It's okay to say "Merry Christmas!"

As a teacher, during the holidays, I am made particularly more aware of religion each year.  In Wake County we are not allowed to celebrate the holidays with discussion of Santa, trees, stockings, or anything else associated with the traditional celebration of Christmas day.  Let's just say it is very much different than when we were kids!  It is unfortunate but necessary as our world today is so diverse and PC.  Plus... I love my job and don't want to loose it any time soon! 

Today at church we learned that Christmas means "the celebration of Christ."  We were also challenged to imagine what it would have been like to be there on that day when Jesus was born.  When you think about it, it is hard to wrap your mind around how incredible that must have been.  The church play was called "Imagine" because there is no way the birth of Christ could be recreated.  I thought that was a beautiful way of celebrating! 

As our new little family begins to celebrate its first offical Christmas we want to wish you a very merry Christmas!  Throughout the celebrations I hope that Preston and I will be able to keep in our hearts the true joy of the season!  

Candy anyone?

Last night I gave out candy at my home for the very first time in my 24 years of existence on Halloween.  Growing up in rural Chatham County (aka outside the city limits of Siler City) we never had trick or treaters.  We always had to go to family and friends houses to give or receive any.  I can still remember helping Lindsay Brown every year starting in middle school because I wanted to hand it out so bad!  Well last night I had my chance and guess what... I wasn't at all prepared!  I had gotten  three really big bags throughout the last month (I tried to catch it on sale).  I thought I would have plenty but I guessed wrong!  I almost ran out and only had 10 or so little pieces of bubble gum left.  

Here are a few things I learned from last nights festivities... 

1. Three bags of candy are not enough.  There are a lot of children in our part of town!  

2. Scream mask are not so scary has an adult.  

3. Children can be greedy... therefore hold the tray far away from their little hands.  

4. I must have little kid friendly candy next  year.  Six month olds cannot chew gum.  

5. Andrea Melahn is a great cook... with microwavable dips. 

6. I love hearing the magic words THANK YOU!  

Is it fall yet?

For the record I want everyone to know I have finally figured out this blogging thing.  I know I was new to it months ago, but I have finally figured out how to add backgrounds and pictures!  Wow... who thought it could be so tough.  I like to think of myself as technically savvy, but now with this!  Hopefully I can learn some more fun tricks as I continue to play with this!  

What a pretty last few days we have had.  The only thing I am confused about is... is it still  summer or is it fall?  I mean don't get me wrong, I love beautiful sunny days, but warm weather in the middle of October?   You have got to be kidding me!  I guess that is North Carolina for you!  You never know what you will get.  I guess I should be glad because even though I am so tired of wearing the same outfits over and over, I can still wear flip flops!  That makes me very happy!  I guess it is also a plus because though it may feel like summer we were still able to decorate for fall!  I just hope the weather will cool off so my poor little mums don't die!  

Are you ready for some football?

This summer Preston and I made the decision to purchase two season tickets to the Carolina football games. For the last four seasons I have gone with Preston (who has been a season ticket holder for the past I don't know... umpteen years) and literally "bummed" a ticket off of a family friend. Well we both got kinda tired of that I thought that since we are now a self sufficient family of two we could afford to make the purchase. I am so glad we did!

Today is game #3 at home and we are really excited. We have made a new game plan for todays game and I hope it will be successful. In the past we have "tailgated" at a bar on Franklin street, but that doesn't seem to be going as planned as our parking is never guaranteed. Together with my brother in law (who goes with us to the games) we decided to start our own tailgate with a few of our friends from high school! I am mostly excited because I get to cook for my boys and show off our cute Carolina tailgate things we got as wedding gifts! :) I'll let you know how it pans out!

Here's to Tar Heel football and fun tailgating!

Missed us?

So no we have not fallen off the face of the earth... we have just been SUPER busy! Over the last few months we have been going non stop. We definitely made the most of our summer to say the least.

This summer was our first as a family. It was wonderful. I was actually able to ENJOY Preston's four days breaks with him, rather than envying him while being at work. We took full advantage! We were thankful enough to paint our house (every room but one... and that is coming soon!), visit the beach with both sides of our family (grand total of 2 weeks), and take a mini break down to the Outerbanks for our first trip to Oacracoke. We also made the most of our gym by taking in the pool as much as possible! It was busy for sure but we had the best time. Only 165 school days left until our next summer together!

We got some exciting news a couple weeks ago and we are totally thrilled... no we are not preggo, we are going to Disney World for Christmas! We are really looking forward to it. We have already started planning out our days. I think it should be a ton of fun, especially going as "big kids."

On another note I have found a new love... cooking! In July we went to a wedding in Wilmington. We received the most creative favor... a recipe book! When we got our rsvp card we were asked to send the couple a family favorite recipe. The couple then put them all together to create a recipe book. Thankfully a majority of the guest sent in easy to follow ideas (I mean come on we all thought they were going to the newlyweds!) so I have be able to use so many! It has been a lot of fun discovering new ideas and knowing who they came from. I think I might not be so bad at this cooking thing so bad. Watch out Paula!

Interesting

Tonight I bought a new book When God Met a Girl. I popped in the Christian book store tonight and it caught my eye. It is all about the relationships Jesus had with women in the Bible and their stories. I hope to use it as a devotional and as a learning tool. I feel like I am at a point in my life where I am ready to learn more, especially about these important women! I need to do a better job of studying my Bible. There is so much we can learn and apply to our own lives. I am also ready to find a church! We have some ideas but we need to get serious to find a home church we can attend on a regular basis. Going home every weekend is just not a realistic goal for us.

On another note... someone's birthday is coming up soon! :)

New to this

Well this is all new to me. I have seen a few friends' blogs and thought it would be a fun way to keep in touch with family and friends from all over so I guess we will give it a try. Most of my friends think things like this are dorky, but I just see it as a way to keep in touch with those we can't see as often as we would like. Plus it gives me something to do to avoid the neverending housework and post wedding thank you notes!

Married life has gotten off to a great start. Along with a new name has brought new challeges. During our first few weeks as newlyweds I caught walking phenomia and our washing machine broke. Needless to say it has led us to see how we handle stress as a couple. I am proud to say that we both handled the problems gracefully! I am so proud of my Mr. Fix It hubby. He took care of me and our washer problems! He is awesome! I am a lucky lady!

Getting back to school was also a big change. Being Mrs. Parks has been both fun and strange. Don't get me wrong, joining Preston's family and taking his name has been one of the biggest honors I could have been given in my life, but it has been a BIG change! I was a Poe for 23 years of my short life. That was my identity. Now I am associated with a new name and will from here on out be known as a Parks. Everyone will be happy to know that I am adjusting and I can now write Melissa Parks much better than before! I am also answering to it now at work! haha! :) No more looking around for Robin!