Resolutions 2010

Happy 2010!!!
I hope this year brings you much joy!

So.. Resolutions.
Every year we make them.
Every year either we do them, or we end up pushing them aside.
Sometimes they are obtainable.
Sometimes hard.
Sometimes forgettable.
Sometimes unreachable.

Which led me to think that this year I'd make a list of resolutions that weren't hard. The one's that I set out to do and feel like a failure every year because I never seem to complete them. But this year, I am going to make resolutions that are real and achievable.

1. Get closer to Christ.
2. Learn all there is to know about my camera.
3. Learn all there is to know about Photoshop Elements 6.
4. Apply them.
5. Practice them.
6. Take really great photos.

That's it. These are my main goals for 2010.
Yes there are other goals, but they aren't huge one's. This will be huge for me because I plan on taking every opportunity to learn about my camera, taking better photos, and photoshop much better than I ever thought! I don't want to do photography professionally, I just want to capture a great photo all the time. Because that is important to me. And my walk with God can always get closer to Him. I want to grow more, have more peace, and feel complete. I can do that if I am truly leaning upon God in every single thing in my life.

I've got a Canon Digital Rebel EOS XT,


A EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS,


And I've got PSE6.


If you know of anything I can get my hands on to learn more about both of these, I'd really appreciate it!
Have a great 2010 everyone!
So... Share with me what your New Year's resolutions are!

Old Fashioned.

Levi's.
That's right they've been around for ages.
Growing up, I never wore them.
When I was older I wanted to wear them.
Only to find out that I could never actually wear them.
But now I can!
Levi's never go out of style!
I got 2 new pairs, along with these...
Aren't they the cutest! I really like them a lot. But I do
have to share with you that they aren't the easiest to get on!
LOL!! Seriously, they don't unzip all the way so the top part
of the shoe is just that. But I do like them and they are totally
cute! I joined the world of boots this year!

I lifted this from the very talented Danielle Flanders.

I really like how she did her lettering so I lifted that for my
Christmas card. I gave this to one of the girls in my Monday
bible study class for Christmas! She loved it! Thanks for the
inspiration Danielle!! Your cards are always amazing! And of
course you cannot go wrong with the Pink Paislee Christmas line!

I have to work tonight, but we are going to ring in the New
Year this evening together as a family!!! We are going to
eat junk, play games, and toast the New Year with Sparkling
apple cider!!!

Whatever you do tonight to celebrate be safe, make wise choices,
and have a blast ringing in the New Year!

2009 fav's

As I do every year I wanted to post my fav's for 2009!
In no particular order:

I really love this layout! The splashes of color and the great photos of Alyssa made for a really great page! I love the title the best!

It might not be all that great of a card, but it is one of my all time favorite cards, ever! I loved how it all came together from the colors to the design. Since cards are so hard for me to create, I am always amazed when I pull something out like this and have it be cute!

These girls make me laugh! They are my friends through thick and thin. They love me, except me, and we are sisters through Christ! I love the fun colors, they were my favorite for 2009!

I love American Crafts! This layout screams fun to me and I love jumping photos a lot! I thought cutting the circles out was totally cool!!!

The story of us is crazy!! But it is a HUGE testimony to God and how He works! He took a really awful and stupid decision on both of our parts and turned our marriage into the most wonderful thing ever! I wanted to document that! I love these colors together, they are classic!

I love my family. They mean so very much to me and here in this layout I wanted to show that! They are both very important to me and I am blessed to be called their wife and mother! I love this layout! You know what? I just went with it and it worked for me!!! I loved using the top portion of the papers and going from there!

Hands down this is my all time favorite layout of 2009. It just speaks volumes to me. I caught D very early in the AM out at the pond fishing. The peace, solitude and quietness were amazing. Coupled this with the cool elements and soft edges I am completely in love with this layout!

I truly am a free spirit! I think this layout depicts me at its best! I am an energetic person who loves life!

I love this photo of A&I! We were having such a wonderful time and being close was just so calming and special. We were talking about great things and sharing together in this moment means a great deal to me! I love the colors of course, but working with these patterns were really fun!

This is Alyssa. Yeah she is turning 13 soon, but you can bet that she'll be playing with LPS for awhile still! She reminds me of myself at that age still playing with Barbies! You know what? It's okay! I love this layout because of the circle with the ric rac and the layers are just as yummy!

This layout amazes me! Of course they are my favorite colors to work with but all this layering and all the stuff going on still don't bother me! I love how everything pops and how everything goes together!

This layout just screams fun to me! I love how everything came together to
go with the title! I cut out a lot of stuff on this one! LOL.

I always feel like I don't do simple well, but this layout speaks to me. I love
the elements, mix of colors, and the fact that A&I are having a great time!

This one doesn't need to say much. I felt a huge release in scrapping it
because it meant he was finally coming home!

This layout sums up us! We are very happy!

This was the best vacation EVER!! And it was my very first
time using clouds on a layout!

Mr. Bear and I go way back, I love this because I love him!

Catch on and put some of your fav's on your blog too!

December 28th 2009

Today is my mom's birthday.

I miss her just as much as I did the day I said goodbye.

We went out to dinner as a family to celebrate her birthday! It was a nice time. Very relaxing. The food was great, the company even better.
I sure do love you mom!
Photo of mom and Alyssa in May 2006 at our house on base. She was visiting and was taking us to the circus that night.

I have some KICKIN' news! I am a chef! That's right lil' ole' me! I am a Sous chef designer for The Scrappy Gourmet!! Go check them out! I am totally stoked!!! Thanks Dee for believing in me!

I also have some sneaky peeky's! Can you believe I created during the holiday season! That's what I get for being prepared! I had a lot of time to enjoy the holidays this year!




These are the first peeks of my projects for Treasured Scrapbooking!!! I had such a great time playing with this kit! Stay tuned for more peeky's soon!

Well tomorrow its back to the grind stone for me! I had a really nice 4 days off for real!!
Of course I am off on New Year's Day as well, pretty cool! I love these holiday time offs!

Every year D&I make a list of things we like to get for the house, for him, for me. The house is a pretty long list, but its cool to see stuff on it get crossed off over time! I love setting goals and things like that a lot and its fun to save up and do stuff like that too! Tonight we started on our garage adventure. Kinda odd in the middle of winter to be out there, but we decided that we'd pitch in every payday and buy these for our garage

So that by the time spring/summer comes our garage will be organized and lookin' good!
That's one on the list that will get crossed off quickly! Yeah us!

Well folks its off to finish a layout, read, and then head to bed!
Hope your Monday was fabulous and remember to take time to hug and tell your loved one's near and far how much you love them! You can never tell them enough...

So very thankful.

As I stood in church today singing to Jesus I got an overwhelming feeling of
thankfulness in my life! We have had so many blessings this year in 2009 and I am
completely grateful for them all!

1. For the home that the Lord gave us. Seeing it being built from the ground up, was one of the biggest highlights of 2009. We are thankful for our very first home. We are content and happy in it and we open it up so that God can use it for His glory!
2. Dayv coming home in April 2009 only to find out he won't be deploying again until summer 2010. We are completely grateful that the Lord allowed D to stay home with us. I feel so blessed!
3. Alyssa started the 7th grade and is doing SO very well! She is doing great in jazz band, really excelling in science and math! She has excellent teachers, great friends, and is transitioning into teenage years with grace!
4. We were blessed through the military this year to have the opportunity to receive some extra funds. It was huge for us! We are debt free, bought a home, and finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel, thank the Lord!
5. Health. Except for the common cold, my family D&A&myself have been completely healthy this year.
6. I was blessed to be able to go see 2 of my very dear friends and spend time with them on a girlie trip! I love them so very much.
7. I reconnected with a friend from college that the Lord allowed to happen and allowed me to ask for her forgiveness.
8. A year mark for my surgery and still going strong!
9. We bought a new used truck for Dayv and it runs great! The guy we bought it from is a Christian too and the entire time we were in his office we talked about Jesus!
10. A closeness with Alyssa that is new. I am enjoying being closer to her and how the Lord is working on our relationship.
11. I made the American Crafts design team! I still am in serious awe about that one!
12. Dayv and I were able to getaway for our anniversary and had a magical time!
13. I got a job at Starbucks and LOVE it! Then I applied to become a foreman and got that position! I am grateful for my job.
14. I made new friends.
15. We had our first family vacation ever to Montana and it was breathtaking, relaxing, and fun!
16. We started a home group in our home and with the Lord's hands started us on a wonderful friendship with 2 other couples.
17. I started a woman's bible study at church and it was there that I learned about Hebrews and am making some really great and neat friends.
18. Our very first Christmas in our new home.
19. I got a new tattoo that I simply love!
20. Was set free by the Lord!

What are you thankful for? Share some with me!!!

Aftermath 2009

I am always amazed at Christmas. We as a society spend so much time in
preparation for the holiday and it is over in one single day. Poof. I just find
that amazing! Of course for me, its just an add on to what my life is all about,
the Lord! I am sad though, that it is over in a single flash. We are keeping
our decorations up longer than we normally do because we aren't ready
to take them down! And I've been listening to Xmas music still!!!

D&I braved the crowds the day after Christmas. It was pretty awful out.
But I think because it was just he&I it made it a lot of fun! A wanted to stay
home and just hang. We did some shopping and got some really great deals
to boot! We ate breakfast at Jack In The Box, lunch at Subway, and got a
soda that neither of us really drank. We shopped at JcPenny's, Kohl's, Sears,
and Aeropostle. Then we braved both Target and Wal-Mart too. I bought
more ribbon for my presents for next year, and we also decided to buy a
few other things for next year as well. I often wonder if the day after isn't
busier or just as busy as black Friday, there were that many people out.

I didn't take one single photo Xmas day. Ha! I was too busy enjoying the
moments to worry about taking photos! It was a very magical day for us
though! D tossed and turned all night, which meant that I did as well. He
was pretty excited about Christmas day!! He woke first around 6. Then I
quickly followed because he woke me up! We got up and got busy! He
started making his famous breakfast casserole and I was prepping
the monkey bread. We woke A up at 7 something and then started our
celebration! We ate, read the birth of Jesus, opened up our stockings,
and then ate D's casserole! D then played Santa and passed out presents.
We watched each other open them and took turns. The highlights of that:

D LOVED his hockey tickets I got him. We're going to 2 games. He was
VERY surprised because he didn't even ask for them. I decided to get them
for him because one day in the car I was praying to God about what to
actually get Dayv when we drove by a hockey billboard! I LOVE it how
God answers!!! We're going once in December and once in February!

Alyssa's surprise at her laptop was priceless! I am not sure she actually
thought it was real! LOL. She was very surprised! She also loved her
pig that I had bought for her months and months ago, she carries him
around everywhere. His name is Wilbur. She also is in love with skinny
jeans, which I find funny because at the beginning of the year she said
she didn't like them at all and would never wear them. Then it went to
they aren't that bad, to I want to try a pair on! So we got her a pair!
She was decked out with a new jacket, a new shirt, and her new skinny
jeans! She also got some pink converse too!

I was spoiled. Honestly. Surprised. Shocked. Loved and cherished.
D was very thoughtful! I got diamond earrings. Normally I do not
like to share this kind of stuff because I never want to come off
seemingly sounding like a brat.. But I truly wanted to share this
because he was SO excited about these because I had NO clue. You
see when my mom was in Hospice one day I was standing next to her
bed leaning over close to her. I was talking to her, praying with her,
and she said to me that my earrings were beautiful. I didn't even stop
a minute and asked her if she wanted them. She said yes. So in that split
second I decide to give my mom my diamond earrings that Dayv had
bought for me when we first married. He surprised me then too with them.
But in that split second deciding to give them to my mom, I looked up at
D across the room and just gave him a look. We didn't even talk about it,
but I think he knew as I was taking them out of my ears what I was doing.
With his look, I knew that he understood. So I put them in my mom's ears
and told her she looked beautiful, like a queen. She tried to sit a little straighter,
put on her best smile, and I could tell she was so pleased to have diamond
earrings. She had shared with me once when she was well before her sickness
that she had always wanted a diamond ring. So I prayed that those earrings
were a good substitute. She sure was happy about them. I could tell that
she truly loved them the minute I put them in her ears. And there they
stayed. Because that is where they should be. So after things settled down
and we came home and back to our lives, D&I were talking one night
in bed. I had shared that some day I'd like to get another pair but wasn't
in a hurry to get them. Little did I know, that a year later I would be
wearing another pair! I truly was SO surprised and felt so loved. I
know that these are earrings and yes they are an earthly item but I
truly do cherish them and the fact that he was so very much loves
me enough to of gotten then for me! It was so special. I feel special.
I smile every time I look into the mirror, they are so sparkly! I am
going to do a layout about them soon to cherish the memory of both
pairs!

Not that I want to complain. But we never got our new stockings in
time for Christmas. Seriously. I was a tad upset because I paid 15
bucks for speedy shipping and even though they had to monogram
them, they offered the shipping and I thought for Xmas I'd do it! Well.
that was on Sunday the 20th. They were supposed to be here in 2
days with speedy shipping. I do understand they had to monogram
9 letters for my name, I get that. Then they had to do D&A's name
too.. But don't offer something if you aren't going to stick with it.
And you know what? It's the 26th and we still don't have the stockings!
I plan on saying something of some sort to Pottery Barn. The funniest
thing though? I just checked recently where they were in route and
found out the cut off date for the monogram was in fact the 19th
in order to get them in time for Xmas. However.. I will still be writing
them because no where did I read that until now, no where... Honestly.
But at least we have them for next year!!! And of course all of my wrapping
paper too and ribbon!!! And I ordered all of my gift tags from Elle's studio
the other day too! LOL. Laugh all you want too but I won't be running around
next year like a chicken with its head cut off, like the rest of the world! Ha.
Anal Annie strikes again!

I stopped all eating good and working out. The holiday's are the worst time
to try that. I am starting over tomorrow. I got a Wii fit plus balance
board that Jillian uses in her workouts. D&I are going to curtail for a
daily workout instead of just the 3 days she had me working out. I need more.
But let me just share with you!! All the yummy junk I ate for the holidays!
So yummy and totally worth it, but now that I am winding down, I am ready
to loose that 10 pesky pounds that I cannot get off. And no, I'm still relishing
in my freedom that the Lord brought me into! I just got off the holiday train
and its okay. There is tomorrow and I'm okay with that.

Well I am off to play Uno attack and a new PC adventure game with D!
Hope your holiday was blessed!

Merry CHRISTmas!

Moving.

I had to share...

This past Sunday I got the privilege to experience something that I want to share.
I've been walking with the Lord now for almost 10 years. And in that time, I've seen many great things and have experienced a great deal of things that God has all orchestrated. Sure what I am about to tell you isn't new. However, this past Sunday it spoke new to me. So much that I want to take the time to share. I am not a preachy person by nature because well, I can pray for you and I do. However if you aren't ready or hearing it then all I can do is pray because if you aren't ready and aren't walking then He'll bring you to Him when you are. I can only live my life according to how the Lord sees fit. But I also can be an instrument to show you where I am in my life so that you can see God's mercy and grace pouring over my life.

Today I'd like to take the time to share with you about a family. This family is exceptional. They are historical actually. They are loved, hated, feared, and misunderstood. And it all starts with a woman named Mary. You see Mary was pretty young although back in the day, being young was okay. And it was even more okay to get married by the time you were 14 or 15 years old, that's how young I'm talking about. One day an angel appeared to Mary and told her that the Holy Spirit was going to give her a baby. You can imagine how Mary felt, or at least we can try to imagine how she must of felt. Her Mary is young. Not married. and is about to have a baby. All she really focuses on is the fact that she doesn't feel worthy, imagine that! But I also believe Mary may of had feelings such as... I am not even married and everyone will judge me. What about the man Joseph that I am betrothed too? What will everyone say, who will believe me? Can you imagine the stress that Mary must of been feeling? I think about that and realize that even though the angel, the H.S. {Holy Spirit}, God and everyone else in Heaven must of been dancing their socks off with excitement! But I would have been horrified. I would have been scared. I would have been worried {because women tend to do that} and I wouldn't of known who the heck was going to believe me. That the H.S. came upon me and a baby was born without even having sex! Poor Mary. I can imagine even though she was so humbled that she must of felt some kind of fear too.. And then to know that her baby would save people! Imagine that.

And Joseph. The man that Mary intended to marry but had found out that she was pregnant and they didn't even have sex! Can you imagine Mary trying to explain this to him? How upset Joseph must of felt? Can you imagine around town having to ward off explanations and try to explain his plight to everyone? I would imagine Joseph really didn't understand. Here he loved this woman, but yet they weren't even married and she was pregnant! I would imagine he must of felt a little let down, not good enough, and lost. So he thinks to himself that he'll quietly divorce Mary because he cannot be married to someone that was already pregnant! Maybe he felt betrayed by her? Maybe he walked around town wondering who the guy was the got Mary pregnant in the first place? Its why he had a dream and was told it was okay. He was told his baby would be named Jesus and he would save people. That it was okay to marry Mary because the H.S. came unto her, not a man. So then the table turns and Joseph realizes Mary wasn't unfaithful, how he must of felt blaming her and others. Then he steps up and is the man he is called to be, but has to deal with others and their mouths knowing that the baby isn't Joseph's... I often wonder if Joseph in his flesh never feels like he measures up.

So from the jumped start Joseph and Mary are judged. Here Mary is 14-15 years old pregnant, not married. Here Joseph has to deal with the outside looking in to something they couldn't possibly understand. They were outcast. Homeless. And I would imagine their support and friends were very few. Imagine family, they might have been torn and there could of been strife.

So they leave. They are homeless. Joseph is poor. Mary is pregnant. They are not free. So they walk. And let me just share with you, that we know that Joseph was poor. No where does it say like the beautiful illustrated Christmas cards out there showing Mary on a donkey and Joseph holding the rope, walking to find a place for Mary to have that baby that Mary is riding on a donkey. They were expensive. Joseph was poor. Mary walked. Some many miles. They both did. I can imagine as they walked the talks they had. "Honey, we're about to have a very important baby, can we measure up?" Or how about Mary and how much she must of been hurting? How slow the entire process must of been because she was pregnant? How many times she stopped to go potty! How about their conversations and flesh? Did they doubt? Was Mary worried because Joseph was so poor? Did Joseph feel the heat because he had to much to take care of? Out there all alone traveling together not really sure of their future. But trusting God.

Now remember Joseph has no money so finding a place for them to go to and have that baby is hard. Where the heck are they going to go. And there isn't wood back in the day that is used for stables. Wood was used for things important like fires. They probably were in a cave like place, not a manger in a stable!!! Imagine that.. A cave.

So... Jesus is born. Into a huge mess. His parents don't have any money. They are tired probably hungry. There was scandal from the jump start about their lives because of Mary being pregnant before even marrying Joseph. They were judge, probably ridiculed too. And here is Jesus. I am sure that his parents were thinking okay.. what just happened? This little baby is coming here to save us, from what, whom?

Then we have the beautiful cards showing Jesus laying in a manger with a halo over his head. I don't know about you, but Jesus is a baby. You cannot tell me for one minute that he didn't cry like one! I bet his parents were stressed. They had no clue how to raise a baby, like most of us were when we first had kids! He cried when he was tired, hungry, and he needed a change. He didn't sit there all quiet and angelic like! I mean.. Jesus was human. A human baby. What baby do you know lays around with a halo over its head glowing never crying?

Here is this little family who's lives are starting off really rocky. They don't have a place to live. They don't have money. They aren't sure what their future holds. And they have the son of God as their son! So Jesus stars his life out born into scandal, strife, oppression. Imagine the grief his parents were feeling!!

Then the Lord speaks to some wisemen. Who by the way we don't know in number that came. But they did, because the Lord spoke to them and they followed the star. These wisemen weren't Jewish, they were pagans. But God used them, just like he used the fishermen or people like you and me. Mean while King Herod ruled and he didn't want anyone to be higher than he was, so he sends these wisemen to "find" Jesus so that Herod could go and worship him too. But Herod didn't really want that, he wanted to kill Jesus. So Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus flee. They hide. Mary just gave birth and there weren't doctors there to give her a pill to help her with her pain. They fled. Of course I am sure all they were thinking because they were parents it that they must protect their son. Herod never finds them, but in his rage and stupidity has every boy child under the age of 2 killed so that in the even his men happen to come across Jesus he would be killed. But they were gone, and fled remember? So Jesus is safe. For now.

And there starts Jesus' life. Joseph and Mary don't have sex until after Jesus is born and then they start the rest of their family. Jesus grows up with brothers, sisters, and family. And they live. I am sure always wondering when or how the Lord was going to work through Jesus to save God's people. {and their lives as I am always amazed at, is for another time}.

My main point in sharing this is that the birth of Jesus isn't a fairytale with some great and wonderful time. It was hard.

God did this. All of it. God sent his son into the middle of this entire mess for you and I. He loves us that much. So you see their lives weren't the greatest. They had strife. But that's why. We are just like Joseph and Mary in so many ways. But God loved them and used them to show the rest of the world, the you's and me's, that even through the mess that God loves us. Jesus experienced what you and I do daily the minute he was born.

So if you think that you have to have your life completely in order. Think again. If you think that you have to be perfect in order to come to Jesus, think again. No matter where you are in your life Jesus is the one that will lift you up from where you are. That is His purpose. He loves us that much that he is willing to bring us out of where we are in order to find his perfect love!

I am not perfect. I never was. When the Lord tapped my on my shoulder that very day in my room in my apartment I realized there was no more running. That no matter what I did, what I said, how I treated myself or others there was one who would love me unconditionally and completely. Although that day is one of the best in my life, I didn't really allow him to pull me out of the pit and God-shaped hole I was in until 2000. It was then I realized nothing I ever did would measure up, be good enough, or fit what I thought or how I thought He wanted me to be. All he really wanted was to allow him to come into my heart. All he wanted was for me to realize that although my earthly father was not one, He would be. All he wanted was to shower me with love, grace, mercy, friendship, and fun! When I allowed him to come into my heart, he burst open a new Elizabeth. And he took me warts and all.

And friends he will take you warts and all too no matter where you are. So if you ever need to think of a family that had complete and utter turmoil, think of Jesus' family. They are a lot like us...

Winter wonderland!

Its been snowing outside.
Dumped a lot and then melted!
Then it goes from freezing cold, to just chilly! What strange weather this year.
But that doesn't stop me from having the wintery Christmas-y feel!
Here are the first set of layouts that I did using the Studio Calico December kit.

This first one is the one's of us in front of the tree! We have such a good time
together. We laughed a lot this day, and had so much fun!



This one is my favorite! During the holiday's I love to pull out Christmas music!
We have several different artist singing Christmas songs, but my all time
favorite is Bing Crosby.

He is Christmas to me when I think of music!! When I was a little
girl, my mom played a lot of Bing as well because she loved him too. So I grew up listening
to Bing sing Christmas songs and have always felt warm in my heart when I hear him sing
them! I wanted to document my love for his music during the holiday's!


Grateful list this week in honor of the holidays:

1. Not working on Saturday.
2. Finally finding a smell I really like! It's from Chanel!
3. Wrapping presents because the excitement is wonderful!
4. Reese cheesecakes. Enough said.
5. The Lord creating freshness in my life.
6. Dayv's love for me.
7. Alyssa's honesty and wise choices.
8. Stuff that's on sale for Christmas next year! I already bought my Xmas wrapping paper for next year!
9. Slow and steady towards saving for our new furniture and paying cash for it.
10. My new drawing from a wonderful friend for Christmas {a story on that later}.
11. How festive it is in our home.
12. Holiday cheer.
13. Dayv being home this year for Christmas.
14. Christmas scrapping supplies!
15. The fact that Jesus was born!
16. New monogrammed stockings.
17. For the Lord providing extra fun funds to shop for Christmas.
18. Reading the story of Jesus' birth.
19. Being able to talk about my mom and cherish the memories of her living with us.
20. B&W photos.
21. Dreams for our home in the future.
22. Restfulness.
23. The delight in food without being controlled by it.
24. Beautiful Christmas colors.
25. Where God is taking me.

As we approach this holiday season, my prayer is that you find the true meaning.
That God speak to you in ways you least expect.
And for you to find joy in cherishing those moments with your family and friends!

Stuff.

Thanks SO much for all of your responses on my last
post! I find a giggle every time someone posts.
I think its SO cool!
So thank you for taking the time
to make me giggle!

TN family members presents have been in the
mail for about a week 1/2.
Florida family will get theirs this weekend.
I am SO excited that we actually sent gifts!!
I LOVE giving gifts!

I have been having an itch lately to seriously
change things in our house.
I am really wanting to re-decorate some things.
I have a million things running around
in my head, but not sure where to start.
I made a list, but the things on it are
quite expensive. So that is my new direction.
I am thinking about asking my online friend Debbie
to come over and give me an assessment and help!
What do you think Debbie?

I went to the dentist today.
I had a tooth on the upper left hand corner really
bothering me. Turns out that it's 2 teeth and I need
crowns for both of them.
So please pray that it is only the crowns and nothing more.
I would appreciate that.
All I care about is having some solace with my teeth
because they have really been bugging me.

Dayv is on a one day TDY. Please pray he comes
home tomorrow. I just hate these short trips. Better yet,
I hate every trip. But... I am allowing PMS to get
the better of me today! Ha.
I want to choose joy today!

I've been creating layouts with this really GREAT kit!!

Main kit

Strings-add on kit

Can I just share how excited I get each month
when I receive this kit in the mail?
I mean seriously. It is that good of a kit.
This kit every month, never lets me down!
And I've been playing just to play!
So stay tuned for those layouts soon!
It just added fuel to my already Christmas spirit!

We found out yesterday when we needed it, our
snow blower bit the dust.
So we had to take it in to find out what's wrong.
I mean we've only had that thing for 2 years now.
Hoping that its not a huge fix!
But we actually needed it last night to plow.
So D got out there by hand, how spoiled are we! Ha.
But now it's warmer and its all melting.
Which means that the roads are slippery and wet.
Makes for bad driving!
But I will admit, I like the snow a lot this time of year,
its so festive!

Well I am off to get ready for work!
Hope your day is full of sunshine, blessings, and enjoyment.

Home on the range.

I really want this badly!
It's the new Studio Calico Home Collection line.

I am really hoping to get the entire line soon!
I think it's the colors that are grabbing me and found out it will be stalked soon at a certain site!
Do you like it?

We were finally able to get some pretty decent photos on Saturday in front of our tree!
We had such a great time being together!






And I got a Christmas present early! Now I know you think I already got one with the new Wii Jillian Michael's workout, but that wasn't truly a Christmas present. I mentioned something to D&A about how they both got a few of their gifts early {not because we cannot wait but because everything started to fall apart! D's razor finally bit the dust and I got him one, A's phone completely died so we gave hers to her early and they both got their pj's too!} So on Saturday D gave me one of my presents early! I actually was sad about this one because I accidentally found out that he got it for me by doing Quicken. I was so heartbroken because I really love surprises a lot.. But I told him because I didn't want him to think I didn't know. So I knew it was a Swatch Watch, but I wasn't sure which one.

He was so worried I wouldn't like it but I LOVE it!!!! I truly do. I love Swatch Watch, I always have. The biggest thing I love about them is that they are completely flat. It's gorgeous and I love the fact that it is silver, I am really diggin silver lately!

D was supposed to go on a TDY this week. However, he just told me its been canceled and that makes me a happy peep to say the least! But please pray he doesn't get stuck on the Christmas one they have going out. That one is from the 21-28th so he'd miss Christmas all together!

I am working some crazy hours for the rest of this month! We have another supervisor going on Christmas leave so that means I'll be picking up her hours! I am also going to start working on Thursday mornings. Normally I have that day off, but I thought it would be cool to score some extra hours during the week.

We are eating over a new friend's house tomorrow night! We are so thankful for the doors that the Lord is opening with new friendships within our church. It has been a prayer of mine for a long time and I am thankful for that!

Well peeps it is time to turn in, rest, relax, and tidy up before bed!
Hope your weekend is spent cherishing each moment that your family laughs together about the things that are shared within your family.