Crossville Christmas

We have had a FUN weekend. Much needed to say the least.

Kyle's birthday was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. His parents gave him (and by him, I mean us) Titans/Colts tickets.

It was cold. Very cold. Fortunately, we had good preparation after going to the UT game several weeks earlier.

Val, my boss, hooked me up with a sweet Colts scarf.

Kyle and at LP Field.
GOOOO COLTS!!!!

Paige and Steven were with us as well. She bought him tickets for his birthday too. This is why they are best friends.

We were surrounded by Titans fans, except for a crazy lady two rows behind us that I am sure our entire section wanted to kill. Luckily, we found a Titans fan kind enough to take our picture.

COLTS WIN!!!!!

This guy (who looks a lot like my husband) was pumped!

Cold and tired. Yet all smiles.

We headed to Crossville for the weekend to have early Christmas with Kyle's family. Since we spent Thanksgiving with his family, we will spend Christmas with mine. We had to exchange gifts at some point. And I wasn't going to be the one to suggest waiting until after...

The McShan's Christmas tree. The bottom half of the ornaments are missing because Duchess, the boxer, decided to eat them while she was home alone.

The stockings were too heavy to be hung :)

We celebrated Christmas early last year with us each other. I can't wait to spend Christmas Day, together, married.

Ramona's big gift! She was shocked!

Bruce and his big gift! The Judge! This pistol shoots shotgun size shells. (I'm learning a lot these days) Bad gun for a bad man.

I'm just a little excited about my gift from Jonathan and Micah. A gift certificate to The Screen Door, a super cute shop in Crossville.

I have been wanting a chalkboard for my house and was pleasantly surprised to unwrap this! It's a chalkboard with a sliding bulletin board section. The chalkboard is magnetic (which I think all chalkboards are but I can't remember that far back to elementary school). And then there are several hooks on the bottom...I love a functional gift!

And when I thought it couldn't get any better, I unwrapped this gorgeous Kate Spade for a true blue Christmas! :)

Micah loves his saw from his favorite sister!

And Jonathan loves his new work clothes!

Kyle working it in his new North Face Summitt series. That I can't wait to borrow. Muhahaha.

I love stocking stuffers! Especially gifts that resemble past presidents :)

Remember how I told you how much I loved Petro's? Well, I got some mix for their "Hint of Orange" Sweet Tea. This stuff is legit!

Brothers in matching pjs. Kyle, the oddball.

Duchess was worn out. And disappointed she didn't get her gifts early like everyone else.

And Lady just lies content with it all.

After church in Crossville, we packed it up and headed home. In this...

People were driving sooo slow. But I suppose I can't complain when people are playing it safe, especially over the holidays...

We made it home, safe and sound. And with LOTS of Christmas cards in the mailbox. I love this time of year!

ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS!!!!!

Yes, Deer!

Several weeks ago Kyle and Travis went hunting. This is what Kyle managed to strike down...
He's a little guy but just wait til you see what came out of this thing...

Travis with his kill and very proud face. haha. Kayla, I thought you might like this.

That one little deer managed to take up more than half of my freezer once Kyle took all the meat to get processed.

I have never cooked deer before, coming from a family where no one was a hunter. I definitely asked around on the best way to use some of the "hamburger" meat. Since it has started to get pret-ty chilly outside, chili (no pun intended) sounded good.

Deer meat is way darker than ground beef and has a little bit "different" scent to it.

After browning the meat, in a large pot, I combined the deer meat, two cans of diced tomatoes (undrained), 4 teaspoons of cumin, 1 teaspoon of garlic salt, 2 teaspoons paprika, 1 teaspoon ground red pepper, and 1/2 cup of chili powder. So said the recipe.

Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes and it's good to go. Add a little cheese if you like. I think next time I won't use as much chili powder, because this batch was WARM! Not so hot that you couldn't eat it, but you would definitely want to keep a large glass of water nearby.
Warm chili, hot fire, cozy house-shoes, and a loving husband equal a great way to end a long day.

The things marriage makes you do. Never thought I would ever eat deer, much less learn how to prepare it...

Any recipes any of you all might have, please send them my way :)

Merry Christmas from the McShans

I took Shutterfly up on their offer for free Christmas cards if you write a blog post. Glad I did because I think my Christmas cards turned out awfully cute and only cost me shipping and handling. Way better than spending over $100 for them.

So........

Merry Christmas from the McShans!

Missing Mississippi

After not having attended one State football game this year, I have been having some serious withdrawals from Mississippi and the from the sweet people who shaped my life during my time spent there.

The special occasion for the trip was to celebrate the upcoming wedding of Katie and Clay. Katie is the younger sister of one of my dear friends, Kimberly (who needs to stop stalking people's blogs and start her own. I write this because I know she's reading haha). Kimberly was married in August, and Katie was engaged shortly thereafter.

Katie is probably one of the funniest people I know. She is laid-back, always down for a good time, and has the awesome ability to laugh at herself. Love her!

The theme for the party was a stock-the-bar/tacky Christmas. The guys attending were instructed to bring stock-the-bar type gifts, and the ladies were to bring Christmas type gifts. I, of course, missed this little detail. But I know Katie will get a good laugh out of mine :)

I drove down to Jackson Friday after work and spent the night with my little sis from Phi Mu, Megan. Her husband is in the air national guard and had to fly out last minute so we had a little slumber party. It was nice to relax, enjoy a glass of wine, and catch up. Saturday morning we had brunch at Primo's. A-MAZING! Great coffee too! We then went and got our nails done for the night. $16 to have nails and toenails shaped, filed, buffed, and painted. Wish I could find deals like that in Memphis! After that we headed back to her house, where the party was taking place. I helped her set up along with a few of the hostesses.

Here are some pictures from the shindig!

Megan's idea, my masterpiece :) Rudolph brownies...

The outside setup...

Eat, drink, and be merry...

Megan is a whiz with photo-shopping faces and using face in hole. This is a picture of Katie and Clay that was on the table outside.

Yummy desserts.

Inside spread. Again, another collection of face in hole pictures! Hilarious!

Other side of the spread.

More decorations.

What Christmas party would be complete without presents under the tree?

Little Saint Nick swinging from the chandelier.

Emma was the mastermind behind our outfits. Actual tree skirts wrapped around to make an actual skirt. Combine that with green tights and antlers and we're good to go!

Bows in the back.

Me and Kimberly. Sister of the bride-to-be.

Me and Molly.

Me and Megan. Big/Lil.

Me and the bride-to-be, Katie!

Me and Darah. Miss this sweet girl terribly.

Darah and her boyfriend Chris. Chris is responsible for the fun times we had in college at Mugshots Bar and Grille.

Group shot of the ladies. My antlers were blocking Katie. Sorry Katie!

So we took another...

And for good laughs, this just had to be posted!

Great weekend with great friends! I need more of these in my life! Love you all!

Tennessee Thanksgiving

The Saturday following Thanksgiving, Kyle and I along with Steven and Paige, headed east to Knoxville for football time in Tennessee...Please try to control your stomach when you see me sporting that hideous color. :)

Early early on the strip.
Steven and Paige. She's a Kentucky and knows what it feels like to be surrounded by Vols. It can be tough.

Early morning Moe's. Burritos at 10 AM...Why not?
Me and the man.

Splitting the T.
It was a little chilly in the shade. God bless Hot hands.

He's so into the game, he won't even smile for a picture.
One of the few things I love about UT football. Petro's! It's pretty much a Frito pie but waaayyy better. And they have sweet tea with a hint of orange which is oh so good!
UT win=happy husband.
Post game photo-op.

No fear Bulldog fans. I IMMEDIATELY changed into maroon when we got home to watch the dawgs whoop up on Ole Miss. No greater feeling. And for that we head to Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl! Go dawgs!