krumpmas with the kranks.

from tennessee to wilmington, to walnut cove to germanton, to charlotte to philadelphia and back... every season is a whirlwind in our world. here are some highlights.

yes, this would be my mother. she has fully embraced the "tacky christmas sweater" craze by braking out her old sponge-painted sweatshirts. this one is quite the gem.

pat and i took a carolina blue flower arrangement to mamaw and pop's graves in honor of their love for basketball season... and to last the rest of winter. go heels!!

we took the girls to see the chipmunks!

a friend's wedding on the 30th in charlotte. so beautiful and so fun to see all our friends. josie took me to mac to get my eyes done!

the craigs dirty santa. always a hoot.

hanging out with charlotte. notice my mom's tree is gone... it started hatching spiders. so much for "real" trees!

my beautiful nieces.

craziness, right?? we were everywhere with everyone, but it was magical. i cried on my drive home with molly (pat had to go to philly to take his PE board test). i miss them all so, so much, but know that god has plans to bring us all together again soon. at least, that is what i am praying! and praying hard. here's to 2012!

snow much snow.

with the frigidness of winter on the cumberland plateau, definitely came another month of "threes plus twos." if you've read past posts, i talk about the saying "bad things always happen in threes." is it true? i don't know, but i have realized in recent months that when it rains, it pours, and when it snows, it blizzards. figuratively and literally. it all began very simply. my laptop died. ok, so that is a big deal because it is a rather expensive investment that was bought minutes before best buy closed in columbia, sc, after a massive paper i was writing was covered by a blue screen, and my toshiba never awoke again. ugh. luckily, my professor at the time was understanding and granted me more time to rewrite the paper, and i learned a massive lesson in a). always backing up your already backed up computer and b). always keep some money stashed away "just in case." seriously. hence, my blogs are behind, and i truly miss blogging-- i've been making some great new gf recipes i want to share soon. also, i am currently typing on my husband's med school space computer that he will probably say i ruined something on because, lately, everything i touch breaks. not. a. lie. i actually just checked the thing to make sure it wasn't about to explode or something. anyway, after my second laptop in 4 years died, i got in my 2009 car one morning, and the radio was silent. really?? yes. i should have taken it as a sign, too, because on my drive home from cookeville that night, two deer ran out in front of my car, one decided to wrap itself around the front right panel. luckily, the thing didn't come through my windshield. and, yes, i cried. the hp guy thought i was hurt, but really, i was thinking i killed the deer. i actually cared more about that than my car. i never found the dead deer, so i tell myself i didn't kill it and perhaps it got away injured, but i definitely thought this was a strain of bad luck. right before christmas, my car goes into the shop, meaning there's no telling how long it will take to fix because a). it's the holiday and everyone is shipping everything, and b). the snow storm of the century is heading toward tn. not even joking. over the next weeks it snowed basically every day. every. day. on top of it all, pat's car, our 4-wheel drive that we need in snow, and never has anything wrong with it, decided to turn on its "service engine soon" light, and we're still not sure what the heck is wrong with it. obviously, i really need to be working to pay for these unfortunate events, but i've been unable to make it to work much, even in my rent-a-car, because it snows. all. the. time. i mean, honestly, i've never seen anything like it. go to sleep. nothing. wake up. 6+ inches. and never saw it coming! i don't get it. the funny thing is, when we moved to harrogate, everyone said it barely ever snowed, and it snowed every day that winter, and now, the same thing is happening in crossville. did i bring it?? i say, heck no! i'm from the beach! why would i bring snow when it's quite possibly my least favorite thing? needless to say, apart from my ramblings, i'm dealing. putting on my big girl long jills, and sucking it up. i did have some fun out of it, but the travelling to and from skiing, casinoing, holidays, etc. is often nerve-wracking. worth it, for sure.

definitely. worth it.

christmas with the nieces.

and pat and snow...

skiing, new year 2010.

windsuit party, nye 2011.

somehow looking at these pictures makes the "months of threes" more minute. i love my husband, family, and friends. beyond words, they're all i need.