Chris and Blaire - Geek Out, 2009

We went to see Star Wars in Concert!!!!!!

We carried on our tradition of seeing a show at the Sommet Center;

last year, it was the Tran-Siberan Orchestra!

Chris and his light saber key chain :]

Early Stocking Stuffer

Chris surprised me today by giving me an early stocking stuffer! He has been doing some work with a local "store" (he wouldn't tell me what) - but decided to be generous and give me an early gift. It's a gorgeous Vera Bradley 2009 Holiday tote! I'm so excited! Thanks babe!!!!!

My kiddos

During our wedding planning phase, my students at BDES were so thoughtful and understanding. They asked lots of questions and told me daily how excited they were that I was "finally" getting married! They also realllllly wanted to meet Mr. Chris. So a few days after our wedding, Chris and I had a wedding cake made for them. He was able to come up and help me serve it - which was so much fun! The kids LOVED him and asked him all sorts of questions - my favorite is when one of my girls asked him why he fell in love with me :] He had a great time, eating cake and then taking the kids outside with me so they could run off that sugar. I wanted to share a picture from that day - the kids were so thankful and we had a great time.

The Look of Love

We have officially been married for 3 weeks and one day. It seems like it happened years ago, which I know sounds odd - but I feel like I've been with Chris forever. I can't remember not being with him. Our first Thanksgiving as husband and wife was wonderful - we had delicious food (thanks mom!), wonderful company and a lot to be thankful for. We are truly blessed. We were sad that we couldn't get to Florence to be with the Hughes' - but look forward to seeing them at Christmas.

We also celebrated the marriage of Jenn and Neal yesterday, 11/28/09. Jenn has been my best friend for close to 10 years and was the maid of honor at our wedding. I was so excited to return the favor. We had a GREAT time! Jenn and Neal chose a song by Brad Pasley called "Then" (well, I think it's called "Then" - not much of a country fan) - during the song, I looked up and saw Chris looking right at me - and started to cry. I had held it together pretty much the whole day but lost it - it was such a wonderful moment, looking out in a crowded room and seeing his smiling face. Marriage is difficult but I strive to hold on to many memories such as these - they will help me through the hard times I'm sure. I've been to many weddings but this was my first as a wife myself. I know it sounds silly, but it made me remember why I love and married Chris 3 weeks ago - I look forward to many more weddings in our future!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Harris!!!!! You are a beautiful couple and we wish for you only the very best! *Even if you ARE UT fans!!!!*

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Well, we did it - a week early too! We put up our very first Christmas tree!!!!!!!! We had a lot of fun picking everything out - and had an interesting time at K Mart (side note - they had Martha Stewart trees on sale for one day but did not have them in stock yet! Don't waste your time!!!!) We really put a lot of thought into the decorations we wanted to use - we decided on deep purple, gold, and silver for our big ornaments (plain balls of color). We then picked out our first Christmas ornament from Things Remembered - as well as a few others. Growing up, my family always bought one ornament a year and added it to the tree - I think we're going to carry on that tradition. We did pick a few this year because there were so many to chose from - an Office ornament, a cute pig (for no other reason than it was cute!), a cheetah print shoe, and a cute martini glass with two olives that says "Olive You"! Get it??!!!
I am firmly set on purchasing a holiday pig for our front yard - it boasts twinkling, clear lights and a Santa hat. I think it's a must. I am also trying to convince Chris that we need the light up Santa flamingo - but it's a no go as of now. He wants to see what our neighbors do - I say we throw caution to the wind (as well as our association rules!) and buy the pig! It could be worse - I could have asked for the Christmas hippo.

Can you live without your gall bladder?

Today Chris and I are headed to Clarksville Imagining so that I can have a CT scan. There may be something up with my gall bladder. I have had this nauseated feeling for at least two weeks which is apparently a sign that something's up. When I went in yesterday, the Doc said that it could be my gall bladder and if it was, it was going to have to come out. Truth time: I have no clue what a gall bladder even is. I think I though pancreas at first and freaked out - I KNOW that your pancreas is important! I had to make sure one can live without your gall bladder before consenting to have mine removed. This seems like the logical first step.

I hope all goes well today. I almost hope it IS my gall bladder - if it's not, that means I'll need more tests, which isn't fun at all.

Trey turns 26 today - wow!!!!!!! I'm lucky to have a such a great brother!

***UPDATE: on 11/30/2009 - I received notification that my gall bladder is doing just fine - so I guess it'll stick around for a while longer. I'm still not feeling 100%, but am planning on returning to the doc for some more tests. Prayers are certainly appreciated at this time***

Date Night!

I am taking Blaire to dinner at Logan's Steakhouse (that is where I met her for the first time), and then we'll go to see a movie.

I'm really looking forward to tonight, because Blaire and I haven't been on a date in a while.

We're constantly being told by people that ours was the BEST wedding and reception that they had ever had the pleasure of being a part of, and, speaking for myself, I agree 150%! As absolutely wonderful as the wedding was, I am glad that It's finally done, and now Blaire and I can focus on each other and our life together. Of course, I wouldn't mind reliving the reception a few more times. :-)

I've caught myself wondering what life has in store for the Hughes family, but I'm confident that as long as we work together and approach each issue with love and teamwork, we can't help but win. The two things I expect in this life is to beat MS (and get full use of my legs again) and to grow old with this woman.

~Chris~