Happy Holidays...Oo ooo

"Christmas was thrilling with its carols and candles, brilliant wrappings, cakes and cookies, oranges and spirit of giving, its mystery of birth and lighted trees, and hush at midnight. But it was after the holiday was over, after the tree was down, and the mistletoe and turkey's paw throwed out, the gifts put away and wrappings folded to be used next year, and the last of the cakes and hard candies eat, that the best pleasure come. It is the return to the ordinary, everyday life on New Year's Day, that moved me most. With the decorations put away and the trimmings. there was such openness in the house. There was a spirituality in the absence and emptiness. The morning of New Year's Day the light was different."

The Truest Pleasure by Robert Morgan

Hello friends and fellow bloggers!

The holidays are over, the decorations are put away, and we are still waiting on our lives to slow down! Here is a breakdown time line of what the end of the month of December looked like (continuing from the previous post)

December 18th-Small group Christmas party at 6 pm; Work Christmas party at 2 am
December 22-Bousson-Parsons-Cantrell Christmas Extravaganza; If you notice the bells only Will and I have on, it is because we are still winning at the bell game. Uncle Bucky bought these for us many moons ago, and whoever remembers to wear them the longest to the B-P-C E, wins a prize. It was so long ago, none of us remember what the prize is, but Will and I are the only ones left. And I had a close call this year. Luke and I were walking in when I looked down and realized my bells were not around my neck. I screamed, "Turn around, GO GO GO!" And Luke slammed the door in Trey's face and we ran back to the car. WHEW! Close call!
December 23- Bousson family Christmas at my Mom's; Ms. Amy and Katie came in town for our church's Christmas Eve Eve service. It was awesome. The church had removed all chairs and set up pods of couches. Very intimate and the perfect start/middle/almost end of Christmas! We left from there to go to Mrs. Amy's in Tupelo.
December 24th-8:00 am- Tally (Luke's mom's immediate family) Family Christmas Breakfast at Mrs. Amy's. Delicious as always.
12:00 pm-Cantrell Christmas at Luke's aunts. More delicious food. And his sweet Granny gave us one of her old cast iron skillets, complete with homemade jelly, and beans she canned herself. So fun!
5:00 pm-My immediate family, grandparents, uncle, and stepgreatgrandmother came over for soup and desserts. It was so special having everyone here on Christmas Eve. This spot has always been reserved for the Bousson Family Christmas (see Dec 23), but my grandparents are moving and their house was not ready for company. So, as hard as it is, we made some new traditions, and changed some old ones. I am going to brag a little on my Martha Stewart skills. That beautiful confection you see in the middle is a Peppermint Red Velvet Cake. And it was as delicious as it sounds. After dinner, we had planned on going to the Christmas Eve service at the church where Luke and I got married. It was packed, so we just walked around the square and looked at lights. So pretty!
December 25th-Luke and I got up early to open our presents. He is by far the best gift giver I've ever met! Good job honey! Then we went over to my parents for Santa, and then the whole fam came over for Brunch. After that, we usually go to a movie mid-afternoon and then eat Chinese. Well, the hospital doesn't close for Christmas, and women still have babies, so I went to work while everyone else carried on the tradition. They were sweet enough to all come up to work with some sweet and sour chicken, so my feelings weren't that hurt.
December 26- Street family Christmas at my maternal Grandfather's house. My step grandmother's family always has fried chicken on Christmas, so my step-great-grandmother hand fried every piece we ate that night!
December 27-Much needed haircut and Supper Club
December 28th-The Wilson Lunch Group is back together, and one of us is expecting. Not me, but my dear friend Audra. Please check out her blog for her baby story. Hilarious! It was also so great to see Erin, who moved to Chicago, and Blake, who lives here but I never see!! Luke's fraternity brother, Kevin, spent the night! We also met the Ramsey's, the Keith's, and Saunders parents at Firebirds for dinner. Their food is so freakin good!
December 29th-The Liberty Bowl!! The Butts came to stay, and we also got to eat with Mims, Kate, and Lindsey! SO great to see all of yall...The Game-not so exciting, but we won, so I was happy. We then hit up Beale St and Krystals...I think I had been awake for about 39 hours at this point...ZZZZZZ
December 31-NYE-We went downtown with the Butts, the Wolfes, and Laurette's sis, to eat at the Bluefin! So delicious! We all came back to our house for champagne and fireworks after! I absolutely love fireworks (unlike my friend Heather), so I begged my dad to bring his over for the celebration. He of course obliged, and we had a fantastic show. See the Butt's Blog for more pics! Does this mean we are old when this was a perfect NYE night?
January 5th- Katie's Bridesmaid Luncheon Tea Party in Tupelo. Very fun, and very good food! That night, everyone came to Memphis and we went to Seize the Clay, dinner at BlueFin, and then back to our house for lingerie, games, and food! I think Katie had a good time, and her friends were delightful! Cant wait to see them next weekend for Katie's Wedding!!


Ok, I hope you feel caught up on our lives. Sorry if this bored you to tears, but I realized I had many pictures that hadn't been blogged. Hope everyone is enjoying the first few weeks of the New Year!