On The Road Again...

Tomorrow I head out for another adventure, unfortunately I do have a predetermined destination: Panama City. However, I must say of all the predetermined destinations it is one of my favorites. It is quite a long drive down there, for what usually is a short trip (I usually only go down for a weekend, however this time I am going down for about 5 days), it is well worth it!

Panama City holds 4 years of great memories, and though most of my close friends no longer live there (some do!), I always go down the panhandle for great events such as weddings and showers and along the way get to see the people I love!

The Lost Christmas List

"On this eve of the winter holidays, I hope that you and yours are spellbound with the thought that life is beautiful."
Print by Penelope Dullaghan

On the eve of Christmas, we sometimes get caught up in all the things we have to do (cookies to make, rooms to clean, presents to wrap, relatives to pick up) that it seems that the "to-do" list will never end. Don't forget to take a moment even in the midst of your most busiest time of day to remind yourself what this time of year is truly about. The birth of our Savior coming to the world as a baby into a manger. When you are running into the mall fighting the crowds or stuck in traffic, sing Silent Night to yourself.

A Palm Tree & Sandy Christmas Celebration

Every year my mom's side of the family gets together for an early Christmas celebration in Orlando. Though sometimes life gets in the way and our family is unable to make it (as we are the ones the live the furthest away) however this year we were able to get away from the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season and make the very long drive. Though the drive is long and the trip is always too short, it is always worth it to be with family.

We arrived in Orlando at about 4pm on Friday afternoon at my mom's brother home (my Uncle Rusty, Aunt Debbie, and my twin cousins Breanna & Jared). After dinner, we took a walk around an area in Orlando with a lake that was lite up with the perfection of Christmas - lights, music, people with their families!

Saturday morning brought along an early Christmas celebration as more family arrived we had a full Christmas style meal. All the cousins sat at a table, and following our meal we played Apples to Apples! Let me tell you, there were a lot of laughs. I could have played the game with them for hours. Afterwards we opened presents, played Wii, then played more Apples to Apples.

Unfortunately our trip came to a close on Sunday morning as we headed out and go stuck in awful traffic on the way home.

Cannot wait for next year!

Down the Rabbit Hole

Purchase print here

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?"

- Alice in Wonderland

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

I love Christmas!
The lights, the music, the decorations, the shopping, the season, the joy!

Except, I hardly ever decorate my office for Christmas, it just isn't a priority. For the past several years I take the majority of my vacation during the month which puts me out of the office for two or two and a half weeks. It seems silly. Except this year...this year, when we went shopping for our house Christmas tree they had mini Christmas trees! I couldn't resist, so I bought one for my office! After only being in the office for only a mere few hours Dean had already called my tree, a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, so since then I have been referring to my tree as a "him". Within a day or so, I began referring to my tree as Charlie...I don't know why, but maybe it is because he is very cute! I will be getting a mini tree for my office every year from now on.

Monday Night Football!

For any of you sports fanatics out there, you know that Monday night's game was very important, it determined the number one spot in the NFC Southern division (the Carolina Panthers & the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were tied). My family has always been huge Buccaneer fans, my dad was a fan back in the day when the colors were orange and they couldn't win a game.

With the big Monday night game approaching, I decided that the best thing I could get him for Christmas was a pair of tickets to the game. Granted we had been to a game before (in a 100 section only 3 rows from the field) but it wasn't a nationally televised game! I spent endless hours trying to find decent tickets that were not outrageously priced! And I finally did it, the week before the big game! I traveled to Raleigh on Saturday (just days before) to pick up the tickets). My dad could not have been more excited, like a kid going to Disney!

After work on Monday, my dad & I dressed out in our best Bucs gear - you know, we were decked in lots of red and stuck out like sore thumbs among all the Panther blue!
The tickets I bought were very pretty good seats (Section 256 Row 11) and though it was cold and the Buccaneers lost to the Panthers (which meant a lot of harassment for the next week at work!); it was a great game and I love the bonding time that I had with my dad! That picture is the view from our seats - nice isn't it?

Art & The Cajun Queen

There is nothing better than a Friday night with friends, especially when you experience parts of the city that you never have before. That is one of my favorite things to do....go to place in Charlotte I haven't seen....eat at place that I have never tasted. Last night was one of those perfect evenings (well the weather was a bit more chilly than I prefer). A few friends (Matt & Taryn and Peter & Andrea) and I got all dressed up for the night our plan was to go up to the NoDa area for the gallery crawl then a resturant in Uptown for dinner.

[Side note: My intentions for you going up there was to see a co-worker/friend of mine his new business grand opening was having a photography gallery...however I left the address card and he didn't get back with me until we had already left for dinner.] I love looking at pieces of art - all types - even when they are too expensive to buy. I love studying the colors, textures, and sometimes hidden surprises (such as one piece I saw had puzzle pieces on the canvas but they were painted over with the scheme of the piece) within the piece. I sometimes ponder if I am artistic enough to repeat what they have done. Then there are times that I am in complete awe of a painting because it is so picture perfect. Like the piece we saw at the Center of the Earth Gallery it reminded me of watching the sunset at my MawMaw's place in Edisto Island. The artist is James Cooley and this particular piece is called Retreating Light, it was almost perfect that I couldn't tell that it has been hand painted or that is an oil painting on canvas...it looked too much like a photograph. I was in complete awe.

After hitting up a few galleries, we jumped back into the car and headed to dinner. We all decided to go eat at the Cajun Queen. I have always heard raves and reviews about the restaurant located in a historical home in the Elizabeth neighborhood. And let me just say, it lived up to all of the raves & reviews! Someone ordered Fried Green Tomatoes as an appetizer, and I have had Fried Green Tomatoes before but never like this! I recommended it. I ordered the etouffee with shrimp and crawfish, and a cup of the seafood gumbo. It was delicious. Every bite.

Overall I would have to rate the Friday night out as a success!

The Spirit of Sharing

I have come across some new songs that I highly enjoy...thought I would share them with you:


After purchasing the Twilight soundtrack through iTunes, I fell in love with this song. Its is so raw.



Another Twilight soundtrack find. Though I have always been a fan of Linkin Park, their lyrics always seem to rock me to the core.


I cannot deny my love for Britney...crazy or not! Though I think this song is real because every girl has come across this guy (womanizer). I know I have.


Hope you enjoy!

I Am...

I am stronger than I look.
I am a girlie girl - with the hidden past of a tomboy.
I am not afraid of most bugs...maybe just scary looking ones.
I am afraid of spiders.
I am a believer and live my life for Christ.
I am still afraid of death.
I am the only version of me that you will ever meet.
I am in love with life.
I am a tree hugger.
I am a hopeless romantic.
I am a bit of a cynic.
I am loud.
I am funny.
I am looking for real love.
I am messy.
I am a beautiful mess.
I am happy.
I am sarcastic.
I am always giving advice, but never taking it.
I am more artistic than I seem.
I am usually emotionally charged.
I am stubborn.
I am crazy.
I am early.
I am late.
I am never on time.
I am hyper.
I am calm.
I am energetic.
I am lazy.
I am a big kid.
I am my mother's daughter.
I am level headed....most of the time.
I am a talker.
I am quiet over at times.
I am sometimes mean.
I am a writer.
I am fun.
I am known as Turkey.
I am known as Monkey.
I am fashion forward.
I am 24 and sometimes act that way. I sometimes act my shoe size.
I am trustworthy.
I am honest.
I am a Bucs fan.
I am habitual.
I am spontaneous.
I am committed.
I am a lover.
I am a fighter.
I am clumsy.
I am blessed.
I am me.