Life of a Redleg Wife

My 31st Birthday

2012-01-20T20:12:00.004+01:00

Since my birthday is just a few days before Christmas, I've always enjoyed going to see Christmas lights for my birthday. It is even more fun when you have a 4 year old to share the experience with! This year, the 3 of us went down to Callaway Gardens to take advantage of a special military package to see their Fantasy in Lights. We drove down on the afternoon of the 20th and took the trolley through the lights that night. In an effort to enjoy the lights, I didn't take any pictures!
The next day we visited more of the attractions at Callaway Gardens. We went to the Butterfly Center, Horticultural Center and saw a Birds of Prey show.
Bryan & Marlie gave me a new camera lens that I had been wanting, so I played with and tried to figure it out at the horticultural center.

On the way home that evening, we met my parents, brother and sister at the Blue Willow Inn for dinner. Even though we had a fun two days, celebrating with my whole family was by far the best part of my birthday.

Christmas Program

2012-01-16T20:38:00.003+01:00

Marlie participated in her first Christmas program in December. It was held at the church where Marlie attends school and she was a dove in the program. She loves to perform for people so this was right up her alley. It was such a blessing to us adults to be reminded by these sweet children what Christmas is all about.
The 2 Pre-K classes

Most of them are cut out of the picture, but the 2 year olds, 3 year olds and Pre-K students all combined for the grand finale!

More Hats!

2012-01-13T22:22:00.002+01:00

My hat knitting kick has continued and these are a few more of the hats I made before Christmas.
This started out as a hat for a friend's baby boy, but it ended up a little too big.

This was for the baby's big sister. Marlie had fun choosing the sparkly purple yarn. ;)

I made Marlie her own Santa hat, and she was excited about it!

O Christmas Tree

2012-01-10T20:18:00.002+01:00

When Bryan is deployed, I have a trusty artificial tree that I use for Christmas. However, when he is home, we love to go out and find our own fresh tree. This year we went to Jack's Creek Christmas Tree Farm and had a great experience. After selecting our tree, Bryan cut it down and we enjoyed the rest of the farm - a petting zoo, meeting Santa and sitting on his sleigh, drinking some hot chocolate and eating boiled peanuts!
The best thing about Jack's Creek is how supportive they are of the military, especially considering there is no type of base or post nearby. We will definitely be returning there next year to get our Christmas tree.

I don't think I ever took a picture of the tree in all it's glory, but here are Marlie & I with it for my 33 week picture.

A Pre-K Thanksgiving

2012-01-09T21:59:00.002+01:00

I was one of the moms in charge of Marlie's class Thanksgiving "feast" so I only managed to get 2 quick pictures once we were at school. The kids were as cute as always in their pilgrim and indian hats that they made. They learned the Lord's Prayer and now Marlie insists on saying it as our blessing at meal time.
I found this idea on Pinterest and the "turkey" sandwiches were a hit with the kids.
We had so much to be thankful for this year and I love that her preschool is helping teach Marlie how to appreciate her many blessings.

Meeting a Legend

2011-12-28T19:41:00.003+01:00

Living back in Athens has given us the opportunity to share our love for all things UGA with Marlie. She recently had the opportunity to meet the legendary Coach Vince Dooley. She was excited about meeting him even though she's too young to really understand who he is. Bryan & I were pretty excited to meet him too and we all got books signed by him!

Strike a Pose

2011-12-22T20:25:00.003+01:00

These are just some random pictures from one day where Marlie started posing and asked me to take pictures of her. Sassy girl!

Halloween 2011

2011-12-19T20:21:00.004+01:00

Halloween was another "holiday" that Bryan missed last year, so we were looking forward to having fun together this year.

Pumpkin carving buddies! This is one of those jobs that I was more than happy to hand back over to Bryan!

I caught one of our 2 neighborhood black cats checking out our pumpkin one day and had to get a quick picture.

Coincidentally, one of Marlie's classmates dressed up as the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz. They also go to AWANA together so on costume night I got a picture of Marlie with him and his cousin (the other Dorothy).

The weekend prior to Halloween we went to Ft Campbell to visit with some of our friends again before they moved. We had an awesome time spending the weekend with some of our favorite people. Marlie even got to participate in some Halloween festivities with her buddies. Here is a picture of all the kids that my friend, April, took.

On Halloween night we just stayed in our neighborhood and Marlie was able to trick or treat with her friend, Caroline. I had my camera on me the whole night yet somehow didn't take any pictures. You can see one of the girls on Katy's blog post. They were definitely trick or treating in style!

Ridge to Bridge Marathon

2011-12-14T19:48:00.004+01:00

In October Bryan ran the Ridge to Bridge Marathon in Morganton, North Carolina. I joked with Bryan that since I ran a marathon last year, he couldn't let me out do him so that's why he decided to run one too. ;) Like I said after my race, the actual run isn't the hardest part, it's the training commitment. I'm so proud of Bryan for the great job he did training during his first semester in graduate school. He had a great race too by completing his first marathon in right at 4 hours!
Early morning start at the top of the mountain

4 hours later

Bryan was hurting but I made him take a picture with his medal!

Washington Farms

2011-12-09T20:34:00.003+01:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, Marlie's class took a pumpkin patch field trip to Washington Farms. We spent the morning going on a hay ride, visiting the animals in the petting zoo, selecting a pumpkin, having snack and of course playing!

Freddie the Frog

2011-11-30T21:47:00.004+01:00

Marlie's class has a "pet" that each child gets to bring home for a week at a time. Freddie the Frog gets to tag along with the child for everything they do during the week and he has a journal that the kids are supposed to write in about their time together. We had Freddie last month. We were looking forward to him coming to our house, but he ended up being a little more work than we had expected!
Freddie slept with Marlie every night and got to visit quite a few places. He went to Menchies with us, Awana, the class field trip to the pumpkin patch, and to spend the night with Nana & Pop.

Gold Rush 2011

2011-11-29T21:00:00.010+01:00

After missing it for the past 7 years, we were finally able to visit Dahlonega, GA this year for the Gold Rush festivities. The 3 of us, along with my parents, went up on Friday to begin taking advantage of our cute cabin in the mountains. We explored the property and creek at the cabin and then went to dinner at Shenanigans.
Bryan & I got up early on Saturday morning to participate in the Gold Rush 5K. I did as much walking as running but it felt so good to get back in a "race" environment and push myself a little bit. Bryan was an awesome partner and stuck with me through the whole 3.1 miles even though he could have ran it in half the time it took us!

After getting cleaned up, all of us headed back into town for the festival. Marlie was constantly telling us all the things she wanted and wanted to do. We made sure to contribute to quite a few of the student organizations who were there fundraising. Marlie got to throw a pie in the face of one of the members of a fraternity and then got her face painted by one of the sororities.

Of course Bryan had to participate in his fraternities annual shot gun raffle.

After a fun day at the festival we went back to the cabin again to cool off and recuperate. Bryan & I got ready for the NGCSU Alumni Reception. My parents were kind enough to take care of Marlie so we could enjoy some adult time with Bryan's college friends.

With so many North Georgia alumni in the Army, we often meet people at our duty stations who graduated from NGCSU that we didn't already know. Kelly is one of my favorite friends from Fort Campbell and I was so glad to see her at the reception!

The reception location made for such a pretty view of the campus and North Georgia mountains.

At the festival on Saturday Marlie had gotten her heart set on having her hair styled into some crazy festival hair. We promised her that before we left on Sunday she could get that done. She was so proud of her "beautiful" hair!

Lazy B Farm

2011-11-17T20:58:00.002+01:00

Marlie's second class field trip of the school year was to Lazy B Farm. Even though she's pretty familiar with farms, it was fun getting to tour the farm with her classmates.
M and her buddy Brady getting ready to start the tour. They learned about eggs, wool and how milk gets from a cow to their home.

The kids were able to see and interact with pigs, sheep, bee hives (no interacting/just seeing!), goats, cows, horses, chickens and more!

By the end of the everyone was ready for a break and some snacks. The girls started picking up all the feathers they could find and putting them in their hair!

Baby Belly

2011-11-10T20:50:00.003+01:00

I thought I had already posted a few of these pictures but I guess I was wrong. Everything continues to go well with this pregnancy and I keep praying that I will be able to have the type of labor and delivery I hope for.

Weeks 16 through 29:

Hats!

2011-11-07T22:27:00.003+01:00

I recently picked back up my knitting needles after taking a break that was longer than I like. I've made a couple of hats in the past but was never happy with the patterns and end result. I found some new patterns that I really like and have had fun making some cute kids hats.
This was my first attempt at this pattern and crochet flowers.

This is a different pattern that I think I like a little better. I also crocheted a stem and leaves for the top to give it the pumpkin appearance.

We have some friends who are Ohio State fans. Luckily, in Athens, there is plenty of red and black to be found. I made this hat as a birthday gift for a sweet girl.

Bountiful Baskets

2011-11-04T20:55:00.002+01:00

One of our new favorite things is Bountiful Baskets. It is basically a produce co-op and you are able to get so many fruits and vegetables for a good price. A $15 contribution gets you a basket each week and this picture is what we got in our first week. If there is a chance for you to participate in your area, I highly recommend it!

Blue Ridge Scenic Railway

2011-11-02T19:41:00.003+01:00

Bryan, my dad and my brother all took a boys weekend trip to Mississippi to watch the UGA-Ole Miss game. My mom and I decided that we would also take a girls trip to the north Georgia mountains. We visited my mom's sister and her family in Blairsville and went for a ride on on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. We got on the train in Blue Ridge, GA and rode about an hour to McCaysville, GA / Copperhill, TN. We got off the train, had lunch and walked around the town for about 2 hours before taking the train back to Blue Ridge. We had a nice relaxing day and I really appreciate that the railway offers a significant military discount for ID card holders.

Marlie's First UGA Game

2011-10-20T21:14:00.002+02:00

We've held off on taking Marlie to a football game until we were confident that she was old enough to sit through most of one. This season was finally her time! The 3 of us and my parents all went together so there would be plenty of people to help wrangle her if necessary. Of course we're all football fans, but there's just something special about taking your child to "your" school. My parents and grandfather also went to UGA so it's definitely in her blood. We all had a great day and the game was a success!

The alum, current student and (hopefully) future Bulldog!

G-E-O-R-G-I-A! Spelling it is fun for a child and adults alike!

We even enjoyed getting to see some of Bryan's friends from his undergrad days at NGCSU.

Memorial Park & Bear Hollow Wildlife Trail

2011-10-19T19:55:00.003+02:00

Marlie's first class field trip was to Memorial Park and Bear Hollow Wildlife Trail/Zoo here in town. Although it wasn't M's first trip to the park, she had so much fun visiting it with her classmates. They were all given a handout with pictures of the different animals in the zoo and asked to mark each picture off as they visited the animal's habitat. After visiting each habitat, the kids had snacks and then got free time on the playground.

M's class (minus one)

The playground bulldog

Sleeping Beauty

2011-10-18T20:16:00.003+02:00

Marlie is very particular about how her bed is arranged when it's time for her to go to sleep. It can be exhausting to get everything just right, but mostly it's just funny. When I saw her like this one night, I had to sneak in and take a picture. Notice all her little sleeping quirks:
She must be on top of the sheet & comforter
The pillow her head is on must be on top of her other pillow and Pillow Pet
Pants legs get pulled up
Stuffed animals are strategically placed beside and sometimes on top of her
She is usually covered up by her white (baby) blanket and then her fleece princess blanket on top of that
Got all that?

PS - Thank you Tara for her pillowcase. She loves it!

The Birthday Celebrations Keep Going

2011-09-27T20:01:00.003+02:00

Sunday was Marlie's actual birthday so we picked up some donuts and I snuck a candle into hers so we could sing Happy Birthday to her again. We were able to have a relaxing day doing "whatever she wanted" which didn't include much!
On Monday I took snacks to her class to celebrate. I didn't feel like making any cupcakes since we still had plenty of leftover birthday cake. I ended up making chocolate chip cookie cups and we served them with a scoop of ice cream inside. They were definitely a hit with the kids and I was happy to have something so easy!

My dad's birthday is just a few days after M's so we all went out to dinner for his birthday and then had cake at our house. Marlie was eager to help Pop blow out his candles.

There's No Place Like Marlie's 4th Birthday Party!

2011-09-19T20:27:00.005+02:00

The move forced me to put birthday party planning on the back burner for a while. The Wizard of Oz is one of Marlie's favorite movies so when she said that's what she wanted her party to be, I was all for it. I was glad she went with something original rather than the usual characters.
I found some ideas for a few fun party foods.
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! & Over the Rainbow Fruit Salad

Wicked Witch Hats

Rainbow Veggies & Glinda's Magic Wands

Dorothy & her cake

It was a great day and we loved celebrating our 4 year old "big girl"!

Pre-K!

2011-09-16T21:15:00.004+02:00

Marlie's birthday is just a few days before the age cutoff in Georgia so we have struggled for a while on when to let her start school. Should she be the youngest in her class or the oldest? I definitely did not feel comfortable sending her to public school, so we were very blessed to find a wonderful church preschool in town. It also made me feel better that she only attends 5 mornings a week and doesn't have long days there. We will continue to think about what we want to do when this year is over - whether or not to let her move on to kindergarten. For now, all 3 of us are loving her school and she is thriving!

Here's our sweet (at the time) 3 year old on her first day of Pre-K!

Just for fun, here she is the night before school started. She calls this her Rapunzel wig so I guess she is a cross between Rapunzel and DJ Lance!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2011-09-15T19:34:00.004+02:00

My dad turned 57 years young last month and we enjoyed being able to celebrate with him. My sister bought the two of them tickets to a Braves game and all of his kids joined in the fun. It was a hot day though and I was tired - unfortunately I think it shows in these pictures!
My dad has wanted for years to go to a football game at Ole Miss. Bryan & I got him tickets for the UGA-Ole Miss game this month. They are making it a guys trip and going for a long weekend. Hopefully they don't have TOO much fun!

B & I enduring the heat!

The whole crew!

Dad & daughters

Cooking Fun

2011-09-01T20:48:00.003+02:00

One of my favorite new websites is Pinterest. Marlie caught me looking at these owl cupcakes one day and asked if we could make them. They are cute and so easy. I just made them by looking at the picture, but if you would like the complete "recipe", it is here at One Charming Party.

Another one of the good recipes I've found on the site is Homemade Pizza Rolls. Once again, they are very easy and Marlie enjoyed being able to help. You can find this one at TidyMom.

Enjoy!

See Rock City

2011-08-29T21:49:00.005+02:00

On our second day in Chattanooga, we visited Rock City and Ruby Falls. Marlie seemed to really enjoy Rock City but we all got worn out by Ruby Falls. In our opinion there was just too much standing and waiting for only a few minutes at the waterfall.
Here's a tip for any of our military friends that might visit - don't buy the bundle ticket for both attractions that offers a discount. You can save a little extra money by buying individual tickets at each attraction and taking advantage of both military discounts!
Rock City:

Ruby Falls:

Tennessee Aquarium

2011-08-26T21:09:00.003+02:00

On our way from Kentucky to Georgia we decided to stop in Chattanooga for a night. A friend was able to get us free tickets to the Tennessee Aquarium so we were excited to take Marlie there for the first time.

We ended a fun day with dinner downtown and Ben & Jerry's!

We'll Be Friends Until Forever...

2011-08-25T22:08:00.004+02:00

Between birthday parties and playdates, Marlie also got to spend plenty of quality time with her friends during our last few weeks in KY/TN. On our last night there, they gave her a gift bag with activity books (which she loves) and a framed picture of all the kids with a quote on it from Winnie the Pooh - We'll Be Friends Until Forever...Just You Wait and See! All 3 of us love those children and look forward to the day we cross paths again.
Here are a few pictures with her closest friends from the neighborhood.

The Long Goodbye

2011-08-23T20:34:00.003+02:00

It seems like we spent the whole month of July saying goodbye to our wonderful friends in Clarksville and Fort Campbell. The most special time, however, was when some of my friends had a surprise goodbye dinner for me. I was just planning on going to eat sushi with 3 other girls from my neighborhood. It had been a long day so I didn't change clothes, fix my hair or put on make up! When we arrived at the restaurant I was shocked to see a variety of my friends from the community. This picture was taken right before the tears started!

Each lady created a scrapbook page about memories that we shared and they were all consolidated into one book that is so special to me.

Here's a picture of the whole group. I have been so blessed to know each one of these ladies (and some others who couldn't be there that night).

The company was amazing that night but the food at Kohana is almost as good! My friends that organized the dinner also bought cupcakes from the best shop in town. They don't look as fancy as some cupcake shops like to make them, but they taste the best!

Shoot Camp!

2011-08-22T21:39:00.004+02:00

In July I was able to attend a photography class called Shoot Camp in Nashville. I got my DSLR in December of 2008 and have wanted to learn how to really use it since then. At Shoot Camp, I finally learned how to adjust my camera settings properly and most importantly - not shoot in Auto mode anymore! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day. I don't edit any of my pictures so none of these have been digitally improved or enhanced in any way.

#2

2011-08-19T22:18:00.004+02:00

Around the same time we went to the beach, we also began to share with everyone that we are expecting our second child! I am due around the end of January and all 3 of us are excited to add to our family. I had Marlie a special shirt made so that she could share with everyone that she was going to be a big sister!

I'm slacking in most ways with regards to a second child, but I am trying to at least take the infamous belly pictures.
8 weeks

13 weeks

We took a 16 week picture too but it has yet to be downloaded from my camera.

Daytona Beach

2011-07-19T21:32:00.003+02:00

At the end of June we went to Daytona Beach with my parents, sister and a big group of our family friends. Unlike our trip to Disney, this was a true vacation. Marlie had a great time playing in the sand and the ocean and swimming in the pool. There were plenty of people willing to play with her so she loved that too! Marlie & I went with this same group a couple of years ago, but Bryan hasn't been to Daytona as an adult/parent. We both agreed that it is a great beach for a family vacation. It is not crowded and you can easily drive from one area to another and not have to wait at most restaurants.

My dad spotted and caught a Starfish. It was fun for all of us to experience that and especially for Marlie to see one.

The 3 of us went to play putt-putt one night while everyone else was at the dog track. The last time Bryan took Marlie to play she got tired of it before they finished. The night we went however, we all had a lot of fun. Marlie even had a hole in one! After golf, we got some late night ice cream before going back to the hotel and to bed.

On our last day I realized we hadn't taken any token family beach pictures, so we got a few before dinner that night.

Father Daughter Dance

2011-07-12T22:26:00.002+02:00

On Father's Day weekend, Bryan & Marlie attended a Father Daughter Dance on post. Marlie was so excited to get all dressed up and have a special night with her Daddy. The coordinators of the event went all out with a DJ, decorations, finger foods, goody bags, a photographer, and corsages made from balloons.

Wilderness at the Smokies

2011-07-08T21:53:00.003+02:00

We've made quite a few whirlwind trips since Bryan returned from his deployment. One of those trips was us driving to Georgia on Friday for my cousin's graduation that night, then driving a couple of hours to Bryan's cousin's wedding on Saturday. We spent Saturday night at my parents' house before leaving again on Sunday. However, instead of coming back here, we drove to Wilderness at the Smokies in east Tennessee.

On the way through north Georgia we stopped at Tallulah Falls so Marlie could see a few of the waterfalls.

We only took at few pictures at the resort since we were usually in the water with Marlie.

Pathfinder Graduation

2011-07-07T22:04:00.004+02:00

Bryan spent the second half of May attending Pathfinder School here at Campbell. Everyone told both of us how hard it would be and how much of Bryan's time it would consume. He actually was able to find a great balance between spending time with us and studying here at home. The result of his hard work was that Bryan was the Honor Graduate (aka top student) for his class!

Strawberries!

2011-07-06T21:31:00.003+02:00

I've gotten behind once again so I will quickly try to play catch up. Marlie & I visited a local strawberry farm for the first time last year, but we wanted to pick some strawberries as a family this year.
M with one of her selections

One of my favorite things about picking them fresh is what a value we get - a full gallon for $10!

I froze a lot of the berries, but I was excited to make a homemade strawberry cake with strawberry cream cheese icing first!

5 Days Only - Stella & Dot Summer Sale!

2011-07-01T22:06:00.002+02:00

Ready, set, summer! For 5 days only, our sale is on sale! That means you get an additional 20% off all sale items. Prices as marked. Sale ends July 4th, 11:59pm CDT. Contact me at cristinfanning@aol.com or visit http://stelladot.com/cristin

Turtle Cake

2011-06-08T22:51:00.002+02:00

This cake is sweet, rich and so good!

Turtle Cake

1 stick butter (or margarine)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
14oz bag of caramels
6oz pkg of chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
German chocolate cake mix

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Make cake mix as directed on box. Pour 1/2 of batter into 13x9 inch pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
Melt butter, caramels and milk completely over low heat.
Take cake out of oven and while still hot, pour 1/2 of caramel mixture over cake. Sprinkle 1/2 of nuts and 6 oz of chocolate chips then pour remaining cake batter over top.
Bake cake 20 more minutes.
(Optional - you may sprinkle additional 6oz of chocolate chips on top after you take out of oven.)
Pour rest of caramel mixture over cake and sprinkle remaining nuts.
Cut, serve and enjoy!

Big Girl Bike

2011-06-01T21:49:00.002+02:00

Marlie has been too big for her tricycle for a while now, but Bryan didn't want me to buy her a bike while he was gone. I agreed to let him buy her one as a homecoming gift from him. A few days after he got back, the 2 of them went one afternoon to pick her out a "big girl bike". The bike they came home with was actually a size up from what I was expecting him to buy, but she is doing great on it. She can climb on and off by herself and loves going for bike rides around the neighborhood in the evening.

Epcot

2011-05-27T20:25:00.004+02:00

We were worn out by our last day but that's ok because we were able to just go through the park at a laid back pace.

It's not a good one, but we were finally able to get a picture of all 3 of us.

We started with Spaceship Earth and then moved on to Innoventions. I was hopeful that this would be fun for Marlie but the activities/displays were a little over her head.
The Seas With Nemo & Friends was our next stop. We went on a clamobile ride and participated in Turtle Talk with Crush, an interactive show. It was a funny show but Marlie was very upset that Crush never called on her when he was letting the kids ask him questions!

At the Land Pavillion, we got Fast Pass tickets for Soarin' which is one of the most popular attractions at Epcot. We weren't quite what the ride was but we wanted to find out. While there, we also watched Circle of Life which isn't much more than a basic 'save the earth' video. Living With The Land what a very interesting boat ride where we got to see "how innovative technologies permit food growth while preserving the environment."
We probably could have done without visiting Imagination Pavillion. We rode Journey into Imagination with Figment and then walked through Imageworks. The last thing we did there was watch Captain EO. Unless you're a huge fan of Michael Jackson or 1986, don't waste your time here. That's all we considered the video to be.
After taking a quick lunch break, we got in line for Marlie to meet the fairies, Rosetta and Vidia. The line for Tinkerbell was over an hour long so luckily Marlie was just as content to meet 2 fairies instead of her. They were very much in character and Marlie wasn't sure what to think about Vidia's sarcastic personality.

After standing in line for a few minutes to see the fairies we were hot and sweaty so we stepped into Club Cool. It's like a mini World of Coke where you get to sample soft drinks from all around the world.
Epcot's International Flower & Garden Festival was taking place while we were there so these fun character topiaries we all over the park. This Cars one was at the entrance to the World Showcase.

We moved pretty quickly through the World Showcase. We rode the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico and Maelstrom in Norway. We stopped for some snacks along the way and Bryan & I reminisced about our time living in Germany and traveling around Europe. Marlie enjoyed a Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream while Bryan got some German beer and a turkey leg!

Our last stop of the day was the much anticipated ride Soarin'. Marlie barely made the height requirement and after reading the description Bryan was nervous about whether or not she would enjoy it. I'm glad I talked him into letting her ride it, because we all thought Soarin' was a lot of fun!
Marlie must have had all the fun she could take because in the short walk from the park to our car she fell asleep in the stroller. Once Bryan got her in the car, she grabbed her new princess mouse ear hat, put it on and passed out again.

The next day we made the long drive back to Georgia. I think Marlie enjoyed not having to get up and go straight to the park because we found her in our bed with a bag of Munchkins from Dunkin' Donuts and a glass of milk watching Disney.

Overall it was a great trip and as I said before, we are so thankful to Warrior Vacations for giving us the opportunity to to enjoy Disney this year.

Sick Day

2011-05-23T20:38:00.004+02:00

I was lucky enough to come down with strep throat while we were on vacation, so one of our park days turned into a sick day for me. I spent part of the morning at an urgent care clinic while Bryan & Marlie just relaxed at the condo. After I returned with my antibiotics, Chloroseptic & Tylenol, I spent most of the afternoon napping. Thankfully, Bryan & Marlie were able to get out for a little fun. They played miniature golf and then had lunch at Chick-fil-A.

By the end of the day, I was ready to get out for a little bit of fresh air so we visited Downtown Disney. I'm not sure what this is supposed to be, but Marlie insisted on taking her picture with him.

Another great tip I learned in my pre-trip research was about the Once Upon a Toy store at Downtown Disney. The store has a huge variety of Disney Mr Potato Head pieces. You can fill a box with as many pieces as you can fit in it for $20. We already had a Potato Head at home that Marlie enjoys playing with so she enjoyed choosing the Disney character accessories to add to her collection.
Marlie was also able to sweet talk her dad (the sucker) into buying her one of these giant suckers!

Animal Kingdom

2011-05-19T20:26:00.004+02:00

The third park we visited was Animal Kingdom. I love seeing animals so I was looking forward to AK, but it actually turned out to be a disappointment to me. If you have visited a good zoo lately, AK may not live up to that. We enjoy visiting the Nashville Zoo and even though it's not that big or that great, I still feel like it is just as good as AK. I must share the disclaimer that I was feeling pretty bad by this day so maybe my illness affected my opinion of the day.
There were multiple walk through attractions where you can see a variety of animals in their habitats.

We rode the Wildlife Express Trian to Conservation Station there was a small petting zoo, but the highlight for Marlie was meeting Pocohontas and Jiminy Cricket.

The Kilimanjaro Safari may be the most popular attraction at Animal Kingdom. We rode through the "savanna" and were able to see lions, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, and more!

It's Tough to Be A Bug is a 3D show but it wasn't as cute as Marlie in her bug glasses!

Ready to watch the afternoon parade...

I don't have any pictures because photography wasn't allowed, but the highlight of the day by far for me was Finding Nemo - the Musical. If you go to Animal Kingdom, I consider this a must see! We saw the show at the end of the day and ran out of time to see Festival of the Lion King. After how good Nemo was though, I wished we would have been able to see Lion King too.
We ended the day in DinoLand where we relaxed while Marlie played in the Boneyard. Like Hollywood Studios, this was the best way to end the day by just letting her run around and play.

Hollywood Studios

2011-05-17T21:16:00.005+02:00

We spent our 2nd day at Disney visiting Hollywood Studios.

I read that Toy Story Mania has one of the longest waits so we went there first. Although we did wait for a while, it was all inside and the room was full of giant toys. Marlie stayed interested in everything that was around us so we were all content.

After Toy Story Mania, we walked through Journey into Narnia: Prince Caspian, watched Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Disney Junior: Live on Stage! Marlie had so much fun watching the Disney Jr characters and dancing along with their songs!

We packed our own lunch so after taking a break to eat, we continued our adventure. We rode the Great Movie Ride, watched Beauty & the Beast Live on Stage (a favorite of Bryan's!) and Muppet Vision 3D. We ended the day by letting Marlie burn off whatever energy she had left at the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure. She had a great time running around and probably could have played there for hours!

After leaving the park, we went back to the condo to regroup before going out to dinner. We were in the mood for sushi so we went to the little town of Celebration to have dinner. It was such a nice little town and after dinner Marlie asked if she could play in the water "fountain". We didn't have a change of clothes for her but we decided to let her enjoy it anyway!

These are some of my favorite pictures from the trip because they show once again that all the money you can spend on attractions may not be near as fun as something simple like a spray of water!

Magic Kingdom

2011-05-16T21:53:00.007+02:00

Now that I've had the chance to visit all 4 Disney World parks as an adult, I can confidently say that none of the others compare to the Magic Kingdom. Since it was our priority we visited MK on our first day while we were still fresh and full of energy. After getting the token photo of Marlie in front of the castle, we proceeded to Tomorrowland.

Bryan wasn't able to ride Space Mountain on his first visit last year because the lines were too long, so we went there first. While he rode that, Marlie & I rode the Astro Orbiter since we also missed riding that last year. Next we rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and visited Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. We enjoyed both of these last year and wanted to do them again. Marlie was just tall enough for Stitch's Great Escape so we rode it for the first time. I would NOT recommend this to anyone with small children. Most small children in there were scared & crying and Bryan & I didn't find it to be enjoyable either.
The next area we moved to was Fantasyland where we rode Mad Tea Party.

While in Fantasyland we also rode It's a Small World (one of my personal favorites!), Snow White's Scary Adventures and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (It was hard to find the Fast Pass for this ride. It's right in front of Mickey's PhiharMagic.) We decided to forego Mickey's PhilharMagic and Dumbo (it usually has a long, hot line) since we did both of those last year. Both last year and this year, we were unable to ride Peter Pan's Flight because of the length of the line. Maybe next time! Before leaving Fantasyland, we took a break and got something to eat at the Friar's Nook.

I don't think we did any attractions in Frontierland this year, but I had read that it was a good location for watching the afternoon parade. We found Marlie a front row spot where she could relax in her stroller and watch the parade.

While watching the parade, some teenage girls next to us befriended Marlie. They told me about having just come from meeting some princesses and Mickey & Minnie. I hadn't realized it and I guess not many other people had either, but they were all in the theatre just inside the entrance to the park. We went straight there once the parade was over and after waiting in line for only about 20 minutes, Marlie was able to meet Sleeping Beauty, Belle & Cinderella! Each princess took plenty of time with her and as you can see, she and Cinderella got into a deep conversation.

When we walked out of the room where we met the princesses, we were able to go into another room to meet Mickey & Minnie. We probably didn't wait 5 minutes there!

We ended our day at the Magic Kingdom in Adventureland. We walked through the Swiss Family Treehouse, rode The Magic Carpets of Alladin, the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Before we left, Bryan went through the Hall of Presidents and Marlie & I enjoyed a HUGE ice cream cookie sandwich!

Warrior Vacations

2011-05-13T20:51:00.006+02:00

As expected, things have been busy around here since Bryan's return from Afghanistan. We have been enjoying plenty of family time which included a trip to Walt Disney World. We had no intention of going there this year since we visited the Magic Kingdom for a couple of days last summer. However, a great opportunity fell into our lap. My friend told me about Warrior Vacations and we contacted them about participating in their program. Most of their properties are at Amelia Island so that's where we thought we may be going. We were surprised when they emailed to offer us a 2 bedroom condo in Orlando so that we could take Marlie to Walt Disney World. Disney is offering another great military discount this year so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to go again.
We had a BUSY but fun week! I am so thankful for this organization and the property owners who are willing to participate in the program. It was such a blessing for our family to be able to enjoy this trip together. We were able to visit the most popular parks in the world but the highlight for me was just seeing the joy on Bryan & Marlie's faces as they had fun together.
Here are some pictures of the beautiful condo we were able to enjoy.
This was what we saw when we first walked in.

The dining area and kitchen.

Marlie's big girl room. She thought it was fun to have 2 beds and a tv!

The screened in patio where we enjoyed eating breakfast and dinner.

Master bedroom

Master bath

The resort's main pool was right beside our building so Marlie was always asking to go swimming!

Home

2011-04-18T21:49:00.003+02:00

Bryan changed command on Friday, 8 April and began to travel home the next day. Five long days later, he arrived in Nashville. His footlocker barely beat him here. It is always a beautiful sight to see because it is the first tangible thing that shows a soldier is on his way home.

Bryan arrived in Atlanta on Wednesday morning. We hoped he would make an 11am flight, then 1pm flight, but he finally got on the flight arriving in Nashville around 3:30pm. Bryan was planning on meeting us at baggage claim but I decided to surprise him at the gate. Marlie was very excited and this is a rare moment when she stood still to look for the plane.

We hid while we waited for him to emerge from the plane and start walking toward baggage claim.

Once Bryan got close enough, Marlie ran out to him yelling "Daddy!" He was very surprised and you could tell it took him a minute to process what was happening!

Together again!

Chris Tomlin - I Will Follow

2011-04-01T15:17:00.000+02:00

I've been wanting to share some of Marlie's favorite songs (mainly so that I will remember them). We have an awesome Christian radio station in Clarksville and this is one of our favorite songs. Marlie loves singing along with the chorus and the words are pretty fitting for a military family.

A Light at the End of the Tunnel?

2011-03-22T20:48:00.002+01:00

It is now less than a month until Bryan changes command and he begins to make his way back to the US! I am so excited for him to be back but I'm probably even more excited for Marlie to be reunited with her daddy! I try not to think about exactly how many days are left until his return because after 7 years in the Army and 3 deployments, I know that things change constantly.
I have also learned that a deployment will challenge you until the very end. The past few days have been a perfect example. I don't usually have allergy problems, but I started feeling bad on Friday. My symptoms were definitely allergy-ish and didn't improve over the weekend.
I had planned a Stella & Dot trunk show at my house for Monday morning and had made arrangements for someone to clean my house on Sunday afternoon. Since I wasn't feeling good, I was so glad I had asked her to come. Well, around lunch time on Sunday she told me that she wouldn't be coming because she was painting her house! I was more than a little disappointed and spent the rest of the evening trying to get my house ready when I really just wanted to lay down and sleep!
I was so glad when the trunk show and day were over yesterday. The good times were not yet over though! As I was getting ready for bed, Marlie began screaming. I ran into her room and found her throwing up all over herself and her bed. After getting her calmed down and changing her bedding, I was finally able to get a little bit of rest myself.
Today Marlie has been tired but hasn't gotten sick anymore. I am finally starting to feel a little better too. Hopefully we have dealt with enough negative things over the past few days and the last few weeks of this deployment will be good ones.

40 Day Fitness Challenge

2011-03-16T20:52:00.002+01:00

Before Lent began, I told my friend, April, that I would participate in a 40 Day Fitness Challenge with her. At the time I thought this will be easy, I already love to work out. However, once I thought through things later I realized that I could not commit to this type of "challenge". I am in the middle of half marathon training so my training schedule could not really be adapted to working out 6 days per week for 40 days. My foot and body need more rest than that! With all of that said, I still want to support April with her challenge. I have decided I will go back to sharing my exercise regimen for the 40 Days of Lent. I'm sure I do 30 minutes of activity everyday between straightening the house and parenting a 3 year old, but I will only be listing true exercises. Hopefully it can inspire others or give someone else a new idea!
Here is what the past week has looked like for me.

Wednesday, March 9: 4 mile run

Thursday, March 10: rest day

Friday, March 11: speed work at the track ->
5 min walk
800m (2 laps) jog

400m sprint
10-30 second walk
400m sprint
400m walk
(this was repeated 3 more times)

5-10 minute cool down walk

Saturday, March 12: rode my bike to pick Marlie up from Super Saturday

Sunday, March 13: rest

Monday, March 14: 4.5 mile run

Tuesday, March 15: rest

What are you doing for exercise? Remember that any little bit is better than nothing!

February Snow

2011-03-15T20:52:00.004+01:00

This was the last snow we had on 9 February and hopefully it will be the last of this season!

Blueberry Scones

2011-03-11T22:07:00.003+01:00

In the spring of 2007, Bryan & I visited Ireland for a long weekend (remember we were living in Germany then). Our favorite stop was The Mills Inn. It was a really nice little bed and breakfast but the best thing was their food! We ate dinner in their pub and it was delicious. The next morning we got up very early to leave and although breakfast wasn't being served yet, the owner brought out a few things for us. She served us some scones and none I have had since have come close to comparing to those. I recently came across this recipe and was pleasantly surprised with these scones. I wouldn't say they are as good as the ones from Ireland, but they are the best ones I've had since then.
*I substituted a cup of fresh blueberries for the raisins.

Grandma Johnson's Scones

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ready in: 30 min

Servings: 12

Ingredients
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup raisins (optional)

Directions

In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened. Mix in the raisins.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom.

Some February Pictures

2011-03-07T22:02:00.002+01:00

Here are just a few random pictures from February.
Marlie & I have been enjoying doing the crafts in her Highlights magazines. We made a heart mobile at the beginning of February and she had fun looking through the paper after she had cut the hearts out.

Dressing up in her fairy outfit..

Bryan turned 30 last month! He requested red velvet cake so we made him some cakes in jars to send him. Marlie enjoyed sampling the batter as much as making the cakes!

Swirlz

2011-02-22T21:43:00.004+01:00

My friend, April, recently had her birthday and we celebrated with a fun girls night at Swirlz. Swirlz is one of those places that seem to be growing in popularity where you particpate in a painting class. You can bring in your own food and drinks if you would like and attempt to be creative. I am someone who doesn't have an artistic bone in my body so it was a lot of fun but frustrating to me at the same time. Thankfully fun friends and good wine made the night really enjoyable!
Here's how it all began...

...and the progression

My finished product!

My friend, Mandy, and I sat beside one another and spent most of the night laughing!

April & I are on the far left

All the girls!

I decided I wanted to hang the painting where people wouldn't be able to look at it up close and see all the imperfections. I found the perfect spot!

What you don't see in the previous pictures that was taking place at Swirlz was this!

Lifetime Television Network has been at Fort Campbell filming a new series called Coming Home. April's was one of the families selected to be a part of the show so they were at Swirlz filming. Marlie & I also helped make signs for April's husband before he came home and they were filming that. There's a good chance that we will be on the show so I hope we don't look ridiculous! It made me nervous enough just having the cameras around for brief periods. I quickly learned that I could never handle actually being followed for something like that!

Country-Style Barbecue Ribs & Sweet Corn and Zucchini

2011-02-17T21:20:00.003+01:00

This was our dinner a few nights ago. I love the ease of using a slow cooker but often don't like the end result. These ribs are pretty good and the corn & zucchini as a side is healthy but has a good flavor.

Sweet Corn and Zucchini
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings

2 cups coarsely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup diced sweet onion
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups fresh corn kernels
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
2 teaspoons taco seasoning mix

Sauté zucchini and onion in butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Add corn kernels, chives, and taco seasoning mix; sauté 5 minutes or until tender.

Country-Style Barbecue Ribs
Makes 6 ribs
Prep 15 minutes
Slow Cook 6 hours on HIGH or 9 hours on LOW

1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
4 pounds country-style pork ribs

In a small bowl, stir together ketchup, molasses, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, mustard, hot sauce and liquid smoke.
Place pork ribs in the slow cooker insert and pour 1 cup sauce over top, reserving the rest for later. Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours or LOW for 9 hours or until very tender.
Remove ribs from slow cooker and brush with reserved sauce.

A Brave New World: Introducing the Spring/Summer 2011 Collection!

2011-02-15T22:13:00.006+01:00

Stella & Dot has released their new 2011 Spring & Summer collection. Here are a few of my samples of the new line with a note from our Chief Creative Officer explaining the inspiration behind it.

(Every order arrives packaged this nicely!)

What an exciting week! Our brand new line was unveiled to a VIP crowd of our company’s top Stylists. The excitement was palpable at our high-voltage runway show! I’d like to take a moment to share the inspiration behind our 3 collections that make up the Spring/Summer 2011 lineup. We are calling this season a “A Brave New World” due to its a bold, joyful spirit that is so Stella & Dot.

Our first collection, Destination Morocco, is all about a boho chic vibe, rich with textures and combinations of unexpected materials. The collection was inspired by a trip that I took to Marrakesh when I was living in Paris. I was really drawn to all of the filigree patterns in the architecture, as well as the rich layers of paint on the doorways in the marketplace. There is a trend towards the 'global eclectic' in fashion, which is all about mixing ethnic and tribal references with really sophisticated materials and techniques. The Casablanca Bib Necklace and the Revival Tassel Necklace are all about the juxtaposition of natural materials with more dressy sparkly materials - these pieces have already been shot by top magazines. Check out the Revival Tassel Necklace in InStyle magazine this month!

River Lariat

Medina Bib Necklace

Revival Bracelet

Next, we’re off to South America for our Viva Brazil Collection. I had the joy of spending my honeymoon in Brazil and was inspired by the spirit of the people of the country. It seemed every Brazilian woman I ran into exuded a sexy, self-confident vibe. You could just sense each woman’s bold, individual style. This collection represents pure exotic sophistication to me. It has bursts of bright, festive colors (and just the right amount of sexy!) that give it that wear-everywhere appeal. The Bamboleo Necklace is the signature piece of this collection and will be featured in InStyle next month. The Rio Coin group is perfect to wear over the bold, sexy bright clothing that was all over the runways this season.

Camilla Ring

Carnival Stretch Bracelets

Rio Chandelier Earrings

Finally, we return stateside with the Palm Beach Collection. This collection is quintessential Stella & Dot: fun color combined with whimsical motifs and the perfect balance between vintage and modern. Don’t be afraid to wear these pieces with fun prints, like the Milly green and white strapless dress we showed on the runway with the turquoise La Coco Bead Necklace and Paradise Brooch or the orange and white striped tank we paired with the Birds of Paradise Necklace.

La Coco Turquoise Bead Necklace and Paradise Brooch

I hope you enjoy wearing these pieces as much as we’ve enjoyed creating them. You can preview the new collection online, but, really, the best way to see each piece is up close and personal at a Trunk Show – it’s a great way for you to get the look you love gratis!

Xoxo,
Blythe Harris
Chief Creative Officer, Stella & Dot

Funny Face Pizzas

2011-02-10T23:27:00.003+01:00

My mom got Marlie a subscription to High Five magazine which is from Highlights. We've have gotten 2 issues so far and she loves them. One of the magazine had a kid friendly recipe called Funny Face Pizzas. I let M make them for dinner one night and she thought that was so much fun. Here she is with her culinary creation!

Another Round...

2011-02-09T22:42:00.002+01:00

Our snow seems to be never ending this year. It's funny because we got the worst snow in Germany the year Bryan was deployed and this is the most snow we've had since we lived here. We have a lot outside as I type this but these pictures are actually from a couple of weeks ago. This was the most fun we've had in the snow yet because it was "warm" (think mid 30s) outside and no wind was blowing.

Adventure Science Center

2011-02-07T22:09:00.002+01:00

For MLK Day, my neighbor and I took our girls to the Adventure Science Center in Nashville. We actually bought a membership the last time we were there, but it had been a while since our last visit. Like the zoo, I've learned that the best way to experience the center is to just let Marlie lead the way and not try to steer her to see all the exhibits. This way makes everyone much happier. Marlie had a great time and enjoyed being the big girl who got to show little Hannah around.

Gymnastics

2011-02-03T22:30:00.007+01:00

I decided a while back that after the new year, I would let Marlie participate in an activity through the SKIES Unlimited program here on post. SKIES offers a wide range of activities for newborns to 18 year olds. When a parent is deployed, the children are able to participate in these programs for free. I was torn between ballet and gymnastics, but decided to start with gymnastics since I know she enjoys it and I wouldn't have to buy shoes & leotards right away. She participates in a mommy & me 3 year old class for 45 minutes one day a week and loves it!

The bars are by far her favorite!

A Visit to the Dentist & A Toddler Bed

2011-02-02T22:08:00.002+01:00

During the first week of January, Marlie had her first trip to the dentist. I scheduled our appointments back to back so that she could watch me and get comfortable with everything. As soon as I was done with my check up, she was excited for her turn. She climbed up in that chair and never looked back! She was 100% cooperative and never even flinched through the whole appointment. I was so proud of her and she is ready to go back again!

The hygienist told me that she typically doesn't do flouride for a small child's first appointment, but Marlie was such a great patient she went ahead and gave it to her.

M looks like she is grimacing here, but she actually thought it was really fun to vacuum the water out of her mouth.

That evening I finally converted Marlie's crib to a toddler bed. She has done great in it so far and I think she's actually ready to be in a true big girl bed!

Jump-O-Lene

2011-02-01T21:26:00.004+01:00

As I've previously mentioned, Marlie's big (literally!) Christmas gift was the Jump-O-Lene. With all the time we spend inside during the winter, I loved the idea of having something that M could burn off a lot of energy in. If you consider buying one of these, you definitely need a high powered pump of some kind. The Jump-O-Lene takes up a lot of space but so far I still think it's a good deal - especially since I used my Amazon gift cards from SwagBucks to help play for it. It wasn't very expensive and Marlie has had a good time on it. Whenever a friend comes over to play, they get so excited to play on M's bouncy. I just look forward to having a house with a playroom (or something similar) that we can put it in - rather than half our living room!

Welcome 2011!

2011-01-31T21:10:00.003+01:00

My friends and I came up with a few different great plans for New Years Eve, but like they seem to do each year, our plans fell through. We ended up doing almost the same thing as last year, which was just hanging out at our house. We did take all our girls to dinner at Sakura (a local Japanese steak house) first though. We all had a lot of fun at the restaurant and I was so pleased at the excellent service we received. I thought we'd get the opposite since we had 3 adults and 5 kids but the staff was super nice!
Marlie & I failed our attempt at a picture!

The girls loved their "jammie party" and Marlie still talks about it!

Happy 2011! Here are 3 ladies that can't wait to have their husbands back this year!

Even though our night didn't end up as exciting as we had originally planned, I don't know that I could have enjoyed it more. It was such a joy to spend the evening with a house full of girls (of all ages) that we love to be around!

A Haircut Like Mama

2011-01-27T22:11:00.002+01:00

I've been ready to get Marlie's hair cut for a while. She's had little trims, but never a real cut. A few days after Christmas we finally got it all chopped off. She kept saying she wanted it cut like mine and was excited to finally have a big girl hair cut. She and I are both very happy with it and it is definitely a lot easier to manage!

Sweet Dreams

2011-01-26T22:08:00.004+01:00

When we're at my parents' house, they always joke with Marlie about sleeping with them in their bed. Well, one day when it was time for her nap she insisted that she wanted to take it in their bed. I agreed to let her try but wasn't sure if she'd actually go to sleep or not. I also agreed to let her watch tv in bed if she would promise to rest. It took a while, but eventually I checked in on her and found her fast asleep. She looked so cute in that big ol' bed all by herself.

Georgia Snow

2011-01-25T21:48:00.004+01:00

Georgia had a rare Christmas snow while we were there. It hasn't snowed in Atlanta on Christmas Day since 1882. The best thing about it was that it wasn't near as cold as it usually is up here when we have snow. We were able to stay out and play in it for quite a while longer than we usually can.

Here are some pictures at my parents' house.

This girl is always eating the snow or making a snow angel!

We thought it would be fun to play with some of the random things at my parents house and have a multiple personality snowman!
UGA fan

In a straw hat and lei

Gamma Phi Beta snow girl

Prom King (this was actually Bryan's from when he was chosen Prom King our senior year of high school!)

Although neither of us is looking at the camera, this is my only picture of us sledding. We went to the home of some family friends who have a huge downhill backyard and got pulled by a 4-wheeler. Marlie loved it!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

2011-01-20T21:17:00.005+01:00

This past Christmas was as good as it could possibly be without Bryan being there. Marlie slept in a little bit on Christmas morning so I got up before her to help Santa with a few last minute details. I got online and saw that I had a few emails from Bryan asking me to get on Skype. Even though he had been at the computer for a while, I hurried to get on before his time was up. He was still on so I offered to take the laptop to the room where Marlie was sleeping so that he could see her wake up and discover what Santa had left for her. That's exactly what he was able to do! All the way from Afghanistan, he was able to watch Marlie get out of bed and see her Christmas presents for the first time. It was such an awesome blessing for all of us!
Here is some of what he got to see...
While we can get away with it, Marlie's gifts are pretty minimal. The only thing she asked for this year was "lipstick" (chapstick) so she got plenty of that!

I tried really hard this year to help her keep in mind why we celebrate Christmas. One way we did that was by celebrating Jesus' birthday with a cookie cake, balloon and by singing Happy Birthday! M really enjoyed this!

After singing Happy Birthday, I explained that since we couldn't give Jesus a birthday present, we would give gifts to one another. I managed to get some pictures of her opening her presents from my family.

Late that afternoon, my aunts, uncles and cousins all came to my parents' house for our big family celebration. Since we're spread throughout Georgia (and of course we are out of state), Thanksgiving & Christmas are the only times that we are all in the same place. As a result, those holidays are extra special and a lot of fun!
M had a great time playing with her favorite cousin!

M spent a lot of time playing in her new tent. She even got my sister to climb in with her.

No family get together is complete without a game of Apples to Apples!

At the end of an exhausting day, I finally got a picture with my favorite girl!

But she wouldn't stay long enough for the family picture!

GREAT Deal on an Amazon.com Gift Card!

2011-01-19T22:27:00.000+01:00

Get a $20 Amazon gift card for only $10!
(not sure why it says DC, the offer is good anywhere..)

http://livingsocial.com/deals/21336?ref=addthis-share2-4456347&rpi=4456347

The Night Before Christmas

2011-01-17T23:26:00.002+01:00

While in Georgia, my mom took M to see Yogi Bear (and I tagged along). This Christmas season M became hooked on the Grinch so she loved the life size one at our local movie theater! He "sang" and she was all about dancing with him!

It is a family tradition for my mom to read The Night Before Christmas to all of us at bedtime on Christmas Eve. Even though we are now 30, 26 and 18, it is still something we look forward to. Of course M thinks its a lot of fun that we all sit down together and read a book!

She had to give her buddy, Bailey, a good night kiss before Santa came.

After M went to bed, my dad & I got to work inflating her Jump-O-Lene. (My brother & sister just watched us and made fun of us!) We used a pump and our breath and still couldn't get it blown completely up that night!

Just Arrived! Introducing Our Spring 2011 Collection!

2011-01-14T21:45:00.004+01:00

Get ready to set sail to a brave and beautiful new world of style! Stella & Dot travels to three exotic locales and bring you pieces that will inspire you to lead a bold, joyous (and stylish) new life! Contact me to book a Trunk Show and get the look you love for free!

Hostess Bonus Days are back! What would you do with $325 in free jewelry? That's what our average Trunk Show Hostess will receive when she hosts a show before January 31st. Contact me to get your show on the books.

View the whole collection at http://stelladot.com/cristin

Talk about a resolution! Becoming a Stylist can help you kick off a stylish and lucrative new career (full-time or part-time), set your own schedule, and join an amazing community of women who are styling their own lives. Sign up in January and receive $450 in free jewelry of your choice (regularly $350) to kick start your career in style. Who’s in?

From Blythe Harris, Stella & Dot's Chief Creative Officer:
What an exciting week! Our brand new line was unveiled on Sunday to a VIP crowd of our company’s top Stylists. The excitement was palpable at our high-voltage runway show! Since this is our official “launch week,” I’d like to take a moment to share the inspiration behind our 3 collections that make up the Spring/Summer 2011 lineup. We are calling this season a “A Brave New World” due to its a bold, joyful spirit that is so Stella & Dot.

Our first collection, Destination Morocco, is all about a boho chic vibe, rich with textures and combinations of unexpected materials. The collection was inspired by a trip that I took to Marrakesh when I was living in Paris. I was really drawn to all of the filigree patterns in the architecture, as well as the rich layers of paint on the doorways in the marketplace. There is a trend towards the 'global eclectic' in fashion, which is all about mixing ethnic and tribal references with really sophisticated materials and techniques. The Casablanca Bib Necklace and the Revival Tassel Necklace are all about the juxtaposition of natural materials with more dressy sparkly materials - these pieces have already been shot by top magazines. Check out the Revival Tassel Necklace in InStyle magazine this month!

Next, we’re off to South America for our Viva Brazil Collection. I had the joy of spending my honeymoon in Brazil and was inspired by the spirit of the people of the country. It seemed every Brazilian woman I ran into exuded a sexy, self-confident vibe. You could just sense each woman’s bold, individual style. This collection represents pure exotic sophistication to me. It has bursts of bright, festive colors (and just the right amount of sexy!) that give it that wear-everywhere appeal. The Bamboleo Necklace is the signature piece of this collection and will be featured in InStyle next month. The Rio Coin group is perfect to wear over the bold, sexy bright clothing that was all over the runways this season.

Finally, we return stateside with the Palm Beach Collection. This collection is quintessential Stella & Dot: fun color combined with whimsical motifs and the perfect balance between vintage and modern. Don’t be afraid to wear these pieces with fun prints, like the Milly green and white strapless dress we showed on the runway with the turquoise La Coco Bead Necklace and Paradise Brooch or the orange and white striped tank we paired with the Birds of Paradise Necklace.

I hope you enjoy wearing these pieces as much as we’ve enjoyed creating them. You can preview the new collection online, but, really, the best way to see each piece is up close and personal at a Trunk Show. Don’t forget that we have our fantastic Hostess Bonus Days for the remainder of January – it’s a great way for you to get the look you love gratis!

Home - Cover (Jorge & Alexa Narvaez)

2011-01-12T20:44:00.001+01:00

If you haven't seen this video yet, you should watch it. I love the song, he is really talented and she is cute!

They have more videos on YouTube and a Facebook fan page: Jorge, Alexa & Eliana Narvaez Fan Page

Thirty!

2011-01-11T22:54:00.004+01:00

On 21 December, I turned 30! I'm not at all bothered by turning 30 because I know most things in my life are better than ever. I only wish that Bryan could have been with me for my birthday. We were able to talk to him that morning though so that was good enough. While we were on the phone, I opened my present from Bryan that he had sent to my parents' house. I am not a coffee drinker but I love hot tea and hot chocolate. Bryan got me a steeping mug and an assortment of loose leaf teas from The Tea Spot. I had been sick for a few days so that was a perfect gift. I will also have my bib and medal from the marathon framed as another gift.

I went out to dinner that night with M, my parents and sister. Before we left the house they sang Happy Birthday to me and brought out a lemon cake (one of my favorites). My parents also gave me a gift certificate for a one hour massage.

Of course I needed some help blowing out my candles

It took me all day to decide on a restaurant but I finally picked a place in Athens that I hadn't been to since college. Speakeasy is a fun tapas restaurant downtown.

Apparently I also needed help eating my chocolate

White Chocolate Fondue - everyone's favorite dish!

Although you can't see it in the dark, the restaurant overlooks Broad St and North Campus.

Marlie Visits Santa Again (& Again!)

2011-01-10T22:48:00.004+01:00

I think Marlie ended up seeing Santa a total of 4 times this year. These pictures are actually from her first and last visits with him, both of which were in Georgia. My old school had Cookies & Milk with Santa at the beginning of December and my mom took her there.

Marlie's last visit was a little more exclusive. Every year Santa makes a special visit to the home of family friends. This was the first year we've been in Georgia for his visit so my mom wanted to take Marlie. We were the first guests to arrive so Marlie got plenty of time with Santa and really enjoyed that!

Animal Train

2011-01-07T22:33:00.003+01:00

Lately one of M's favorite things to do at my parent's house is to make a "train". My mom collected a lot of Beanie Babies back when they were such a craze. M loves to get them out and make a train. She will typically do them in a big circle, but this time she made a long line from my parents' room to the kitchen. Bryan has never seen her do this so I wanted to be sure to get a picture for him.

Retirement

2011-01-06T21:19:00.002+01:00

M & I went back to Georgia for Christmas a little earlier than we had originally planned so we could attend my mom's retirement reception. She worked for the state of Georgia's Department of Corrections for 34 years! She started in the Greensboro Probation Office as an intern and retired as Chief of the Ocmulgee Judical Circuit. (I hope I got all this right?)
Congratulations Mama! We hope you have a blast in this new season of your life!

Sisters

M was happy to find the chocolate fountain and Hershey's kisses

M was proud of her Nana

The retiree and family

All the girls

First Snow

2011-01-05T21:37:00.003+01:00

We had our first snow of the "winter" (really Fall) back on 12 December! The fact that we had snow so early this year makes me a little nervous about this month and next! Hopefully we can survive the season without the conditions getting too bad.

The evening of 12 December

Sledding down the hill the next morning

M & Addie

Tasting this season's snow

Playing in the snow isn't complete without a snow angel!

Magic at Fort Campbell

2011-01-05T03:42:00.003+01:00

On December 11, we went to our neighbor's basketball game and then spent the rest of the morning at an event called Magic at Fort Campbell. A nearby county holds this on post for the families of deployed soldiers. The children were able to visit with Santa and each received a toy. We were also served lunch. The community around Fort Campbell really supports soldiers and their families and I am so thankful for that.
Here are the girls waiting outside in the cold, wet weather.

We waited in line to see Santa for over an hour but near the end the children were given cards to make for their dads.

She's a fan!

M received an early Christmas present from Santa & his elves - 100 piece play food set!

That same night we had a neighborhood Christmas cookie exchange & pj party! I joke that it's a Christmas miracle that we got this picture taken. There was only one child not shown who is in the floor fussing. :)

Join Us As a Stylist! January Sign-Up Special Offer

2011-01-03T21:20:00.002+01:00

Talk about a resolution! Becoming a Stylist can help you kick off a stylish and lucrative new career (full-time or part-time), set your own schedule, and join an amazing community of women who are styling their own lives. Sign up in January and receive $450 in free jewelry of your choice (regularly $350) to kick start your career in style. Who’s in? Click here for more details:
http://stelladot.com/sites/cristin/our-opportunity

Looking Back on 2010

2010-12-31T21:50:00.003+01:00

We have been blessed in so many ways during this past year. Here are some of the highlights!
We wish you all a blessed 2011!

January
We rang in the New Year at home with our neighbors
We had our first snow on the year on 7 January

February
Marlie got her hair trimmed for the first time
Bryan turned 29

March
Bryan & I attended an NGCSU "Reunion" at the home of General Townshend
We found out that Bryan would be deploying at the end of the summer
I signed up for SwagBucks and have been hooked on it since!

April
We attended my sorority's Alumni Easter Egg Hunt in Athens
Marlie had her first swim lessons
We enjoyed our 3rd Easter as a family of 3
I ran the 2010 Country Music Half-Marathon in Nashville

May
Bryan spent the month at JRTC at Fort Polk, Louisiana
Clarksville experienced significant flooding
Marlie & I went to a strawberry farm for the first time
I enjoyed my 3rd Mother's Day with Marlie

June
Marlie was a flower girl in Chelsea's wedding
I joined Stella & Dot as a stylist

July
For Bryan's block leave, we visited St Augustine Beach, Club Med at Port St Lucie, Walt Disney World, & Sea World
Bryan & I ran the Peachtree Road Race
Bryan & I attended his unit's St Barbara's Ball where he received the Honorable Order of Saint Barbara Award and I received the Molly Pitcher award.

August
We had our annual family pictures taken
We had Marlie's 3rd birthday party a few weeks early so Bryan could take part in the festivities
Bryan deployed to Afghanistan as a battery commander
Marlie & I celebrated her 3rd birthday with friends by taking a trip to the zoo and eating cheeseburgers and ice cream.

September
Marlie & I visited Georgia and I was able to attend a UGA football game for the first time in a few years. We also spent Labor Day weekend in Helen.

October
Our friend, Aaron, was wounded in Afghanistan. (He was just discharged from Walter Reed this week and will now be receiving outpatient care.)
Marlie & I attended a special production for military families of Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3 compliments of MetLife, Cracker Barrell & a local businessman.
Marlie & I visited Christian Way Farms, which is a local pumpkin patch.
Marlie was a strawberry for Halloween & we enjoyed trick or treating in our neighborhood. We also won a costume contest at my favorite sushi restaurant!
I ran the 2nd Clarksville Half Marathon

November
We celebrated Thanksgiving in Georgia with our family

December
I ran the St Jude Memphis Marathon!
I turned 30
We celebrated Christmas in Georgia with family & we had snow on Christmas Day!
Marlie got her first "real" hair cut

Decorating for Christmas with a 3 year old

2010-12-29T21:10:00.003+01:00

Sometimes when I get behind on my posts I just refer back to my pictures in iPhoto to see what I've missed. For today, I'll just share these 2 pictures. Anyone with children has probably had a similar experience.
Marlie really enjoyed helping decorate the tree. She had a little bit of a hard time understanding the concept of evenly distributing them though.

It didn't take me long to realize that ornaments had started disappearing from the tree. I soon found them in her microwave!

End of the Year Sale!

2010-12-28T16:00:00.003+01:00

Stella & Dot is currently offering an EXTRA 20% off already reduced sale items! You will have to hurry though. Quantities are limited and the sale ends January 2nd.
http://stelladot.com/cristin/

In addition to this great sale, I am offering my own personal discounts all week on the regular price items!
Today, 28 December: 25% off
Wednesday, 29 December: 20% off
Thursday, 30 December: 15% off
Friday, 31 December: 10% off

Because these are my own discounts, you must contact me to place your order: cristinfanning@aol.com.

Happy Shopping!

St Jude Memphis Marathon

2010-12-13T21:28:00.006+01:00

I was waiting until I had all the pictures to do a race weekend recap. I still don't have them all, but I have enough. My friends, Molly, Marcia, Whitney, and I all left for Memphis on Friday morning. When we arrived in Memphis we grabbed a late lunch and then went to the expo to pick up our race numbers and packets. I always enjoy seeing all the vendors' booths and what gear they have for sale.
We didn't want to fight the crowds downtown so we stayed close to our hotel and had dinner at Pei Wei. We followed that with a light dessert at TCBY (you don't see those much anymore!).
I was a ball of nerves on Saturday morning so I didn't sleep quite as long as I had hoped to. Marcia & Whitney ran the 5k which started an hour before the marathon. We hoped to see them finish before we started but we somehow missed each other in the crowd.
Molly & I eventually had to go get in our corral for our start and we finally began about 8:26am. It was cool and overcast when the race began, but by early afternoon it was sunny and in the high 50s - perfect race weather!
The race took us through downtown & Beale Street, historic neighborhoods, the Mississippi River, Sun Studio (where Elvis first recorded) and most importantly the campus of St Jude. There were tons of people cheering for us including patients of St Jude. Seeing those children smiling and waving to us made me forget about any pain I was having. There were also lots of signs in honor and in memory of the kids of St Jude and they were just as motivating!

Here are some pictures taken from the race.

We finished in the minor league baseball stadium downtown. I was fighting back tears at this point!

Finally!

After finishing, we had to climb the steps of the stadium!

All 4 of us!

After the race we went back to our hotel room to relax for a while. Once we had a little break we went back down to Beale Street for dinner (BBQ ribs of course!) and to celebrate! Molly & Marcia had the idea of getting shirts made for the weekend and my friend, Brittany, designed them for us. We wore these out on Saturday night!

Although the race is over, you can still donate to St Jude Childrens Research Hospital. These kids and this hospital would appreciate any little bit you can give.
https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867§ionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=479689

The Under $50 List: Gifts that Sparkle & Shine

2010-12-11T21:27:00.002+01:00

Gorgeous Gifts Under $50

http://stelladot.com/sites/cristin/productcatalog?page=productdetail&sku=N130

http://stelladot.com/sites/cristin/productcatalog?page=productdetail&sku=B129BK

http://stelladot.com/sites/cristin/productcatalog?page=productdetail&sku=E815S

http://stelladot.com/sites/cristin/productcatalog?page=productdetail&sku=BR104S

Click here to shop all gifts under $50

30 Days of Truth: Day 2

2010-11-22T22:37:00.002+01:00

Day 2 - Something You Love About Yourself

Since my life has revolved around this marathon lately, it has helped me even more to learn to love my body. It's not the way you think though! I will never be the slimmest, most muscular person you know, but I love that God has blessed me with a strong, healthy body. My body has created life and carried it for 9 months! I am almost 30 and my body has carried me hundreds of miles over the past 4 months. Isn't that amazing?!
I feel like a positive body image is so important for a female now more than ever. Now that I have a daughter, I want her to always know that my body isn't perfect but it doesn't need to be. I hope that I will never talk negatively about my body in front of her and I purposely do not own a scale so that she won't see me judging myself by a number.

I saw this quote in Runner's World not too long ago and I hope you like it as much as I do:
It is the runner in me who understands that the beauty of my body is in the things it can do, not the way it looks doing them.

SEARS

2010-11-18T00:40:00.002+01:00

This is a post from a couple of years ago, but I wanted to copy it and share it again. Sears is a big supporter of the military and I encourage you to please buy at least one thing there amidst all your Christmas shopping!
_______
From 17 Nov 2008:

I originally posted this at My Military Life but wanted to post it here too. I came across the following in a military spouses forum that I participate in. Like the author of the message, Sears is usually not my first choice. However, I am going to pledge to buy at least 1 gift there this holiday season just on principle. I hope you will do the same. All of this information can be verified at:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp
http://www.searsholdings.com/communityrelations/hero/military.htm

Sears - Christmas shopping has already started

I know I needed this reminder since Sears isn’t always my first choice. Amazing when you think of how long the war has lasted and they haven’t withdrawn from their commitment.

Could we each buy at least one thing at Sears this year?

How does Sears treat its employees who are called up for military duty? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up.

Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years.

I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution. I suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves.

Pass it on.

Decided to check this before I sent it forward. So I sent the following e-mail to the Sears Customer Service Department:

I received this e-mail and I would like to know if it is true. If it is, the Internet may have just become one very good source of advertisement for your company. I know I would go out of my way to buy products from Sears instead of another store for a like item, even if it’s cheaper at that store.

This is their answer to my e-mail:

Dear Customer:

Thank you for contacting Sears. The information is factual. We appreciate your positive feedback. Sears regards service to our country as one of greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they bear at this time.

Bill Thorn
Sears Customer Care
webcenter@sears.com
1-800-349-4358

Please pass this on to all your friends. Sears needs to be recognized for this outstanding contribution and we need to show them as Americans, we do appreciate what they are doing for our military!!!

I think we all should shop there, and again tell the store manger why!

30 Days of Truth: Day 1

2010-11-10T22:46:00.002+01:00

My friend, Ashley, is participating in 30 Days of Truth on her blog. I thought it looked interesting so she shared the "questions" with me. Some of these are kind of deep and I haven't decided how I feel about that. There is no way I will be able to do all 30 days in a row though, so they will probably be posted sporadically. Here is Day 1 though!

Day 1 - Something You Hate About Yourself

I had to think about this one for a minute, but only a minute! I hate that I am not a good housekeeper! It's not that my house isn't clean, because it is totally sanitary and healthy. I'm just bad about clutter. It's a constant source of stress for me, yet I am unmotivated to do enough about it. I've tried FlyLady and Motivated Moms systems, but neither one seems right for me. It definitely doesn't help that Marlie seems to create a mess twice as fast as I can clean one up! I am trying to get better about teaching her to clean up her own toys, but that will definitely be a work in progress for a while (I'm guessing until she's around 18?). I can only hope that one day I'll get the hang of this...

Pumpkin Butter Cake

2010-11-05T22:29:00.001+01:00

I took this to MOPS last month and it was another best dish winner! How can you go wrong with 2 sticks of butter and a block of cream cheese?!?

PUMPKIN BUTTER CAKE

Here is the recipe for the basic butter cake. For the pumpkin version, follow the directions at the bottom.

Cake
1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
Filling
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside.
Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.
Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point!
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares. Just remember that these wonderful little cakes are very, very rich, and a little will go a long way!

Pumpkin: Follow the original recipe, adding a 15-ounce can of pumpkin pie filling and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Bake as usual, remove from oven, and allow to cool. Cut into squares and top each square with a pecan half. Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream.

One Month to Go!

2010-11-04T21:32:00.002+01:00

One month from today is the big 26.2 miler! I've been able to take a break from running this week, but next week is our last BIG week! We will run a total of 20 miles Monday through Wednesday and then a 20 mile run on Friday! After that, our mileage will start to back down again so that our body can recover in preparation for the race. I am still trying to raise more money for St Jude until race day. Please consider making a donation to St Jude. You can click the link below and it will take you directly to a secure website where you can donate online.

http://mystjudeheroes.org/cristin

If you have a blog of your own, please repost this!

I've shared some of these before, but here are some quick facts about St Jude:

The daily operating cost for St. Jude is nearly $1.5 million, which is primarily covered by public contributions.

During the past five years, 81 cents of every dollar received has supported the research and treatment at St. Jude.

St. Jude recently completed an extensive expansion program that bolstered the hospital’s research and treatment efforts, while more than doubling the size of its original campus. The campus now has 2.5 million square feet of research, clinical and administrative space dedicated to finding cures and saving children. The expansion included the Children’s GMP, LLC, currently the nation’s only pediatric research center on-site facility for the research and production of highly specialized treatments and vaccines; an expanded Department of Immunology; and a new Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics for discovery of new drugs.

The Chili’s Care Center, opened in November 2007, integrates patient care and research where rapidly evolving CT (computerized tomography) and MR (magnetic resonance) technologies keep St. Jude at the cutting edge for radiation therapy in a pediatric/adolescent setting. Additionally, a state-of-the-art cyclotron enables St. Jude researchers to undertake many important new PET (positron emission tomography) studies. These imaging techniques facilitate the rapid evaluation of new therapeutic approaches and help choose those most likely to be successful.

St. Jude pioneered a combination of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery to treat childhood cancers.

Peter C. Doherty, PhD, of the St. Jude Immunology department, won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1996. He shares the award with Rolf M. Zinkernagel, MD, of the University of Zurich. Their findings have led to breakthroughs in the understanding and treatment of viral infections and cancers, and in the development of organ transplant procedures and vaccines.

St. Jude patients are referred by a physician, and generally have a disease currently under study and are eligible for a current research protocol on clinical research trials.

St. Jude researchers and doctors are treating children with genetic immune defects and pediatric AIDS, as well as using new drugs and therapies to fight infections.

St. Jude was the first institution to develop a cure for sickle cell disease with a bone marrow transplant and has one of the largest pediatric sickle cell programs in the country.

Clarksville Half Marathon

2010-11-03T20:48:00.005+01:00

This past Saturday was the 2nd running of the Clarksville Half Marathon. Last year's race was my first half marathon and the best thing I can say about it was that it was a learning experience! I have now run 3 half marathons (and 13.1 miles more than that!) so this year was much more enjoyable. Since my mom was in town, she was able to stay with Marlie and then come to see me finish the race. It was fun to have fans for the first time!

When Marlie woke up on Saturday, she told my mom that she needed to put on her cheerleader outfit since she was going to cheer for me! Here she is waiting patiently near the finish line.

Around Mile 12...

When Marlie saw me she took off running towards me. Mama panicked a little but I assured her that it was ok for Marlie to cross the finish line with me. This was obviously my favorite part of the race!

She's also my stretching buddy!

Me with my training partner/neighbor/friend, Molly!

Pre-Halloween Festivities

2010-11-02T21:36:00.003+01:00

We had quite a few Halloween related events to attend this year, so by the time Halloween weekend actually arrived, we were just about over it!
It began on the 22nd with a family friendly coffee group meeting. Marlie was excited to wear her costume for the first time and she enjoyed being able to play with one of her favorite friends, David (aka Buzz Lightyear!).

I finally decided that it would be safe to go ahead and carve our pumpkin the weekend before Halloween. Marlie enjoyed helping Bryan last year, but this time she would not come close to touching the inside of the pumpkin! Needless to say, I was left doing ALL the work!

On Thursday night, Bryan's unit held a Trunk or Treat for the families. Since I'm an FRG leader, that meant that I was in charge of our trunk and was working the whole night.
On Friday night, Marlie & I got dressed up again and we (along with my mom who was visiting) went to our favorite sushi restaurant. The restaurant was having a costume contest the whole week and the winner would get a $50 gift card. I found out yesterday morning that we were the winners!

Our Girl

2010-10-25T22:52:00.002+02:00

Just some more pictures of our girl!
Marlie has become interested in the leg warmers I used to put on her with her cloth diapers. She came across her UGA pair and wanted to wear them so I helped her build another outfit around leg warmers!

This weekend I took apart her Anywhere Chair (from Pottery Barn Kids) to wash it, and she was clever enough to use it anyway. She shaped it into this formation so that she could still relax on her chair.

St Jude Patient of the Month - October 2010

2010-10-21T22:40:00.002+02:00

In less than a month and a half I will run my first marathon - the St Jude Memphis Marathon! This race benefits St Jude Children's Research Hospital. I have committed to being a "Hero" which means I am trying to raise additional funds for the hospital. Please consider making a contribution that will make a difference in the life of a child like Darcy!
www.mystjudeheroes.org/cristin

Darcy
6 years old

Diagnosis:
Darcy was found to suffer from an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid (ATRT) brain tumor in February 2009.

Darcy's Story:
Darcy and her siblings were outdoorsy kids who loved riding horses. At just 4 years old, Darcy was an accomplished rider and roper and had already earned a championship belt buckle for her skills. But life took a turn in late 2008 when Darcy fell and hit her head at school. She started suffering from terrible headaches and began vomiting within moments of opening her eyes each morning. Soon after, Darcy's parents were devastated when tests revealed she suffered from a deadly brain tumor known as ATRT.
"It felt like a freight train," Darcy's mom said of learning the news. "I was trembling and shaking. Your life as you know it ends."
Darcy underwent a 10-hour surgery to remove the deadly tumor, and her parents started to research the best options for her continuing care. That search led them to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and they obtained a referral.

At St. Jude:
Darcy received four courses of chemotherapy and 31 radiation treatments. Despite her often grueling treatment, Darcy thrived at St. Jude. She loved participating in all the activities at the hospital, especially arts and crafts. To see her flourish meant the world to her parents.
Darcy's family is appreciative of everything St. Jude provides for families, from housing to grocery cards. That they will never receive a bill from St. Jude means they can focus on what's important: Darcy. This has inspired them to help support St. Jude. "I'll keep giving," her mother said. "It makes a difference, even $20."
Darcy has finished treatment and is now home with her family. "My hope for Darcy is to keep having birthdays," her mother said. "We're so proud of St. Jude and what they've done for her."
Now that she is home, Darcy is back in school and she loves playing with her siblings. Darcy is also back to riding horses. She started slow on an old, gentle horse, but now she rides a fast one again.

Christian Way Farm

2010-10-20T22:24:00.004+02:00

We usually only have about 1 day a week that is totally free. Last Thursday was that one day and I was watching my neighbor's daughter (who is Marlie's age & her buddy). I decided that it would be the perfect time to visit one of the pumpkin patches in the area. I wasn't sure which one we would go to, but ultimately decided on Christian Way Farm because of the values they share at their farm. As their name suggests, they try to incorporate Christian lessons into their farm tours. The kids had a blast and I was happy with our experience also.

Listening to the story of how a pumpkin is grown. They also explained how we can have yucky stuff in our heart like the pumpkin has on the inside. However, we can get rid of that stuff so that there is room for Jesus to come and live in our heart. The storyteller had a variety of pumpkin carvings to illustrate her lesson.

Grinding corn to feed to the animals

Ready for the hayride!

Walking through the corn maze. We had a hard time finding our way out, so like a true soldier's family we decided to adapt and overcome! We made our own exit out of the maze!

This was the kids' favorite! A few "tractors" were connected and pulled by a real tractor.

Looking through the window of the hay castle

Right after this picture was taken, I was reminded why I am not the mother of 2 small children!
In this picture Marlie is up on the highest level. At the same time, her friend, K, was on the first level (which is still around 10 feet up). M realized that she would not be able to get down easily and was basically stuck up there. Right when I was about to climb up to get her, K looked at me and grabbed her rear end. I asked K what was wrong and she told me that she needed to go potty (#2!). After considering my options, I knew that M would just stay up there until I could get her down. I decided to help K down first and take care of her. Once I got her down, we had to RUN across the farm to the potties. Luckily my friend was already in there with her daughter. I handed K off and went back to get M. Again, I had to climb up the hay castle to rescue a child! We ended up having to throw away some underwear, but everyone ended up safe!

The end of a fun morning!

Stella & Dot's New Arrivals!

2010-10-18T22:16:00.008+02:00

I just received a lot of new samples from Stella & Dot and am excited to share them!

Allie Pearl & Ribbon Necklace
The flower unclips to wear in the hair!

Lola Necklace
(flower unclips to wear in the hair!)

Gracie Headband & Barrettes

Teardrop Scroll Earrings
also available in gold

Coin Pearl Earrings

Garden Party Dot Earrings

Jolie Cocktail Ring

Baby Flower Post Earrings

Grace Pearl Earrings
also available in ivory & gold

Tiny Flower Necklace

Turquoise Sea Drop Earrings

Soiree Pave Bracelet

Clover Double Wrap Leather Bracelet

Clover Single Wrap Leather Bracelet

Nugget Wrap Bracelet

Signature Clover Bangle

Pave Ellipse Necklace

Alexa Fringe Necklace

Charlotte Statement Necklace

Stella & Dot has just come out with jewelry travel totes in 3 different sizes. I have the Medium in Teal and the roll in Navy (but I forgot to take a picture of it). They are awesome!
Medium Jewelry Travel Case

Here's a photo of all 3 sizes together.

Disney on Ice : Toy Story 3

2010-10-15T22:52:00.005+02:00

The first weekend in October we were able to attend Disney on Ice : Toy Story 3 in Nashville. The arena was bought out and all the tickets were donated to families of deployed soldiers from Fort Campbell. Feld Entertainment, producer of Disney On Ice, partnered with MetLife, Cracker Barrel and Clarksville businessman Jack Turner to make this special performance a reality. I am so thankful for these businesses and people who allowed us to attend. Marlie & I both had a great time and she did a great job sitting through the whole show!
Ready for the show!

Cute Archangel girls!

Trace Adkins sang the National Anthem for us before the performance

Toys!

Popcorn!

2010-10-12T21:31:00.002+02:00

Our microwave died on us so we have been living without one for a few weeks. I decided to make the best of it and show Marlie how to make popcorn the old school way. Marlie had so much fun watching the popcorn jump around in the pan. That afternoon was the silver lining in us having to buy another kitchen appliance!

Little Firefighters

2010-10-08T22:02:00.003+02:00

Last week Marlie's class was visited by members of the fire department. One of the firemen read a book to the class and then they got to check out the fire engine. After learning about the truck, the kids sang a song they had been learning about fire fighters/trucks/hats.
M's class

Marlie dressed herself that day so I had to get a picture of her outfit. The clothes battle is not one I am willing to fight so as long as she's dressed appropriately for the weather, I'm fine with whatever she chooses.

Prayers for Aaron

2010-10-07T21:47:00.003+02:00

Our neighbor and friend, Aaron, was seriously injured in Afghanistan on Saturday when he was shot by a sniper. Aaron & his wife, Eliza, are a few years younger than us and this was Aaron's first deployment so we have tried to share some of our Army life experience and wisdom with them. We were so upset to learn about his injury and would like to ask for prayers for Aaron & Eliza as he begins his recovery. Eliza has created a Caring Bridge page for Aaron so you can read more about his injury and recovery there. It is a private page so you will have to register with the site to read it.
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/aaronpalmer/createorsignin

Here's a picture I took of Aaron & Eliza at our battalion ball back in July. They are both such sweet, likeable people and we wish we could do more for them during this time.

Stella & Dot in Atlanta!

2010-10-06T22:16:00.004+02:00

On the way back to Campbell from our visit in Georgia, I stopped in Atlanta for an afternoon of Stella & Dot training. It was a great afternoon and really helpful and motivating. The highlight was that we got a sneak peek at the new holiday pieces and jewelry totes.
These necklaces aren't new but I wanted a picture of them since they're the perfect combo for a UGA fan.

My fellow Ft Campbell stylist (on left) with Jessica Herrin (right), the CEO & Founder of Stella & Dot. She was featured as one of the Inc. 500's Superstar Entrepreneurs in their September 2010 issue. Stella & Dot is #67!

The new Clover Wrap Leather Bracelets and Nugget Wrap Bracelets
http://stelladot.com/sites/cristin/productcatalog?page=productlisting.category&categoryId=1201

These new "Tween" bracelets and earrings are coming soon!

New Pave Clover Necklace & Earrings and CZ Cross Necklace.
http://stelladot.com/sites/cristin/productcatalog?page=productlisting.category&categoryId=1201

These are my favorite new pieces! The Pave Ellipse Necklace & Pave Double Bar Necklace were both created for Stella & Dot by celebrity designer, Maya Brenner.

Movie Room

2010-10-05T21:24:00.002+02:00

When we were at my parents' house, Marlie came across a bunch of Disney movies on VHS. She wanted to watch them but I had to try to explain that there was no way to do that. My parents had temporarily moved their old tv to the sunroom, but I didn't realize that there was a VCR with it too. When I found out, I was excited to show Marlie that she could have her very own movie room. I set her up a little sitting area and at least once a day she would want to watch one of those tapes. Sometimes she would even climb up into a doll high chair to watch!

A Few Days in Helen

2010-10-04T21:40:00.004+02:00

For the Labor Day holiday, we went to Helen, Georgia for a few days. Marlie loves going on "trips" as much as Bryan & I do, so she had a great time at the cabin. Since Avery is in college now, Marlie also doesn't get to see her on our visits as much as she used to. You can tell by the pictures that she had fun spending a few days with her Aunt Avery!
Snuggling on the couch with her 2 buddies!

M & Pop sat out on the back deck one afternoon and shared some cookies.

Looking cute for dinner!