Continuing Traditions...

This weekend Graham and I made our annual Christmas Cookies! I have to say...it was much more of a success than last year. I actually had all of my Grandmother's cookie cutters that we used each year growing up - it was so much fun reflecting on all of the fun times that we had at their house making cookies each Christmas season. Though I did not have as many fun things to decorate with as she had...it will come eventually!

If you know me, then you know I am pretty particular about things. Some may call it type-A, others may call it a perfectionist, I just like to think of it as being thoughtful :) Because of this trait of mine, I could spend HOURS decorating cookies. I have always been like this. Every sprinkle needed to be in it's exact spot and every drip of icing needed to look good. My sister, however, always liked decorating the first 2, but then got sick of it. She would throw the rest of the icing on, toss the sprinkles on top, and head on her way. I don't know why, but it would frustrate me so much as a child! I guess I just thought everyone should be as particular about their Christmas cookies as I was. I mean...they were going to Santa, of all people...right?! Well, I quickly learned this year that Graham has this same approach to decorating cookies. And by same I mean the same as Melanie...not me. For him, it is all about the taste of the cookies and since he does not like sprinkles, then he only used the icing. For me, it is all about the look of the cookies, and since I can't eat the cookies..ha..I use as many sprinkles as needed to make it look pretty :)

Here are some pictures to recap the night...

Graham so excited about making cookies.... :)

Mixing the icing...

Baked, pre-decorating...

Graham's final products...

My final products...

The final mess...

Ta-da!

We are headed to mom and dad's tonight to have our Christmas with my family, then we fly to Oklahoma tomorrow to spend Christmas this year with Graham's family. We are so excited to see all of them and spend such a special time of the year with them!

I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and that it is FILLED with the JOY of Christ!

Merry Christmas!!
Graham and Beth Ann

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

CHRISTMAS!!!!

This is officially my favorite time of the year. Anyone who knows me is well aware that Christmas is not only my favorite holiday, but one that I celebrate all year. Who says you can't listen to Silent Night and Jingle Bells in May? Okay...lots of people would say that you can't. But...I do. Oh well.

We decorated our house this past week (calm down...I waited until AFTER Thanksgiving)! So thankful to mom for helping me get my tree together. She had gone with me to Old Time Pottery to get all new tree decorations a few weeks ago because I wanted to do a silver/blue/green tree this year...but once I pulled all of my other decorations out I realized that everything is gold..or has warmer tones. So to relieve me from my sadness, mom came and helped me. She can decorate like no one else...SO talented...I was incredibly thankful for her help!!

Here are some pictures of our house. I'm not sure why all of my pictures are showing up a little blurry??

Our den...

Christmas Card holder...we always had this in my house growing up :)

Table Centerpiece...
Kitchen decorations...
Our tree...

My grandmother always told my mom that every Christmas tree HAS to have a bird on it. Mom surprised me with this ornament today :)
One of my favorite ornaments... I love Christopher Radko!
Front door...

Thanksgiving...

This Thanksgiving was wonderful. We stayed here in Birmingham and spent the day with my entire family - both my Mom and Dad's side of the family met at my parent's house for a Thanksgiving lunch. It was great and a nice reminder of what a blessing family is.


Melanie and I braved Black Friday this year. I always say that I'm not going to fight the traffic/crowd the next year, but I always give in. I have to admit, though..there's something about it that is fun...well, stressful and fun at the same time...

The rest of the weekend was spent watching football and decorating our house for Christmas...see the above post for pictures!

Friends...

I miss my friends. Plain and simple...I miss them. There is so much to be said for your time in college where all of your best friends live with you - and though I wouldn't trade where I am in life right now for anything, I miss those days! Atlanta is guilty of taking my friends. Los Angeles and Nashville, too. As far as I'm concerned...Birmingham is in the middle. So that clearly means one thing...a reunion needs to happen soon. In Birmingham. Sound good, girls? Here are some pictures of these girls I miss like crazy and look forward to seeing SOON!

Spring break cruise our senior year...so much fun...

Mollie Ann's wedding...

In Birmingham...
Heather and Molls...
Another picture from Molls' wedding...Birmingham reunion before Step Sing...

Katie's wedding shower...
Katie and Heather...
My wedding :)

These girls truly are amazing friends and I am beyond thankful for each of them. It's hard that life has us spread all over the country right now, but it is exciting to see how God is using each one of us in our jobs, marriages, and friendships to spread His Name and bring glory to Him.

I love you girls :)

Celebrations, Reflections, and Thankfulness...

Graham has been in Israel for 8 days now...3 more to go and he will be home! His step-father decided to take him to Israel for his graduation-from-seminary-gift...what an incredible opportunity! I cannot wait to see all of his pictures and hear all of his stories. It is a dream of mine to visit the Holy Land... To walk where Jesus walked... Wow... How incredible. I will get a hold of some of his pictures when he returns and put them on here...so be on the lookout for those.

During his time away I have had lots of time with my family, my friends, and by myself. It has been a good time to reflect on the past year and spend lots of quality and much needed time with Jesus. As I look back over my life and see where He has taken me to ultimately bring me to where I am today, I am truly overwhelmed by His grace in my life. Every friendship, challenge, relationship, and experience I have walked through has molded me into who I am today. There are many hard times that I have walked through that I can now look back on and see God's hand in it all and truly be thankful for the lessons I learned; and while there are other hard times that I still find myself asking, "Why?" to this day, I trust that those times happened for a reason and that they have taught me a little more about myself and more importantly about who I am in Christ. HE IS FAITHFUL. I can't say it enough. On November 8, Graham and I celebrated our one year anniversary (hence all the reflection over the past year!). We had such a wonderful weekend celebrating God's grace in our lives and thanking Him for blessing our marriage in the many ways that He has. When Graham and I married one year ago, I knew it would be incredible. I had no idea, however, just how incredible it would be. I didn't think I could love him any more than I did that day. Little did I know that I would fall more and more in love with him every day thereafter! He is such a blessing in my life. Here is a picture from that weekend...


I just realized today that I never posted pictures from Graham and Leigh's birthday party! First, let me introduce you to Leigh :) Leigh moved to Birmingham last year from West Palm Beach, Florida, and works as another Event Coordinator at Student Life. Her friendship truly is such a blessing. God knew that I would need her friendship at the exact time that He brought her to Birmingham and I am thankful to Him for that! This is me and Leigh...in Kenya...

So anyways, Leigh's birthday is just a few days after Graham's, so I decided that we should celebrate...with a Pumpkin Carving party :) ...let me interrupt here and just say that Graham and I are blessed to have such great community with the people we work with at Student Life...it's not often that people find themselves hanging out with their co-workers almost every weekend...we are blessed. Okay...back to the pumpkins. Although my mom says that I carved a pumpkin when I was younger, I have absolutely no recolection of it whatsoever - therefore, I considered this my first pumpkin carving experience and was so excited! Unfortunately, no one told me that I might want to start with an easy pattern... Thanks guys... My cat turned out...well...I'll let you see for yourself:

Don't laugh. And don't worry about the toothpicks. They became necessary to hold him together after I made one cut too many...

Here are some other pictures from this part of the night:

Callie's pumpkin. Yes, it is better than mine. She has obviously done this before...

Spread out in our garage...hard at work...

KFarr and Trey...soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Fondren :)
Matt deciding which design to choose...Matt's final decision :)

One of Graham's best friends from Oklahoma, Mike, happened to be in town that weekend. It was so good to see him!
So after everyone finished their masterpieces, we had to celebrate Leigh and Graham's birthday!

Wondering why Graham's candle is crooked? Don't worry about it. Let's just say that the picture above was preceded by the pictures below...

So after the pumpkin party turned into a birthday party, it then turned into a Rock Band party...as always...

Fun Times :)

What Life Is All About...

Do you ever have days that you miss someone so much that it hurts? Today is that day for me. About 10 months ago my precious Grandmother passed away. She was the most elegant, classy, lovely, kind, compassionate, and Godly woman I have ever met. She exuded Christ in ALL that she did...I have never met anyone like her. Grandmother played a huge role in my life growing up and I am beyond thankful for the 23 years that I had with her. However, today I am having a harder time looking to the good times we had and am instead feeling burdened with missing her. My family has been through so many big milestones over the past two years and anytime that I sit and reflect on those years I find myself craving a conversation with Grandmother. She had such a beautiful way of listening, talking, and sharing wisdom - I need that right now. I praise God that she was able to be at both mine and Melanie's wedding. Even though she was very confused at my wedding, she was there and I was able to celebrate a very special day with her which meant the world to me. Her love for her family was such an example to me and as I watch my family now welcome Abby into this world I am constantly reminded and reassured of the example that Grandmother was to each of us. She was truly a blessing - a huge blessing - in my life and I praise God for the time that we had together. Pain is to be expected, sadness is sure to come and go, but more than that is the rejoicing that comes in knowing that she is finally home with her Father whom she spent her entire life devoted to. What an amazing thought that she is worshiping at the feet of the God she always told me about and the God who is now my personal Lord and Savior. What a beautiful picture. Here is a picture of my Grandmother and the love of her life, my Dabado :)

Abby is continuing to do well and is just as gorgeous as ever! I love that we live only 5 minutes away from Melanie and Reynolds and therefore get to see our little niece very often. It is in times like this, when I am thinking about my Grandmother and Abby at the same time that I am reminded of what life is all about. I think about my Grandmother in her last days who although she was unable to articulate much or make sense of much, she always took time to pray - blessings for her food, prayers for her family, and thanksgiving for all the ways God had blessed her life. It was truly inspirational to watch. Her life was completely devoted to loving God and sharing His love with everyone she came in contact with. And then I look at precious little Abby who is just beginning her life here on earth. She has her whole life ahead of her - such a journey to go through. It is exciting to think about because she has incredible parents who deeply love the Lord and desire nothing more than for their daughter to live a life devoted to Christ and furthering His Kingdom. For that is what we are here for...that is our purpose. To bring glory to God and to make His name and His love known throughout the nations. Grandmother made that her life goal, and it is my prayer that my life can mirror that and be an example to little Abby as she grows as a daughter of Christ.

Here are more of the pictures that I tried to upload last time...