Thankful.

I can't believe it's already December. Thanksgiving has come and gone.  I'm not trying to be a cheeseball but this year I looked at Thanksgiving with an entirely new appreciation.  2012 has been a year with many challenges but also with many blessings.

A few weeks after we moved into our new house, we learned I was pregnant! We are beyond overjoyed and thank God everyday for this blessing He has given us. Drew and I decided that we would wait until after my first doctor’s appointment at 9 weeks to tell our family. My birthday happened to fall right around that time, so we planned a fun dinner at Parker House with our families to share the exciting news.  The weekend before our scheduled dinner, Drew’s mom had a brain aneurysm. She was rushed to UMC. Drew told his mom the news when she arrived at the ER as the doctors were preparing her for surgery. This was certainly not how we had planned to share the news. It took me awhile to understand, but I am finally beginning to see that perhaps God had a plan much greater than ours. Perhaps the timing for us to share the news with Drew’s mom ended up being exactly what she needed to find the strength to make it through the surgery and then continue to fight towards recovery. After 17 days in the NSICU, Debbie was moved to an intermediate rehab facility where she spent several weeks. She was then moved to Methodist Rehab, a more structured rehab facility here in Jackson, and now is at a rehabilitation center in Vicksburg. She is a miracle. That's all I can really say.   It has been a long road and she still has a long road of recovery ahead of her, but if there's one thing I know about my mother-in-law, it's the passion and enthusiasm she has for life. She's a fighter, and I know that God will continue to take care of her just as He did during those 17 days she spent in NSICU.

We spent Thanksgiving in Vicksburg this year. Debbie was able to leave the rehab facility for a few days to come home. As we set around the table to say the blessing, I felt overwhelmed with thanks. Thankful for our sweet baby who I have yet to meet but already love with all my heart, thankful to have my mother-in-law sitting at the table beside me, thankful that she will be able to meet her granddaughter, thankful for Drew for more reasons than I could ever list, thankful for our family and friends who love us and help us through the tough times and thankful that our baby girl will have so many people who love her.

K

There's No Place Like Home

Drew and I are finally homeowners again.  We moved into our new house in May. And while it was very nice not having a mortgage payment for a few months while we were shacking up in Vicksburg, I am overjoyed to have our own space again. You see, being the OCD person that I can tend to be, I need to know that all of my “things” are in the proper place. This is something that Drew has grown to deal with love when it comes to living together. It drove me crazy to have some things in storage, some at my parents’ house and then some in Vicksburg. I felt like I just couldn't get organized. But now we’re all settled into our new abode. And by settled I mean we have moved in and unpacked most of the boxes but still have yet to order real blinds, hang pictures, curtains and the list goes on. Why did I think we were just going to move in and have everything magically look like a page from the Pottery Barn catalog? As Drew says, we’ll get there. I envy the patience he possesses. For now, here’s a pic of our new place. It’s good to be home!

A New View

Earlier this summer, Drew and I decided to put our house on the market. We really loved our home but there were a few things we wanted to change, plus with interest rates being so low, we thought it might be the right time to look for something new. I must admit I had some reservations about even trying to sell our house with the economy being so crazy right now. We decided if someone offered us what we were asking, then it was meant to be, and we'd sell. If not, no worries, we'd just stay put. Well after about two months and not so much as an offer, we decided we'd take it off the market at the end of June. What do you know but the last week in June, we got an offer. After a little negotiating (and what seemed like a lot of waiting around), we accepted the offer and a couple weeks later officially sold our first house.

So then we were officially homeless. Yes, even as I type this I think to myself that Drew and I might just be insane. We have temporarily set up home in Drew's hometown of Vicksburg. We're actually living in his great-grandparent's house that was built in 18 something or other. It has stayed in the family all these years. Our backyard overlooks the Mighty Mississippi.

Not a bad view, right?

The view may be great, but I've told Drew not to get any crazy ideas - this Vicksburg thing is TEMPORARY. We've decided we want to build our next house, so we're in the process of reviewing plans, meeting with the builder and trying to get the ball rolling. It looks like we'll be here for a few months. Not really sure what to expect, but I'm trying to just relax and enjoy the view.

My Big Break

Lately Mississippi has been a buzz with movie talk. They're filming the movie The Help right up the road in Greenwood. They're even coming to Jackson this week to shoot a few scenes. The movie will be based on the book by Mississippi author, Kathryn Stockett. If you haven't read it already, I highly recommend you do. It's a great read, especially if you're from Jackson. So, a few months ago I saw an article in The Clarion Ledger about needing extras for the movie. I filled out the form and sent in a picture. I'd honestly completely forgotten about it when I got a call from the casting department. They asked me if I wanted to be an extra, the only catch was that I would need to commit to 5 days. I debated over it and decided that I just couldn't pass it up! Work was nice enough to let me take a few days off. So, I headed to Greenwood for the week. I must say I'm so glad I did! It was such a fun experience! Each morning the extras had to be at the shoot between 4:30 and 5 AM with our hair in rollers. We changed into our costumes and waited in line for what seemed like forever to have our hair and makeup done. My scene was the Junior League Benefit scene so I was all dressed-up in the finest formal attire.

What a fun scene to be in! I got to see Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard and Sissy Spacek just to name a few. Basically, the production assistants just gave us simple directions, like pantomime with each other and pretend to be mingling, then on this cue walk across the room to the auction table. There was lots of down time each day while we were waiting for the crew to change lighting, set up for a new scene, etc. By the end of the week all of the extras had gotten to know each other well. Everyone was so nice! Here's me and some of my "co-stars" below -Becky, Laura and Marley.

On Friday, we ended up filming until about 3:30 AM that night! We filmed the benefit arrival scene. It was amazing to see everything that went into making this scene, from the antique cars and outside landscaping to the costumes and props. My stage "husband" and I along with another couple got to stand on the balcony of the Greenwood Courthouse (aka the Andrew Jackson Hotel). Hopefully, that shot will make it in the movie! Now I realize there's a huge chance my scene could end up on the cutting room floor, but I have to say the whole experience was completely worth it! Now I only have to wait until October 2011 for the movie to come out!

Miskelly Waterfall (Mullet Action Shots)

The first pic is MONEY SHOT! It simply doesn't get any better than this. K and I always have the GREATEST time getting strategically positioned to non-chalantly take upclose pics. That included taking unposted pics behind couches and faux plants. We were very nervous that she would hear the camera snap. We finally decided to sit next to the breathen and take our chances. It paid off and passed time while we waited on our mattress purchase. Which leads me to this fine story during our mattress hunting experience.

The story.......Well we prolonged getting a new mattress since we got married. It was nearing 10 years old and I could feel the springs unloading off my shoulders and hips the last couple of months. (I still find it hard to believe that Kristin's bed and mattresses were a total $100- talk about a bargain!) My how far we have come, and we are grateful to finally a step up to the 21st century in sleep support! "Total body alignment!" I kept telling Kristin when trying mattresses. And yes, we kept laughing and laughing about that quote from Temperpedic commercials. It is true though. Laying on mattresses is tiresome and a little nasty. Just think of how many people have lied down and rolled around. That didn't keep Kristin from slamming a gross pillow in my face while I had my eyes shut. Reminds me of Derek sticking a nasty chess piece in my mouth he found on the floor in Nachidoches, LA hotel room several years ago. I still need payback for that by the way. And I have got to get better at my situational awareness!

Kristin and I had a great time Saturday and are happy about our purchase, and we definitely sleep better now!

Who dat!

All I can say is It's About Time!

Are You There Blog? It's Me, Kristin.

You're still here! I'm sorry I've neglected you for oh...just the past year and a half. Let's just pick up where we left off and pretend like I've been blogging all this time. Christmas was absolutely wonderful! We spent it in New Orleans with my entire family. It's so rare that we can all be together, and I must say I LOVED it.

Drew and I headed down to New Orleans Christmas Eve morning. We met the whole fam at Cafe Du Monde in the Quarter for some yummy beignets and coffee!

While at breakfast, Johnny and Amber surprised us with some exciting news! They're expecting a new baby in August. We're so excited for them and can't wait to have a new little niece or nephew. And I know our sweet little niece Adison can't wait to have a new little brother or sister. Not to sound like an obsessed aunt, but Adison had to be the cutest thing at Christmas -she had complete present OVERLOAD! Here's her snuggling with Unkie Dew!

The rest of our New Orleans vacay flew by with lots of aunts, uncles, cousins and Mimi time. When we got back to Jackson, we celebrated Christmas with Drew's family. Drew's mom's birthday is Dec 28th so we had a joint Christmas birthday celebration at our house. We ordered in food, had a few glasses of wine and watched the Bears game. A perfect, relaxing evening.

So now the holidays are over, and it's boring COLD January. But that's okay because 2010 is looking to be a pretty exciting year with bachelorette parties, weddings, trips, a new little niece or nephew and our 2 year anniversary. And...Santa brought me a new camera for Christmas so no more excuses not to document all of the upcoming fun.