holiday #1

we had a great holiday!! we left Wednesday evening and went up to my families mountain house in highlands with my family. played a pretty intense game of Mad Gab on Wednesday night (if you haven't played it, I recommend it, it's amazing). Thursday we watched the parade, made a huge breakfast, watched the Dog Show (my favorite part!!!), cooked a ton of food, watched Clemson lose a basketball game, ate dinner, and wallowed in fullness the rest of the night. i made some killer deviled eggs and my nanny's dressing. it was so good!!!!!!!! i was pretty proud of myself. friday the girls went shopping and we got some fun christmas presents, then matt and i headed home friday afternoon and went to eat over at his mom's house. it was a really good weekend, until Clemson lost the Carolina game SAturday. We were doing so bad by the 4th quarter that Matt and I left to get our Christmas Tree. It's not a masterpiece, but I'm very happy with it!
i got those really fun, cozy, chenille stockings at Garden Ridge. I really love them. And my mantle COULD be all elaborate and straight out of Southern Living, like my mom would do really well, but I'm happy with it being very simple and "homey." Please excuse my two air freshners in the picture. They were sitting on my coffee table and i didn't realize it. one is fall harvest (from thanksgiving) and one is gingerbread man... they are both delicious smelling. ANYWAY this actually is Matt and my first Christmas having our own tree and stockings and everything. Last year we were living in Raleigh but came home for the holidays and stayed at my mom's and his mom's so we didn't decorate our house in NC. We've been working on...or should I say...Matt's been working on the yard a lot too, and putting spotlights on the house. As soon as I get my wreaths up I will post a picture of the outside!! Hope everyone had as great of a holiday as I did!!

christmas ideas

ive been scanning the web lately to try to find a tree "theme" that stands out to me... our living room is blues, creams, and browns but i dont think i want to be trendy i think i want to be traditional. does anyone know or have you seen any good websites with tree ideas? last year was our first christmas together but we left raleigh and came home on like, the 17th, and didn't go back to raleigh until after new years. so we didn't get a tree and decorate or anything bc we werent going to be there to enjoy it. that being said we have no ornaments, garland, etc. all we have are lights. i just want to buy stuff that is pretty...and practical that we'll use every year. here are a few pretty trees i found... what do you think?

heath report and a good weekend....

a lot of you have been asking what's been going on and im so grateful for the prayers and words of encouragement. To sum it up for those of you who are out of the loop, on Oct. 25th, Matt and I were at Carowinds with some friends and while waiting in line for our last ride of the night, I passed out and had a seizure. after an ambulance ride and boring stint in the ER in Charlotte, Mom came to pick us up and we got home early that morning. They weren't really sure why it happened, and asked me to follow up with a neurologist (who can't see me until November 16th) and my cardiologist ( who can't see me until Dec. 4th).

Since then I have had a few more "episodes" feeling like im going to pass out again, weak, nauseas, etc., but have not had another seizure or actually lost consciousness. Right now, I am not allowed to drive and it's been really challenging. My sweet mom has been taking me to and picking me up from my classes (just like im in elementary school again). Friends taking me on errands, to the grocery store, etc. and Matt has been awesome ! My mom's aunt is a cadiac electrophysiology nurse (a dr. that studies rhythms of the heart) and her and her doctor have been helping me out as well. They've prescribed me to some medicine that raises blood pressure (to keep me from having that woozy, passing out feeling) and sending me a heart monitor to wear for 3 weeks. So we don't really have a firm answer, and it's taking a while to get into see these specialist doctors, but I'm feeling ok . For example:

My cousin, Ashley and her fiance Matt had their engagement party this past Friday night at my grandparents house in Clemson. Matt and I were scheduled to be the band, and I'd been feeling alright at the end of last week so we went. We ended up having so much fun!! It was set up so beautifully and everyone enjoyed our music :) So we spent the night at Mimi and Grandy's in Clemson on Friday and then woke up Saturday...went to Monterreys :) then watched some football until we headed out to the tailgates around 4 . We got to sit in the box with my grandparents so it wasn't too cold, and we got free food and drinks! Around the 4th quarter I really started feeling weak, and tired, and our parking spot was literally RIGHT outside the stadium. I was scared that if we (Clemson) did one more thing wrong, people would start flooding out and we'd be trapped there or in traffic for another hour or two. So we left, and rushed home to watch the rest of the game. Turns out we must have been good luck for leaving, bc the second we did, Clemson started doing awesome!! We got home within about 2 minutes and watched the rest of the game! What a good night!

Then...to make it even better. We got up this morning to come home for church because my sister, Lindsey, got baptized this morning. What an awesome thing to witness. I was so proud of her and excited for her! The sermon was also really good this morning.

To summarize: good weekend over all. still having to take it easy until i see the doctors. glad that nothing really eventful (health-wise) happened. this should be a pretty relaxing week as well. just having fun looking up thanksgiving recipes !!! everyone have a good week, keep me in your prayers! I really appreciate it, and i'll keep you updated!!! -b