(A White) Christmas in Kansas

The entire Slaven family was there for Christmas this year. Including a couple people I had never met before....Jonathan, Ronnie's brother who just returned from a 2 year mission in Russia AND baby Emma, Stephanie and James 1st born, who is a super cutie.

The festivities included...putting up the traditional
massive tree. (literally)

Opening gifts....


























Spending Christmas Eve night with Grandma Pettigrew during a "blizzard". There were some issues getting out of her long driveway.

and spending time with this lil' one. Being an aunt is fun and Ronnie is definitely liking the new title.

And you probably guessed....snow. This was taken ON Christmas...Ronnie wanted to make sure I had a picture of a white Christmas...since I've never had one, well that I can remember. (See previous post to see how I really feel about that...)

Not a Fan

Well I'm here sitting in Kansas, a couple days ago I thought we would never get here. We left Chesapeake at 4pm on Friday and started traveling...a couple hours later we encountered snow. Yes, lots of snow. I was driving at first but then the snow became a little to much for me to handle. Ronnie drove for the next 40+ hours. The snow became more intense and highways 64 and 81 were closed at certain points on Friday night. Thankfully, Ronnie has some mad skills with driving and my little Hyundai accent is somehow amazing in snow. After seeing thousands of cars off the road, truckers jack-knifed and tipped over, helping a trans am out of the snow, making new friends, sitting for hours upon end in traffic, almost having a heart attack (Me, Heather, that is), hiking up to our hotel in more than a foot of snow, sleeping only a few hours, eating lots of junkfood (basically nothing was open), seeing more snow than I ever wanted to...we got out of West Virginia. It took us until Sunday morning to make our way out of the snow. After that it was smooth sailing. We ended up getting to Kansas in about 50 hours....and its usually a 22 hour drive. I'm pretty sure if I go my whole life and never see another flake of snow, I will be perfectly happy. But, don't worry...it's supposed to snow here on Christmas. Am I a scrooge for NOT wanting a white Christmas. Maybe...but Christmas is still Christmas in Belize.

Fall Happenings

Fall was so warm and pretty this year. Lots of nice, sunny days (with a noreaster mixed in). Below is a picture of Ronnie by the soybean field at the end of my street

Thanksgiving was spent with my parents and our good friends Lila and Garrett Watts. We had such a good time eating and playing games!

Soon Ronnie will begin studying for the bar exam...I couldn't believe all the study materials he has...he takes it in February 2010!

We've been to a lot of Christmas parties and gatherings so far and I'll have to post about them later...including a very interesting Dutch tradition...Zwarte Piet.

Marathon Weekend

Saturday morning Ronnie ran 26.2 miles in the Richmond marathon. He's such a stud... :) We stayed up in Richmond on Friday night and decided to celebrate with sparkling cider and snowballs. Yummy...

The race started at 8am and even though Ronnie ran the marathon...I felt like I had my own marathon. I was racing from place to place to cheer him on. Phew. I met him at mile 7, 13, and 19. I tried to see him cross the finish line but I didn't quite make it! The traffic around the marathon was impossible to get through so I parked about 1.5 miles away and tried to hurry over there but I missed him by a minute!! O well, he did awesome and finished the marathon in 3hr24min! He was 355 out of 6,000 runners and 51st out of his age group. I'm so proud of him!

Before the race

Pictures: 7th mile, 19th mile, and after the race!

Favorite Things...MIA

Lately, I'm becoming a little frustrated when my favorite things are no where to be found.

One day when I went peach picking with my mom and Chelsea, we stopped at this little mom and pop convenience store on Knotts Island, NC. Well, I saw something...a Hershey Bar with peanut butter filling!! It was like a king size Hershey Bar and each square was filled with yummy peanut butter...Soooo Good! Now I want these all the time but I've never been able to find them. I've only been able to find a similar Reese bar but it's just not the same. If you see these delicious Hershey Bars buy them all and send them to me!! Also, I googled them to see if I could find them online and order them..no such luck. They aren't even on the Hershey website. All I found was another blogger with the same problem...

Recent favorite items gone MIA-

Maybelline Mascara- I've used this for a while. I went to pick some up last week and they don't make it anymore...lame. I got a different kind but it's not the same. So I'm on the hunt for a good mascara.

Almay Mineral makeup- I went to CVS one day this past spring and picked up this mineral powder. At first, I didn't really like it and didn't use it that much. As time went on I decided I really liked it and it gave me a hint of color without having to use real foundation (which I hate using). It was really nice for the summer. So I went to get more...I looked EVERYWHERE. No one has it. Bummer.

Past Items that are MIA and I still think about them...

-milk chocolate donuts (can't remember the brand..starts with an E..I think)

-Express jeans (back in the early 2000s)

-covergirl eyeshadow-nude something or other

-Crispy tenders at KFC

-Chicken Rice Bowl at Taco Bell

-SeaSpray at Bath & Body Works ...I've always used Coconut Lime Verbena but last Christmas my mother in law got me a couple different kinds. I was skeptical but I found out I loved the Seaspray kind. Went back to get more...you know what happened....

I'm sure there are many more...Now I'm looking for new favorites.

UPDATE: I found the SeaSpray bodywash at BathandBodyWorks.com (thanks Katie). They have some of the classics online and they are still having a buy 2 get 1 free sale (of course shipping makes up for that). Now I just have to wait for it to come!!

Road Kill Bill and a REAL JACK-o-latern

This Halloween was pretty low key. Friday night was our 'Trunk-or-Treat' with our church. Ronnie was in charge of the haunted hayride and was the narrator. He was dubbed Road Kill Bill and you'll see why with a couple pictures....I'm such a proud wife... With those reflectors, you wonder how he ever became Road Kill Bill!On Halloween, we did the traditional Chili and carved a pumpkin. I also coaxed my family into watching Nightmare Before Christmas. I like that movie...which may be why I chose to carve my pumkin the way we did. :)

La Fleur

I'm thankful for flowers. I'm thankful for cameras that capture the image of pretty flowers so I can look at them later. It makes a less than perfect day that much better.

(First picture is an engagement picture in May '08, the rest are flowers in the backyard in summer '09)

Sugarholic

Can anyone tell me why I love sugar so much?? And really not any sugar...CANDY....

I bring an apple to work and I think if I want candy I'll just eat my apple. Well my apple is gone so I eat these...

No, I do not need a dispenser for this delicious treat...noooo....that takes to much time.

Trick or Treating was always one of my favorites when I was younger. Not because of getting to wear the cool costume but because of the candy. My brother on the other hand has never been a big candy person. After Halloween was over and Cory still had candy...it was my duty to finish it. :)

Not to say that there hasn't been a week here or there where I have sworn off candy but in the end I always come back.

Well, I blame my dad. He's the one who gave me a dum dum on day 2 of my life....

So I've confessed to my craving...what's yours?

(If you needed me to clarify...this is Heather. Ronnie hardly eats candy, his craving is ICECREAM.)

Little One

Emma Frances Slaven! Born on September 4, 2009. We're finally an Aunt and Uncle!!
Congrats to James and Stephanie!

Change

So I'm officially a working woman. I started working at a title company this past monday. I've actually worked there before a few years ago. No more naps for me...haha. Ronnie also got a "new" car this past week. We've been looking for one for a while and then when I got the job we put our search in full gear. Ronnie also sold his motorcycle on craigslist. It went pretty fast. I know he's sad about it but its a bit of relief for me! The guy who bought it was REALLY excited and his wife was a little LESS excited. Haha... I think this is the typical feeling for most wives. Although, his car is stick shift so Ronnie is happy about that so now he doesn't have to drive my wimpy automatic anymore. That's fine with me...

Sorry no pictures this time. Just a little update! Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!

Outdoors

We've been busy this summer with little weekend trips! Here are some pictures from the last two family mini vacations (with the whole fam!).

We went camping off of Skyline Drive in the Mountains at the beginning of the month. We did a long hike to some waterfalls.

Then we were invited by some of our good family friends to stay at a lake house they rented at Smith Mountain Lake. We wake boarded at tubed. Well I only tubed once at a very slow pace because of my hurting back but everyone else did great!!

Good times.

Mmmm...peaches!

My mom, Chelsea and I went peach picking on Knotts Island.

Then we canned them!

Visit

I went up to Lexington to visit one of my favorites!

I'm so glad she lives only hours away!

Ronnie's Rants

Ronnie has started a new blog to write his thoughts on politics, books, lawyer stuff or whatever else he feels like.

http://ramblesrantsandruminations.blogspot.com

Check it out and leave a comment if your so inclined (it'll give him encouragement)!

It's been a year...

..since we were married! Can you believe it?? One year down....eternity to go!

For our anniversary we decided to take a little trip to Charleston, SC. I love that place and now Ronnie does too. We spent the couple days we were there visiting plantations, walking around downtown and admiring the beautiful homes.








People say the first year of marriage is the hardest...I don't believe it. This past year has been great and I couldn't ask for a better hubby! Happy One Year babe!!!