First Five on Friday of the New Year

I can't believe we've officially finished the first week of the 2016 and I'm writing my first Five on Friday of 2016! Congratulations to all of you who survived the first work week.

One
While in TN, we visited a used bookstore and I found a book all about Modern Manners. It looked neat and informative so I snagged it for $5. We haven't gotten very far, but I read it to Stephen on our drive down to Okeechobee last weekend and it is fantastic! We're both learning so many important tools and we haven't even finished the first chapter. I'm excited to read the next section - how to mingle at a work cocktail hour.

Two
Speaking of Okeechobee, we got an adorable ornament from my BIL & SIL for Christmas (post coming next week). I just thought it was so sweet and adorable that I had to share it early. We both bought our first houses this year so they gifted us a new home ornament from their new home.

Three
After seeing the reviews for Ant Man, I decided against seeing it and didn't think I'd like it at all. The other weekend, my mom was telling me how much she loved it and couldn't wait to buy it on DVD. I figured we should give it a shot since she loved it so much so we watched it and I'm not going to lie, it wasn't that bad! It was a pretty good movie and Paul Rudd brought the humor which added to the fun. If any of y'all have seen it - all those ants gave me the heebeegeebees anytime they came on screen.

Four
Yesterday at work, we decided to take part in the Bachelor Fantasy Draft that ABC is currently hosting. I've never done a football fantasy draft so I figured this would be really fun! We're not 100% on the rules but we decided there's no money involved (winner will get a chocolate rose), you get a point for every girl that you get right and there's no cheating on finding out who wins in the end. I'm super excited for this, so now I've got to step up my Bachelor game and make sure I'm watching.

Five

We're so excited to finally have a relaxing weekend at home. Even though we relaxed a lot in TN, we weren't at home and able to get some things done that we need to. We're very much looking forward to relaxing, sleeping in and getting things checked off our house list!

Thoughts for 2016

I've never been a good resolution setter, remembering said resolution and sticking to it throughout the year. I've also noticed that a lot of y'all feel the same way, which is nice because I thought I was in the minority of the blogger world. However, I do feel a sense of "fresh start" after a new year happens and it makes me think about some things in my life. Even though I don't have any specific resolutions/goals I want to stick to, I do feel that I should change a few things up (starting small) and try to make them into a habit throughout the year.

Health
I'd like to consider myself healthy - not in the sense that I should be, with eating organics and veggies for snacks. Yes, I eat processed food. Yes, I always need a dessert chaser after lunch and dinner. Yes, sometimes I mindlessly eat when I'm bored. Even though these habits are unhealthy, I try to eat in moderation, I buy everything I can low calorie/low sugar/fat free etc., we rarely eat out so we make our own dinners and I try to make sure we always have some fruits and veggies at our meals.

I've decided to incorporate a few small things into my diet in order to make them a little healthier. I want to really give the water with lemon in the morning a go. I LOVE water with lemon and actually tried this last year and did it for about a month. I didn't notice any changes and got lazy. I've heard it really helps your metabolism and preps your digestive tract for the day. Even if I don't actually notice any improvements, why not drink a glass of water in the morning? I could really use the extra hydration anyways.

I'd also like to try to make healthier breakfasts in the morning and focus on protein. I've heard this is really good for you to kick start your day and leave you feeling fuller longer. I'm going to aim to have protein in the morning for 2-3 days per work week. I kicked this off with 1 egg and 2 slices of turkey bacon already, this week.

I'm making the conscience decision to buy wheat bread and not white bread. I've always known wheat bread is WAY better for you than white bread but I've been buying the white bread version of the bread we enjoy because it tastes better. I'm only going to focus on this for our lunches since I make sandwiches for us everyday but I feel like this will make a big difference.

Stephen and I both want to workout again - we feel so much better afterwards but I'm so dang tired when I get home from work. After driving an hour home, I'm ready to crash, get things done around the house and blog but I really need to make time to do something. I think if I find a really good cardio dance workout, I'll be a lot better with this. Let me know if y'all have any good hip hop workouts!!

Spiritual
Last year, I really dropped the ball on my daily devotions until a few months ago when I downloaded the First 5 app. Before I was married, I liked doing my devotions at the end of the day before going to bed but now it's a little harder when I have a husband asking me to turn off the light so he can go to sleep. I would go to bed, realize I forgot to spend time with God and then feel guilty because I miraculously had time for social media, but not God. The First 5 app has some great devotions and it has the ability to set reminders. I set the reminder for right before I wake up so that it's the first thing I read before starting the day.

I also got the Savor 365 devotional book as a Christmas gift and have been enjoying reading it every evening. That book (so far) isn't as deep as the First 5 app but it still packs a punch which is why I enjoy it but also am continuing on with the First 5 app. I really want to make an effort to continue both these items throughout the year.

Okay, so this kind of turned into a resolutions post but I feel like these are some small changes that are specific and I can really focus on. Some of them, I'm not sure if they'll make a difference but I want to try and make some positive changes/habits.

What are some of y'alls resolutions/goals/changes for 2016? I love hearing what other people want to strive for throughout the year.

Linking up with Annie.

2016 Summer Vacation

We've been going back and forward with Stephen's family trying to figure out vacation plans for this summer. Originally we were going to take a big family trip to the Bahamas, where they've been going their whole childhood, as a guarantee the whole family can go before more kids are added to the Hirst clan. That plan fell through so then we were going to go with his brother, wife and new baby. After thinking about it, we all weren't dying to go and bringing the baby could be risky in a lot of different ways. So after deciding against a family vacation, we settled on a vacation Stephen's been wanting to take for years - Colorado. 

Stephen interned for 2 summers out in Denver and loved it. He's been wanting to take me on a big vacation there to see some of the fun mountain cities. We're looking to go in the June-August time frame and I would LOVE some ideas/advice that y'all have. We're thinking about flying into Denver and staying a night then driving out to Vail for a few days then hitting another city for a few days before returning to Denver for a night and heading home. What would be another fun CO mountain city to visit in the summertime? Breckenridge and Keystone are close to Vail and on the way back to Denver but we're not 100% sure what the other city would be. 

I'd love to hear any recommendations you have! We'd like to keep all the stops within the same area since we'll be driving. 

Linking up with Jessi.

A Chattanooga Christmas

First of all, Happy New Year! We're heading back to work today after a glorious 2 weeks off. I'm sure most of y'all are heading back today as well and if so, good luck!

I have so much to catch up on! In short, Stephen and I did our Christmas weekend, then packed up and headed to Chattanooga, TN to spend Christmas with my family - we stayed 10 days instead of 9, came home - which took an extra 2 hours thanks to GA traffic - had 2 days at home to clean and tear down Christmas decorations and celebrate New Years before heading to Stephen's parents house for 2 days to do Christmas with them. The long story is below...

On Thursday before our Christmas (12/17) I started not feeling well but attributed it to allergies. We drove up to TN on Monday (12/21) and by the 23rd I had lost my voice. I decided to go to the Dr. and came out with a small sinus infection - I was so thankful to get some medicine and get back on the mend quickly. I'm also thankful that it didn't get too bad and I didn't have to miss out on any Christmas activities! Another thing to note was the weather - it was awful. 70's and rain for literally the entire trip except for 2 days and basically the 23rd-25th there was horrible tornadoes in the surrounding counties - thankfully, we weren't affected by it.

December 21-22: We drove up for the first time together (first long drive together) and it wasn't bad at all! Not much traffic, Stephen was amazing and drove 90% of the time and I finally finished my Will & Kate book so I could hand it off to my sister. The 21st and 22nd were spent enjoying being at home and running errands with my mom and sister. The evening of the 22nd, we met my dad downtown after work along with our close family friends for dinner. We were going to go to Rock City and see the Christmas display but it was so gross outside we decided against it and chose to see the Christmas window display. I'm not 100% sure where downtown it is (I know near the library) but apparently for YEARS, this building has put up a big Christmas display for everyone to see. It was really neat, but a bit creepy. After the display we went to our friends' house for dessert and hanging out before heading home.

December 23rd: I finally decided to go to the Dr. and get some meds. After, Stephen and I went to an AMAZING used bookstore in Chatt - McKAY's. This store literally had everything and I was so overwhelmed at the size of this place! We spent at least an hour there and found some amazing books - some for $0.75! Afterwards, Stephen, my sister and I made a gingerbread village - Caroline is the only one who has skill at gingerbread houses (hers is bottom left). My dad finally made it back home after work and we celebrated his birthday! After cake and presents, we enjoyed some down time and played a game or two.

I was really tickled Stephen found some neat books!

December 24th: Christmas Eve was finally here and we were so excited! Since the weather was cruddy, we spent most of the day playing ping pong and watching TV in the basement. We went to an earlier Christmas Eve service at church - the shortest one I'd ever been to but it included everything and the timing was perfect for all the little kids. After the service, we had some appetizers for dinner, watched Christmas Vacation, did our tradition of baking Santa's cookies (which we forgot to leave out) and then watched Christmas in Connecticut. After the movie, we ended up staying up till midnight chatting and helping get the gifts up from the basement and under the tree.

So I assumed it'd be freezing, so I didn't want to pack a skirt for Christmas Eve and packed pants. The outfit was a little rough so I ended up putting on a sweater after these pictures but still didn't like it very much. And I discovered I should NEVER wear red lipstick... lessons learned

December 25th: I woke up around 8 and was ready to go! We got my sister up but then let my mom sleep in till 8:45 since she was up all night with the dog for the 2nd night in a row - she was freaking out over the bad weather. I was so excited for everyone to open gifts - I knew I had a lot of surprises under the tree (that never happens) and we had a lot of surprises for my family as well. Stephen and I made chalkboard cheese trays for my mom and SIL and they both loved them. After the presents, we opened stockings and then my dad continued the tradition of making a big breakfast. We followed up breakfast with a quick nap and then played some ping pong and other games since it was raining outside. My mom made a delicious Christmas dinner and we followed it up with some board games and a movie.

Frisbee got a new jacket!

The cheese board we made my mom. My SIL got a slightly different color with different hardware

December 26th: We woke up and headed out to Target and other home stores in search of after Christmas sales. We loaded up at Target and Kirklands! Stephen even found another Christmas tree at Home Depot and we can't wait to put it up in our living room next year. After a full day of shopping and utilizing my new Hunter Boots we ate lunch and headed home to rest. We ran to the gym to play some basketball with my family and then my Aunt came over that night since she was sick on my dad's birthday. We ate dinner and chatted about the Sorrick family history. Stephen's big into family history so for Christmas, I got him a family history book that we needed to fill in. My Aunt know basically everything about the family so we had a great time learning about our history and getting in some great laughs. Some of her and my dad's stories had me in stitches!

December 27th: Ahhh, the first day it wasn't disgusting outside. We went to church and then after lunch, Stephen and my dad ran out to get some ping pong balls. So, my dad found a ping pong ball machine as a fun gift for my mom for Christmas. We got it all setup and the balls kept dropping out and not going anywhere. Before calling it a dud and returning it, my dad figured out that they had changed the regulation size for ping pong balls so the ones we had were too small. Thankfully they got the right size and the machine worked great! After their trip, Stephen, my mom and I took a walk around their neighborhood. Walking in TN is no joke - some of those hills are killer!! It was also a way prettier view than FL and the houses were a lot more pleasing and exciting to look at than our neighborhood at home so that made the walk very enjoyable. After the walk, we played with the ball machine, had dinner and closed out the night watching Jurassic World.

December 28th: The weather had gotten gross again so my mom and I hit a Zumba class at the gym before running some errands, but not before having some of my dad's famous pancakes. We had a blast doing the class together and it made me miss my dance classes at the gym so much! During the day, my parents had hired someone to come in a build a platform in the basement to put one of their couches on to create stadium seating. Everyone loves how it turned out and we broke in the new seating arrangement with Interstellar. I had honestly forgotten how sad it was and ended up crying the whole night lol 

December 29th: This was supposed to be the day we headed back home but we decided to stay another day and I'm so glad we did! The weather was beautiful so we crammed in as much as we could that day! We woke up semi-early, got ready and I had Stephen take some pictures of me for my new blog design since my dad had a DSLR camera. After breakfast, we got ready and headed out for a walk in a park - it was beautiful. After our walk, we got lunch and frozen yogurt then headed over to see my aunt's new house. Afterwards, I was filled in about my mom's side of the family for our history book. We then had a ping pong tournament. Y'all, this was a legit tournament with placings and everything - my family doesn't take this stuff lightly. My sister knocked my dad off his throne and became the family champion! We had so much fun and then took the games upstairs and played some Disney board games before calling it a night and packing everything up.

December 30th: We woke up and finished packing some last minute items before having breakfast and loading up the car. We were so sad to leave but for me, once it's in my head, I'm ready to get home. We amazingly fit everything in the car comfortably (thank goodness we don't have kids yet lol) and headed out. It rained basically all in GA and there was terrible traffic from Dalton to Forsyth and it took us an extra 2 hours to get home... definitely not the easy drive we had going up there. Stephen was amazing and drove 90% of the time again. After getting home a little after 9pm, we had Publix subs and I unpacked all our suitcases so I could focus on Christmas items the next day.

December 31st: We slept in, got my new blog design up and running (yay!), ran a few errands and then came home to work on tearing down the Christmas decorations. For New Years Eve, Stephen grilled out ribs (we're going to have to work on those a little more lol) and I worked on putting away the Christmas decorations. This year, we got a ton of tubs and organized everything within the tubs (i.e. wrapping items, decorations, kitchen, etc.). I'm so glad I decided to organize everything this year and I know it'll make next Christmas so easy to decorate and prepare for. By 11pm, I was beyond pooped and ready for bed but I had to make it another hour so we watched some Office episodes and then saw the ball drop.

January 1st: First of all, how in the world is it already 2016? Second, I've got to remember to write 2016 on everything which is going to be a challenge for a while. We slept in again but then got right to work on getting all of the outside Christmas decorations put away. Stephen was a trooper and got everything in the attic that needed to be up there. After lunch, I worked on chiseling away at my to-do list and cleaning the house. I made a traditional Southern New Years day dinner - ham, collard greens, black eyed peas and rolls. We also packed up to head out to my in-laws for our 3rd Christmas (or 1st Christmas of 2016 ;))

If you made it through the post, bravo! I know it was pretty lengthy and somewhat detailed but I didn't want to forget all that we had done. This was probably one of my favorite Christmases and I'm so glad we were able to spend so much time with my family in TN. I can't wait to spend Christmas up there with them in 2017! We enjoyed a low-key entrance to 2016 and I hope everyone else had a great holiday season!