Celebrating with ones we love...

Soon after we celebrated Christmas morning, we got in the car and headed to my Aunt Barbie & Uncle Bill's house (There was sickness at Mitch's parents' house, so we delayed our celebration with them for a few days).

Aunt Barbie is my mom's only sibling so we have naturally always been close to them. My mom and Barbie lost their parents when they were relatively young so we have always enjoyed coming together as a close-knit family on Holidays.

I think I have mentioned before that Barbie & Bill recently moved to the street behind us and so I am loving having them close (even though we still don't get to see each other as much as we would like). They have been doing tons of renovations on their new home and it looks amazing! Barbie is a decorator so I love seeing what she does.

Here we are around the lunch/dinner table.

Cousins!

I love all these sweet girls...

Here are all the 'dentists' in their UK pullovers Barbie had embroidered for them.

And Ryan in her vintage apron... too cute!

A cherished friendship.

One of my most cherished friends came to visit today. She lives all the way in Colorado so I covet any time we can spend together! Jill and I met on the 1st day of high school. It was a funny meeting that I know we will both always cherish. She had been assigned a locker in a hallway all alone and I saw her standing alone and introduced myself.... call it fate, but we have been friends ever since! It was funny because right before she came over this morning, I found a sweet note she wrote me on the day we graduated from high school. It reminded me of how thankful I am that the Lord allowed our paths to cross. We had a fun visit today... just wish we could do that everyday!

"You are my friend. Our hearts are close,
Our laughter shares a common source.
Days and years may intervene, with few visits in between,
but, you are my friend, our hears are close."

This is a little quote that is on a tea-towel Jill's mama, Alice, gave my mama. It always hangs on my mama's oven at home... I thought it was so fitting for this post!

Wishing you warm and cherished friendships both old and new in this New Year!

A White Christmas!

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas. I hope you and yours did too!!! Scarlett's 1st Christmas was very special too because it was white!

Here is our little family on Scarlett's 1st Christmas....

We woke up Christmas morning at my parents' house. Santa came to town....

Scarlett's stocking (this is the one I got for $6.99 at TJ Maxx!)... it was filled with her favorites: puffs, pacies and socks. What more could a girl want?

Uncle Chaz's gift for Scarlett from, you guessed it, Bass Pro....

Scarlett and Peepaw waiting on breakfast.

This was a really fun gift... my mom got an embroidery machine. We laughed and said we are all going to look like Lavern from the old show Lavern and Shirley with a big monogram on all our lapels!!! ha! Oh well! My mom was SO excited which made it so fun for everyone.

Hoping your Christmas was filled with much love and joy...

A redneck Christmas?

Ok, so it looks like Chaz's wish for a redneck Christmas might come true since we have now taken 2 complete trips to Bass Pro and will probably take a 3rd before it is all said and done. Ha! Seriously though, it is really fun. Here we are having a good 'ole time, hill billy style...

Just admiring the wildlife...

2 sweethearts.

Posing by the mill... ha!

Our little family of 3.

Just a little "sibling" picture... we ended up printing this one for my parents as a present.

Ok, maybe Mitch went a little overboard? Watch out Aunt Ryan!

And it begins!

Please excuse my absence!!! The Owen range has now gone mobile, so I am having a harder time sitting down and chronicling our daily happenings. We are on the go. To describe our Christmas/New Year "break" in one word would be -- FULL. Mitch finished his semester well and it definitely goes down in the books as the hardest semester thus far. I know he is SO glad it is behind him. We are enjoying some much needed time together.

To hit everything we have been up to would require a lot of filling in the gaps... so I will just pick up where I can remember.

We have now taken 1 trip to the Bass Pro Shop and have 1 more on the agenda. That's right, my family is on the verge of having what Chaz has deemed, "A red-neck Christmas." Today, my Dad was telling my mom (as she was saying she needs to finish her Christmas shopping) that all we need to do is go to Bass Pro... his exact words were, "They have everything you need." Oh my. I will definitely have to take my camera for our next trip. I have a feeling it will be worth documenting. To be honest though, it really is a fun place. It is decorated beautifully for Christmas and there is so much to look at. If you are looking for a fun date night, I would recommend it. Ah!!! Listen to me. Are they rubbing off on me? I guess it is just in the blood.

Before we left our bungalow, we received a surprise package from FedEx. Christmas presents from Gran (Mitch's Grandma)! It was such a treat! Gran is a faithful reader... so I wanted to be sure and post our "thank you" pictures... Thank you, Gran! We loved everything (as you can see). We just wish we were together this Christmas.

I think Scarlett's favorite part of Christmas gifts this year might be the paper... she has had many paper wads removed from her mouth already.

There is a really neat ministry in my hometown to Nepalese refugees. On Sunday, we went to a sale where the Nepalese women sell goods they have made. They are excellent at knitting and crocheting. We got 2 winter hats for Scarlett with little flowers to go with them. Here she is having a little snack this morning with one of her hats on.

Aren't these ladies talented? I just thought this hat was so cute. I am going to check and see if there is a website or some other way to get their work than local sales... if I find something I will be sure to post it.

I hope that you are having a wonderful almost Christmas. From our 'home' to yours, much love & joy!

A cousin, ice & some little things.....

I am SO excited to announce that Scarlett has received her 1st, 1st cousin today!!!! Mitch's older brother Matt and his wife Sarah joyfully welcomed Matthew Travis Owen II into the world today. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 10 oz and is 20.5 inches long. We have just seen a small picture of him, but he looks darling! I told Scarlett she had a cousin named Matthew and she grinned from ear to ear. I am sure they will have a blast together in years to come being only 8 months apart. We are so excited and just wish there were not so many miles separating us. We were on pins and needles all day awaiting text message updates... here is Mitch receiving something exciting....

We received a nice dose of freezing rain last night and are now surrounded by ice. Lots and lots of ice. In preparation for "Winter Storm 2010," last night I did all of the laundry in the house (just in case we were to lose electricity), sent Mitch to the grocery for some essentials including batteries, located all of our candles and drafted a plan of action in the event we lost power which consisted of calling Aunt Barbie and screaming HELP! (she just lives steps away from us, ha!). Well, it was quite a let-down because nothing exciting happened except that my knuckles started bleeding from folding so much laundry! I have to admit, I am suffering a little bit from cabin fever.

Here is our little monkey baby after bath time tonight....

If you are reading this, will you please pray for me? Scarlett has been getting up at least 3 times a night and the last 2 nights she has stayed up from midnight until 2:00 a.m. I thought I was going to lose it last night. I know that there are much, much worse things in life. I am so thankful for a healthy, perfect, growing baby girl, but I feel like the walls are caving in when I am going on very little sleep. Okay, my sob story is over... please just pray!

This is a new rug Scarlett is sitting on. My parents gave it to us as an early Christmas present. It is great because it makes the living room so much warmer and Scarlett can play on it really safely. We have been playing on it all day the last few days. Thank you daddy and mama!

Scarlett found this hairband on my bed earlier and was mesmerized by it.... it is the little things I tell you. Speaking of little things.....

This is totally random. I went to a Christmas party the other night with our "life-group" and received this in a white-elephant gift exchange:

I was elated to receive this somewhat odd gift... I can just see all of my pots and pans shining beautifully as they sit idle in the cabinet. Now to find the time to scrub them all.

Another one of the little things I thought I would let you know... MultiGrain Cheerios are really good.

And finally, I mentioned that I have been working on some blankets as Christmas gifts. Here is the one I am making for Scarlett.

This thing has tried to get the best of me but let me just say that I will not go down without a fight! I am really trying to persevere and finish it. I mean, how hard can it be to add satin binding to a fleece blanket? Little did I know. At one point I completely finished one side and it looked so awful that I just cut it off. Oy vey! This is a good outlet for my cabin fever.

Well, I think I will go have a little snack (multigrain cheerios) and then hit the hay because who knows when my little night owl might get up.

Thanks for reading! Nighty, night.

These are a few of my favorite things...

I certainly do not want to sound like a material girl... I just think it is fun for girls to share some of their most favorite, tried & true items. And since it is the season of giving, what better time to share? So, here it goes. These are a few of my favorite things...

Definicils Mascara by Lancome in Black/Noire. The best, hands down. And believe me.... I have tried them all. I don't think there is anything better in a girl's arsenal than a GREAT mascara.

Katy bar the door!!!!! This place is on my top 3 as far as apparel and home shopping goes. They have everything. I just found Scarlett a darling Christmas stocking there last week... for only $6.99. I will have to show it later.

7 for all mankind jeans. Now, they are pricey but are so worth it. The pair I have on today I have had for 3 years and they have held up really well. Literally, you will get your money's worth. And they fit great.

The clutch. What better addition to your wardrobe could you make? This is not the one I carry, but it is close. I especially started to appreciate a clutch when I began carrying a diaper bag everywhere I go. You can just stick all of your essentials inside and not feel like you are a pack mule.

Pashmina. I certainly don't have one in every color, but wouldn't that be fun?! I don't feel like I have to do any explaining here... we all know the wonders and versatility of the pashmina "scarf."

But, of course... nothing compares to this sweet face:

Hoping you might give and receive some of your favorite things this Christmas... keeping in mind it is simply a symbol of the greatest gift of all -- Jesus.