Hibernation

Since last weekend was "The Big Snowstorm" (all 4 inches...), we haven't had much to share with our friends and family. We've really just been hibernating and trying to stay warm, and I've been tackling a cold.

This past week was spent getting back into a normal routine now that all the snow is gone. And boy, it was a busy week for both of us. Work work work! Sean traveled to Louisville for his quarterly regional meeting, and I had a 2-day sales conference at our home office here in Franklin. With all the in-and-out and running around we were doing, I was thankful to have my mom and stepdad to help out with Murphy's potty breaks.

Yesterday was Saturday - the sacred day of laziness. We actually got several errands accomplished and a little bit of cleaning done. Murphy got to take his first trip to Petsmart for a nail filing and ear cleaning. And since it's been so gloomy and cold, I've been craving a warm, homemade soup. I whipped up some French Onion with Gruyere cheese for lunch...mmmmm.

Tonight, of course, is THE BIG GAME. I'm a little sad that the Titans won't be there. sniff. We're meeting up with Sherri and Keith to go to Linda and Phil's house (the same couple who hosts the annual gingerbread house party). Should be a good time! We don't really have any stock invested in either team. I'm sure Sean will pull for the Colts tonight since Peyton shares his alma mater. I might cheer for the Saints just because New Orleans seems way cooler than Indianapolis (even though I've never visited either). In the end, all I really care about is having a fun night with our friends.

Snow Cream

Well, here it is - my very first edited video using the Flip. I wanted to put this on Facebook, but it never takes my videos. So, I'm using the trusty ole blog! Please forgive my shoddy editing work. I need some practice with the fading, but this'll do for now. You might notice I was talking quietly...that's because I was worried that the neighbors could hear me! So anyway, enjoy the clip. And don't forget to make your own batch of snow cream the next time it snows in your neck of the woods
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Extra Christmas Pics

I found these gems on Sean's iPhone - leftover pictures from Christmas. Enjoy!

My Nonnie hosts a Christmas Eve Brunch every year.

This year she served petit fours as part of the dessert buffet.

Notice anything special about this tasty treat?

Sean and me at Dad's place on Christmas Eve

Amanda, Trey and Me

Dad with his kiddos.

A little bit of nothing much

It's Sunday night, 9:30 p.m. Where has my weekend gone!?!?! I'm sitting here with a glass of red wine, back aching from cleaning all day. I want to take a bath and shave my legs for the first time in a looooong time. Perhaps I'll have time for a quick bath after this blog, and then maybe some knitting.

Not too much has happened around the Carroll household since Christmas and the New Year. Of course, we have Murphy now, and I feel like he takes up most of our time. We've been adjusting to him, and he's been adjusting to us. I think we're getting along quite well! He and Sean have had a few "power struggle" moments where Murphy was behaving very badly. But for the most part, he's a great dog. I LOVE to snuggle with him! He took a nap on my chest yesterday, and it was the sweetest thing ever! You have to understand that I don't have kids, and I've never held a baby for more than .02 seconds, so my new dog really IS the sweetest thing ever to me. We've gotten to a point where we can leave Murphy alone in the house (not in his crate) for a few hours, and he does great! VICTORY! No accidents, and our furniture is not ripped to shreds. When we return, he's just napping in his favorite chair.

Here's Murphy having a good laugh

As you may recall from my last post, Murphy thinks he's a cat. He jumped on to our kitchen counter with one leap...just like a cat. And he stole our dish sponge.

Now on to some non-Murphy related news...our jobs are going well, we're excited about the new year, and everything is pretty status quo. I don't have much to share, but I guess that's a good thing - No drama! We don't make any New Year's resolutions, so I can't give you an update on how we're failing our diets or anything Ike that. I can tell you, however, that we enjoyed a fire outside on Friday night as it was quite warm for January (low 40's). Dad's adorable lady friend took us to dinner and joined us in some fireside chatting. And today, after 9 months of being in our home, we finally bought curtains for the living room. My mom also gave me a quilt that was made by my great grandmother. I think it's just about the neatest thing I've ever owned!



Sean's Notes: I'm excited that our family has gotten bigger. I have a long list of house projects to keep me occupied (possibly a new kitchen!) I made cappuccino tonight, so that's a win for the new year. [I gave him a cappuccino/coffee maker for Christmas. He does a really good job at steaming the milk. I don't think I'll ever try to use that thing. It looks way too complicated.]

And, in closing...

Last night and today we've been busy celebrating the new year - welcome, 2010! Did everyone eat their black eyed peas??? (And just in case you're wondering, I refer to it as twenty-ten. Yes, because it sounds better.) Even though my family suffered a tragedy this year with losing my two maternal grandparents, I can't help but think of 2009 as an overall good year. Sean and I were blessed with many things (like our jobs, a happy marriage, and a new house), and we made tons of good memories (see also: all my previous blog posts). One thing I'm most thankful for this year is being able to spend more time with my brother. Oh, and for my mean boss quitting on my birthday. Woo hoo! What can I say - life is bueno. I'm thankful for everything I have, and I'm looking forward to another good year in twenty-ten.

The week leading up to Christmas I was a nervous wreck because I knew that I was adopting the dog. Then finally, Christmas Day came and I was able to relax and enjoy the festivities. For Christmas we stayed in town, as we usually do, and spent time with our families. All in all, we visited with 38 members of our family in just 2 days. Phew! It was a whirlwind extravaganza filled with lots of laughter, food and presents, of course. Emily was in town for almost 2 weeks, and it was nice to visit with her again. My step-sister Jennifer also came down to Tennessee with her family. We had our traditional Christmas Eve brunch at Nonnie's house, and had a blast playing Name That Tune. Unfortunately, we didn't capture many pictures of the actual festivities. What I do have are the pictures you'll see below - enjoy!

Linda's annual Gingerbread Party with all "the girls."

This was actually December 5, but it's a great way to kick off the holiday season. We spend about 6 hours assembling our gingerbread houses, drinking "Jingle Juice," sharing stories and eating the delicious food that Phillip prepares for us. What a treat!

(Click the picture for a better view of our houses. Then click the back button to continue reading.)

Top row: Mom, me, Amanda, Cristina, Sue and Janice

Bottom: Jensi, Heather, Kelly and our wonderful host Linda

Not pictured: Phillip the chef (a.k.a. Linda's husband)

Another one of my favorite pre-Christmas celebrations is the Dickens of a Christmas event in Downtown Franklin. Sean, Sherri and I spent the afternoon shopping and enjoying the street fair activities. Here are the Dickens-era street performers doing a traditional group dance...


...and Sean and I bumped into Scrooge himself. Bah humbug!

With just 2 weeks to go before Christmas, Sean and I finally sucked it up and bought a Christmas tree. Trust me, it looked way better with the lights down low, the tree lit and the glow from the fireplace.

Christmas morning came with a special treat this year. Murphy joined our family! Sean was totally surprised, but he soon fell in love with the sweet puppy. They're best buds now, and Murphy's favorite napping spot is in Sean's lap.

For Trevor's birthday (12/26) we surprised him with tickets to the Titans Christmas Day Game. Here are the siblings - Trevor, Emily and Sean - tailgating before the game. Damn, it was cold!!! And we lost. But the 4 of us had a great time together.

Here they are freezing in the stands

Twins! Sean and his buddy Murphy both wearing argyle

Murphy thinks he's a cat

We stayed home for New Year's Eve and enjoyed the last dinner of 2009 - steamed lobster. These suckers were delicious. Our friends John and Bethany stopped by to help us ring in the new year. Mostly, they just helped us stay awake. We watched the ball drop and I made midnight breakfast for us. The majority of the first day of 2010 was spent in our PJ's. I made a pot of black eyed peas and cornbread, and Mom, Jimmy and Amanda came over for a visit. I'd say the new year is off to a great start.

Meet Murphy

Before I post an official Christmas blog, I wanted to introduce the newest member of our family...a new dog! Almost 2 weeks ago, my sister rescued a Boston Terrier from the side of the road. She called me feeling terribly guilty for taking him to the Nashville animal shelter. He had a sweet temperament, he knew a few words like "sit" and "treat" and he seemed to be comfortable in a crate. I told her she did the right thing by saving him and turning him in. Surely someone would come looking for him, right? But her story tugged at my heart strings, and then I started thinking, "...maybe I want that dog..." I always talk myself out of getting a dog because I think they're too much trouble (and they are). But I really love Boston Terriers, and I was glad to hear that he was comfortable in a crate. After thinking about it for approximately .02 seconds, I decided to adopt him! A week after sister dropped him off, still no one had claimed him. It was 2 days before Christmas, so I decided to go ahead with it. I wanted to surprise Sean on Christmas morning, so the dog lived with my sister for a couple of days.

The anticipation of having a new dog was killing me, and my stomach was in knots for days. On Christmas morning before we woke up, sister delivered the surprise to our house. Sean heard something rustling at the door, and he shot out of bed. My sister opened our bedroom door, and here came the puppy wearing a Santa suit and hat. Sean couldn't believe it! Later that day he came up with the name Murphy, which I think is perfect. We wanted something that sounded a little "Irish Catholic" since the breed originates from Boston.

So far Murphy has been a delight. He's about 1 year old so he's got lots of energy, but he's sweet as can be. He tries to obey, and I think we'll be able to train him fairly easily. He hasn't had any accidents in the house (except for marking my bra on the floor). He's just the right size - not too big, and not too small. He's 28 lbs. - we're not sure if he's going to grow any more. So far we think he's pure bred because he doesn't resemble anything but a Boston. He's already showing interest in Frisbee catching, so I can't wait until he's trained a little more and the weather gets warmer. We're going to have so much fun at the park! He loves to suck on his fuzzy pillow, and he's obsessed with licking every part of Sean's face.

Don't forget Thanksgiving

Is it really almost Christmas? For the past 3 weeks I've been meaning to write my blog about THANKSGIVING! I can't believe how quickly time has gotten away from me. As I'm typing this tonight, my eyes are closing and my back is aching. Life has been busy for us, especially this weekend. I traveled a little bit for work after Thanksgiving, so it took me a little while to get back into a routine. We've also been busy trying to prep for Christmas; shopping, decorating, parties, etc. I would love to write a long blog about the wonderful Thanksgiving holiday we had in New Jersey. I just don't think I have the energy to do it right now, but I don't want to withhold the pictures any longer. In short, Sean and I decided somewhat last minute to drive to NJ for Thanksgiving with the Carroll family. We had a great time with everyone, and we are so thankful for the time we got to spend with them. Here's a peek at our trip:


Sean and his father Tom. Both of these men could spend 24 straight hours on the Internet and never get bored for 1 minute.

On Thanksgiving Day, Uncle Brian organized a Wii Bowling Tournament.

Aunt Jolyn whipped all of us and took home the winning crown. Here she is in action. Just look at the concentration on her face!

Aunt Judi opened her home and her kitchen to all of us Carrolls. She prepared a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, and somehow she managed to fit us all around the same table. It was quite a feast. Thank you, Judi! We played games with each other all weekend - Wii bowling, Left-Center-Right (LCR), and Catchphrase - and spent a lot of time laughing.

Here Uncle Brian tries to take the lead in bowling, but he wasn't as good as Jolyn.

After Thanksgiving (on Saturday, I think) the family reunited at MomMom and PopPop's house for more visiting. The boys raked all the leaves for MomMom. Awwww, how sweet. I know she was very happy to have that big chore out of the way.
MomMom loves puzzles, and she had been working on a hard one. Here are Emily and Alissa helping her out with the puzzle. We all got in on the puzzle action and enjoyed the challenge. It had been years since I tried a puzzle! We got to the very last piece of the 1000 piece puzzle and it was MISSING! Turns out, MomMom had been hiding a piece in her pocket. She wanted to place the final piece on the board.

Friday night the whole family headed down to Stone Harbor for the street festival. We had a fun time roaming the streets and looking for Christmas gifts in all the shops. The wind was frightful, but we found some adult beverages to keep us warm. I especially enjoyed the string band playing music on the street corner in their brightly colored costumes. Later that night, Sean spotted this charming hat at an Irish store and we all FORCED him to buy it. It suits him to a tee, and I think he looks totally handsome in his new green hat.