A Merry News Team Christmas!

You can tell I'm on a vacation of sort, because when have I ever posted more than once in a day?!
Scottie and I made our way up to Sidney tonight for the Christmas dinner that I was apprehensive about, and it was great. We laughed, took fun pictures, and Laurel, Kendra, myself and our respective boys even went back to Momma Kathy's down the road for some coffee and dessert. A great time was had by all.

All of us, gathered in the lobby of CJ Highmarks for our first group photo. Here's another cute one from the gathering afterwards:

Have I mentioned that my mom got me a new camera for Christmas? This thing is awesome, people. Expect a TON more pictures of EVERYTHING now. I have my mind set on a slide show of bowl trip pictures, so we'll see if photobucket and I will end up cooperating on that endeavor. Hopefully, once we're (Scottie and I) back in the area, if Kendra and Mike stick around KY, we can make this gathering an annual event. It would be great to host a dinner, or even a game night. Just something where all of us can get together. These are people that I have made family over the past 8 years, and it just seems even more like Christmas if I get to see them, too.

Guitar Hero calls....good night, all!

Merry Christmas to all!

Hope everyone's Christmas was grand! Ours certainly was. It's been great to see family, and tonight we get an opportunity to hang with friends, too, when we see Kendra, Corey, Laurel plus spouses at dinner. Maybe this can become a new Christmas tradition- since the News Team is all about traditions :)

Scottie got me the prettiest right hand ring! (See photo, left)
I feel like such a goof, though- my hands are two different sizes, and he remembered my engagement ring size, and bought this new ring to match...oops. It's 3/4 of a size too small! I'm wearing it on my pinky now, but we'll just have it sized again when we get back to Tennessee. We'll be back on the 28th, only to do laundry, pack again, and be whisked away to Florida for the Tennessee v Wisconsin version of the Outback Bowl. Watch on New Year's Day at 11am (est) for a glimpse of the band (and my husband!)

Bela and Koko are begrudgingly getting along. Again, Bela just wants to play ALL the time, and Koko wants some personal space. She (koko) is also a bit territorial, I think, especially when it comes to us, her people. She has a fit when Bela touches me, and I have to pop her on the nose when she starts snapping about it. I guess we wont' be getting a second dog down the road after all! Who knows what she'll do when we have babies...

Again, very merry Christmas to all, hopefully filled with time with loved ones, and remembering the significance of giving during this season.

As promised, here's koko in the snow!

Disney Honeymoon

There's no place like home...

Scottie and I went up to Ohio this weekend, and I have to say, that was a huge boost for my attitude of late. Seeing friends at the Suddendorf's Annual Christmas party and spending time at home with my family was very good for my chi. I know we'll be back in a week or so, and it was probably not the best idea as far as gas prices are concerned, but it did us a lot of good, truly. We even got to see snow! Real snow, not little crappy flakes like we get here on Rocky Top. Koko got her first romp in the snow, as it was about 5-6 inches deep, and loved it. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get them loaded onto the laptop tonight- it was truly hilarious. She even played with Cooper, the Rottweiler that lives behind my parent's house. He's a big sweet baby, and they get along famously through the fence.
As for how the girls got along (Koko and Bela- as in Bela Fleck- mom's new baby shar pei) that's a different story. Koko is a true terrirer, very protective and territorial, whereas Bela is a big gangly goofy baby. Bela doesn't understand the concept of chilling out for a while- everything is play play play! Finally, on Sunday, after a few nips and employing some of the Dog Whisperer techniques, Koko calmed down on the aggression a bit- just in time for us to leave. I hope things are better at Christmas!
To Recap:
Drive to Ohio: Bad
Being in Ohio with friends and family: Good
Snow Storm while driving: Bad
Snow Period: Good
Koko's first snow: Really Good
Christmas Party: Good
Wrapping Presents for the kids: Good
Leaving for TN again: Bad
Getting back in TN and going to bed last night: Good

Overall- Very very good weekend :)

Short Sleeves in December?!

The weather here in East Tennessee has certainly taken us for a ride while we've been down here. Last year at this time, we'd already had a dusting of snow that caused the silly Southerners to cancel school for fear it was another blizzard. It was at least chilly, and I had a reason to get out my sweaters. Now when I wear them, I'm doing just that! Sweating! It was 75 degrees on Tuesday. I ran errands with no coat. It's DECEMBER, people!! I'm having a hard time understanding how people in the Southern states get in the Christmas spirit when it's not even cold enough to drink hot chocolate. We're really looking forward to getting up to Ohio for the holidays, just to get our "fix" of cold weather, especially since we'll be spending New Years Eve in Tampa during the Outback Bowl (look for pictures, as soon as I can get them onto photobucket after the game) It's sure to be an awesome time, but the most important thing is that I get to spend New Year's Eve with my HUSBAND! Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a big issue, but this will be our first New Year's together in THREE YEARS. So, technically speaking, it's our first New Years as a married couple. Mike and Kendra even have one on us, since they got married on December 30th last year :)

News Team Update:
Assembly '07 went so well, we decided to repeat it. For those that are unaware, I have three girlfriends from college that I see as often as I can, either together or seperately. We've stayed close, united initially by our majors, then our sorority, then by our sense of humor and general abilities for mischief-making. Due to our obsession with the movie Anchorman, we've dubbed ourselves the News Team. Kendra is Ron Burgandy (or Papa Burgandy, since her voice can make a wolverine purr), Laurel is Brik Tamblen for obvious reasons, Corey is Brian Fantana, as she's the stylish one of the group, and I round things out as Champ Kindd, since I'm all about fun. Though it has been difficult for the past few go-rounds, we've made a commitment to get together at least once a year for a weekend and just be girls and have fun. We have been fortunate recently in that three of us have been married, so we've all been together for those occasions, and we spend a few days in Oxford this summer, mainly reminiscing about good days. This winter, we're trying something never been done before:
We're assembling with our husbands/fiance in tow.
I am nervous about this, people. The last time my husband saw me "in action", as he puts it, he spent most of the time pretending he didn't know me/ being embarrassed about my behavior. Though for clarity, I was a little buzzed, and it was only with Kendra and Corey- at Laurel's wedding, so she was occupied and unable to temper our bitchy behavior. Anyway.
My point of anxeity comes from having the boys all together for the first time. I feel like this is a barometer for the future of our friendship- if the boys all get along together, we'll have a very easy time spending a long weekend together as a group in the future. If they don't get along, or they choose to be more quiet than usual, then the Newsteam husbands will have to stay home. At least until we divorce and get new ones that play nicely together. :)