friday letters {5}

dear friday sorry i totally forgot about you. this holiday break has me thinking everyday is saturday. too bad tomorrow is the last day & M returns to work monday :(

dear M these past 16 days have been great. better than great. i won't know what to do when you return to work. back to being the housewife while you go off & teach the great minds of the upcoming generations.

dear 2012 you were a year filled with endless blessings. married my greatest confidant, M graduated & got his first big boy job {can i get a whoop whoop}, my mother-in-law's cancer is official dormant {victory dance}, i successfully finished a 5k in 30 minutes {fist pump}, & i started this blog in late october. to list all 2012 Hoorays would last forever & honestly y'all would be bored out. of. yo. minds.

dear 2013 you have a lot to live up to. good luck.

dear today i know you aren't friday but you ARE saturday. my second favorite day of the week. a plan to make you a good one.

HAPPY WEEKEND FRIENDS

hello twenty thirteen

yes i know i'm a wittle bit late. if i had to sum up the past three days in one word it would be lazy. lazy fo sho. to start our new year off with a BANG we headed over to the nearest urgent care office since all other legit doctor offices were closed for the holiday. sat around for a couple hours before we left with much needed antibiotics but not before there were shots in the bum. we've spent the past 48 hours in bed watching the entire first season of Homeland, finishing off every ounce of gelato, & occasionally doing a few humanly acts like eating & showering.

but we did grace the world with our presence this afternoon. we took the girls to the lake where kodi ran & ran along the water, maggie sniffed each rock, & mama & papa tried to stay warm. it was a nice change of scenery.

one other thing! M & i are trying something creative this year. check it out on our home page: 365

xoxo

the best of 2012

--- some of our favorite memories from 2012 ---

new year 2012!

M & i got engaged!

one of our many hikes as a soon-to-be family.

my first bridal shower.

celebrating kodi's 2nd birthday with homemade doggie cupcakes.

 engagement pictures. it's super difficult with multiple dogs. worth it though.

bridal party & the mom's making pottery. crafty woman right there!

 

i married the greatest man i know. 

 

 

we spent the next week in the beautiful country of mexico.

bought our pups life jackets for our lake.

spent quality time with family at hilton head island.

took the fight to cancer in the winship 5k.

shared M's first county fair experience.

took the girls {the airplane & thing of grapes} trick or treating. 

kodi & papa came in first place in the a annual dog jog/pup jam 5k. #ProudMommyMoment.

built a desk!

got my one & only tattoo

 i changed my first {& hopefully last} flat tire. that s*@# was hard!

came home one day to this --- kodi tore up papa's lunchbox.

 we cut down our first christmas tree. so much fun!

M surprised me with an early christmas slash birthday slash valentine's day slash... you get the idea, gift. i was pretty much in tears. i mean, it's only beens years i've been needing one.

discovered gelato & date nights in.

 revisited, with the girls, where papa proposed earlier the year.

 first christmas as mr. & mrs. will never forget it.

& we finally bought a car. FINALLY!!! now we're real grown ups.

this year was stacked with so many blessings. 

here's to a fresh start. maybe i'll actually keep a resolution or two for more than a month. could be the year :)

happy new year!!!

special moments

i hope everyone had a wonderful christmas with the ones they love most. we were spoiled with our mama's home cooking. ate my weight in chocolate everything. shared a beautiful christmas eve church service with my husband & in-laws. talked about the good'ol days of being kids on christmas morning. being a blubbering mess during the les miserables premiere. & of course, remembering the real reason for christmas, Jesus Christ. it's special moments like that with family & loved ones that mean more than presents.

& a classy brazzell family picture.

merry christmas. 

now onto a new year.

2013, here come the brotherton's!

the old & lots of new

i LOVE traditions. & this year we are having to change & create a few of our own.

this is mine & M's first christmas together as husband & wife {i'll never get tired of saying that}. we had a long debate about what we wanted to do for christmas morning. do we want to spend it together with our girls in our little woodsy home. spend it at his folks house. or my parent's place.

at first the decision was easy. let's spend it at home, just us two & the pups. but then i realized i wasn't excited about christmas morning. the thought of spending it without more family or gifts under the tree made us rethink our decision.

fortunately we live close enough to both of our parents. i know many families aren't able to visit all of their families & loved one around the holidays. though we might complain about having to drive so much, we know how fortunate we are. that being said, we settled with spending christmas morning at my parents. i have two twelve year old sisters who still like waking everyone up at the crack of dawn. after a few cups of coffee & a shower, we will hop in the car & head over to the brotherton's for christmas number two.

M & i didn't buy each other much. we agreed we would just stuff each other's stockings. i'm all about trying to keep things exciting & different. i'd loved to know what all you do around christmas time to make it fun but on a budget. so please share!

merry christmas eve!

pictures are from our hike the other day in northern georgia. the weather was perfect. we had lunch midway through the hike. the girls had a blast exploring & playing. it was so nice.