O Christmas Tree

As soon as we got back in town yesterday and unloaded the stuffed car, I jumped immediately on unpacking all the Christmas decorations we had bought over the past week. And, finally finished the tree! :) (Ignore the ugly white blinds in the background please - I need to get some curtains to get rid of those!)







While we were in Fayetteville last week, my wonderful mother gave us a set of German Christmas ornaments for brides. (Thank you, Mom!!!) I Googled what each of the 12 stand for...

According to the old German tradition, the tree of a newlywed couple should include these twelve ornaments
to insure blessing and happiness for their life together........

An Angel - God's Guidance in the Home
A Rose - Beauty and Affection
A Rabbit - Hope and Faith
A Teapot - Hospitality
A Pine Cone - Motherhood and Fruitfulness
A Santa - Unselfishness and Goodwill
A House - Shelter and Protection
A Fruit Basket - Generosity
A Bird - Happiness and Joy
A Flower Basket - Good Wishes
A Heart - True Love
A Fish - Christ's Blessing

And here are some photos of the beautiful pieces...











Happy Monday!

Thanksgiving Break in Pictures

Our break has been a BLUR - it's hard to believe we'll be back to work/school in less than 48 hours!

We left Saturday for Fayetteville to see my family for a few days...


Our dog, Drake


We got to go see the lights on the square with Emily, Drew, Anna-Marie, and Michael




And then us girls had an ornament-making party (Robyn was there earlier in the night, too!)



I actually got Eric to go antique shopping again while we stopped in Prairie Grove!




And then Wednesday we hit the road to Memphis!


Thanksgiving lunch was delicious!




And Friday we hit the bargains at the mall (after sleeping in of course - we can't do the 5am stuff! :) I managed to survive my first Black Friday experience, and actually got a lot of my presents taken care of! - I'm usually pretty last-minute :)

Hope your break was great!!

One Year Ago Today...

On this day in 2008, Eric very sweetly proposed! :) I thought I would mark the anniversary/occasion with the story...

November 21, 2008

Eric took me out and surprised me with a fancy dinner at James at the Mill, just north of Fayetteville. For the drive, he had compiled a nice CD of jazz music since he knows I like to listen to jazz on XM radio during the evenings when we're out driving around.

After dinner we drove around town waiting on Eric's "surprise" to be set up with the help of his friends Collin and Brett (thanks again guys!!!!!). Eric then drove us around to Wilson Park where I could see several candles almost lighting one of the back fields on fire! We circled around to the back of the park and he slowed the car down and told me to look out the window. Candles filled the center of the field, spelling out "Marry Me?". We got out of the car, he took my hand, and told me that there were 120 tea candles in white bags spelling that out. Then, he got down on one knee, told me how much I mean to him, and proposed. It was the sweetest thing ever!

I love you Eric!