I still have my tree up. It is beautiful. I didn't get to put it up until a week and a half before Christmas. I think I'm entitled to keep it up as long as I want to. It's so pretty.
I am needing to create a menu and a grocery list. I'll be making a batch of freezer meals and thinking of Megan. Wasn't that fun? Ah...newlyweds and food. Megan, we still love that ham, cheese and broccoli casserole. MMMmmm...
Work has been...work. Busy and productive. We have 3 apartments left. Yes, 3.
I went to the eye doctor yesterday because I thought the infection that caused me to be in glasses for 6 months might be back, but it is not. Whoo Hoo! I am so thankful and I told God so. It is no fun to have light sensitivity so bad you can barely drive, wear glasses that make me feel owlish and tired, and to have eyes that hurt.
Bryce is doing a guy thing tonight. Poor guy doesn't even care about football, he just needed to be around some testosterone or something. He He! I guess having pizza thrown in the deal didn't hurt.
I was able to talk to dear friend of mine (Jodi) and that was wonderful. We had girl time over the phone. We literally never talk at night (which I totally understand) because we are both busy then and during the day can be hard, but we got to talk for a long time and it was great. Praying for you, sweetie. I love you.
I posted on ebay tonight. Only 4 listings. We are hoping to make something off of them (obviously), but if I don't make anything, we are only out $1.60.
Bryce is drooling over REI's clearance sale. It is so cute to watch. His eyes light up and he starts making a wish list out. I love my husband. SOOOOOO much.
I've been starving at night lately. This is not a good thing. I hardly eat during the day because I'm not really hungry and then I'm starving at night. That is not conducive to size 4 pants. I must resist that voice. I always put on a few during the winter and then it leaves me in the Spring. I feel very blessed to have this ability and hope it continues with me forever. Bryce says this is the whole concept of hibernation. Bears store the fat to burn all winter. I tell him bears get to sleep. I still have to get up every day.
I'm having company come in from Jan. 23-26th. It's Kris from Wisconsin. She and I have so much fun and she has not yet visited me in Indiana. I'm excited!
Bryce is switching to nights for 6 weeks. The money is better and the hospital needs his help covering the shifts so they don't have to make overtime mandatory. Overtime is good, mandatory overtime is bad. When it is mandatory, he doesn't get to pick when he works. This is not conducive to a happy husband and wife. So, he willingly is doing a few weeks of night shifts.
This is an interesting product. Again, I found this item in a magazine (can't remember which one, sorry!) and it caught my eye.
Why? Because of its color, style, amazing organization possibilities and price.
What is it? Truly Mom stationary and planners.
How much? $29.95 on sale (Refills cost from 50 cents to $20 and prices include shipping!) Keep in mind...you can spend up to $98 for these products, but I'm a sale girl through and through.
What did I get? "Girl's Favorite" Planner.
This is the description from the website. "This beautiful sky blue planner, has pink, blue, white, and a touch of moss green in the silk, grosgrain ribbon." On the website, it looks small. It IS NOT! This is a full size planner, but it easily stores in my purse.
All inclusive? Yes! The planners come FULLY stocked with calendar (monthly and weekly), stickers, pen, address book, note pads include:
"My list"
"Remember this"
"A note to"
Also includes "My Day"; a notepad with spaces for:
"Things to do"
"Just for Me"
"Notes"
"What's for dinner"
"Gifts to purchase"
"Calls to make/emails"
"Don't forget"
"Today"
What else? Something really cool. This planner can be positioned 7 different ways. How? Each side folds out and is a sturdy writing surface.
Even if you aren't a "planner girl" and I'll be the first to tell you that I love the concept, but rarely put it into practice, but you need to give this a try. Even if you aren't a mom, this works well!
Have I sold you yet? If not, let me tell you the story behind the planner. You can read about it the website, but in summary: A woman was diagnosed with cancer. Throughout her ordeal (she is now in remission!), her sister and 2 friends helped her out wonderfully, but she really missed her day-to-day life. You know, the whole carpool, lunch making, soccer mom thing. When she was feeling better, she and her friends had some real conversations about what was important to them and how they could manage their lives better to better enjoy the small moments that make life precious. They created the company and the rest is history.
So, where can you get one too? www.trulymom.com or they have a store locator on site. For my Florida ladies, I already did the legwork for you. Your closest one is:
Enjoy. I am. Oh, and thanks to my fun-loving brother-in-law who bought this for me for Christmas. Ladies, go check out adambomb on Pleo. He is a real sweetheart! (Hint..hint!)
I treasure your friendship as well. I truly believe God blesses us with relationships in life that will help us and encourage us in our daily walks as christians. You are certainly a blessing to me! Happy new year to you and bryce!
know something about what? Her birthday is March and she's been talking about the free Disney day for a while now. The card Disney sent her a couple weeks ago hasn't helped either.
After 20 years, I am still very happy with my lightweight $2 planner from Michael's that has the 2-year calendar and a pad of paper. However, you are a great salesperson. Happy New Year!
those planners look nice. i cant seem to ever find one that i like. i need monthly planners so i can keep track of tests and assignments i have due. yikes, im babbling
Oddly, I got a full size planner this year from Victoria's that is beautiful, but it's too big for my purse so it has to go back. I found my small one that works for me at Target for $4.50 or so.
We do seem to have an awful lot in common. ;)
I'm so happy with my linen closets right now that I feel like taking pictures of them! They're so organized and happy! Next up is my closet. The hanging parts are just fine but it's a little rough around the edges. I share with a boy, after all.
I'm in school for Phlebotomy. I only have three classes left that I'm required to take, the program that I'm in requires me to be full time unless I'm in my last semester of school and I could only get in to one of those three classes. So, summer semester I'll only have to take two classes.
Okay...I just have to plug an incredible product. I first heard about it in a magazine. I think it was a Everyday w/ Racheal Ray. (I honestly don't even know how to spell Rachel the wrong way. If I botched it, well, it was spelled wrong anyways :)
The product is 100% biodegradable. It is dishwasher safe, you can cut it, fold it, flatten it and boil it.
The packaging is biodegradable and even has instructions on it about how to turn the packaging into a bird feeder. The instructions are pretty easy to follow and a few web sites have pictures on them with the final product.
I asked for this item and got it for Christmas. What is it you ask?
EURO SPONGE CLOTHS
They are cheap, environmental friendly and TOTALLY worth it. Just google them. They even have sponges, including a RAVIOLI sponge I'm excited to try. They have bamboo cloths, regular sponges and even sponge blossoms (these are really cool and would be perfect for traveling).
I am loving mine. They get into all sorts of crevices, even the one between the stove and the countertop.
So I'm a dork. I don't care. I ask for coupon books and household supplies for Christmas.
But...I also get jewelry. I don't even have to ask. Because that's the way my home_slyce rolls.
Peace, love and tie dyed shirts.
Rachel (see--it's spelled the right way. Thanks mom!)
Uniqueness becomes you! :-) I haven't heard of those. Porbably b/c I don't get to watch cool shows like hers anymore! ;-0 Sounds neat though! I always ask for books!! I'm a complete book worm! Ha,ha! And yay for the jewelry!!
hey i ask for practical stuff too. i got a baking sheet, new non stick skillet, and a steering wheel cover. lol. nothing wrong with asking for things you'll actually use! btw, if you need more motivation, let me know. ive got all kinds. i have to remind myself daily why im doing what im doing and who im doing it for. not just me, my family.
im not sure. suzanne thinks shes part boxer and part something else. she has a really good disposition. she gets along good with all the chickens and doesnt bother our cat. all i can say is we've had to start calling suzannes dog ozzy, humpty dumpty if you know what i mean lol. so other than keeping that from happening its all good.
I really enjoy French coffee. A LOT better than Starbucks kind. It's delicious. And I don't even have to put cream in it. I drink it black with two sugar cubes.
Our Christmas party luncheon was YUMMY! We had a good time. Our lunch was a potluck and I brought ham, green bean casserole and watergate salad. We also had dip and chips (SOOO good), mashed potatoes and gravy, O'Charley's rolls and butter, pecan pies, cookies, fudge, sweet potato casserole and pecan pies. Mt. Dew and Dr. Pepper to drink. It was all REALLY good! Gifts were exchanged and my employees were so sweet to me. I got a candle gift set and gift cards. I get to go shopping (which I think I will do in January when the stores are begging for customers and the prices are low enough for me to come) and I get to go to the movies (a couple of times with my hubby). Thank you to all my REALLY sweet employees. I teared up. I did. Twice. I also had to lead the prayer at lunch because nobody else will, but they will all pray with me while I say it. We had invited one of our contractors to lunch and he said some really sweet things to us about our company and his happiness in working for us. That made me smile, but what warmed my heart was when he pulled me aside and told me he appreciated the prayer and how their family always has a prayer said at their table.
Wednesday night Bible class was nice and everyone was in great spirits. Afterwards, Bryce and I made breakfast casserole together for Christmas breakfast.
Thursday was wonderful. Bryce and I spent a very quiet and relaxing day together. We both got some great gifts and it was perfect! We had a great time cuddling in. We made a yummy dinner which was basically a repeat of my company's potluck lunch. Bryce and I made homemade apple crisp too. I put a tablecloth on the table and even found some red candles (found out that the reason they were on sale last year after Christmas is because they could burn a house down--seriously. We said the prayer and they pretty much exploded while our eyes were closed).
Today I went to Walmart to get our new tires put on the car. I checked out the discounts on Christmas stuff and felt like a snob. 50% off isn't enough for me today. Maybe I'm just in a weird mood. I just want it to be cheaper. So it will be more picked over next week--so what--I'll still find some good stuff and it will be like 70%-90% off instead of 50%. Or, if I don't find anything, I'll find more creative ways to wrap gifts. I'll use brown paper bags and stamp them or tie them with colored raffia. I'll wrap things in tissue or decorate my own gift bags. I'll take some liberties with the "traditional" Christmas colors and use hot pink and green or burgandy and evergreen. Maybe I'll do silver and blue (nobody said Christmas gifts couldn't be wrapped in "Hanukkah" paper. Of course you won't see me buying any Jewish star paper --Ha Ha! Anyways...I've found some great wrapping paper that can be used for Valentine's day, birthdays and Christmas. Red is Red is Red.
So I wait for the days of 90% off.
I ran to the bank (both personal and business ones). Now I'm home. I did the dishes, wrote out some bills, turned the tree lights back on, drank some coffee (spiced eggnog--thanks, Lori!), am drinking sparkling grape juice in my "wine" glass, and am being lazy on the couch.
Jodi got me an amazing book by Francine Rivers called, "Redeeming Love" that has me hooked. As soon as I put this computer down, I'll be reading again...while listening to the "HOUSE" marathon on TV. I'm also waiting for Bryce to get home. He gets to go home early because their census is low (not many patients in the hospital today). Yea!!! That is good news for everyone!
I'm happy. He's happy. We might even go on a date tonight after we pay some bills and return 2 items at Old Navy. Woo Hoo! And, next week is a short, relaxing week too. Life is Good!!! (Oh, I got 4 LIG items. I'm wearing one now. I'm thinking of you, Suzanne. I just love that stuff.)
Happy Day!
P.S. Natalie loved her stuff! She was really happy!
I'm glad you had a good Christmas! I'm glad I'm here with my family which made things so much better. I made the best of it and had a good time. I've decided to become a nun...it sounds really appealing to me right now. ha ha forget men, they'll all the same. Well, actually not all of them... Anyways, Merry Christmas.
Here's my motivation.... How bad do you want it? I mean really how bad do you want it? When I first began thinking of going back to school I really had to pray alot and search myself to be sure it was what I wanted to do because once I started there was NO going back. I just truly believe that if you really want it with all your heart and you have the support you need (which i believe you do in Bryce) you can do it and no matter the obstacle, course load or cost, it will be great and the Lord will provide a way! And just because something wasnt so easy in high school doesnt mean it wont be easier this time around. I was awful with algebra in high school, now in college im tutoring it! I say GO FOR IT!!!
Two days...only two days left.
Waiting....
waiting...
I'm not good at waiting.
I've asked Bryce every day for the past 4 days or so if I should give my gifts out yet. Actually not to everyone. Just to one person. I just want Natalie to open her gift. I'm REALLY excited. I hope she likes it. Natalie is one of my employees and she is really my right arm. She is struggling (single mom, 2 kids, no child support, etc.) and I know this year has been especially difficult. So, this year I kind of splurged for her and I think she will like what I got her. I really want to know. Also, I don't want everyone else to see her gift and feel like I wasn't fair (LaDawn--this does not include you. You have great presents too.) I did get all of my employees something and we did a "Secret Santa" thing. So, nobody should feel left out.
So, I'll wait.
....
....
It's an icy mess here today. Freezing rain, freezing cold, tons of accidents. Natalie is still not here. She called me at 8:45am to tell me it was going to take her a while to get here. It is now 11:30 and she is still not here. Wow.
i look forward to moving to tennessee some day. where they have seasons, but not so harsh and then there are lots of places you can be within a few hours. id love it!
It is hard to wait. Thankfully, I didn't have to! We did our Wineinger Christmas on Saturday. Did you get my gift yet? You don't have to wait to open it if you don't want to. You'll find an unexpected item in your box too. I actually had it with me when we were down there, but forgot to give it to you.
