Bella's Yard

Her backyard will be greatly missed when she goes back to the dog on a leash 6 times a day. 

But I have a feeling she will be just fine. 

I'm so excited...

ummm hmmm. that's right.

It's been a waiting game, but they say good things come to those that wait.

We have sold our home!

Well, we have a contract and a closing date.
So if you have some extra time please send positive thoughts and prayers our way that everything goes well in the next few days.

What does this mean for us?
Well...
a) we will live in our first home for about 6 more weeks (closing date: end of February)
b) no idea where we will live
c) no idea where we are going

But I do have a sneakin' suspicion that everything else will fall into place and there will be a lot of exciting blog posts to come.

So stay tuned.

But for now Matt and I are celebrating with a special bottle of wine... and lots of memories.

Christmas

This...

is how our Christmas began. Well, a little like this. We arrived in Tennessee to Sarah's parents on Thursday evening. We had decided to make it a road trip mostly so our other family member (Bella) could join us in the festivities. We were sitting around, visiting, and discussing the plans for the week when all of a sudden...

My father came down the stairs in Santa Claus attire. Now, my family tends to be pretty traditional about our Christmas Eve agenda and Santa Claus still visits the nice little Schoenfelder/McQuinn children so Santa coming early was a little on the peculiar side. However, it is not on the peculiar side for my father to entertain us. However, when Santa began handing out gifts, we should have known this would be a Christmas to remember. Each of the children received a small gift bag from Santa and we were instructed to open it at the same time. In our bags we each found a Disney gift card. After a series of puzzled looks across the room, the announcement of our trip to Disney World became official. I cried. For those of you who don't know I am kinda obsessed with Disney...

*I truly believe it is one of the happiest places on Earth

*I turn into a 6 year old girl when I am there (this includes lots of smiling, giggling, & breakdowns)
*I always wanted to get married at Disney World (now that dream has reinvented itself into a renewal... You can see Cindarella's castle from the wedding gazebo, people...
*I seriously considered taking my honeymoon at Disney World. My husband and I are on a different wavelength when it comes to Disney World... he enjoys, but maybe not as a romantic destination


So, we packed our bags and prepared for a very Disney Christmas. We had such an amazing and special Christmas, one that will never be forgotten, but I don't even know where to begin in describing it, so I guess I will share the pictures as I took about 1000. Literally.


But to start here is a fun little story. My brother and I had a conversation in November when I was in TN for my sister's birthday about these new Disney commercials and how we couldn't wait to travel to Disney with our future children and maybe even someday surprise them. Our parents were in on the conversation, however little did we know their surprise was already in the works...

 






















The photos above were of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios. Apparently a family donated this "bright attraction" to Walt Disney World after his neighbors weren't really feeling this whole spectacle. Oh, and in true Disney Magic it snows while this spectacle is going on. Here is a clip of what the lights look like live....

As you can see it was a magical time spent with some very special people. The memories made we shared will be forever cherished...


Hope your holiday season was full of many magical moments.


The McQuinns
Matt, Sarah, & Bella

happy new year

1.1.11

lots of ones.

ones represent beginnings. starts... fresh starts.

The McQuinn's are looking forward to all the beginnings and fresh starts that lay ahead in '11.

I have a feeling this is going to be a big year.

Happy New Year and may your 11 be filled with fresh beginnings and blessings.

Love,

Matt&Sarah

i need a little christmas

Well, this is not the blog post I thought it would be one week ago as I prepared for my 4th weekend in a row of travel, stressed about finding the perfect outfit, got my real winter coat down from the attic, and completely overpacked for a 24 hour trip.

No, this is not that post at all. Because old man winter completely took over my weekend. That's right. That snow that damaged the Metrodome also damaged my 5th Annual Christmas Party plans. So while I did spend my 4th weekend in a row traveling (Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, Nashville, Houston). The day felt long, cold, and slightly depressing. So, by Sunday I was in need of a "little Christmas". So that's what I did. I started by putting on the Christmas tunes, lit some Christmas inspired candles, and began baking.

(okay, i didn't say baking from scratch. But I mixed, put them in the oven, and even added Hershey kisses. So that is baking, right?)

(and my outfit def. made it official.)

This is a peek at the McQuinn's holiday residence. Due to our "situation" (house being for sale) and the fact that I have yet to be home for a weekend and Matt works all the time, we opted not to decorate as we usually do. I have a feeling Matt was relieved by this. He had a lot less to bring down for the attic. 

As devastated as I felt about not making it to Minnesota it was a great reminder about friendship. It would have been ideal to have been present, but I was reminded about how blessed I am to have friends that can make me feel so loved from 1000 miles away. And no snowstorm can take that away.

I've got one.

DC

Hi.

I am tired.

And my to do list is insane.

And I am preparing for my 4th weekend in a row of travel.

To Minnesota.

For the 5th Annual Christmas Party.

So that makes me happy.

Here are pictures of an amazing time in Washington DC.

Just pictures. 

Because there was no room for words on the to-do list.