Reflections....2008

2008. Finished. Sometimes it felt like the year that would never end. Sometimes it felt like a whirlwind. It's been different, to say the least. I don't think that there's any one person that knows everything I've been through this year. There are many people that know many parts of many things. As I sit here thinking back, this year has been a tough one. But I don't want to think about the bad things. Today, we're going to skip the heartaches and disappointments. I want this post to be thoughts of my favorite things of 2008. So here goes.

Favorite things about 2008...in no particular order...

1-My house.


In February, I bought my house. I can't explain how much I love my house. It's mine. I live here. There's nobody to tell me what to do or when to do it. If I want every rug in the house to be pink, that's cool. 'Cause it's my house! So there!

2-My dog.

At some point, and I don't remember when this occurred exactly, I dognapped Sadie. Really I think I brought her here for a weekend when Mom and Dad went out of town and I just never took her home. Sometimes I don't know what I would do if she wasn't here. My house (favorite thing #1) can be very big and very lonely sometimes. But with Sadie the Dog here, I always have a friend. She is the sweetest dog ever. Fact. I'm sure Mom and Dad miss her. And I know she misses seeing them all the time. But I need her. And she's always here for a hug.

3-Brenna Leigh Clinton.

Okay, so technically she came to us in 2007. But we only had her for 3 days in 2007. And she was kinda little and boring. Precious, but dull. 2008 is when we got to know her. She is an angel. She has the funniest laugh. And I love it when she squishes up her nose and grins at me. Love her!

4-Wicked...Boom! In April, I went to see Wicked in Charlotte. Wow. In October, for Katie's graduation present, Meredith, Katie, and I went to Atlanta to see Wicked again. It was Meredith's first time. It was a great day. One of the best days of the year. Seriously. Sometimes I wish my life was a musical.

4-Reconnecting. This year brought me back to two of my very best friends. When I got my laptop this summer, I got on Facebook. And I found my girls. Who can really say how we lost touch before? Life got in the way after college. But we found our way back to each other and now it's like we were never apart. Now Kim is expecting a baby. And Chalica is on the other side of the world. But I feel very confident in saying that we will always be here for each other and losing touch again is not an option.

5-My family. I have the best family. Ever. Best parents, best sister, best brother, best in-laws, best nephews, best nieces, best grandparents, best aunts, best uncles, best cousins. Period. If you thought your family was the best, you obviously have not met mine.

6-Gamecock Football.

I got to go to four games this year! (That's a lot for me! I'm usually lucky to get to go to one!) I went to the Wofford game and the LSU game with Krystle. I went to the UAB game with Hoppy, Kathy, Katie, and Bobby. And I went to the Clem#%$ game (in the WORST place on the planet!) with Hoppy and Katie. I LOVE Gamecock football. I had a blast at Williams-Brice. It's one of my favorite places to be. I wish I could say I enjoyed the last game of the regular season. But it was cold. And it was raining. And it was in Clem#$*. And orange is disgusting. Seriously. I'm looking forward to starting 2009 with Gamecock Football! Go Cocks!

This has become a really long post. I think I'll stop now. I'm looking forward to 2009. Krystle's getting married in April. Kim is having a baby in May. That means bachelorette parties, and bridal showers, and baby showers and lots more fun. Who knows what else 2009 will bring??

I love vacation!

I don't have any good pictures today, but what started out being a pretty boring day turned into a lot of fun. I started the day with stupid stuff like making the bed and doing laundry. But this afternoon, Jacob came over to play Mario Kart on the Wii. I am, without a doubt, the worst Mario Kart driver EVER. He beat me (almost) every time. I think I managed to win a race or two. Despite being beaten like a drum, I had fun. That game is definitely more fun to play with somebody else!

Tonight I met the O'Neill's and the rest of the gang for trivia night at Hooper's. Our team did really well in the tournament this time around, but we came up just short of winning the whole thing. A new tournament starts next Tuesday, so maybe this time!!!

Busy day tomorrow! I've got to make a cake for the New Year's Eve pajama party and I think I'm going to meet Katie and Grandmother for lunch. I love being on vacation and having the freedom to do things when I want to do them!! =)

Christmas, Take Two

On Saturday, my brother's family came to York to visit for Christmas. The family gathered at Mom and Dad's house at about 1:00. Grandmother, Granddaddy, Mom, Dad, Brent, Deborah, Pete, Helena, Corey, Meredith, Colin, Brenna, Stephanie, Sadie, Hoppy, Kathy, Katie and Bobby. That was all of us. =) I was very glad to see my brother and his family!!!




We had lots of yummy food, including Mere's potato soup, Kathy's vegetable soup, various Christmas meats...there was SO MUCH food!!!!
After we ate, it was present time again. Pete and Helena opened theirs first. Then Brent and Deborah. Then the rest of us. They gave me Carnival Games for the Wii and a cute flamingo ornament for my tree. =) Yay!
We did a fun photo shoot with Grandmother and Granddaddy.

First we took their picture with their great-grandchildren...


Then with the grandchildren...


Then with their children...


After presents, it was Wii time. There was some "lovely" singing with the American Idol Karaoke game. (I'm not sure if the highlight was Kathy and Hoppy singing "Islands in the Stream" with Hoppy as Dolly and Kathy as Kenny, or if it was Bobby and Hoppy singing "Eye of the Tiger".) There was also some Wii bowling and some Guitar Hero. We ended the evening with some Mario Kart racing. It got pretty serious....

Christmas...Part One

Christmas Day!!!!! I love it!!

I woke up at the crack of day (seriously...I thought I was on vacation...) to go to my sister's house. I always go there on Christmas morning to watch Colin, and now Brenna, look to see what Santa brought them. So I got up very early, put on my Christmas pajamas and headed off to Meredith's house.

Colin and Brenna were so cute! Colin was very excited about all of his loot. Brenna wasn't exactly sure of what was going on, but she seemed to be having fun. Colin and Brenna and I all had on our Nick and Nora Sock Monkey pajamas. We were very cute, if I do say so myself!!




After breakfast it was back home to change, load the car, and pick up Sadie. She was so excited to get to go to Christmas!! Sadie and I went to Mom and Dad's for the big Christmas dinner/present opening extravaganza. Mom's tree was kinda crowded with presents...



We had a wonderful meal--turkey, ham, pork, rice, gravy, dressing, green beans, corn, broccoli casserole, potato salad, deviled eggs, slaw, brown rice, macaroni and cheese, and probably some other stuff I can't remember. And then it was present time!

We always open presents in order from youngest to oldest, but Brenna was asleep, so Colin got to go first. He got lots of fun stuff. Then it was Bobby's turn, then Katie, then me!! I got some lovely sweaters, a new Wii game and a Wiimote recharge station, the soundtrack to Mamma Mia!, some other fun stuff, and a HIPPOPOTAMUS!!!



Then it was time for Meredith, Corey, Kathy, Hoppy, Mom, Dad, Grandmother, and Granddaddy to open their presents. Brenna woke up somewhere in the middle of it all. She went last. She liked the paper.




After a little more visiting and lots of car loading, Meredith and Corey and the kids went to see Corey's family and the Lancaster delegation took off too. I beat Dad at several rounds of Wii bowling, he beat me at a few few rounds, and then my dad's sisters came over. We had a great time visiting and then it was time to come home.

Christmas 2008 was very busy and very fun! I can't wait for Saturday when Brent, Deborah and the kids are here and we can do it all over again!!

Christmas Eve Festivities

Tonight, my family (Mom, Dad, Meredith, Corey, Colin, Brenna and I ) went to Lancaster to go to church with my grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins. The service was wonderful. The children of the church helped to tell the Christmas story. There was lots of singing and a candlelight service at the end. It was a great way to remember the reason for Christmas!

Then we went to my grandparents' house for our traditional Christmas Eve meal. They ate oyster stew (BLECCCCH!) and Grandmother made chicken salad for those of us who do not eat that disgusting substance. Grandmother had also made peanut brittle, fudge, and fruitcake cookies (ew).

We watched the Claymation Christmas special from the 1980s. Yes, the one with the California Raisins. We love that show. And of course, 24 hours of A Christmas Story began at 8:00. I took some fun family pictures. You know the kind...when you hold the camera out in front of your face and hope for the best. I'll post a few of those.

Tomorrow is a busy day. I'd better be getting to bed.

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve. New blog. Why not?

I'm avoiding my Christmas chores. I thought I would start a general blog so I can randomly talk about random things, even when nobody is listening. I love my cake blog, so I thought this would be fun.

So today is Christmas Eve. I love Christmas. I have lots of things going on in the next few days. Tonight I'll go to church with my grandparents. Tomorrow will be very busy with Christmas activities. Friday will be filled with cleaning and reorganizing. On Saturday, my brother and his family will be here for Christmas: Part Two. Busy Busy!

I should stop this now so I can get my chores done. I've got a cake to bake and candy to make and wrapping paper to store.

I hope all of my friends have a wonderful Christmas and I'm sure I'll be back soon, posting about all of the festivities!