Merry Christmas from Gatlinburg

Merry Christmas y'all! Gatlinburg is awesome this time of year. Tuesday we spent at Dollywood. It was freezing all day and so we spent most of the day indoors at the holiday shows. We saw Babes in Toyland, Twas the Night Before Christmas, and we stood in line two hours to see the 4D version of Polar Express. In between shows, we rode the train, watched the Carol of the trees which is when the lights on the trees are choreographed to match the music, and of course, drank lots of hot chocolate. Yesterday we went out shopping at the Tanger Outlets and Pottery Barn. We went to 7:00 mass last night and then headed off to the greatest Rib place in America (it was one of the few restaurants that were open). The food was surprisingly good! Then of course, last night we came back to the condo and opened presents with mom and dad. They got Scott John Deere floor mats for his semi and gloves for hauling. I got a new clock for the living room and some shampoo (something I asked for:) Today we slept in late and have been cooking a big breakfast all morning. In between shots we've also been getting food ready for this evening. We're having a different kind of Christmas dinner this year....tortellini soup, cheddar cheese ball, and sausage wontons. Can't wait. Pictures of our trip to follow soon. For now...Merry Christmas from the Schoettmers!

And so it Begins...

Today is day one of the official holiday season at the Schoettmer household. I guess technically last night we opened our first presents with our friends Paula and Jeff. We met up at the Park Restaurant in Rushville and ate some pan fried chicken and of course enjoyed a few slices of homemade pie. Paula got me "Sex in the City" the movie on DVD and a cute little snowman figurine that lights up by a tealight candle on top. So cute. This afternoon I'm heading to the nursing home to celebrate Christmas with my Grandma Martin. All of my mom's brothers and sisters will be there. Usually a band comes and plays Christmas carols. And, of course, we eat yummy desserts. After the nursing home visit, I'm off to church to celebrate the fourth Sunday of Advent. Then we are heading to Indianapolis to visit with my friend Krista to exchange presents. We are meeting up at the Mongolian Grill which is where Scott took me for my birthday. It's a little stir fry place where you create a dish of meats and veggies and sauce and then take it up to the big round grill to have it cooked in front of you. It's very cool! I can't wait to see Krista. We have a hard time getting together throughout the year and so Christmas is always very special for us. Luckily, we actually get to see each other before the holidays this year instead of after :)

Happy Birthday to....

ME, of course! What a birthday. When I awoke this morning, this is what I saw outside...

It's very rainy and dreary today. Oh well, I guess not all birthdays are shiny and bright. We had some snow over the weekend and lots of slick black ice. So, I guess it could be worse ;)

Here are some pics of what I've gotten so far. I mostly celebrated over the weekend since my birthday fell on a Tuesday this year. Mom and dad came over on Friday night for round steak with tomato gravy and mashed potatoes (my favorite). They brought with them these awesome gifts and the ice cream cake you see up top.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 1 & 2 (my favorite movies to date)

An awesome new laundry basket which you can tell I'm already using.

And they got me a fantastic new slow cooker recipe book that I just realized I didn't take a picture of. So, you'll just have to imagine what it's like ;)

Then on Saturday night we hung out with my friend Paula and her fiance Jeff. They are leaving for PA next weekend and won't be able to attend my birthday bash that will be happening at the new casino in Fairland on the 13th. A few weeks ago we went and saw "Twilight." I never in a million years would have imagined that I would like anything that has to do with vampires, but I must admit it was one of the best movies I've seen. We liked it so much that we vowed to read all of the stories that follow it. So, she got me started with the 2nd book "New Moon." I read 200 pages yesterday. It's a.m.a.z.i.n.g. So much so that I can't wait to read the rest of them. We text back and forth to see how far each other is in the book. It's so much fun! She also got me this wonderfully smelling wood wick burning oil. I love their candles and she thought it would be neat to get me something that was similar to them, but different. It is so great. It smells up the whole house like carmel.

December already??

Can you believe we are just days away from 2009? I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I as working on some things this morning when I realized it's already December 5. Last night was our monthly "Girls Night Out" event. We got together at my friend Deb's house and had dirty santa exchange. It's not as dirty as it sounds :) We each brought an ornament and took turns opening them. If you wanted to steal someone's ornament you could and then you got to draw another one. This went on and on until we got to the last ornament. Whoever took that one had to keep it. It was really fun. Afterwards we played musical catch phrase. I'd never played before but man oh man....the group I was with made it so histerical. I've never laughed so hard in my life. We also all pitched in and brought food for our mexican fiesta. It was really good as well. There was also a big announcement to be made. One of the girls who is normally there couldn't make it. We found out later that she was at a Dr's appointment to hear her baby's heartbeat for the first time. Exciting times! Congratulations Lisa!! I know this is what you've been waiting for for a long time.