'Tis The Season

cold weather

sweaters

coats & scarves

cozy fires

Starbucks Christmas Blend

festive lights and glittery holiday decor

Christmas trees 

neighborhoods adorned with shiny bright exterior illumination

Christmas songs on the radio

Christmas caroling at the mall 

Christmas Vacation

The Polar Express

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

The Nutcracker

holiday plaid 

Lenox Holiday China

Christmas parades

festive parties
The Night Before Christmas

cinnamon candles

peppermint candles

snowflakes

sledding

snowmen

not loving the crazy busyness of the holiday season

loving the crazy busyness of the holiday season

the anticipation of being together with dear friends and family

celebrating the birth of Our Savior

These are a few of our favorite things about the Christmas Season...

Wishing you and yours a fun, festive holiday season and a very Merry Christmas!

xoxo

Taking The Plunge

Well.

It happened today.

It was bound to happen sooner or later...

Later being the operative word in my case. haha.

Today was the day I finally took the plunge and 'committed' to the idea that I have been a resident of West Virginia for a year and a half, and therefore, in order to drive legally, it might be a good idea to get a license from the state in which I live. What a concept!

I will tell you that this seemingly simple action did not come swiftly and easily.

I believe I may have mentioned a time or two that I am not a big fan of change, so of course the natural reaction on my part was not to do anything about that license. After all, I am proud of my Texas heritage and I embrace any link to The Lone Star State. Besides, my Texas license plates are a surefire conversation starter almost any place we go.

And then one day I glanced at the calendar and noticed that the expiration date on my beloved Texas Drivers License was looming ominously close. Damn! Despite my persnickity procrastinator tendencies, I knew that it was time to take action.

So after gathering all 10,000 forms of documentation and identification required by the illustrious Department of Motor Vehicles, I strode confidently in the door, ready to take action.

And you know what?

It wasn't that big of an ordeal after all.

Okay, well I DID have to get a new social security card and I DID have to obtain a "certified" copy of our marriage license. Because, dang it, the original marriage license with the official gold seal just wasn't good enough. But after jumping through those hoops, going back today was a piece of cake.

I walked in, took a number, was promptly called to the counter to present all the necessary paperwork, had my picture made, a temporary license issued to me, and was out the door in about 20 minutes.

It was only once I got in the car that I made the realization: I no longer have my Texas Drivers License!

Well, it's just as well that my license and I had a quick goodbye because you know how emotional and drawn out those long goodbyes can be-haha.

So there you have it. My story of change and learning to embrace it…

Or trying, anyway!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Halloween!

The designing of the pumpkins 

Now who's going to do the carving??

A pretty Ballerina all dressed up and ready to get her Trick-Or-Treat on!

Work it, girl!!

A Chili in a spider web

The Soccer Star, The Ballerina and The Hobo

Beautimous autumn exterior illumination

When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam, 

May luck be yours on Halloween

-Author Unknown

Bridge Day 2014

Last weekend was the 35th Annual Bridge Day in Fayetteville, WV where 450 BASE jumpers gathered to jump off the 876 foot tall New River Gorge Bridge, one of the world's longest steel single-span arch bridges.

The third Saturday of every October is the only day all year that BASE jumpers -- whose acronym stands for these fixed points: building, antenna, span and earth -- can legally jump off the bridge. The jumpers carry parachutes designed to deploy quickly, softening their landings.

The Bridge Day Festival is billed as the largest extreme sports event in the world and attracts nearly 100,000 people to Fayetteville.

Here's a view of the New River Gorge Bridge which illustrates
the 876 foot drop from the roadway to the ground/river.
When the bridge was completed in 1977,
it was the highest vehicular bridge in the world.
Currently, it is the 3rd highest in the United States.

About 450 BASE jumpers leaped off the bridge 903 times at last year's festival, and about 80,000 spectators packed the bridge and surrounding area to watch them.

For the second year, a smaller group of jumpers got to use a human catapult system in 2013 to get flung off the bridge.

Vendors surrounding the bridge will offer snacks, crafts and other ways to celebrate the jumpers in a much less strenuous, daredevil fashion. Speaking of fashion, you can rest assured that we did indeed get our souvenir Bridge Day t-shirts at the first vendor booth we saw.

And then we ventured further into the throngs of people towards the middle of the bridge where the jumping platform was located. Yeah. Maybe Mosh Pit is a better way to describe the human congestion. All in the name of good times and good pictures!

Battling waves of claustrophobia we ever-so-slowly inched our way forward to get a better view of the crazy daredevil BASE jumpers.

Ready...

Set...

Go!!!

That's crazy!!! Talk about an Adrenaline rush!

Another thrill seeker takes the plunge

All I can say is…

that is a looooong way down!

Sure hope that parachute is in working order...

…'cause I'm free…free fallin'!

Yesss! We have parachute deployment!

That's one WILD ride.

And they keep coming back for more.

The day after Bridge Day, we hiked Long Point Tail, a 3.2 mile round trip hike that traverses a relaxed level forest trail, followed by a short, steep descent heavily wooded with Rhododendron (the West Virginia state flower) and Mountain Laurel. At the end of the trail, you are greeted by an impressive panoramic view of the New River Gorge and the New River Gorge Bridge.

***AHHHHHH*** 

(cue the angel chorus)

Colorful array of fall foliage-looks like a family of Gnomes might reside here

Chili loved the hike

and as you can see, she was not hurting in the love and attention dept.!

Watch out for steep drop-offs!! 

All in all, Bridge Day weekend was a hit and 

we just may have found a new annual fall tradition!