After Christmas we were graced with a wonderful amount of time to just hang out, relax, and spend time together. It started on the 26th when we woke up to a (thin) blanket of snow...
Later in that week we went to a Grizzlies game with my family. Jake is a huge Grizz fan and we love going to their games.
We spent a lot of time hanging out with the pups.
We also got to see my cousin's baby yet again - Layla is absolutely perfect and I love when I get to see her!
Then it was time for New Year's Eve! For the past few years we have gone to A-Tan, our favorite Chinese place in town, for dinner with my parents and brothers. This year was extra fun, as we had Elise come and Jacob brought his girlfriend. We sat at our back round table in the special room and had lots and lots of food!
We also added a few ornaments to our tree after Christmas, including this precious basset hound in a tutu that Jake's aunt gave us. Harley thinks it is her toy...
Speaking of toys, we keep all the dogs' toys in their basket by the back door. One day we noticed Beamer had started picking toys out of the basket to play with so I waited and grabbed a picture of it as he was doing it the next time. He's a funny guy.
After the new year I knew it was time to get in gear for school so I spent some time transferring my old planner information to my new planner and adding in new dates. I love my Erin Condren planner!
Then the day before we went back from break I got to do something SUPER FUN - go wedding dress shopping with Elise!! We went to Low's Bridal in Brinkley, Arkansas.
It was so wonderful to be there with her as she found her dress and it made me so excited for September!!
On Sunday we celebrated the end of the weekend and the start of the semester for Jake. We went to Aldo's Pizza Pies with friends - their vodka pie really is my favorite pizza in Memphis.
Then we came home and took down all our decorations (on Epiphany, so Episcopalian).
It was hard saying goodbye to our decorations.. especially my favorite button wreath.
But the house looks so clean and open! We put a new wreath above the wall by the back door and added my new art to the hutch:
No more tree!
No more stockings on the mantle:
And with that, we were done with Christmas. Ready for the spring now!
In breaks and new beginnings,