so...HO! HO! HO!

~ We are still in the mountains of Guntersville, lavishing our time here spent surrounded by plentiful piles of festive food and "used to be wrapped" presents, cutesy Pinterest-inspired holiday decor, and our loving family {who are all being so nice at Christmas!} :)

~ Speaking of PRESENTS, I got some dazzlers! LOVE my PW Holiday Cookbook, the latest Khaled Housseni And the Mountains Echoed, and nifty cupcake batter dispenser! Tiffany had my name. :) Thanks, Tiff!!! Can't wait to start cooking!
                            

~ And the list goes on! DaddyWayne bestowed Russel Stover chocolates, he and MomDenise gave us an adorable lighted house made by Vicki Wedel, Tiffany and Michelle furnished gorgeous fabric! Also Michelle gifted me with a slick lime green spatula! And in keeping with tradition, MomDenise gave us all books to read!

~ As if all these lovely things aren't enough, we have been happily shopping almost every day! Boxing Day was the best! So far I've found the following loot: Jade-colored North Face zipper front lightweight jacket for only $14.97 and a cool diamond plate lunchbox ice chest for Danl from Gander Mtn, 2 pieces of fabric from Hancocks, {I'm gonna attempt stretchy fabric y'all!} a set of 15 tiny bottles of perfume from Victoria's Secret {I think 15, it's too cold to go down to the cabin to look!}which is so perfect for someone like me who can't make up her mind and LOVES samples lol! {they were already half off, and then I only paid $5 after the sweet lil salesgirl used my expired $10 off coupon! yay!} another stretchy piece of fabric from Wilsons, this one is a gorgeous chevron, my first chevron amazingly! and almost my favorite lol, a bendable lil rubber sock monkey from Cracker Barrel! I really bought him to give as a gift, but I fell in love with his bendy lil self and decided to keep him! I think he will love to live and explore in the Yukon.

~ To counteract the thousands of creepy little calories that have been consumed, we ice skated for hours at the rink in Huntsville. Ice, I love you.

~ I was gonna be like my heroine Gretchen Rubin and do a little bit of work every day while on vacation, for example, grade language and spelling tests, get my computer gradebook up to date, figure my holiday expenses so they would be ready to turn in, watch all the Logic of English spelling videos on YouTube, finish watching the Andrew Pudawah creative writing cds, write a New Year's letter, and sew my orange dress for the 100th day of school, BUT have I done any of these things?! NO! a resounding NO! {I did go through hundreds of backlogged emails though, and did more unsubscribing so I haven't been a total slob! Pretty close though with staying up til all hours and sleeping til 10 or later!} Oh, how I love vacation!!

~ I AM still planning on initiating an amazing Holiday Giveaway!! I may have to rethink what I was planning to give away though, so bear with me while I wait to find out....

~ Until then, I have a couch to keep warm, a cozy fire in the fireplace that needs bellying up to, the best coffee from Canada to sip, and soon, a steak to devour!