Time Warp to 1981! Happy 30th Birthday John.

Over the break John, turned 30. YES, 30! Anyway, as I frequently do with parties I got a bit carried away. This time I will primarily blame Lara, my sister in law who was the brains behind everything. We did an 80s theme party with John's family. It was such a blast. We didn't tell anyone about the theme so it was a little shake up from our normal gathering.

 Since we didn't have enough time to tell everyone to wear 80s gear, we did some thrift shopping runs and got clothes for everyone. So as they arrived, they had to grab a bag with an "inspiration piece", and then go up stairs and find some other things to wear with it. It ended up being hysterical! Everyone got really into it -- even the kiddos. We listened to fun 80s pop music, ate a lot of good food and played a handful of fun "Whose Line is it Anyway" Improv games.

What a memorable night! So grateful for John-David -- all 30 years of him!!

*Yes I realize that people in the 80s may have not looked that ridiculous. See the McElderry family with a bit more composure here.

**Yes, John is wearing velvet pants with those lime green shorts in case you were wondering. LOL! And I am keeping that dress for next years halloween.

2 years... wow

John and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary on Monday. We had a wonderful evening. We reflected on our wedding day, the past years, and did some dreaming for our future. And of course we enjoyed some delicious food and a few good laughs.

I am so grateful for John. I can't express enough how much this man has shaped me in just a few years. He is just a pillar of light and goodness in my life. He always seek to do good things, to laugh, to make me laugh, and he is my BIGGEST cheerleader. I know he believes I can do anything... and that gives me such confidence.

I am the luckiest woman in the world! Happy 2nd anniversary to my love-- I can't wait to see what is in store for us.

Christmas Card 2011

Dearest Friends & Family,

We hope you are well both those near and far away. We are very grateful for the many opportunities and friendships we have been blessed with. Our year has been filled with many notable firsts for our marriage, and an abundance of love and joy. We’d like to fill you in on the many adventures that the McElderry family has experienced during the 2011 year.

We never got to do an exotic honeymoon, just a cabin in the snowy woods.  But in March for Kristin’s parent’s 25th anniversary we went out to beautiful Cancun, Mex. The beach was gorgeous and the forest was full of Mayan ruins.  We stood by as Kristin’s parents renewed their vows in an open air Catholic church. The trip would have been our romantic getaway...if we didn’t have to share a room with Kristin’s sisters, which made it more like a slumber-party.  But we had a wonderful time nonetheless :)

In May, we bought a used spinet piano and broke four of our friends’ backs to get it upstairs. We need four more friends when we move because the first four won’t answer our calls anymore.  Having a piano in the home has been a huge blessing.  John plays it almost every night and Kristin plunks away at it occasionally.

July was a crazy month since we were camp counselors for our church’s Youth Conference.  We loved associating with the high-school-aged campers and learning from their simple and powerful testimonies of the Savior.  Almost immediately after coming back from the conference, Kristin left again to be the camp director for a Girl’s Camp. Through torrential rain and hurricane like wind, Kristin kept a group of 10 girls warm and well-fed in the middle of the woods for a week.  What a trooper!  John had to teach her how to build a fire with wet wood in preparation for the trip, needless to say we did a lot of “practice” camping that summer.  July was also the month that John had his first peer-reviewed article published in a scientific journal.  This was the fruit of more than a year of hard work.  He is sure there will be several more to come before he is done with his PhD.

In August we went on a date to the local animal shelter and fell in love with a blue-eyed white haired cat.  John, being almost immune to such sentiments, convinced Kristin to shake the feeling and leave.  In the car, we threw out hypothetical names for the cat and landed on one that made us both laugh. We immediately turned around and got our little Myao Ming.  He is such a good-natured, cuddly and well-behaved tomcat.

Kristin travelled backand forth to Peoria, IL for her job with Accenture for most of the year. In September she was relocated to a new project and is thankfully working in Ann Arbor again.  She also received her first promotion with Accenture in August. We are so proud of her!

Little by little we are learning how to keep our composure in the professional world, and then a holiday like Halloween comes along and dashes all progress.  Yes, all shame went out the window this year as we dressed as Mr. and Mrs Pacman.   Every kid on the block was staring at us as they saw two large yellow balls stroll hand in hand across the street.  Fortunately, for our exuberance, we won an award for “Funniest Costume” at our Church’s Halloween Party.

November was also a busy month, we had a really great Thanksgiving holiday. We roasted our first turkey (at least John did) and had some friends in our home with only minor casualties (burnt hand + turkey bowl football casualties). We are really enjoying this Christmas season and look forward to spending time with our family in Little Rock and Dallas in the next few weeks.

This next year should be equally if not more exciting -- John plans to graduate in the summer and we will be moving.... somewhere (TBD) when he finds a job.

Thank you for your love and friendship through another year. We love each of you and wish you a Merry Christmas.

John-David & Kristin McElderry (+ Myao Ming)

*This year we were limited in the number of Christmas Cards we could send out by mail... so unfortunately they didn't make it out to everyone we hoped for. However,  this is our card and letter for those who missed it.

Biggest Loser Challenge :)

Hey All!
 I started a biggest loser competition to try and get some momentum for my 2012 health goals.


Do you have some fitness or weight loss goals you need to get started on? Join us!!


It is completely virtual, you track weight and log progress on the site weekly. It is a $10 buy in for each contestant... and the more people we get involved the bigger the pot.  The person who has lost the highest percent of body fat wins the "Money Pot!" Sign up today and feel free to share with friends... I would love your support and participation!!!


The contest starts Saturday January 7th-- so sign up today!!


Check it out here: 
http://virtualbiggestloser.blogspot.com/


Happy New Year & Best wishes towards your resolutions!

Bear crawl racing and other family silliness

While we were in Texas, my sister Heather, her bf Randle, my mom and dad and John and I went to the botanical gardens one afternoon. The gardens were nice, but we had more fun just playing around.

My dad lost a bear crawl race. He may no longer be the alpha male lol.


John and I kicked butt at a leap frog race.

I tried to do a cartwheel. Eeks I am getting old and rusty.

John jumped major heights over heather.

But mostly it was just fun to laugh with those we love. And just be ourselves. Goofballs.

Only in Texas

Over break John and I drove around 2600 miles. We had a great time visiting friends and family all over. On the road one day I saw this gem and just had to share. Only in Texas!