Candlelight Christmas Tour at Biltmore!

Adam and I have been trying to make the most of the Twelve Days of Christmas, which ended today, by the way! So, Friday, despite being very sick, we piled in the car and drove to Asheville, NC for the Candlelight Christmas Tour at Biltmore Estate! It was definitely worth it, even if I had to carry a plastic bag in my purse incase I had to throw up! I am so glad Jo Ann and Frank got us the tickets for the Candlelight tour and not just the regular Christmas tour. The ambiance is soo much better on the candlelight tour! All the lighting in the house was low and soft - not exactly true candlelight, but I don't think they want the 100 year old house or anything in it to burn, even if the house was considered fire proof! As soon as we walked into the house, there was a chorus singing Christmas songs in the Winter Garden. It was so beautiful it made me want to cry! Then we toured a few rooms and came back around to the Winter Garden and there was a ballet performance. I LOVE ballet! Most of the music and dances were from the Nutcracker - my favorite! There were three girls and one guy. Everytime the guy came out, Adam made us leave to tour the rest of the house! He doesn't believe guys should do ballet, or wear tights, especially while frolicking around the Winter Garden! Ha!
Anywho, the house is always decorated so magnificiently, but they outdid themselves with all the Christmas decorations! There was a Christmas tree in every room except the bathrooms and maybe the kitchen areas. There was a HUGE tree in the Banquet Hall in front of the organ loft. Adam called it the Griswold Tree because it was so huge and actually looked just like the tree in the movie "Christmas Vacation." Then in the basement while leaving the Halloween Room and Entering the Bowling Alley - that's right, one of the nation's oldest bowling alleys - there were Storytellers, telling stories about the family and other crazy stories where the guests were supposed to put on masks and act out parts! It really was a wonderful experience! Even though I've been to Biltmore about three times before, it never gets old seeing how lavishly this family lived and seeing the new rooms as they are restored!

Here are a few pictures. They won't let you take pictures inside the house, except by their photographer in one room, but we did get some great shots of the house from outside!

Ringing In The New Year in Louisville!

Yesterday afternoon Adam and I piled into the Honda after Adam got off work to head to Louisville, KY to ring in the new year with some great friends, Brooke and Sam Crass! We arrived at Brooke and Sam's and caught up on everything and then headed to dinner. Poor Adam was a little disappointed with his calzone at dinner. He was expecting a huge calzone like you get at most restaurants but it was actually smaller than Brooke's Mini Pizza! Ha! I offered up a little of my soup and salad and Sam donated a chicken wing to my starving husband!
After dinner we went downtown and decided to spend the rest of the evening at Howl at the Moon! It had live entertainment with piano players and a band. We sat next to a group of Debbie Downers. This family couldn't have looked more miserable, and they stayed that way almost the entire night, but we didn't let that ruin our night! It was very funny listening to a 50 year old guy singing Britney Spears's "Womanizer" and the party-goers offer up money to hear their collegiate fight song, played in a fight song battle (whoever paid the most money got to hear their fight song the longest - IU won).
Right before midnight the bartenders came around and gave out free Champagne! They just handed us an entire bottle, and we were nice enough to share with the Debbie Downers and several others! It actually brought half a smile to their faces! Mission Accomplished!
The rest of the evening consisted of New Years kisses (with Adam of course); Adam ate as much free food as possible at Howl at the Moon, and Adam ALMOST ate a stray platter of brownies that were left out in a random planter on the street, until I stopped him!
Today Sam and Brooke took us to see some of the sights in Louisville! We saw the gigantic Louisville Slugger, the different stadiums, Six Flags and Church Hill Downs. I am so impressed with Louisville. It's huge!

We stopped to get some gas in the Honda for the trip home but Adam was not going to fill the tank up all the way up because the price in Louisville had gone up 10 cents since earlier that day - it was $1.79! However, when Adam started to pump the gas he noticed the sign at the pump for the lowest grade was $1.179! He thought his eyes were failing him but mid-grade was $1.89. So, someone at the gas station made a little boo boo on the price and we got it for $1.17! We were so excited. It felt like we were stealing gas! It was a great start to the new year!
We had so much fun in Louisville! Tt was great to see Sam and Brooke and to spend end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 with them!

$1.17 gas - check the screen! 10.3 gallons for $12.16!

Kisses for New Years!

The Crasses!

The Knieses!

Sam imitating the Debbie Downers!

The Knies Family Christmas

Adam and I have very traditional Christmases. Each year we have Christmas with Mom on Christmas Eve, then we go to Midnight Mass with the Knies Family, then Christmas day with the Knies family and Christmas evening with Jo Ann's family. So this year was very much the same, with the exception that we exchanged gifts with my family on Sunday instead of Christmas Eve so River and Ronnie could be there. However, Adam and I still had Christmas Eve dinner with Mom and spent some quality time with her!
Then Adam and I headed to the Knies house to get ready for Midnight Mass. I was a little worried that I wouldn't make it all the way through Mass this year. Midnight is a little past my bed time and I was still feeling very sick, but I made it through despite the fact that I could've fallen asleep right there on the wooden pew and the blast of incense that kept wafting my direction!

Christmas morning was exciting as usual. Jo Ann and Frank do waaaay too much for us and we are so grateful. I honestly had no clue what I would be getting since Adam is so sneaky, but he did an incredible job letting everyone know what I would like. Like I said, we get way to much but I did want to hightlight a few gifts.

In November my flat iron broke, and if you have wavy hair like mine, a flat iron is your best friend! I told Adam that it was broken and that I needed to buy a new one but he refused to let me because it was a potential gift! So I have been sporting the curly hairdo or a very fluffy, half-wavy, half straight coif ever since. After opening my gifts from Adam, he asked if I was expecting the Nikon S 60 and I told him that I was expecting him to buy me the flat iron, especially since I left the broken one sitting out so he could use it as a reference! He looked me straight in the eye with a worried look and told me that he completely forgot to put the flat iron on my Christmas list. I was a little shocked but then figured that I could just go buy one after Christmas. Well, Adam is a very good liar! Jo Ann and Frank not only bought me a flat iron, but a CHI flat iron, which is the best ones on the market, and one of the pricier ones! I've always wanted a Chi but couldn't really justify spending the money on it. It was a great suprise!

Also, I have been mentioning for years that I wanted to go to Biltmore at Christmas because supposedly the house is decorated to the hilt! Adam and I went 2 years ago in the fall and loved it. So of course, Jo Ann and Frank came through with tickets for the candlelight tour. We will be heading to Asheville on Friday, the second for our Biltmore adventure!

One of Adam's big gifts is that he got his car fixed. Shortly after Adam and I got married, a tree at the cruddy apartment we lived in fell on Adam's car. It didn't hurt the car, but left tons of sap on it. Over the years the sap has caused the paint to peel, so they got it fixed. The car looks like new!

This afternoon we will be packing up and driving to Louisville, KY to spend NYE with our friends the Crasses! We haven't seen them since they moved to Louisville in August, so it will be so fun, even if I am still a little under the weather.

2008 has been a wonderful year, full of blessings! However, 2009 will be our year! It will be full of blessings that we can't even imagine as of right now!!!!!

Happy New Year from the Knieses!

Midnight Mass!

Too Many Gifts!

Biltmore Tickets!

David as an elf sporting his athletic attire that Adam and I gave him!

New Shoes!

Smoke Opening his gift from David!

David and Sarah

Frank's gift was in a Crispix box!

Tis the Season to be Touched

Well, that is if you are a portable electronice device in our home! Every year Adam and I swap gifts early because we typically spend Christmas Eve with Mom and Dad and Christmas Day (including midnight mass) with Jo Ann and Frank. So Adam and I like to have our own little Christmas before Christmas!

So Saturday night Adam let me open my gifts (none of his had come in the mail yet)! First he let me open the non-fun gift - necessary apparel, and then he shocked me with the very fun gift. I had asked for this gift and didn't actually think I would get it because it was expensive and more so than what I thought when I asked for it, but Adam pulled through! He give me a new digital camera - the new Nikon S 60 - the one in the Ashton Kutcher comercial with the touch screen! I knew someone would probably get me a new camera but I thought they would get me a cheaper one, and I would have been totally satisfied with whatever I got. My old digital camera is a 5 megapixal Kodak Easyshare. It cost over $500 when I bought it years ago - back with 5 megapixals was the most megapixals you could get, so it was time for an upgrade to some more megapixals!

Also, this year we actually opened gifts with my family this past Sunday because Ronnie has my nephew then and we all wanted to be there to see him open his gifts. So, Mom lets us open the gifts from her then too. Mom bought Adam and I the new Blackberry Storm - the first touch screen Blackberry! We are still trying to figure everything out about them, but so far, we both love them! I really needed a new phone and our agreement is up in January so I qualified for a new phone discount. At first I wanted the LG Dare, which is also touch screen, but I kind of wanted a Blackberry, more for the business aspect of it. So I held out for a few months with my old school phone and lucked out when Blackberry came out with a touch screen!

Adam and I have never had the NEW cell phone. We always get one of the cheaper ones. Adam left the house in shock Sunday night and kept asking if we REALLY had the Blackberry Storm! I have to admit that it has been so nice having a Blackberry the past few days, since I've been sick in bed a lot. So now I can have my phone by the bed and get email updates as soon as they come into my inbox! So Monday, a customer emailed me an order that she needed right away. I didn't have to get out of bed -feeling sick- to check my email, much less, email her back. I could do it right there in my warm cozy bed with my Sprite and crackers! It was also nice getting updates on Adam's gifts being shipped as I was running other errands!

So finally half of Adam's gifts have been delivered. It's funny how the gifts you order the earliest are the late ones to be shipped, and may not make it by Christmas at all, and the gift I ordered Saturday arrived today! I was so excited about the gift that arrived today. It was a gift that Adam had not asked for, but I knew he would love it.

I failed to mention that it is tradition for Adam and I to open our gifts from each other and then watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - every year! So Adam brought out the DVD and the gift idea popped into my head, so I ran to the computer to search for it and order if possible! I think Adam's favorite character from the movie is cousin Eddie, and Adam drinks eggnog everyday between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so what better gift than the Marty Moose eggnog cups from the movie! Well, I didn't order the exact ones, but found some a little bigger and a little cheaper. Apparently the guy who made them for the movie sells them for $90 a piece! Adam was so excited when he opened them and of course tonight he drank his eggnog from the moose cup. All he needs now is a black dickie under a white sweater, with green polyester pants and white patent leather shoes!

I will post pictures as soon as I get the software for the new camera downloaded onto the computer.

Adam and I are so blessed and we will have other blessings to share this Holiday Season, so stay tuned to Keep Up with the Knieses!

Adam with his Marty Moose cup!

Me (very sickly) with my new camera!

Ronnie and River at Mom's for Christmas!

Tickle Time!

Us at Mom's for Christmas!

River playing on his new activities table that Auntie M and Uncle Adam got him!

River in Ronnie's shoes - the boy has a shoe fetish!

River's Christmas gift from me last year - the $0.97 blue ball - his favorite toy!

Mary Kay Consultants Holiday Party

Tonight I attended another holiday party with my adopted director here in Knoxville! We had a pot luck style dinner, where everyone contributes a dish and then we had a Dirty Santa style ornament exchange! I love Dirty Santa style gift giving! It's a game of strategy to get the gift you really want! It never fails though that I open a gift that everyone fights for, and I have been known to steal a gift just because so many others are after it, especially if I lose the gift I really want! Also, I think it is interesting to see which gifts are the most commonly saught after!
We play Dirty Santa every year at the holiday party with my girlfriends from highschool. And ever since I started in Mary Kay, there is usally some Mary Kay product as part of my gift, because that way I can give more for the designated price point since I get a discount on my products! Well, it never fails that every year that is one of the most saught after gifts (funny since a lot of my friends don't buy my products)!
However, at this party with all MK consultants and an ornament theme, I wanted to get a Mary Kay inspired ornament to see if it would be the most stolen gift! I picked an wooden orament that spelled "DREAM" in blue glitter (MK girls always go for glitter)! I thought it was a little flashy for the age group at first and wished it had been pink, since that is our company's color, but decided that an MK themed ornament would be nice. At first I was skeptical because it wasn't stolen immediately, but everyone remarked on how cute it was. Then the last person to either open the last gift or steal a gift finally stole it and then it went like crazy! I was so excited!
My dish went over well also. I had lots of compliments and some ladies went back for seconds and thirds, which always makes you feel good! I made these little cranberry - pineapple jello minis that Jo Ann made for Thanksgiving dinner, and I found the pamphlet for them at Kroger! I actually made a batch (24 cupcake sized minis) for myself last week and ate all of it by myself! They are really that good!

Cranberry-Pineapple Minis

1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple, in juice
2 pkgs (the little ones) JELL-O Raspberry flavor gelatin (I used sugar free JELL-O )
1 can (16 oz) whole berry cranberry sauce
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 apple chopped

Drain: pineapple, reserving juice. Add enough water to juice to measure 2 1/2 cups; pour into saucepan. Bring to boil. Pour over gelatin mixes in large bowl; stir 2 minutes until completely dissolved.

Stir: in pineapple, cranberry sauce, walnuts and apple. Spoon into 24 paper-lined muffin cups

Refrigerate: 2 1/2 hours or until firm

Toys-R-Not-Us

Mom came up to Knoxville yesterday to go shopping for River for Christmas. Adam and I rode along with her to get our gifts for River as well. We had a lot of fun picking out cool, educational gifts for little Riv. However, it will be a long long time before I step foot in Toys R Us again, especially at Christmas! That place was absolutely crawling with people, including kids! As soon as we walked in the door I could hear screaming and crying! I could hear the hearts breaking and the throwing of tantrums and hissy fits as mothers bravely told their children that they couldn't have that toy, but if they were good Santa might bring it to them!
I made the decision right then and there that my children will NEVER step foot in that store! Adam and I might brave the store one day for whatever the future Cabbage Patch doll or Tickle Me Elmo might be, but our children will not see the inside if I can help it! The merchandising in that store is unbelievable! All the cool stuff is at eye level - for children. All the toys now are in bright colorful boxes that look so inviting. Maybe it's too bright and that is what triggers the seizures of tantrums that I heard!?! Then of course to top it off there are the parents who let their children do anything and are totally submissive while their children are running around like they are on a sugar high or snorted their Ritalin instead of taking it orally! When other parents turn to you and say "Good Luck," there's a problem - seriously! Don't get me wrong, I love children and have had many jobs in college working with them, but I run a tight ship - a ship with discipline and proper behavior! Sadly, they don't sell that in brightly colored boxes at Tantrums-R-Us!

Tantrums-R-Us: Where a Kid can be a [fall down in the floor, kicking, screaming,and crying] Kid!

Mary Kay Holiday Open House!!

It's that time again! The Holiday season is upon us! As always, I will be hosting my Holiday Open House again this year at the house this Saturday! I'm really excited to see how it turns out this year! I have already hosted a small one in Kingston that was successful!
So, if you are in the Knoxville area this Saturday (the 6th, then please feel free to stop by any time between 10AM and 5PM and shop for family, friends and yourself!
Or visit my website and take a look at the wonderful gift ideas we have!