white christmas

HI!  I am here, I am still alive, I have not forgotten about you blog friends!  Life just gets pretty hectic sometimes and I've been on the go a lot lately.  It doesn't help that I'm blocked from blogger at work, so google reader has become my best friend.  I may not comment on your blog, but have no fear, I am reading all of your updates anytime I please, thanks to google reader.

Let's start with Christmas....I must have been a really good girl, because Santa was very good to me this year!  Joseph surprised me with a Pandora bracelet and charms.  It was such a great surprise, I had actually been thinking about one for a few weeks, but hadn't mentioned it to anyone because I didn't know much about them.  Plus, you never know how long these fads will be around, and let's face it, Christmas of 2010 is pretty late to jump on the Pandora bandwagon that started 3 or 4 years ago.  Better late than never, right??  I am really loving my new piece of jewelry and even more excited that I can pick out charms in the future and keep adding to it!  He did a great job, considering every time he asked me what I wanted, I referred him to the blog.  I don't think he reads it therefore he probably had no clue what was or was not on my list, but no complaints on the jewels!

I got a lot of things that were on my list, minus a few CD's and the "A" hanging for my porch, and I also got a few surprises that were not on my list.  Some of my favorites are the Avon necklace, my NCSU hoodie, my new pocketbook, new scarves and new gloves.  A small thing my mom surprised both Joseph & I with were tee shirts from the new local brewery, Mother Earth, so that was exciting.  She has even been on a tour of the facility, we've really got to step up our game!  I got some new rainboots from Joseph's parents, apparently his dad thought they looked just like me, and I am loving them.  I actually got to put them to use the day after Christmas when we got about 5 inches of snow (more on that later).  My dad surprised me with the Down Home with The Neely's Cookbook, signed, "Ashley - Best Wishes, Gina & Pat" & I am tickled about it.  He did confess that they sign every book that's ordered, he just added my name in the 'shipping details' section.  I am so impressed, and that was definitely the most meaningful gift that I received this year!  And everyone loves money & gift cards, so I treated myself to a successful shopping day on New Year's Eve with Ashley.

What better way to end Christmas than to come home to snowflakes!  We had a long 18 hour day that included over 3 hours on the road, but coming home Christmas night to snow falling was so special!  After peeking out the window every few minutes for about 20 minutes, I was man down and sleeping peacefully.  My mom's 3 sisters had all planned to join us at church the next morning, but little did we know what we would wake up to.  About 8:30am, I looked outside and it was a winter wonderland.  Snow was everywhere, and it was still falling.  It was so pretty!  I seriously don't remember having this much snow since I was like 5 years old.  I didn't take any pictures of my house with my camera, but I did get one at The Davenport's, where we ventured to play board games and let the guys make a big pot of chili.  The girls got brave and decided to make a snowman.  I didn't think it looked too bad, but I was glad to get back inside to some heat!!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with you & yours!  I am so fortunate to have so many special people in my life, and thankful that Christmas gave me time to focus on just that.