Christmas Sneak Peek...

I went ahead and put up our Christmas decorations this past weekend. I honestly don't think I've ever put them up this early before. I know most people start putting them up the day after Thanksgiving, but I enjoy my Halloween and Thanksgiving decor so much, that I usually wait another week after both holidays before starting on the next holiday.

We have also decided to NOT put up a Christmas tree this year...I know, it makes me a little sad too. But we are travling to Texas this year for Christmas and we decided that it wasn't really worth putting one up and not being able to enjoy it. Soooooo...that means that I plan to go ALL OUT with the other decorations around the house.

I am still waiting on a few more things before I do my big Christmas Decor reveal, but I just couldn't wait to show you this ADORABLE Christmas decoration that my mom and I stumbled on yesterday...

Isn't this hat just the cutest thing you've EVER seen????

Right now it is sitting on our kitchen dinette table...not sure if it will stay there, but it is definitely one of my favorite Christmas decorations this year!!

Looking forward to sharing the rest of our Christmas decorations soon...Merry Christmas to you!

The Game, the Boat Parade, & the Fireworks...

Yesterday was jammed pack with THREE big events in Jacksonville. The Florida State vs. the University of Florida football game, the Jax Christmas Boat Parade, and Fireworks.

We went to the Jacksonville Landing (EARLY) and were able to snag a fabulous table at Chicago Pizza to enjoy all the events.

Here is a pic of mom and I...

Dad acting silly :)

David and I with our FSU gear on....

I had never been to the Christmas Boat Parade. The boats that entered were so creative, merry and BRIGHT!

You can't really see the awesomeness of the boats through pictures (or through ALL the people)...

But trust me, the boats did NOT disappoint!!

Following the parade there was a spectacular fireworks show.

In my opinion, the city of Jacksonville puts on the BEST fireworks shows I have ever seen.

But the highlight of the evening was the fireworks finale....

They have a fireworks waterfall off of the bridges...doesn't this look like water?!?!?

I just absoloutely loved how gorgeous these fireworks looked!

We had an outstanding evening...with the FSU win (21 to 7), the gorgeous boats all decorated for Chistmas, and the beautiful fireworks display. What a GREAT Saturday night we had :)

Thanksgiving 2011...

We had a FABULOUS Thanksgiving this year. We ate WAY too much food, enjoyed family and friends, and spent the day being thankful for a great 2011.

Our Thanksgiving began with two surprises... 

My Always Give Thanks door hanger arrived just in time for our Thanksgiving get together. You've GOT to check out my friend Allie's Etsy Store...she seriously comes up with the most creative items. AND if you visit her shop TODAY, she is having a Black Friday sale until 5:00 p.m. Buy one of her door hangers at regular price and get a second one for half off!! That is a STEAL!!

We also got an early Christmas prsesent...

 This beautiful copper firepit arrived just in time for the cooler weather! It was so pretty that I hated to start a fire in it.

Here is a picture of Grammy and I. We got tickled because instead of saying "cheese" before our picture was taken, Grammy said "sex" instead. That lady is CRAZY!

My nephew, Mikey, is getting so big....

The guys played cornhole while waiting on the turkey and chickens to finish frying...

Here are some of the girls before dinner...

And here are the guys cutting up the meat. We had SO much food...we fried a 21 pound turkey and two chickens. And my mother-in-love brought over a roasted turkey with dressing.

 

Check out ALL this food...

Talk about being STUFFED!!

Here are more pics of the family enjoying our Thanksgiving Dinner...

After we ate, we retired to the backyard to watch some football and to break in our new firepit...

Overall it was a fabulous Thanksgiving day...I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family and I look forward to what lies ahead in 2012.



Stressful Week Recap...

Now that my busy week has come to an end...I feel as if I can sit down and write a few blog posts. Seriously, I thought last week was one of the most busiest and stressful weeks I have had in a long time. But, like most things, I got through it :)

We had our Friendsgiving on Saturday and it was a HUGE success. Unfortunately, I was too busy catching up with friends and socializing that I totally forgot to take any pictures :(

I did get a few pictures of the centerpiece that I created for our Friendsgiving Feast table. I found this idea on Pinterest and couldn't wait to try it.

I took one of our pumpkins from Halloween and cut the top off and cleaned it out. I found a small vase that would fit inside and filled it with water and some flowers. I LOVE how it turned out.

It looked so pretty as the focal point of our table. I just hope it lasts till Thanksgiving tomorrow :)

Today is also the first day of my Thanksgiving vacation. I'm off for the rest of the week and MONDAY too. Now that's the perfect way to end a stressful week...with a holiday!

Patti and the Vacuum Cleaner...

I tried to post this video a few days ago, but for some reason it didn't work. I think it's up and running now, so make sure you check it out...if you need a laugh, that is :)


Most dogs, in my experience, are scared to death of the vacuum cleaner. All I need to do is pull it out of the closet and Kodi hides. I think he just doesn't know what it is and the noise it makes doesn't help either. But you've GOT to check out Patti and the vacuum cleaner...

She cracks me up!!!

Downslide...

Now that today is Thursday, I feel like I'm on the downslide...in a good way. Monday through Wednesday was what I like to call, CRAZY busy.

Our Leadership Team Visit was a success (it's when our district leaders come to our school and visit classrooms, documenation, etc. and give us feedback). We also had a Faculty Meeting yesterday and it was also positive...we changed things up a bit and did more of a gallery walk, by having our faculty browse all the data about our previous school year (state test data, AP data, achievement gap, etc.) and then had them complete an Exit Ticket giving us feedback on the data. We asked questions like..."What did you notice about our data that you didn't already know?", "What do you think our school focus needs to be now that you've seen our data?", and "Is there any more data that you'd like to see?" It was nice to get them up and moving instead of just sitting during our regular meetings.

I haven't gotten home this week earlier than 6:00 p.m. This makes for a long day when I try to get to work by 7:30 a.m. And the same will be true for tonight, but for a different reason...

Each year our school puts on a musical and this school year our students will be performing Urinetown...

I have never seen this musical, but from what I've seen of the set and the rehearsals, it's going to be FANTASTIC!!! I'll be attending the musical tonight with my mother-in-love and Friday night with the hubby.

I still have a TON to do for our Friendsgiving event on Saturday, but those errands will have to wait until Saturday morning.

I am SO thankful I am on the downslide of this week...come on Saturday!!!

I Need a New Book...

I am in need of some book recommendations. Here are a few books that I've read recently...

What do you recommend???



Give Thanks Mantel...

I mentioned in my previous post that I was not quite married to the decor on our entry table. So of course, I rearranged it (my first of a million times, I'm sure). Here is what it looks like now...

Still simple, but it was missing some color.

These are the left over pumpkins I had from Halloween...

I really love the leaf baskets that I got from Home Goods FOREVER ago and I think they stand out more now that the bright pumpkins sit next to them.

But I was THRILLED last night when I came home from work to find that the vinyl that I ordered on Friday, from Just the Frosting, had already arrived....

I got busy prepping the mantel to hang it up. You would know that just as I was starting to hang it, the sticky party got stuck to one another...

So I worked for an HOUR trying to salvage the adorable curly q's that were supposed to be under the word "Thanks." But after trying to be delicate, as to not ruin the vinyl, literally sweating with stress to work it out, I decided that the vinyl looked just as good withOUT the curly q's :) 

The hubby thinks that our mantel is still missing a little something (yes, I married my own Nate Berkis), but I think it looks pretty good. We'll see if Nate is right and if I add a little something to our Give Thanks Mantel :)

Busy Week Ahead and Thanksgiving Decor...

I am going to have one of the busiest weeks I've had in a LONG time. I tried to get organized this past weekend and I was SO thankful that I had ZERO plans and was able to get a few things checked off my list. I think God set that up for me on purpose...because he knows how  much I stress out :)

In any event, we have our big High School Leadership Team visit this Wednesday. It's where all the big-wigs from our district come to visit our school. They go into classrooms, ask about new initiatives, look through our documentation, etc. It's like when a teacher prepares for his/her classroom observation, but this one is for the entire school.  I know it will go well, it's just the preparation that comes along with it that stresses me out.

Thursday is the opening night of our school's musical. This year we are doing Urinetown and from what I've seen of the rehearsals and the set, it's going to be fabulous. I will be going Thursday night with my mother-in-love and then Friday night with the hubby.

My parents will be here on Friday too! I can't wait!! I haven't seen them since July...which was WAY too long  for us to be apart. But they are staying for a quite a while this time and David and I both are looking forward to it.

We are hosting Friendsgiving on Saturday. We have about 6 couples coming over to our house for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. This will be our sixth year to have Friendsgiving, but normally our friends Blaise and Julie host it. But since they moved, we volunteered to host. I'm so sad that we won't get to spend Friendsgiving with ALL our friends, but thankful for the ones that will be here. We will be making the turkey and green bean casserole and the rest of the guests will bring Thanksgiving Day related side dishes. This means we'll have TWO Thanksgiving Day meals...YUM!

Because I have so much going on this week, I'm busy trying to get everything ready for the party. I spent the good part of my weekend taking down Halloween decor and putting up Thanksgiving decor. Here are a few pics of the decor I have for fall...

Guest bathroom...I changed out the pumpkins in the vase to all white and then added the white pumpkin hanger on the shelf.

I put some gourds in a wire basket in the living room...

I moved a few of the orange pumpkins to one of our bedroom nightstands...

 I put glass pumpkins in these candle holders in our master bathroom...

I hung up this sign in our dining room. I got it a few years ago off of Etsy...

Our entry hall table...I'm not married to the decor on this table just yet, which means I might change it, oh about a million times, before our party :)

I added a few fall flowers to the back patio too.

I have a TON of Halloween decor but just not a lot of Thanksgiving items. I have two adorable things that I am waiting on, which should arrive this week, and I think they will make it a lot more festive.

This door hanger is on it's way to me from my friend Allie. Isn't it just perfect?? By the way, she is hosting a giveaway right now for one of her Christmas Door Hangers, so go to her blog and become one of her followers to be entered to win.

I also ordered this word vinyl (in all white) to go above our mantel...

I think once these two items arrive, I'll feel better about our Thanksgviving decor for the party.

Okay, off to get some rest, I'm going to need it once Wednesday rolls around :)

12 Days of Goodies...

My friend Jenna is hosting 12 Days of Goodies!

She's sharing 12 AWESOME holiday recipes.

My recipe for Watergate Salad is being spotlighted today. So go check it out HERE!

Adorable GIVEAWAY!!!

I have posted several times about the Etsy Store I found called DillyDallie...I just LOVE all her creations. I ordered a Halloween sign that I just couldn't get enough of...

I literally told my husband the other day, that I can't imagine anything cuter than that sign. But THEN, Allie made a special door hanger for me for Thanksgiving. I haven't receive it yet, but this is what it looks like...

LOVE people, I am in LOVE!!!

Well, if you'd like to be the lucky winner of one of her Christmas Door Hangers, check out her blog and become a follower. That's ALL you have to do, be a follower of her blog! Here are a few of the Christmas Door Hangers she's made so far...

And you KNOW I'm getting a Christmas one too :)

So don't delay, visit DillyDallie blog today HERE and become a follower! Good luck!!!