Our Vacation Through Instagram

     My husband and I finally got a week off together! This has been our first vacation together since our honeymoon almost a year ago! We decided to visit the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, and here are some pictures from our trip. ☺

The bad decisions started early...lol This was our "snack" on the way up to Pigeon Forge.

This is our view driving into town. Notice the Titanic museum up ahead and the mountains in the back.

Here's another view of the mountains and the beautiful clouds.

This is my Kosmic Karma + Roasted Red Peppers Pizza from Mellow Mushroom. ☺

The result of our visit to The Smoky Mountain Popcorn Company ~ Half Chocolate Caramel & Half Cheddar and Sour Cream 

...and our second trip to the Popcorn Company. Left to Right: Snickers, Taco, and Buffalo 

The Smoky Mountain Popcorn Company

This is a view of Little Pigeon River that runs through Gatlinburg. We happened to come upon this bridge while we were walking through downtown Gatlinburg.

The Old Mill General Store attached to The Old Mill Restaurant. This restaurant is definitely not the cheapest in town, but you definitely leave full and with plenty of leftovers!!

Parking at The Old Mill

The view in front of The Old Mill Restaurant ~ Fun shops with mountains as a backdrop ♥

Joe's Crab Shack in the mountains? You got it.

Another picture of Joe's. We had beer-battered fish, crab cakes, and my husband ate crab-stuffed shrimp. 

The super-cute pirate ship playground for the kiddies at Joe's

The back of the new Hollywood Wax Museum in Pigeon Forge ~ The King Kong is huge!

The yummy fried green tomatoes with feta cheese and spicy ranch from The Partridge and Pear Restaurant!

Christmas decor at The Partridge and Pear Restaurant

The Starbucks my husband has nicknamed "Ye Old Starbucks" because of it's appearance. ☺ We go to the Ye Old Starbucks every time just so we can say its nickname. Haha!

I hope you have enjoyed these pictures! I have many more to add to this post, so check back! ☺

Christmas Tree History....

"Even before the arrival of Christianity, Germans decorated evergreen trees to brighten the dark, gloomy days of the winter solstice. The first "Christmas trees" appeared in Strasbourg in the 17th century and spread to Pennsylvania in the 1820s with the arrival of German immigrants. When Queen Victoria married Germany's Prince Albert in 1840, he brought the tradition to England. Eight years later, the first American newspaper ran a picture of the royal Christmas tree and Americans outside of Pennsylvania quickly followed suit."
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1868506_1868508_1868530,00.html#ixzz0apqDMqU4

Bradley Square Christmas Bear

Bradley Square Christmas Bear

This bear has been in the Bradley Square Mall during the holidays ever since I can remember.

The bear is probably as old as the mall itself.

I know it doesn't look like it now, but this bear used to be the focal point of Christmas decorations in our hometown mall.

It used to sit amongst giant-sized toy building blocks, the biggest rocking-horse I've ever seen, and many other welcomed decorations.

The bear was snow-white, and donned with his most special tinsel-gold bowtie. He sang to the passerby's as his mouth moved to the words, and turned his head to watch shoppers exitedly prance by, gift bags in tote.

Now the Bradley Square Christmas Bear is a dilapidated version of itself, a shade of dirty snow, and a mouth no longer capable of singing his favorite Christmas carols.

His head never moves to watch families go by, and his back looks as if it has been pried open many times for failed repairs.

Yet, still, when I see him, I remember all those years long ago when I saw Mr. Bradley Square Christmas Bear watching me hold my parents' hands, my dreams full of candy and presents evident in my eyes.

And when I see him on days like today, I am instantly a child again, with visions of Christmas day dancing in my head.

Clement C. Moore

I know this is really random, but I have learned a lot in the past few days about Clement C. Moore and the history of "The Night Before Christmas".
According to legend, Clement C. Moore wrote "A Visit from St. Nicholas", which is now known as "The Night Before Christmas", for his family on Christmas Eve of 1822. Moore did not even want the poem to be published, but a friend of the family found out about the poem from Moore's children and submited it to the editor of the Troy (New York) Sentinel, where it was published first on December 23, 1823.
Did you also know that the story of Santa entering through the chimney came soley from "The Night Before Christmas"? The main enterance we all know of today hadn't even been heard of before this poem.
Moore was the first to actually give names to Santa's reindeer. He is also credited with creating the modern image of Santa Claus as a jolly, fat man in a furry red suit.
I did not realize how essential this man is to our Christmas traditions.
Even now, almost two hundred years later, it is the most-published, most-read, most-memorized and most-collected book in all of Christmas literature.

Final Countdown 2009 of Top 25 Favorite Things about Christmastime

This is the Final Countdown 2009 of my Favorite Things about Christmastime:

1. First and Foremost: Jesus's Birth
2. Starbuck's Peppermint White Mocha - Non-fat, of course. :)
3. Old-school Christmas lights, you know, the ones that aren't LED and were bought before global warming? lol
4. Mariah Carey's "Baby, Please Come Home!" (My fave Christmas song!)
5. Christmas trees. Every color, every size. I don't discriminate. :)
6. Giving present to my family and friends.
7. Sirius Radio = Christmas Classics 24/7
8. Baking Christmas Cheesecake for my co-workers.
9. Lays Ruffles and French Onion Dip - because my mammaw used to have it at her house every Christmas.

'Tis the Season

This makes me all warm inside. lol