2009 in pictures

These are some of my favorite memories of 2009!

JANUARY:


FEBRUARY:


MARCH:


APRIL:




MAY:




JUNE:




JULY:




AUGUST:




SEPTEMBER:


OCTOBER:


NOVEMBER:



DECEMBER:

Christmas Recap

We had a very merry Christmas and enjoyed every minute of time spent with our family. This year, it was so nice for Garrett and I to wake up at our own house on Christmas morning since the past two years we have been in Birmingham with my family. After Garrett and I opened gifts we went to The Kelly's and had breakfast and opened gifts with Mike, Sandy, Melissa, Todd and Trevor. Then we headed to The Rinta's where we visited with the rest of the family and ate a delicious prime rib dinner. This year, Arnie requested that I make my special Coconut Cake for dessert since it's his favorite and it was a hit! We decided to give Arnie and Phyllis all of the dry ingredients and the recipe for Christmas - they were thrilled.

Here is the whole gang on Christmas!


Hope you all enjoyed time with Family and loved ones this Christmas!

Merry Christmas

And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10,11

For His sacrifice, let us be thankful. Let us celebrate the true meaning of Christmas as we endeavor to love as He loved and give as He gave. {via}

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Gift Wrap Organizer

Kind of obsessed with this thing...

Go to target now and get you one.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Do you have a favorite Christmas Treat?!

Sure you do, everyone does! My favorite Christmas treat is White Chocolate Covered Pretzels. They just remind me of Christmas. My Mom and I would make them when I was home from college. I love to give them to co-workers and bosses. This year I decided to spice up the White Chocolate Pretzels and add crushed peppermints. {because I like to walk on the wild side}

You'll need:
1 Bag of Pretzels
4 Baker's White Chocolate Baking Squares
Peppermints

You'll also need a strong handsome husband to break up the white chocolate squares before he heads out to the Cougar basketball game.

Melt the white chocolate squares over a makeshift double boiler.

While the chocolate melts, crush peppermints using a meat pounder and cutting board. Be sure to use a heavy duty bag or the peppermints will go all over your kitchen floor. I learned this the hard way.

Once the chocolate is melted, add about half of the crushed peppermints and stir the mixture then add a few handfuls of pretzels and gently stir.

Once the pretzels look well covered with chocolate peppermint mixture, use a toothpick to remove them and lay them on wax paper.

While the chocolate is still soft, sprinkle some very finely chopped peppermints over the top of each one, just for decoration.

Let completely cool for at least 30 minutes then plop a few in a container.

Add a bow and you get a cute little package!

Christmas Open House

Welcome to our home. I decided to post some pictures of our tree and decorations since a lot of you (see: my family) weren't able to come by this year. Here's our cozy little living room.

And our tree with all the presents underneath.

Garrett and I try to collect an ornament whenever we travel so this year we picked one up in Disneyland and also Hilton Head. The ornament from Hilton Head was actually our seating assignment that the bride decided to double as a Christmas ornament!

Next we have the Santa collection. I have a thing for jolly ole St. Nick. My Mom has kind of started a tradition of giving me a Santa every year. This year she gave me the Santa on the left this year and last year she gave me the one on the right.

Next we have what I like to call the Wall of Joy! It's so much fun receiving Christmas Cards in the mail. Everyday I look forward to checking the mail when I get home! (Please excuse the unorganized mess)

Last week we went over to Garrett's parents house to decorate Gingerbread Houses, which has become an annual tradition. I didn't take any pictures that night, but here's our cute house.

Lastly, we have our wine rack with garland. For some reason, I really like this picture and decided to include it.
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Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Need an Easy Holiday Teacher or Hostess Gift?

Then look no further. I had a bunch of pecans laying around after my trip to Alabama for Thanksgiving, so I decided to make this Spiced Pecans recipe from my Southern Living Christmas Cookbook a couple weeks ago. I gave some to a friend as a hostess gift and to my mother in law as well. Although they weren't packaged as pretty as these, they turned out delicious. They pair wonderfully with red wine, so they're great for a holiday party. Enjoy!




Spiced Pecans

Yield: Makes about 5 cups (serving size: 2 tbsp.)
Ingredients
1 egg white
4 cups pecan halves (about 1 lb.)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Whisk egg white in a large bowl until foamy. Add pecans, and stir until evenly coated with egg white.

2. Stir together sugar and next 4 ingredients until blended; sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over pecans; stir gently until pecans are evenly coated. Spread pecans in a single layer in a lightly greased aluminum foil-lined 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan.

3. Bake at 350° for 18 to 20 minutes or until pecans are toasted and dry, stirring once after 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool 30 minutes or until completely cool.

Note: Store pecans in a zip-top plastic freezer bag at room temperature up to 3 days, or freeze up to 3 weeks.

O Christmas Tree

We picked out our Christmas tree last weekend and decorated it this week! I'd post pictures but I basically decorated the same as last year. It's such a busy time I am just trying to soak up every moment of all the holiday cheer!

Here is Garrett strapping on our tree {and its lovely branches} to the car! This year we opted to save a few pennies and purchase our tree from the good ole Home Depot.

Hope you are enjoying the holidays!

Newborns are the best!

While I was home in Birmingham, Lindsey, Katie and I took a short road trip to see my friend Jill and her sweet little girl, Campbell.

Campbell was less than a week old and just about the sweetest newborn I have ever seen! I wanted to take her home with me, Jill's husband Todd, joked that I could if I was willing to pay for college and the wedding ;)

It was so good to see Jill and I'm so glad I was able to meet sweet Campbell!

Thanksgiving Recap Part II

On Thanksgiving day, my Dad enlisted the help of the rest of the guys to build a fire pit. They got to work and collected some rocks from an old chimney on our property.

The finished project... we sat around the fire for hours that night!

The ladies stayed inside and got all the food ready. Three generations of Smith women.. from left, Aunt Mel, Smith Ann, Grannie, Me, Mom, and Lindsey!

After a delicious meal, we headed out for a hay ride and hike.

This year, we ate later than normal and decided to forgo hiking to the top of the mountain since it was getting dark. We did, however, come up with a few contenders for the name of the mountain:

• Owens Mountain
• Mt. O Bar
• Owens Peak

What do ya think?!

My Mom, Lindsey and I on the hay ride!

We had an impromptu photo session on the tractor with my parents!

Mom and I, so fun!

The next day, we all hit up our favorite local stores, Hammers and Unclaimed Baggage, where Lindsey and I scored some awesome tacky Christmas party attire. After shopping, we headed back to the farm to watch the Iron Bowl and round 2 of frying everything ensued. We fried pickles again, as well as pulled pork and a snickers. Yes a snickers. Although I didn't taste it, I hear it was a gooey sweet and salty treat!

hahaha!

We loved every minute of spending time with my family!