Alayna's Adventures

When the kids are babes, it's time to establish holiday traditions, whether it's the ones that you did when you were young or starting brand new ones for your family.  It's an exciting thing to do, and John and I have really enjoyed dreaming about and starting holiday traditions that we want Isaiah and Annika to reminisce about with their own children.  We have a few that are really fun, and I'll share them (hopefully) in a few blogs over the Christmas season.  First, my favorite - the Christmas tree!   Our FAVORITE Christmas traditions is going to pick out a tree at a local Christmas tree farm and cutting it down ourselves.  We have gone to a few local farms, but the one we have enjoyed the most is Candle Tree Farm just outside of Washington, PA ( and also on Facebook! ).  It's a short drive from Pittsburgh, but totally worth the trip!  They have a really neat setup that makes finding a tree more of an experience for the whole fami...

Swanky, classy, and... shocking. Three descriptive words that summed up my night at the South Hills Pregnancy Resource Center Dinner on Thursday, November 8, 2012.  My friend, Amanda, and I and over 800 other people attended the banquet at the East Club at Heinz Field.  With a spectacular view of the city and a spectacular view of an empty Heinz football field, it was a gorgeous setting and a night to remember.   Completely empty Heinz Field The Sparks While The Sparks , a local Christian band, played, people milled about before the night's program started.  As far as I was concerned, this night would be pretty memorable, as the guest speaker was none other than Abby Johnson, the Texas Planned Parenthood clinic manager turned pro-life advocate.  She also happened to be sitting at our table(!!), which was right next to the stage, two huge bonuses!  Dinner was great and dessert was even better, but that may be because dessert is al...