We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The holiday season was very merry and busy for us! December seemed to fly by with Christmas parties and fun time with friends! 

Cookie decorating (and eating) are such a fun part of the Christmas season! We enjoyed baking and decorating some homemade Christmas cookies of our own with the Mayfields :-) 

Once all the Christmas shopping was done and the presents were wrapped, I loved relaxing in the living room and enjoying our Christmas tree and decorations. So festive!

Since we don't have a fireplace or mantel, the china cabinet suffices!

One of the wonderful aspects of working at a university is the holiday schedule! Thanks to the generosity of our president, our last full workday was December 19th and we only had a half day on December 20th. Mary and I celebrated by going to see "Saving Mr. Banks" with friends. It is so wonderful!

Unfortunately, because Christmas came on a Wednesday this year, Austin had to work the Monday and Friday of Christmas week. We were thankful for the time he did have off, though! 

It has become a tradition of ours to spend Christmas Eve together. We get dressed up, eat a nice dinner and enjoy a quiet evening. This year, instead of going out, I roasted my first chicken! It was a delicious lemon roasted chicken with breadcrumbs. The only "oops" moment was that I discovered (upon trying to carve the chicken) I had roasted the turkey wrong side up! Instead of the breast meat being at the top, it was underneath- haha! It didn't affect the taste, though! We enjoyed mashed potatoes, broccolini, sparkling cranberry apple cider and enjoyed chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert. We concluded the evening by watching "Elf". 

Our Christmas Eve Dinner

My handsome husband! 

Christmas morning we slept in a little bit, opened our presents from each other, and started a new Christmas tradition. We made beignets! Then, we headed north to Paducah! 

Because my Uncle Wesley, Aunt Joan and cousins, Michael and Matthew, weren't going to arrive until the day after Christmas, we decided to have the big Christmas dinner and gift exchange then. So, Christmas Day was pretty relaxing, We spent some quality time with Uncle P, Aunt Sherry, Mom and Grandmommy. We even got to visit Granddaddy in the nursing home! It was such a joy to see his face light up when he saw his family gathered to visit! 

 

New favorite picture of Mary and me! 

Through some humorous circumstances (including not making it to the grocery store in a small town before it closed on Christmas Eve), Mary and I got creative in the kitchen with what we had on hand and invented our own spaghetti sauce. So many ingredients and laughs went into that dinner, but it turned out really well! 

The next day we had our Christmas celebration with the whole family! Uncle Richard and Aunt Gina brought the ham (cooked for 10 hours to perfection!), Aunt Sherry, Mary and I made side dishes and I made the homemade rolls I made at Thanksgiving. There is nothing better than having a full kitchen filled with people you love and delicious food! 

Our "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake :-) 

Following our meal, we all opened gifts! It was a blast! Austin's main gift was a wool flat cap that we saw in a hat shop in New Orleans and mine was a Buttercup yellow Kitchen Aid mixer! Our family was so generous- we just enjoyed being together! 

Even David participated in the merriment! 

Sadly, after the gift exchange, Austin and I had to say our goodbyes at head back to Jackson so he could work the next day. 

Saturday morning, we headed to Murfreesboro to celebrate Christmas with Austin's family! Adam and Leslie graciously opened up their home to all of us and we had a blast! 

Carol with the pitcher we gave her! 

Following presents, we ate a delicious meal prepared by Adam and Leslie: roasted chicken, rosemary potatoes, carrots, green beans and rolls. For dessert, Leslie made scrumptious homemade chocolate chip cookies! The rest of the evening, we visited in the living room and listened to some CDs that Arica compiled with songs from their childhood. We had so much fun singing along with some of them (and dancing, of course!). 

We spent the night in Murfreesboro and the next morning, had a lovely breakfast at Panera with Arica and Dylan. It was good to have some individual hang out time with them! After breakfast, we went to Adam and Leslie's church, The Experience, and really enjoyed it! The service was so refreshing in every way. It was so wonderful to worship with our family and our family in Christ! After church, we hung out at Adam and Leslie's, then headed home just before dinner. It was a great visit!

The next day (Monday), Austin headed back to work (high-ho, high-ho, its off to work he goes!) and Dad came to visit us from Birmingham! We kicked off our time together at Chick-fil-A (of course) and enjoyed spending time together! 

That night, we celebrated Christmas with Dad! I made roast chicken once again (this time right side up!) and we enjoyed our Christmas Dinner together. 

After dinner we opened presents! Austin particularly enjoyed his indoor/laser-beam skeet shooting set! Dad made Mary and me stamps with Donna Maye's picture on them! (She was unable to attend any of the Christmas festivities because she ate a bunch of chocolate covered marshmallows and had to get her stomach pumped the week before Christmas!) Dad got me some Cutco knives! I was so blown away by his generosity and have already used them! Good knives make such a difference! He also gave us each a photo book (and video) containing breathtaking pictures of his trip to Colorado and Montana this summer. It was so special!

Some assembly required

We concluded our happy evening by watching "Elf". Dad had never seen it before! 

The next day was New Year's Eve. After Austin got off work, we went to see "Saving Mr. Banks" (second time for Mary and me, first time for the men). People, bring your tissues, especially if you watch it with your dad! 

We got home about 10 p.m., but the night was still young! In keeping with tradition, the Mayfields joined us to ring in the New Year. This year, Casey came as well. We played a crazy game called "Likewise" until about 11:50.  I'm not going to explain it here! It's fun, just take my word for it!

Also in keeping with tradition, we shot off bottle rockets from our front yard! 

Dad and Austin using root bear and cider bottles as launching pads! 

Sparklers! 

After midnight, we toasted the New Year with sparkling cider! Then, we each shared our biggest high and low from 2013 and what we are most looking forward to in 2014! 

At the beginning of each year, I always wonder where we will be next year. I'm looking forward to filling our blog with many fun memories for 2014! Here we go!

An Anniversary and Giving Thanks

Happy New Year, everyone! We hope your holiday season was filled with love, peace and the joy of the Lord! Temperatures have hit a record low in Tennessee today, causing all of the schools (including Union) to close. While I'm at home in my cozy little house, wrapped up in a fleece blanket, I decided it is time for an update! Be forewarned- this is the first of two long posts!

So much has been going on in our lives over the past few months. Since our anniversary is in late November, it is the first domino that falls, then Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.

This November marked thee years for us! We decided to take a weekend trip to celebrate! New Orleans is a city that I love. Not only was my dad born there, but I love the history and beauty of the French Quarter as well as the delicious food! Austin and I discussed sailing out of New Orleans for our honeymoon cruise, but the dates didn't end up working out. He had never been before, so it remained on our list of places we would like to go together. The weekend after our anniversary, we finally went!

When we started seeing water, we knew we were close!

After settling into our lovely lodgings at the Providence House at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, we headed out to our first dinner in New Orleans! We decided to go to Port of Call, a burger place that I had seen in Southern Living and that one of Austin's coworkers had recommended! It was in a residential area in a very old building, so it was pretty tiny. The decor was all pirate/nautical themed. Austin and I agreed that Captain Jack Sparrow would feel very at home there! However, it was the best cheeseburger I've ever put in my mouth! We decided to split one because the serving is so large. We highly recommend Port of Call to anyone traveling to New Orleans! 

Following dinner, we walked off our burger by exploring the French Quarter in the evening. Everyone was out and about- there were people from all walks and stages in life. It was romantic to walk around the gas lamplit streets of the Quarter together. It was so refreshing to be completely out of our normal surroundings and on an adventure together. 

Inevitably, our walk ended at Cafe du Monde, the famous coffee shop with melt-in-your-mouth beignets (french doughnuts smothered in powdered sugar). The cafe is open 24 hours a day and is a New Orleans staple. We went there every day during our trip. 

The next day, Saturday, we set out to explore the city! The weather wasn't cooperative, unfortunately. A cold front moved in causing the temperature to drop from 66 to 36 by the evening. Most of the day there was a cold, steady drizzle. We spent most of our time dodging in and out of shops. Highlights of the day: our lunch trip to Acme Oyster House (where we had our first real cajun food of our trip!), browsing in an antique weapons store (Austin loved it!!), and going to the "Voices of the Civil War: New Orleans" exhibit in the Louisiana Museum. I am such a history nerd :-) It really was fun learning more about the history of the city together, though!

My dish: Fried Shrimp with Fries and Jambalaya
Austin's dish: Fish and Shrimp Poboy

The view of the courtyard in the museum. The property used to be the largest private mansion in the city before the owners donated it to be a museum. 

A view of Jackson square with St. Louis cathedral. The carriages line up there every day and offer tours. 

New Orleans Selfie

By the late afternoon, we were ready to return to the guest house, change out of our cold clothes, and get ready for a romantic dinner out! I'm a huge fan of building in time to rest during a vacation! 

That evening, we had our official Anniversary Dinner. We went to the Royal House, a lovely, two story restaurant we had observed during our exploring. It was an excellent decision! The atmosphere was lovely and the food was delicious! 

The view of our table from the balcony looking in.
 It was the perfect example of a corner table with a lovely nighttime view

My entree: Blackened redfish with potatoes and vegetables
Austin's entree: Alligator poboy with jambalaya

Following dinner, we went on a carriage ride/tour. The private carriage rides are pretty pricey, so we opted for the group one. Our driver was a colorful character who assumed we were on our honeymoon and proceeded to announce that to everyone else on the tour! We didn't have the heart (or desire) to correct him :-) 

The next morning was the beginning of the end our visit to New Orleans. We wanted to see St. Louis Cathedral, so we attended the 11 o'clock mass. Although it was a totally different style of worship from what we're used to, we enjoyed being with fellow believers. The bishop talked about standing up for our faith in the public square. I was so surprised at the boldness of this older man of God. If it had been appropriate to do so, I would have applauded.

The picture really doesn't do it justice.

 

The pipe organ and choir loft in the back of the church. Beautiful!

Following mass, we ate a quick lunch, stopped one more time at Cafe du Monde and said goodbye to New Orleans! We had a lovely time and hope to go back again soon! There is so much to do and see- we feel like we only scratched the surface! 

A few days after we returned from our trip, we headed east to Austin's parent's home in Dickson for the Ward Family Thanksgiving. It was the first time Austin and both of his siblings (and families) had all been under the same roof for Thanksgiving in a long time. Everyone pitched in and made something to contribute to the meal. It was delicious!!! 

A picture of the Thanksgiving table, courtesy of my sister in law, Arica!

A picture of the whole group!
Photo credit: Carol Ward

Our family picture!
Photo credit: Carol Ward

We enjoyed the wonderful food and fellowship so much! We have much to be thankful for.