It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Well it's less than 2 weeks from Christmas and it's actually starting to feel like it around here. By that I mean, it was 10 degrees out during my drive to work this morning. Brrrrrr...so not used to that. Really 10 degrees is pretty much as cold as it gets here in TN on its very coldest day and it usually doesn't happen until January or February. So with that said, we are replacing our upstairs heating unit. We replaced the downstairs unit when we bought our house, but held off on the upstairs. Well after I went up to wake up Carter a couple days in a row and his room felt like Antartica (not really, it was like 65 degrees), we decided to buy a new unit. Our current unit is entirely electrical and our electric bill can nearly reach $300 during the winter and summer months, so by switching it out we should be able to cut that down by a 2/3. It's not exactly the time we want to be dropping the money on it, but luckily we had set aside some money to put towards a new roof, so it doesn't hurt as bad. Although we won't be replacing the roof for a while now.

Speaking of cold, it actually snowed here on Sunday. We also usually don't see any snow until January or February, but we got some this weekend. I think we got about an inch at my house and it shut the entire mid state down. I'm not kidding. Every school in Middle TN was closed. It's just different here, that's all. I think they have like 15 plow trucks for the entire state of TN. We're not used to it. And actually I haven't had a white Christmas since my last Christmas spent in South Bend 6 years ago. So Santa, all I want for Christmas is snow! Seriously!!

Speaking of Christmas, my family and I went to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular this past Saturday and aside from the major parking issues (Opry Mills parking lot is all blocked off since the flood in May), it was spectacular! (pun intended) Brett and I arrived at 5:00, thinking the show started at 5:30, so we patiently waited for the rest of my family to show up. They got stuck in all the parking mess and didn't arrive until 5:30. That's when my mom informed me the show started at 5:00. Dang it!! We couldn't get in since they had our tickets, so we missed 30 mins of the show and walked in during the Toy Soldier performance. Even though we missed 30 mins of the the 2 hour show, it was still way better than I expected. I'm not much for singing and dancing but this show was great! I was especially impressed by the ending. They performed the Nativity Scene and really explained the true meaning of Christmas and that it's about Christ's birth, not Santa and presents. They didn't shy away from it at all and it was really amazing. I LOVED IT! Definitely worth going to if you ever have the opportunity.

Other than that, we have just been busy trying to work, chase Carter around, and get Christmas shopping done. We recently lost our other salesman at work, so it's been just me trying to hold the fort down lately and it's been a little hectic. Thankfully, we just got another guy hired and he starts Monday. This means I will no longer have to work every Saturday as well as Mon-Fri.

That's all for now folks.

Carter's 1st Birthday

Did I really just say that? Is my baby a year old already? And I guess he's no longer a baby either. Toddler.....wow that's different. Anyway we had an amazing birthday weekend (except for him getting 4 new teeth in all at the same time). We headed towards South Bend Thursday night and got up there about noon on Friday. We went to Brett's grandma's house where Carter got his first birthday/Christmas present and then we stopped by the Pop Shop on 31 to see Brett's Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin. For those of you familiar with the Pop Shop or Michiana Archery, Brett's Uncle owns that, we weren't just randomly meeting them at the Pop Shop. After a couple hours of visiting with Brett's family, we headed to our hotel in attempt for me and Carter to both get a nap. Wrongo! No nap was had.

Later on we met my BFF, Casey and her husband Phil, for dinner at Hacienda. I've been craving their Mexican pizza for about 3 years now and I just had to have it. I was disappointed, they most definitely shrunk in size. Should've gotten a wet burrito. Oh well. After dinner we took Carter back to the hotel to play with some of the birthday toys he got. Like I mentioned early, he was getting 4 teeth in and had no afternoon nap, so the playing didn't last long. He soon turned into quite the grumpy little guy and it was time for bed. For those of you that have kids and have friends without kids, you can probably relate to the whole situation about trying to kick your friends out nicely so you can get your baby to bed. Kidless people sometimes don't catch on that quick. Anyway, once we got everyone out, Carter fussed for a bit but then went to sleep like a good little boy. At some point in the night he decided since it was his birthday, he wanted to sleep in bed with mom and dad, and that's exactly what he did. Here's Carter and daddy enjoying their ZZZZs. The next morning we got up and headed out to meet my former boss and his family for breakfast. I used to babysit his kids and I learned a lot about babies after watching his daughter, Ava, when she was little. I tell ya what, seeing those kids now makes me feel really old. Ava was 1 and Aaron was 9 when I started watching them. Now Ava is 10 and Aaron is 18. Crazy!! So anyway, breakfast was great and I'm so glad they finally got to meet Carter.

After that we headed to my Uncle's memorial service. It was a very touching service and just made me wish I had gotten back to see my Uncle before he passed away. I guess it's true, you don't know what you've got until it's gone. It was really nice seeing some of my family, but just wish it was under different circumstances. I wish my uncle had gotten to meet Carter, but I know he's in a much better place now and that's good.

Once the service was over, we cut out and headed back home. We had Carter's birthday party the next morning and lots to do to get ready for it. We hosted it at my parents' house and it turned out really nice. Our closest friends came and we had a blast. Carter loved all of his toys.

Nana got him a wagon. What's better than a little boy and a puppy in a wagon?

And last but not least, the smash cake. Need I mention we forgot to feed Carter dinner before we let him dig into his cake? Yeah, he would have eaten the whole thing had we not stopped him.

My Way Back Home

It's been 2 1/2 years since I've been back to my hometown of South Bend, IN and the last time I was there it was for my best friend's wedding and I was in and out of there so fast, I barely knew what happened. Actually over the last 4 years, I've only been back 2 times and it's been for quick weddings. But this Friday I will once again be heading back to SB for a quick trip, even quicker than all the rest. My uncle passed away this past weekend and his memorial service is on Saturday. It's sad that it takes this kind of event to get me back up north, but it's true. I need to be there. Unfortunately life and death doesn't plan itself around our schedules and Carter's 1st bday is on Friday and his party was planned for Saturday. So we moved the party to Sunday and will have a dinner for him in South Bend on Friday night. Due to the schedule change in his party, I feel it's given a lot of people excuses not to come to his party, but we will have fun anyway!!

Anyway, back to our trip. I am mixed with sadness and joy all at the same time. I am sad, because we will be saying goodbye to a great man and joy because I will spend my son's 1st birthday with a very small intimate group of friends that don't normally get to see him. So we will put our warm boots and coats on (must get carter a winter coat) and travel almost 500 miles north for an overnight stay. This shall be our 2nd family trip together. Let's hope everyone leaves their cranky pants at home.

Dinner for 4

Brett and I decided to host Thanksgiving at our house this year, because he was on-call for work and my dad likes to host Christmas, so I wanted one of the holidays at least. Once that decision was made, we were given the motivation we needed to hurry up and finish updating our kitchen and dining room. My parents bought us a brand new SS glass top range for our 2 year anniversary, which was an amazing gift!! So we then decided to paint our cabinets and update all the hardware from brass to brushed nickel. Then it was onto the dining room. It was a very boring beige with an ugly brass light fixture, so that had to change as well. I painted the room Posh Red and white and hung a new light fixture that will coordinate with the other light fixtures I'm going to change out in the kitchen and foyer. I wanted this all done for Thanksgiving, so we busted our butts and finished it up this past weekend. I'm a perfectionist so it takes me extra long to go back and make sure every little line is perfect and there are no 'oops' spots anywhere. It looks great!!

P.S. I do not recommend Valspar Signature Series HD paint that you see all the commercials about and it being able to cover really well. Wrong!! This is dark red over a skin tone beige and it took 3 coats (4 coats on the largest wall) to cover it completely. Next time I will stick with my Sherwin Williams paint like I'm used to.

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving. We were planning on having my family, Brett's family, and my parents' neighbors over at our house for the big meal. But Brett's family decided they'd rather stay at their house, because his dad likes to cook. Okay. So it's just my family and their neighbors. Then my dad called and asked me if I'd be upset if my mom and him went to Colorado for Thanksgiving to spend it with my grandma. No. Go ahead, I'd do the same if I could. So since my parents weren't coming, their neighbors won't be coming either. That makes it just me, Brett, Carter, and my brother. Instead of being bummed about it, I am still very excited. Just because there will only be 4 people instead of 14 won't stop me from making a meal to feed 30. I will be in all my glory from breakfast to dinner. I really enjoy being able to spend the day cooking. I used to really enjoy making great meals for Brett, but since I work so much nowadays, I really don't have the time anymore.

I can not wait for Carter to be able to enjoy his first turkey dinner. Last year he was only a week old and I was still in major pain from giving birth to him. Also I was dealing with the baby blues that I swore I'd never suffer from and was an emotional mess. blah.

So those are my plans for Turkey day, what are everyone elses?

Justice Shall Prevail

My father just received a call from Lieutenant Kyle Norrod of the LaVergne Police Department informing him that no charges will be filled against him regarding the incident on Tuesday. It was determined that my dad acted well within his rights of the law to protect himself from grave bodily injury or death. Duuuuuuuhhh!!! We already knew that! But thank God the police figured that out.

I never feared my dad having to face prosecution from all of this, because I knew for a fact he acted within the legal guidelines, but I was seriously disturbed at how some of the media outlets spun it. And even more saddened how the police treated him during this process. Rather than investigating where more of his stolen property had gone, they pursued trying to bring charges against him. Had they done their job and called around to the local scrap yards on Tuesday, like they should have, they would have found about $4,000 worth of his stuff at Clark Iron & Metal in Murfreesboro. But it's too late, because once the owner of the scrap yard saw the story on the news, the metal had already been scrapped. He had to call Chief Boyd at the LaVergne Police Dept. 4 times before the jackass would take his call. Someone needs to fire that prissy bitch.

Now, I have contacted all 3 news stations that ran their first stories in hopes they will run a follow up. We'll be watching!

Protecting The Criminals

A couple of days ago my father found himself in a very scary situation that we as humans hope that we never have to face. He interrupted a robbery on the property he owns in which he has plans to move his business to. He was on his way to early vote and he drove past a couple of guys on his property stealing some contruction equipment. He pulled in to assess the situation and that's when things went south. He stepped out of his vehicle to confront the theives and they jumped into their pickup and attempted to run him down. Every member of our family is a gun carry permit holder and we all carry personal firearms in case we are ever faced with a life or death situation. As the men were charging their truck towards my dad, who was next to his and didn't have the option of jumping out of the way, he had a split second to make a decision to try and save his life or keep him from grave bodily injury. That's when he pulled out his gun and attempted to shoot out their rear tire to put a stop to their threat, rather than shooting the men themselves. It worked. They didn't run him down and they turned and fled the lot. My dad called 911 and the men were caught and arrested as they were trying to get on the highway.

My dad came back to the office and was obviously worked up over the entire ordeal, but felt as though he had done the right thing. He then went back to the contruction lot to see what all had been stolen. That's when the situation turned on him. The police were there to question him and they soon turned to him as the criminal. Long story, short the police are pursuing a case against my father in which they are investigating whether or not he lawfully fired a shot in self defense. I understand that they have to look at every angle, but they went on the news saying that he was only trying to protect his property. I am infuriated!! The story aired on 3 news channels here in Nashville and only Fox 17 got the story right. The other 2 channels chopped it and twisted to make it look as though my father saw them stealing his stuff and he shot at them. Words out of one news reporters mouth were "Clark saw the men stealing his property and that's when he got a gun". Are you kidding me?! Are you seriously kidding me?! First off, he didn't just get a gun, he carries it, and second of all he wasn't shooting at the vehicle because the douche bags were stealing his stuff!! His life was being endangered and he took action rather than being a sitting duck like most people in society!

What Channel 5 news failed to mention was that one of the men was listed as a dangerous gang member as well as being a convicted felon in possession of a loaded gun. Yes, that's right, they had a loaded gun with them as well. They were complete scum bag, dangers to society and to my father, but my father is the one that's being made out to be a criminal. Somethings wrong with society and it's comes down from our leaders. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Here is the news clip from Fox 17, who happened to portray the story in the most accurate light.

WZTV FOX 17 :: Newsroom - Top Stories - Police Question Whether Shooting Was Self-Defense

Going To The Shows

I think I must bridge this blog from my last one somehow, but not sure how. So in regards to the recent events in my life, I have given them up to God and put my trust fully in him. He knows his plan for my life and I will be satisfied with whatever that is. I am now choosing to focus on the positive things in my life, so please don't take it as blowing "it" off. Thanks. Here we go.

I know it's a little early, but the Christmas buzz is really starting to pick up around Nashville. Of course this being Music City and all, there are some really great shows and concerts going on. There is no better time in Nashville than Christmas time. Opryland Hotel always decorates their entire hotel in Christmas decor and people from all over the country come to see it. This year it will be extra special, because the hotel was flooded back in May and won't reopen until around Thanksgiving. Most of their decorations were destroyed, so everything will be new. It should be quite the sight to see.

One show I have been really wanting to see the last few years but haven't gone to yet is the Radio City Christmas Spectacular held at the Grand Ole Opry house. Well that's gonna change this year. My mom just bought tickets for us all to go see it on Dec. 11. It's a bit pricey, but I think it will totally be worth it. And Carter gets in for free!! Let's just hope he'll sit still and there will be no kicking and screaming. He's usually a very well behaved baby, so my fears aren't too great, but you never know. Whatever the situation, it will be a great time! I can't wait!

I also wanted to get tickets to see Michael Buble on Dec. 5, but it's 8:00pm on a Sunday and seeing as how Brett and I both get up at 5:15 to go to work on Monday morning, I'm not really sure that's the best idea. I'm still debating it though.

Michael W. Smith is also having a Christmas concert at Brentwood Baptist Church and I think that would be really great to check out. The tickets go on sale Friday, so we'll see about that.

The Opry also puts on a huge display/exhibit made out of ice every Christmas season. It's called "ICE" (pretty fitting) and the themes over the past couple of years have consisted of The Grinch, Charlie Brown and some other famous characters. I have also failed to check this one out, so that is definitely on my To-Do list this year. Carter is sort of big enough to enjoy it too.

And to finish the season out, our church, World Outreach Church, puts on a mean Christmas Eve service. This area doesn't lack in the department of musical talent, so if they don't manage to get a famous singer in to perform, their own talent is pretty darn good. I'm already getting so excited! And yes, I'm one of those freaks that likes to play Christmas music from Halloween - on. Don't roll your eyes.

So cheers to the upcoming holiday season!!