🎄 Christmas Recap 🎄

I hope everyone had a wonderful Merry Christmas! 

Nathan's parents, along with Nathan's cousin, drove all the way out from Kansas City, to spend Christmas with us. We only got to spend two whole days together, but we had such an incredible time together! On Sunday (Christmas Eve), the hubs had to work for a little bit, so the rest of us ventured up to Gatlinburg!

Gatlinburg was the busiest I had ever seen it! Luckily, we found parking so we could walk around a bit. We ate lunch at Blaine's Bar & Grill. The service and food was terrific at Blaine's!
Next, we all went up the 407 feet, Gatlinburg Space Needle. I am absolutely terrified of heights, but usually try to conquer my fears. The decision to face this fear was a good one, and I even made myself get to the "edge" to have my picture taken. The picture was taken quickly and with a lot of fear and hesitation, but I did it!!

After our day trip to Gatlinburg, we met the hubs back at the house and ordered pizza for dinner! We watched my personal favorite Christmas movie, "Elf," while we ate our dinner!


Christmas Day was the most laid back, relaxing day. As we slowly woke up, we chatted for a bit over coffee and hot cocoa tea. Eventually, we made our way into the kitchen to bake delicious cinnamon rolls.

After eating a yummy breakfast, we began opening all of our Christmas presents!

Truly, the greatest gift was having family in town to celebrate Christmas. <3

The majority of our time was playing games! We played plenty of Phase 10 Twist! Phase 10 is a lot of fun, but Phase 10 Twist was really cool!

Brain Games, Skip-bo, and Exploding Kittens were some other games we played!

The Cone of Shame - Imploding Kittens!!

The family left early Tuesday morning. It's always sad when they leave, but we'll be together again soon! I decided to start picking up all the Christmas decorations. I have them all together in one spot. However, I couldn't bring myself to take down the tree just yet. I'll leave it just a little while longer!

After a little bit of cleaning/tidying up, I finished the book "The Break Down," by B.A. Paris. It was a really good book, I enjoyed it a tiny bit better than "Behind Closed Doors." I found out about this Author and these books, thanks to the blog - Simply Taralynn

Next up is New Years! I don't know about you, but I am ready to throw 2017 out the window. It's been such a difficult year for me. I know there will be ups and downs in 2018, but I'm really hoping for much more positivity!

QUESTIONS

* What was your favorite part this Christmas holiday?

* Do you leave your Christmas decorations up through New Years?

* What are your New Years Eve plans?

Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Riley is ready to open Christmas presents!

December has been a fantastic month so far! The month began with the most exciting Birthday celebrations, and now my parents are in town for Christmas! My Mom actually came back up with Nathan and I when we returned home from Charleston. She and I have enjoyed having some Mother-Daughter time!

I love showing family and friends my favorite places here in Knoxville, as well as trying out new places I haven't been to yet! Holly's Gourmet Cafe is always a pleasant experience, it is no surprise that I had to take my Mom there a couple of times!

Yogurt with granola and a bowl of strawberries

Quiche!

Nearby the cafe are a couple of unique, fun shops! One shop is Southern Market (I have mentioned in previous posts), and the other is an antique store, Nostalgia. Walking around Nostalgia, you can find two adorable cats hanging out.  :p

Not antiques, but, these Dolly coffee mugs are on my wish list!

We made a few fresh juices with the juicer at home. My favorite juice had: 1 pear, 2 small gala apples, 1 beet, and 1 orange. It was delicious (and pretty)!

Norris Dam State Park is fairly close by, so we drove up there one day.

The Museum of Appalachia gift shop:

It was too brisk to walk around the different buildings, however, we couldn't resist checking out the adorable gift shop! I can't wait to go back when it is warmer!

Mostly, we've indulged a little too much this holiday season, from Starbucks coffee to ice cream....

I know I'm not alone when I say I am looking forward to those health & fitness goals at the start of the New Year! Come on 2017!  ;)

To top of the Christmas spirit, here is Santa on a motorcycle!   :p

Merry Christmas everyone! Have a wonderful and safe holiday!

Questions for you!

* How did you spend the Christmas holiday season?

* Are you ready for 2017?

* What are your goals for the New Year?

Christmas is coming!

MERRY CHRISTMAS (almost)

Is everyone ready for Christmas? I hope so, because Christmas is only days away! I can't wait because Nathan's parents will be here to celebrate Christmas with us! I always enjoy the time we can spend with our families, and it makes the holidays even more fun!

This past weekend, the hubby and I went all around town to look at Christmas lights! Driving around looking at Christmas lights is a tradition that I absolutely love! We geared up with our yummy drinks from Starbucks. My favorite is the skinny peppermint mocha!

We were greeted with gorgeous Christmas lights everywhere we went!

My friend recommended Campbell Station Park in Farragut, it certainly did not disappoint! It was beautiful!

I also had to dress festive while I watched my favorite Christmas movie - Elf. Yes, that is how much I adore that movie!!

It wouldn't be festive without a decadent holiday drink!

Today we had an ugly Christmas sweater party at work! It's so much fun seeing all the different sweaters that are out there! My "ugly" Christmas sweater was pretty darn cute. :)

I hope ya'll have been having just as much of an amazing holiday season!