Happy New Year

What a year! 2010 has been full of excitement!
Matt and I survived our first winter in Cleveland, which is an accomplishment, believe me!
Matt completed his first full year of law school, I graduated with my Master's, and we celebrated our 1st anniversary; AND this all happened in May! We vacationed in the Bahamas with Matt's family in June, and had a wonderful time! We got to spend some much needed time with Jeremy and Jax.  :)
I was fortunate enough to take the summer off and spend it in Providence, Rhode Island, where Matt was working at his internship. He loved his little gig there... and I loved the shopping and sleeping in! We visited Boston over the 4th of July, and I got to cross something off my Bucket List... Yes, we saw the Red Sox play at Fenway Park! It was AMAZING! The next day we took a boat out on the Charles River to watch the fireworks over the Harbor and listen to the Boston Pops. We took the train to NYC the next weekend, and saw Blue Man Group- it's a must see! So fun! We also found The Shake Shack in Times Square. The BEST burgers and shakes.
Possibly the best highlight of 2010 was getting all the crap out of my mouth! I got my braces and mouthpiece and everything else from my TMJ catastrophe taken out. Sigh of relief, and back to feeling like a normal person!
In August, Matt started back to school and I began the job search. I subbed for an SLP on maternity leave at a school district south of Cleveland for about 2 months, which gave me time to be a little picky! :) I decided to take a job at a skilled nursing facility (SNF) about 30 minutes from our house, and I really enjoyed it... BUT a few weeks ago I got an awesome offer to another SNF about 5 miles from home. So, with the new year comes a new job, and I couldn't be more excited.
We cheered on the HOGS in Fayetteville, Little Rock, and Dallas. We spent Thanksgiving in Russellville and Christmas in West Memphis. We also welcomed our niece to the world on December 5th.
Looking back on this year, we have so much to be thankful for; most of all, each other. We have wonderful family and friends, a nice home, I have a great job, and Matt is doing great in school. I hope 2011 brings just as much happiness as 2010...
Happy New Year!

Sain's Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Matt and I are beyond blessed with family and friends to spend the holidays with. Last year we spent Christmas in Russellville, so this year we were in West Memphis. We got in late Christmas Eve, but we were able to enjoy our traditional Christmas Eve with Whitney, Gary, Leanne, and Katye. My Poppy wasn't feeling well, so he and Nana stayed home... we spent time with them on Christmas Day.

Typical...

We woke up early Christmas morning, had coffee, and opened gifts. It was so nice to be home for Christmas, even if it was just 2 days! We visited Nana's for breakfast and Mammaw's for a late lunch. Everyone had a great time!

Me & Jodi

Merry Christmas!

Wilkins' Christmas

What a weekend! We left Friday afternoon for Little Rock. Matt's mom and dad picked us up at the airport and we headed straight to see Emily! (Of course, we made a quick stop at Chik-Fil-A!) Oh my word! She is a doll! Matt and I fought over who could got to hold her first...

Aunt Mo Mo!

I shared a little with Uncle Matt... He is so crazy about her!

Our whole weekend revolved around the kids, which made it so much fun! Jeremy and Jax had a great time opening gifts and playing with all their new toys! Here they are opening their stockings with Nanny.

We are headed back to Arkansas Friday to spend Christmas with the Sain's! We can't wait to see everyone! Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! 

Deck the Halls

I love to decorate my house, and I love Christmastime!  Unfortunately, we don't have much storage room, therefor, not much room for all of my favorite things. We don't even have a Christmas tree, which is unacceptable, but finding a place to put it 11 months out of the year and making Matt haul it up the stairs just doesn't seem worth it. HA!

When we lived in Conway, I decorated like crazy. Christmas tree, wreath, tabletops, gifts wrapped, and everything in between... all up and ready no later than Thanksgiving :) My, how things have changed! This year I pulled out a few things to make our house festive and add a little sparkle! These are my Kate Spade Christmas dishes. They have little reindeer on them and I LOVE getting to display them on the table! 

My kitchen is really all that got decorated, but better one room than none! 

We are leaving Friday to spend the weekend in Russellville with Matt's family, and we are having Wilkins Christmas Saturday night. I am so ready to see Jeremy, Jax, and Emily! Matt and I are already fighting over who gets to hold Emily first... I bet I win :)

Tis the Season

The past few days have been full of excitement at the Wilkins' house! Matt has been without a vehicle since May, and he has been riding the bus to school and home when I wasn't able to take him or pick him up. He ordered a brand new JEEP in September, and it finally came in Friday! It is so awesome... and it has been a blessing with all the snow we've had and are expecting!

He took me to work Friday, and when he picked me up, he was in this! He also had a surprise for me...

WOW! I was so surprised! They are beautiful. I am one lucky girl with a husband who loves me so much!

Matt and I say every year that we aren't going to buy Christmas gifts for each other, but usually we both end up buying a little something (or big something) Usually, I play by the rules and he doesn't. :) This year, we made the same deal. So, he claims the earrings aren't for Christmas... They definitely are! 

The Cleveland Fire Fighters are collecting toys for Toys for Tots, so Saturday, we went to Target and picked up 3 toys to take by the station. We got 2 boy toys and one girl toy (because we have 2 nephews and 1 niece!) I am so happy we decided to do this. It just made both of us feel like we did something special for some kiddos this Christmas!

Of course, Matt chose a remote control car and NERF gun, and I chose a Barbie! Ha!

We are so ready to see Emily... This is a picture from the hospital.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

When winter comes, it comes with fury! It started snowing a few days ago, but today it was "snowing cats and dogs", as one of my patients put it. I work about 30 miles from home, but it took me FOUR AND A HALF HOURS to make it home tonight. I am pooped! Luckily, Matt had shoveled the snow in our drive way and was waiting on me with hot chocolate when I finally made it. I know, he's wonderful.
I have never seen it snow this much in such a little amount of time. In about 6 hours, we got 16 inches, and it's still coming down. It's strange because usually, the "Lake Effect" snow usually goes right over our house since we live so close to the lake. Today, however, the lake had other plans. Haha! We are expecting more... and more... and more. I have a feeling it's going to be a long winter here in Cleveland.
Here's a picture of downtown this afternoon...

Now onto the important stuff! Miss Emily is here! And Aunt Mo Mo is going crazy waiting to meet her. Mike has sent me pictures every morning, and I just can't get enough of that precious face! Matt and I really considered making a quick trip to see her this weekend, but we are going to be traveling so much over the next few weeks, we decided we could make it one more week. We are going to Russellville on the 17th for Wilkins' Christmas, so I'm sure all of our time will be spent with Emily! I will post more pictures as soon as I can get my hands on some, but this will do for now :)

Last, but certainly not least... I LOVE my new blog design! Lara created it for me at Designerblogs.com, and she is amazing! Thanks Lara!