Christmas 2011 Recap

I sincerely hope that each and every one of you had a fabulous Christmas and made time to remember the reason for the season during your hustling and bustling!  It's time for the annual Chicken Wing Christmas Recap! 

Our weekend started with Comanche's family celebration, where we got together and exchanged gifts and Comanche's older brother prepared cherries jubilee for everyone!  It was amazing to hang out with my soon-to-be in-laws and nephews and watch them interact with CiCi and MuChi, who came along in their Christmas best - a sweater for CiCi and MuChi's famous "I ate Santa's cookies" t-shirt!

Then, it was on to Momma Chicken Wing's house where the Chicken Wing siblings did our annual tradition - we drag Little Brother Chicken Wing's mattress into Little Sister CW's room and we all stay cramped in there and watch Elf as we fall asleep.  Always funny!


pics on Sodahead

The next morning, we opened our family stockings, and this was the very first Christmas for Momma CW's new husband Dubya!  I think he made out like a bandit and had some Christmas fun!  After we all got dressed and ready, we made the trip to Grandma Chicken Wing's house with all of our presents and had one of the most delicious Southern lunches you've ever seen!

On the menu:  turkey, country ham, creamed potatoes, green beans, butter beans, corn pudding, deviled eggs, rolls, fried apples, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole, macaroni salad, pumpkin pie, chocolate cake with white icing - it could not be beat, I'm telling you what!

After lunch came the food coma and then we opened gifts, which is always so much fun!  I get way more excited to watch everyone else open their gifts than I do to open mine!  I will say that Comanche did especially well this year!  He knows me better than I know myself sometimes and he gave me two gifts that stood out this year!  The first?  These gorgeous Jessica Simpson flats that I'd been drooling over for weeks:

Bring on the bling!  Your feet should get to sparkle too!

The other gift is one that I will truly cherish forever!  For our wedding next year, there are lots of things that will be classic and traditional (we're not too wacky, y'all!).  One thing that will be a little different is that I didn't want to wear pearls on my wedding day.  I know, I know - call me crazy!  I want to wear blue topaz jewelry since it is my Daddy's birthstone - that way, he can be with me all day even though he can't be there in person!  I had one blue topaz necklace, but it wasn't going to work, so Comanche got me the most perfect and beautiful necklace ever!  Here's the photo of it from the seller:

Isn't it GORGEOUS?!?!?

What I love about it is that I can enjoy this on our wedding day but also any other day!  It is so pretty and in no way is it too gaudy for everyday!  The really cool thing is that blue topaz is also Comanche's birthstone, so it's really special! I think the man did very well this year and I adore him!  (For those of you who wonder how Comanche made out, he did pretty well - I finished off his weight set for him for Christmas and his birthday, which was two days after Christmas)!

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday full of laughs, smiles, and thankfulness!  I am so excited for next Christmas as I expect it will be even better!

Until next time,

Hello? And Happy Birthday!

Get it?

Wow - if I had a nickel for every time I took a second to realize how quickly time is flying by, I would be a very wealthy Chicken Wing!  I've recently discovered that Christmas has decided not to wait for me to be ready, and I really need to put the other million things going on in my life aside and devote some attention to getting ready for the holidays!

I greatly apologize for the lack of posting here lately - I'm still working on this whole promotion at work/planning a wedding/couponing/being addicted to the facebook online yard sale balancing act, and to be very candid, I'm not doing very well at it!  I mean, I'm being successful at most of these things, but it's definitely hard to keep my blogging up to date with all of that going on!

Oh, you thought that was it?  NO SIR/NO MA'AM!  There's more, but that will have to wait for a future post because truthfully, that deserves a post all its own!

Today's post needs to center around one of the greatest guys I've ever known.  I haven't seen him in a long time - almost seventeen years, to be exact - but today is his birthday, and he deserves my undivided attention.

I have really big feet and ears for a little Wing, but my Daddy sure looks handsome!

This guy...is my Daddy.  December 5th usually involves many emotions for me, but I'm finding that this year, I have had a little bit of an easier time because I literally have been so darn busy, I basically turn into a vegetable in my spare time.  It doesn't leave a whole lot of room for grief.

When I prayed him a Happy Birthday today, I told him that I hoped he was getting in lots of golfing, hunting, fishing, and that he was getting to watch a lot of the Redskins and Tar Heels games. 

I told him that I hoped he had the basket of rolled-up socks next to his recliner in heaven so he could chunk socks at the TV every time the Redskins made him mad (which unfortunately, has probably been happening a lot).  I told him that I hoped he was still singing ever-so-off-key but as loudly and proudly as he ever did.  (I used to love listening to him forget the words and instantly improve most songs by inserting his own noises or lyrics).

I told him how much I loved him and missed him and how I still think of him every.single.day.  I told him not to be mad at me because I've been getting so emotional every time I tell someone how sad I'm going to be at my wedding since he won't be there to meet Comanche, ease my nerves, walk me down the aisle, or share our special father-daughter dance.

I told him to keep watching out for our family and to keep an eye on Little Sister Chicken Wing and Little Brother Chicken Wing.  I told him to take care of some wonderful people I know that have lost their lives recently.  I told him to show them the ropes and teach them how things go in heaven.  I told him to hug my PaPa and cousins and friends for me and to remind them how much I love and miss them, too.

Finally, I told him, "Thank You."  I thanked him for teaching me things to do, things not to do, and for showing up now and then to remind me he's still watching.  I thanked him for instilling in me the importance of going to church and working on my relationship with God (even though I was quite lost in that department for a very long time).  I thanked him for marrying my mom and giving me my siblings, and for letting me keep one of the puppies that would eventually become one of my very favorite dogs.  I thanked him for just being him.

So here's to you, Daddy.  I will always be your little girl.  I will always remember you as one of the best guys I ever met.  I will never forget the legacies you left behind and I will never stop aspiring to take your best qualities and make them my own.  I miss you.  I love you. 

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Until next time,

Just In Case You Want To Follow Along

Source

I've never ever wanted to be one of "those people."  You know the kind - their conversation consists of one thing, and it's always the same old thing.  It's not that you don't care about their kids' neverending sagas or their parents being crazy.  It's not that you wish any ill-will on their big special day or their impending baby - it's just that it's hard sometimes to get just as excited as they do when you're not in the same situation. 

I want to be clear - I don't get aggravated with people who do this because I've done it myself from time to time.  I just decided that I'd like to set a goal for myself and that goal is this:  I don't want to force my wedding day to be the most important day of everybody's lives.  Yes, it will be the most important day of my life.  Yes, planning is stressful.  Yes, it's a big.freaking.deal.  But, people have other things going on, so my personal policy for all of my readers is this:  if you want to know about my wedding, ask me what's going on with the planning.  If you don't, that's cool too. 

This brings me to my latest struggle - I've been wanting to journal my journey of sorts down the aisle, and I wasn't sure how to accomplish this.  Originally, I thought I'd just write about the big day here, but then I realized that there are some folks who probably aren't that interested in weddings, so I didn't want to alienate anyone who chooses to read my blog.  Yes, I could argue that it is my blog and I can do what I want - rest assured, this is true - but I try to be courteous and respectful in my everyday life and my blog is an extension of that.

So, what's the solution?  For me, it was to create a wedding planning blog where I can write about the excitement and joy and frustration and pain that will go into my journey.  That way, if you want to read about it, you can, but you're not bombarded with it here!  Plus, I thought it would be a better way to keep it all seperate and organized so when I want to revisit it, I can do so.  Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to my wedding planning blog:

If you would like to check out With This Wing, you can visit my page by clicking HERE.

*Disclaimer: I chose not to continue anonymity on With This Wing because it is really hard to do, and my family wants to read about the wedding.  So, if you choose to stalk me or my man, I will hunt you down.  You've been warned.  ;) 

Until next time,

When You Have A Good Job...

...your birthday sort of rocks!  :)  Yes, I said it!  One thing that my company does that is super duper awesome is that they send you a package to your house for your birthday.  Granted, it's not always on your birthday, but it's usually the week of your special day.  Want a sneak peek of what's inside?  Of course you do!

Basically, anything from here is AHHH-MAZING!

Pretty packaging!

What's a present without a card?

Oh my goodness - what do we have here?

Cookies, peanut butter squares, and brownies - OH MY!

Double decker brownies!!!

Attack of the Chicken Wing!

HOORAY for birthday treats!!!

As I always say, it's the small things in life that mean the most, and it's little touches like this that can set a company apart.  It's easy to get busy with the hustle and bustle of your everyday duties, but it's really nice to know that your company cares enough about you to acknowledge you on your birthday!

As you're reading this, I will be hopefully figuring out how to settle into turning twenty-seven and enjoying my birthday treats with Comanche on the little birthday adventure he's planned for me!  Let's hope Hurricane Irene doesn't invite herself to my party!!!  I don't like party crashers, what can I say?

Until next time,

Family Matters Pt. 3

Remember this guy?!?!  Yeah, you do!

Missed one of this awesome series?  Catch up here:
Family Matters Pt. 1 - The Preparation
Family Matters Pt. 2 - The Food

Warning, picture-heavy post ahead!  But, this post is dedicated to the point of the family reunion - THE FAMILY (and the fun and fellowship that comes with family)!  It was awesome getting to spend time with some of the ones I love the most in the world.  They are my connection to my dad, and because of them, the memories of him will stay with me forever.  Plus, this was the first time Comanche met most of the family, including my paternal grandparents! It was an exciting day!

Is he Hollywood or what?!?!

Cousin MB is going for it!

Perfect cannonball form!

Big splash for a little girl!

And she emerges after her long trip to the bottom!

Cousin M helps a little friend around the pool!

My adorable paternal grandparents, Grandma M and PaPa G!

Momma Chicken Wing and her new husband Dubya - it was his first time meeting the family, as well!

Little Sister CW and her boyfriend, Seatbelt, with one of our Aunt J's in the background!  All of the Chicken Wing girls brought new men to the family reunion this year!

Cousin F and Aunt J, looking adorable!

Me and Great-aunt M!

My Uncle H and me!

Sibling Love!  I absolutely LOVE this picture!!!!

Our little branch of the family tree, missing Little Brother CW, Uncle R, Cousin C, Aunt N, Uncle B, and their kids/grandkids!  (Our branch really isn't that little, as it turns out).

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family." -Anthony Brandt

Until next time,

Oh, The Horror...And The Joy

One of my favorite and least favorite things about myself is that I can very easily see (and argue) both sides of just about anything.  While this is a good thing because I have little trouble relating to people in all kinds of situations and seeing someone else's point of view, it's also a very frustrating thing because I end up having a hard time deciding which side is the right side.

Case in point?  On Friday, I will be turning twenty-seven.  There, I said it.  The Chicken Wing will be another year older, and I can see the top of the hill that we all eventually go over.  Fact of life?  Sure.  Melodramatic?  Definitely.

On the one hand, I find myself completely overanalyzing my life - sometimes, it's hard to be a girl, y'all!  I find that as I get older, I do tend to revert back to my high-school mentality and I compare myself to other people.  Heck, more than half of my friends from high school are married and not just have one child - they have multiple children.  What?!?!?  We are totally not old enough for this to be happening - why am I constantly living an episode of "Sixteen and Pregnant?" 

But, it's time to face the facts, Chicken Wing.  We absolutely are old enough for this to happen.  People get married.  People have babies.  We really are grown-ups now.  That's life.  I guess I get a little hung up because I feel like maybe I'm a bit behind everyone else.

But, on the other hand, after I get done obsessively looking in the mirror and critiquing my progress in fighting the aging process, I have to have a laugh at my antics and smile real big (which undoubtedly will create more wrinkles on my face).  Why?  Because, let's face it - I have it pretty good. 

Yes, on Friday, I will be twenty-seven years old.  No, I am not married yet, nor am I engaged.  No, I don't have a gaggle of little chicks following me around.  Yes, I am still renting all these years later.  But, and there is a but....

I have multiple fabulous jobs when some people can't find one. 


Coworker/friend J-Man rocking the "WOW" face.



Full-time job family beach house dog pile!!!



Yes, that is my natural hair color (I'm in front!)



Part-time job = Full-time love!



I had the opportunity to go to and graduate from an amazing college and made some ridiculously awesome friends while there (to add to the ridiculously awesome friends I've had with me since childhood). 



College & Sorority sisters for life!  Alpha love!



My little sisters (both sorority and biologically)!



Love these girls like WHOA!



Two more college lady loves!  <3 my B & B!



So blessed to still have a lot of these Governor's School high school friends in my life!

You can take the girl out of the small town, but you can't take the small town out of the girl!

Best friends since Pre-K!

My little sissy growing up got married this year!  Love you to pieces, G-K!

I got set up on a blind date with literally the most amazing man I've ever met, and over the past year, he and I have created the kind of relationship that I've wanted my whole life. 

So in love with this man!

Thank you, sweet friends, for setting me up with the best gift I've ever received!

My family seriously rocks the most.  It's true, people, we're awesome.  You know it.  We know it.  Glad everyone's okay with that.

Tar Heels for life!

The Siblings Chicken Wing.

Everyone says we're twins!  What do you think?

Welcome to the family, Dubya!

I have the CUTEST furbabies on the planet.  Seriously, tell me I'm lying.  I dare you.

My heart swells with love and pride for these two! So.freaking.adorable.

So, here's to you, twenty-seven.  You may be taking another year off my life, but I laugh in your face.  Look back at all the pictures of what I've got (and if I posted pictures of EVERYONE I have in my life, I would certainly crash this blog).  Twenty-seven or not, who wouldn't want to be me?  That's why no matter my age, every year I can say that I will have a very happy and very blessed birthday.

Until next time,