Thanksgiving in the Mountains

For Thanksgiving with my family this year we decided to be adventurous and head to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia. It was a looooong 7-8 hour drive but absolutely beautiful once we got there!

Our cabin was first class with three separate floors with master suites and a great hot tub on the bottom floor overlooking the mountains. That is where Derek spent most of his time, I can tell you.
My dad and Derek did some hiking, we did a little shopping in downtown Ellijay and a lot of sunset-watching. We spent most of Wednesday through Friday in our pajamas, and it was so incredibly nice.


My Granny saved the sign we made for Pap when he came home from the hospital from surgery on Thanksgiving Day in 1988. They hung it up to make us feel at home. :)




It was a great way to spend the extended Thanksgiving holiday. Now only 28 days til Christmas!

Grey Family Thanksgiving

On Saturday we headed to Vicksburg for the Grey Family Thanksgiving at Mamaw's house. She decided to make a "Country Thanksgiving" meal and it was SO GOOD! We had roast, homemade macaroni and cheese, greens, speckled peas, broiled onions, cornbread and then apple crisp for dessert. We were stuffed.

We burned off a few calories after lunch by playing kickball in the backyard with Ryan Hadley and Frances. Frances was more interested in wandering around and playing with the leaves, but she was LOVIN being outside! What a fun day!

While we were in town, we stopped by and visited with the Gorneys (all of them) at Drew and Kristin's temporary house on Washington Street. It was a beautiful day outside and we made the most of it before heading back to Jackson when the sun started to go down.

I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS! Happy Thanksgiving and remember to always, always be thankful!

Santa's not ready!

I can NOT believe that it's already mid-November. Where did August, September, and October go? I mean, really??

This past weekend was our second annual Girls' Christmas Shopping Weekend in Alabama. I headed to the Coast on Friday and we made a major day of it Saturday by hitting the outlet mall in Foley and Eastern Shore in Malbis. I got most of Derek's gifts checked off my list and a couple of other small gifts for family.

Sad to say, but I just don't have nearly as much money saved up for Christmas this year as I know I did last year. I'm trying really hard not to stress over my Christmas budget, but I just LOOOOOVE this holiday, and I always go overboard on gifts. It just makes me happy.

I love everything about this time of year, and I can't believe it's just weeks away. Not to mention the fact that Thanksgiving is next week. Whoa... we're doing something different this year that should be fun. It's just such a busy time of year, and my mind is spinning!

Of course, it's also the most WONDERFUL time of the year, so I'll never complain. :)

Maybe it's genetic...

My precious niece Ryan Hadley was clearly a strong supporter of her grandfather (Pops) in his run for re-election to the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

And here they are anxiously awaiting the results... he won!
For all we know she might be the next President. Never too early to teach them politics! :)

Halloween in D.C.

Our friends Katherine and Paul just moved to Washington, D.C., for a few months. While Paul is working on his research sabbatical, we decided we'd fly up for a long weekend and keep Katherine company.

We flew up early Friday morning and spent the afternoon wandering around Bethesda in Maryland where they're living. Friday night we enjoyed a little progressive dinner around Bethesda Row. These people take happy hour seriously with GREAT drink and appetizer specials. We had a great time, despite our long day of traveling and the one-hour time difference.

Saturday we woke up to FREEZING weather and then snow later in the afternoon. It would have been pretty to look at from inside the warm apartment, but Saturday just happenned to be our big Halloween night out, so we suffered through in our Beer Guy/St. Pauli Girl/Hansel/Gretel (depending on who asked) costumes and weathered the snow and sleet. Brrrrr.... I'm cold just thinking about it.

We took the Metro to an area called Adams Morgan and went to this bar/restaurant called Madam's Organ. What a cool bar! It was three stories with the top story being sort of like a treehouse. We had SO MUCH FUN!

In fact, after all our fun on Saturday night, we were struggling a little on Sunday. We had a lazy day until time to get ready for the Silent Disco Zombie Crawl on U Street. We went to the Goodwill Store and got nice, cheap outfits to zombify.

This pub crawl was the coolest idea ever. The organizers gave everyone wireless headphones, and two DJs went with you from bar to bar. So all the "zombies" were dancing to the music they were hearing (two different stations to flip between) but if you weren't a zombie, it looked like we were dancing to no music. I'm sure it was quite the sight to see, especially carrying the coffin from bar to bar to mark where our next stop was. Really really cool. Plus, it started early at 5 p.m. so it was good for a Sunday Funday night.

Monday and Tuesday were our big sightseeing days in D.C., including all the monuments, the National Mall, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural Science, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the National Mall, and the White House.

We were totally worn out by the time our Tuesday night flight rolled around, but it was worth it! Great weekend and great Halloween!

BICEworks

I have to take a moment to brag on my parents a bit... they just unveiled a new website for Bice Advertising this week, and they're really starting to get into the whole social media marketing thing, too.

This was what they posted on Facebook earlier this week:

Why cross the road? The good stuff's right here. http://www.biceworks.com/biceworks2011/. All new site!

They are the ORIGINAL graphic design firm in Hattiesburg, and they've been the best since 1978. They're constantly implementing new ideas and proving to everyone why they're the best around. I'm just constantly amazed by their creativity.

So, pass it along... If you ever need graphic design work done or websites or logos or branding or anything related at all, check them out. They're the best in town, and I'm not being biased. They really are. :)

SMTTT!!!

On Saturday morning we hit the road for USM's homecoming game against SMU. It could not have been a more beautiful day, and I was ready for some serious tailgating!

We had SOOO much fun! AND the Eagles won, making their debut at #25 in the nation. GO EAGLES!

Here are a few pics from our great day in Hattiesburg... good food, good fun, great people, great day!