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

Traveling Tuesday (On Hiatus)

I know its Tuesday guys, which means our Traveling Tuesday series continues, but it's going to have to be on hiatus this week.  Progress reports = grading all night, which meant no time to write my blog post.  Sorry about the delay, but we will be back in full swing next Tuesday!  Just incase I haven't said Tuesday enough in this post, Happy Tuesday!

Thanksgiving Recap

Oh is it Monday already?  My five days of pretending to be a stay-at-home wife were wonderful.  There was cooking, cleaning, shopping, and of course lots of eating.  But Sunday night rolled around and the reality of my decisions to play all week crashed down on me like a ton of bricks.  Lesson plans and grading were a harsh slap in the face to the reality that Monday held.

However, lets skip all that Negative Nancy stuff and get to the food.  Thanksgiving was amazing.  Like who doesn't love a holiday that is solely devoted to spending time with friends and family, eating delicious food, and sharing all that your thankful for?  Our Thanksgiving was so amazing that I managed to snap ONE picture.  It was of my food naturally.

Daniel and I have consumed more food in the last couple of days than we did the entire month of November.  We had lunch at my mom's Thursday, dinner at Daniel's parents, dinner again at my mom's friday night (leftovers), and then Friendsgiving at church on Sunday.  I have indulged in massive amounts of turkey, mashed potatoes, pineapple casserole, dressing, green bean casserole, mac&cheese, and tons of green veggies!

We also felt that no holiday would have been complete without a little trip to the hot and fresh sign.  Saturday night we hit up Krispy Kream (thanks to the hot & fresh sign app on my phone) and spent the evening watching Home Alone and Richie Rich.  I hope the next month moves at turtle speed, because I am LOVING all the holiday movies on ABC Family and the Hallmark channel!  

How was your holiday???  Did you join all the crazies on Black Friday???  Don't forget to tune in tomorrow for Traveling Tuesday!  Remember if you participate you can link up in the comments section below the post!

P.S. Special shout out to my grandma who had a birthday yesterday!  Happy Birthday Lo!

Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving from the Penningtons!  

I hope your holiday is full of food, family, and laughter! 

Above all remember to spend time today being thankful.

I am thankful for...

Traveling Tuesday- Disney World (Part Three)

Welcome back to Traveling Tuesday!  Your one stop shop for all types of travel advice and ideas.  Today we are journeying yet again to Disney World.  Today we are heading to the Magic Kingdom! We briefly went to the Magic Kingdom on our first day at Disney, but there is so much more to see!

Day Five- Magic Kingdom

How does a princess start her day?  Why by visiting other princesses of course!  Daniel and I spent in a little on the morning of day five, but we timed our arrival perfectly.  As we walked into the Magic Kingdom I realized the wait time to see the princesses was 0 minutes and I knew this was my chance.  I ran through the roped off area as if someone may jump in front of me and I anxiously awaited my chance with the princesses.  Whether your 4 years old or 24 years old it doesn't matter, the princesses talk to everyone like they are the most special people they have ever met.  Cinderella asked me what kingdom did I come from, Belle told me my beast wasn't nearly as hairy as hers, and Aurora complimented my ball gown.  Best day ever!

After catching up with the princesses that morning, we headed into the wilderness to explore the Swiss Family treehouse and Tom Sawyer Island.  Disney does a phenomenal job of taking you back into time as you climb the steps of the treehouse and ride the log raft across the river to the island.  Tom Sawyer Island was a place I would have really liked to have spent more time exploring.  It was getting close to lunch time though and I was getting a little light headed.  On the island you will find caves, paths, bridges, and all kinds of things to explore.  You almost feel like Tom Sawyer himself, because you rarely run into other families.  

Little girls of all ages MUST eat at Cinderella's Royal Table at least once in their life.  The magical dining experience starts out with you entering Cinderella's Castle and you are immediately direct to your meeting with the princess herself.  After meeting Cinderella and having your photo taken you are escorted into the dining room.  Throughout your meal announcements are made as the various princesses enter the room.  Belle, Aurora, Ariel, and Snow White travel to each table to chat and take photos with all of the guest.  The food is delicious as well.  I had the "fried" chicken, baked macaroni and cheese, and broccolini.  It was really good, but not the fried chicken we know and love in the south.

I cannot rave enough about the quality of the firework shows at Disney.  You can find a show that will light up the sky on a nightly basis and it is always spectacular!  The show at the Magic Kingdom is especially magical, because Tinkerbell "flies" out of the top of the tower before the show and they illuminate the castle with different color lights throughout the show.



See you guys next Tuesday for another edition of Traveling Tuesday!  If you blogged about your travels today, share the link to your blog post in the comments section below.  I can't wait to see what you guys have to say!

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

Hey Guys!  It's Friday again!  Short work weeks are the best and next week will be no exception with Thanksgiving on the horizon!!

Now its time for High Five for Friday!

1. I dusted off the tennis racket this week and it was awesome.  I've still got the magic... look out Wimbledon 2013 ;)

2. Veteran's Day was amazing... I got a day off and Olive Garden... Thank you veterans!

3. I got new pair of slipper/boot thingies. They rock.  Warmth + pink = awesomeness

4. In other news, hot chocolate has just been approved by the FDA as a new segment of the food pyramid.

5. Happy Birthday (tomorrow) to my beautiful sister-in-law!!  Welcome to the Quarter of a Century Club!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

College Kid

Go Pirates!

I'm going back to college.
Just kidding... I wish!

Today is College Day at school.  It is my task to share crazy stories experiences with my students that will make them understand the awesomeness of the college experience.  We get to fully embrace the day, college t-shirt and all.  For most teachers this is cool... not cool when you look like you are in high school still.  It gets confusing and you just get that "Hmmmm, I think your a teacher, but you cannot possibly be since you look like you are 14 years old" look.  Oh well rocking the look anyway.

As I began reflecting on what I would tell my students, I realized why would anyone pass the college opportunity up if they could make it happen.  My four years of undergrad and year of grad school were the best years of my life.  I met incredible people, gained valuable knowledge, learned to see the world from different perspectives, and actually got to see other parts of the world.  

The thing I enjoyed most about college though were the little things.  Sitting outside on a fall afternoon drinking my hot chocolate and studying.  Bicycle rides down the Greenway.  Long van rides for far away tennis matches stuffing my face with Whales and Sour Patch Kids.  Early morning breakfast with my tennis girls after a grueling 6 am workout.  Lunch dates on campus with Mr. Pennington.  Pouring down rain on both my graduation days. The list could go on and on, but you guys get the point.  Life isn't always about the big events.  Sometimes its about the little small ones in between.

Question of the Day: What is your favorite college memory?

20 Places Every American Should Visit

In light of our new series we started yesterday, I am carrying on with the travel theme.  Daniel and I have been discussing on a regular basis where we would like to take a family vacation to next year hopefully.  See, with the exception of our honeymoon, we have never been on a vacation together with just the two of us.  Its a little overwhelming thinking about narrowing down the five million choices that we have come up with.  Some are realistic... some not so much.  Here are some ideas we have been throwing around.... Disney, Europe, the Outer Banks, Washington, D.C., New York City.  I guess we will have to wait and see what happens!

I was recently searching a travel site and came across the "Twenty Places Every American Should Visit."  I found this really interesting.  As much as I love international travel, I think sometimes I should really concentrate more on seeing more of our own country.  American is the home of some truly beautiful sites.  Check out the list below and see which one's have made your list.
(I have traveled to the one's in pink!)

20 Places every American Should Visit

Highway 1, Calif.

French Quarter, New Orleans, La.

National Mall, Washington, D.C.

Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nev.

Yellowstone National Park, Wyo.

Times Square, New York City

Nashville, Tenn.

Grand Canyon, Ariz. (Flew over on the way to Las Vegas)

Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles, Calif.

Disney's Magic Kingdom, Orlando, Flordia

Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, Penn.

Taos Pueblo, N.M.

Fenway Park, Boston, Mass.

South Beach, Miami, Fla.

Civil Rights District, Atlanta, Ga. (I have been to Atlanta, but never the CR district)

Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, Pa.

Architecture in Chicago, Ill.

Ellis Island, N.J. (I have seen it on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, but I have never been inside)

Pearl Harbor, O'ahu, Hawaii

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, N.Y. (Only the outside)

Question of the Day: If you could choose any place in the world to vacation, where would it be?

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/07/28/20-places-every-american-should-see/