Our First Thanksgiving

Well, we officially have experienced another holiday as a married couple!!

Before I get into this post, first things first- During the last two weeks I have come across some gorgeous views in Birmingham near where we live that I wanted to share. As much as I love to cook then blog about it, I truly love photography even more. I will stop anything that we are doing on a dime to take a photo of a sunset or to catch a view similar to the two below. I thought it was fitting to share these photos today, as now the leaves are beginning to gather on the ground and are completely brown instead of the gorgeous oranges, reds, or yellows. I hope these photos remind you to stop and truly enjoy your surroundings no matter the scenery.

   "Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." - Lao Tzu

 

Whew. Thanksgiving break was a doozy for us, friends. We definitely kept the interstate busy, but we certainly have been notorious of that fact in the past. Like many, by the end of the weekend we were full as can be and dog tired, but we certainly celebrated our first Thanksgiving/ Thanksgiving break as a newlywed couple in all the right ways. I am not sure about all of you, but I truly hope your holiday was spent with all the right people and will be remembered as one cherished.

Let's play catch up.

Since my test last Monday I have been trying to hide from school because things are about to get crazy around here with taking a state requirement Saturday morning and finals next week. Since Halloween, I had been itching to get out and buy Christmas decor and ornaments so that is exactly what we did for the first few days of last week. I am the type of person who likes to enjoy Fall, then enjoy Thanksgiving, and then pull out all the Christmas decor, but this year is obviously different for us since we are experiencing all of our first holidays together. I am not sure why I was so excited to buy decor since I knew that we would not yet have a tree to hang everything on, so Tony persuaded me to wait a little closer to Thanksgiving before we went shopping. (We also have no where to store the decor, so I guess it was best to wait anyway.)

Since I lived at my parents and he never decorated his apartment while attending UA, we had no decor whatsoever to bring into our marriage. We drove around to a couple of stores in our area checking out what was being sold, then made our decisions on what style decor we wanted. I love being crafty and creative, but I just have not had the ample time to play around with all the ideas I have seen on Pinterest lately. For now, we are planning to start our on little collection of Christmas decor in the shades of bronze, red, gold, and silver. We bought many ornaments of different sizes, other tree decor, stockings, stocking holders, mantle decor, and a door hanger. I guess we will see where all of this decor takes us within the next few years as we transition into buying a home.

FYI- If you are a 2012 newlywed there are precious ornaments at Bed Bath & Beyond right now specifically for couples from the Lenox 2012 wedding collection. All the hometown Brides from Choctaw County that got married in June- You must check them out, ladies! :)

 After Tony got off on Wednesday afternoon we headed to our hometown in preparation for celebrating Thanksgiving. We made a pit stop in Tuscaloosa to do a little Christmas shopping at Woods and Water, then hit the interstate once again. The Randolph family gathered on Thursday for lunch. Afterwards, we headed to Chunky, Mississippi, to look for a Christmas tree at Lazy Acre Farm. This little farm grows and sells their own pumpkins and Christmas trees each year, and also has a place for the children to pet "reindeer" and a few other animals from the Christmas story. You can also buy Christmas decor, food and much more here. This little family owned farm is a growing attraction that draws many families from all over. Going to this farm has been a tradition for some time between Tony, his brother, and parents. He was really hoping that he and I could continue this tradition as newlyweds to get a live tree for our little home too. Luckily, all worked out well.  

 

 

Friday was spent shopping for a few Christmas gifts at local shops, visiting hometown high school friends and family friends, and Tony was able to spend some of the afternoon in the woods with his daddy. After dinner we hit the road yet again with Jordan and a friend in route to gather everything for our Iron Bowl tailgate in Tuscaloosa. Tony and I actually drove to our little home to drop off our tree we bought on Thursday so that he could get it in the stand with water then headed back to Tuscaloosa. Can you imagine how tired we were of sitting, driving, sitting, driving? Sometimes just wears us down! Needless to say, there was no time to be tired. We still had to be up by 6:00 the next morning in order to run to the store and gather everything for the tailgate and be ready for set up at 8:00 am. (Roll Tide, right? Please take note: I really love my husband and his Alabama Crimson Tide football addiction.) :)

I thought I would share a glimpse of a little hometown love we saw over Thanksgiving.

 

 

If you are an Alabama fan, you know that this past week was "Auburn Hate Week" in preparation for the big Iron Bowl on Saturday. Everyone in our tailgate crew met early Saturday morning to set up and to start cooking since kick-off was after lunch. We spent all day on the quad spending time with family and friends from all over. Although it was freezing cold, there was plenty of good food to enjoy and many memories made with everyone who stopped by throughout the day. If you would like to see pictures or read more on our UA tailgates this past season click HERE.

Sunday was my most favorite day of all from the last few days spent celebrating Thanksgiving, as it was the only day spent entirely with my husband. We did so much in preparation for the week ahead from decorating our tree and little home, to cleaning, meal planning, grocery shopping, unpacking since we had been on the road since Wednesday, clothes washing, ironing, cooking and so forth.... I think you get the picture. 

 

So many people have said that it was not Christmas time in Birmingham until the downtown Regions building was decorated and completely lit. I was not sure why everyone commented about this one building in particular, but once I saw it I understood. I thought I would share how gorgeous the building looks right now. If this decor does not get you in the Christmas spirit driving through town I am not sure what will!

Overall, this time in our lives is very exciting for us. We are starting our own traditions. We are sharing our thoughts and ideas for color of decor, how we want to spend the holidays together, what we look forward to, and so much more. In other relationships I have witnessed the opposite of this in the past, but I can testify that it is so much more enjoyable to have a husband who wants to participate and experience all of this with me. I truly have been blessed with the best husband. He is my hero, jokster, best friend, biggest fan, and so much more all wrapped into one. We are really enjoying this phase of our marriage and being able to share all of the holiday cheer together.

Coming Soon: Check back later for a post with all of our decor photos! Tony is planning to finish our outside decor this evening. I cannot wait to share our Christmas spirit with you all! I hope you all have a wonderful day! :)

As always, until next time- Happy Blogging!