We're Still Here!

Hey y'all!  It's been awhile since I blogged on here.  Jon and I have been so busy, I haven't really had a lot of time!  So...this post will catch y'all up on what's going on with us!  A lot of stuff has been going on! 

I got the house finished...I just need to add some dried flowers from our wedding around, and I think it will be finished!  Ohmiword! I'm in love with how cute the house turned out!  Y'all I wish I was an interior designer.  Dream job! My sweet, dear friend Meagan keeps telling me she wants to see pictures of our house.  Pictures of the house will be up soon! Pinky promise!

We have found a church that we like, and a Sunday School Class for young married couples.  Our Sunday School teachers are awesome!  They have been married for 14 years, and are really helpful.  They have made us feel welcome.  They had a Super Bowl party at their house for everyone in the Sunday School Class.  Jon and I were the only ones who showed up!  It turned out cool because we really got to know the teachers!  It turned out that Emily's mom was actually the first person we met in town at the Chamber of Commerce!  That is how small of a town we live in!  HA!

I was *obsessed* with the Olympics!  Charlie and Meryl were so beautiful skating together!  Now I'm totally into watching them on Dancing With the Stars! I also told Jon that I wanted to do the Snowboard Slope thing where they were doing flips in the air!  That was new to the Olympics, but really super cool!  Jon wasn't as in to the Olympics...but he did like watching Hockey!  I'm glad we had gotten cable by the time the Olympics had started!

We celebrated our first married Valentine's Day at the house.  I made red velvet cookies and a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza {Jon's favorite}! 

Well....I've made the Chicago Deep Dish Pizza before, but this time it didn't turn out right.  I actually *almost* caught the house on fire!  Needless to say, I'm a little afraid to try and cook that again any time soon!

The next day we went to Natchez and stayed at The Dunleith; it's a gorgeous plantation that was turned into a Bed and Breakfast.  We went on a carriage ride to learn about the history of Natchez.  Jon didn't have any cash...so we seriously went through the ATM in a horse and carriage!  HA!  That was the funniest part of our trip! 

I loved all of the Victorian houses in Natchez {no shock there, right?}  I also told Jon that we WOULD live in a Victorian house one day--white with blue shutters, wrap around porch, and a white picket fence!  With maybe a view like this...

Sunset on the Mississippi River.  I was proud of my photography skills!

For St. Patrick's Day I made Rice Krispy Treats with Lucky Charms.  They were really good! 

We also had a "Shamrock" Pizza.  I cut green bell peppers and made them look like shamrocks and put them on top of a homemade pizza.  Cuteness at it's finest! 

Jon knew that I was the girl that decorated for every holiday...but it's been fun cooking for the holidays too!

We also have an unspoken prayer request...God knows the situation.  Please pray that God will show us His wonderful plan, and that His will be done. 

For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, not harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future. 

Jeremiah 29:11

 

XOXO,

Ashlee

S'mores and Family Traditions

Our first Christmas came and went, and it was fun creating traditions as newlyweds.  Family traditions have always been part of what I love so much about each holiday.  Jon and I each had important family traditions that we had to incorporate into our first Christmas.  For Jon, it's not Christmas until he eats at Red Lobster on Christmas Eve or watches Home Alone or Christmas Vacation.  It's not Christmas if he doesn't have a peppermint ice cream dessert that our friend Christie makes.  It's not Christmas without snow. 

For me it's not Christmas until I've seen It's A Wonderful Life, White Christmas, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer {I'm more of a vintage, classic, b&w movie kinda girl}.  It's also not Christmas if I don't make gingerbread cookies, eat a Christmas Tree taco salad, look at lights, or have a smorgasbord of food for Christmas Eve dinner. 
While I couldn't make it snow here in Alabama I could make sure we ate at Red Lobster and watched his favorite movies.  I wanted his first "Christmas in Dixie" to be a fun one!  We still did our favorite family traditions as a couple and we made some of our own this year.
We went to look at Christmas lights in Homewood on Christmas Eve Eve {or Christmas Adam as my sister calls it!} after we ate a Christmas Tree taco salad. 

We stopped first at our new favorite coffee house, O'Henry's. for some coffee, and then we drove around the neighborhoods of Homewood looking at all of the Christmas lights.

On Christmas Eve we went to Red Lobster for lunch before going to the Christmas Eve service at my church.  That made it feel like Christmas Eve for Jon!  After going to the Christmas Eve service we made a smorgasbord of food and then watched my all time favorite movie It's A Wonderful Life. 

Smorgasbord on Christmas Eve

Then we went to bed early with our Christmas pajamas so Santa could come! After all, Louella Mae had been a very sweet girl this year! :)   Yes Santa Paws was good to her!  Bless her little heart she's already lost most of the toys Santa Paws brought her!

On Christmas morning we got up and took turns opening presents {which is something both of our families do}.  We got a gorgeous painting from my parents.  A family friend of ours painted a picture of our wedding day.  The barn looked just like Sweet Apple Farm, and the tree looked like the one we got married under.  Thanks Sylvia! 

We had our Christmas dinner and ate way too much food!  My Momma cooked turkey and dressing, a ham, green bean bundles, and broccoli salad.  For dessert, we had Jon's favorite peppermint ice cream dessert and pecan pie. 
It's always sad when Christmas morning is over...all the presents have been opened and the food has been eaten...so we decided we would save our s'mores and hot chocolate date for Christmas Night to have something to look forward to!  We had so much fun making s'mores together.  We used some of the Ghiradelli Peppermint Bark in Jon's stocking for some of the s'mores--and those were the best! We made them, and then broiled them in the oven for about two minutes.  Jon *only* wanted ONE!!!  Of course I made him more than one...I knew he'd want more when ate one.  They are called S'MORES...because you can't have just one!  He did want more than one when he started eating them!  HA!  I knew it! 

We made a fire, and ate our s'mores and hot chocolate while we watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer together.  We decided that would be another one of our Christmas traditions together. 
Jon also came along to two very important family traditions--Red Mountain Theatre and watching a Christmas movie at The Alabama Theatre.  Red Mountain is kind of like a broadway Christmas show in small town Alabama.  I like to say that it's Birmingham's best kept secret! 

Jon loved the musical, and I always love all of the dancing in it!  We went to the historic Alabama Theatre to watch White Christmas.  Jon loved the history and the architecture of The Alabama.
What are your Christmas traditions?