Merry Christmas to All!

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Tomorrow we are packing our bags and heading North. We have enjoyed this past weekend, packed full of three Linenger Christmas celebrations. Especially now that I'm over my flu, we're ready to spend some quality Stallo time with my parents, Steph, and Rascal.

Before this special time flies by, we wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Our wish is for you to share the love which Christ has lavished upon us as He sent his only Son to earth. Enjoy your friends, family, and create lasting memories with the many blessings you have been given.

Will & Netherland

Last weekend Danny and I were guests at a very special wedding. Seven years in the making, Will and Netherland finally tied the knot! Netherland is one of my "Italy girls", a trauma nurse at UAB. She is so sweet and caring, and always a hoot to be around. Danny and I are so happy for The Daniels to join the married club! :) They are currently on the beaches of Antigua celebrating with their honeymoon.The wedding and reception took place on Saturday afternoon at The Reserve at Oak Bowery, near Auburn, Alabama. It was a picture-perfect outdoor Southern setting, very fitting to the bridge and groom. We enjoyed the camaraderie with the other Italy Girls and their significant others. Ashley and Michael were kind to host us all in their house so we got to hang out all day!!! After the wedding we dined at Provino's, an old college favorite, then went to Auburn Oyster Bar to meet up with other wedding guests. It was such a fun weekend! I just love my Italy Girls!

ACC Championship

As an early Christmas gift, Danny received tickets to the ACC Championship in Charlotte, NC to cheer on his Tigers at their big game. This was their first appearance at the playoff game in twenty years and we were so excited to be there. Neither of us having spent time in Charlotte before, we both ended up loving the city, its friendly people, and the great cuisine.

We drove in late Friday night after a pit stop in Clemson (Danny had to get some new team apparel) and hit up Selwyn Avenue Pub, which was recommended to us by Danny's friend at work. It was in a trendy area which I compared to a mix between Virginia Highlands and Buckhead. Immediately we were welcomed by other guests and engaged in friendly chit-chat. The bar was really cool with multiple fire pits on the patio, and people gathered all around. We wanted to stay longer but we knew we needed some rest for the big day ahead of us.

Saturday morning we took Lynx, Charlotte's train system, farther downtown to the stadium. Contrary to Atlanta's Marta, Lynx was clean and tickets are based on the honor system. Fanfest kicked off right as we approached the stadium. Danny got to test out his QB skills, as he tried throwing footballs through the tiny target, we won lots of prizes at the little promotional booths, and got photos with some ACC mascots. As we ventured to find a place to watch the SEC game, somehow Hooter's appeared right in front of us, and we ended up inside. That could have been Danny's choice. Nevertheless, we had a good time, returned to fanfare to people-watch, my favorite pass time, and then again wandered around their artsy downtown and into a nearby restaurant for dinner. It ended up to be another winner, authentic Italian style thin crusts pizzas. Oh, so delicious!
You would have thought we went to Charlotte to eat, but actually it was for football ...which brings us to game time. Inside Bank of America Stadium, where the Panthers play, was a record-setting crowd, very evenly divided between Clemson and Virginia Tech fans. Danny & I sat next to a really fun couple from Greenville. We enjoyed the Tigers' AWESOME performance and I could not have been more excited for a team that wasn't really "my" team. Danny was of course over-the-moon, getting so pumped up that he was warm enough in the 40-degree weather to wear a only short sleeved shirt. Silly guy! However that enthusiasm helped the Tigers to a 38-10 victory! Danny was so proud of his team and nearly brought to tears as the crowd chanted, "Dabo! Dabo!", supporting the coach and the team that many have continually doubted.Sunday morning we stopped at Bad Daddy's Burger Bar before heading home. Sadly, it put Nifers, our favorite Auburn burger joint, to shame. Danny and I both ranked Charlotte on the list of places to re-visit. I'm not sure what touristy things we would enjoy there, as neither of us were too keen on visiting the Nascar Hall of Fame, but it was a great weekend getaway to a "smaller Atlanta".

Wrapping Up the Fall

The last few weeks we've had a great time with our friends in and around Atlanta! We've enjoyed tailgate Saturdays, not necessarily at the stadium, but from the comfort of our sofa with food and drink in hand. We ventured into the great outdoors at a Pig Roast in North Georgia. We've celebrated marriage engagements and babies on the way!

Creatively Yours with the Postells

Toccoa Pig Roast

Aunt Jessicas at Baby Wandra's Shower

After an exhausting month at work, Danny and I reveled in the Thanksgiving break. We spent quality time together all weekend and gobbled 'til we wobbled with his family on Thursday. Danny even got into the "spirit" of the season as we attempted early morning Black Friday shopping (which we do not plan to do again). But we were able to knock out most of our holiday gifts the last few days, taking lots of pressure off me the next few weeks. Even though both of our Tigers were defeated in their rivalry games yesterday, we had an amazing long weekend and look forward to December, which is packed full of exciting events!

South's Largest Cocktail Party

The Crew at the Henderson's

Last weekend Danny & I ventured to Jacksonville for the annual Florida/Georgia football game weekend. As I have mentioned in posts from years past, the actually game means very little to us, but we always look forward to the unforgettable memories built with our friends that we've come to know because of this great weekend! This was our 5th year to participate, and the Henderson's 9th to host the twenty-plus twenty-something year old "kids" (but now some are into their 30's) at their home for the weekend. There are people sleeping in every nook and cranny of the house, gathering together whenever the food is on the table or a flip cup game is started in the garage. For as intense as this college rivalry is, both Gator and Bulldog fans come together to enjoy the camaraderie.
It worked out very well this year. In the past I was typically fighting rush hour traffic after work Friday to meet up with everyone down in Florida late at night. But this year we caravaned down after Thursday's kickball game, and I got to work from Jacksonville all day Friday. Danny and I even got to go measure a current beach house project for which Karpaty is building cabinets, then met up with our friends for sand volleyball and lunch. At night, after Mrs. H's famous baked ziti, we went out the beach bars. It was fun to see all the creative Halloween costumes people had come up with.As usual, Saturday started with a big breakfast before we headed to the tailgate spot. Although it started out a little rainy it turned into a great day to be outside! We played the game of murder, ate our cold cuts, and danced to the DJ's music set up in the tent next to us. After the game and a nap, everyone rallied for a fun night back at the Henderson's. Clemson encountered their first (and hopefully only) loss of the season, but Danny managed to shrug it off with a good attitude.

Danny and his old Admiral Dr. roommates

We are so thankful for two very special people, Mr and Mrs H, their tolerance of all the chaos, and their extreme hospitality which makes it such a fun weekend for us all, and something we look forward to every Fall!

Andrea made this cool banner for our hosts with past years' pictures

The Lovliest Weekend on the Plains

This past weekend was spent with our best friends, both old and new. Danny and I headed down to Auburn Friday afternoon. We started off with the traditional Nifer's dinner with our group of Auburn and Florida friends from Atlanta. Danny can't visit Auburn without eating fried pickles and corn nuggets, and this time he tried out their fishbowls, which is now a favorite as well. We discovered that Tim Tyler & Lane Wood, the musicians that played at our wedding, were at Skybar, so we just had to go! Some of my dear girl friends, the Italy Girls, met us there and we enjoyed a late night singing and dancing along.Saturday morning started off at Amsterdam's with an Italy Girls lingerie shower for Netherland, who is getting married in December. The food was great, they even had a Bloody Mary bar, and Netherland got some super cute gifts!I met up with Danny to make the rounds at some friends' tailgates for the rest of the day. We ended up watching the game at one of them and enjoyed the evening with my college friends celebrating Auburn's win over UF. Danny and the boys had hilarious high-five/chest bump competition. I guess you had to be there...but let's just say they made every game-goer's walk back from the stadium a treat! :) I love that my husband can make every little situation enjoyable.Sunday morning the Italy Girls celebrated again, this time a double baby shower brunch at Ariccia, for two of our mommies-to-be. Ashley S. and Jenny are due with their first children, a girl and boy respectively, the first of the year. Ashley W. is having a baby too, a few months later. We're so excited to welcome three bambinos to our growing group! After the shower we strolled down college street to see the celebratory tee-pee in Toomer's trees and had a little photo shoot on Samford Hall's lawn.
As always, it was a fantastic and special time with the Italy Girls; we're so lucky that all 8 of us could get together. Our husbands being there added even more fun to the mix. I am already looking forward to celebrating with them again at Netherland & Will's wedding. Having our Atlanta friends in town made the weekend even more of a party! We will join them (and a bunch more football fans) in Jacksonville for the annual Florida/Georgia weekend in just two more weeks. Let the fun festivities of Fall continue...

Walk to End Alzheimer's

This morning we joined with a few of our friends to participate in The Walk To End Alzheimer's at Atlantic Station. Danny & I are enthusiastic for this cause, not only to support our good friend who organizes the Atlanta events, but because his grandmother passed away from the disease, and my grandpa suffered from dementia. We loved them and miss them both, and hope that one day we will have a cure!!!

The opening ceremonies were really touching as people shared the impact Alzheimer's had on their lives. Shannon's mom was on stage as they talked about the struggle of living with an Alzheimer's family member. Her husband, Paul, has had the disease for over ten years. Today we walked with Team Paul's Pals. Everyone at The Walk carried a flower pinwheel, and wrote messages on the petals for loved ones. Yellow flowers represented support for the cause, purple flowers showed those walking in memory of a loved one, and blue flowers were carried by the people suffering from Alzheimer's. How awesome it was to see them there especially! At the end of the event, all the flowers were scattered over the landscape, a really pretty picture seeing them all pin-wheeling in the wind. Click here to learn more and/or support a worthy cause!

Downtown Date

Because of Danny's hard work, this weekend we were treated to a hotel stay downtown and a nice dinner by his boss. We decided to make a date weekend out of the event, which ended up to be a fun stay-cation for the two of us. The weekend had perfect weather and we took full advantage of it. Saturday we strolled in Piedmont Park and went to Park Tavern for lunch, Engine 11 for our college football match-ups, back to the Hyatt Regency to freshen up, and enjoyed a nice dinner at Glenn's Kitchen. The waitress thought we were out of towners and sent us walking home the "safe" way, obviously we do not go out in the city enough. Hahah. We were "serenaded" by the ambulances of Emory all night long, but woke up to a sunny Sunday and headed to the Atlanta Greek Festival. It turned out to be really fun...of course excellent food, fun music, a little culture, and another beautiful day to sit outside and people watch! :) The evening ended with a visit to the Farmer's Market to get some tasty groceries for the week. We were really thankful for the opportunity to relax, enjoy each other and our great city.

Feed My Starving Children

"Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor." Proverbs 22:9

This past weekend Danny & I had the opportunity to participate in a service project at our church, Peachtree Presbyterian. We packed food for Feed My Starving Children, an impressive non-profit we have come to admire. We worked with a team to pack bags for an hour and a half and ended up preparing enough for 82 children to eat for one year. The church's goal was 425,000 meals, and as of Sunday morning we were on target to meet that extraordinary goal!

Feed My Starving Children is based in MN, but travels all over the United States to organizations that want to help (churches, schools, workplaces, clubs, etc.). I would highly encourage anyone to take part in this program or even organize a group of their own to participate. They have secured resources to get the food into these third world countries, an obstacle which never before had crossed my mind. FMSC makes it fun to help, as they say, it's a packing "party", is a good way to meet new people and encourages great team work.
These pictures are of one of FMSC's beneficiaries, Omar. As an 8 year old boy in El Salvador, he weighed 19lbs. After eating the highly nutritious food pack of chicken flavor, soy, vegetables, and rice for two months he weighed 40lbs. Look at his smile!

Let's Go Tigers!

We are now four weeks in to one of our favorite times of the year, college football! We've been cheering on our tigers every Saturday and enjoying tons of tailgating food. Last weekend we headed to South Carolina to see Clemson play Auburn. Danny, the patient man that he is, finally gets to reap his reward of bragging rights for the next year. I was really sad to see Auburn lose after winning 17 straight games, but I do have a soft spot for Clemson and am proud of their 4-0 start to the season. After the game we camped overnight with some friends, which was a real blast (especially since the campsite had electricity and running water)!
Check out Danny's creation...the biggest and best nacho pretzel paw! Yummm!

Kiawah Island

Last week my parents brought our family together in Kiawah Island for vacation. We had a really great time, blessed with fabulous weather, and surrounded by God's beautiful handiwork.Friday started off with a morning tour down the Stono River in kayaks and ended with Steph and Danny stuck in the mud, probably the funniest part of the trip. We stopped to get fresh produce and seafood on the way home. After a few hours on the beach we started preparing our delicious feast and ended the night with board games.We spent the rest of the weekend riding bicycles around the island, reading and relaxing in the sun. Sunday we shook off the rust and went out for a friendly game of tennis. The court had a big sign which read "World's #1 Tennis Resort"...we had to laugh at how out of place we must have looked in our t-shirts and running shoes. We toured the other part of the island before dinner Sunday, saw some really gorgeous homes and ate at The Ryder Cup on the prestigious Ocean Course, site of the 2012 PGA Championship.It was hard to leave Monday morning, saying goodbye to my parents and sister until Christmas. Danny & I could have easily stayed in at the beach for another several days. Everything about it was ideal and I will put Kiawah Island on our list of places to return; it truly was the perfect long weekend getaway.