St. Augustine Sunrise 111/365

I managed to convince everyone to join me at the beach for Monday's sunrise. It was a little cloudy at first, but Skeeter told me to wait for the sun to come up and burn the clouds away...it definitely did. We enjoyed the sunrise together while we stood on the beach all bundled up. I don't think I will ever complain about starting the day with a little sunshine!

I have never seen a starfish on the beach, so I was excited to take a picture when a girl walked past with a handful she had found on her walk.

Lazy Sunday 110/365

What a GREAT lazy Sunday! We had eggs benedict for breakfast and napped on the couch all day. We decided on dinner and a movie that night and laughed all the way through It's Complicated. We filled up on bruschetta and pizza and came home to lay down early in preparation for our early morning plans to visit the beach. The singing gingerbread dolls...they were exhausted from the holidays and had a lazy Sunday too :)

Oysters Please 109/365

On Saturday after Christmas, we did a little returning and a little shopping. Then we headed over to the Beach's for what seems to be becoming a holiday tradition...an oyster roast! We spent the afternoon and evening with good friends, great food and perfect oysters. We happily shucked through 3 bushels and finished the night off sitting around the fire.

The man, the myth, the oyster steamer...Joe Beach :)

Steaming...

Dumping...

After the first round...

...and after 3 bushels :)

Perfect Puzzle 108/365

We woke up Christmas morning and opened our stockings first. Then we got together in the living room, around the tree, and opened all of our gifts. One of my stocking stuffers was a puzzle of a picture of Tyler from when he was a little boy.

For breakfast, we had a breakfast casserole and blueberry monkey bread prepared by Amy and Laz in their Hawaiian shirts and Christmas aprons.

Afterwards, the guys headed out to the golf course to walk a few holes while the girls went on a bike ride through the neighborhood. We came back to the house, watched "The Hangover" and then headed to see Sherlock Holmes in the theater. We had a tasty steak dinner at the house and played cards until we couldn't stay awake any longer. It was the perfect way to spend Christmas day :)

Christmas Soldiers 107/365

We woke up on the morning of Christmas Eve, and got ready for more family to come down from Jacksonville. Before everyone arrived, I walked around the house taking pictures of the beautiful holiday decor. One of my favorite pictures that I have taken since I have been here, happens to be the one below of the Christmas soldiers.

Everyone got into town and we all sat down for Christmas lunch. It was delicious as always and I was even able to grab a few pictures around the table. This is Tyler with two of his cousins.

Cocoa grabbed a good seat with Skeeter when we all started unwrapping gifts.

I'm not sure why we are surprised that Tess hates the camera...what a good sport!

Our annual apron picture with our adorable new aprons.

And an apron picture with the whole family!

We stayed in and nibbled on leftovers for dinner. We watched a movie and went to bed early and excited for Christmas morning.

Soup Spoons 106/365

We got up on Wednesday morning, and were on our way to Florida by 8:30am with a full car and Chick-Fil-A biscuits in hand. We made pretty good time with two quick stops and were pulling into Tyler's house in St. Augustine a little before 3:30pm. We unpacked the car and got everything settled in. We had a soup and sandwich dinner with three different soups and lots of sandwich ingredient choices.

After dinner, we headed out to downtown St. Augustine for a horse and carriage ride. The entire town is lit for the holidays and it was nice and cool so we enjoyed some hot chocolate on our ride. After the ride, our driver took some pictures...and we even got to take one with Felix the horse.

Picture This 105/365

On Tuesday night, I worked on getting all of our gifts wrapped and ready for Christmas while Tyler picked up Ethan after work and took him out to Chuck E. Cheese's. They battled lots of rush hour and holiday traffic but they finally made it. They had pizza and plowed through 100 tokens before getting some picture sketches taken and heading home. Tyler was excited to be able to see Ethan right before the holidays and as always, they both had a blast!

Tyler came home with a picture of him and Ethan and some extra tickets so I could use them for our picture. We got all packed up for our trip to Florida and, after we threw our entire closet into the suitcases, we headed to sleep.

Twinkling Star 104/365

I finally finished the holiday shopping yesterday after work! Tyler and I enjoyed chicken soup and snuggled in to watch the Giants/Redskins game. Tyler watched until the end and has happily made it to the fantasy football championship game in two of his leagues. While he watched, I decided to play with my camera a little in an attempt to learn how to blur out the lights on our tree. This is my favorite one I took and more than anything I love knowing that I can see a technique and then figure out how to replicate it. I am missing my class already but am so grateful for everything I learned!

Holiday Wishes 103/365

The holiday cards have been flooding in this year and we feel SO loved! Thank you for all the warm wishes and Happy Holidays to you :)

She Would 102/365

Let me start by saying, that Tess has been in my life for longer than Tyler has been. I brought her home when she was 4 weeks old and loved her with every part of my heart. She helped turn around a tough time for me and, as far as I'm concerned, she is the best dog in the entire world. Enter Tyler...the man who stole not only my heart, but hers as well. She absolutely adores him. So you can only imagine how much I shake my head in amazement to see her perfectly pose for the camera, ears forward and eyes open, when he is standing behind me. I try for 2 hours to get a birthday picture and end up with a sleeping dog and smiling monkey. He says her name from behind my head and she couldn't be happier to have her picture taken. Well crazy girl...luckily for both of us, he makes me that happy too :)

First Snow 101/365

On Friday...IT SNOWED! We left work a little early to make it home before the storm hit, so I stopped by the grocery store to grab stuff to make chicken soup. Tess and I cozied up and stayed warm as the house filled with yummy smells. I spent a couple of hours on the phone laughing with my sister and went to sleep looking forward to Tyler coming back on Saturday!!

Birthday Pup 100/365

Sadly, Tyler was out of town in Salt Lake City during a big day for our family. Thursday marked Tess' 6th birthday AND day 100 for our Project365. I stopped after work to pick up some tasty treats for Tess and also couldn't resist getting a cute monkey for my "monkey." I thought Tess had been warming up to the camera, but man was I mistaken! The monkey however, was more than happy to smile and pose :)

Tess and I finally agreed to put the camera away and snuggle up to watch Marley and Me together. She slept and I cried...it was a great way to spend her birthday. We both definitely wished Tyler had been there too! After the movie, I decided to take a couple of day 100 pictures to mark the exciting achievement as well.

I was hoping to get a picture of Tess with her new birthday toy and me with my champagne toasting to day 100....not a chance! Here's what we got instead, a smiling monkey. :)

Always easier when shes sleeping!

Green Gum 99/365

Wednesday was my last photography class for this course. I had shot most of the pictures for the scavenger hunt already but, as I was walking into the office, I spotted this green gum and just had to add it to my "green" collection. We learned about electronic flashes in class and it was sad to say goodbye to the great people I met. I hope to take another class soon!

While I was at class, Tyler was home hanging with Tess. He got all packed up and ready for his last business trip of 2009!

A Little Sparkle 98/365

This week marked the end of my photography class. For our last assignment, we had a scavenger hunt with several items on the list. One was green, one was flowers, and among a handful of others was glass. I tried to utilitze things in our house as much as possible since the weather had been bad during the weekend, and this is one of my favorite combo shots. I love these flowers that sit on our coffee table and that the green Christmas tree is peeking in from behind. I was able to capture a bit of reflection in the glass table and more than anything, I love the sparkle.

Always Watching 97/365

Monday was an early night for me, but Tyler stayed up to watch MNF in hopes of securing a place in the fantasy football playoffs. It was another night where I mumbled from my resting place something about a picture, and my incredible husband went off to photograph one of my favorite things in our house. I remember falling in love with the giant zebra canvas hanging in the window of the Z Gallerie, and when Tyler drove 15 miles an hour home with it towering out of his convertible last Valentine's day, I knew it was the perfect fit for our home. I love this picture he took because the eye lashes are my favorite part of the painting. It makes me smile and so does he. :)

New Toy 96/365

On Sunday, we headed back to Charlotte so Tyler and Ethan could go to the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Chirstmas party at Great Wolf Lodge, a resort with an indoor water park. Ethan had a ball and was excited to open a remote control car as a gift from BB/BS. We tried a new place for dinner and settled in to enjoy the end of our weekend and play with our new toy.

The older we get, the more our toys change. Or does our taste in toys really stay the same? At the holiday party for Tyler's office, everyone opens gifts from Santa, 3 people at a time. I always make sure Tyler and I have front row seats, because year after year it continues to be my favorite part of the night. Each employee gets to make a list and send it to Santa. Everyone pretty much knows what they are opening, but I still love watching!

Tyler has always been a very selfless gift asker. He asks for grocery store gift cards and vacuum cleaners for our house. This year he asked for things that he and Ethan can to do together. Super Mario Brothers was on his list and every night since he opened it, we have played it. I love that compared to some of the other games he plays, this one is simple enough that I can play with him. I love that it reminds me of playing nintendo with my sister when we were growing up and again with my college roommate in our dorm room. I love that whether we are playing with one player or two, we both love getting through the boards together. It is something our 8 year old selves would have loved...and I think that's what I love about it the most. :)

Festival of Lights 95/365

We woke up early on Saturday morning and headed to Greensboro. Tyler had lunch with my mom and dad, while I met with Maggie and George and their families to start discussing wedding details. I'm glad we all got to sit down together because we are definitely more on the same page after our meeting!

Afterwards, it was back to the house to celebrate Hannukah with my family! We enjoyed briscuit, chicken, latkes and even chocolate chip cake. We lit the menorah and opened gifts. It was a quick trip, in and out, but it's always nice to spend the holidays with our families. My wine loving parents now have the most fitting menorah I have ever seen. It's a cork :)

Fancy Family 94/365

On Friday we hurried off to Tyler's holiday party for his office. It was at the same location as last year and we had a great time again. The food was great and there was a photo booth set up with holiday props to play with. We can't wait to see the pictures!

We got home and attempted to re-create one of our favorite family photos from last year, taken after the RSM holiday party, in front of our tree. Tess was a little more willing this year. If you ask me...I think she's starting to warm up to the camera. And just in time for Day 100...her 6th birthday! Stay tuned :)

Below is the picture from last year...

Need a Refill 93/365

On Thursday night, my Project 365 juices decided to take an early vacation! The photo below took about all I had left...

Super Skyline 92/365

Yesterday was a GREAT Wednesday! I had my photography class AND Tyler came back from Ohio. We are officially one business trip away from our holiday season together. Our entire class has been looking forward to this class session. We met on a bridge with a great view of the Charlotte skyline. We learned about silhouettes and night time shooting and car trails. We had a blast lined up on the bridge practicing. Afterwards, we finished up class at Thomas Street Tavern. Then I got to head home to cuddle up with my amazing husband and sweet pup. This shot is one of my favorites and I think it is just magical in black and white.

Falling Into Winter 91/365

I think we have officially moved into Winter weather this week. We have been getting little teaser winter days, but now I think we are done with the 70 degree day treats until spring. It's all winter weather. In good news...I LOVE winter garb! It's time for cute hats, colorful scarves and warm winter coats :) I say this...however, I am beyond excited about spending the holidays in Florida. I can't believe they are just around the corner!

Triple Time 90/365

It was back to work on Monday, and then home to enjoy a night in together before Tyler headed to Ohio on Tuesday. Tyler was getting packed up before bed and I decided to play around with these funky mirrors that hang over our dresser. We haven't done a self portrait in a while so I figured I would throw one in there. I seem to be loving everything in black and white much better than color this week...ENJOY!

Little Fist Pumper 89/365

On Sunday morning we enjoyed our Sunday morning bagel tradition and hung around the house getting some things done and watching Jags football. In the afternoon, we headed over to Jeremy and Andrea's to watch more football, eat dinner and celebrate Jeremy's birthday. Lincoln is getting SO big and we all loved watching her wide eyes as she takes in everything around her. She loves the Christmas tree and she loves watching Chargers football with her dad. We also discovered that she is quite the jersey shore fist pumper :)

My Favorites 88/365

Tyler picked up Ethan on Saturday morning and took him to play at Monkey Joe's, which is a big indoor play center. Ethan had a ball and I think Tyler enjoyed watching him play just as much! My phone died in the afternoon and after taking advantage of a 3-day free phone promotion at Verizon...I finally joined the cult and upgraded to a Blackberry. I picked up fried chicken for dinner and we relaxed upstairs so we could watch college football on two TVs. I love the picture I got of my two favs!

The picture below may or may not explain why Tess HATES the camera!

Together Again 87/365

Tyler got back from Ohio on Friday, and I could not wait to get home from work so we could go out for date night. We decided on sushi for dinner and then my wonderful husband offered to take me to see New Moon. We got home and Tyler took the picture below...I love it! It was such a nice night and we looked forward to a relaxing weekend together!

Maggie's Getting Married 86/365

My friend Maggie was in town on Thursday for a residency interview and I couldn't wait to see her...she had gotten engaged over the Thanksgiving holiday and we needed to celebrate! I went down into the city for dinner and met up with Ashley, Lisa and Maggie at Alexander Michael's. We had such a great time talking about stories from high school and catching up on what's going on now. We celebrated Maggie's engagement and enjoyed a fun night out. There were great light balls hanging at the front of the restaurant, but they just weren't as beautiful without Maggie adding her new bling. :)