Merry/Happy

Our Christmas summed up in a few photos:

Woke up late Christmas morning and had a Merry Christmas with just the two of us. 

If we are this messy with two people, what will it be like when we have kids?! Yikes. Thomas had to go to work out for a couple of hours before the team left for Buffalo. Then we got to go to Watertown, NY to see his family for a couple of days. Oh, the joys of the practice squad!

  A warm welcome upon our arrival in Watertown.

We were pretty hungry from our long drive.....

I had to show everyone my bowling skills. 

The annual Austin Rock Paper Scissors tournament was a blast as always. I came in 3rd place. AND I beat Thomas. Did I mention that I beat Thomas? But I didn't beat Cheri, even though my game face is just as good as her's. 

We burned off Christmas dinner by sledding. In an area marked off by yellow caution tape. 

This is what happens when you add 2 brothers who get crazy when they are together+yellow caution tape+icy stairs in a park. 

Gift Wrapping Ideas

This may be a little late for some of you, but if you're like me, you haven't even begun to think about wrapping gifts. One of my bible study leaders happens to be one of the craftiest, cutest people around, and she wrapped each of our gifts differently so we could get gift ideas last week!

That is Betsy in the photo. How cute is she?! This gift is birthday themed, but you could easily do this with Christmas candies. She just glued the candies to the paper and got pixie stix and stuck them into the top! Kids will love this. Thomas probably would too.

Here are the rest of the gifts. I'll highlight my favorites: the orange bag 3rd from left is just a colored lunch bag, holes punched in the top, ribbon wound through, and fake berries stuck into the ribbon! The black and white checkered one in the middle is.....drum roll please......a hand towel! You could also just use a large cloth dinner napkin, place the gift in the middle and tie a pretty bow around the top. And then my personal favorite is the one on the far right that says "coal." I can't remember where Betsy got the baggie but I think she said Michael's or Party City. Also on that far right end is an adorable Chinese box, which you can buy in bulk somewhere like Michael's. 

And speaking of bible study, I am sad our wives study has wrapped up because of the Christmas season and football season nearly being over. I have been deeply grateful for how they brought me up into their group so quickly and love me well! Look how sweet they all are:

At our last study, we baked Almond Puff Pastries. Stacia and I were wowing everyone with our incredible Almond Puff Pastry skills. Here we are with our other bible study leader, Virginia, who has amazing baking abilities. I am so thankful for this group of women! 

Another Chilly Win

This past weekend Thomas' dad and brother came up for the game against Green Bay, and this time Thomas and I were prepared for the cold. I wore THREE pairs of pants and my mother-in-law sent the most fantastic hand and foot warmers that STICK to your clothing! We probably over prepared Tom and Josh, but we were all toasty at the game and had so much fun.

The three men sat together and I sat a couple rows away with some other player wives. The best part of the game was when Thomas' fellow lineman Dan Connolly, ran a kickoff back for 71 yards and broke an NFL record for longest run by a lineman. I happened to be sitting with his sweet wife Lori, and she probably has bruises this morning from how hard I was beating her on the back and screaming in her ear the entire time Dan was trucking down the field. That alone made this one of our most exciting games to date. Add to that the fact that we've figured out the cold weather gear, and we're loving New England more and more every day.

Yes, I did....

Today, I made pie crusts using a Magic Bullet in place of a food processor and a can of cooking spray in place of a rolling pin. The Magic Bullet actually ended up working well, I just had to put the flour and butter in in stages. But I do feel a little lonely part of my soul missing my food processor in moments like this. The can of cooking spray may have actually worked better than a rolling pin. But the jury is out on that one.

And in other exciting news, a friend of mine from church camp  just moved from Boston to Colorado. While we are sad she has moved from Boston, we are NOT sad about the fact that she generously gave us some fun new furniture! She gave us an awesome coffee table that really is the perfect size for our living room, a lamp, another side table with storage, and last but not least, a microwave. I didn't bring our microwave and we've been doing without for awhile now, and it has been driving Thomas crazy. I haven't minded but Thomas nearly kissed the microwave and rearranged our refrigerator/stove to make room for the microwave. I am most excited about the coffee table!

Oh, the Overhead Bin

I just love the overhead bins on an airplane. I love how they make me feel all hot and sweaty and nervous and I start to feel a rush of adrenaline as my seat looms ahead and my carry on looks massive and like it will never, ever, ever fit into that small rectangle of a space.

I got to experience this joy on Friday morning as I flew to my parent's house for the weekend. I am adamant about flying with only a carry-on and taking only the bare necessities. But this trip I was cramming a few Christmas presents into the suitcase so that I wouldn't have to pay shipping on gifts for my family. The siblings in my family have a rotation system on who gives to who each year {I highly recommend this system} and we are scheduled to give to my brother Daniel and his wife Kelly. Thomas and I decided that their boys absolutely need one of these inflatable deer from Bass Pro Shops.

Sorry for the poor photo quality, it was all I could find on the Internet, and a visual was necessary. Thomas also wanted to buy the inflatable bear target, but I drew the line with the life-size deer. Thankfully this thing came boxed up nicely, and I fit it right into the top of my carry-on with a little room to spare....or so I thought. Once I boarded and lifted my suitcase into the overhead bin, the inflatable deer in its box was definitely keeping my suitcase from entering the bin. I had to unzip my suitcase, take the deer out, shove the suitcase back into the overhead bin, and walk all the way back to my seat with a box under my arm that said "inflatable 3-D deer target," and my seat was REALLY far away because the plane was so full. 

Thankfully the kid wearing a PETA shirt that was next to me on my return flight wasn't around to see that we are teaching small children to how to shoot animals. 

Speaking of my return flight, I managed to shove a dozen of these into my suitcase:

If you live within a 200 mile radius of York, SC, you should go to Windy Hill Apple Orchard and purchase these nuggets of deliciousness, aka apple cider donuts. Put them in the toaster for a couple of minutes and experience pure heaven. I couldn't figure out a way to bring Chick Fil A back to Thomas, so I did what any thoughtful wife would do and fit donuts into my suitcase. Thankfully my return flight was also full, so they asked me to check my bag at the gate. I graciously complied and breathed a sigh of relief as I knew those donuts were going to keep my bag from going into the overhead bin. 

I also got to meet my sweet new nephew, Miles. Please look at his wonderful cheeks!

And these two goons have a new game they play called "punching" that they adapted after watching Karate Kid. Living with Thomas for a month also contributed to their game, which includes kicking and wrestling and saying "nice move!" Please note Evans' retro Clemson sweatshirt that HIS father wore when he was that size. I'm thankful my mother saves clothes like this so that we can relive the old memories!