planning....

Wedding planning is still going pretty slowly. I feel like I'm putting in a lot of effort, and getting nothing out of it. I just got our Save The Date cards in the mail. So, I will be addressing them this weekend and will hopefully have them in the mail by Friday/Saturday (...hopefully). I also set up an appointment to TASTE TEST!! This was the part I was looking forward to the most. Unfortunately, it isn't until January 28th, so I'll have to hold off until then. We still have to figure out a cake, flowers, and officiant (since Eric and I do not belong to a church here, we have been asking around trying to find someone to marry us). Also, I have been making calls to figure out which hotel i should block off for guests to stay in after the wedding. I'm getting nervous, because our first option is having a dog show there that weekend, so that's out, and our second option is completely booked for that weekend. Our third option I will be meeting with on Monday and it's REALLY nice (and has a Starbucks). I REALLY hope it is still available for that date! And I started our wedding website! It isn't finished quite yet, but it some info on there! It's http://BrennanAndWatson.ourwedding.com.

I will update more soon (:

Thanksgiving #2

We only stayed at Eric's house for about a day and a half because his parent's drove to Alexandria for the weekend to spend their anniversary.  Back home, my mom had her Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. I'm so glad I didn't miss it! The food was amazing and there was SOOO much. First of all, she got  23 pound turkey. 23.  That is HUGE. We also had homemade mashed potatoes, homemade gravy (that Katie and I make every year), stuffing, broccoli and cheese casserole, watergate salad (that I make every year), yams, sweet potatoes with the marshmellows on top (that I make especially for Eric), rolls, cranberries, pumpkin pie, chocolate pecan pie, and apple pie. I think I listed it all. Anyway, it was all homemade and it was all delicious. Mom did most of the work, but we all chipped in a little bit!. After dinner we took the wood that we chopped down last weekend and made a bonfire in the back yard. It was a LOT of fun. We stayed out there all night (or until about 11:30 when we couldn't stay awake anymore..). The good thing about having so many leftovers, is that we all can have "THE sandwich". "The sandwich" is a tradition in our family, where we put turkey and stuffing on buttered bread in the oven with cheddar cheese on top. And when it's melted, add either mustard or mayonnaise. It sounds very simple, but if you make it right, it is delicious. Some of us actually look forward to Thanksgiving leftovers more than the actual dinner... :)

Eric blowing on the spark trying to get the fire going...

David with his Great-Grandmother.

Dinner table

STUFFING!

David loving his dinner

David having a blast with his grandpa and a flashlight.

Dad goofing around with David.

Roasting marshmellows

Thanksgiving #1

For Thanksgiving, Eric and I headed down to Chesapeake to spend the holidays with his family. After almost a 7 hour drive there (we left on the busiest travel day of the year - the day before Thanksgiving), we got to spend the day with his parents, grandparents, his brother's family, and his sister-in-law's family. Unfortunately, his brother and sister-in-law were fighting pneumonia, but everyone still had a good time. And the food was AMAZING! I looooove thanksgiving dinner. :) I didn't take too many pictures, but I did manage to snap a few of Sienna, one of my favorite subjects. :)

Eric's parents wanted to try to get a picture of the dogs for a Christmas card... they were NOT having it. It didn't work out... we will work on it for next year (:

Wood Choppin'

To prepare for one of my FAVORITE holidays [Thanksgiving], dad came up with the genius idea of having a bonfire that night. I LOVE bonfires. There's just something about sitting outside with people you love roasting hotdogs and s'mores by the fire, under the night sky, with no TV around to distract you. It was one of my favorite parts about camping when we were little. My dad said that when we would go camping he would send us out to collect wood for the fire and we would just about wipe out the place.. hehe. Anyway, I got really excited about this bonfire idea. And so did my dad, because he got right on the computer and ordered a fire pit for future bonfires. Unfortunately, it won't be ready in time for this weekend (we're celebrating Thanksgiving on Saturday), but we'll just have to make our own for that :). So Dad, Eric, and I gathered our (ok, my dad's) axes and chainsaws and hopped in the pick-up truck to the woods in our yard. I have a lot of pictures... I got a little distracted down there. But I would just like to point out that I actually DID help. I wasn't just taking pictures the whole time. ;)

RIP pumpkins.. they were carved until the groundhog got to them.. :(

A peak of Christmas :)

HUGE bird nest...

Home

Another huge bird nest.

Guinness watching us from the door....

... scared of the fire

... and trying to get out.

Trying to get the fire started to test it out. This is NOT how small the actual bonfire will be. This was just a test ;)

Our woodpile from the day!

Dad proud of a day's work.