Happy Birthday Grant

Today is my hubby's birthday.  Yay!  Happy Birthday Grant!!

Just in case the shadows make it too hard to count, that's 34 candles on his beautifully drawn cake. :)

Christmas Favs

Full Speed Ahead!  That seemed to be our motto through the holidays.  Looking back, even though we were super busy, there were many wonderful memories made.  I don't know that I can do it all justice other than to highlight a few of my favorite moments.

Favorite Snap-Shot Moments I'll Never Forget

1. Watching LB check out what Santa left.  I think kids must be born with the joy of Christmas morning in their bones.  
2. Laughing for hours as the older cousins played with my nephew Henry - building tents, forts and having pillow fights in my parents den as all the adults sat around and watched.

Favorite Gifts I Gave

1. A journal to my hubby so we can record 2011 together.
2. Door hanger initials to my mom and mother-in-law decorated in Auburn polka dots.  Purchased from Artist Tree here in Dothan.

Favorite Gifts I Received

1. Cookware - lots of fun stuff
2. Thyme in a Bottle by Ingrid Croce

Favorite Holiday House Guests

1. Cousins Sidney and Madeline

Not-so-Favorite Moments

1. Putting together my first toy - a kitchen.  It took 2 solid hours.  It was all I could to finish it.  And in the end I had to call in my reserves - my hubby saved the day!
2. Playing 4 Dirty Santa games in a matter of 5 days.  One is fun.  And even two can be enjoyable.  But by the fourth game I had heard all the sayings in the book.  And believe me, everyone says the same things at every party.

I hope you and your loved ones had a very Merry Christmas, making memories to last a lifetime.

Thud!

Working in my office, LB napping (supposedly) and all of a sudden a hear it.  Thud.  I go to investigate and this is what I find.

But, Mommy, its so pretty outside....

More Please!

For weeks now Grant and I have been fighting LB over the spoon to feed her.  Well, yesterday Grant finally gave up and what do ya know!  She can do it all by herself.  And not just putting it in her mouth, which we knew she could do, but getting it out of a bowl and back to her mouth.  With about 95% making it in her mouth I declare this a win.

Here are a few photos of our merry little eater.

Can eat with her right hand

Or her left when she feels like it

Sometimes two hands work best

When you can't get enough on the spoon, just pick up and pretend its a cup

And when all else fails, just go straight for the applesauce with your fingers!  Yummy!

Our Cabie from Philly

Growing up I remember thinking that my grandparents knew everyone everywhere we went.  And in Bay Point, where they lived, that was pretty close to being true.  But as I grew older I realized that they just loved people.  And they always made it a point to talk to people - to anyone about anything.

I wish I had more of this trait.  But maybe I just need to hone in on it some more, becoming intentional to engage people as God brings them in and out of my daily life.

While in Nashville Grant and I met a great guy.  We never exchanged names, but I believe Grant and I will remember him for a while.

On Sunday Grant and I went to see the Rockettes perform at the Grand Ole Opry House.  From downtown this was about a 20 minute cab ride.  It had already begun to snow at this point, but wasn't too bad.  After the show we hung around the Opryland Hotel just walking around checking out this beautiful site.  And by the time we were ready to head back downtown there was lots of snow on the ground.  There were two taxis left outside and we managed to snag a great one.

Our cabie was from Philly (whew, I was excited to hear this cause it meant he knew how to drive in the snow!)  He was extremely careful on the highways as we passed several wrecks from cars skidding and sliding.  The three of us didn't talk much in the beginning but as our speed slowed down on the road we seemed to talk more in the cab.  We learned that he came to Nashville for college.  He had finished his masters at Vanderbilt the previous year in Bio Statistics.  Wow.  After a year of being out he realized he wanted to get his PhD and was going back to school in the same field.  Again, wow.  Even though he went to Vandy, he cheers for Tennessee.  He has a three year old son at home.  And his wife is from Philly also. They are waiting to have more kids until he finishes his PhD.  He stays home with his son during the day and talked about teaching him to read and write.  One a few occasions he talked about how proud his parents are of all that he has accomplished with going to college and completing his masters and going for his PhD.  And by the end of the cab ride Grant and I were too.

He had a very gentle spirit that made him easy to talk to and very enjoyable to get to know.

I wish our cabie from Philly all the best!

My 5am Rebuttal

I hate it when someone makes a comment that gets under my skin, but my mind goes blank and I have nothing to say.  No insightful rebuttal, no quick witted remark, nothing.

Saturday night in Nashville Grant and I went out to a very nice restaurant that came highly recommended from our hotel.  The restaurant provided a free shuttle and since it was cold and raining, we were sold.

While we waited in the bar for our table we were positioned a few feet away from a private room where a group of 10 or so were having dinner.  It was a lively group and with an open doorway it was easy to hear they were talking about SEC football.

Not long after we had been there a lady walks out of this private party headed to the restroom and she has to pass right by us.  She stops and asks if we know who won the Heisman.  (of course we know!) Cam Newton.

"What!", she exclaims.  Racing back into her room she announces, "He won.  Newton actually won the Heisman." Coming by us again back on her path to the bathroom, she semi-muttled under her breath, but clearly loud enough for us to hear, "Well, in three years they'll have to take it from him."

And nothing.  With no insightful rebuttal and no quick witted remark I just sat there in silence.  But my blood began to boil.  Taking it personal that she would say such a thing about one of our own from the Auburn family it was all I could do to sit there when she passed back by returning to her table.  But I still had nothing to say.

While we sat there waiting on our table we listened to this group debate and discuss various teams in the SEC.

And then it hit me.  And I turned to Grant and asked, "Do you think we would be as forgiving of all the stuff surrounding Cam if we weren't Auburn fans?"

His immediate answer was no.  But then he thought a minute and with a sigh he said this, "You know, I would like to think we would be.  I would like to think we would believe him even if he wasn't playing at Auburn."  His response hit me in my core.  And I hope I will remember this night the next time something happens to a player that isn't playing on my team.

But back to my void of response for a minute.  This lady really got under my skin.  And at 5am on Sunday morning it hit me.  I had a rebuttal.

"Excuse me ma'm.  I couldn't help but overhear your comment.  And I have a question for you.  I'm sure you are aware that both the NCAA and the FBI have investigated into this matter with Cam Newton.  And I'm curious.  What do you know that they don't?"

Yes!

Wet and Snowy Weekend in Nashville

Ahhh

Home. Sweet. Home.

Grant and I just returned from a weekend in Nashville.  We took advantage of some cheap flights with Southwest Airlines and got away for the weekend.  I just thought it was cold here.  Saturday it rained.  And was cold.  Luckily, the Hall of Fame was selling these sporty ponchos.

Then the temperature really dropped.  And Sunday we got about 2-3" of snow.  Its a little hard to see, but it was coming down pretty good and you can see it in the background of these pictures.  And don't let Grant fool you.  It was really cold.

But we were determined to have a good time.  And we succeeded tremendously!

• Sleeping in - Check
• Laying around and watching movies - Check
• Good food - Check
• Rockettes - Check
• Country Music Hall of Fame - Check
• Opryland Hotel - Check

It so hard to do the trip justice because there were so many aspects that were awesome.  I plan on writing about a few highlights individually, so look for more to come.

Alas, we don't have anymore pictures though.  This is every picture we took and all three were with our phones.  So glad we took our camera.

Top 4 Likes from My VA Winters

Going to college in Virginia you would think that I could handle some cold weather.  And don't get me wrong, there are some things that I loved about the cold while I was there.  But I'm such a wimp now and the slightest dip in temperature sends me running to turn up the thermostat.

So, to try and take my mind off these 20 degree nights I'm going to reminisce about my winters in Virginia and all the good stuff that went along with it.

1.  The snow.
Freshman year I remember our first blanket of snow.  You could definitely tell who was from the South because all of us idiots were out playing in it and none of us owned anything appropriate for that kind of weather.  There was this one guy from FL that lived in my dorm and he just threw a bathrobe over his flannel pajamas and ran outside to jump in the beautiful white stuff.  I'll probably never forget that first time I played in it.

2.  The Sledding.
Oh, how I loved sledding.  My roommate was a seasoned sledding veteran and showed me the ropes.  The Colonnade provided a perfect ramp.  Students would bring out treys from the dining hall.  Some would sled on cardboard boxes.  By the end of it I owned my very own saucer sled.  Two of us could sit in it and we would go flying down the hills.

Here is a picture of the Colonnade with snow.

3.  No class. (sometimes)
Living in a mountainous region and taking morning classes often meant that class would be cancelled.  I remember sitting in my Econ class waiting on our Professor to arrive.  Everyone was debating how long to wait around.  Do we evoke the 5 minute rule, 10 minute rule or 15 minute rule before we all take off? We decided to go with the 15 minute rule because our professor was in fact the Dean of the Business School.  We wait and wait and wait.  And after about 14 minutes he races through the door.  Surprised that we are all still there.  (Great, we should have went with the 5 minute rule)  He then informed us how fortunate we were because he had parked his car at the bottom of his driveway the night before.  And it was a good thing cause his driveway was iced over and he would not have been able to get to campus otherwise.

4.  The online shopping.
Coming from South GA I was not prepared for the VA temperatures.  Or I should say my wardrobe was not prepared.  I did a lot of online shopping while in college and the majority consisted of warm sweaters and coats.

Irish Lamb Poncho

Sometimes LB and I like to have mini photo shoots.

Today she is wearing the adorable Lamb poncho given to her by cousin Martha who picked it up on her travels in Ireland last year.

New Hat

If you have been around me at the lake or the beach during the summer, then you know I am a huge fan of sun hats.  HUGE.  But when my hubby told me he bought me something over the weekend it never crossed my mind that it would be a new hat.

I closed my eyes while he brought my gift into the room.

Ta da!!!

LOVE my new hat!

Now we just need to go somewhere warm and sunny so I can sport it around.

Stay Warm Baby

 It is supposed to be 23 degrees tonight!  Brrr...

LB is 15 months old and I still don't know how to best keep her warm at night.  She sleeps in warm pajamas with footies, which helps a lot.  But she is all over the bed when sleeping so you can't keep a blanket on her.  In fact, she prefers sleeping on top of her blankets.

We turn up the thermostat, but she still gets cold.  I think her room is the coldest in the house.

So tonight I tried something new.  I pulled out several of her blankets and draped them over the blinds, which do little to keep out the cold.  Immediately you could tell a difference in her room.  Win.

And here are a few pictures of my brown-eyed girl from last week.

Sporting her very first ponytail.  Perhaps the cutest ponytail I've ever seen.

O Christmas Tree

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

My grandmother gave me this tree last year so that LB could have a tree in her nursery.  Currently, the tree rests in our den where our big tree normally would sit.  And by big tree I mean our 6 ft fake tree that is still in the box out in the garage.  We haven't gotten it out because we have about decided to get a real tree.  After reading my sister-in-law's blog, A Blog Grows in Brooklyn, we decided it is about time we raise the bar and go for the real thing.

But sitting in the den on a Sunday afternoon I'm tempted to just put this tiny tree up on a table and call it a day.  I won't have to worry about LB pulling off breakable ornaments.  This one spins, lights up and plays music.  No clean up involved.

Hmmm.  Its tempting.

Preparing for a Hand Cramp

Starting to sign 111 Christmas cards for our restaurant general managers, assistant managers and shift leaders.

After the third one I wished that my name was shorter.  My dad gets off easy - Dan.

Do you think people would be offended if I use my name stamp?  Elizabeth P Faulk.

Might look a little awkward with everyone else just signing their first name.

Alas.

Happy Birthday Brittany

About 9 years ago I met a friend that I will have for a lifetime.

Brittany and I were freshman roommates at W&L.  She was from VA and I was from GA.  She played soccer growing up and I played tennis.  She was very driven in her work and so was I.  The computer system actually did a great job matching us up.

But even with all these similarities we weren't really friends that first fall semester.  It wasn't that we didn't like each other it was more that I had a horrible class load (probably my worst out of all 4 years there) and Britt had a lighter load.  So, while I was stuck in the library we just never really got a chance to get to know one another.

But after living in the dorm room that we had it was inevitable that we would have to get to know one another.  I wish I could do our room adequate justice in describing it, but there is no way.  Just suffice it to say that after our freshman year - the year of the largest freshman class ever to step foot on campus and they were searching for places to put us all - they made our room a single forevermore.

But because of this tiny living space we eventually were forced to find out each others quirks.  And I'm so glad we did.

Brittany and I have traveled all over together.  My parents used to laugh at Thanksgiving when I came home cause they knew I would be telling them what I wanted for Christmas and it always involved a plane ticket.

Sophomore year we went to Hawaii and stayed with my cousin Cage who was doing his "study abroad".  We came back so tan and completely relaxed.  We would actually walk 2 miles to the beach each day while Cage was in class.  And just lay there all day.  I took my accounting exam early so that we could have 9 days instead of just 7 in Hawaii.  Ended up with a C in that class.  But it was worth it.

Senior year Brittany had just returned from a semester abroad in Australia and had the traveling bug.  But she had not been to Europe.  So I told her she could pick the place as long as I had never been there before.  What a destination - Norway and Denmark.  I actually saw on the news the other night that the largest gingerbread village in the world is in Bergen, Norway - and I have been there!

We went to DC, Atlanta, Charleston, Annapolis, San Francisco, Compass Lake, Panama City.  The list could go on.

Brittany is one of my best lifelong friends and today is her birthday.  She is a successful accountant in Boston.  Her work ethic and values have been an example to me through the years.

My grandfather used to say that if you have five great friends in your life then you are doing really well.  Brittany is definitely one of my five great friends.  And today I wish her a wonderful happy birthday.
Love and miss you.

Dress Up

LB wanted to play dress-up today with Daddy's jacket.

Baby it's cold outside

Oh Happy Day!

Black Friday Morning and Game Day Afternoon

Oh Happy Day!

Book Club 101

Growing up I never was a big reader.  I always wanted to play outside instead.  But my mom had a rule that we always had to have a book going.  Even if it just meant reading a few pages at bedtime.  Over time I grew to love reading.  My sister - who is now a librarian - used to recommend books to me.  We figured out that if she enjoyed a book I probably wouldn't like it, and vice versa.

I now am a part of a book club.  We are all newbies having just started our second book.  But I think everyone is really enjoying it.  Some come with English degrees, some with just a love of books, and some who couldn't even fathom the idea of getting together to discuss books.  We have different tastes in books.  But somehow we all mesh well together, and everyone has something special to bring to the group.

But after our second meeting where we actually discussed our first book I realized something - it really isn't about the reading or the books, although they are important.  The books are just our avenue and excuse for getting together.  What I value about our book club is that we are just an ordinary group of girls learning from each other's life experiences that inevitably come out over the snacks, book discussions and hang time.

Every girl needs a girls group.  Mine just happens to be about books.

Dad's Article - 20 Things I am Thankful For

Check out Dad's Thanksgiving article 20 Things I am Thankful For

Intentional at Life

Life is way too short. 

 Be intentional about living it.

Bring On the Holidays

One week ago we only had one day booked for the upcoming Thanksgiving week.  As of today, we have something every. single. day.  {insert sign here}

And as I woke up from my Sunday afternoon nap today, all I could think about is how fast our lives have become.  And I need to savor every minute of it.  Starting right now.

Life is fast and busy.  But that doesn't mean it has to be stressful too.

I say, Bring on the Parties ~ Family ~ Friends ~ and even the busy schedule!

This week I am thankful for:

• my nephew that my daughter loves to chase around, hug, and kiss
• Love In Action - who makes me want to step out of my comfort zone
• family that adores my little girl as much as I do
• My husband's guys group that pours into him 
• Football on Friday 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEK!

What are you thankful for during this busy time of year?

Oh How I Love Saturdays

This morning my hubby got up with our daughter at 5am so I could get a few more snores in.  We shared a cup of coffee together and split our biscuits with our early bird.  Then we finished the crossword.  All before 7am.

Oh how I love Saturdays.

Crawlers Dress Clips

What do you do when you have an idea?  Well, I'm not a very patient person so typically I jump all over it. This time its a bit different.

I have this idea for a product for crawlers.  For baby girls.

When LB was learning to crawl she would crawl funny when wearing a dress because it would always get caught under her knees.  She could never get around very well.  And trying to tie the dress up in the back never worked for us.  Thus, the dress clip was born.

I'm still working on the designs.  Exploring materials.  Figuring out what hardware works best.  And trying to determine how much of an investment to put into it.

With lots of prayer and God leading the way, I'm ready to take this just one step at a time instead of diving in head first.

So, is this something that people would be interested in?  Don't know.  But I want to find out.  The first three people that respond requesting one of my dress clips I will gladly send to you free in exchange for feedback and pictures of it being used.

And please - all feedback is greatly appreciated!

Here are the designs I currently have.  Unfortunately, my model is napping so you'll just have to imagine them being worn.

Weagle Weagle

Going to Auburn for the weekend is always a high point, but this past weekend was particularly special.  It marked the 2nd Annual Ham-Ponder Family Reunion.

The two smallest Auburn Fans at the party - Henry and LB

With 20 tickets together, you would look down the row and all you could see were Ponders and Hams - literally!  It was incredible.  Immediately, a tradition was born.

With the family split between Auburn and Georgia fans, this past weekend's ballgame provided a perfect and natural fit for the gathering.  Having just started the reunion last year in Donalsonville with the Ponder side playing hosts, this year the Hams were hosting in their neck of the woods.

Plenty of delicious food, a fabulous gathering house for tailgating and plenty of cousins, aunts, uncles and grandmothers - it was a great weekend!

Carter and LB hanging out - She loved to admire his beautiful blond locks 

Uncle Ernest hanging out in the front yard