Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

I have a lot to catch you up on..mainly in pictures : )
1. Erin Grace LOVES cheetos (Can you tell that they are not only covering her face, but eyebrows also?)

2. The Brad Brown fam came for a visit last weekend!!
While they were here we went to a nearby church for their walk through Bethlehem which included:
Live animals to pet

Snow


And a donkey to ride
And Erin showed us her love for puppies. She referred to ours as Allie (Ellie) and Chachie (Chloe). She and Cody googled a lot of puppy pics. Erin would look at them dance, and then kiss the puppies : ) Unfortunately I couldn't get her doing that on video. I did get her dancing as she got excited!

3. This past week I replaced my pink cowboy boots with grown up ones! Aren't they wonderful!?


4. My kindergarten team had our Christmas party on Wednesday night. I have such a great team!


5. This weekend Cody and I went to the deer lease. Unfortunately they didn't get any deer, and it was cold/rainy, but we had a good time! My not so camperish moments included: unplugging the heater to charge my iphone, bringing my laptop and watching a season of the Office... My camperish moments included: driving a 4-wheeler, getting muddy and not showering for 2-days

Chloe wore two jackets b/c she weighs 8lbs and I think she might've come close to freezing. Lucky for her, we had a heater in our camper that she spent most of her time in front of.

This is our setup. Ashley and I refer to it as the trailor park : ) Its great because the dogs have a fenced in area to run around in.
The pups exhausted after a long weekend.

6. No pics, but Cody and I got to go see my grandparents since they live so close to the deer lease. We ate lunch, showered and visited with them! I have such wonderful grandparents! Have I mentioned that already?! I'm looking so forward to getting to see my entire family the day after Christmas!
7. Countdowns: 5 days until Christmas break. 9 days until my 25th birthday, 12 days until Christmas, 16 days until our 2nd wedding anniversary!!

Deck the Halls!

This is our first Christmas in our house!! Here are a few pics of the decor:
Living Room

Dining Room

Guest Bedroom..all pink ornaments : )
Front door wreath

Kitchen

Gobble till you Wobble

Can I just start out today by telling you that I am on a Christmas high. Our tree is up and mostly decorated, stockings are hung on the chimney with care, some garland is up, nativity scenes have made their way onto tables, Christmas dishes are displayed. I am SO excited!! Just a little more decorating to do and then of course I will share pictures!
Backtracking to this past week though, we celebrated Thanksgiving with both of our families over the past week!! We had Sage family Thanksgiving on Thursday (which included Bananagrams, so fun!), black Friday shopping with my mom on Friday, Brown family Thanksgiving on Friday,

(EG helping make the green bean casserole)

Gobble Wobble run on Saturday,

I ran into a fellow blogger at the run!! : )

BU v Tech Game at Cowboys stadium with Kel and Beth

and Cody got to go to the deer lease!!
We are SO BLESSED! I am SO thankful for our two wonderful families that are a constant source of love, support and encouragement, our sweet puppy dogs that keep us constantly entertained, the way that God provides for us over and over again, my amazing husband who couldn't have been a better match for me, and all of the yummy unhealthy food we ate this weekend. The last of course is the reason that I need to run LOTS this next week : )
Things to look forward to: healthy eating this week, December starting Tuesday, haircut, Brad&Jen&Erin coming on Friday!, 25th birthday in 23 days, Christmas in 26 and our 2nd wedding anniversary in 30 days!

Come rain or shine

Saturday morning, we got up bright and early to head downtown for Step Out. Unfortunately, the rain that we were waiting to see Friday didn't show up until Saturday which means that we ran/walked in the rain. Oh well! It was such a fun morning!! We took lots of pics! Garrett won the race! Taylor and I had fun running together and still managed to finish with a decent time!! We enjoyed picking up goodies after the race! Ran into friends! I REALLY appreciate our friends and family who came out to support me!! So blessed!

Pine Tree Primary in their Step Out Tshirts on Friday at School

Team Sage before the race

My parents

The Sage famTaylor, me, Dinah and Meagan

Speedy Walking in Support of me : )

We ran past Cody's building! (Middle of the screen, by the tower cranes)

Garrett after he finished the race

The girls after finishing the race

Most of Team Sage afterwards

After the race we headed to the 59 Diner for a yummy breakfast!
Our fams then split into boys and girls and ran various errands before heading down to La Porte to eat at the Monument Inn and celebrate Cody's birthday. It was a bit of a drive, but they had some really good seafood!

We had an absolutely wonderful weekend with our families!

Here are all of the boys passed out on Friday night : )

Cody got a fire pit for his birthday

Chloe got a haircut last week and unfortunately due to my lack of brushing, she had to get shaved...needless to say she's cold.


Oh and the countdowns can finally begin!! Cody is 25 TOMORROW! 30 days until I'm 25, 33 days until Christmas and 37 days until our second wedding anniversary!! What a fun time of year!!

Bippity Boppity Boo

So....Cody and I have been working hard all week, painting, hanging curtains and deep cleaning our house. Why you may ask, because we have company coming this weekend!! Both sets of our parents as well as his brother and sister are coming to visit, walk/run in Step Out and celebrate Cody's 25th birthday!! I just thought I'd share a few pics of our house : )
1. The berry wreath mom and I made

2. CURTAINS! Such a little thing that brings such great joy.

3. We repainted our entryway because it was a drab color like this before

to a darker beige (Sherwin Williams - Latte)

4. SO excited about the run this weekend and time with our families!!
5. Also can barely contain my excitement about: Thanksgiving Break, Thanksgiving meals, Black Friday shopping, decorating for Christmas, and Christmas songs!! Woohoo!

V is very very, extradordinary

This weekend, I went with Jessica, Minnie and their friend Dani to Waco for the BU v. TX football game.
We had so much fun, but unfortunately the game was not pretty. I ran into a Zeta, Amy, at the game and my cousin Wes!

Afterwards, the girls dropped me in Marlin so that I could spend the afternoon/evening with my grandparents. What a wonderful time! I love our big family gatherings, but these special trips are my favorite because I get a lot of one on one time with my grandparents. My mamaw and I got to catch up on everything!! Then later in the afternoon, she went to the grocery store and Papaw and I sat and chatted about life. What a wonderful afternoon! I am so blessed to have such sweet grandparents who are so thankful for all that they have been given, who love their family with everything in them, and find joy in even the toughest times!! I hope to one day be able to exude these same values to my children and grandchildren!
My brother, sister-in-law and niece came down to Marlin later in the day. I got to enjoy their company! I just love family days!!

The Brad Brown fam then took me to Kosse to meet my husband so that I could venture out to our deer lease! I was a bit skeptical about camping out somewhere other than a state park, but I really had nothing to worry about! We spent time with Scott, Ashley and all of our puppies riding 4-wheelers (I even got to drive it!), seeing animals up close, watching the pups swim, seeing where our boys hunt and just admiring God's handiwork with all of the beautiful fall trees!

Ellie perched atop the 4wheeler

Chloe after falling into a pond

Scott and Ashley's dog, Abby, sitting pretty on the 4-wheeler
Miller and Ellie chasing a horse...8-lb Chloe ran up to this same horse later and nearly got stepped on..I nearly died!For those of you who remember Chloe as a puppy, she used to hop, not run, everywhere that she went. The grass was too tall in part of the lease so she began hopping again today. The first part of the video doesn't really show it, but keep watching and you'll see (I couldn't figure out how to edit out the beginning).

In other news, Step Out is less than a week away! (Yikes!! I'll need to step up my running this week!!) I wanted to share the grand total raised by Team Sage for Diabetes Research and Education. Through some amazingly generous people who donated through the Team Sage , we were able to raise $1,393!! Thank you friends and family for showing your support for me and other diabetics through your generosity!! What a blessing!

A little bit of everything...

Well hello friends! I have been reading all of your blogs faithfully, but have somehow neglected to update my own. No worries though, I have enough pictures to make you feel like you've been a part of everything : ) Let's just go through some events of the past few weeks:

1. Pumpkin carving with Dinah, Meagan, Ashley, Taylor and Chrissy. It was so fun! I def. cut my finger though.





2. After a recent trip to Academy, I have discovered that I'm trying to be just like my husband
I have copied his hunting boots (oh yes, I have some now too!)

And his Nike watch : )

3. Pedis and Sonic drinks with my mom and mother-in-law in Longview this weekend!

I don't know if you can tell, but my camo shirt says "He hunts, I shop"

4. Allison and Ikey Eason's Wedding. She was SUCH a gorgeous bride!

5. Longview Museum of Fine Arts to see dad's photos in an exhibit! We're very proud of him!

6. Cody got to go hunting for the first time on his deer lease. They saw some deer but are waiting for the right one. Apparently Ellie had an absolute blast!

7. Only 2 weeks until Step Out!! I'll have to update soon with the grand total that our t-shirts sales raised! I am so overwhelmed by y'alls generosity!

8. Enjoy your week! We have a Friday the 13th this week!