I'm certain we went from Thanksgiving to Christmas in only about a week this year! Here I am on Christmas Eve Eve just chilling on the couch after having my gallbladder removed the day before yesterday and looking forward to the holiday weekend. Despite the fact that our presents didn't actually get wrapped and under the tree til yesterday we actually finished our shopping relatively early (thanks to the internet!!). So I guess we're ready! Bring on the festivities! (And hopefully I'll be able to enjoy the food!!)

Christmas Tree...

Christmas Ornament...

Christmas Cat!

Wow. I think I've had a pretty productive day. I've edited two sets of pictures and burned three client CDs. I guess that got me in the "burning" mood b/c I've been moving pictures from my laptop to CDs for the last three hours (and still going!). I can't wait to see how many GB I've freed up from this little project! (Now if only I'd have the time (and patience!) to do the same to the desktop computer!

To be a holiday weekend we've been quite busy! Hickory Knob after work Wednesday til Friday then hanging out with family...A busy day today and then church, photoshoot and TSO concert tomorrow! I feel like we haven't even had a second to breathe and now it's almost time to go back to work! Ugh!

A cute picture of Natalie at Hickory Knob...



And Laurel!

A few more pictures from last weekend in the mountains...

Me and Baby Bear saying our goodbyes by the fire...



Our babies at Hillcrest Apple Orchard!


My kitten just purred, cuddled up against me and went to sleep...



While Matt's kitten wanted to PLAY!



There were tons of baby goats this year and I just loved them all!




They would find a little sunny spot and fall asleep standing up...



And the cow just wanted to chill in the sun while you scratched his ears...



A puppy! There were two little puppies! They were so funny just running around in the middle of all the goats!



Dear Sheep: Please stop stealing all the food from me...You can't POSSIBLY still be hungry!


So that was Sunday! Visiting our animals and then driving home!
Time to go back yet??

Hello from our fabulous Crockett Mountain cabin in beautiful Blue Ridge, Georgia!!

We left Augusta yesterday about noon, stopped in Atlanta for lunch at Mimi's Cafe and dessert to-go from The Cheesecake Factory and arrived here just before dark...Just in time to hit up the hot tub and settle in for a movie in front of the fire!

Last year we decided we would take the 4 hour trip on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway this year when we came back with my parents, but since they couldn't come this weekend we decided to wait til next time and took our own little day trip instead! We followed a self-guided scenic driving tour that was highlighted with a 4-mile extremely bumpy drive up/down/all-around a rocky mountain road that led to a 270 foot swinging bridge over the Toccoa River!

Above...




...and below!



Tomorrow we'll be going to pick some apples, load up on apple fritters and visit our favorite mountain animals at Hillcrest Orchard!

Then, unfortunately, we'll be heading back home...But the fact that another cabin very similar to ours right down the road is listed at only $450k is quite enticing...Anybody wanna go halvsies with us??

This past weekend:

I had a great newborn photoshoot with this sweet little girl



I watched a tiny bit of the Georgia/Vanderbilt game (while editing pictures!)

We scouted out a new photo location at the waterfall near the canal in the cold rain (with my parents in tow!)

We enjoyed dinner at Wild Wings (which is becoming a weekly occurance!) and watched the second half of the Florida/Arkansas game.

I edited some more pictures.

We missed church (and free food!) due to some very terrible unexplained back pain during the night.

I had another great photoshoot (an engagement session with a fun couple!)

I think I edited some more pictures.

And I learned more than ever needed to know in great detail about the first 24 hours after JFK was shot!


Now we've made it through Monday and are looking forward to Friday when we head to the mountains for the weekend! Oh my gosh we're SOOOO excited! Can't wait!

So my first week at my new job went well last week! I really had an enjoyable time! (And carpooling and lunching with my hubby can't be beat either!)

The weekend was pretty laid back...A couple photoshoots with college football, a family get-together and church thrown in the mix!

Nothing really exciting going on except the fact that the weather is finally changing!! Is fall really here this time?? I'm just dying to put some pumpkins on the porch and kick off fall with the ASU Alumni Barbecue this Friday night! (And to think Matt was thinking we could skip this year!! I'll chalk it up to temporary insanity! I mean seriously, it's like a huge fall tradition for me! We've gone every year since we started dating! It's always a perfect evening when the weather cooperates! - Hey! Maybe I'll even take some pictures this year and do a scrapbook page about it!)

Wow...That was quite a tangent! Now off to see if PhotoBucket is feeling cooperative tonight so I can post some sneak peaks on my photography blog from my shoot with the White family!

Oh my goodness I am so so incredibly exhausted right now!! I got back about noon from our weekend scrapbooking retreat up at the lake and even though I went straight to my bed for a 3 hour nap I feel like I could just go to bed right now!! It was worth it though! We all had such a great time!

Now it's Sunday evening and TOMORROW I start my new job! Wow...It's been kind of a crazy month! I quit my job, chilled out for a few weeks and now back to work! It seems like it should be really good though! And the best part?? It's the same place my super fantastic husband works!! Yaaay!! We get to carpool together and eat lunch together and just be together more! We're quite excited, but it's just gonna be so weird to get in the car TOGETHER in the morning!

Well, too tired to think anymore...Maybe I'll post some pictures...

Painting a rock in the middle of the night in Harlem...




Brandi wanted to paint the rock at the Middle School Tuesday night for her daughter's 11th birthday so who better to enlist for a little mischief than me!?! Our husbands were a little concerned, but we managed to convince them it's not actually vandalism if that's what the rocks are put there for! Good times!

Today I went with Wendie for her ultrasound, but Baby Boy 3 was being a little camera shy. We had no problem confirming that he is indeed still a boy, but he was curled up face down and not in the mood to give us any good glimpses of his little face! (Well, at least until Wendie had some of the sweetest tea ever at Cafe 209 after the appointment!)

I'd say yaaay for Friday, but I guess everyday's Friday when you're a stay at home mom! It's been fun, but I am looking forward to the weekend to have the hubby hanging out with me too! Should be a busy weekend though...Greenbrier/Lakeside game Friday night, photoshoot Saturday morning then up to Kid's Camp for a little while and back in time for some college football...And then Sunday will be alittle crazy with the ministry fair at church and who knows what else...

Anyways, off to watch a little Clemson v. Georgia Tech...Yep, it's officially fall in my book!! (Now where's the cooler temps??)

Labor Day Weekend! Yaaay! AND the beginning of COLLEGE FOOTBALL! Woohoo!

Finally blogging again as I'm watching a bit of the Miami/FSU game as our 3-day weekend is coming to an end! (Well, for Matt at least! I'm on permanent weekend! Haha!)

Saturday morning Wendie and I went out shopping for a bigger vehicle to make room for Baby Boy 3. First we hit up the Honda dealership and two test-drives later we settled on the one it's to be! A dark blue Honda Odyssey! Yep...In about 30 minutes we picked out their new family vehicle! Craziness! I mean, it takes us longer than that to pick out patterned paper for a scrapbooking layout!

Then Matt & I spent the afternoon/evening down in Gibson watching the Georgia Oklahoma State game with Jason, Kacey & Jaleigh! Good times! Just like the old days except it took us a little longer to get home afterwards!




Then Sunday was Sunday and included a somewhat impromptu photoshoot with the Stickels at Savannah Rapids...I'm sure I got at least a couple good pictures out of it, but none the less, we all had fun just hanging out together and chasing those sweet little boys around! (I still can't believe there's about to be a THIRD one!)

Today was pretty lazy, but that's how Labor Day should be! So now that football season's started I'm officially declaring it FALL! Time for pumpkins, changing leaves and mountain trips! Woohoo! Can't wait!!

While Amy & Reggie had small group this evening we had a little fun with the girls!

First, was a trip up to the playground in the neighborhood, but unfortunately there are no pictures because after about 3 minutes of swinging we had to seek shelter under the slide to avoid being drenched in the sudden downpour!

We'd planned to have a picnic dinner at the playground, but due to the rain we had to relocate that event to our living room!

Afterward we even made a special trip to Brusters for some ice cream! Both girls were perfectly behaved, but the older couple sitting near us enjoyed watching us...At one point I turned to them and said, "They're not ours! We're not very good at this!"

But hey! ice cream is better when you get it all over you, right??

Exciting week ahead...Getting my wisdom teeth out Wednesday! Only two days from now and I'm still excited! Yaaay! (We'll see if I feel the same way come Wednesday evening!)