Twenty Thirteen

I CANNOT believe that it is the last day of 2013!!! I don't think this one flew by as fast as last year, but still crazy that we are entering yet another year. In no particular order, here some memorable things about 2013:

• After much prayer, tears, and frustration, the infamous Vertigo finally let go! 
• On the bright side, this gave me an excuse to watch all 3 seasons of Downton Abbey in essentially one sitting.
• We also watched all seasons of "24" in their entirety. Not sure how proud I am though that we watched 8 years of TV in 9 months. The curse of Netflix. 
• LOTS of friends  and family had a baby. I would never try to name each one for fear of leaving someone out. But you know who you are; I love all of you and your babies! 
• Jeremie and I finally went to Wyoming; something we've been talking about since we were in college. It was fantastic and I am in love with that place! 
• Ladies Football Camp. I think I blogged about this here. But I am still talking about it and Jeremie just rolls his eyes.
• I really enjoyed decorating the house. This DOES NOT include painting the 77 spindles on the staircase, which almost made me lose my religion.
• We joined a small group through our church and fortunately these people are as crazy as we are. (And if they read this, they will not get offended, only laugh.)  
• I took a 16 day trip to MS and even though this included fantastic reunions with family and friends, I will never stay away that long again.
• Texas continues to be Texas. At Bible study the other day I heard a lady say "Ohh, yes, GOLD is the best neutral!"  I also had a lady at Stein Mart tell me that a sweater made my hips look big when I asked her opinion.
• This year I finished a study in Genesis and began Matthew. Absolutely incredible what God can do through His Word.
• When I asked J what came to mind when he thought of 2013, he said "Home".....Dallas now feels like home.  That made me smile!
• I noticed today that some people posted that 2013 was the best year of their lives and then I know others who are going through unspeakable tragedy right now. That really makes me think. Ecclesiastes 3.
• HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope yours is safe, fun and joyful.

It's The Holiday Season....

Yes, the title of this post is a jingle and as I typed it I was singing it in my head.  So the holidays came early for the Wells this year.  Since I was sick as a dog through the holidays last year, I felt like I deserved to commence the festivities early.  Judge if you like, but my decorations went up around November 19th.  So Jeremie walked in from work one day and stockings were hung and Christmas music was playing on Pandora and he said "Ok, so it's Christmas." I was no less into Thanksgiving, but really more thankful that I was healthy enough to indeed put up decorations.

We did hold a full Thanksgiving feast thro' down. We had full intention of going to MS, attending the Egg Bowl and visiting family, but at the last minute (like LAST minute; bags were at the door), we decided not to go.  (Jeremie has a HUGE project launching this week and the thought of over 22 hours of driving over 4 days was too much.) So though no one can out do J's moms pound cake, my mom's dressing, or my Grammy's rolls, we gave it our best shot. J smoked a turkey and we had all the traditional sides like cornbread dressing, butter beans, corn casserole, mac 'n cheese, and my favorite....the rolls.  Oh, and pecan pie..duh. We actually had a great time cooking and even better time eating.  And homegirl always loves a reason to use the china.

     

And yes, I ate my dinner in my MSU jersey....because...the The Battle for the Golden Egg was held that evening and I was very thankful it ended up in the right hands.....Hail State!

In true Bulldawg form, it didn't come easy.....the game ended in overtime, which I hate. I spent most of it literally standing on the couch. BUT, we scored and in the final play ended like this. And it is being re-lived in many Bulldog homes....just Google "Wallacing"......

My favorite "Wallacing" was this:

In this case, I am thankful for whoever posted this clever Elf on a Shelf rendition......

Jeremie and I did not participate in the violent Black Friday shopping, but we did split up and go to our favorites....for him that was Cabela's and for me it was The Gap. And Stein Mart. (Where I asked a lady's opinion about how a sweater looked on me she told me it made my hips look bigger than they were. I love an honest Texas woman.)

Over the rest of the weekend, we picked up our Christmas tree, watched lots of football and National Lampoon Christmas vacation, which officially commences the Christmas season.

This weekend certainly felt like the North Pole as Storm "Cleon" has come through. (How do they come up with these names?)  Texans get totally nervous when it even rains here, so an ice storm warranted a state of emergency.  Grocery stores were out of bread, eggs, and other basics! Glad I went early.  It really has been a crazy storm! Everything is iced over....it looks like snow, but it's pure ice, so don't plop and try to make an angel, because you'll bust your head open. Luckily, J has kept a fire going and we never lost power. Manny seemed to love the stuff.

I am happy to use this time to hang in my pj's and wrap gifts!  Tis the Season!

And in my best Bing Crosby voice.......I am singing "Happy Holidays"..........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJi-8ulYevU