Celebrating Meredith & Stevens!

This past weekend, Graham and I drove down to Columbia to celebrate Meredith Sawyer & Stevens Walker at their engagement party! 

They are getting married on July 7, 2012!  Meredith, or "Murph" as she is so often called, is one of my closest friends.  When we were in college, I accompanied Meredith and her family on many of their vacation trips.  I always look forward to my time with her-there is never a dull moment!  I am so happy for her and Stevens as they prepare for their wedding!  They are a lovely couple and I am so thrilled for the two of them.

Here are some pictures from this weekend! 

  

Love you Murph!

Our Winter Getaway

Graham and I decided to treat ourselves to a long weekend down at Kiawah a couple of weekends ago.  I just LOVE going to the beach in the winter.  Ask me if I wanted to go to the beach in the winter as a child and I would have thought you were crazy!

As a little girl, I grew up only an hour away from Myrtle Beach so one of my favorite things to do was go there with my family as often as possible so that I could sink my toes in the sand, enjoy swimming, and the sunshine.   During the winter months, I missed the beach so much and could barely wait for the warmer weather.  

Now... I love the beach in the winter because it isn't crowded, you don't have to get in a teeny tiny bathing suit, you don't have to worry about what your body looks like because you are bundled up in several layers, and it's better for your skin because you aren't showing any-haha! 
Graham and I spent our time fishing, crabbing, riding bikes, cooking wonderful meals, and walking on the beach. 

Here are some pics :)

"Gonna put the the world away for a minute

Pretend I don't live in it

Sunshine gonna wash my blues away..." -Zac Brown Band

A Toast to 2012!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain

Here are a few pictures from our New Years Eve/Day Celebration! Enjoy!

New Year's Eve consisted of great company, sparkly hats and decorations, resolutions, traditional feast of pork, collard greens and black-eyed peas, kisses, champagne, and a very competitive game of pictionary.



On New Year's Day, the family gathered for our annual Oyster Roast. Jack brought his homemade vinegar concoction-which by the way was A-mazing! This was the perfect way to start of the New Year!  I think I'm gonna like 2012! 

Mason Jar filled with Jack's special vinegar sauce

Jack!

Mollie, Lillian, & Frances

                                                                Napkins & Forks? I think I liked the fun napkins :)

                                                                       Mollie, Graham, & Jack taking Oyster shots

One of the many, many ping pong matches!

Many people make New Year's resolutions that are easily broken.  Instead of making shallow or superficial resolutions for this New Year, I wanted to make deeper more meaningful resolutions-you know, the ones that make you feel warm inside and good about yourself.  This way I wont feel defeated by an uncomplished goal.  My New Year's resolutions came straight from a song called "Love like Crazy" by Lee Brice.

(1) Be a best friend

(2) Tell the truth
(3) And overuse "I love you"
(4) Go to work and do your best
(5) Don't outsmart your common sense
(6) Never let your prayin' knees get lazy
(7) And love like crazy

So far, so good!

A Tribute to 2011

While I am excited about what "Twenty Dozen" will bring, I want to reflect on some memories that were made in 2011:

“Each new day is a blank page in the diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can.” I wish you Happy New Year and diary full of best stories ever written in your life." -Douglas Pagels

A Very Merry Married Christmas

Graham and I had a very merry married Christmas!  As we were preparing for Christmas we were trying to think of some traditions that we could start as a family (the two of us plus our dog) and participate every year from now on.  We decided to start out by going to see the Roper Mountain Christmas Lights.

Then... we watched the movie Bad Santa per Graham's request...and let's just say this will not be a part of our Christmas traditions.   Funny but terrible language...

On Christmas Eve we went to church with Mollie and Jay at Westminster and then we went to Denver Downs Farm to hang out with the Spragues!

Later that evening, I started preparing for our Christmas morning breakfast.  Graham and Mollie have always talked about their mom making these "AMAZING" ham and cheese biscuits that they would eat every Christmas morning.  I wanted to try my hand at making them-I figured it might be complex since Graham's mom is a wonderful cook and I am not.  They were surprisingly simple and delicious.  Along with the ham biscuits, I made french toast on homemade bread, grapefruits sprinkled with sugar, coffee, and freshly squeezed orange juice!  It was all wonderful and made the perfect start to Christmas morning.  Here is a picture :)

Recipe for our Christmas Biscuits

After we ate breakfast we opened our presents!

Then we went over to Charles and Tracy's home (Graham's aunt and uncle) where the whole family gathered to celebrate Christmas. 

We saw Grandmother Haaaaaaaardaway,

Lillian, Frances, and Ben,

Mills (the newest addition),

Jay and Mollie (I like your jeans Jay),

Gray,

Eric & Janelle,

and many, many more!

It's been a great Christmas y'all!  Hope yours was just as merry!

Gail