20!5

I must admit I fell WAY behind on blogging this year. The year was so jam packed with excitement that my blog fell by the way side. I basically went back and blogged everything that happened in November and December. However, this past year was probably one of THE best although it came with THE most change!!! I've done this survey the past several years and I love it. I just have to reflect on this year- it was a good one. 

What did you do this year that you had never done before?

I think the easier question would be what did I do that I HAD done before. Ha Ha

I lived in  Chapel Hill

I completed over 30 Pure Barre classes during my stay in Chapel Hill

I graduated with my Master's degree

I was a part of my brother's wedding and a maid of honor in my best friend's wedding 

I was given four bridal showers!

I had a bachelorette weekend

I got married!

I went on a honeymoon to St. Lucia

I moved to a new state with my husband

and I started my first job!

Did anyone close to you give birth?

My friend Sierra gave birth to her sweet baby girl, Rielynn on April 2nd.

Did anyone close to you die?

Andy's Aunt Becky and Grandpa Wallace passed away in October.

What dates from 2015 will remain etched in your memory?

OF COURSE, August 8th!!!

Did you suffer any illness or injury?

Thankfully, other than my minor gum surgery in March to fix some receding gums, I stayed healthy my last semester of graduate school. I actually ended up getting a stomach bug the week before my bachelorette weekend which was awful. Other than that, I had a week-long sinus infection in October. I'm thankful for my health this year. 

What was the best thing you bought?

I'd say the best thing I bought was paying my rent and bills with Andy, with our own money earned from our jobs, for the first time. It was such a rewarding feeling to be able to use our own money that we earned this year. 

Where did most of your money go?

Most of mine and my parents money went to our wedding!! 

What songs will remind you of 2015?
Without a doubt "Watch Me Whip." I think the songs each year just get dumber Ha ha Oh and also our first dance song too :-) Still Fallin' by Hunter Hayes

What do you wish you would have done more of?

 Oh my goodness. Answering this question is easy because I could not have possibly done more!!! I'm absolutely happy with all of life's events this year and I don't think I needed to do more of anything! Hah

What was your favorite tv program?

My favorite TV shows haven't really changed. I still love Dancing With the Stars and The Bachelor. I got into Shark Tank this fall with Andy. 

What is the best book you read this year?

I honestly didn't read many books this year either. I was able to read one over our honeymoon (The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand) and one during the month of December (Christmas Bliss by Mary Kay Andrews).  I guess those would have to be my favorites Ha Ha

What did you do on your birthday?

My birthday was filled with wedding activities, what else!? :-) I threw a bridal shower for my best friend. After Amy's shower, we rode together to pick up my bridesmaids' dresses and she had a dress fitting. I ended the day celebrating with dinner & cupcakes with my family!

Where did you travel?

 Morgantown to Andy's Barrister's Ball in March

Boone for graduation in May

Charleston, SC for Amy's Bachelorette weekend in June

Two trips to Carolina beach in May and June

West Virginia for a 4th of July at Andy's parents

Wilmington for my Bachelorette weekend in July

Lewisburg when we decided to live here the first weekend of August

St. Lucia on our honeymoon in August!

Blacksburg for a Brad Paisley concert Labor Day weekend and a football game in October

Greenville for ECU/VT game in September

A few trips home to Charlotte

and our holiday travel that I just posted about to Wilmington then a 5 day trip to Charlotte, Salemburg, and Craigsville!

I simply cannot believe how jam packed this year was. Making this post wore me out. It was so incredibly full of FUN and exciting things!!!! My wish for 2016 is for stability and contentment with some fun thrown in there too :-) 2015, you were very fun. Cheers to 2016!! 

Our First Christmas Decorations!

I cannot let this Christmas go by without documenting our Christmas decorations in our first home!! We started out with basically NOTHING! However, we started buying things around Veteran's Day and we have gathered quite the collection. I have loved our home this Christmas and I am sad to put it away! 

Welcome to our cozy Christmas home! 

On our entry table, we have an advent tree from Target and a sparkly gold sign from Hobby Lobby. 

Christmas trees & Santa from Target

I just love this JOY sign we found at one of our local antique shops. This cute snowman that matches the tree on the other side of our TV stand is from Old Time Pottery. 

We got the Christmas car from my Mom (which I think came from my Aunt Christie!), stocking hangers from Lowes, and stockings from Personal Creations :-) 

This precious nativity scene is from Hobby Lobby. 

I'm obsessed with our tree skirt and the pillow below which are from Hobby Lobby.

Walking into our kitchen, you see one of my very favorite Christmas decorations: our cards! 

The cute Santa in the middle is from Hobby Lobby. 

Here is a full view of our Christmas kitchen

This cute little Christmas corner includes a tree I bought in college and a cute display plate from Hobby Lobby. 

Our "chalk" Merry Christmas sign is from Hobby Lobby and I got the salt & pepper shakers from my Nana.

We got this neat sign from the Greenbrier Christmas shop. 

The cute Santa night light is from my Nana and the Christmas serving plate is from Old Time Pottery. 

The snowman beside the candle was my Mama Faye's :-)

Finally, we bought this piece for our dining room table from the Greenbrier Christmas shop. I think our table will be our focus for sprucing up next year ;-) 

Family Christmas Travel Tour!

Whew!! We are back home after traveling over 1.6 thousand miles to visit family over Christmas. I thought about dividing our Christmas into posts but I'm just going to group it all together!  We arrived to Charlotte on the night of the 23rd and began celebrating then! 

Christmas Eve

We went to the Christmas Eve service at Carmel

Then we headed over to Dad and Kendall's to have Christmas dinner and open gifts with them! I didn't take any other pictures besides the pretty decorations but we had fun, as always! ;-) 

Christmas Day

We woke up Christmas Day at Mom's and we had our usual tasty breakfast and opened presents together! I didn't take any pictures that morning (boo!) but shortly after we hit the road towards Salemburg for a Royal Christmas! 

We loved spending time with Mom's family that night and watched our very last Christmas movie of the season, Four Christmases. Saturday morning we woke up and headed to Craigsville for Christmas with Andy's family! 

Isabell Christmas

We had appetizer foods (Pepperoni Night - as the tradition is called) and watched the Virginia Tech bowl game Saturday night. We were happy that Virginia Tech's long time coach won his very last football game! 

We woke up and had breakfast together Sunday morning before opening presents. Andy's parents always number everyone's gifts so we all open them in order. It was a fun way to make present opening last longer! Unfortunately, the Panthers lost their first game of the season that afternoon leaving them 14-1. We're still holding out hope for the Super Bowl!! 

Sunday night, we wrapped up Christmas festivities by having a game night! It was so much fun playing Scattergories and Taboo. We had many laughs. We woke up early this morning and came back home. We are both exhausted, but we feel so very blessed. Thankful for a wonderful Christmas with our families!!