Color Me Christmas

For the first time in my life, I am actually on top of things for the Holiday Season! We've got 35 gifts down and just 15 more to go! All but 3 of the remaining gifts have been figured out. I cleared off our dining room table and layed out everything, labeled and grouped items while Martin stood there shaking his head, as he so often does when I embark on projects. But I know he's grateful that I've been dedicated to staying organized and ahead of the game because I've been able to hit up some great deals and save us a good amount of dough! One of the best tips I've learned this season is how to save money on wrapping! I found 100 feet of the cutest paper on sale for $1.00 and bought a big ol' thing of very thick yarn for 3 buckaroos. Every gift is getting wrapped the same, which I think will look very nice under our future tree! Cha-ching, money saved by not buying a different bag for every gift! Call me Mrs. Saves-a-lot!

The Deathly Hallows Experience

Last night, finally, was the opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One! I've been counting down since, well, honestly since I read the last page of Book 7 over 3 years ago! I must give a shout out to my hubby for his wonderful patience this past week as I have been a giddy moron! Thursday morning we woke up and the first words out of my mouth were, "Harry Potter day tomorrow!"

I spent yesterday in full on celebration. Our tickets were for the 8:10 IMAX show at Universal Studios, so I had some time to pass! I decided to prepare a surprise treat for my fellow Harry Potter fans that would be accompanying me......ta-da, Cauldron Cakes!



Then I decided I needed a visual to express my Harry Potter support and what better way to so so than to paint my tosies in Gryffindor Red and Gold!



All decked out and ready to go, we met Erin and her kids, Anna Marie & Jonathan, an hour and a half before showtime.



Only to find the longest line in the history of lines!!! Ok, not really, but it was a pretty serious line....



...and that's only 1/3 of it! No kidding! After much pacing and game planning, they finally let us in and we got really great seats! I didn't even have to tackle anyone to get them! Popcorn and wand in hand I sat in pure bliss for two and a half hours. It was amazing. I'm so grateful to be a fan of these books and movies! Part 2 opens next summer and I'm already making plans. Martin is so excited..... :)

Sweet Friends!

Last weekend the Stafford family, lifelong friends, came to Orlando for a Disney Family Vacation and we were so excited to meet up with them at the ESPN Zone at Disney's Boardwalk! It was GREAT to see them and it was Martin's first time to meet the legendary Big Al! We had a blast and wish we could have had a little bit more time together, but we look forward to our next visit, which we hope will be soon!

Harry Potter Here I Come

In just 6 days, the first part of the final chapter in the Harry Potter series will make it's big screen debut and I am all but having a heart attack! I am a huge fan of the books and movies and am literally counting down to this! We (me, Martin & my friend Erin) already have our tickets and you can bet I will be in line several hours ahead of time! In honor of the upcoming event, I thought I'd share a clip or two...

Happy 30th To Me!

Well, I thought 30 would be dreadful, you know, forcing me to officially become a grown up and therefore behave as such. But, really it was wonderful and I feel that, yes, I'm a married woman and must care for my responsibilities, but silliness and enjoying life doesn't have to end with your 20s! In fact, it is me and my quirkiness that people love so much and I have no intention of losing something that has brought these wonderful people into my life! Thank you to my friends for toasting my 30th into the night, my family for making me feel loved and important, and a special thanks to my husband, who puts a smile on my face everyday and makes me feel like I'm a bit more special than everyone else because God blessed me with you!

Here's how I rang in the Big 3-0:

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Siddy's Vacation!

My sister, Rachel, came to visit us for nine days! Its was awesome to have her and it made me realize how much I miss my family and wish we could see them all much more often!

While she was in town it was go, go, go! Her and I went to the beach one of the first days she was here, while Martin went to work (ha ha sucker!). Perhaps karma paid me a visit for teasing Martin about working because I suffered a severe sunburn and spent the next several days whining every timed I moved and proving that I am definitely not a true Floridian. But aside from the vengeful sun, the beach was wonderful, quiet and relaxing. Hurricane "something or other" was out in the Atlantic, as is the norm here in Florida from May to November, so the waves were quite exciting and my sister and I enjoyed splashing around in them!

Also during her stay, we played some putt-putt golf (where I lost shamefully), visited Downtown Disney, went to Sea World (my sunburn cursed me) and had a party!

I think one of the highlights of her vacation was our trip to Universal. As any Harry Potter fan could tell you, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at Islands of Adventure earlier this year. Rachel made me wait until she could come into town to go, and even though I gave her a hard time about that, I'm glad I got to share the experience with her! They did an amazing job with the park. I got chills upon first walking under the Hogsmeade arch. I have to give the Universal peeps credit, they put a lot of stock in the details and any HP book reader will thoroughly enjoy it!

My Siddy's trip went by way too fast, but it was great! Just a reminder that all of our family and friends are always welcome to make the trip and our home is always open!

60 and still rockin'!

Way, way, way back in August (obviously I'm not keeping up with this as much as I would like!) we went home to Texas for my aunt Niecy's 60th birthday party! My parents threw a party at their home and it had a huge turn out! My mom went all out and everywhere you turned there were beautiful pictures of my aunt from the past 60 years! It was a wonderful party and Martin and I were so happy we were able to make it home! 60 years! What an amazing milestone! We love you Niecy!

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