Merry Christmas

"For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder.And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

Merry CHRISTmas!

Merry Christmas from the Penningtons!  

We wish you and your family the most wonderful blessings during this special season.  

Remember to keep the real meaning of Christmas close to your heart and share it with those around you.  

We love you guys!

Christmas Wish List

Have you made your list and checked it twice?  Is Santa going to name you naughty or nice?  I struggled this year making a list, but I have managed to round up a few items on the top of my list.  Trust me I love a present just as much as anyone, but for some reason each year it gets a little harder to make a list.  I guess that means I'm satisfied :)

1. Black Sparkle Toms

2. Disney Princess Running Tank

3. Monogram Necklace

4. Iphone

5. Brave

Happy Holidays

Woohoo!  The holiday season is officially in full swing.  Thanksgiving is only days away and Christmas is right around the corner.  This is the time of the year that I hope things slow down, way down.  I absolutely love every aspect of the holidays and I want to hold on to them for as long as possible.

We actually jumped the gun and decorated our Christmas tree this weekend. {pictures to come}  It was so lovely to drink hot chocolate, pig out on red velvet cheesecake, and watch White Christmas while decorating our tree.  

Cheesecake Factory Red Velvet Cheesecake YUM!!

One of our favorite ornaments :)

The best part of decorating the tree was actually the discussion on where to put the tree.  Daniel and I had never really had any options as to where to put our tree before so this year was a challenge.  And of course in true married fashion we disagreed on where to put it.  It all culminated into a profound statement fron Daniel.  He said, " Well it makes sense geographically to put it where you want it, but it makes more sense sentimentally to put it where I want it."  HAHA!  He has a way with words.  Needless to say, sentiment won out and so did Daniel.  But to be honest I love its placement.

Once we get all our decorations up, I will be back with a Christmas post.  Happy Monday guys and don't forget about Traveling Tuesday tomorrow!  Link up in the comment section below with your post on your favorite travels!

High Five For Friday

It’s Friday, Friday
Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend

I told you last week that Fridays are quickly becoming my favorite day of the week.  This week is no exception... 3:00, I've got my eye on you!

Today, I'm participating in High Five For Friday with Lauren over at From My Grey Desk.  I've followed her sister's blog, The Small Things Blog for some time now and I have just decided to try it out.  So here we go.

Here are my top 5 things of the week:

1. Election Day 2012

It's not quite what your thinking.  The students in my Civics class have been running their campaigns for the last week and it all culminated on Election Day!  They were so awesome and I cannot resist bragging a little.  There was debating, presidential speeches, and most importantly... SWEETS!  Don't you just love when students take your ideas and run with them!

2. Meatloaf

My love affair with meatloaf is long and serious.  The word "loaf" may gross some people out, but my mom's homemade meatloaf recipe will always hold a special place in my heart and stomach.  Daniel and I tag teamed in the kitchen Tuesday night to create a steller meal which left both of us saying "I wish I hadn't ate that third second serving."  Look for a recipe post next week!

3. Everyday with Rachael Ray

The magazine fairy placed the new Everyday magazine in my mailbox and its just in time for the holiday season!!  Yum-O is all I have to say about this little treat!

4. Colorful Skinny Jeans

I got the cutest pair of red skinny jeans this week.  Not only am I pumped because who doesn't loved a good pair of colorful skinny jeans, but they are just in time for Christmas!!  I have a feeling I am going to be super festive this holiday season!

5. Election Day 2012

While the big excitement for the week was happening in my classroom, I cannot miss the opportunity to say that a highlight of my week was exercising my right to vote.  Democracy can only work it the people support it, so to all of you who voted thanks for perserving the sacred tradition of our country.  

Happy Friday!

Christmas, New Years, and all the things we need to catch up on

I took a little blogcation... i'll blame it on the holidays.

Christmas was amazing!  Daniel and I got to spend a lot of time with our families and we were reminded of how blessed we are to have such a great support system.  He spoiled me again like he always does with some amazing gifts and we really just had an awesome first Married Christmas!

We started our own traditions this year for our new family.  We were booked solid throughout the weekend of Christmas, so we woke up really early on the morning of Christmas Eve to celebrate our Christmas together.  The morning consisted of breakfast casserole and monkey bread, watching Christmas movies and opening gifts.  It was a wonderful and relaxing way to spend Christmas together.

We spent Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family and then spent the night with my parents... I wanted to make sure Santa could still find me... he did!  My brother forced me to contain my excitement and I wasn't allowed to get up until 8 am Christmas morning for presents.  After a fun filled morning of gifts and family time we headed to my dad's parents house for lunch and then on to Daniel's parents house for dinner.  If we didn't do anything else over Christmas we definitely ate well!  It was really the nicest Christmas, but I say that every year since it keeps getting better and better!

Betsy wanted to say "Merry Christmas"

Many of my presents this year were "teacher" themed and my mom got me this amazing bag!

New Years was not quite as busy.  My brother-in-law and his wife are moving into their house this week, so we spent the afternoon helping them out and I think everyone was pretty pooped by 10 pm that night.  We all perked up in time to see the ball drop, but no pictures resulted from our quiet evening.

2011 was a year to remember... lets recap all the adventures in pictures

Top 11 of 2011

1. Got married!

2. Went to Disney World

3. Quit my job and started graduate school

4. Moved out of my childhood home and into my first apartment with Daniel

5. Watched my little brother graduate from high school and start college

6. Ran my very first 5k!

7. Went to the Outer Banks for our honeymoon!

8. Started this blog

9. Taught my very first high school classes and loved it!

10. Went on an amazing family vacation to see the Atlanta Braves vs. the Texas Rangers

11. Became the proud own of an IPad 2!

Thanks to everyone who reads my little blog.  My new years blog resolution is to spend a little more time on my blog and build it up.  I hope you all had an amazing holiday season and are super rested as you return to the real world! When's the next holiday break?

Tuesday Randoms

I have been terrible about updating lately, so a random post was a must!

Last week, Daniel and I put up our Christmas tree!  It was so much fun to put together our first tree as a married couple and I think its perfect!  

We are still in the ornament collecting process, but its looking pretty good.

Daniel surprised me with some special christmas decor this week too!

ECU Stcokings!

Aren't they adorable?

Thursday, Daniel ran into a little car trouble when he tried to pick me up from school so we spent Friday morning getting that fixed.  Let's just say that a Volkswagen is not the ideal car to use when you need to jump start your battery.

Tiny Car = Tiny Battery Compartment

In other big news, I finally got a desk at school this week and now I feel legit!  My clinical teacher made a nice little nook for me in the back of the classroom and I have a space of my own!

He also let me go through a huge bin of school supplies to stock up my desk, so I only need a few more things!  First on the list- a drawer organizer! 

Well that wraps up this edition of Tuesday Randoms.  Check in later this week for a full depiction of the first Chase/Pennington Family Thanksgiving!  It will be full of family, fun, and FOOD!!

42 days 14 hours 49 mins 40 sec

CHRISTMAS!!

my favorite time of the year

hallmark movies

hot chocolate

cold weather

time off

food, food, more food

homemade goodies

gift wrapping

christmas trees

decorating

did i mention food?

well, these are a few of my favorite things!

i am so pumped that christmas is only a mere 42 days away.  so now its time to starting thinking about the pennington's first christmas and our apartment decorations.

our apartments pretty tiny, so i am thinking i am going to go on the non-traditional route with a smaller tree this year.  my mom has this awesome skinny christmas tree she is letting us borrow and i think its going to be perfect.  it looks something like this (p.s. no real trees for us, it makes mr. pennington all stuffy)

i'm thinking a beautiful tree skirt will spiff it up nicely!

today i must journey out to find some beautiful decorations.  i have some that i bought last year at hallmark at the end of the year, but it don't think that is going to cover the tree!  i'm kind of indecisive about themed trees versus traditional trees... i think i'll go traditional this year though.

i'm loving these stockings!

so what are your thoughts?  are you gearing up for christmas yet?

pictures to come once things are up and looking awesome!