Sweet Southern Pearl

I can't say I'm "ready for a fresh start"...what I can say is that 2011 has been a heck of a year, with ups and downs like any year. Huge things have happened this year. My faith has deepened and I've found myself a little more through that. I can't believe how fast the years are flying by. Here's to believing that 2012 will be wonderful and full of happiness :)

So I'm REALLY behind on blogging...things got crazy in Christmas chaos.  I wrote a lot of this earlier, but now I'm adding things as I remember them.  I remember watching Christmas movies at night but I don't remember which nights haha. So here is what I remember from week three. The highlights :) Sunday, December 11 -Church in the morning -Lunch with Zach & his family -Ice skating in downtown Greensboro with Katie and Ashley!! It was so much fun.  I definitely wanna go again.  Once we got the hang of it, we got going a little faster...but me and Katie couldn't quite master the art of skating backwards like Ashley did haha -Christmas program at church with Alex and Ashley.  Loved the music.  It was beautiful. -Then we went shopping at Belk's...taking advantage of their extended Christmas hours! -Went home and attempted to work on homework... haha Monday, December 12 -Worked in the costume shop for a few hours. -Had Kepley's for supper w...

Okay, so by now, it's probably pretty obvious that I'm OBSESSED with Christmas... I'm obsessed with anything that has to do with Christmas.  Accessories, clothes, colors, patterns, etc.  Ever since I was little, I've loved Christmas BOWS.  My mom used to make me wear them on my dresses, on my shoes, socks, ears, head, wherever! Haha.  This year, I found some really cute ones I'd like to share.   The ones above are from Claire's.  They were $5 and I thought they were SUPER cute.  The only problem with them is that the bobby pins they come on are really tiny (probably for little girls with fine hair) and of course won't slide easily into my thick hair haha. So I just switch them onto my own bobby pins.  Aren't they adorable though?? This is the bow I put on my car.  The picture is kinda blurry, but it's the best one I have right now.  It's a candy cane bow! I got it at the drug store.  I like it because it's different from the usu...

Continuing my Christmas highlights... Amidst loads of schoolwork, I managed to do fun Christmas things during week two. Sunday, December 4th -C hurch in the morning -Auditions for the spring dance concert at school -Went shopping at Belk's for a little while by myself (did I mention I love shopping alone?) -Got my sister and we went shopping at Target. I got a red fleece jacket for $10 (later had it monogrammed) -Did homework with Alex Monday, December 5 -I worked that night.  Met Zach at the tree lot after work to get the tiny Christmas tree for my room.  Picked out the smallest, most adorable one.  We drank hot chocolate and rode around and looked at lights for a little while :) -Went back to my house and decorated my little tree.   before after Tuesday, December 6 -Worked in the costume shop in the morning to get theatre hours. I love the costume shop. -Had "Christmas Dinner" in the caf with Ashley B. -Libraried it up with Ashley Wednesday...

"Enjoy the little things in life...for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things." via I just saw that quote on one of my friend's Facebooks, and it really drove home the reason why I started to write this blog in the first place.  I decided that all through the Christmas season, I'm going to document the fun things I do - big and small - because time is such a valuable thing, and the years fly by.  I just want to appreciate every single moment! Since Christmas officially starts right after Thanksgiving, I'll start with highlights from the week of November 27. I had my wisdom teeth out the day after Thanksgiving, so I wasn't able to do much til that Sunday. Sunday, November 27 -Went to J&S with my mom, brother, and sister.  J&S is one of my favorite restaurants! -Did homework at Barnes & Noble with Alex, and my sister tagged along.  We sat in the children's section.  Barnes & Noble is lovely at Christmas ti...

When I was doing my top Christmas song blog the other day, I completely forgot about one of the very best Christmas songs - The First Noel!! Clay Aiken and Josh Turner both do gorgeous versions of "The First Noel."  They give it a unique feel. That's all. I just wanted to spotlight another beautiful Christmas song :) eBa 

Okay, so now that it is officially December (YAY!) , I decided that I am going to try to blog every day about a different Christmas-related topic, memory, activity, etc. I decided to kick off the month with a list of my top 25 Christmas songs ! It was hard to pick just 25, but I think I have it pretty well narrowed down.  And since there are 25, there's a song for each day until Christmas :) So here we go!!!! 25. Santa Claus is Back in Town - Elvis Presley . Enough said. 24. Holly Jolly Christmas - Nothing beats Burl Ives' version. Pure classic. 23.  Joy to the World - always been one of my favorites, don't care who sings it. 22.   Little Saint Nick - The Beach Boys.   Such a fun song! When I taught dance, my little girls did a dance to it, and I do that dance in my head every time I hear it now. 21.   There's a New Kid in Town - George Strait / Keith Whitley .  A sweet, sweet, touching song with some country twang. 20.   Home for the ...