I'm Back!

I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post! Our computer crashed during the Thanksgiving holidays so we have been sans computer since then. Thankfully good old Santa heard the bad news and remembered to pack one in his sleigh for us. Now I can get back to blogging! It was hard not having a computer...how did we ever survive before computers??

Ryan and I had a great first Christmas as old married people. We celebrated Christmas together the Tuesday before. Ryan cooked dinner (yes!) and we opened presents. The hubby is a fabulous gift giver so I am always excited to open my packages. My favorite present from him was a Nook. He knows that I am a huge nerd at heart so the gift was perfect!

We spent Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with Ryan's family. It is so nice to have everyone in the same town. I don't know how we would do it otherwise. We both got some good loot and had a wonderful time hanging with the fam. My only complaint is that it all goes by too quickly!

The snow day was an exciting surprise to end the weekend. We bundled up so we could play in the snow with Addie and Charley, ate some snow cream, and enjoyed lounging around watching movies all day. I love it when SC gets some snow!

We are excited to see what 2011 has to offer! For now, I am off to take down the Christmas decorations and savor this last little bit of my break from work...

Check out our Christmas pictures...

Ryan and Addie building our Princess Snowman (or woman?)

Such a cute little snow bunny!

Our first Christmas!

HO HO HO!

Loving on Uncle Ry Ry!

A devilish little grin!

Marley Turns 3!

I cannot believe that Marley is already 3 years old! She is the legal drinking age in dog years. My little girl is growing up! It seems like just yesterday we were driving to Cheraw to meet her on Christmas Eve.

Funny side story about that trip... The man who was selling Marley gave us directions to his place and told us to just look for the house with the red door once we got on his street. We stopped at the first house we saw with a red door and started knocking. The people invited us in and told us to sit down. We started asking about the puppies, and they looked at us like we were crazy. Turns out we were at the wrong house! It was the house with the red door that was farther down the street that we were supposed to be at. I still can't believe those people invited us randoms into their house without knowing what in the heck we were there for! Cheraw is obviously a very trusting little town...good thing we weren't armed and dangerous.

When we finally got to the correct house and saw her precious little face we were in love at first sight! She was so cute I couldn't even stand it. We immediately decided she was the pup for us.

She has been the best dog I have ever had. When she was a little thing we took her everywhere! If we were going somewhere Marley was coming with us. Ryan and I were still in college at the time so she was a regular at all of our friend's parties. If we weren't allowed to take Marley where we were going we would cancel our plans...we didn't want to leave her alone!

Thankfully, we didn't spoil her too bad. She grew out of a lot of her spoiled habits when she had her puppies. Marley was the best little momma. Ryan and I were nervous wrecks when she was in labor! It is amazing how dogs just have the natural instinct to do all the crazy stuff they do during the birthing/raising puppies process. It just blew my mind! However, I'm going to skip over all those details because most of them are pretty yuck!

I'm pretty much just obsessed with good ol' Marley. Ryan is my #1 love and Marley comes in at an extremely close #2 love. Our little family wouldn't be the same without her!

Here are some pictures of the birthday girl!

Is this not the cutest thing you have ever seen?

Marley at one of the many parties she attended. Thankfully, she didn't turn out to be too much of a party girl!


You can't help but love her!

Marley loves to play dress up!


Miss Marley on her birthday!

Megan Comes to Cola!

For the USC vs. Tennessee game Megan graced us with her presence. If Megan is in town you can count on a good time! My sister, Ashley, and her husband Robby were able to slip away from their parental duties to come hang with us too! Fun and too much sake was had by all. :)

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Sorry this is a short post, but I have to go to my Boot Camp class at the Y!

Two of my favorites! Wish Margaret would have been there! I can't wait for our annual Christmas dinner. It is always the highlight of my year. I'm counting down the days...where shall we eat this year loves?


T.Diddy and his girls!

Me and the hubbers!

I'm throwing these next two pictures in with this post because I can't get enough of these two cuties! Love them oh so much!

Ashley's little diva!



Ashley's wild child! This little one is always eating and always up to no good! :)

I hope everyone had a happy Monday! I only have 6 more wake ups and I'll be out for Turkey Day! Sooooooooooo excited!

State Fair Fun!

For day two of our weekend with Addy we headed to the fair. Sometimes Addy can be a bit of a scaredy cat so I was a little worried that she wouldn't want to ride any of the rides. However, I was wrong. She wanted to ride every single ride there, even the ones that went upside down. She was not impressed when I told her she wasn't tall enough to ride everything. Sooo with only minimal pouting, we stuck to the kiddie rides. It has been quite some time since I rode those things...they are much smaller than I remember them being. Addy was a regular old Evil Kenevil on those rides. She was the only kid with their arms up on the dragon coaster, and we pretty much had to hold her down in the ferris wheel because she wanted to hang her head over the side! What a wild child!

Ready to rock out at the fair!

love it!

Riding the ferris wheel

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee

We love the fair!

Lights out!



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When we got home from the fair Addy had to make a quick outfit change so she could cheer on USC during their game against Vanderbilt. Addy's new saying is, "Gamecocks rule and Tigers drool." I am pretty sure her Papa is responsible for teaching her that!

Come on Cocks let's go!

Addy loves her Uncle Ry Ry!

Boo at the Zoo!

A couple of weekends ago Ryan and I kept Miss Addison for the weekend. I enjoy giving Ashley and Robby a break from their little diva. We haven't gotten brave enough to keep both kids yet. Ryan says that being potty trained is a prerequisite for coming to stay with us! Clearly we are not ready for babies! :) However, we like practicing for the future...

We took her to Riverbanks' Boo at the Zoo. There were tons of little ones all dressed up in their costumes. Addy's costume was by far the best. She was the only peacock in the zoo! (You gotta love originality...good costume choice Ashley!) Anyway, she had an absolute ball trick or treating, riding the carousel, and roasting marshmallows. I hope we get to take her again next year. We will have to bring Charley along for the ride next Halloween!

Such a ham!

Addy the peacock!


Trick or treat...smell my feet!

I sure do love my little peacock!

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On Saturday we went to the fair. This was Addy's first trip to the state fair. I will do a post about that adventure tomorrow! Here are some pre fair pictures...

Cooking pancakes with Uncle Ry Ry

Yummy!

USC vs. Bama

I should have done this post last Sunday so my excitement from the big win was still intact. Unfortunately, the excitement is gone due to the ridiculous loss last night to Kentucky. Bad call Steve...bad call! Thankfully, Florida lost their game so we are still #1 in the East. I'm hoping for a big win over Vandy next weekend!

Williams Brice/Columbia was definitely wild after we knocked off #1. I've honestly never seen it like that! It was awesome to be a part of it all.

Here are some pics from the beat down...

Ryan and I are taking Addison to the fair next weekend. Looking forward to stuffing her full of fair food. It should be an interesting trip!

Late, Late, Late!

I am VERY behind with my blog! This post is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay late. I was going to skip over this one, but the pictures are too cute to pass up. I guess it is better late than never!



A couple of weekends ago we went on a family vacay to my parent's lake house. Just me, Ryan, and the pups. We were trying to soak up the last few hours of summer weather! We didn't do much of anything, and it was WONDERFUL! I love me some sitting around doing nothing! I got to finally read a book of my choice and not a teacher's edition something or other for school. We watched football, drank some adult beverages, and had a grand 'ol time!

Marley and Gonzo all suited up...Safety first!

Gotta love doggie life jackets!



Lovin' the water!

They swam around for hours, and then they slept for hours. Exactly what we wanted!

Splish, Splash!

Ryan's water taxi!

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On another note - Happy Gameday! Go Gamecocks...Beat Alabama!

Even Marley is a fan!

USC vs. Furman

Here are some pictures from the game!

The Whites ;)

Mary came to see us!

Jammin' to Blackbeard's Truck...the same band that played at our reception! Love them!

Caren & Oates doing some tailgaiting...

Ready for some football!

I love these people!

Gooooooooooooo Cocks!

The person who is responsible for me loving the Gamecocks! Like father, like daughter :)

Good times were had by all! However, the Auburn game last weekend was not such a good time for Gamecock fans. I do not like to be a loser! I am praying for a win against Alabama!