Don't Eat Yellow Snow

We had our first snow of the season on Christmas night! It was only about an inch, but it was enough to cover everything (and blind your eyes when you walked outside).

Happy Saturday!

Christmas Festivities (aka Photo Overload)

Our Christmas weekend was jam-packed and I hate that it went by so fast. I love spending time with our families and just having time for some R&R.

Harrison, Shannon & me

Cody thought he should wear a Christmas vest for our little family shindig. Cameron was pretty excited about it too.

Colin, my youngest brother, and Harrison (our cousin)

For Christmas this year, Will set a budget for our gifts to each other. We both went over that budget (thanks to the help of his parents--a Kassner loan)

I got Will a shotgun he's been wanting for duck hunting. He mentioned the name and model of the gun months ago and I somehow remembered it and had the help of his dad in purchasing it.

Will got me tickets to three shows at the Orpheum. I can't wait! I love Broadway shows and actually haven't seen any of these. (Memphis, Rock of Ages, Anything Goes)

Christmas day at my parents' house

Remi thinks he's a lap dog

Getting warm by the fire

Poor Colly Wolly was sick on Christmas day

Ok, I wasn't going to put this on here because...well, look at the face I'm making. I told Will to dip me for some sort of cliche picture and in the process I somehow "slipped" (or was too heavy...or he was too weak) and almost fell flat on my back...or my head. It's just a little Matrix action.

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas together!

Refurb'd Cabinet

As a Christmas present to my mother-in-law, Will & I (mostly Will) refurbished an old cabinet that's been in the Kassner fam for quite a while. I'm smacking myself for not taking an original "before" pic, but what are ya gonna do? It was an old, white, dirty cabinet. You get the picture. And basically we sanded it down and made it look old and white again.

This is where we remembered to take a "before" picture. Oops. After some sanding...

 Will built that little box the cabinet is sitting on. It's meant for books, magazines, etc.and it gave the cabinet a little extra height.

After 1st coat of paint...

 Finished!

I was pretty pleased with how it turned out! And what's even better, I got a new sander for Christmas and am really excited about tackling that pile of old furniture I've been hoarding collecting in the garage. 

24th Birthday

Saturday the 22nd was my 24th bday and it was filled with motorcycles, ice, and garlic...lots and lots of garlic. 

We actually went to the Grizzlies game on Friday. My father-in-law was able to get some really good tickets through a work connection. Will's older brother and his wife were in town for Christmas so we all went. Our tickets allowed us to get all the free food we wanted. Score!

 On my birthday, my family got together for a brunch at my aunt's house. My dad, grandfather and myself all have birthdays within days of each other so we celebrate them all together. My middle brother, Cody, took me for a spin on his new bike. I'm a natural. Maybe I should look into cruisin' around town on one of these things. And I'm not a fan of that creepy face mask he wears.

 Thanks Cody!

That afternoon Will  had planned to take me ice skating (as a surprise). I haven't been since I was about 6 years old so I was so scared excited. There's a new place right outside of Memphis that we went to and it was great. We invited my brothers and Will's brothers & parents. I had more fun laughing at everyone trying to stay balanced and not fall than I did actually skating. I can't wait to go again....despite the ginormous blisters on the sides of my legs from not wearing tall enough socks. Think, Courtney, think!

I'm not exactly sure what I was doing here. I THINK this is when I stepped on the ice and realized it was much more slippery than I was expecting. Ha!

Cody and Will's younger brother, Micah

 For dinner, Will had planned to take me downtown to eat. He had actually thought about going to a fancy restaurant, but he knows me too well. I'm simple (& picky) and would rather have pizza than something fancy. So we ended up going to a new(er) restaurant on Main St. called Aldo's Pizza Pies. It was a neat restaurant with a cool atmosphere. We ran into some friends at the restaurant and ate with them. It was a great dinner.

Aldo's Garlic Knots---SO good. And do you see that melted butter in the bowl?!

 After we walked off our dinner, we spontaneously ran into my long, lost best friend, Nathalia. She's been out of the country for a while teaching elementary kids in Madrid, Spain. I know, right? Sounds amazing. I was over-the-top excited to see her. It made my night.

My birthday was so special and I was so appreciative of everyone who made it that way. I'm so thankful for great friends, great family, and an even greater husband!

Christmas Spirit

As I probably won't be blogging this weekend or before Tuesday, I wanted to go ahead and wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a day full of joy, family, and good food. And most of all, I hope you remember that the reason we have such joy is because of Christ's birth. Jesus is God's gift to us--A gift that's worth more than anything under your Christmas tree and more precious than gold. 

As for us Kassner's, we've been getting in the Christmas spirit this past week.

This year's Christmas card:

Photos courtesy of the amazing Kelly Ginn

back of card

[P.S.- Check out our color powder photos here]

Ginger has even been in the Christmas spirit...ya know, eating ornaments and all.

We watched an all-time favorite Christmas movie last night.

And painted my nails!

Tonight we'll be going to see these guys play with Will's family

Go Griz!

Tomorrow is my birthday and the rest of the weekend will be a great time spent with family. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law are in town and we're looking forward to seeing them. (and their puppy!) AND I don't have to go back to work until Thursday! (Woohoo!)

Merry Christmas to you and your family!