We are back to work today. It's actually kind of nice to be back to work and get back to some stucture. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the time off, but anyway......you get the point.

We've had a great Christmas vacation thus far. I say thus far because we still have a nice low-key weekend in store and New Year's day off on Tuesday. We had a great trip to Florida, and have had some wonderful times with my family.

We arrived back in TN and headed straight down for our Christmas Eve service in Spring Hill, which turned out wonderfully! We spent Christmas Eve night and Christmas night at my parent's house in Brentwood and had so much fun hanging out, eating, watching movies, playing games and just chillin' all day. I don't even know if any of us left the house all day :-) Oh wait- yes we did, we went to see Mark & Marcie Hayes in Spring Hill for a little while as a family.

The last few days have also been wonderful- did a little shopping for Christmas wrapping for next year and things like that. Last night we had a wonderful dinner at Carrabba's and played a rousing game of "Boxers or Briefs." Tonight we are throwing a birthday party for Jordan Fenton, the guy who lives with us, as his 20th birthday was the 26th. I will soon have some more pictures to upload for you all to see, but for now- Happy Friday!

Pictures from Christmas 2007: Part 1

We are loving our time in Florida. We've been doing a little work, a little play and enjoying the beautiful weather! Here's the rundown:



Tuesday: arrived late afternoon and went to the office for a Sales meeting. That evening, we ate at a beautiful restaurant called Brio at Waterside shops and watched the finale of Biggest Loser at Hope & Steve's.



Wednesday: we worked, and then got to see the Chalkers: Caity, Will & Auntie Anne, and meet Dick (Auntie Anne's boyfriend) over dinner at Hope & Steve's: DELISH Salmon...my fave! We chatted and enjoyed the time together

Thursday: We worked during the day and were treated to dinner that evening (by Dick-thank you!) in downtown Naples at Cambiello's (probably butchering that spelling) Long, late night, but fun.

Friday: Hope took me to Ft. Myers to purchase a couple very small last minute things that could only be found there and of course had to make a quick trip to Teavana where I literally begged the guy there to make me some tea. (they had a sign posted saying their beverage service wasn't available due to holiday traffic...that did NOT work for me) I left with a wonderful cup of Mango Green...mmm.mmmmm. Afterwards, she dropped me off at the office where Kate, Matt and I were the only ones for the afternoon and got slammed!!! It was fun, though very busy and the afternoon flew by as we all worked as late as we could before heading to the office Christmas party. We had a great time at olde Cypress Club for the office Christmas party that evening.

Saturday: this was our "Christmas Day" and we started out by playing Hope & Steve in tennis (and beating them- I might add) then Dan, Erin & Grandpa came over for gifts, stockings, and yummy breakfast. I satisifed the request made of me to make Bertie's biscuits again....My favorite gift of the day: the red gloves from What's in Store!! SO FUN (they are in the picture at the top of the blog) I am still up far too late right now (that little bit of caffeine in the green tea I drank must be kicking in) am about to go to bed but I needed to set my Fantasy team for the LAST time- it's our Superbowl this weekend, and yes folks..I am in it :-)

Tomorrow is our final day before we head back to TN. We will be going to church with Erin & Dan, and just spending time as a family. I'll post some pics before too long and then we're headed to TN for round two! it's been wonderful so far!

Merry Christmas

Last night we got to spend some time with the beautiful little girls that live next door. Our neighbors Josh & Elizabeth were going to a dinner and so Jordan and I watched the kids for them. Well, we really just saw Kaitlyn, baby Isabelle was asleep when we walked next door. We had a fun time: making snowflakes, playing all the classic games, from Don't Break the Ice to Whack a Mole (my personal favorite) It was a lot of fun! Isabelle is 4 months and Kaitlyn is 5 years.

They don't call it "Dirty Santa" for nothing! Also known as "White Elephant," we played this last night at our Life Group Christmas party. And as usual, Jordan and I were the conniving ones of the bunch. In our comparatively small amount of Christmases together, Jordan and I have become surprisingly good at working together get what we want and strike deals to make the game work for us. Last night was funny!

It all started pretty light. There were 15 people and rounds 1-6 went smoothly, noone stealing any previously opened gifts. I was # 7, and I chose not to steal as well, but only because I knew that the purple bag Chantel had brought held a nice assortment of Aveda products that I had my eye on. I snatched it up quickly. The first steal of the night wasn't until my husband, round #12, when he snatched up the Cadoo game, and then what followed was a mayhem of thievery- Cassy stealing my Aveda, me stealing the scarf that Melody so desperately wanted (and that I had brought) We ended up switching gifts several times and created quite the mayhem, but in the end, everyone went home happy. I had sympathy on Courtney and traded her my Aveda stuff (that I ended up with) for the red gloves that I had also brought.

I think we taught a few people a whole new element in playing that game. Happy gift exchanging!

Fantasy Football update: I play Robby this weekend in the first round of our playoffs. I'm the #2 seed and he's #3. Everyone say this with me now: "Stop that run! Stop that run!" It is going to be tough- he has a pretty stellar team (Romo, Peterson, Westbrook) but hey- stranger things have happened :-)

Karaoke....such a funny word. It's something I had never been introduced to much before, Jordan's family takes it to a whole new level, which I love, but when a few people on our Spring Hill leadership team had the idea to get a DJ to come do karaoke for our Volunteer Appreciation dinner I had my doubts.

They were silenced last night.

It was hilarious AND so much fun. Aaron & Jenny Rudd began the night with the Faith/Tim duet, "It' your love," and Jenny was such a trooper. Then (and I WISH I had a video- I think Garner may have one)my dad brought the house down with Bob Dylan "Like a Rolling Stone." HILARIOUS!!! Some other highlights were Olivia & Martha's "I Will Survive," Jordan's "Footloose," and Mom & Tami Lyken's, "I Feel the Earth Move Under my Feet." It was a wonderful time honoring people who deserve it, and enjoying fun and laughs with family.

I'm thinking about food right now, which is why you are getting this post:

BETHANY's TOP TEN FOODS OR DISHES

#10
Spinach Artichoke Dip
(I've rarely met one I didn't like...in fact, I've never met one I didn't like)







#9
Chocolate Fondue with Bananas
(go for the Turtle's Fondue at the Melting Pot- delish!)










#8
Oats
(Whether for no-bakes, granola, or plain- you can't beat 'em)






#7
Water
(Where would I be without it. I sip it all day)









#6
Cranberry Walnut Salad w/Feta Cheese
(Combination of three faves: cranberries, walnuts and FETA....mmmmm!)






#5
Hummus
(Spicy Red Pepper is my favorite, which leads me to number 4...)






#4
Bell Peppers
(ANY color, I love the rainbow packs at Costco, but RED are definitely the best)







#3
Black Beans
(Anyone who knows me well knew this was comin')









#2
Cheese
(Any kind, any way- except for baked brie...bad experience once)







AND #1
TEA!!!


ARE YOU HUNGRY YET??

DO YOU KNOW THESE MEN?





WANTED:

- ideas for fun gifts for both for Christmas

We love both of them dearly, but I declare- they are hard to shop for. What have you gotten your dads?

These are a little late- but as they say- better late than never, right! :-)

Pictures from Thanksgiving

I think Jordan and I need to purchase some new Christmas music this year. It's been a while since I updated our collection and I know there are some really good things out there this year. Does anyone have any good recommendations they would like to share? We have the "standards:" Michael w. Smith, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Amy Grant, etc. but I'm looking for some new sounds. I like pretty traditional, no Black Eyed Peas Christmas or anything :-) But I am looking for some suggestions.

One of my favorite parts of the day is my morning time. I wake up, put on the water for some tea, turn on the lamps and recently, have been plugging in all the Christmas lights as well. This morning I lit a fire, and I tell ya, every morning it just brings a smile to my face.

I wonder what it is about the red and green and white lights that we all love so much?! I sure do enjoy it, though!

We had a great small group meeting last night. We talked about Walking in Wisdom and there were some things that really hit home for me. The word for wisdom that is used sometimes in the Bible is "sophia," which is defined as the application of knowledge. We, so many times, think of wisdom as head knowledge or "smarts," but really, as Christians, it is the application of what the Lord has shown us, or what has been revealed to us. Another way to phrase it is how well we steward what God has given us, and the understanding He's given. That encourages me- I may not be the smartest person in the world, but I can walk and apply the things God's given me!

We saw a movie over Thanksgiving which probably most of you have seen or at least heard about by now. Click here for all sorts of information. The movie's called August Rush and I cannot wait to see it again.

If you get the chance- go see it! It will be well worth your 9 bucks. (Even though that's crazy to pay for a movie)

Happy Wednesday!

This is Steve enjoying a little massage in front of Old Navy in the Evansville mall on Black Friday :-) We had a lot of fun shopping! Some highlights of the weekend:

* Being comPLETELY packed into the minivan. It's amazing how much luggage 7 people can produce for 2 days!

* A fun game of "murder" on Wednesday night...Jordan got it twice!

* Lazy Thursday morning

* Wonderful meal with wonderful people

* Watching the Colts beat up on the Falcons

* Catchphrase!

* Kemps!

* Shopping fun on Friday

* Being with family and dear friends! Always wonderful...

More pics to come...

Happy Thanksgiving!! We are sitting here in a beautiful cabin in Southern Indiana, and my day already feels complete because I have all my family (Mom, Dad, Jordan, Dylan, Hope, Steve, Erin, Dan and Trish) here with me. We are missing Ferris though which is VERY sad, but I got to talk to her this morning. She's working hard at the hospital! She said she as surprised by the number of injuries that came in last night.


Jordan and I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and pray that you feel blessed by the things God's done and the people surrounding you. We love you!

Oh and in other news, more congratulations are due to:

* Mark Munden & Natalie Cressy on their recent engagement!! (YAY!)

* Scott & Courtney Ray on their pregnancy- we can't wait for little baby Ray :-)

It's going to be a GREAT week!

It started off with an incredible and fun church service yesterday morning. We had some baptisms, and Thanksgiving testimonies about things God's done in people's lives this past year, and we just rejoiced together as a family over God's faithfulness.

Kyle Cooper & Ian came over for lunch after church and I made Thai cashew chicken. Mmm....I've been buying the packs of rainbow peppers from Costco because they are DELISH and I put them in everything. So I added some peppers and broccoli to the dish- it was yummy! Afterwards, I cleaned up and the boys rested a bit. Then they pitched in and helped Jordan put the tree up. We decorated super early this year so our family from out of town can see it. They were a funny spectacle putting that tree together. Of course anything Kyle, Jordan and Ian do together is funny! I made them some no-bakes cookies and we watched a little football.

Kyle had to leave about 5, and I took off to get a few more things for the home-made pizza I was making, and to pick up 2 more strands of lights. Most of ours worked but you're always going to have a few go out. Oh well! We finished the tree, watched a little of the Patriot's massacre the Bills (side note: Randy Moss: 42 points for me in FF) watched a little American Music Awards, finished decorating, made the pizza and turned on "The Santa Clause." It was a top-notch evening! I told them I felt like I spent all day in the kitchen though, b/w lunch, cleaning up lunch, making no bakes, cleaning up no bakes, deep-cleaning the kitchen, making dinner, cleaning up dinner, but I shouldn't complain, b/c I love it.

This morning I woke up early and turned on the Christmas lights- beautiful! I made yummy eggs with peppers, red onion, mushrooms, spinach and feta for me and my husband and a bowl of oatmeal w/ walnuts and cranberries for him. We have a full work day ahead of us, drs appt, meeting and then we get to see family! They all fly in tonight- so we are pumped. I'm telling you, it's going to be a wonderful week!!!

We want to extend a HUGE congratulations to Nathan & Bethany. I told Jordan yesterday I "knew" it would be a girl. The Gaddis' make too beautiful of babies for them to not have a girl :-)

We love the name and can't wait to see you guys in December.

What I'm currently listening to on repeat:




I hope we can start doing this at church! Can't wait....

I love my husband!!

He surprised me last night with a fun time to go to Old Time Pottery in Murfreesboro and dinner out at Demos'. We had a great time AND got some GREAT deals out at Old Time Pottery- we are READY for Christmas decorating! Yay! And we had a great dinner.

AND- to top it off I won my fantasy football matchup that I wasn't expecting to at all b/c of bad bye weeks.

Current rank: 2 of 10 (the women are leading the league!)

It's baby time in Tennessee. No! Not for Jordan and me, but I found out about two of my friends who are pregnant...one on Saturday and one on Sunday! It's just super exciting and fun! I am absolutely loving this season of our lives....the BABY time! :-) What an incredible miracle and joy it is. And Jordan and I look forward to the day when we too step into that season.

God is so good!