie of Kirsten's choice. She loves this.

Hosting a Bible study has its perks. I sometimes get some leftover goodies from the ladies who bring the snacks. Kirsten gets excited about leftovers. One day, she told me she wants to have Bible study when she's a big girl. I told her she didn't have to wait till she was a big girl, we can have Bible Study anytime. So, now, our Tuesday ritual is to "play Bible Study". We"ll set out a couple of fold out chairs. Kirsten wears her name tag, and she eats leftovers on our flower Bible Study plates. We have our prayer time and pray for Daddy, Jacob, Luke, Erin, Tucker, Mrs. Becky and Mrs. Susan...same ones every time. Then she gives me the attention to share with her a little bit about Jesus. After we talk for about 3-5 minutes, she's ready to watch "the video". Right now, "the video" is Mickey Mouse clubhouse, but one day, I'll remember to put in Veggie Tales.

This week, I read Kirsten parts of Matthew 18, and we talked about how much Jesus loves little children. At this age, she's starting to understand and ask questions about God and Jesus. Her little mind is such a sponge and she learns things so fast. Her innocence and imagination melts my heart. I am so honored and blessed to be her mommy. I know God is going to use her in amazing ways. He already is.

Breaking Free

My Monday night Bible study group is doing Beth Moore's, Breaking Free. We're only on week 4 and it's quite intense. I can't help but share. This study has made me do some extreme soul searching, and some major spring cleaning of the heart.

This is what I have learned about God and myself so far...

Captivity is anything that hinders the abundant and Spirit-filled life of a believer. This will keep us from discovering our purpose.

There is a huge difference in believing in God, and believing God
*Even though I believe God is who He says He is, and I believe He can do anything, do I believe He will do anything

I can believe that Jesus is my LORD and Savior, but do I believe He is my Redeemer and Deliverer?
*I can be a Christian and have my place in eternity sealed, but I may not allow myself to experience Jesus to the fullest.

God's glory is the way He makes Himself recognizable. This is His reflection. If the Holy Spirit doesn't dwell in us, we have nothing of God in us for Him to show. "We were created for the purpose of giving God's invisible character a glimpse of visibility."

God never sheds light on our weaknesses and failures to condemn us. He brings them to our attention so we can allow Him to work on these in us. This will set us free.
* What is hindering me from being everything God wants me to be?

God hates pride and arrogance. Pride is anything that is keeping us from having a God-glorifying attitude. Pride keeps us from growing. Pride is denial. Pride won't admit weaknesses. Pride deceives. Pride disguises itself in many ways. Pride is the opposite of humility. Pride is not only thinking highly of yourself...pride is also thinking lowly of yourself. Pride doesn't allow room for God in our hearts.
* Pride has to be my biggest stronghold. I see pride now for what it is...it's what's keeping me from being totally honest with myself and God.

Be prayerful. Work on developing a deeper intimacy with God. Keep that line of communication open between us all the time. Pray without ceasing.
* Prayer isn't a chore, it's a privilege. God wants me to pray to Him with an honest heart. He doesn't care about the flowing cliches. He doesn't want to hear what I think He wants me to say. God just wants me to address Him humbly and honestly. He wants me to come to Him with my deepest concerns and hurts. Even if I am mad at Him, He wants me to know that I can come to Him with this. He already knows our hearts anyway, why can't we be honest enough with ourselves to be honest with Him?

Breaking Free is a study that's making me look at my fears and insecurities, and finding out how I got them. Then, it's showing me how to let God come in and not only fix these fears and insecurities, but fix what caused them in the first place.

So what's my biggest fear?
If I don't know you, my prideful answer would be:
extremely bad weather, nasty bugs and rodents, and coming face to face with a dreaded intruder

If I knew you and trusted there would be no judgement, I would have said being left alone with no support group or friends.

Now, I can honestly say that my biggest fear is, going through a very tough trial...something traumatic and life changing...and on the other side of it, when the healing begins, not learning what God wants me to learn from it.

Kirk Cameron

Saturday I got to meet Kirk Cameron. I can't believe I can write this and it actually have truth to it. I am still on a high from the event so I have to blog about it....bare with me.

Kirk Cameron came to Marietta to speak on "How to Fireproof Your Marriage". My sweet husband bought me tickets for this event back in April. He even sprung for the VIP seats. I can't tell you how excited I was. This is the best gift Greg's ever given me, coming in 2nd only to getting engaged. (I say this because I consider Kirsten our gift from God)

Let's go back to the mid 80's... I was about 10 or 11 years old. I had no real interest in boys and hadn't reached the stage to where they were attractive to me. This was, until Growing Pains came on TV. To me, Kirk Cameron was not just a boy, he was The Boy. The one all other boys should try to be. His curly mullet and dreamy eyes were perfectly placed on his head and face. My mom probably bought me every Tiger Beat, Teen Beat and Bop magazine that came out with him on the cover. I sent in my $10 to his fan club with a letter claiming that I was his biggest fan. I of course didn't let them know that I was "madly in love" with him because I didn't want to come across as forward. Bop let me know that he wanted a girl that loved him for the person he was on the inside, not because he played Mike Seaver. In return for my $10, I got a thank you letter with Kirk's stamped signature, a centerfold sized poster with a complete background on him to tell me anything they thought I should ever want to know about him. You know, the important stuff like... his favorite color, his height and weight and his favorite food. His posters covered my walls and ceiling like wall paper and paint. I knew that one day I would marry him. I knew this because I would pray for this every night.

I was about 13 or so when the mad crush came to an end. Tiger Beat let me know that Kirk had fallen in love with his co-star, Chelsea Noble, and that they got married. What a way to break up a relationship... by reading it in a magazine. I was happy for him that he was happy, and this way I wouldn't have to tell him that he had been replaced on most of my walls with Jordan Knight and other New Kids on the Block.

I must have shared my Kirk Cameron era with Greg at some point...probably when we watched Fireproof. The movie touched us, as it did many, and taught us a lot about our relationship and our marriage. When Greg heard Kirk was coming to speak on how to Fireproof Your Marriage he was excited to go, and knew I would be too.

Last Friday night it hit me that I was going to get to see Kirk Cameron in person. God was going to give me a blessing, through my husband, to meet the man I thought was "the one" for me, and just rejoice in the fact that he wasn't. I was so extremely excited. When we got to the venue, I realized that Greg and I appeared to be one of the youngest couples there. When Kirk was announced, and came on stage, he received a standing ovation. From the second you saw him, you could tell he was serious and passionate about the message he was about to deliver. In person, he didn't look a day older than he did on Growing Pains. He still has the same sparkly eyes and adorable crooked smile. His skin is flawless and he's just precious. It wasn't his star status at all that gave off this attraction. Honestly, the men would say the exact same thing. It was this glow about him that immediately you knew this was a man whose heart is on fire for God. He did make light of the fact that he was a child star, and he "fed our Seaver fever", as he would say, for a minute. There were lots of camera flashes (and not all mine) in the beginning. It was amazing how in only a few seconds God transformed him from this teen heartthrob to a humble vessel.

Kirk impressed me by how deep in the Word he got with his message. You could tell he dwells in God's Word. He is so in love with God and his wife, Chelsea. It was so awesome how he took specific scenes in Fireproof and explained everything about them. He would go into detail about the message each character was trying to relay, through their words and body language. He would parallel this description with what the Bible says. I could go on and on about how great he was and how he brought things to our attention that we would have never thought of ourselves. I left wanting to be a new wife to Greg, and appreciating things about Greg I never thought to appreciate before. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful man for a husband and partner.

After the conference, Kirk stayed around to sign autographs and copies of his book. As we were waiting in line, Greg and I were talking about what I should say to him when I got to the table. I thought about telling him that when I was eleven the color of my room was Kirk Cameron. Then I thought, no, that's dorky. I decided that I wanted to tell him how much admiration I had for him now, and I am so proud of how he's become such a man of God. How he inspired me to go study God's Word at a much deeper level, and I wanted to be a better wife and mother. Then it was my turn. We fumbled with the cameras for what seemed like 10 minutes...how embarrassing. Then Kirk looked at me with those soothing eyes and in the sincerest, softest voice he said, "Hi, how are you?" "What's your name?" I responded with, "You're really great." He smiled, signed my book, posed for a picture and that was about it. Life changing, huh? Whatever... since I couldn't figure out what my name was, I didn't tell him. So, at least he won't know who the star struck fanatic was that couldn't answer a few very simple questions. After all, he is totally going to remember that and me, right?

His book is good, by the way. It's not a Francine Rivers novel, but it is him trying to share his testimony and how he came to know the LORD. It's a way for others to come to know Christ if they don't already, and it's an explanation of how knowing Christ can not only save you, but will change your life.

Preschool

So my baby is going to preschool, and has just completed her first week. She goes 4 days a week to the 3 yr. old program at FBC Powder Springs. Her teachers are precious. The theme for her room is zebra and the class color is pink. LOVE IT!!! There's just not much of anything that is more fabulous in decor than black and white zebra stripes with pink accents.

All summer, I have been looking forward to a few hours a day to myself to run errands, work out, tan, have quiet time, do my Bible study, clean the house, unpack more boxes....my list goes on and on. This also gives Kirsten some time to miss me.

Last Friday, I took her for her "Sneak-a-Peek". On the way there my mind went from excitement to thinking about the fact that from this point on, my child will be in school. She'll be in school until she graduates college, and then she'll probably be on her own, or maybe even married. I started crying and almost couldn't pull myself together to go inside. It hit me all of a sudden that this is the first step I am taking in the letting go process.

Kirsten loved sneak-a-peek and the idea of preschool. She was so excited when Monday rolled around. Kirsten was the only kid in her class that wasn't crying when I dropped her off. She ran up to one little girl and was jumping up and down saying "it's preschool, it's preschool." She wasted no time being upset. Yesterday, the teachers told me they were very proud of her and she was doing great. I hope this continues.

I just read the book Lift by Kelly Corrigan. It's a very sweet book, written by a mother to her young daughters. She wrote stories of their early childhood and explanations for the choices she made. She knew they wouldn't remember those precious moments that are shared between a mother and her child in early childhood. It's such a sweet gesture.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my favorite man! Greg turns 32 today. I think I'll pay him tribute by listing 32 things I love about my man. These are in no particular order.

1. I love how he always knows how to put me in a good mood when I've had a bad day
2. I love how he leaves great first impressions
3. I love his smile
4. He's hilarious...he's got the best 1 liners
5. He's the smartest person in the world...really he is
6. He's awesome at putting people in their place, but doing it with truth and kindness
7. He sets such a great example
8. He loves his girls
9. He's a godly man...with strong faith
10. He looks fabulous in red
11. He helps me so much around the house and with Kirsten
12. Everyday he tells me he appreciates me and what I do for him and Kirsten
13. He never makes or expects me to do anything I don't want to do
14. He's motivating and inspiring
15. He'll watch teeny bopper shows with me
16. He likes my cooking
17. He works hard for our family
18. He puts up with a lot
19. He's patient
20. He smells great
21. He's so neat and clean
22. He's quite easy on the eyes
23. He's the type of man I want my daughter to date and marry
24. He's sincere
25. He's honest
26. He's a man with integrity
27. He doesn't gossip and he doesn't judge
28. He's a great leader
29. I love watching him play with Kirsten
30. He's not high maintenance
31. He's so much fun
32. He's my best friend

Happy Birthday, Greg! I hope it's great. LOVE YOU

Week In Review

This past week has been one of the busiest weeks the Caraways have had in a very long time. However, it was one of the most fun weeks we've had in a really long time as well. As many of you know, my birthday was last Wed., June 30th. And whether you want to or not, if you are a friend or even just an acquaintance of mine, you are expected to celebrate all week long. Especially if my birthday falls in the middle of the week, like it did this year.

My bff, Allison, from MS came in to celebrate with me the weekend prior to my b'day. We had a really good time. I consumed more carbs that weekend than I have all of 2010 combined. Allison made me the cutest birthday present. It's a wooden flower bouquet, and on the back of every flower was gift card. I had gift cards to Bath & Body Works, Subway, and Amazon. I love when someone gives me a gift, and they actually think about me and what I may like. It just makes me feel so special. It's never about the amount of what the gift costs. It's about knowing that you were really thinking of me when you got me something. Allison and my sister, Hayley, are the best present givers ever.

Friday, Allison, Kirsten and I had a girls' day at the mall. We goofed around like we were tweenagers. We shopped every store, ate in the food court, had mall yogurt, made build-a-bears...the whole tween experience.

Sat. night Allison and I went out while Greg babysat. Since I love and miss McAlister's so much, we drove 45 min. to the closest one. We spent the night singing hits from the early 90's. I can't remember what I did yesterday, but I can remember every word to every song Debbie Gibson ever recorded. Allison tried to culture me with some annoying, whiny, off pitch country songs. I hate how people are given recording contracts because they can put a booty call to music. I mean, really...but that's another blog.

Wednesday was my hollyday, so obviously Greg took off of work. Or he planned on it, anyway. He ended up going in about 3:00 that afternoon, then had to work till about 7:00. He felt bad about it so he made it up to me by going 45 min. out of the way to let me eat at McAlister's. Nothing cures the blues like some McAlister's tea.

Friday we finally got our date night. We've had many attempts at a date night since last Nov., but we've been unsuccessful. It was so pleasant to be able to just hang with my man and eat at the same time and have real conversation. We went to dinner at Ted's, then searched what seemed like most of GA for frozen custard. There's no Bop's here and I'm not happy about that. I would have driven to Flowood for Bop's but I didn't think the babysitter would go for that.

Saturday, my family came in and we all went to the Peachtree Road Race fitness expo to pick up our race numbers. The expo was so awesome. They were selling all kinds of running gear for really cheap.

Sunday was the big day. I was so nervous I had to go to the bathroom 4 times before the race started and I thought I was going to miss my heat. Fortunately, I caught up with them just in time to start the race. It was so fun. There were 55,000 runners and tons of spectators all over Peachtree and Piedmont Park. Moe's was shooting t'shirts into the crowd of runners. McDonald's had Smoothie stops. People were passing out coupons for free food. The weather could not have been any nicer. I started at 8:30 and Greg started at 9:00 and the hottest it got was 73 degrees.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first Peachtree Road Race experience. I hope we can start doing this every year. I read the mile markers wrong thinking they were telling me when the mile started instead of when they ended. Since I thought I was a mile behind in my time I slowed down. I got confused when some spectator screamed we were half way done at mile 4 and I got discouraged. Then about 2 min. later an experienced Peachtree participant straightened things out for me, so I started back up again. I probably wasted 2.5 - 3 minutes of my time. Moral to the story...some spectators are idiots so don't listen to them. My finish time was 1:25:09. Greg's was 1:10 even. We were satisfied and excited.

We were home by noon and spent the rest of the afternoon with my parents, Hayley and our GA bff's, Jason and Jennifer. Kirsten and Jacob played on the slip and slide and they had such a blast. This is what holidays are all about. Just quality time with family and friends.

As I mentioned earlier, Hayley is one of the best gift givers. She can spend $5 or $500 and buy the best gifts. She's gifted in that way, and I am blessed to have her in my life. I guess that's our love languages. The big reveal of what she gave me.....a Nook.

Flashback

Yesterday Kirsten and I did our weekly venture into Atlanta. We'll ride in with Greg and spend the day around town, and ride home with him at night. This allows us to not pay for parking and we get to have a good looking lunch date. We spent yesterday at Atlantic Station. We shopped and played, and shopped and played...then we went and read all the magazines we could get our hands on in the Publix magazine aisle.

Kirsten has been asking for watermelon the last few days, and it was right in the front entrance of Publix....seedless, cut up and ready to eat. Since nothing gets past her, she decided she should have some then and there. Greg was working later than we expected, so Kirsten and I decided to treat ourselves to some. I told Kirsten she needed to call her Papaw and ask him to get her a watermelon for the 4th of July. He knows more about picking them out than me, and the ones he gets seem so much bigger than those in the grocery stores. Kirsten loves me telling her about Papaw's big watermelons.

After our long day yesterday, Kirsten crashed on the way home. It was past her bedtime and she was sleeping so soundly in the car. I was in the kitchen when I watched Greg bring her inside. I had a flashback of my dad carrying us in when we all would fall asleep in the car. It's so funny how dads can carry their children with one arm while the other one is used to carry bags and other things. I have a hard time holding Kirsten and my keys at the same time with both arms. Dads have this gift of getting the kids out of the car, putting them in the bed, taking their shoes off and kissing them goodnight without the kids even noticing they've moved. Then it comes....the dreaded decision of whether you wake the sleeping child to bathe them because they are filthy, or do you wait till morning. Of course, this comes with the hope that they'll sleep all night and not realize they've been put to bed with their play clothes on instead of those cute pj's. This decision seems so crucial...it honestly determines the rest of your evening and perhaps whether or not the parents will get a good night's sleep.

I couldn't help but wonder how many times my parents had to make that decision, and how many times they regretted the decision they chose. With 3 kids did they ever get it right or did this sweet memory of mine cause them many not so sweet memories of sleepless nights? Daddies are pretty special. I am blessed to have 2 great daddies to celebrate for Father's Day...mine and my baby's.

Kirsten's B'day weekend

I wanted to share some pics from last weekend. For Kirsten's birthday, both sets of her grandparents came in to see her. She was so excited. We had a Dora the Explorer Adventure party and our friends and neighbors came by for the fiesta.

Greg and Jason hanging the pinata

The kids swinging at the pinata

The candy from the pinata

Some of our family and neighbors

The treat bags...they are supposed to look like Back Pack and Rescue Pack

Some of the food...we served Mexican...tacos, nachos, taquitos, rotel, etc....yummy

Kirsten rolling around with Jacob, her bff

Kirsten playing football with her tinkerbell costume on....perfect mix of Greg and me

Sunday we took Kirsten and her cousin Dylan to Jump 4 Joey. Everyone had a blast.

Sunday night, we set up Kirsten's slip n' slide. It was so funny, the other kids in the neighborhood ranging from 7-12 saw my 3 yr. old and her 18 month old cousin playing on the slip n' slide, and wanted in on the action

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