Friday, December 31, 2010

Top 10 Moments of 2010

10. Experiencing the perks of being a teacher

{rest and relaxation during the Christmas holidays}

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9. Got a DSLR camera and bag!!!

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8. The cabin got a makeover.

Before:

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After:

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7. Lots of parties and showers celebrating our marriage

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6. Three wonderful photo sessions with the most amazing photographer,

Julie Cottrell.

Fire Department

bridal portrait

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5. First Christmas celebration as husband and wife

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4. Visited Charleston for our honeymoon

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3. Graduated from college

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{Sorry for the blurriness of the photo.}

2. Got a job teaching Kindergarten

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1. Married the most wonderful husband on May 22nd

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What is your top 10 of 2010? I hope some of you share yours!

Please pray for Edie at Life in Grace. She lost her house the week of Christmas due to a fire. I encourage you to read the last three posts of hers. She is an extremely strong and courageous woman. You will read in her recollection of the past week or so of how God worked in her life and how he continues to do so.

See you in the new year!

{A big thanks to Julie Cottrell for all of the amazing photos that captured all of the moments leading up to the wedding and during the wedding celebration!!!}

{Another note: If you have wanted to comment on the blog, but haven’t been able to due to not wanting to create an account, you can now do so. Make sure when the option comes up to log in, you look a little further down. You can then choose name/url. You can then enter your name and enter your comment.}

Thursday, December 30, 2010

101 List Progress

I started my 101 list this year, and I believe I have made great progress and plan to make even more progress in the upcoming year.

Let me remind you that I have until January 18, 2013 to accomplish all of the goals on my list.

Just to note my progress, here are all of the things I crossed off my list this year:

3. Get married


4. Visit Charleston

5. Walk across the stage to graduate

6. Apply for certification in Alabama and Florida

7. Get my name changed on all important documents

8. Finish all thank-you for wedding gifts after the wedding


9. Order all of my china and put it in its places

12. Host a party at our house

17. Buy a DSLR camera

22. Get a full-time teaching position

24. Buy an SUV with a substantial down-payment

32. Donate canned goods to the food drive

35. Update my cell phone

38. Complete 100 blog posts

44. Can some sort of jelly

56. Send out Christmas cards with our picture on it

57. Come up with a better name for my blog

58. Buy a king size sleep number mattress

59. Get an upholstered head board

64. Hang up something on the wall in at least two rooms

67. Give my car a good cleaning inside and out

74. Cover up that awful breaker box in our middle room

75. Hang ferns on the front porch

79. Get a new garbage can {sounds trivial, but SO needs to be done}

80. Have the shed by our house closed in

87. Support W.S. Neal schools in some way

88. Support T.R. Miller or Brewton schools in some way

89. Fill up 5 sheets of box-tops

93. Learn a new recipe

101. Re-stain the front porch

Forgive me for the weird spacing. I have no idea why it is doing that, and I’m not going to waste my time trying to figure it out.

If I counted right….

30 DOWN!                                 71 to go!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Santa Fe Soup

I don’t know where you all are, but where I am {in South Alabama} it has been quite chilly here compared to our usual 60ish degree days in December. Just the other day I was wearing SHORTS in DECEMBER! Alabama weather is nuts!

Since it has been so cold I have turned to the always reliable soup. Santa Fe Soup. Yummy soup. Soup that you feel go all the way down. All the way into your bones. A lovely feeling it is.

You definitely need finish this post, go gather the ingredients, and make this for supper tonight. You will not regret it. Here it goes!

Santa Fe Soup

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Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs. ground turkey
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 2 packages ranch dressing mix
  • 2 packages taco seasoning mix
  • 1 (16 oz) can black beans
  • 1 (16 oz) can kidney beans
  • 1 (16 oz) can pinto beans
  • 1 (16 oz) can rotel tomatoes {undrained}
  • 1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes {undrained}
  • 2 (16 oz) cans white corn
  • 2 cups water

Directions:

  1. Cook meat and onion together until meat is browned in skillet.
  2. Get a big pot out for the soup and transfer the meat mixture into the pot.
  3. Stir ranch and taco mix into meat.
  4. Add remaining ingredients.
  5. Simmer for 2 hours.

Afterwards, you can garnish the soup with:

  • Sour cream
  • Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • sliced green onions

Serve with tortilla chips.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Wrapped Up

We have officially wrapped up the Christmas season after spending a fun-filled {and jam-packed} time with our family and friends. It was my first Christmas with my husband {as a married couple, of course}.

I don’t think I could have asked for a better Christmas though. It was simply amazing and a memory-filled one, as well. Like I said, we were busy for four days straight visiting with family {and friends}  and exchanging gifts.

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On Wednesday, we participated in our annual church fellowship which began with a readers’ theatre and the last advent reading. This led to fellowship and eating of the delicious baked foods brought by the church members, and it all ended with a nice, friendly game to exchange presents.

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On Thursday, it was in order for us to visit my parents’ home for quite possibly our last Christmas celebration in that house. I went out a little bit earlier to spend some time with my niece {often known to many around me as ‘Sis’}.

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This called for some spreading of reindeer food to make sure that Santa’s reindeer would be fed to their fullest with a few oats.

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We opened presents, and I immediately fell in love with my new wool coat and scarf!

On Christmas Eve, we joined my dad’s side of the family in the celebration of the Christmas season!

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This same day later turned into Christmas with Colby’s family.

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Two of the cutest little girls stopped by with their mama and cousin Cade. The big news this Christmas is that they’re engaged, and we can’t wait for all of them to be part of the family!!!

Unfortunately, that’s the only photo that turned out from that night, so you’ll just have to take my word on it that we had a terrific time and that everyone was extremely generous!

On Christmas day, my husband had to work at PCFD, so he was absent from all of the festivities at my grandmother’s. None the less, it was a great end to the holiday season.

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The other photo-capturer of the family.

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My beautiful grandmother.

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I feel I must explain all of the red shirts that made us look like we are a really {extra} festive family. Earlier that day, we took a family photo, and we were all instructed to wear red. Ok. Glad I explained that.

Now to explain this. On this side of the family, people like to play jokes on others or do things to them when they don’t know it to be funny.

See Exhibit A:

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Bows were added to poor Cousin since she fell asleep while all kinds of commotion is going on around her.

Exhibit B is the fact that I took a picture of her and posted it to the blog. Sorry! {Note to cousin: You did ask to be on the blog =)}

I ended the night by kicking my feet up {while keeping warm in my new fuzzy jammies} and catching up on the latest issue of Southern Living while enjoying the last night of my Christmas tree.

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Seriously, I hope you all had an amazing Christmas!

I’m going to continue to enjoy the rest of my break from school. It’s the perk of being a teacher.

Peace out!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

It’s Christmas Time….at The Langhams

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I’m so sorry to all of the blog readers out there for being a slacker. All of the other blogs seem to have already been showing off their beautifully decorated houses, yet I haven’t been able to get it together.

Christmas is in full swing here at our household! On Saturday, we hosted our first party at our house, which actually knocks #12 off of my 101 list! Yay for that! I had a fabulous time getting to see my friends that I seem to rarely see, especially all together. There was some great food, hilarious and interesting conversations, and terrific friends!

Total summary….success!

As for the house, I have been working relentlessly on the house {more particularly to get it presentable for the party}.

So, without further adieu, welcome to our humble abode!

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tree

I took these photos before I changed the curtains and got a slipcover =)

Christmas room

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Instead of the traditional tree skirt, I turned to a galvanized wash pan and some burlap, and I love it. I’m not sure if I’ll ever have a tree skirt!

tree 3

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I will say that the buffet was originally decorated for a party and looked MUCH different with plates, piles of napkins neatly tied, stemware, etc. on it.

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This post did not turn out as I had expected it to. Life caught up with me and things happened, but I tried to pull it together for you all.

I hope you all had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! I did, and I’m looking forward to sharing it all with you soon!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Missing Person: Mia Chay Brown

UPDATE:

Thank you for all of the prayers that have been sent up for this family and for Mia. Unfortunately, Mia’s remains have been found. The family will need you to continue your prayers during this difficult time, especially since it is so close to Christmas.

Please pray that they receive the answers to their questions and know why such a horrible act has been committed. Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word.

My cousins’ half-sister is missing and was last seen Thursday night.

Her name is Mia Chay Brown.

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She is 24 years old, has blonde hair, is 5’5” with blue-green eyes.

Here is an article with more details about the case

Please take time to read this article. You never know if you might be the one to see something.

Everyone wants her to be returned safely and SOON! I cannot imagine what this family is going through, and it is most certainly a terrible time for something like this to take place.

Please keep this family in your prayers and more importantly pray for Mia to be found and returned home safely.

Monday, December 13, 2010

We’re in the Holiday Spirit!

One of the things I was really looking forward to this year in school was the Christmas season! Kindergarten is so much fun for these sorts of things, and I simply couldn’t wait to get the kids in the spirit of Christmas, too!

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Over the Thanksgiving holidays, I dropped by the school to put my Christmas tree up, and I knew they would be so excited about it. It is so sad to me that this will be the only Christmas some of these kids get. That’s one reason I really want to do a lot with them during this time of the year. Everyone deserves a Merry Christmas!

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We’ve got crafts going on like you wouldn’t believe!

Poinsettias….

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Wreaths….

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Ornaments…

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I hope you all are enjoying the season as much as I am! We’re in the holiday spirit around here at the Langham household, and I can’t wait to share it all with you!

Some things are holding me up though on posting….like it is FRIGID outside, folks! I don’t know if the outside is going to meet my expectations this year or not. Please, I beg you, wind….stop blowing!