Hanging out at Momma and Daddy's House

Just hanging out at Momma and Daddy's house!!!

By the way...I got a new camera from Santa this year so I took LOTS of pictures...way too many to post but I'll try to just choose a few on each of my upcoming posts! :-)

Christmas at Grandma's House 2008

Well, I have NO idea where to begin filling you in with our Christmas events!!! It was a wonderful Christmas despite the driving...

It has been at least 2 years since Stephen and I have gone to Grandma's house for Christmas. For those that don't know...Grandma is my (Miranda's) Great Grandmother on my mother's side of the family. All my life, we've always gone to Grandma's house for Christmas dinner/lunch. I'm the oldest of my generation so I have lots of younger cousins...my mother had 5 brothers and sisters...so it was always a full house...usually we have some inside and everyone else spilling out on the front porch. Now we have a new generation...making Grandma a Great, Great Grandmother. Meanwhile, as my generation has married off and begun their own families, it's harder to get us all together under one roof anymore! We were very close this time! All that was missing was one of my uncles, and then one of my cousins (and his wife and two kids). All but 5 of us! Uncle Michael insisted that we get a picture of all of us on Christmas day. In all the commotion, me and Momma forgot to get a picture of just our family...it's even rare to have all 9 of us together...but we're all in the group photo so that will have to do for now!

I'll share more info and pictures later but I wanted to go ahead and get something new posted so here is our big family group picture!! Keep an eye out for more to come!

(You should be able to click the picture to make it big enough to see everyone.)

Our greeting to you for this blessed season!!

This is on the trail at the park on Thanksgiving Day, my birthday!

These were taken at the ICE Exhibit at Gaylord!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Don't forget the real reason for this season...

For unto you is born this day...a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

What was in the Tiffany boxes???!!!!!

Sorry I left you all in such suspense over what my birthday present was!!! We had family in town the day I opened it and the all last week I had a terrible sinus congestion so I'm just now getting time to find pictures of it and update the blog!

One box had a necklace and the other box had the matching earrings! I wear them ALL THE TIME!

Their name is the Orchid Drop Pendant and Earrings - because the design is that of an orchid bloom.

I have the greatest husband!!!!

Thanksgiving Day 2008

After Thanksgiving lunch, we drove out to a nearby park to let the kids play a bit...so they wouldn't be cooped up in the house all day! I think they had a lot of fun! There was a trail at the park area so we all took a stroll on it until it started getting dark and then we headed back home. Here are some pictures of the kids playing at the park and then two after we got back home.

Opryland Hotel, Thanksgiving 2008

After we finished the ICE Exhibit, we went over to the Opryland Hotel and toured it for over an hour...then, famished, we headed over to Cock Of The Walk for some fried catfish and shrimp - YUMMY!!!!!!!!! I love fried catfish!!

Wickwires at the ICE Exhibit - 2008

While they were here, we took the kids to the ICE Exhibit that Gaylord puts on each year. This is the last year for the Grinch theme...no one knows what next year will be!!! It was 9 degrees in there - trust me - that's really cold!!!! :-)

Richard, Marie, Tristan and Anelise

These pictures are of the ICE sculptures -

I thought the bed was real cute -

but I wouldn't want to sleep in it without and electric blanket.

This was the smallest jacket they had so Anelise

looked like ET waddling around in this huge coat!

(yes, the dog is made of ICE)

Tristan & Anelise sliding down the ICE slide.

The ICE Nativity Scene

This is the only picture of Mrs. Nell (behind Anelise)

that I could find from that day!

Anelise and Marie

My First Tiffany Box!!!!

Stephen brought home my brithday present today!!! Now I get to stare at the bag until Thursday...my birthday...to open it!!! :-) I'm sooooo excited!!!

Miranda's Spa Day!!!

Last Christmas, my boss and his wife gave me a gift card to Escape Day Spa for a half-day spa escape. I've never gotten to use it - I've needed it quite a few times but we are so busy that I can't ever find time to do it!

Yesterday, Saturday, I got up and showered and fixed my hair for the first time after getting my new haircut and started a couple loads of clothes...nothing too stressful! Then I went to Tiffany & Co. to look at some pieces of jewelry that I had found online...FYI - they looked totally different in the store than they did online - much better so I'm glad I went and looked at them in person. I'm picking out my birthday present for Stephen to buy for me!!! I had a hard time coming up with something for him to get me, but once I started looking at Tiffany and especially after seeing them in person - I'm pretty excited about them - regardless of which of them he gets me! I picked out two necklaces and two pairs of earrings!

After Tiffany & Co. - I headed to the spa. I had a facial, a massage and a scrub scheduled for a span of 4 hours...plus you can come early or stay late in the relaxation room if you need a little extra peace and quiet. So I got there about 30 minutes early and got to enjoy the relaxation room a little bit.

I was supposed to see Lily for a facial, David for my massage and then Lily again for my body scrub. All of these were reccomended by my friend Sydney - as well as Lily was Syd's recommendation. There was a mix up in scheduling so David came for me and asked if I minded getting my massage first - so I did! I would say it was great - but he spent most of the time working on these muscles in my shoulder, back and neck that have been hurting me soooooooo badly for about two years now...they literally make me cry sometimes because they start hurting so bad...usually when I'm at work sitting in front of my computer ALL DAY LONG working on a deadline. It's just terrible! Problem is that about three and a half years ago I was having the same problem and went for a massage (in MS) and she worked an hour on the same area and couldn't relieve them...she didn't know what to say about how tense those muscles are. They bother me a lot when I'm driving to MS (or any long distance). So David tried to work some of the tension out but when I left he stated that on a scale I rank in the top 50% of tense mucscles...they are bad...he couldn't get them out either...and quite honestly, by the time I drove home that night my muscles were burning and painful from the treatment of trying to work them out. He really did a great job I think...it's not his fault that most touches in those areas are painful anyway! He was gentle and did some really great long stretches with my arms and down my back that felt great!

Then he said that since we had the conflict earlier that Vida was going to be doing my facial and body scrub...not Lily. So being relaxed and all from my massage I went for my facial...and immediately the stress started creeping back in...because she started quizzing me on my face and skin to know what to do to me...there were lots of questions that made me think and reflect on all the times that I had really bad skin problems...which isn't relaxing at all! But I understand why she needed to ask. Next time, I will definitely get the facial first so that it doesn't mess up my relaxed state of mind and body again. Later - at checkout - come to find out she did some special treatment on me that cost more than the regular facial I had booked so it cost me $25 more than I expected...and she didn't warn me that what she was going to do was going to cost more. But I let it slide because my face felt nice and clean...I will probably try Lily again one day - since Syd and the girl at check out said she is sooo great, more relaxing and less clinical - but I will definitely require it to be first...other than trying Lily for a facial, I probably wouldn't worry with a facial again. It was nice and all, but my practical side has trouble with that kind of money for washing and moisturizing my face.

Next came the procedure that I am still benefiting from today! The body scrub! This is not for the bashful!! They provide disposable panties and then an optional hand towel to cover your breasts if you like...assuming she's probably seen people in MUCH worse shape than me, I pushed away my bashfulness! So after adjusting the shower water to the temperature I wanted - pretty hot - I crawled up on a table in the center of the room, with my disposable panties on - one size fits all/most (they were kind of big on me) - the shower heads all spraying down on me...IT WAS AWESOME!!! She let me lay there a while before she came back in. When Vida returned she began my scrub...I was nervous at first - with the broken walnut shells and such, I was afraid it was going to hurt and I was going to have to stop - but it felt GREAT!!! She scrubbed my arms, neck and chest, stomach, legs, hands and boody cheecks! Then she sprayed all the scrub off and let me lay under the shower for a bit longer. Once I dressed and made it to the other room, she lathered me with this wonderful feeling lotion - thick coats everywhere she had scrubbed - to moisturize!!! When I left, I skipped the shower in the locker room because I didn't want to wash off the lotion...it felt soooo good - but trust me, with all the oils and lotions in my hair from Vida and David massaging my hair - it looked pretty rough by the time I left - but I was coming straight home so I didn't mind! After my body scrub, I sat out in the relaxation room for about 30 mintues (it felt like an hour or more so when I got back to the locker room and checked my watch, I wished I had stayed longer! They had low light and very peaceful - yoga type - music playing and have delicious cucumber water and some awesome little cookies (man, I could have eaten a whole pack of them)!

I felt fairly relaxed on my way back up the elevator until I checked out and then was dissappointed about the additional cost of the facial - especially seeing as it broke up my relaxed state of mind from my massage - but I didn't want to cause a scene on my first visit so I told her not to worry about it...Vida did a great job with the scrub and my face did feel very clean and refreshed. I just made a mental note for future visits...so as I'm sitting in my car driving home, my shoulders and neck started burning very badly so I was a little grumpy when I got home. It was around 7:00. I fixed something to eat and immediately started getting ready for bed and was in the bed by 8:00! I woke up this morning feeling nice and relaxed and my skin still feels amazing to the touch from the body scrub...even this afternoon! Although, all this blogging this afternoon has my muscles burning again...so I'm about to shut this down!

I know it sounds like I had some set backs...but I would definitely go back again - and HOPE to get to go back for another body scrub one day!!! I've lost all hope in massages relieving my pain, but I still like getting them for the rest of my body!!!

I would recommend Escape to you...just be weary of Vida with the facial...not so relaxing!! Do it first!!

Miranda's new haircut

So I have been letting my hair grow for over a year now! It was soooo long! It had finally just gotten to the length that it would hang down my back and not fall over my shoulders! It was soooo pretty when I wore it straight!! Problem was it was taking so long to straighten all of it in the morning so 90% of the time I wore it curly and twisted up on my head with a clippy. Which also means that most people don't even know how long it had gotten since I seldom wore it down (and straight).



Well, after MUCH, MUCH deliberation, and discussion with Stephen, I decided to get my hair cut on Friday. We ended up cutting between 6 to 7 inches off!!!! I love it!!!!! I really do...but I'm sad that my hard work (of growing my hair out) is gone - nothing to show for it!!





I found a hairstyle in Google Images and sent it to Stephen and he liked it so I took it to Lyndse (my awesome hairstylist at Salon FX in Midtown). While the picture from Google has the hair flipped out, so far we've flipped my hair under...I haven't tried flipping it out yet...but I think she did a pretty good job matching it...Here is the picture from Google:

These are pictures the day of my haircut...You know how your stylist can always make your hair look so much better than you can...so I had Stephen take pictures before it got messed up and just incase I was never able to fix it good by myself! Here are the pictures of it right after it was cut and styled by Lyndse:

So Saturday morning I got up and gave it a try - styling it myself! It took me about an hour and fifteen minutes to straighten it all out!!! It didn't take that long to straighten when it was long!!! So I am/was unhappy about that! I keep telling myself that it will be better the more I do it...but I'm going to have to start getting up at 4:00 to make it to work on time!!! OHHH I hope this doesn't last too long! However, I think it turned out pretty good - if I do say so myself! I dried it the way she told me and straightened it the way she told me and used my new hair products and I was pleased! So I took some pictures of it as it looks when I do it myself. Note: I was on my way to spend the day at the spa so I didn't have on any eye makeup and very little other makeup so my face looks wierd but just focus on the hair!! I did a good job, huh??

So this morning, Sunday morning, I got up an hour early to make sure I had time to do my hair and it turned out great again - maybe better than yesterday (the pics with me in the green top)...however, it still took me over an hour to fix and we were late leaving for church!! I'm stressing a little about how early to get up so that I'm not late for work! We'll just have to wait and see how that one goes...The main thing is that once I get it fixed...however long it takes...I love it the rest of the day!!!

Painting Pottery 2008

The Saturday before we went to the cabin with the Ramseys and the Hammonds, we all went to make pottery. This has become something we do once a year! Below are pictures of our work for the last two years...

Stephen's theme is LSU!!!! Last year, 2007, he made a mug. This year, 2008, he made a plate to match. He drew the Tiger's Eye free-hand...he brought a picture with him to look at! I think it turned out AWESOME!!!

My theme is called "by Miranda"!!! Last year, our first year doing this was very stressful for me...I am sooooooooo not the creative type so everyone had picked out their item, colors and started their first coats before I could get started...I think I had picked out my piece by that time but no colors were picked or painting had begun! It was supposed to end up being a spoonrest even though it isn't traditional spoonrest-shaped. It has also doubled as a serving tray when I needed something small (as I suspect that was it's intentional purpose by the people who shaped it). It sits on our stove all the time and we usually use it as a spoonrest! When I got it home, it matched soooo perfectly with our countertops so I fell in love with it. Since I'm not that creative, it's very simple! Well, this year, to keep from stressing so much on what to do, I decided to do another piece just like the last one...and since Stephen was doing a plate, I thought I'd do one also...that way we both have our own plates (how sweet, huh?!! :-)) So this year I did my plate. I also do a design on the bottom of my pieces...

See below for pictures!

Dinner with the Prathers!!

Last night we had dinner with Stephen, Emily and Virginia Prather. With the holidays coming, it's hard to find weekends when we're both in town so we decided to just meet at The Prathers' home and have some pizza! We always have so much fun visiting with Stephen and Emily regardless of whether we are at a restaurant or at one of our homes! It's even more special now that we get to spend time with sweet little Virginia!

We had pizza from Michaelangelo's Pizza (www.michaelangelos-pizza.net). It was yummy!

Below are some pictures of us and Virginia! She LOVED Stephen (my Stephen).