MIA!

I am so sorry I have been MIA lately. Once we were out for Christmas break, my husband and I headed to Fiji! Since we've been back, a lottttt has happened! We sold our condo, found a home, and we are moving next Friday! Life has been crazy! Although things are picking up, I plan to continue to blog. I promise, ha! Stay tuned this week for several "catch up" blog posts! I hope you all are doing well!

Our Minted Christmas Cards

We leave Sunday, so I won't be doing a whole lot of blogging the rest of the week, so I can get us all packed and ready to go! Please keep us in your prayers as we make our way to Fiji on Sunday. I'm a little nervous about the 12 hour flight, but I know it will all be worth it when we get there! I wanted to share our Christmas card with you before! We hope you and your families have a wonderful holiday and start your new year off with a bang! This past year was the best year of my life. My best friend asked me to spend the rest of my life with him and we did just that on October 25th.... 2014 is going to be hard to top, but I KNOW we will have so many exciting things to look forward to in the new year! On to bigger and better things! I look forward to all the years I get to spend with my husband, family, friends, and one day, our children.. Life is fun and I love doing it with all my favorite people! 

Merry Christmas!

The Haynies

Movies Worth Watching

Netflix is really hitting a home run with all the awesome movies lately. We went through a spell where we had seen EVERYTHING, but they really are stepping up to the plate. My queue is full of movies to watch, so I have a feeling I know what we'll be doing every night this week. I wanted to share a few that we have already seen and loved, plus a list of ones that we plan on watching this week. It's supposed to cold, rainy, and gloomy outside, so I'm sure we'll be curled up on the couch with a cup of hot tea. Happy Netflixing, friends!

1.

Christmas with the Kranks is just down right hilarious. I watched this last week, and then watched it again with my family on Thanksgiving night. You can't go wrong with Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. 

2.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is such a great Thanksgiving movie. We also watched this on Thanksgiving night, and we all laughed our butts off! I love anything with Steve Martin and John Candy. 

3.

Sam and I watched this comedy Saturday morning while eating breakfast. I love anything with Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher. If you have not seen this adorable love movie, definitely hit it up on Netflix. It's sure to make you laugh! 

4.  

Love Actually is back on Netflix! I watched this over the long weekend. I love all the big names in it. It's sure to put you in a festive mood this Holiday season! 

5.

Don't watch this with the kids, but Bad Santa is one of Sam's favorites. It's raunchy at times, but definitely worth seeing. I love Billy Bob Thornton and Bernie Mac in this movie. It's sure to make anyone laugh! 

We've also added about thirty movies to the list. Here are a couple that we are planning on watching this week. If you have seen any of them, let me know what you think! :)

Thanksgiving Recap

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. We were out of school Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, so several teacher friends and I headed for Mexican Tuesday night. We had a good time! I wish my pictures wouldn't have turned out so red.

I love getting to teach with my best friend.

I love my teacher friends. 

Fun night!

Wednesday night, I spent allllll evening cooking. I made this pumpkin biscoff bundt cake and it was delicious. I'm not a baker, so I was a little nervous about it, but it turned out beautifully!

I tried a new carrot casserole and looovedddd it. I made this roux before layering the casserole and it made my entire condo smell wonderful!

After cooking for four hours, I finally sat down and enjoyed my sleepy time tea while finishing up the Grizzlies game! We won! woohoo!

 Thanksgiving morning, I finished making a salad and casserole for our lunch. I threw on my J.Crew pixie pants and new leather pocket tunic. I wanted to be comfortable, so I could eat more! ha!

J.Crew leather pocket tunic

J.Crew pixie pants

Frye Jane tall boots

J.Crew statement necklace 

 Mom's table was just beautiful. I love everything about her dining room table. We had a wonderful, wonderful meal.

Thursday night we had a photo shoot with the Dos Equois man. My parents have a statue of him in their garage. Too funny!

Friday, I enjoyed getting a little laundry done and watching Christmas movies. I also enjoyed some yummy leftovers. Leftovers are always a good idea.

Saturday night, we had a retirement party to go to. Our friend, Curtis Person, has been the Juvenile Court judge for 40 something years and has decided to retire. Memphis will miss him! I opted for a black jumpsuit and swing jacket. 

Vince Camuto black jumpsuit

Kensie swing coat

 After the party, we were home by 9:00 and decided to make homemade popcorn and play cards. We watched a couple of movies and enjoyed just being at home! It was a fun date night at home.

We love playing Gin Rummy. Unfortunately for Sam, I beat him each round. ha! 

 Saturday, we got up and got ready for the Egg bowl game. It was a fun day! We beat Mississippi state and I was oh so excited! Hotty Toddy!

I wore a Gap outlet favorite, but mixed up some patterns 

for a fun outfit! 

J.Crew buffalo blue vest

Gap navy/white stripe dress

Zara plaid scarf

Cowboy boots

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! Christmas is around the corner! 

Married ONE MONTH!

Sam and I have been married one month on the 25th of November! I can't honestly believe it. Where did the month go? It's been so much fun, but I know everyday won't be fun... That's okay..We both know that and are ready to tackle anything that stands in the way of us. He builds me up far more than I can ever imagine. He's the most selfless person I know, and I think that is one of the most beautiful things about him. It's part of the reason I married him. I know he'll always put me and our children first, and if that's not sexy, I don't know what is!! We both have our flaws, but we accept them and understand that marriage won't always be "sunshine and rainbows." We'll go through things throughout our marriage that will test our commitment we made to the Lord, but I know without a doubt that we will fight it and our love with outshine anything that stands in our way. I love learning new things about him daily and vice versa. It's a sense of security and safeness after you're married. You can't walk out...You can't leave... You have to work it out...There is no one in this world I would rather do life with...He's it...I love being married to my best friend and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us and for years to come! I wanted to leave you with a few quotes that I hold close to my heart...

Friendship and what it means...

My heart has been so full lately. I don't know if I'm getting off a high from the wedding or it's from being married, but I honestly feel I'm finally at a place that I'm happy with...If you would have asked me that five years ago, not so much. I was in a weird place, I associated myself with people who were not good for me, and consumed my mind with petty stuff....This blog is never always sunshine and rainbows, but at the end of the day, I'm okay with that... I learned a lotttttttt about people over the course of eight months that Sam and I were engaged. The people you think will be there for you every step of the way, are no where to be found...And the people who stay hidden, step up to the plate and surprise you. Of course our best friends were angels, but they surprised me even more during the most important time in our lives. I don't know what I did to deserve such wonderful friends. but goodness.. I have them... I have learned in almost 27 years that it's totally okay to count your friends on one hand, rid the ones who make you feel unworthy, and learn to take everything with a grain of salt. People are human beings. We all make mistakes, and at the end of the day, you have to be okay with that... You have to learn to let your heart forgive, forgive, and forgive again. My husband has taught me so much about life and friendships. He has seen me crumble time and time again, but he always tells me, "Let it go...You're not meant to fix everyone." And good Lord, could he be any more right? The hardessssst and most heartbreaking thing that I have had to learn is that NOT ALL PEOPLE ARE GOOD. They're just not. Quite frankly, some people just suck. They want to drain the life out of you because they're just...miserable. Is it just me or has anyone been friends with someone and wondered what happen? The friendship ends, you go your separate ways, and you all continue to live your lives...But every so often, driving in the car, getting ready in the mornings, or on a long run, you wonder what went wrong? As if once again, you can "fix" it! But is it fixable?  Even better, is it even WORTH fixing? It took me awhile to figure this one out, but it eventually hit me about mid March.....My "posse" is good, and they're good for me. That's all I need. My dad told me many years ago that his and my mother's marriage is easy. It shouldn't take a ton of work to be married. It should come naturally and easy. Not every day is good, but you can count more good days than bad ones. I loved the way he paraphrased that and it has always stuck. I honestly believe that friendships are the exact same way. If you're constantly working at a friendship, my dear, lettttt it goo...( As I sing the Frozen song. ) Just let it go and learn to be okay with it. If you're anything like me, that is harddddd to do. Of course, as females, we want to analyze everything...evvvverything....I don't know why we do,we just do. But with all of that being said, hug your friends..Be so thankful for the wonderful friendships that God has given you, but also be thankful for the toxic friendships... Those toxic friendships taught us so much about ourselves and others. I truly believe our Lord places those people in our lives to teach ourselves a lesson. Be thankful they came and that they're now gone... As weird as it may sound, be grateful for the experience. Experiences make us who we are and for that, I'm grateful.

Leaving you with a few quotes I like to live by..

Scenes from our Weekend

    We had a great weekend! It was pretty low key, but I enjoyed it because I know this next week is going to be full of plans!
 
    Friday night, We were both exhausted from such a busy, busy week, so we kept it simple and grabbed some dinner to go from across the street. It was downtown dining week in Memphis this past week, so we grabbed some steaks from Bardog across the street and came back home. We watched a movie in bed and fell asleep around 9:30. It has been glorious to not do much on Friday nights because I have my long runs on Saturday morning. There is nothing worse than being tired and trying to get in miles.

   Saturday, My day started with eight miles with two of my best friends. We are all running the half together, so it was awesome to show them my route that I run downtown. It's much more fun and enjoyable to run together. We were able to talk and enjoy the weather. After we got in our run, Tara and I headed to do a little shopping. We had the American Red Cross Charity ball that night, so we wanted to wear something new. We both found some great things and headed home to get ready. Sam got home a little after me and we both enjoyed relaxing and watching the Ole Miss and Arkansas game, which we lost...boo! We had a great time Saturday night with friends, but all were exhausted the next day.

   Sunday morning was full of clouds, rain, and wind... We were going to do brunch with friends, but decided to stay in and watch Christmas moves. I was so happy that we did. We ordered in take out, watched a few Christmas movies, got laundry done, and ended the night with a movie in bed. It was super nice to wake up Monday morning refreshed and ready to start my day.

  I hope you all had a wonderful, wonderful weekend! Thanksgiving is here and I'm ready to eat and celebrate with friends and family!

Tara, me and Kenzey at the American Red Cross ball.

Me and T.

French Connection green blouse

Mink leather skirt

Spanx tights

Vince Camuto leather booties

Tory Burch leopard clutch. 

Scenes from our Weekend.

     We had a pretty good weekend! Friday night was pretty low key. Sam and I tried dinner at a new restaurant in Midtown, Strano Sicilian bar. It was pretty good all in all, but the wait was ridiculous. I don't know if the bar was behind, but it took us forever to get a cocktail. I had the salmon entree, and my husband had the sea bass! Both were really, really good. We started with the butternut squash soup and I couldn't rave about it enough. After dinner, we both were tired from a long week, so we stopped by Redbox and headed home. I had a long run the next morning and he had to work, so we didn't want to do too much. We hopped in bed to start a movie and were sound asleep by 9:30. ha! It was gllllllorious!
        Saturday morning, Sam got up and headed to work, so I bundled up and headed out for my extra long run. It was super, super cold, but I know I will be running in the cold in December, so I might as well get used to it. It ended up being an ammmmmazing run. I paced myself really well, so I guess I just had more energy. I was also not on a time schedule, so I was able to go as fast or as slow as I wanted. When I was through, I headed to my parents for vegetable soup and coffee! It was exactly what I needed after being in the cold for two hours. Saturday afternoon, I headed home to finish up chores around the house before heading to our favorite, The Majestic Grille, for dinner and drinks. We sat at the bar because we wanted to watch the Grizzlies game. It was a fun night and I of course, paid for it the next day, but I didn't care!
       Sunday, we got up and lounged around and finished up chores to start the week. It was suppppppper cold and rainy, so we stayed in and Sam fixed spaghetti. We watched the Broncos game, but that was a pitiful,pitiful loss. After a much relaxation day, we got in bed at a decent time. I hate starting my week tired and exhausted! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

After my long run, all I wanted was COFFEE!

I ran into this sweet girl Saturday night! Had fun

catching up with her husband and sweet sister in law.

We love Bethany! Her band is so, so awesome! 

Mom's yummy vegetable soup.

It never disappoints.