Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree...

I was so excited for Brad and I to get our very first Christmas tree, and even though Brad didn't want to admit it he was excited too. So we loaded up Fanny Focus all three of us (Lucy got to come), and drove approximately 1 minute down the road to cut down our first Christmas tree. Here are some pictures of cutting it down and decorating it.

After walking around the Christmas Tree Farm (I use that term generously..haha) We agreed on the perfect tree... Oh, and Brad was very impressive with a saw in his hand (my Marlboro Man)
Cute picture of Bradley and Lucy...


Decorating our first Christmas tree together...of course with football on TV...duh!
Family picture in front of the tree...ignore the fact that these pictures are horrible...the situation was blog worthy!!

Please note my Virginia Tech shirt...how bout them Hokies today???!!! We have beaten UVA every year of my college career. That's almost as much of an accomplishment as graduating :)
GO HOKIES!!!

My Favorite Holiday!!

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, and it always has been. Most people like Christmas or even the fourth of July, but I'm partial to Thanksgiving. You might assume its because I LOVE food and eating, but that's not it. The Firebaugh family has great traditions for Thanksgiving and I LOVE IT!!! It all starts on Thanksgiving morning with the Macy's Day parade, I can remember going over to Mom's Grandparents house (Gigi and Papa) and sitting in the kitchen with Gigi while she carved the turkey, or sliced the ham while Mom and Dad were busy brining in the extra table and chairs from outside, Ben and Papa would sit in Papa's special chair and usually take an early morning nap. After we would eat lunch with Mom's side of the family we would load up the family into the van and head over to Dad's aunts house (C.B's). There we would all crowd around and watch the Dallas game (GO COWBOYS!!) and Dad and I would talk trash to the rest of the family (they're all Redskins fans). Then C.B. would gather us all into one room and she would read Granny Jean's recipe for a happy home:
4 cups of love
2 cups of loyalty
3 cups of forgiveness
1 cup of friendship
5 tablespoons of hope
2 tablespoons of tenderness
4 quarts of faith
1 barrel of laughter
*Take love and loyalty, mix it thoroughly with faith. Blend it with tenderness, kindness, and understanding. Add friendship and hope, sprinkle abundantly with laughter, bake it with s sunshine, and serve it daily with generous helpings.
Then would come my favorite tradition of all...the corn. Everyone in the family takes 3 kernels of corn and those kernels represent three things that you are thankful for, and we share those three things with the whole family. Then Grandbud would say the blessing, and we would get to eat and the chaos would ensue. Then, the day after Thanksgiving would consist of early morning shopping and afternoon/evening putting up Christmas decorations.

Things have changed a lot since those days of watching the parade with Gigi, Haley and Riley are here, Brad and I are married, and family members have passed away, but the traditions still hold. I still watch the parade, and we still do the kernels of corn, Grandbud still prays, and the food is ALWAYS good :)

This year will be even more different, but some how it will still be the same, full of family, thankfulness, and memories.

Three things I am thankful for this year are: an amazing husband, rich family traditions, and a family (that is even bigger this year) that loves me and that I love very very much!

Fall Fun

Here are some cute pictures that I took of Haley and Riley (my twin sisters). Now I'm no Emily Dowdy, but I thought they were pretty cute considering the subjects weren't very cooperative :)










They love to play in the leaves at our house, and believe me there are plenty of them to play in!! On a side note...Brad and I are getting ready to go out of town tomorrow for a Stars' soccer tournament, and I'm getting a little anxious about leaving Lucy at home... haha. Try not to make fun, she's my company while Brad's coaching all the time.

And about not sweating the small stuff I'm doing great so far this week. How about you?

Overcoming without being Overcome

Yes I stole that title from none other than our pastor John Ott...LOVE HIM! For the past ten weeks in church we have been doing a series on overcoming and learning about how Paul overcame and went on to be one of the greatest evangelists to ever walk the face of the earth. I've sat through all these sermons thinking this is really good stuff, but I don't really feel like there's anything in my life for me to overcome right now...until today. At the end of the service today he was talking about how so many people let such small things take away their peace, how they allow their joy to be stolen, and their happiness to be robbed. As he was talking I was realizing that I am one of those people. So, its my goal this week to "not sweat the small stuff", and to overcome these little things without being overcome. After all if our joy is found in our Lord and Savior it can't be taken away!!

Oh, and on a side note I loved the man in church this morning who kept saying "halleluiah" "c'mon, c'mon" "that's right". Going to church is so refreshing and puts my week off to a great start! Well, its off to a soccer game, oh how I love adult league! Go Black :)

Here We Go...

So because I apparently need another mode of procrastination I'm starting a blog. Maybe it was peer pressure, or maybe its stupidity but here goes nothing... I thought this would be a good way to keep everyone up to date with Brad and I, and maybe it'll even be a little fun.

Here are some pictures from our life together so far...starting with a couple from the wedding/honeymoon, and our new house :) (p.s. I LOVE my house!!!)

The living room...of course ESPN is on T.V.

LUCY LU!!!

I promise to do a "real" post soon!