Author: Suz

Categories
Family/Travel Photography

Our New Years Weekend aka picture overload

We had opened spouse gifts going oldest to youngest order (I was last), so we did family gifts youngest to oldest (I was third). My brother opened a video game, golf club & Santa gave Steven & Beth a wine frig. Thanks to Beth’s Amazon & Crate & Barrel registries, she received a lot of things she really wanted. Mom & Nana both opened more Pandora charms as well as a few clothes & nick nacks.
Dad’s big gifts were a Tassamo coffee maker from the kids & $$ towards building a computer from Nana & Pawpaw. Jason & I’s BIG gift was the Nikon D5000 {I saved it for the last gift opened!}. We also received a NCSU welcome sign that I want to frame, an owl ornament, a Lilly agenda, lip glosses, Amazon gift cards, a polo, scarf, pj pants. Everyone received OIB Floatilla long sleeve Ts!


So from now on {actually you saw a few preview photos in my last 2 posts}, expect to see a lot of photos! Hopefully they are much better than the ones I’ve take myself on our old Sony point & shoot, or worse my 3 year old cell phone, or borrowed {read stolen} from friends picasa/facebook/blogs. I look forward to looking at my first days pictures in a year or two from know and being even better.

So, thanks to picnik, here’s a few collages of photos from New Years Day & then once I returned home last Sunday. ps- dogs are much better models for trying out the Pet Portraits than cats. Oh and my parent’s old bird Nick & his cage were tough models too.
I stayed on AUTO for most, but ventured on the SCENE mode for pets, party mode, candlelight & even made my brother try out his new golf club so I could use the sports mode. 🙂 I watched the how-to DVDs Sunday afternoon. I’m no where near brave enough to go to the P, M, A or S modes yet, but I plan to take enough photos this year that I hopefully get comfortable with them sooner than later.

Jason & I came back early Sunday so he could watch the Falcons at home. We also HAD to take down our tree. After being gone 10 days & it receiving little water during that time, it was beyond looking rough. Thanks to the dead tree shedding so much & Moe puking up a bag Jason left out, our carpets also got cleaned & vacuumed Sunday.


I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Saturday & Sundays meals. In case you missed it on my twitter feed, I tweeted the Pioneer Woman {remember we’re friends since we met last June} & asked her what we should pare with her mashed potatoes & a beef tenderloin. She said {AHH that’s right, she wrote me back!} her burgundy mushrooms so we went with them as well as my mom’s broccoli casserole. Mom & Nana traditionally do something different with the meat, but since we were kinda having a PW meal already, we tried her roasted beef tenderloin recipe from her cookbook which is pretty much this recipe.


Since I don’t eat pork/beef, I didn’t try it, but even as he ate it Sunday night for the second night in a row, Jason continued to oooh & ahhhh over it! Guess that’s something we’ll repeat for next year.

Categories
Family/Travel

New Year morning aka Christmas Day morning

Since we were unexpectedly/expectedly in Charlotte for the Christmas holiday, my parents decided to host our immediate family & my dad’s parents (our usual Christmas crowd) over New Years weekend.

While we were all as you would expect tearful at times, we did have a good time together. My brother & Beth arrived around 930 Saturday morning. We made our normal Christmas Day breakfast of bacon & I made from scratch pumpkin pancakes {another recipe I need to snag from Mom}. After breakfast/bunch, we opened stockings! The pups received Christmas bandannas {Moe got a Christmas tie} & were willing models in them all day.


We read our People magazines, ate candy, used lotion & stashed away fast food gift cards. Pawpaw ran to Lowes {one of the toilets was leaking} and I showered & put on a {recycled, but now at least clean} outfit.

Beth, Steven & I played Santa and divided up packages. 🙂

{to be continued…}

Categories
Family/Travel

The End of Last Week

Jason headed back home after the funeral, as did my brother & Beth, Preston & Krissie. I decided to remain in Charlotte a little longer with my parents. Tuesday night, the remaining family continued to eat on the honeybaked ham, sandwiches, fruit, homemade mac-n-cheese, pumpkin pie etc that Ma & Papa’s friends had brought by. Tuesday night was also the NCSU bowl game, so as you might expect, my Dad & I were glued to the TV. So happy & proud of the Pack’s win!

Mom, Dad & I drove up back to Richmond Wednesday evening. We spent Wednesday packing up, spending time with Papa, & going through Ma’s belongings at the condo {divided between us & goodwill}. I grabbed her Old Navy fleece robe, a pretty lacy nightgown, tall Christmas tree socks, black triple bead plastic bracelets we’d given her last year, and 2 hankies. One of them has a pretty L monogram. I’m going to save that one to frame for our future baby girl nursery.

We’d decided before going down to Charlotte that we’d celebrate our Christmas with my immediate family & my dad’s parents over New Year’s weekend. Anticipating the weekends business on top of the week before, I spent Thursday just chillin’. Richmond still had snow & my parent’s neighborhood was still pretty icy. That was a great excuse for me to stay inside. I slept in while mom went to work Thursday. A couple of her friends stopped by with dinner for us {it turned into 2 dinners, breakfasts & snacks!}. My dad’s parents arrived; it was so good to hug them.

Nana & I made cheese straws & chex mix. She’s one of those cooks who doesn’t really use a recipe, but I’ll try to get a written copy of what she does. We used the recipe from my aunt mother-in-law’s cookbook for the cheese straws, but then formed the dough into rolls, put them into the frig then cut slice-and-bake cookie style. We used the back of the wheat Chex box recipe for the chex mix then added more spices & nuts.


Once Mom got home, she helped us finish cooking the snacks and we caught up with Nana {Nana’s recent eye problems, our travels, work, Ma, our pets, etc}. We read through the sympathy cards from Mom’s friends had sent and Nana, Mom & I shared stories about Ma.

Friday brought more hanging out, more football games, & more family time with Jason arrving that afternoon. Mom, Nana & I also ran a few errands. One good thing about celebrating the material side of Christmas one week late; 50-75% off stocking stuffers! We ate a fabulous chicken casserole that’s famous amoung Mom’s friends. I’m begging for this recipe & promise to share. That evening we gave & opened gifts to/from our spouses. Mom opened her Pandora bracelet & 2 charms. Nana received a belk gift card along with a new robe & 2 Pandora charms. I was thrilled to open a David Yurman ring, a Peggy Ann frame, & a Shey B camera strap. The guys got more boring things like pjs, chill clothes, coffee, a computer monitor & video games.

Friday was also New Years Eve so we enjoyed a little champagne & party hats Mom found that were left overs from parties years ago. I was suprised that Nana & Pawpaw not only stayed up til midnight but also enjoyed a lil champagne toast too! Hope you had a good NYE!

Categories
Family/Travel

goodbye Ma

We arrived back home today from being gone since last Friday 12/24. How can I sum up these days?! Certainly not the holiday traditions I wrote about in the Christmas Quiz post. I’m going to try with a couple of posts. Beware, there’s some emotional vomit/trying to journal out my thoughts…

I received a text then phone call from my Dad 12/23 around 10a saying that my Ma has slipped into a coma and that my parent’s where heading back to Charlotte. {I thank God so much that I had this chance to say goodbye while she was able to know it.} I believe most of y’all know that from my tweets & facebook {thanks for the love}. I called Jason, we finished up our work for the day and headed home {I was kind of a mess}. After talking to my mom, I decided to spend Thursday cooking, baking & packing. I made SIL chicken casserole {which we ate Christmas night}, these Kris Kingle cookies, and packed all the bread, crackers, chips etc we had in the pantry as well as clothes for us both for at least 5 days.

We left Friday morning after picking up my aunt’s husband in North Ral. I went straight to the nursing home; meeting my mom & aunt at the door. I held Ma’s hands, read her Christmas stories, gave hugs & whispered “I love you”. My Dad & other aunt stayed with Ma while my Mom, aunt, & I went to 11p Christmas Eve church service. Her breathing had changed that afternoon/evening and the CNAs advised we didn’t have her for much longer. My mom had stayed with Ma Thursday night, so my aunts stayed Friday night and sent my Dad, Mom & I back to the condo to sleep around 1:30a. We left after tearful goodbyes as she lay appearing to be peacefully sleeping.

Around 2:30a, my mom got a frantic phone call from aunt Sue saying she wasn’t sure Ma was still breathing. By the time, my mom got back to the nursing home (2:30ish Christmas morning), my Ma had passed away. Mom arrived back to where Dad, Jason & I were staying around 4:45a and told us the news. We tried to go back to sleep for a little while. I went back over to the nursing home {Papa is living there for now while in rehab from his recent surgeries} around 11a. I thought I was ok until seeing the one of the awesome, amazing women who had cared for my Ma for almost 2 years. We hugged & cried together. Papa & I did the same that morning as I let him talk about Ma. Ma loved Christmas; in a way her passing Christmas morning is fitting. How special is it that she was able to meet Jesus on the day we celebrate His birth?!

Another wonderfully sweet SHC employee took care of Papa & I, then Mom & Sue too, as they joined us for lunch. It meant so much to us that Donette was able to make us smile and she gave us the gift of more food than we could have imaged eating that day {turkey & cranberry sauce, stuffing, beans, carrots, cookies, pie, & peppermint ice cream}. The rest of the day is a blur. I remember a few random people saying “Merry Christmas” in passing & either not remembering that it was Christmas or just doing all we could not to cry in reply. It began snowing that evening. I shared my Ma’s Hands post with my family that night.

Sunday we woke up to winter wonderland {I think at least 4 inches}. Photos below from Sunday evening then the Phillips Place frozen fountain from Tuesday.My parents, aunts & I tried to rally around my grandfather. My mom, Sue & I cleaned out Ma’s room Sunday mid-morning. My mom, aunts & Papa met with the minister to plan the funeral. My brother Steven & future-sister-in law Beth arrived Sunday evening. My aunts, Mom & I wrote the eulogy that night.

Steven, Beth, Jason & I took a little break to go out to lunch {at Upstream}, see The Fighter, & have a little Pinkberry. Mom & I also ran to Crate & Barrel Monday evening; that sale was one holiday tradition we didn’t miss. More family arrived Monday afternoon including my cousin Preston & his wife Krissie. It was very good to see everyone as we hadn’t all been together in a long time.

flowers from my aunt’s friends & my mom’s friends

My family had planned to have the funeral, visitation & graveside all in the same day. We gathered together Tuesday morning. My mom helped get my grandfather ready for his first time in public since his surgery 2 months before. Papa is one of 6 children. The family on his side met us at the church. Another gathering of supportive family; most of which we hadn’t seen since our wedding 3 years before or even longer. The funeral was complete with beautiful hymns, the readings of Old & New Testament passages, Preston reading the eulogy perfectly, Psalm 23, and wonderful prayer. Papa chose to have Mom, my aunts, brother Steven, Preston & I receive the 200 family & friends who came in support & love for my grandmother. It was so nice to see familiar faces, hear their stories, receive their hugs. Ma was cremated and just immediate family gathered at the snowy graveside service. The minister said a prayer, we hugged each other & said a final goodbye. Here’s a copy of the obituary from the funeral home website.

Categories
Everything Else

Christmas Quiz

I read this over at Dropped Stitches & thought it was fun but a little long! Feel free to join in if you like!

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Really neither. I’m much prefer Hot Apple Cider.

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa placed them on unwrapped on separate couches growing up. Within the last couple of years, Santa has decided to wrap them and we open Santa gifts along with gifts from the rest of the family.

Colored lights on tree/house or white? Growing up we did colored lights on the tree, but as I mentioned in my tree post, we do white lights now. White lights on house for sure.

Do you hang mistletoe? Nope. I think my Charlotte grandparents would have some hanging in their house, but I never have.

When do you put your decorations up? The week/weekend following Thanksgiving.

What is your favorite holiday dish? broccoli casserole or Christmas cookies. Oh and pumpkin pancakes on Christmas morning!

Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Running around with my mom, aunts & grandmother in Charlotte before Christmas. Church on Christmas Eve with my family. Spread the Christmas day gifts out so it lasts all day!

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don’t remember when exactly… wait he’s not real?! 😛

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We usually do after we get home from church. Usually Christmas pjs if anyone’s getting/giving those.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Lights first, then ornaments, topper then tree skirt. Jason & I do it together now.

Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it because we get it so infrequently here in NC.

Can you ice skate? I’d say yes….kind of… but it’s been years since I did.

Do you remember your favorite gift? My American girl doll which was probably in elementary age. My mom has actually kept both of mine in the attic at their house. {The Nikon I’m getting this year might top this list too! Yay for being a good girl this year. 🙂 }

What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being together with family & friends. Celebrating Jesus’ birth.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? cookies! I love these white chocolate cranberry cookies. I’m going to make them tomorrow.

What is your favorite holiday tradition? Waking up & doing stocking Christmas morning, then breakfast, opening some gifts, eating dinner with the family & popping Christmas crackers, more gifts then maybe a movie or a little football. Since I can remember, Mom, Nana & I have shopped the day-after-Christmas sales!

What tops your tree? At my parent’s house, an angel. At our house, a star.

Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I think you become “grown up” when you get more exciting about giving than receiving! I look so forward to seeing my family & friends open the gifts I’d gotten for them!

What is your favorite Christmas Song? Hard to choose just one! I love Silent Night {it makes me cry when we sing it my candle light on Christmas eve at church}. I love Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. It reminds we of Home Alone and watching that movie on car trips growing up over the holidays.

Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? I like them. I don’t think I’ve had any this year though. I like the fruity ones more than minty.

Favorite Christmas Show? If you mean movie, then hands down Christmas Vacation!!

Saddest Christmas Song? Not sure. Lots of them might make me tear up if I’m in the right mood.