3 Years

Happy Anniversary my love!!!

Not a day goes by that I don't realize how blessed I am to have you in my life.
I love all the adventures we've shared,

the places we've traveled

and the nights curled up at home.

You're the one who can makes me laugh the hardest.

and that I can be the silliest with.You never cease to amaze me with how far you'll go...

to make someone smile.
You will always be my needle in a haystack, my one true cowboy, my dreaming buddy, my best friend and the love of my life.

Here's to 70 more :-)

All My Love,

Babydoll

Who Does That??!!!

Someone stole the back side of our fence this morning. Literally, ripped the pickets off the stringers that were screwed in and then stole the stringers too. They also stole all the lumber we had bought and set aside to finish the remaining part of the fence before we get our dogs.

Jason has worked so incredibly hard on that fence. We know that it had to have happened this morning while Jason was asleep and I was at work. The policeman said in all his 30 years he's never seen someone actually rip apart a fence to steal it.

I'm thinking we need to foster a rottweiler just to guard what's left of our fence. Seriously people, I'm so ready to kick someones inconsiderate ass.

Jason's driving around trying to see if he can track down the wood being sold to a lumber yard or a hardware store. The thief better pray Jason doesn't find him.

A Change In Taste

I just finished eating an entire red grapefruit here at my desk. You wouldn't have caught me dead with a grapefruit even a year ago. But for some reason, it seems out of nowhere my tastes completely changed and now I love them!! (NO, I'm not pregnant).

But does that ever happen to you? Before I moved to Tennessee, I didn't like sweet potatoes or yams either, now its a treat to have a baked sweet potatoe for dinner, or sweet potato french fries, sweet mashed potatoes - anyway you want to serve them to me I'll savor every bite!

What about you - anything you noticed you like now that you didn't enjoy before???

To Bring Y'All Up To Speed

Alright, I know I've been neglecting the poor ol' blog over the holidays and that's mainly because I'm regularly on a computer all day every day, so taking a vacation for me literally means from even the computer itself.

But I'm back at it and fully refreshed to overload you with all that's taken place over the holidays!!!!

As I mentioned in my last post, Christmas for Jason and I fell on Monday night of December 22nd. And to be more precise, that would be at like 1AM!!! (So really, early morning the 23rd!)

And its extremely important to keep that specific time in mind as you look through the pictures, because it explains why I look like such a hag. I'm tired and grungy from cleaning the house before our trip :-)
So grab a cup of coffee and curl up for a spell while I take you through the Keith's Christmas...

Jason had to use the extra big stocking for what he got me this year - tons of chocolates, mints and other yummy goodies!

He looks like he's been naughty in this picture, doesn't he?

All my stocking treats.

I put a pair of reindeer ears in Jason's stocking, so of course I had to get a picture of him wearing them.

And then Jason wanted Banks to try them on as well! She doesn't seem very happy about it, does she?

My favorite Afracain Salt Scrub from the Body Shop and an iTrip for my iPod!! Jason got two Brian Regan DVD's - he was pretty excited as you can see. And I got a yoga mat that I'd been wanting!!
Jason got a digital voice recorder for his songwriting.

This was the big gift that was hiding behind the chair cushion. He wouldn't let me open it towards the end (sound familiar Kelly family?)

He had wrapped the gift, then wrapped it again with cardboard and then wrapped it again in paper. What a goober.

Yeah - my massage chair!!!

He got some serious loves for that one!!

Ooohh! Another one??!
The box said Banana Republic and I started getting super excited :-)
A gorgeous brown wool Banana Republic Trench coat! He picked it out all by himself, my man's got shopping skillz y'all! I was so impressed and blessed by him, that there was definitely tears going on.

Ok, so then just a short 4 hours of sleep later, we got up and headed off to the airport to catch a couple flights and then take a 6 hour car ride to Clovis, CA to spend Christmas with the Keith family. Christmas morning comes along and I wake up to this time Jason bouncing up and down on the bed "It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" To which I'm grumbling, "No, go back to sleep." He won and we joined everyone, bed-head and all to open Christmas gifts together.

And the fun began when the guys all received similar shaped gifts to open. If you know Scott & Jason, you know why they're laughing so hard.

Jason & I had bought Jerry a pick-axe while we were in town, nice camouflaged gift-wrapping huh? The other two similar shaped gifts for Jason and Scott are these long-reaching washable lint brush/brooms that Jerry & Sherry bought us. Pretty handy if you ask me! Jason & I bought Sherry this Snowman. Actually, once again, we had to have Kelley pick it up ahead of time for us. These are difficult things to pack or carry on a plane :-)

And Jerry got a couple Lyle Lovett CD's from us as well.

Scott got some bear slippers and he proceeded to wear them all day. Loved it.

Here's a Christmas Sign that Jason picked out for Sherry. Jason flipped out over the three inscribed dog collars he got from my sister Kati. They are brown leather collars with silver dog tags that have each of the dogs names on them and then Jason's cell phone number on the back. Such a great gift!

Jason and I gave Scott & Kelley a new Laundry Room sign for their new house.

And we also got them an old fashioned wood barrel ice cream maker. They LOVE ice cream.

Here's Scott texting Kati a picture of Jason and I on the phone with the Kelly family.

Kati gave me a mechanical pastry set! Yippee!!!

And Jason was super blessed to receive two gifts, one from Lowe's from my parents and one from Home Depot from his parents so he could pick out whatever he needs. He took my parents gift card to Lowe's already and found the circular saw he'd been wanting so badly on sale! Once again, a perfect gift idea!Yeah new American Eagle shoes from Kati! There were many other gifts that I wasn't able to get a picture of, but really Jason and I were truly blessed and spoiled by both our families and I want to thank each of you so much!! Here's Jason...well just being Jason. I think in this one he was thinking Samurai Warrior.

And this one was more Aunt Jemima. Boy do I love that man. And this was me pretty much the entire Christmas vacation, curled up in a blanket in an overstuffed chair with a book and a puzzle.The Kelly/Keith Christmas Puzzle of 2008!

Well there you have it! You're all caught up on Christmas with the Keiths! I trust all your Christmas and New Years celebrations were wonderful as well.

God Bless you all as we embark on 2009!

Merry Christmas!

Brrr....well that warm weather was definitely short-lived! I'm still trying to thaw my toes from walking into work at a measly 10 degrees!!! Good Lord, what's up with this weather!?!

Tomorrow Jason and I head off to California to spend the holidays with Jason's family. I'm so excited for the break from work and enjoy some total relaxation. To be able to sleep in every morning with my man is a little piece of heaven :-) AND this also means, that for our house - CHRISTMAS COMES TODAY!!!!!!

Jason woke up to me this morning bouncing up and down on the bed - "IT'S CHRISTMAS! IT'S CHRISTMAS!". To which he responded, "How old are you?" BAH-HUMBUG! "I'm 30 and I want to open presents!!!!!" But I have to wait till after he gets home from work tonight before the festivities can begin. I'm pumped.

Ok and speaking of Christmas. SO yesterday Jason and I were teaching our little 3rd & 4th graders at Sunday School and I asked the class whether they had finished their Christmas shopping yet. And one little girls asks me how many gifts are under our tree? Then our class helper, who happens to be one of the dad's of a boy in our class pipes up and says, "Well Santa hasn't brought our gifts yet". I'm sorry WHAT? Excuse me, but isn't 3rd & 4th graders a bit old to still believe in Santa!!?? Dude, do you want your son to be ridiculed at school for still believing in Santa at that age? At this age, most kids are past the point of just receiving gifts and are learning what it means to GIVE and save their allowance to buy gifts for others. As they say in the south, I wanted to have a little 'Come To Jesus' with that father right then and there.

Well what do you guys think? I know when I was little I got gifts from Santa, but I was probably 5 or 6 when I was past that make-believe stage. So what do you think is an appropriate age for kids to learn the truth?

A tan for Christmas anyone?

I asked my friend Brooke if she wanted to join me on the roof of our building to try and get a tan for Christmas! ha!!

I kid you not folks - its 73 degrees right now!!!

Sorry for the lack of updates folks, to say I've been overwhelmed is pretty much an understatement. There has been so much to do and still more to prepare for as we get ready to head to CA next week and I'm usually so wiped at the end of the work day that I have ZERO motivation to get off the couch and work on my to-do list.

But last night as I was lounging on the couch relaxing and chatting with a friend of ours, I see that Jason is calling me from work. I answer the phone and he asks me if I recognize the strange new gift that showed up under the Christmas tree?? What Gift? OH! That gift! Huh, that's strange. So I look more closely and am quite excited to see that its addressed to "My Babydoll". Yea, that would be me!! Then after a few more minutes, something starts to seem a bit familiar. Wait a second. That gift is wrapped in a very familiar shape. So I ask him, "Honey, that isn't the box of wall shelves we bought for the guest bathroom is it?" Jason responds, "huh, what? I gotta go." ......"Honey? Did you or did you not wrap up the wall shelves we've had for over a year and put it under the tree?" Then he responds again, "Baby, I gotta go - can't talk right now!"

Hmmm.....Then I remember a conversation we had a couple days ago where he said that he felt bad because there were more gifts under the tree for him than he got for me. Well I don't care about that, I like giving him gifts. I'm not keeping score. So here's my thinking, I'm a bit suspicious that my loving husband is pulling a "Tom Kelly" move and beginning to wrap up items from around the house to give to me. If that's the case, he's in some serious trouble folks.

Pray for him people, this could get ugly ;-)

Tis' The Season!

Wow is this time of year a busy season or what?! Thankfully I'm able to start checking off some of the holiday to-do's, so I can kick back and enjoy it.

I sent off my family's Christmas gifts in the mail yesterday, and all my Christmas cards are ready to be mailed out. All that's left to do is finish shopping for Jason and do a little baking for a couple upcoming holiday parties. Then the week of Christmas I work only on Monday, pack for our trip to California and then I'm off for 13 days straight - hallelujah!!

But the parties are just beginning and its starting to get crazy. Last Saturday was my friend Brooke's 26th birthday, so a bunch of her friends got together for pizza in Nashville to celebrate. Thought you might enjoy a couple pics from the evening:
These are my girls from the office, I seriously don't know what I would do without them :-)
(Left to right: Kacie, Brooke, myself and Angela)
Angela is just the sweetest most genuine person and I've loved working with her this year. These girls are awesome because our friendships go beyond the office and we often like to hang out and see movies together or grab dinner.

Here's a couple pics from our Thanksgiving party, but I will say that I had been waiting to receive more pictures from Matt, but he's just been too busy. So they're not the greatest, but you get the idea :-)
These are the majority of our small group ladies - left to right: Kendall is in the yellow sweater and has been coming for about two months now. Then I'm to the right of Kendall. And to my right is Tabby in the white shirt, she is a doll and reminds me a lot of my sister Kris. To the right is Amy Walter, a very dear friend to me. To her right is Melanie Sutton, our Children's Director at Harpeth Community Church. Then Ida is to the right of Melanie, she's also new and has been coming for a couple months now. And finally Alicia, who is also a very dear friend of mine and I love to pieces :-) These girls are all huge blessings and answers to my prayers.Here's another shot of dinner at our house on Thanksgiving. You can see we had the votive screens in the dining room lit and behind Melanie at the head of the table was another table set up in the living room where the guys sat. In this picture you can see Jason on the right and then Melanie's husband Ryan in the doorway. Best food evah!

This Friday is our company Christmas party at Mortons Steakhouse, so I'll be bringing my camera to that to grab some pics and next week it's our Small Group Christmas Party at Ryan & Melanie's house, which I also hope to get pics of!!! So with all this partying, what's a girl to do??!! I KNOW - Shopping!!

Flat On My Face

So yesterday I'm leaving my parking garage heading into the office to start the day, when as I step off the elevator I COMPLETELY trip and fall flat on my face! And no, not graceful-stumble-catch-myself-falling, not wobble-squat-to-my-knees-and-hands....we're talking face to floor splayed out flat. I have bruised knee caps, ribs, lower back and butt. I feel like I was in a car accident and suffer from body-lash. Oh! And here's the best part!! Of course some Deirks Bently look-a-like is standing in the lobby as I smack into the floor and tries to immediately starts yanking me up by the elbow before I even understood what's happened. Now not only am I in pain, but red from embarrassment. And yes to prolong the agony, he walked half a block by my side and then told me to be careful as he took off - "YEAH THANKS!! HOPE I NEVER HAVE TO FACE YOU AGAIN!!"

I think that's the first time I've ever done that in public. Fortunately I had a physical therapy appointment for my back anyway that afternoon and my therapist hooked me up to one of those electric-shock treatment thingys with a warm heating pad...that was a piece of heaven right there.

Alright your turn - have you ever had a nasty & embarrassing fall in public before??

Well Jingle My Bells It's Christmas Time!

Christmas has got to be my favorite holiday hands down! And nothing brings home the reality of the Christmas season than bringing home a real tree. Last Saturday we met up with our friends Matt & Amy at Starbucks before heading out to Smyrna to pick out our trees. We have only been able to find Noble Fir trees carried out at this one particular lot, where a nursery trucks them in from the West Coast. Call us tree snobs, but they are by far the prettiest trees to decorate!! It was Matt & Amy's first real tree together and we were so excited to be a part of picking one out with them. We even got some great shots of us with our trees before loading them up in the truck!

Here's Jason with his coffee before heading out into the cold rainy weather to pick out our tree!! You would think we were back in Seattle with how gray it was outside.
Here's Amy using a tree for shelter from the rain as Matt grabbed her coat.
The Walter's first real Christmas tree!

And we are so thrilled with the 7 foot beauty we picked out! This picture just might be a contender for the Christmas card this year :-)

After we dropped Matt & Amy's tree off, we headed back home for our own Keith family tradition of watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and decorating the house. But this year, we did something a little new and Jason spent a few hours outside putting red lights on the roof of the house. I'll have to get a picture to show y'all how cute it turned out!

Even our cat Banks gets so excited at Christmas time, because her favorite spot is nestled up in the white tree skirt under the white lights. She sat staring at the tree patiently waiting all day, till it was completely decorated before crawling under its limbs and snoozing away. Just too cute for words. (I know family that you're rolling your eyes right now!)

Hopefully, I'll have some pictures up soon of the Thanksgiving dinner we hosted at our house with our small group friends. Plus, Jason and I spent Thanksgiving day with Matt & Amy's family out in Franklin and it was a great time. So I should get pics from that day soon as well!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays everyone!!!