Christmas Recap

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas yesterday.  I know we sure did.  It started Christmas Eve when we spent the afternoon with my Grandma.  She has Alzheimer's and we were blessed to be able to spend the afternoon with her at her assisted living center.  Following lunch with her, we headed to Christmas Eve service at church.  This year's theme was Timeless Christmas.  The message of salvation was preached and after the weekend was done over 2200 people proclaimed new life in Christ!!  Glory!! The service was amazing and the message was timeless.  They also did this really amazing video involving a piano which you can see HERE. 

 We woke up Christmas morning and shared our traditional breakfast just the two of us.  Brandon always makes his famous french toast, which almost didn't happen this year because at 11:00 Christmas Eve I realized we didn't have any syrup,but being the loving husband that he is, Brandon ran out to the only store that was open (Walgreens) and bought some syrup.  Love him!  Anyways, so we had our delicious french toast breakfast and then it was on to our presents.  We always swap gifts Christmas morning before heading to our families' houses for lunch and dinner.  This year, Brandon was way too good to me.  Y'all!  I got a Canon T3i!!!  I'm so pumped.  It is intimidating because I know nothing about photography, but I am eager to learn.  I also got tickets to see the Lion King when it comes to town, which happens to be the night before our anniversary, how perfect is that?!  He seriously is the best!  I made Brandon do a scavenger hunt around the house to find his big Christmas gift and he finally found out that we are going to see Jeff Dunham's comedy show in a few weeks!  Of course we couldn't leave out of furbabies and they each got some fun treats as well.   

Sheldon Cooper Quote mug, we are huge Big Bang Theory Fans

After Christmas morning, we headed to Brandon's mom's house for lunch.  We got some pretty sweet gifts there as well, including a new Keurig!  Also, I get to go see Wiked!!!!!  Tickets to see two shows!  2013 is going to be the best.  Following lunch, we went to my parents' house for our annual steak dinner.  I got lots of clothes and oh yeah, my mom got me tickets to see Taylor Swift, who is in concert the night before my birthday!!  Seriously 2013 is the year of shows. 
 

Christmas was an amazing time to spend time with family and to receive lots of fun gifts, but the most amazing gift of all was sent by way of our Heavenly Father.  Time stood still as a little baby cried in a manger and it was announced that our Savior had come.  I am so thankful that Christ was born and that He died to redeem us.  What an amazing Christmas gift!!

Insta-Christmas

This is just a look around our house and at all the holiday decorations!  We love decorating for Christmas, but I refuse to put anything up before Thanksgiving.  So, the weekend after Thanksgiving it was an all go!  All the lights, sparkle, and warmth are so fun!  I finally caved this year and let Brandon have a SMALL blowup for the front yard.  What have I done??!!  Anyways, here you go Christmas at the Brown's via Instagram!
 

 

On another note, this is our Christmas card photo and I think it's super adorable!  I love my little family!

 

Color Me Happy

On Saturday, I participated in my first 5k, the Color Run!!  It was so amazingly fun!  If you haven't heard of the Color Run, it is a 5k run that has color stations along the route.  At every station volunteers douse you in colored powder.  By the end of the race you look like a rainbow!  Brandon and I got to run it with another couple from our small group from church and one of their family members.  We are so blessed to have amazing friends who made this so much fun.  

I got my colorful socks ready, my sweatband, and my clean white shirt just waiting to be colorified.  The start line is a huge dance party and the run was also a lot of fun.  There were a lot of hills along the route, but hey it was a great workout.  At the finish line we headed to the color party, which is essentially a huge dance party.  Every 10 minutes or so they do a color throw.  Each runner got a packet of colored powder.  On the signal everyone throws their color in the air to create a huge colorful cloud that rains down on you.  In one word- Fantastic!!!  This was the most fun I have had in a long time.  Next on our list of runs, the Electric Run in April.  So pumped!! 

Before

During

After

 It really is the happiest 5k on the planet!!!

I'm Back

I'm back. I needed to take a little hiatus from blogging.  I can't really pinpoint a reason, I just didn't have the creativity nor passion for it at the time.  Needless to say, it is good to be back.  The past month has been nothing short of crazy.  Back in June, Brandon started a new job.  We knew that there was the possibility of him traveling on occasion.  Well, the traveling hit big time.  No it wasn't a day here, a day there.  I got a call at work on a Monday at the beginning of the month from him.  "I'm going to Florida tomorrow...for a week".  "Um, okay..."  So off to Florida he went.  Now understand, we have never been apart since we have been married and rarely while we were dating, so this was an adjustment.  It went fine and he came back home that next week.  Okay, great he traveled, did his work thing, now he's back home right?  Nope.  Four days later they send him to Florida again for the day.  He's back that evening.  Then he tells me, he going to be in Florida for the next TWO weeks.  What?!  Yep, he's been in Florida for practically the whole month of October.  

So, what does a wifey do with her hubby in Florida for a month?  We go to Disney!  Duh!!  I flew down for the weekend to visit between weeks.  I flew standby to try to save money.  Good idea, right?  Wrong!  I didn't get on two flights Thursday night.  Bawling my eyes out in the airport, I sulk back to my car only to drive back the following morning.  I made it on the Friday morning flight.  Praise Jesus!  A serious meltdown may have occurred otherwise.  

Upon arrival Friday, we rented a kayak and set out to find some manatees or "tees" as Brandon calls them.  We kayaked for about an hour and a half with no luck.  We did see some beautiful springs, some flying fish, and some raccoons, but no tees.  Then right as we were turning around I say "wait I think I saw something".  Totally skeptical he kayaked over to the spot.  We sat for about a minute then a manatee nose rises up out of the water.  It was amazing.  We were surrounded by a herd of them!  Just the two of us in a kayak.  One of the best experiences ever.  

 
 That Saturday we drove the two hours to Orlando to Disney World!  Yes, we are 25 years old, but Disney is awesome!  We rode all the classics: Space Mountain, Tea Cups, It's a Small World, etc.  It was great to have a spontaneous vacation in the midst of a tough situation.  Yes, I did have to buy a 1-way ticket to get back home after not getting on another flight, but hey it was totally worth it. 

I Believe In...

I believe a good vacation can cure anything.

I believe redheads have more fun.

I believe in naps.

 

I believe that puppy and hubby cuddles are the best kind of cuddles.

I believe in family time.

I believe in taking time out for yourself.

I believe in loyalty.  The kind that won't leave you when you need it most.

I believe in human connection.

I believe in having fun.

 

I believe in forehead kisses and holding hands.

I believe in laughter.  The kind that makes you cry.

I believe in God's perfect timing.

I believe in singing like you're on a stage while driving.

I believe in taking your own pillow when you travel.

I believe ice cream is the best dessert.  Any flavor.

I believe in NC State sports.

I believe in forgiving but never forgetting.

I believe in big comfy shirts and running shorts.

I believe in always wearing earrings.

I believe in challenging yourself to step out of your comfort zone.

 

I believe that Jesus is Lord  and His way is the only way.