Christmas Decor and Things

I just realized that I haven't posted much in the way of Christmas Decorations.  Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year and once Christmas is over, I can't wait for it to come again!  We are not allowed to do much in the way of outside decorations, because we live in a condo community, but one day when we build ourselves a house(ha!) I will be excited to decorate the outside of the house.  I have to have a theme for my Christmas trees or it drives me insane.  This year it is red and gold, I think it was the same thing last year..I really like that color combo, so I will probably leave it for a while.  

The Piano...ahh, my favorite place in the whole house!  I could sit and play for hours, especially looking at that gorgeous manger scene and REAL poinsettias that my sweet hubby bought me. :)

I also have garland, lights and ornaments on the banister, as well as decorations on our end tables.  I am being lazy and not taking pictures of them though :p

We went to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens this year, that was a lot of fun!  It was so festive and beautiful!  It was very tastefully done and I was impressed that it was called CHRISTmas Town.  We got some yummy 'bucks coffee and walked around for hours, so fun!

A portion of Scott's Family

Today we had a snow day and let me tell you, it was MUCH needed!  I was just telling Scott last night how I had no idea how I was going to accomplish everything that had to get done over the next couple of days.  So, God, being awesome, blessed us with a gorgeous snow day!  While I wasn't able to go out to get things done, I was able to do some deep cleaning, laundry and baking to prepare for Saturday and Sunday. 

Saturday we are having Scott's family over for an early gift exchange, there are so many people in his family it's hard to find a time when everyone can come together and celebrate Christmas, so it has to be done a week early.   I am baking maple chocolate truffles, pecan pie(corn-syrup free of course) and spinach artichoke dip.  I am counting on some of the other girls to bring some more sweets to munch on!

Sunday we leave for our CRUISE we are so excited!!!!!!!  I can't believe it's here already!  I am kind of freaking out, because I am worried about getting everything done, packing and having Scott's family over.  It's going to be a crazy next few days, but it will be worth it!  We are going to swim with dolphins, snorkel the great barrier reef, swim with wild sting rays AND relax on an 11 acre private island and do whatever we want!  Not to mention the few days at sea that will be packed with all things relaxing...ahh.  I can feel the stress being released from my body as I sit here and type about it :)  I got a waterproof camera case so I can take plenty of pictures and videos.  I am stoked. 

I've got to go cover the truffles in chocolate...

Merry Christmas!

Savior Martial Arts Christmas Party

We had our 12th Annual Savior Martial Arts Christmas Party last night!  It was a lot of work, but totally worth it!  Some of the highlights were the brand new comedy skit some of the guys did, the classic "boot to the head" demo(you can find it on youtube, under saviormartialarts), our teens breaking concrete and Scott's Glow in the dark weapons demonstration.

Here are a few pics:

Samantha before...

Samantha after...impressive!

Soke booting Justin's head..ha.

Scott..

Our Assistant Instructor Jake breaking some concrete :)

Busy!

This past week has been crazy and the weeks to come are going to be equally so.  Thanksgiving this year was wonderful!  I have 2 successful turkeys.  I was so proud of myself :)  People even chose my turkey OVER a fried turkey, I definitely  wasn't expecting that!   My yummy pumpkin cheesecake came out wonderful and my corn syrup-free pecan pie was fabulous!  
We had a nice relaxing thanksgiving, nothing too extravagant.  We had the big meal at my Mom's house and went to my Grandparents' house in NC for dessert.  On Friday we had our second Thanksgiving meal at Scott's Mother's house.  That was lovely also.  We had another turkey, sweet potato casserole and some really great pies for dessert.

The rest of the weekend was really relaxing, which is just what we needed!  We didn't rush out on black Friday to get anything special, in fact..we didn't shop at all.  We both had the day off on Wednesday so we did a bit of shopping then.  I had been wanting a new camera for a while now and the one I wanted was on sale at Best Buy for $129 and it wasn't going to be discounted any further on Friday, so we dodged the lines and bought it early :)  I was so excited and of course, took way too many pictures with it the first few days I had it.  

The weekend flew by, but not without a lot of fun, relaxing and great food!  I look forward to this time, every year and I am so grateful to God for all the many blessings He has given me.  I have a great family, amazing husband and a job I really enjoy.  The only thing missing is having a little baby of our own :)  That's what we are wishing for this coming year and I am SO excited!  


We are leaving for Phoenix in the morning.  We have to wake up at 4:00am -.- in order to get to the airport in time to check in, go through security and begin our long flight complete with stops in all kinds of states besides Arizona.  Ha.  We are not even close to being done with packing, but we will have to run home tonight to do it.  It's mostly business but they are having 2 really fancy cocktail parties that we will be attending and I am super excited for that.  I had to go buy dresses and everything. 


We are now back from AZ and had a fantastic time!  I feel so blessed to  be able to spend time with some of the best MA Schools owners in the country.  I just looked around at all the millionaires and thought to myself.."How did I get here?  I am a 22 year old high school graduate..and somehow I am managing a MA school and hanging out with these people?"  I felt SO grateful to all the people who invested time in Scott and I to explain some of the procedures and protocol to give us a better school.  We got to hang out with Mike Chat(google him), he was the blue power ranger in the 90's and trained Taylor Lautner and Jaiden Smith.  He is a really cool guy.
Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Landing in Columbus, it was snowing :)

New Mexico's Mountains!

We stayed at the Buttes Resort.  It was built in a butte.  This was their cool lobby.

Pretty outdoor lobby

Mike Chat!

All dressed up for the cocktail party!

Our School won the "Faith Award"  Mr. Bertrand is our coach on the end, he has a very successful school is Vancouver.

All of us with Mr. Bill Storm(in the blue), he is one of the top coaches in united professionals.

Pictures do these views no justice..just so gorgeous.

Phoenix from a balcony

the resort

We went hiking in the mountains and came across this rock...doesn't it look like an alligator?? See the eye??

Scott's Mom and Soke on the alligator

On top of some mountain with Phoenix in the background

Mom and Soke

Cool rock formation

We had a great time and feel so lucky to of been able to go!


Next up!  A Cruise to the Caribbean in 8 days!!!!!  I can't wait!  We are going to swim with sting rays(wild ones..eeek), snorkel the great barrier reef, go to a zoo on Roatan, relax on an 11 acre private island and last but not least...Swim with DOLPHINS!  I am so stoked about that!  I bought a water proof case for my camera, so I hope to get videos and pics of it all.