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.