Deck the Halls! + Exciting News!

On December 1st, we got our tree! We would have gotten it sooner since Thanksgiving was so early this year, but we decided to wait until after our stay at the Greenbrier. Luci at home alone all night with the tree didn't sound like a good idea ;-)

Our Christmas tree date looked a little different this year since we did it on a Saturday. We had breakfast at home and stopped by Lowes (which was already picked-over!!) before getting our tree from The Lions Club. 

Luci came with us this year :-) 

Just like last year, we happened to drive up on the Christmas parade! This time we were on our way home from getting a tree. It had started to rain so it was pretty short but it was a great way to kick-off our day of decorating :-)

Our shelves above the TV looked a little different this year so I wanted to document it :-) 

After a full afternoon of work, our tree was done! We had officially decked the halls :-)

We headed over to the Connors for game night after all the decorating. Luci decided she would stay home and rest ;-) This was also the night of our last appliance fiasco. 

We've had quite a bit of chilly, snowy weather this week. Wednesday was a snow day so Becky and I went to get our nails done while Andy stayed with the kids. It was a pretty, snowy scene outside but we got DUPED! The guy applied gel and charged us for it without even asking first. Being the gel amateurs we are, we didn't even realize it had happened until it was $20 extra when we paid. Ugh! 

Luci's favorite way to watch the snow is by the Christmas tree. I adore this photo!

Yesterday, Andy and I went to Roanoke to get a lot of our Christmas shopping done. These musical bears set up in the Valley View Mall reminded me of the singing bears in downtown Charlotte :-)

Today we are hunkered down for what looks like a snow storm! Church has been cancelled so you can find us by the window watching the snow fall :-) 

... and if you've made it this far, I'm SO EXCITED to share that my brother and SIL are expecting!! We can't wait to meet baby Parker in June!

Our Stay at The Greenbrier Hotel

The week after Thanksgiving, Andy had a work conference at The Greenbrier. It was super exciting because we got to stay!! We've been over to The Greenbrier many times, but we've never stayed the night (it is only 15 minutes away ha ha). I ended up having a snow day due to icy-cold weather, so as soon as Andy got home from work we drove over to White Sulphur Springs.

How beautiful is that scene!?

It was a big deal that we got to check-in Ha ha

We went up to see our room right away. 

So gorgeous! & check out the view from our window! It was the perfect place to see the big Christmas tree lit up that night. 

After we settled in our room, we walked around looking at the Christmas decorations.

Then we just sat by the fire and talked for a while. 

How beautiful is this view from where we sat by the fire!?

We decided to have dinner at Drapers.

We didn't take any pictures of our entrees, but this ice cream looked so darling ;-)

After dinner, we strolled some more. We peeked into the theater room to see a few minutes of the Polar Express...

and we took a look outside at the gorgeous lights.

Andy met up with some of his law school friends for a while but I decided to relax in the room. Remember how we could see the big tree from our window? It looked amazing after dark!

The next morning while Andy was at his conference...

I was treated to room service. Holy cow! I've never had room service quite like this before. She brought in an entire table! Ha ha

After I ate breakfast, I just HAD to swim in the indoor pool. It was only about 10 degrees outside, but I've always wanted to dive in ;-) 

Of course the pool area was decorated for Christmas too.

I had a quick swim and then went back to the room to shower and get ready for the church event I had that evening. I decided to have lunch at Drapers. I'd never gotten a burger and shake there before, so why not? 

Around 3:00, I gathered my things and headed home. Andy still had one more day of his conference, but since Luci was at home & I had to work the next day, I decided to stay at home that night. 

I'm so grateful for this guy and the awesome people he works with. We obviously didn't HAVE to stay, but they treated us. What a FUN way to kick-off the Christmas season :-)