Our First *MARRIED* Christmas

Josh and I just spent today cleaning up all the Christmas decor that filled our house for the past month.. how sad that its over.. but what an amazing Christmas we have had! After a wonderful early Christmas celebration with my family, we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Josh's family. Christmas Eve was spent in Salisbury.. Christmas Eve service at First Baptist followed by dinner at the Hughes house! All the close friends of Becky and Ron were in attendance, they are like a second family to the Clarks.. and I love it! The "Salisbury Group" reminds me a lot of my parents and their friends...
Christmas day was spent at my in-laws house.. we planned on having brunch, but timing was a little off, so we had breakfast for lunch! Becky made tons of food... and she let me make french toast casserole! Both sets of Josh's grandparents came for Christmas! We had a great day!

Friday, Josh and I gave ourselves a GREAT Christmas present... we went to Rock Hill to meet up with Megan and Truman for a double date! I was so good to see them and then boys! The Lord has truly blessed us with great friends in those two! I hope that they move back to the Carolinas soon! Josh and I hate not getting the see the boys grow up.. and seeing them Friday was such a treat!

Christmas was continued on Saturday when we all went to Hendersonville for the day! Becky and Ron had all 4 of their "children" along with them... which is a rare occurrence that we can all go! We all gathered at the Clark's for lunch around 2pm, finger foods were on the menu.. lots of dips and chips and veggies. Becky also gave me a new recipe to try.. which was a hit! I was really proud and think Josh and I may have found our new party dish.. it is good!

...Our First MARRIED Christmas is over...and we look forward to all the Christmases to come!!!

Secret Sisters..

My girlfriends and I decided that this year, due to the lack of funds for many of us, that it would be fun to draw names and have a Secret Sister gift exchange! Each of us drew a name out of the pile and purchased a gift for $20 or less. We agreed that we would designate a night the week of Christmas to get together and exchange the gifts.. this of course meant we would eat, play games, and laugh so hard that our sides would hurt!

Allison agreed to host the dinner for the Secret Sister night.. lasagna was on the menu, a Paula Dean recipe that she found and wanted to try. Each lady took a job.. Jennifer had pre-dinner snacks... the funny part is, she didn't get there until after we were sitting down to eat! I took on garlic bread.. and did not just go buy texas toast.. I bought Italian bread, put minced garlic in a sauce pan to heat up, then melted butter in the pan with the garlic.. brought it to a boil.. then spread it over the bread. Amy brought green bean casserole (a fave of mine)! Christa brought drinks, and Cindy brought red velvet cake.. made from scratch.. with homemade icing.. what a good night of food!

After dinner, we handed out the gifts. Each gift was wrapped with the person's name it was for on it.. and the recipient then had to guess which sister the gift was from! What a sweet time of giving with such amazing women. Gift exchange was followed by a rousing game of Apples to Apples, which lasted for hours.. and the laughter took over! Allison's parents weren't sure what had gotten into us! But when you get 6 women together that know the ins and outs of each others lives... you end up rolling on the floor with laughter! After many rounds of Apples to Apples, Allison's mom played photographer as we posed and smiled, and laughed!

Each of these ladies has touched my life, and helped to form who I am today. They are truly an inspiration.. they are a blessing. The Lord has done so much in my life through them, and I thank and praise Him everyday for each of them! We are not just friends, we are family.

Forbes Family Christmas.. along with more..

Josh and I hosted my family's Christmas dinner this year! My sister, Kelly and I thought it was only fair that I get to host Christmas.. she hast hosted Thanksgiving two years in a row.. and its Josh and I's first Christmas in our home.. and first Christmas married!! (wow, that turned into a run-on sentence!) Any who, Josh and I hosted.. The menu was as follows.. Appetizers(provided by my sister, Kelly), Turkey(grilled by Josh and Jackie), Stuffing(prepared by Jackie), Gravy(made by Jackie), Creamed Corn(Mom took care of that), Homemade bread(yum..Mom), Mashed Potatoes(another Mom dish), Green Beans(my sister, Kelly), Cranberries(also, made by Kelly).. then came dessert... Graham Cracker Pie(my dad's fave.. made from scratch by my Mom) and Chocolate Pecan Pie(made by me)... dinner was GOOD!!!!!!!!!


Dinner was followed by PRESENTS.. which is always fun!! Kelly and Trevor gave my Dad a new Packers shirt.. which is the only way to really get a smile out of him... especially for a picture! They also gave my Mom a personalized calendar.. Kelly used Shutterfly to create it, and it was cool! Josh and I gave Kelly and Trevor a new digital Crock-Pot.. something Kelly has been wanting for a long time.. and I must say.. Praise the Lord for giftcards!! Due to Josh's lack of employment, we've had to come up with creative ways to gift.. using giftcards given to us to do it is one way.. going with Becky to card class and making things is another way! Kelly and Trevor got Josh and I LadderBall!!! It is a yard game, also know as Hillbilly or Redneck Golf... its our first yard game of many I'm sure... and we cannot wait for a warm day to get it out and play! Those gifts were followed by many of the ones we've come to expect over the years.. a few new pieces of clothing, a new ornament, money from our wonderful family, and of course the ever-popular bag or box of underwear!! Although we have come to expect these kinds of gifts from our parents.. the excitement of new clothes or shoes, or underwear, or ornament has not faded.. the tradition of getting these things may have even made me love it more... and truly appreciate my parents... they are a constant in our lives... two people we can count on. The gifts may be small in appearance or lackluster to others.. but to me, they display my parents ever-longing-drive to provide and support their children.. new work pants is more than just clothing, its the fact that my parents believe that I will succeed and want me to look nice and feel good doing it!

Wow.. this post turned into more... but I will be blogging later... about the experience of Secret Sister exchange with many of my girlfriends...

Our First Blog!

This is our first Christmas as a married couple! We are so very excited to be spending it in our first home! Yesterday we finished decorating the house for Christmas by putting lights on our front porch! This past week has been filled with Christmas fun! Wednesday, we went to Worship Night at Hickory Grove for the College Ministry, Jackie helped lead in worship with our two friends, Cameron Wagner and Ryan Barger. Thursday, Jackie went to a cookie decorating night with the girls of the College Ministry.. and they were yummy! Friday, we went to the College Ministry Christmas Dinner at Frankie's on Morehead.. and it was GOOD FOOD! Saturday, we went to Jackie's Christmas party with the Covenant Classical Staff.. it was a blast! Josh enjoyed meeting the people that I work with, and I really enjoyed getting a chance to get to know them better! Today we had Free Lunch at church with the College Minisitry.. followed by the Christmas Program! What a busy and wonderful week!


We are hosting Christmas dinner for my (Jackie's) family on Sunday the 21st! So, we bought our first turkey yesterday.. that was an experience! I look forward to taking pictures and writing about cooking for the event!