Christmas Vacation

Ryan and I woke up a little before 7am on Sunday, December 23rd. We had to get ready to go tailgating prior to the Bengals Game at 1pm. My Dad has a bus for the tailgate and Bengals experience. When we got to the parking lot, we talked with family and friends and grilled some hot dogs. Then we went into the game around 12:30pm to be sure we were able to see kick off. We ended up coming out with a WIN 19-14 over the Cleveland Browns. Then we came home to eat dinner, rest and hit the bed early. It was a long morning. We had a long day, but enjoyed our time in the city.

After our much needed sleep for the night, Ryan and I woke up around 9:30am, fed my dog Abby and we had breakfast. Then we took turns getting showers and getting ready to drive around the city and to run a few errands. We had lunch at Skyline Chili which is famous in Cincinnati, OH. As a mid-day snack we took my husband, Aunt and Grandma to get some Graeter’s Ice Cream also known in Cincinnati, OH. Before we knew it, it was just about dinner time, so we headed back home to meet up with my dad and the rest of the family. We had dinner with the whole family this Christmas Eve. After dinner we wrapped some last minute gifts while watching Christmas movies. Lastly we headed to bed early, so we could be rested when we wake up early Christmas Morning.

Ryan and I woke up early Christmas morning. After opening gifts, my dad made us all pancakes. We got lots of fun gifts and enjoyed spending time with our family. After an early morning, Abby and I felt as though we needed to take a nap. Therefore, we napped for about 4 hours. Once we awoke, we showered and had our Christmas meal. After dinner we all went into the living room to play the game Cranium. After the game we watched a movie and then headed to bed to get a good nights rest.

Lastly, we had fun with all the 8 dogs we had in my dad’s house. The three to the right are my dad’s dogs. We then had two Havanese were my aunts and 2 Shih Tzus. Of course lastly, my dog, Abby also came along for the Christmas Vacation. They all had a lot of fun playing together.

Preparing for the in-laws and the holidays!

This past week, I have been trying to do my best in getting the home organized for Ryan’s parents and myself of course. I get so anal at times where I want everything to be perfect. Well we are far from perfect, but hopefully we will be there soon. From organizing the messy office space areas to doing laundry, dishes cleaning we have been keeping ourselves quite busy. I have also decorated a bit for the holidays; I love the decorating part, but will be sad when I will have to take it down. Whenever someone walks in our home I just want it to be clean and as organized as I can make it at that time. I hope his parents enjoy themselves as I know Abby is looking forward to seeing the grandparents. Tonight we will be opening gifts with them and then tomorrow Harriet, Ryan and I will be going to Christmas at the Paramount. And we will be up early on Saturday for our departure with Abby to the’Nati! I cannot wait and Abby will have a ton of dogs to play with! Well that’s it for now until next time.

Kevin & Kelley’s Wedding

On Saturday, December 15th we attended the wedding ceremony and reception for Kevin and Kelley. It was beautiful held at the UVA Chapel followed up at Farmington. They are now Mr. & Mrs. Haney and are now enjoying themselves on their honeymoon! Below is a nice picture of them dancing.

VAF Holiday Party

On Friday, December 14th we had Ryan’s Work (VAF) Holiday Party. No one knew about my hair, but they all ended up loving it! I am enjoying it myself as well. Below is a mini slide show of the VAF party. I love the event staff girls; they are so sweet and fun!

Wigs for Kids

On Friday, December 14th during my lunch hour I had my hair chopped. I ended up giving away 13.5 inches to Wigs for Kids (a non-profit organization similar to Locks of Love). When I was in College I did the same thing, but only had about 10.5 inches, so I gave that to Locks of Love. Therefore, this time I decided to donate to another organization for the same type of cause. I enjoy doing this every so often. Hopefully in another few years I will be able to do it again. To the left are some photos of before and after.

Thanksgiving Break

My mom and sister flew into town. So, Ryan and I had Kyle, Kendra, my mom and her friend Patti in town for the Thanksgiving Holiday. My mom helped me cook our first thanksgiving in our new and first home! I loved it and of course the food was wonderful. It was nice to spend time with my family. The Saturday after thanksgiving we had the traditional UVA vs. Virginia Tech Football game held in Charlottesville. Kendra, Kyle and my mom all attended the game with me. Being from a split family, I of course wore my Alma Matter VT and my brother wore his school UVA and then Kendra and my mom wore a mixture. VT WON!!! It was a great time and I got to see Maddie so that was even better!

Painting Saga Continues…

Ok, now again, I have found myself so far behind in my blogging. We have done some more painting since our first experimental bathroom. I have attached a few photos below for you to view. We have learned taping definitely takes the longest, but the skill of painting gets a bit easier as time passes. And painting with Ryan is much better than painting alone. Having that partner is a huge help! However, it is a tiring job and as I said before both Ryan and I have a much better respect for professional painters. Hopefully we will get started back up when we return from vacation in January with our main level (living, dining, kitchen, and sunroom).

Painting

Last night we decided to tape and begin painting our bathroom. Wow, what a chore. It took us both about 4 hrs plus and we are not even finished yet. When I get some photos of the progress I will have to post them. Ryan and I have a new respect for painters as it is very time consuming and all the little nooks and crannies are difficult. Next we will move our way to our bedroom. A purple bathroom we are getting and then a celery bedroom. I cannot wait and wish the process was a bit shorter. Then we will move our way down stairs and probably do the guest rooms and guest bathroom last. I already have some ideas for the living, dining and kitchen. We shall see how it all goes. Only two more days till the weekend.

Weekend in Gatlinburg, TN

It has been a while since I have blogged, so here it is. Over this past Veteran’s day weekend, Ryan and I went down to Gatlinburg, TN to have a nice relaxing weekend at his Uncle Bob’s Cabin. We met his brother, Jay, sister-in-law, Ashley, and mom, Harriet along with my dad, his wife, Whittney, and my two step sisters, Jordan and Sydney.

While we were there we went into town to walk around and look at the little country shops. We also went to a brewery of course to watch our football games (UC, NC State, UVA and Virginia Tech all WON!) After a late lunch, we decided to work it all out playing blacklight put put golf which was very fun and entertaining especially since it was inside. We were all a bit cold, as it was a little chilly for this time of year. We then went home to a relaxing evening in the hot tub, some air hokey was played and then a horrible movie was watched in the media room with all the girls. I do NOT recommend Tara Road. It is sad with not so great acting and Jordan and Ashley did a good job of imitating it later.

After that long day, we awoke the next morning to say by to my dad, Whittney, Jordan and Sydney. They had to return home for school and work on Monday. We (Ryan, Jay, Ashley and Harriet) stayed until Monday. So, on Sunday we decided to check out the Tanger Outlets in Pigeon Forge. I did do some damage at Old Navy, but Ashley seemed to beat me on this one. We had fun and enjoyed our time together. The day ended with a nice dinner at Carino’s Italian Restaurant.

Monday came and it was already time to leave. We left around 11am or so and stopped at Cracker Barrel for Lunch in Bristol. Then headed to Valley View Mall in Roanoke to buy a shower gift for a wedding shower Ryan and I are attending this week. We picked up our little Abby from my brother’s and went home for dinner and hit the sack.

Some Honeymoon Photos

We took our Honeymoon to Aruba immediately following the wedding.

A few wedding photos

Our First Home

The Progression of Our First Home

Halloween

Our little family all dressed up on Halloween. Abby (Tiger) was our barker to let us know when we had trick-or-treaters. Our first Halloween in our new home as newlyweds, we had about 7 trick or treaters; I was excited for them! After the Trick-or-Treaters, Ryan and I went to our neighbors home for a Halloween Party. We tried our best to be football players without the pads and Helmet. Abby was of course my mascot.

A little about us

For Starters, we would like to share a little about us.

• I like to scrapbook, watch a few TV shows, travel, watch or go to sporting events and I absolutely love skiing! Ryan loves sports and college football. We both love being active and hanging out with friends.



• Ryan works full-time for the Virginia Athletics Foundation and I work for a developer on two condominium projects in the area.



• Ryan is a graduate from NC State and I am a graduate from Virginia Tech! Ryan has been in Virginia for 5 years and I have been here for 3 now.



• We have a little rascal, our miniature schnauzer. Her name is Abby; she is our only baby girl for now. She thinks she is the queen of the house at times; loves barking at dogs and little kids. We need to work on her. However, she does obey us most of the time and is very sweet and cuddly.