Merry Christmas from the Ringlers!

 I can't hardly believe that Christmas is right around the corner!?!?  

I think the lack of winter weather has really thrown everyone for a loop this year and may be the cause for Christmas creeping up on us.  I typically start shopping in October and this year it wasn't until Black Friday did I really get going!  Thankfully, I'm done now, minus the Christmas baking which I'll knock out this week.  I can't speak for my husband though, but I did notice two presents appeared under the tree yesterday... no bows, no name tags, but I'm guessing they're for me! :)  

Our holiday season always kicks off with our annual Christmas party, which I have yet to blog about... Oppsies!  

But for me it never feels like Christmas until we are back on my parents farm for a few days.  We will head up Sunday afternoon and spend a few days with them, my sister and my extended family!  On the list of things to do while we are home is:

Go to the Christmas Cantata

Bake a tea ring with Mom

Visit with friends

Give my retired barrel horse a good brushin' and some kisses

Christmas Eve service at church with my whole family

Family gift exchange

Mimosa's on Christmas Day 

I also want to share with you our 2012 Christmas card.  This year I was really torn on what to do...  

I wanted to get a family photo taken partly, okay mostly, because I wanted to show off the weight I've lost, but didn't get around to that because our weekends were crazy!  So instead I decided on "The Ringler's Top 10 of 2012".

          

28-29

Day 28-So thankful this semester of school is wrapping up!  Don't get me wrong, I'm very appreciative for this opportunity, but dang I need a break!

Day29-I've already talked about how thankful I am for the great ladies I work with, but today my coworker helped me buy Luke Bryan concert tickets!  It was a frantic race with a countdown to 10AM, shouting, and jumping up and down, but between the two of us we were able to get  tickets bought!!!  Yesterday the pre-sale tickets, even with my password, were gone in minutes and I was bordering on serious depression.  Thankfully today was a new day and new pre-sale codes were announced... And I'm one HAPPY girl! 

I'll leave you with a little eye candy to get you through....
 **Disclaimer... I really do love my husband, honestly! But this man, woo, his wife is a lucky lady!

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17-27

Day 17-I don't have a brother, only a younger sister, but if I could pick one person to be my older brother it would be my friend Matt.  He's pretty much amazing! 

Day 18-Pumpkin ice cream, enough said!

Day 19-An easy 7.5 hour work day before a few days off for Thanksgiving.

Day 20-The weather last Tuesday was gorgeous!  My friend Jody and I rode our horses outside, for what may be the last time for a few months. 

Day 21-Pay Day!

Day 22-My in-laws are great people!  They are always up for trying new recipes and playing a round or two of Catch Phrase.

Day 23-The retail employee's who work Black Friday! 

Day 24-My sister-in-law Jennifer.  I love watching her interact with Matt... She still calls him by his childhood nickname, Macko.  I'm not sure where it comes from, but I think it's cool that it's stuck for so long.

Day 25-Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.  Okay, so I might be a bit obsessed with her... I read her blog, make her recipes, have one cookbook and am hopeful that I get the second one for Christmas and Matt and I both watch her TV show every Saturday.  I made two of her squash recipes for Thanksgiving this year and they were both dynamite!

Day 26-Yesterday afternoon I started decorating for Christmas and I couldn't resist putting in ELF!  Actually I did the 'eenie meeny miny mo' thing to help choose between White Christmas and ELF... Will Farrel is hysterical in this movie and I could probably recite the whole dang movie if I wanted to!  A while back I had this movie with me on a plane and kind of forgot that just because people couldn't hear the actual movie because I had headphones in, didn't mean they couldn't hear me giggling at all the funny scenes!  Oppsies!

Day 27-Today, I'm thankful for the electric hot water kettle we have at the office!  The boss likes the office pretty cool and hot tea helps keep away the chills.