calling all alums

we have a big day coming up in addison's life - she is getting baptized on sunday in macon. why macon you ask??? long story but here is the short version - we are members of oak mountain presbyterian church. moved out to mccalla and started going to a church closer to home - lake crest presbyterian. terry took a new job up in north birmingham. house is on the market, hasn't sold, but hopefully it will soon. when we move we will probably be in the same boat of wanting a church home closer to our new house. we want addison baptized. don't feel right about joining lcpc just to have her baptized. martha bowman is my home away from home. i became a believer there. we got married there. mom works there. it just fits. and my brother-in-law told us that would be a great idea. for some reason, if josh thinks it is a good idea then it sticks - he has that way with people. all this to say, kelli, lsd, mandy, ashley, any of you martha bowman alums out there - look for us sunday morning. 10:30 praise and worship.

on another note, brooke took some christmas pics of addison and this is one of my favorites. i just had to share.

christmas decorating 2007

i was so excited to wake up this morning because it was decorating day in the tingle home. terry does not love this day so much but he embraced it - just for me. it was fun to wake up and find these two loves of my life hanging out on the couch...oh so cute!

i have an old christmas song i learned in french class with madame marxsen that is still my favorite to this day. when i start singing it addison just lights up - it is too funny.

"il est ne le divine enfant..."my mom (a.k.a. shug) seems to hand down more and more christmas decorations every year. this year was a movable ice rink...or something like that. anyway, the people move and it plays christmas music. when i plugged it in i was sure addison would love it as much as my singing but instead i recieved this perplexed look...haha. aunt brooksie came to take some pictures of addison today. we tried to get some good ones by the christmas tree but it just didn't work out. so, i tried again later. not as fancy a picture as aunt brooksie's but it was still pretty cute.
and finally bedtime. she has just started falling alseep on her side. and how cute are these pj's...she just knew i wanted a picture of her hiney so bad.

Goodnight!

thanksgiving pics

i am finally getting around to posting some pictures from thanksgiving. i love the one below of aunt brooksie and addison. so often brooke is behind the camera but not for this one!

taking a rest!

too much turkey, mom! and finally,addison and aunt mandy!

nothing important

disclaimer: there is nothing of value in this post...nothing to ponder, analyze or addison pics to goo over. it is 7:30 am on a friday morning, i just purchased my second starbucks grande peppermint mocha with whip cream and those oh so fun red sprinkles of the season, listened to my favorite christmas music on the way in to work, i by-passed a HUGE wreck (major accomplishment), my miniture christmas tree at work is turned on and finally it is casual friday!!! i mean, who wouldn't want to blog after a fabulous list like that!

so, i love christmas. i love buying people presents. i love the music, the lights, and the traditions it brings. but before christmas there was thanksgiving. and it was crazy. but one of the best parts was visiting with mandy, ashley and pete. as i have said many, many times, they make my heart smile. it is so fun to see us old-er but still feel 15 when i am with them. these two girls really, really know me. they know all of my past. we grew up in the most amazing youth group together. we knew ashley when she had a mullet and got runover by a boat (i am not kidding, it's true). we knew mandy when she had her first kiss and finally joined us at uga. and who can stinking forget the fro-fighters?!?! good times, my friends, good times. so it was fulfilling to see them, hug them, and laugh with them.

back to christmas. this year is so fun...i cannot WAIT to go shopping for addison. not that she will even understand the meaning of christmas or who santa is, but it will still be fun buying for her. some of the best memories from my childhood were from christmas on craddock way. there was door-to-door caroling, luminaries on the street, sleeping with my sister because i was scared of santa, and who can forget the 5am christmas mornings. i am so excited about givng addison those same memories.

as many new parents, we have been so emersed in addison this year, terry and i haven't bought ourselves anything - and we have no idea what to get each other. so i am asking for suggestions...are there new things out there that you like, that you want? or new books that you have enjoyed that i might like? or even games that we might like that we have never heard of? what is on your christmas list? i just like to hear what people want from Santa!!!

so merry christmas on a happy friday...don't get trampled on crazy kiosk poeple like my sister, do type in your favorite christmas carol at pandora and enjoy the endless selections they give you, and please, don't forget to treat yourself to a yummy peppermint mocha from starbucks!

so much more

so i was thinking tonight of how much of my little world revolves around my little one. but there is so much more, i am so much more than that. i am a wife first and foremost. and i have to say that this weekend has been so fun just being with terry. being his wife.

i am funny. yeah. i am. i make terry laugh and that is so fun. i love bringing joy to peoples faces. i love to hear a good ole deep in the belly chuckle. it is refreshing to others, to myself.

i am a daughter. a daughter who continuosly calls her parents asking for advice. for praise. for protection. i love being a daugher to two amazing parents. i love knowing where i came from and who taught me.

i am a designer. at the most amazing place. my job fills me up. some days it fills me with chaos but for the most part it fills my self with confidence, success, and even joy.

i am a believer. i go to bed every night and wake every morning with a good god on my side, in my heart. i have a maker that holds me tight while i tremble in this world.

but the thing i am most of all these days is a prayer. i am a prayer. ask and it shall be given. pray with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. i believe in these words. i trust in these words. i have too. there is no other choice. there are many things i prayer about daily, but just a few surface day after day, hour after hour. they are the prayers for those with empty arms, sick bodies, and lost hearts. i will not cease in any of these prayers for i am a believer.

so yes, this is quite a quirky little post but these are the things on my mind today. terry. laughter. my parents. my job. my faith. my prayers.

celebrating baby natalie

last weekend we three tingles packed up in the new go-cart and headed to the atl. we arrived saturday late afternoon and were quite pooped from the busy morning and the drive over, but it was so worth it!

kel looked oh-so-cute pregnant, but seriously folks, did we ever doubt it?!?! heck no! we played in natalie's room and got excited looking at all her cute stuff. now we just need her here to wear it! addison did great sleeping away from home, but then again, i didn't doubt that either. addison certainly loved playing with her aunt kel...and with daddy hanging on the couch.

sunday afternoon the big event finally arrived...it was time to get dressed for a party! addison was a champ while being passed around the room. i don't think she will ever realize how special these ladies will be in here life. they will each teach her something i never could...i now this is true because they each have helped make me who i am. i can only guess what shannon will teach her, but i can just imagine me in 16 years in another room trying to eavesdrop as i hear shan and addison giggling about god knows what...and for the record, i will never want to know what you two will be giggling about!

then there is haley...oh haley will teach her to dance. and about boy bands. and how silly pooting can be. and how to save a dime. i wouldn't be surpirsed if addison's first piggy bank comes from haley! but make sure it is filled with money, hayes! addison loved resting in haley's arms. she was so content and so protected...so much the way haley makes me feel, too!

the biggest and best surprise of the weekend was getting to see sarah! oh how i have missed that girl! i haven't seen sarah since her wedding day, and what a beautiful wedding day it was! it was one of the few times in my life when i have known without a shadow of a doubt that a friend, a very special friend, was at peace in her world. she was made for that day. and when i saw her sunday, it was even more apparent how much she has grown into an amazing woman. sarah taught me alot in school that she never even knew. she taught me to love every person in my life without judgement and without fear...for you never know when it this world will no longer be their home. sarah makes me strive to be an amazing mom. to never cease in teaching addison new things. to never cease in loving her, hugging her, telling her i love her. i love you, sarah, and please don't stay away so long next time!!!

now i am crying and worn out...i will continue with more later. all in all, it was an inredible weekend and so fun to see everyone. it never fails that my heart is full when i leave all these girls. kel gave us each little decorative plaques with sayings on them as we were leaving. i like to think that mine was made for me...for yes, all you ladies, "you make my heart smile"!

dumpster diving

so it is monday and that means crazy business! i realized friday night that i had left my retainer at work...and yes, i wear a retainer. saturday morning on our way to hotlanta i stopped by my office to pick it up...only it was no longer on my desk. i looked everywhere - under my keyboard, behind my monitor, opened my drawers, i even checked in the stapler. i then looked down into the bottomless pit of a trashcan...completely empty. clean as a whistle. not even a trace of paper...nothing. the retainer was gone. officially gone. until this afternoon. i told my dear, sweet, amazing, committed, and super fun friend kristen that my retainer had left the building. but in her always-up-for-a-party ways, said she would help me dumpster dive...and dumspter dive we did!!! after a long 20 minutes jesus smiled upon us and vicotry was ours! the retainer is found!!!!!! wahooo!!!!!!! all is well with the world now...and if i die of a disease from a "filthy mouth" in a week or two, just know that it was all to save the retainer...and a couple bucks! thanks, kristin, you're the best!!!!!!!!