holidays are here...

it's that time of year that i love love love...

we've finished our whirlwind tour of thanksgiving, with dinners in fayetteville and greenville, as well as a barbeque lunch with dad in goldsboro. it was nice to have a few days off after some very busy days at work for both of us. we know it'll be a while until the traveling ends, though--we've been down to new bern, all the visits during thanksgiving, and we're heading back to fayetteville for the singing christmas tree at snyder next weekend. it'll just all part of the holiday season :)

i'm still very much tied to the traditions in fayetteville, and we got to experience a wonderful one the friday after thanksgiving. the dickens christmas is an annual downtown event where they have the official lighting of the downtown area by candlelight. i had a fantastic time taking pictures with my camera, and of course, there are more up on flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/laurenm83) below are just some of my favorites...



and now i can't wait for the rest of the christmas season to enjoy my new camera that came in the mail today. we found a fabulous deal on amazon thanksgiving day for a nikon d40 with two lenses. i'm so excited to use it and get comfortable with the settings. in the meantime, we'll also be selling my other two cameras, one online and the other in person, since it has already received a couple of offers from friends and family.

i'm staying busy at work with all of the holiday events and transitions with administration, as well as visits from the new headmaster we'll have next year. this week is spirit week, and tomorrow is pajama day (my favorite day of all time!)

in other news, i'm getting involved with the choir at the church justin and i have been attending recently. i love singing again and being a part of this new group. we've got a music program coming up right before christmas, so we've been working on some new music. i'm also excited about going to the carolina basketball game right after school gets out with my family--there are sure to be some awesome pictures from that one!

that's it for now. later, y'all...

chilly november

it's hard to believe we're already in the second week of november. these past few days have flown by, and it's hard to remember where it all went...

of course, there was trick or treating, where we got to see the brights, the mcanallys, and the britners. other than that, we actually only had a few others. the rest apparently stayed towards the front of the neighborhood. oh well--we have leftover candy that will last us until christmas!

then there was the surprise lunch that i organized for our two mommies-to-be at school on halloween. and my intern, elizabeth, has since welcomed a new bundle of joy into the world...


lilly claire! so cute. i can't wait to see her in person :)finally, i've been getting lots of use out of my camera lately, including some action shots with the soccer team. it was fun seeing what i could capture, and it only makes me want to upgrade to the D-SLR even more. i've been checking out the nikon d40 and am hoping i will be able to get my hands on one by christmas.

and then there are our road trips we've been taking the past couple of weeks, one to fayetteville for the night and another to durham to visit my grandma at duke hospital and do some shopping at streets at southpoint. i think we're ready to have a weekend at home before all of the holiday weekends coming up!

that's all for now. later, y'all