NMBP Christmas Party

Our staff Christmas party for school was this past Friday. Club 2001 hooked us up with a deal on an awesome room again. Carrabba's and Boulineau's provided our food for us and Lisa Hall Photography took some pictures of everyone. The party was complete with a hula hoop contest, cookie eating contest, and the best decorated Santa hat contest. Here are some pictures from the evening.







{some of the Social Committee}

{Winner of the hula hoop contest- Mrs. Abercrombie}

{Cookie eating contest... here is a video of what it looked like}

{These were not our winners... but still some good looking hats!}

{Bible study girls... Tina, Jill, Nancy, and I}

{Jon, Kirby, and Andrew}

{2 of my classroom neighbors (:}

So much to be thankful for...

It was an awesome trip to Maryland for Thanksgiving! We are very thankful for the time spent with our family and the memories we made together. Here are some pictures...

{drove straight into town with just enough time for dinner with the family}

{sleet...something we don't see a lot of in the Carolina's}

{Thanksgiving lunch with the Sines' at the fire hall}

{Grandma Sines with her grandson}

{Playing with the kids...}

We planned on taking a family photo outside, but the weather didn't cooperate with us. We still ended up getting some good ones inside... and then suddenly it turned into an hour long photo shoot. We have all sorts of combinations of people.

{Mom & Ed}

{Talan, Paula, Nikki, & Colbey}

{Sherry, Corey, & Cliff}

{Taylor, Josh, Shelley, & Kailee}

{... all the significant others}

{...trying to get a good Christmas card photo}

If you read our blog often, you know a visit with family isn't complete without games! We played some Catch Phrase, Mad Gab, and 500 Rummy.

We had some good food at Smiley's and then played some games and Laser Tag together. Corey was the winner!

{I'm pretty sure Uncle Kirby was the winner this trip}

{Ready...Set...GO}

{a little cousin rivalry}

Friday morning after Talan's family left, we headed into Friendsville where Kirby grew up. We drove down "memory lane" and stopped to take pictures along the way.

{the house Kirby's Dad and family built around 1976}

{the house Kirby's family built around 1990}

{Kirby & Talan used to play ball on this field}

Grace's Store... this lady and her store could be a whole separate post. But to make a long story short...Kirby used to go to her store/apartment when he was a kid. The last visit we made to Friendsville, we stopped by and talked with Grace. The store was closed and looked as if it was "frozen in time". This trip though, the store/apartment was for sale.

{stopped to see Dad to complete our trip in Friendsville}

{I was looking forward all week to Frani's buckwheat cakes and fried eggs for breakfast}

{Saturday morning before we left, we were able to see some snow!}

{Frani and Ed were heading out with their friends for the first day of hunting season}

Thanksgiving in Maryland

Kirby and I just got back last night from our Thanksgiving in Maryland. We had almost the whole family (minus Amber- who was missed) together since our wedding over 2 years ago. Our 10 hour drive ended up being 12 hours as we got stuck in traffic several times and drove through lots of construction.

We finally had to use our GPS (aka- a map) to look for an alternate route.

We finally made it though!

More pictures to come soon...

t-shirt, anyone?

Soooooooo, I was bored one day and decided to start up a t-shirt shop online, catering to Lotus car owners/enthusiasts... not expecting to make any real money, just trying to have a little fun with it and add a bit of variety to the less than mediocre selection that's currently out there. So far I've designed about 80 different shirts. Almost all of the "lineup" is centered around the quote "Simplify and add lightness" by Lotus founder Colin Chapman. His philosophy in car design was to make them as light and agile as possible instead of relying on horsepower alone. That philosophy paid off, as Lotus dominated the racing scene in Chapman's heyday.

Here's the link to the shop (just in time for all your holiday shopping needs :-)... http://k-designz.spreadshirt.com/ In case anyone out there in the blogging world wants one, use coupon code SHOPEARLYUS to get free shipping in the US.

My amateur (and yes, a bit cheesy :-/) attempt at some "promo shots" I'm using to advertise on some websites...








The man behind the brand...

Living Beyond Yourself

About a month ago, I started a Beth Moore Bible study. We've been meeting every Thursday at my friend Jill's house and it has been great! Each week we study a different Fruit of the Spirit... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22)

Several years ago, I was able to teach and get to know a special student in Baltimore named Jesse. He had a unique story and I became really close with him and the loving people who cared for him. When Kirby and I decided to move to North Myrtle Beach, Jesse & the Mortensons had us over for dinner and gave us a gift. We have this picture frame in our house and very often when I walk past it I think of Jesse and the Mortenson family. Now I am learning more about this special verse through this Bible study.

Here are some pictures of Jesse & I at our wedding. Precious...

"I will survive... HEY HEY!"

The first Friday of every month our school has a happy hour event. Last month was bowling and this month was karaoke. I'd say it was another successful event this month. :)

Mexican & Seafood Feast

With Dave and Dar in town, Mexico Lindo on Friday, hung out at their condo pool on Sunday, then fresh seafood made at our house Sunday evening.