dear year 2008,

thank you for a most wonderful time and days full of exciting change:

• i moved to a better part of atlanta all on my own
• made a huge decision to leave my job
• which was mostly thanks to the even bigger decision to move BACK to tennessee
• survived a one day move across states & began my new job the very next day
• i turned another year older { aka closer to 'my mid 20's' }
• celebrated reid turning another year older
• realized how smart my generation is
• became a peacock for a day
• survived {and followed closely} the most important political season of my lifetime { thus far }
• completed new projects
• celebrated thanksgiving {twice} & christmas {5 times} with reid and our families
• stayed healthy and thankful
• realized how blessed we are to have each other, be just across the street from each other, and the love all around us everyday

thank you family & friends for a great 2008!

much love to you & be safe in 2009

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Bearden Christmas

merry merry cookie factory

hallie, chloe, memy youngest sister chloe being silly

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taggie blanket

Finished!

for my first quilt ever, i'm pretty satisfied with the end result...

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8 tiny reindeer...or 3

so maybe on our little Christmas shopping adventure after church and lunch at a favorite
we ran into live reindeer!

amazing & spectacular

the owner/farmer (?) said he brings them to this little golf shop every year

and has for the past 5 years
you know it's Christmastime when antlers look like this!
maybe this will become a tradition...

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stud alert

look out all you mommies with little girls, this one will be a heartbreaker.

we went to atlanta this weekend to visit the hiltons. jameson is SO adorable. russell & julie trusted us enough to babysit for a little while saturday night before they made us chili. i got the little guy giggling! he liked me enough to be happy the entire time we played, but definitely was not a fan of reid's mountain-man-beard. so lovey :)

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skirt!

i made my own this year for $1.50! the fabric is like jacket or skirt liner from the clearance section. turned out pretty good i guess for a 'no sew' project.

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its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

...everywhere you turn...

i made a wreath & swag with left over christmas tree parts (that sounds a little gross for some reason, sorry) and finished decorating the place. my mom gave me the old candied fruit on my table, which i still love even though they just collect dust. still planning on making napkins for the empty rings & some kind of table runner before we start traveling. what else is there to do when your boyfriend is studying 24/7?

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its not rockefeller

i'm still really surprised i bought this...and actually liking it. i'm not really into tree toppers usually.my first real tree!

my favorite: crackled blue glass from restoration hardware

i had to rearrange a little

cheesy, but thats our 2008 photo ornament

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fantasy of trees

an overhead shot of all the trees in the convention center

we went to the 2008 Preview Gala of Knoxville's Annual Fantasy of Trees to get into the Christmas Spirit. I almost forgot to mention it because the gala was back before Thanksgiving! People go all out for this charity event for east tennessee's children's hospital (i'm talking long evening gowns, tuxes, and fur coats), because it is a black tie optional gala. since we are poor, barely-out-of-college kids, we just wore what we could find. I scored this sequined black dress from belk for fifteen bucks! the best part of the dress was the receipt that said "you saved $101.06 today" at the bottom. so maybe i'm a little bit thrifty?

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christmas countdown

is it weird that this makes me want children?

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are we done yet

its not fair when he has to stay up all night studying and then go take finals on SATURDAY!?

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pretty bird

check them out here

http://www.pswisherportfolio.com/

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riding in cars with boys

...and a tree!

Ugh, it took us 3 & 1/2 hours (about an hour too long) to get back home yesterday from my parents house in Murfreesboro. We got stuck in terribly backed up traffic from an eight car pileup "coming 'round the mountain" between Rockwood & Harriman. Since UT was playing basketball in the Old Spice tournament all weekend and we watched every game, we listened to the championship game during the ride home. They lost. At least my tree is pretty! First 'real tree' is over six feet tall! I plan on buying some new decorations and making my own tree skirt. Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

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the red tent

well, i just finished reading The Red Tent and surprisingly, i seriously didn't want to put it down. kate s. recommended it to me and even let me check it out from her library, for which i am oh so grateful. it's definitely a quick historical fiction read that's worth your time. i love recommendations from friends with wonderful taste. thanks kate!

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