Thanksgiving

It's the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and we're on our way home from Alabama. It's been a busy weekend! We started our holiday celebration at my sisters house in Middlesboro on Thursday. There were approximately 25 people there with enough food to feed an army. We ate entirely too much, but it was totally worth every bite! I come from a family of fabulous cooks!

On Friday morning, we woke up early and hit the road to Al. Jareds moms side of the family came over and watched the Iron Bowl with us. War Eagle! We had "football watching" food which was a much-needed break from turkey and dressing!

So, needless to say, Jared and I are on our way home wearing sweat pants and oversized t-shirts!

Of course, Thanksgiving isn't just about the food; it's about taking time out of our crazy schedules to truly celebrate all the things we appreciate. For us: our undying faith in our Lord, our loving families, our many freedoms, our supportive friends and, of course, our furry children (more to come on them soon!). Our list could go on and on ... We had such a great time with both our families this weekend.

Thanksgiving Hits:
1. Singing Paula Abdul, Pebbles, Taylor Dayne and Janet Jackson with my sister. Brought back lots of great memories from my childhood. (Rian)
2. Watching Mr. and Mrs, Edwards dancing to the dance revolution game on the Wii. Who knew my mother-in-law could break it down! Seriously, she was REALLY good and SUPER cute!
3. Bringing our sweet Dolce back home with us! Diesel is a little too rambunctious to come while we're still living in the apartment. But, trust me, he's completely happy where he is ... Running around on grandma and grandpas farm!
4. Watching our beloved Tigers beat the Crimson Tide 28-27! That's a 7-1 record in Tuscaloosa. The Tigers are undefeated and heading to the ATL!

Of course, It's always hard to drive away from our families whether they live 2 hours away or 5. That's the downside. But, they know we love them. And we know they love us. It can't get much better than that! We're already looking forward to seeing everyone again in a few weeks for CHRISTmas!

We have so much to be thankful for, and we hope everyone else had a truly blessed Thanksgiving too!

Love Rian & Jared - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:On I-75 north

We had a sleepover!

It was a busy weekend, and we had a blast with our friends Lisa and Patrick! They were our first overnight guests since we moved here. We wanted to make sure to show them a really fun time ... and we had show them around the beautiful bluegrass state!

Here's a breakdown of our weekend ...

Our friends arrived on Friday around 5:30, and I literally skipped out to meet them at their car. By the time I got there, Lisa was laughing so hard at me ... this is nothing unusual ... But, I was so excited to see her! We got them all settled in, and then we went to eat at Atomic Cafe in downtown Lexington.

Mallory and 2 of her friends, Rhyan and Robin, came out to eat with us too. I'm sure they thought we were crazy, but in 10 years, they'll be just like us!

Lisa and I ended up staying up until after 2:00 a.m. talking, laughing, crying ... we had 3 months of catching up to do! Needless to say, the boys turned in early. They knew they didn't have a chance in keeping up with our conversation! It was a GREAT night!

Saturday began the tour of Lexington ...

Tour of Woodford Reserve Distillery

I couldn't believe how many barrels they had stacked up!

Same product, different labels.

Pouring from the container ... this stuff smelled soooo strong!

Checking out our sample of Woodford Reserve at the end of our tour.

Keeneland 

 

Why do boys always look so awkward when getting their picture made together?

Learning how to bet ... getting ready for their April visit 

The random castle

And then we shopped until we dropped!

My backseat was packed full of bags from Pier One, Garden Ridge and Kirklands!

Patrick's only request was to see Rupp Arena and actual blue grass. Since the cats weren't playing at home, he didn't get to see a game, but we did drive by the arena :) AND he bought some "official" Kentucky basketball shorts! I never could find any actual blue grass, but I promised him that it really does exist ... it really does! By Sunday, we were all absolutely exhausted ... and stuffed! We ate so much yummy food it was ridiculous! We had a really great time with Lisa and Patrick, and we can't for them to come back and see us VERY soon! Did I mention how excited I was to see my best friend?

New address. New jobs. Same happy couple.

It's official. We are now officially residents of the Bluegrass state! Around the beginning of 2010, Jared started hinting around about the idea of moving. In my head, I'm thinking yeah right. I've moved quite a few times (from Middlesboro, KY to Gadsden, AL to Huntsville, AL to Pineville, KY to Middlesboro, KY to Richmond, KY to Middlesboro, KY to Lexington, KY to Knoxville, TN to Collinsville, AL to Albertville, AL and now back to Lexington, KY). Okay, maybe that's more than quite a few. But, Jared has only lived in Collinsville, AL (where he grew up) and Auburn, AL (where he went to college). When we got married, we moved from Collinsville to Albertville. It was all of 30 minutes away. So, needless to say, I was more than surprised when he started sending me links to jobs and houses in Lexington. After about six months of this, I finally gave in to his not-so-subtle hints and started looking myself. Fast forward a few months, and here we are. I moved at the end of August and started my new job with Meyer Natural Foods on August 30. Jared followed in October and started his new job with Nestle USA on November 1. We've still got our house on the market, but we know God has a plan for selling it, and we're trusting Him. After all, God doesn't bring you to it unless He has a plan to get you through it. So, that's that. We're here. We're getting settled in. And we're pretty excited about what the future holds!