Oh Christmas Tree...

I absolutley LOVE Christmas!
I love to decorate.
I love the music.
I love what the holiday represents.
I love that everyone is happy.
It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

This year we went to a tree farm to hand pick and cut our own tree. Unfortunatley, the farm doesn't grow the kind of tree that 'Pat Bunyan' likes, Frazier Furs. So we rode on the choo choo train, walked around and looked at them, pretended to cut one down and then bought a precut Frazier Fur!

The best part was that Maggie could enjoy the festivities too!

Hmmmm. Which one should we choose?

Ahh, yes. This one.

The Big Burly Man and his tree.

Santas little helper!

The Stiers are ready for Christmas!!

Our First Thanksgiving

While this was not our first year to celebrate this holiday together it was our first time as Mr. and Mrs. Stier!
Ryan hosted this year, at his house in Charleston.
Now sometimes it can be a little challenging for me to keep up with the Stiers...
The planning process is very complex - you throw out an idea of where to celebrate and then wait a few days for everyone to disscuss, then you change the plan. This continues for a couple weeks, then a few days before the holiday a final decision is made.
Shelly and Rob stayed with us the night before and after a little catching up we all went to bed Wednesday night with no plan... normal for Pat, not for me. I tell myself to "go with the flow."
Pat was the first awake Thanksgiving morning. He did his own thing and before long his phone started ringing.
Becky wanted to know if we were riding with them... "Yes, we will," then the phone rings again... "No, we won't be ready. We will just drive ourselves."
We slowly start to wake up, sip coffee and chat. This is what I refer to as the calm before the storm.
Phone rings again, this time it's Jody. He is traveling through town from Charlotte, Pat says, "well turn around and we can all ride together." Quickly I do the math, there are 4 of us, one of Jody and a dog. Shelly must have been thinking the same thing because we both agreed that was not a good idea.
And finally we arrived at Ryans at 2:00 that afternoon.
I am beginning to think that this will become the norm in years to come. And the changing of plans and rushing around will be what I associate with the holidays.  I honestly think it is good for the organized side of me and slowly I am learning to love it!!

My new sisters.

We were sad that Jenny and her family couldn't be

with us but at least we had JuJu!

Ahhh, The Life of A Dog

Maggie has it made. I am a little embarrassed to say that she rules the house. It's not her fault, we used to encourage her to get on the couch with us and of course she sleeps with us. Well she has taken that to a whole new level...

Move your feet, lose your seat!

She even utilized the ottoman for a while.



And when she is ready for bed, she has no problem

turning down the sheets herself and jumping in.

Although, most mights Pat and I fight of who gets to cuddle with her!

She also has a winter wardrobe almost as extensive as mine! It can be challenging to find clothes in her size, but she wears them so well...

The vest is her favorite.

But her jammies keep her warm at night.

This outfit doubles as Mrs. Clause for winter and

Orphan Annie for Halloween.

Pat even makes her go to work with him...

She doesn't think so highly of this one!

Now when I mentioned she was the love of our lives, if it is possible, that could be an understatement. Pat takes her anywhere he thinks he can get away with it and when it comes to holidays and day trips, she is always there!

She always has the best seat available on the boat!

Like most dogs, she absolutely LOVES the beach.

 She will run so fast and so far she will look

like tiny white dot and then she comes racing back.

"Chasing waterfalls"

We love to hike and so does Maggie.

Here we are at the top of Looking Glass Rock.

Pat and Maggie experienced Niagara Falls together

for the first time!

Thank you Maggie for making our little family complete!!



Party, Party, Party

This weekend we had lots to celebrate. Friday night was Michelles surprise 30th birthday and Saturday night was Colemans engagement party. It was great to catch up with friends we haven't seen in a while.

It was a mini high school reunion for Pat.

Can anyone guess who was the class clown??

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Chef Pat cooked up his famous BBQ for Colemans celebration.

It was a huge hit as always.

Congrats Coleman and Kayce!

Losing Team, Winning Night

Feeling adventurous, Pat and I decided to take Becky up on her offer to join her for the Carolina game. It was the coldest game this year but thanks to her generous friend Emily, we had a warm fire and great food at Carolina Park! The game didn't go so well, but thank goodness we had a great band to distract us and bring up everyones spirits. One of the first songs they played was Stand By Me....our wedding song!
That was all it took and we were on the dance floor! We were all having such a great time the band called a group of us on stage to help sing (YIKES) and add a few moves to Mustang Sally.

If you listen closely you can hear Becky on vocals - very nice!! I wish I had some more pictures but I think the video sums things up!

Lets play catch up!

Pat proposed in November of 2009. As the sun was setting at his families house in Beaufort, he called me outside to the dock and popped the question! His family was just returning from a boat ride and Shelly got a couple of pictures to document the occasion.

We were married in May in Beaufort, SC. It was everything I had ever imagined... Small church ceremony, garden reception, and lots of dancing, smiles, friends and family!

I DO!!



The best friends in the world!

After a quick wardrobe change Miami Vice showed up

and the dancing really got started!

Of course, Pat showed off his killer moves on the dance floor!

Our wedding day was the best of our lives and we have enjoyed ever minute together since then!

In June we took a trip to New York to celebrate the next big event for the Stier family...Shelly and Rob got ENGAGED!!

The newly engaged couple! Congrats!

Washington Square Park.



In July we had our 2nd annual 4th of July party at my parents house on Lake Murray. We did it last year and everyone had a great time so we decided to do it again and this year we were fortunate to have a few extras show up! It was blast!



In August we traveled to Pennsylvania to visit my family. The trip is always fun for us and seeing all of my family makes me so happy. It was so great to be able to show Pat what we did and where we played when I was little. Uncle Tom gets two thumbs up for his tour guide ablities. We went to the reservior and walked through the creek I played in when I was little. Our trip ended at our old swimming hole. Every time Pat is around my family it makes me love him even more. He fits in perfectly and loves every minute it. It makes my heart melt when I hear my nephews and niece call his name or correct each other - "...not Pat, he's Uncle Pat!"

New River Gorge

This is how we travel in my tiny car...

Why am I the only one who looks happy?!

The reservoir

Maggie followed us the whole way down the creek



Eveything is so beautiful!

Uncle Tom and Pat caught tons of crawfish.

Just before we reached the end, Rick and Issak showed

up to join the fun.

Family photo after church - Grandma would be so proud!

Our last day in town my dads cousin Phil took us on the greatest 4-wheeler ride through the mountains. We saw deer and the most beautiful rolling hills and farm land. We love the mountains and hiking and we try to make it to North Carolina a couple times a year, but nothing compares to ride we had that day.

In September, Pat and Wes entered the Boone Hall Plantation BBQ and Bluegrass festival. They camp out the night before the competition and cook all night. Part of the judging is the setup and theme of each contestant and because boston butts are their meat of choice they decided to roll with that (the pictures explain it all). This was their second year in the competition and team Rub It In came in 5th place overall. We were all so proud!

A few weeks ago we went to Beaufort for the weekend with Becky and some of her friends. The weekend was filled with fun and great food. While there, we revisited the church we were married in and took a little trip to Hunting Island State Park. I love Beaufort - everything is so pretty and being there brings back great memories!

The church we got married in was what I always imagined...

A small historic church with lots of character. The church was

established in 1833 and the spanish moss and palm trees made it perfect!

500+ steps later we reached the top of the lighthouse. The views were great!

And FINALLY that brings us up to date...

Last weekend Haley and Jenny came into town for the Tennessee game. It was like to the good 'ole days. We went to Salty Nut on friday night, woke up on Saturday, sipped coffee and then all ran around like crazy trying to get to the game on time! Got to love game days!

Maggies first Carolina game!



THE END of the worlds longest blog post!