To be honest, we haven't been doing a lot on the home renovations front. When I started this blog a little over a year ago, it was to chronicle the things we have done to my gradnparents home. We haven't started any new projects since last June and the more I think about it I realize that coincides with the time we joined our new church. I guess you can say that I've been spiritually remodeling myself instead of my house.

I haven't really blogged a lot about it because it is something that has been so close to my heart that I haven't really wanted to share for fear of being criticized. In July I joined the United Methodist Church and I haven't looked back. It has truly been life changing for me. For the first time in my life I feel like I am part of a spiritual community and I have a church family. People know my name and greet me every Sunday. I'm a member of a Sunday school class and I have learned so much. I volunteer one Saturday morning every month and make 180 sandwiches for the homeless with two other people. But my favorite thing by far has been our Disciple Class. J.D. and I signed up for a 34 week study of the Bible in which you read over 70% of the Bible. It has been amazing! We are learning so much! We meet for two hours every Monday night with our class of about 12 other people and discuss our reading for the week with the two instructors. It has been such an amazing experience.

Something inside of me has changed. I have always considered myself Christian and had always believed in Jesus, but this is different. If you would like, I invite you to listen to the podcast from the first Sunday of Advent here. It's amazing and Dr. Beyers has such a gift.

A few photos from Thanksgiving

We had a little bit different of a Thanksgiving this year. We celebrated the Saturday after Thanksgiving with a big dinner at our house with our family and friends. After dinner one of our friends, Justin, had my Aunt Linda give him a haircut at the dinner table.

J.D. jumped at the opportunity to wet Justin down

How about a mohawk?

Justin, all finished and J.D. vacuuming the remaining hair.

Justin is one of our favorite people. He tells the best stories and bears a startling resemblance to John Edwards. When people tell Justin this he gets angry because he is a staunch Republican. He actually has kids call him "Mr. President".

Our dear friend, Matt. He isn't cross-eyed, nor does he wear goofy hats.

It was a great day! After dinner we retired to the den to watch Georgia beat Georgia Tech! Yahoo!

Christmas Ladies Lunch and some wress-a-ling!

Yesterday both J.D, myself and my Aunt Gail were off from work. We went to the Pinehurst Tea Room and had a delicious lunch. The Pinehurst Tea Room is this cute Victorian cottage that mostly hosts weddings and receptions, but during the week they serve lunch. It was all decked out for the holidays and we had a blast. The food was so good that we ate it all before I had a chance to take any pictures!

J.D., me and Aunt Gail

Later on last night we went to my cousin Kyle's middle school wresting match. I should clarify that wrestling is huge in my family. My Uncle wrestled in both high school and college and has been a high school wrestling coach for 25 years. I have to confess that I love the sport because of my guys. Not the crazy stuff you see on television, but the school sport.

Kyle beginning his first match.

Kyle won! He pinned him in the first minute!

My handsome cousin.

I can't believe that he is going to be in high school next year. Honestly, he is the sweetest, smartest kid I know. Can you believe that the child has never made anything but straight A's? I love that boy so much.

I hope everyone has an awesome weeked! It's freezing here- I think the low tonight is 25 degrees! Stay warm and tell your family how much you love them.

Burt's Bees is the Bees Knees!

I know I only live in Georgia and we really don't have too much of a harsh winter, but my hands get really dry this time of year. Painfully dry. They crack and bleed and it is really ugly. It's probably a combination of the cold weather and the fact that I wash my hands at least 30 times a day. OCD anyone?

My solution? This amazing stuff:

I'm not keen on the banana smell, but if you actually like the smell of bananas, then you you will love this stuff! A little goes a long way and once you apply this stuff to your hands they will stay protected through MANY hand washings. I've had a 2oz jar of my hand creme for several years now and am just now running out. It's also super affordable- I think it's less than $8 for a jar. Awesome!

My latest obsession....

*************UPDATE 12/11*************
My superfabulous mom/stepmom, Laura, found a Hallmark store that had the ornaments in stock! She bought two of them for me!!! I am so excited!!!!!!

A stinkin' Christmas ornament!

This one to be exact:

I've mentioned before that "Christmas Vacation" is my favorite movie ever. I realized last night that Hallmark has released a keepsake ornament this year of Cousin Eddie's RV. It even has some of his classic lines from the movie. The only problem is that I can't find it anywhere! I went to Kohl's today and even the display ornaments had sold. Right now I am having J.D. look at the Hallmark and Kohl's in the town where she works. I need two of them, one for me and one for my Uncle Fred. My Uncle Fred pretty much looks like Cousin Eddie and we tease him that he acts like him too (he really doesn't). My Uncle Fred and Aunt Gail also about an RV this year! We have teased them incessantly about that.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!