Happy Birthday, Fuzzy Love of Our Life!

A Happy Happy 4th Birthday to Dallas/Cubbie/Cubbiebear/Stinker-bean/bubba/little bear/booger/sunshine bear/baby bear/blonde bear/bozie-bear/fuzzy butt/chicken noodle/bubbles/my cub/ BIRTHDAY BEAR!

Ask and you shall receive - a boat load of snow!

Once again, Brad and I were glued to weather.com in hopes of snow, lots of snow. Well boy oh boy we got snow and then some!


Here is my afternoon in a nutshell:

- Spend 3 and a half hours in the car trying to get home. Mostly due to some major traffic and a top speed of 5 mph. Lovely. And a side note, I really really needed a bathroom break.
- Finally out of traffic and my 4Runner ran straight into a ditch. I suppressed my FREAK-OUT emotions and pulled myself together and got out of the ditch.
- Had an internal celebration for my bravery.
- Got a little too excited and quickly humbled again. Couldn't make it up the hill to get home, now I'm in another ditch.
- Brad couldn't come rescue me because him and the neighbor couldn't get their 4x4 up our street. Sweet Brad packed a rescue kit and was going to walk the mile to come save me.
- Wonderful people stopped to help me and gave me a ride home. At this point I didn't really care who they were, as long as they would take me to a restroom.
- I finally made it HOME! Brad and I sat down to relax and eat dinner....and the electricity goes off!
- Argh!
- We finally have heat and light, and now I'm about to curl up on the couch and watch the best Christmas movie of all time, Home Alone :)

Check out the pics so far. It is supposed to snow heavily all night, which means an early wake up call from Brad and Dallas for some play time in the snow.

Let it Snow!

It's a good thing we got snow, because I was going to be TICKED if Houston, TX got snow and northeast Tennessee didn't! I am also thankful we got snow because Brad would have been pouty-pants all weekend if the snow didn't come through. He was watching the weather every day and had our entire weekend planned around playing in the snow / building fires / and eating soup.

So...I was more than happy when Brad and Dallas were dragging me out of bed early Saturday to bundle up and play outside. A happy Brad = happy Alicia :)

Taking a peek outside


Dallas and Kelso. Kelso lives next door and yes, she is wearing an adorable coat.

Here are a couple quick videos of Dallas enjoying the snow. The first video is Dallas bolting towards our neighbor - she is currently his favorite person.

The second video shows what Dallas likes to do in the snow. You'll notice the strange streaks in the yard, courtesy of Dallas's patented slide move.

giving thanks

Happy late Thanksgiving everyone! Brad, Dallas, and I had a pretty low key Thanksgiving in the new house. This was our first holiday without any family, therefore in order to distract us from being completely homesick, I cooked a huge Thanksgiving meal for an army. We spent the rest of the day in our pjs watching football :)

This may sound a tad corny, but we reflected all day on all that we have to be thankful for. It was this time last year when Brad started traveling to TN for work. At that time, the possibility of moving to TN seemed like the most far fetched idea. Don't you just love when God proves that HE is in full control and it is His will, not ours.....and life works out beautifully.

I give thanks everyday for our loving family and our faithful Jesus, and here are a couple recent additions:

A place to call "home"

Lots of quality time with my boys

p.s. We're still out in the country, but in a small neighborhood where Dallas and I can get back to our walking / occasional running routine like we had in TX. The nice view of the mountains is a new little perk I'm enjoying.

And I'm thankful for the most wonderful time of the year!

p.p.s. I'll go ahead and admit that I've been listening to Christmas music for a month, and I cry like a baby every time I hear "I'll be home for Christmas".