Tree is UP!

Our tree is up! I put it up this morning/afternoon. I bought a new tree this year for upstairs and put our smaller, skinnier one downstairs with Hallmark ornaments on it. This one is HUGE compared to the other. I love it!! I had to move some things around, but it looks great. I got a cold yesterday and am running slower today, but got it done. I didn't do any other decorating yet, and will hopefully get that done Sunday. This took almost 4 hours! I had to fix all the branches just right. They are like rubbery branches, look very real.

My Mom and I went out this morning shopping around 8:15. We were so not aggressive! We went into Wal-Mart and came out with cold medicine and french vanilla marshmallows! We looked around at the sales and nothing was there we needed! My Mom and I both bought a big LCD tv Monday night and it was $100 LESS than what they were this morning! SAME TV!! We'll be using that in our basement. I had so many gift cards it was very reasonable! :) Save your gift cards!

We went to JCPenney's and I got my Dad a couple of shirts for Christmas and then we went to another local store and it was a joke! Tomorrow I am working at the gift store....and will be tired I am sure after the long day.

This evening I met Kody in town at Hirsch's to look for work boots and he found some. He was in bad need of them. My Uncle called while we were there to tell Kody one of his trucks broke down in Cabool. My uncle heads the truck department at the Budweiser distributor here in WP. Kody thought about it for a minute and then decided we could go tonight...over-time and we didn't have other plans. We went by his work, got tools and the company truck and headed up there. We were done in an hour and ate dinner on the way home. Fun night!

Hope everyone had a great "Black Friday!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my favorite blog friends! It has been such a great year to reflect back on and we know we are incredibly thankful for many, many things.

We are thankful for our families. Without their unconditional love, we would not be where we are today. We love them and cherish our time spent with all of them.

We found out yesterday our Thompson family will be blessed with another BOY! Our nephew Drew will have a little brother. We are pumped!

We are so thankful for our church and church family. It has turned our lives around and we are forever grateful for that. We look forward to going to church each week and seeing our friends in Sunday School.

I am thankful we have such great friends. We can be ourselves around them and love being with them. It's an extra blessing to have couple friends, just perfect.

I am SO thankful for blogging! My new-love and hobby! All of my readers are so dear to me. I love all of you and have enjoyed the friendships we have created!

We are thankful for the health of ourselves, families, and friends.

We are thankful for what the Lord has done for us this year and continues to do for us each day.

Happy Birthday to my favorite MaMa EVER...yesterday!

Love you...your favorite! ;)
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Day 2: Black Friday Tips

I like to go out on Black Friday...we have limited shopping here in West Plains (JCPenney's, Wal-Mart, Sears, etc) so there is no mall...Target...Best Buy...Toys 'R Us...etc.

Tip 1: Don't get overly worked up, it could lead to disappointment.

Tip 2: Dress in layers!! Leave the big coat at home.

Tip 3: Take cash and what you want to spend. Then you won't go over your limit.

Tip 4: Make a LIST and go by it!!

Tip 5: Shop online if you can....and SHOP LOCAL! Support your local businesses!

Tip 6: Check out www.blackfriday2010.com and see all the ads ahead of time. Price check hot items at different places and call ahead to see how many items they will have in stock. Go to the best place!

Good luck! We actually bought our big purchase last night, so I'm relieved I won't be stressed out on B.F.!

12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge!

I am a day late, but decided to join in on the fun! So here I am!

Day 1: Christmas Traditions

Oh there are so many! :) Growing up, especially the later years I remember better....we helped my Dad out at his jewelry store on Christmas Eve. I always enjoyed this day because it was always so busy with LAST minute shoppers. Usually Men. Surprised?

Then we would go as a family to Christmas Eve service at our church. My favorite part is a lady from town, Mrs. Kang, always sings "O Holy Night" it gives you chills. Then we all sing "Silent Night" by candlelight. LOVE THIS! We then go to my Aunt Judy's house...just my family, my dad's other sister Aunt Janet & her family, and my Aunt Judy and cousin Amber. We eat snack foods, play games, and chill. We usually watch old movies from when us kids were little. Hilarious.

Because I am a TRUE BELIEVER...I would make my brother write a letter to Santa every year until I moved out! ....2009! haha! Santa always "wrote" back to us too! :)

Our family traditions changed last year since we got married. Kody and I spent Christmas Eve in WP and went to church. We had planned on opening gifts with my immediate family, but my mom had the stomach flu! :( We still went to my Aunt Judy's afterwards though!

We woke up Christmas morning for the first time EVER together and opened gifts. For 6 years we had never spent Christmas Eve or Day together...not until we got married! We then got dressed and went to my parents' house and my Dad's family came over for lunch and gifts. After they all left we opened gifts with my immediate family since Mom was better.

We went to Jackson on the 26th and had Christmas with Kody's immediate family. We missed out on the HUGE Christmas Eve Thompson Family Christmas, but we can't be everywhere at once. Next year we may try to make an appearance for that.

This year we'll have all the same stuff, except leave for Jackson Christmas Day and celebrate with everyone the next day. I can't wait to have kids and have Santa come visit and open Christmas gifts at home together on Christmas day! Can't wait!!

Speaking of Christmas....my tree will go up this weekend! Friday to be exact!

Always Playing Catch-Up!

I’m still here! We’ve been busy with Teresa & Grandma (MIL & her mom!) We’ve had such a great time and we will be sad to see them go tomorrow. They got here Thursday in time for lunch and we met them at the Fish Shack for fish! Grandma brought her little dog, Jack, who loves to run with the big dogs. He is so cute…

This was a super busy week at work for me—the week before our City Council meeting—so I wasn’t able to take much time off. I had a planning & zoning meeting Thursday night, so I came home to a HUGE dinner made by the two of them and we all ate and I headed back to work. They are both great cooks and cook enough for the whole town. Our fridge is stocked!

Oprah had Oprah’s Favorite Things yesterday and my favorite college teacher from SEMO & her sister…who graduated with my husband, from Jackson, and I went to college with her were ON IT! HOW awesome is that?! SO SO cool!!! We saw them several different times too!

Friday I did get off a little early and they had made a turkey, sweet potatoes, broccoli & cheese casserole, and Kody made fried deer tenderloin. We had my parents come out and my parents both loved the deer! My dad isn’t a hunter so they don’t ever eat deer. We don’t eat it much….but it was SO good! Who doesn’t like fried food?!

After dinner last night we put Jack’s new Christmas sweater on him and I thought we would take a couple of shots of him in front of our tree in the basement. Grandma decided to be in them too and they were too cute…we went ahead and made Christmas cards too with them and she picked them up today! She was pumped! I put up a tree in our basement this year for the first time. It has our Hallmark ornaments on it…Harley Davidson, Barbie, miscellaneous. We’ll have a red & gold themed tree upstairs this year. I bought a new tree last year on clearance, can’t wait to get it out!!!

Today there was a trunk show going on at my dad’s store for his Kameleon Jewelry. If you haven’t seen this stuff, check it out! It’s so cool! You can change different jewel pops in whatever piece you are wearing…ring, necklace, earrings, etc. I helped out with that this morning. It was a successful event, we’re thankful for that! I went to lunch with Grandma and Teresa and then shopped around with them. I picked up my groceries for Thanksgiving. I am making my favorite, 24 hour salad! I will post the recipe next week. Teresa got me a few new tops and one looks great with my black leggings! :)! Kody got off around 6 and we went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner….great dinner, bad service!

Tomorrow we’ll head to church and then have lunch and they’ll head home. Teresa has been here the last 2 Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sundays. We’ll miss her!! We will see them Christmas day though. She got quite a bit of Christmas shopping done while here.

Tomorrow afternoon I’m going to take pictures of Hannah & Hunter. I can’t wait!! Hope everyone is doing well. I hate that I am always posting catch-up posts!

Thompson Christmas 2010

Ribbon Wishes Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Here is a preview of our Christmas card! I can't wait to get them! Here's a chance to win a $25 Shutterfly gift card!

If you love to use Shutterfly like me and my blogging friend Ashley, then try this promo! Here's how:


1.Log in to your Shutterfly account.
2.View your projects.
3.Choose one and click "Share Project."
4.Give your project a name & description.
5.Embed the code on your blog.
6.Send a confirmation email to shareproject@shutterfly.com. Be sure to include the web address to the post where you shared your Shutterfly project.

We'll see how this works! I LOVE Shutterfly and suggest you check it out!

Just Us 2...Me & You!

Ok, I stole the line above from SATC II, but this is something my blog friends are doing right now, so I thought I would kick this rainy day off right and join along!

1. What are your middle names?
Mallory Beth & Kody Nelson

2. How long have you been together? 7 years!

3. How long did you know each other before dating? This is tough. We met one night (he was from 3 hours away) and he went home the next day. We talked on the phone for close to 2 months before he could come back to visit. It was safe to say we were an item by that time.

4. Who asked Who out ?

It just sort of happened.

5. How old are each of you?

I'm 24 and Kody is 25.

6. Did you go to the same school? No! I was a West Plains Zizzer and Kody was a Jackson Indian!

7. Are you from the same hometown? No, again...I am from West Plains, MO and Kody is from 3 hours away in Jackson, MO.

8. Who is the smartest?

Kody! At least of most of the time!

9. Who majored in what? I went to SEMO and majored in Mass Communications w/ an emphasis in public relations. Kody went to NADC and majored in Diesel Technology.

10. Who is the most sensitive?

ME!

11. Where is the furthest you have traveled together as a couple?

Negril, Jamaica for our honeymoon. The flight to Rochester, NY for a cousin's wedding was nearly just as long!

12. Who has the worst temper?

Ha, without a doubt, Kody! I may try to hold a grudge, but I don't usually get angry about things! Not that he does all the time, but after he bottles things up, you will hear about it!

13. How many children do you want? 2 will serve me just fine. Kody is from a family of 3 kids and sometimes likes the idea of having 3 kids. But I think 2 is more realistic for us.

14. Who does the cooking? Unless it's grilling (which I will sometimes do) or breakfast, I do the cooking. Kody does breakfast or grilling though.

15. Who is more social? Most always I am.

16. Who is a neat freak? If anyone is going to claim the title it would be me, although I am not over the top...wish I was!

17. Who is the most stubborn? We each say we both are stubborn...so not sure who would win. Of course, I think he is more stubborn than I am.

18. Who wakes up earlier? Well, I always do...unless it's like today and yesterday, deer hunting season.

19. Where was your first date? I feel awful not really remembering to be sure....but I think it was dinner at Diamond Head (Chinese) and the movies to see Elf.

20. Who has the bigger family? KODY!!! The Thompson family is huge and just keeps growing!!!!

21. How do you spend the holidays?

Difficult question! Last year was the very first year we spent Christmas Eve & Day together. For the 6 years we dated we didn't want to give up our family traditions until we had to. Last year we spent Christmas Eve in WP and were together for the first time by ourselves on Christmas morning and opened gifts. Great time and a new tradition for "our" family. We traveled to Jackson on the 26th. This year we are doing Christmas Eve with my immediate family, Christmas morning together, Christmas lunch with my Dad's family, and then we'll travel to Jackson that afternoon for Thompson Christmas on the 26th. I wish we lived closer so we could go back and forth easier, but the 26th worked out best for everyone this year. The extended Thompson family always celebrates on the 24th and I've never been, maybe one year we can do that too. :)

22. Who is more jealous? I guess me, but I'm not really jealous.

23. How long did it take to get serious? Not extremely long at all, but the distance threw a kink in things.

24. Who eats more? Kody!!

25. Who does the laundry? I do!!! When we moved in our house and got our new front loaders I told him not to use them til we went over instructions....we never did. I think he figured it out once, but I do the laundry.

26. What do you do for a living? I am the City Clerk of my hometown...so I work in City Government and Kody is a diesel technician.

27. Who is better with the computer? We both are pretty good. I may be a tad better! ;)

28. Who drives when you are together? KODY!!! Unless I need to drive for some reason, he always drives. I like to be driven!!

29. What is your song? We really don't have one. We've always liked "Tiny Dancer"....and we had our first dance to "Lost in this Moment" by Big & Rich

Monday Meals: Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Today I am going to participate in Monday's Meals hosted by A Love Worth Waiting For. This is a great way to find new recipes! I actually made these last week, but they were so tasty and EASY I wanted to share! Tonight we are having leftover chili from our party over the weekend. I actually remembered to take a picture, but forgot my camera at home. This is from the Kraft website.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

What you'll need:
2-1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Colby & Monterey Jack Cheeses, divided
1 cup Sour Cream, divided
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, divided (Aldi's didn't have any, so I didn't use any, tasted fine!)
12 flour tortillas (8 inch)
1-1/2 cups TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa (I used enchilada sauce instead)

Heat the oven at 350.

MIX chicken, soup, 1 cup cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream and 3 Tbsp. cilantro until well blended. Spoon down centers of tortillas, adding about 1/4 cup to each; roll up.

PLACE, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with salsa and remaining cheese.

BAKE 25 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining sour cream and cilantro.

Now, here's my secret...

Instead of boiling chicken which I hate doing I used 2 packages of grilled chicken pieces. I used one package of a southwest seasoned chicken and then a regular. I chopped it all really fine and you couldn't taste a difference. The recipe actually suggested that to cut down on time. And it did and mess!

These were so tasty and super easy, which I love!

Smart Phone Advice!!

Hey all you tech savvy ladies! I need help!

I think it is time I join 2008 before 2011 hits and get a SMART PHONE! :) I have held myself off for so long because I found it pointless to have a phone with the Internet and sit at a computer all day and when I go home I still have the Internet. I can't get an iPhone because my provider, US Cellular, doesn't carry those. I am able to get an Android though and want opinions on that!

Here are the phones I am looking at in order of what I'm really considering...

the Samsung Mesmerize

My brother recommends the Mesmerize and he has the next one. He probably knows more about this stuff than anyone I know.

Here's the 2nd choice...HTC Desire

and lastly the Samsung Acclaim...

The Acclaim is much cheaper and actually BOGO....but my brother says go for one of the more expensive ones.

Here are my questions....

1. If you have a touch-screen how hard is it to get used to?

Do you like it?

2. (These phones or the first 2 are similar to the iPhone) do you like this type of phone or would you choose a Blackberry? WHY?

3. Windows makes phones and my provider carries them, any advantages to them? They are the Samsung Exec, HTC Snap, and HTC Touch Pro 2

I am new to Twitter and love it and of course love the idea that I could post pictures straight to my blog and Twitter, which would be fun. Since I am a huge user of blogspot and FB, I am justifying that I will use it all on the go.

Leave any comments on advice!! I need it! Especially those of you who use your phone for FB, Twitter, & Blogging!!

thank you!