What was I thinking...

...that is exactly what I have been saying to myself ALL DAY LONG! Well, we got talked into signing up for a coed indoor soccer league, and we thought it would a great way to meet new people and get a little exercise. We were told it was the "B" league (aka-beer league), 30+ year olds and most were beginners that were just out there to have a good time. WRONG!! Our first game was last week and we got killed! From what I have heard, the other team came straight from the US men's Olympic soccer team and were out for blood. One of our players, tore his MCL and ACL and is out for the season. I know most of you are picturing an old gym where we used to all play indoor soccer. No, this is a fancy complex with 2 or 3 turf fields so clearly these people are serious.

We have our 2nd game tonight at 10:15pm. I will probably wear my pj's to the game since it will be past my bedtime. My husband is traveling for work, so I be representing the family name...not lookin so good for us. Let's hope I can walk tomorrow since I'm supposed to catch a flight in the morning.

On a positive note-My friend, Jenny, is coming to support her husband and will be bringing the team capri suns and orange slices. That might be the highlight of my entire night!

Here goes nothing...

Nice while it lasted

Since we live in TN now, I figured there would be numerous Christmas tree farms around. After Mike did a little research, we found out that most of the farms around here don't grow fraser firs-boo! As much as we have been traveling lately, the last thing I wanted to do was hop in the car and drive for hours to a fraser fir farm.
We decided to head down the road to a Christmas tree lot and pick out a tree that was just chopped down. We got a killer deal on a 10 foot tree (they marked the price wrong and I haggled with the old man to get a better deal...shameful, I know!)

Keeping with tradition, we ate chili for dinner and watched the Elf while decorating the tree. Poor Mike had to listen to me tell the same stories about each ornament as I pulled them out. I just love the history and stories that are represented with each of my ornaments. Earlier in the day, we went to Hallmark to pick out the Keepsake ornament series we are going to start collecting! The tree looked beautiful and I loved decorating it with my husband.
Well, we spoke too soon about the beautiful tree...
We were jolted awake at 4am Monday morning by the sound of a crashing tree. We ran out to the living room and I see that the tree narrowly missed O'Malley. He was still laying on his dog bed and was not too thrilled to be sharing it with the Christmas tree. Thankfully O'Malley and all the ornaments survived the fall. Let's hope the tree remains standing for the rest of the holiday season!

Stuffed

I am still full from all we ate and drank over the holiday. We thoroughly enjoyed hosting Thanksgiving at our house...really, I loved it! It makes me even more ready to purchase a house so we can accommodate everyone for more holidays. My sister, Em, already did a great job blogging about "Fatfest 2010" so I will let you read her blog!
Here are just a few more pictures since we took so many as usual!

When dad's away

The hubs is on business travel right now so its just me and O'Malley holding down the house. When Mike's gone, I give in and let O'Malley sleep in our bed. I put his sheet on the bed and he snuggles up on Mike's side of the bed.

How can I resist this cute snuggle partner?!?!

Tailgating with the Parents

We hit the road again this past weekend and headed to Winston. O'Malley had been at "camp Nanny and Poppy" so we needed to pick him up. Mike was also supposed to go to the Carolina football game but those tickets fell through as we were heading home. Poor guy- he was so bummed. But at least he got to come with us!

My parents (or maybe just dad) are big Wake fans and have bought season tickets for football and basketball since we were little kids. I haven't been to a Wake game in over 10 years but thought it would be fun to go with my parents. My parents and their friends know how to tailgate! Mike & dad dominated in cornhole, the food was delish, enjoyed all the beer dad packed, got to know some Knoxville lovers and even surprised dad with a birthday cake!!

Mike & I had a great day with my parents and their friends-thanks for letting us hang!

TN Thanksgiving

In just TWO days, my whole family will arrive in Knoxville for Thanksgiving!! Keeping with tradition, the family is running a 5k race the morning of Thanksgiving.The weather is not looking so "hot" for the race, but a warm krispy kreme donut will make any race better. Yes, it's tradition for us to get one after the race.
It's probably a good thing we are doing the race b/c there will be SO MUCH GOOD FOOD for Thanksgiving. We have been emailing, texting and planning this holiday for months now. (surprise surprise)

We also get to celebrate Dad and Em's birthdays while we are all together. Today is Dad's birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPPY-we LOVE you and your crazy self!!!

I'm excited for my family to see Knoxville, our "retirement community", and make crazy memories as usual.

In the mean time, I will be grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning.
Can't wait for Wednesday morning!!!!

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving with friends and family

Next Stage

I am currently on a business trip with the hubs and have a little extra time on my hands. What better use of time then to update the blog!

When this blog started in 2008, my prayer was to try to "live in the moment" daily. I haven't given up on this prayer but it has really turned into a life goal. Because of my crazy personality, I tend to forget to live in the moment and always plan ahead. I am still and will always be a crazy planner, but a lot of other things have changed since 2008...fell in love, became a wife and moved to a new state. Those seems like great reasons to create a new title. I also wanted to make it "our" blog because Mike says he might want to write a post or two.

"Our Tennessee Adventure" seemed like an appropriate title for this stage in our life. We have been married for a little under 3 months and are still learning about our new city and each other. I have no doubt there will be many more stories as we continue to navigate through our new life together in TN!!

XOXOXO

We had such a great weekend with so many of our friends. We headed to Charlotte on Thursday morning and went straight to the mall! Since we are hosting Thanksgiving with the Gibbs clan in Knoxville, we needed to make sure we completed our registry. I thought my family would enjoy having silverware, plates and the ever important wine glasses! Crate & Barrel was very excited to take our money.
Thursday night was spent celebrating Caroline's upcoming wedding! We had a great dinner at AB's and enjoyed hearing all the wedding planning stories.

Friday we headed to Boone with the St. Louis' and Early's. We woke up early Saturday, got a tailgate spot, went back to the house to get ready, then spent the rest of the day in Boone! Our sweet friend, Ellen, turned 30 on Sunday so we had to celebrate!! We had lots of fun catching up with friends, LAUGHING, eating, drinking, cornhole and of course spending money at the bookstore.

We had a really fun weekend with friends and it was sad to pack up and leave Sunday morning. But I will say, being SOCON Champions was a great way to end the weekend!

My Happy Place

This is my happy place and I can't wait to head up there in a few hours!

The Mountains, The Rock and tailgating with 18+ of my friends=one happy girl!! Let the FUN begin...

Tailgating with Kat is always delicious

Yes, we are ALL this excited for the big game

Birthday Girl

My sweet niece, Abby Reece, turns ONE today! It seems like yesterday I was driving through the night to be there for her birth. It has been so fun to have a niece and I love that she is a little spitfire. I can't wait to watch you and your fun personality grow over the next year.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!