Misty

I must be the luckiest girl in the world-because I have the BEST people in my life.

I talk about Misty a lot...so humor me while I tell you our story. Back in 2006 I got two new people on my team at work. They were young and quiet and shy but eager to learn and to do well. Little did I know that one of them would become one of my bestest friends. We bonded over the fact that we were both trying to get pregnant at the same time. We shared a lot of heartache, struggle and pain..but also joy. I believe that she was one of the first people that I told that I was pregnant. I also think I was one of the first she told that she was also pregnant...and I also believe we cried together when she told me she was going to quit. I cried again on her last day and kept her badge on my desk for months afterward. I saw her twice after that...at her baby shower and at another friend's baby shower...and then we didn't see each other for 4 years. However-we kept close contact...e-mails, blogs, texts, Facebook and care packages sent back and forth. I felt like I knew each of her boys, I felt like I held her daughter myself. She came to see me last year and I finally went to see her this past week. The hard part of our friendship is that she lives 60 miles away. After my 2 hour drive there I was amazed by technology and how a text can travel that distance in seconds. I wish that I could have gone on a day the kids were off of school so that we could have gone earlier and stayed all day. I will try to make it down there this summer when I can see where she grew up in the daylight. I can't wait to see this town that she loves so much. I am not sure if she knows how much I cherish our relationship. Years ago I vowed not to put energy into people that don't put the energy back. Misty definitely puts the energy into me-it is so nice to know that there is someone that loves you that doesn't have to. There is so much about her that I admire her for-I could go on and on and on...but I have rambled enough for today...so here are the pics of my recent trip.

She made us a yummy dinner. BOTH my kids asked for seconds and pretty much cleaned their plates. I got to taste her famous family farm corn-delish. (left to right-Lauren, Melia, Jamie, and AJ). Can you tell my kids are trained cheesers?! It makes me laugh.

I got to sit by Aaron. He had pirate day at school so he had a beard still. This kiddo has a ton of energy-he kept me laughing the whole time.
I vowed that I would get some pictures in...and we tried my phone because I thought the pics would be better...Lauren kept trying but we could just NOT get a good picture of us....they kept being fuzzy...so here they are anyway.










We even tried to do self photos...but it is hard to push the button on the phone with one hand while holding it...So Misty had to help me. I don't know if you can tell..but I think we were both laughing trying to get it to work...

Oh boy..we are so silly!
So...one of those things I love about her....um....she is super crafy. She took our picture and made this super cool clock as part of my Christmas present. I think she picked the perfect photo-I love how the circle goes around our picture.
I also wanted to do a craft with her while we were there. My friend Bree put this project on her blog and I wanted to try. I have to say that I love the results...and I got a lot of compliments on it. SO...I have found the perfect combination..one friend for help with inspiration and one friend for help with perspiration! Notice I don't have a picture of Misty's heart wreath...that is because hers was WAY better than mine. That is okay-I am fine being second place to her. Oh, I also hogged all of the coffee filters and she didn't get to finish hers....I am such a jerk.
As I write this tonight, my heart is full. I have so much to be thankful for. I have a great husband, sweet kids, a supportive family, and wonderful friends. Thanks Misty-you are one in a million!!

Why I was late for work today...

And why my hair was wet....

And my makeup was sloppy...

I can't START a project and not END it. It took me a little longer this morning than planned.

I had my Christmas stuff put away, however, the boxes were STILL upstairs..because I was not ready to face the basement.

With an upcoming baby shower on my mind...there was no more putting it off.

So..today was the day. Here is the before:

(don't you love my cat Oreo...keeping me company)?!

And here is the "after" ta-da.
I am just a little sore...and a little bruised...but a LOT happy.

PS. Tires are REALLY heavy. AND REALLY scary if there are spider webs in the middle. Glad it is done. (for a while). Matt needs to build this girl more shelves for me junk. (Head nod).

Jamie's haircut

I don't know why Jamie getting his haircut is always so traumatic for me. I love his long hair and the personality that I think goes along with it. However, I was the one pushing for a cut this time. It gets a little crazy and crinkley in the morning and it was starting to get tangles (aka tears) so I was ready.

He was a little tired and therefore crabby and not at all happy about getting it cut. Here he is pre-haircut....pouting.

His "not happy" face.

His hair grows so fast, I am always shocked about how much comes off! AND there is even more on his smock!

After the haircut he was exhausted on the drive home. I can't believe that he can sleep like that-but he does it ALL the time!
AND here is the "after" shot.
I like how the lady blended it in...I couldn't bare for it to be TOO short on top.....
And finally we have "HAPPY Jamie"!
He is such a sweet little boy and I am thankful for having him in my life.

My favorite Christmas Present!

I was so impressed with my little girl this year. It has become a new tradition the past two years-that I take the kids to Dollar Tree and let them pick out presents for each other and for Matt and I. I first pick out a big bag and allow them to place items in the bag so that no one can see what they chose. It is fun to see them narrow down their gifts and really put thought into what they buy. One thing that Lauren purchased (without me knowing) was this DARLING card! I love how this card has a mom and a dad and boy and a girl SNOW-family.

When I opened it up...that is when the tears came!
"Spihelist"...."Specialist". Seriously-this melted my heart. Christmas is always too stressful for me. I always feel like there is something I HAVE to get done. I stay up way too late, get way too little sleep, eat way too poorly, and just feel all around frazzled. This little baby awaiting me on Christmas morning...made ALL of that WORTH it!

I love how the inside of the card she has conveniently made a drawing in which Jamie is missing from the picture.

OH...and I should mention that she did NOT inherit my procrastinator gene. She made her gifts for the rest of the family (aunts/uncles/grandparents/cousins) REALLY early and had them wrapped very quickly-and were the first gifts under the tree!! She wrapped presents as soon as they were purchased as well. I need to take a lesson from her. OH-I just LOVE her!

Post 15

Post 15: A picture of something you ate today:

After a week of getting my eating back to my pre-holiday routine and after a day full of high-protein food....Matt treated me to cake bites from The Sweet Tooth Fairy. I am a sucker for these bites of delicious goodness. Mmmmmm. I wish I had more.

Top 20 additions of Christmas 2011

OK...I am feeling just a tad bit guilty about the whole blog posting thing....sometimes when it comes to birthdays, holidays, special events, etc...it just seems like TOO much effort to put things on Facebook AND the blog. AND since pictures are more easily uploaded to Facebook-most of the cool stuff goes to that. Well...I thought that I would put some unique things here on the good old blog. SO...here are my top 20 new additions to Christmas 2011. I got this blog idea as I was sadly putting all the decor away this year. Tee hee hee.

In no particular order....

#1 One of my besties-Heather Lyons made this advent calendar for me for my birthday last year. I LOVED it and this year the kids loved taking turns getting their treats out. It was so much fun!

#2 I kept hearing ads about Home Depot having these 20 gallon totes for $5.88...so I talked Matt into taking me there and I scored 4 of them. I LOVE having a place for everything and everything in its place. I thought about being saucy and putting a blue lid on the brown tote and a brown lid on the blue tote. Oh yeah, I am cool like that.
#3 Ever since 1995 Matt and I have taken turns giving each other ornaments (he has odd years and I have the even years). They are usually cute bears or Disney themed, etc. Matt bucked the system this year and decided to get each family member one of these blingy initial ornaments. I resisted at first and wanted to stick to tradition-but they actually grew on me and I love them now. However, 2012 is MY year and we will see how I feel when I start to shop. PS. I could NOT tolerate them not having the year on them-so I wrote 2011 on the back of each of them in black permanent marker-a rebel I am NOT-or does that make me a rebel...hmmm...
#4 If I had ordered these this might be #1!! I got a new phone for Christmas. It was my entire budget. I love it, I love having the internet like 24-7! I will NEVER be bored again. I can't believe I went so long without a smartphone! I feel so much more efficient.
#5 My cute neighbor Denise (mother of adorable 11 month old twins) gave me these magnets. OH I LOVE THEM! SO very cute. The moment I got them I stuck them on the fridge....then one by one they fell off and broke. The magnet was stronger than the glue. I was so devastated I asked her if I could buy more off of her. She gave me a new set for free! I think Matt might have been embarassed by me telling her that they broke...but I really loved them!!
#6 After YEARS and YEARS and YEARS of owning both of these classics on VHS tape-we FINALLY bought them on DVD. I was worried we were wearing the tape thin! I think Matt knows every word to ONE of them and I know every word to the other one...can you guess which one goes with which one?
#7 OKAY this is totally cheesy but I got this CD for Christmas. I saw him sing "Mistletoe" on a TV show...and I wanted it. It is a really good CD and one that might become a regular at our house.....
#8 My cute little sister Sarah was sooo creative with her gifts this year. I was pleasantly surprised by her amazing presents! (I should have taken pictures of all the things she made!). This one was my favorite- I have always wanted something like this-I can't wait to write love notes to Matt. Aww.....
#9 Matt's Dad and his wife Tina gave us these knives for Christmas. I shoulda taken a picture of the ghetto knives we had before! The last set was given to us for our wedding-almost 13 years ago. Well...one day when we were laying sod, Matt's dad asked to use our old knives...and I told him...um my "old knives" are my only knives--aka the good knives. Well...that experience got me thinking. Every year Tina asks me for suggestions...so this year I made this suggestion...and I was extremely pleased that she got us this AWESOMELY CLASSY set of new knives. I am actually afraid to use them.
#10 This new TV was a bit of surprise. Matt found this TV for a killer deal and now my house feels like a brand new house. We now hang out downstairs and I can't believe we didn't do this earlier! It is nice to watch TV while you cook dinner...who would have known!
#11 This was actually a birthday present not a Christmas present....but Matt got me these remote control LED candles. Which is awesome because I have had these empty candesticks above my door for like 2 years! Super cool.
#12 The fireplace isn't new...but using it is! (forgive the ugly wire-Matt is working on it).....it was such a treat to wrap presents by the fireplace especially when it has been so cold lately.
#13 Matt decided it was time to upgrade our tree. I was sad at first-but trusted his vision. He came up with this idea to refurbish our old ornaments. He came up with this idea all by himself and I happily obliged....and we have a big staircase! (aka-lots of ruberbands and lots of slapping myself with them).
#14 DOH...this picture is sideways and I can't fix it! So please turn your screen. My adorable bestie Misty made me these blocks that spells out words. It is so fun...and festive! I am really trying to channel my inner-Misty....I am just not as cute as her but I am really trying.
#15 On the other hand...Matt's old secretary Kathy, unlike me, IS totally talented and crafty and made us these wooden letters. I love them. Jamie also loved that it had a big "J" like in his name and I loved that he is recognizing his letters! Pure JOY for this cornball.
#16 Here is the aforementioned tree. With its 2011 makeover...ala Matt. This was ALL him. He decorated this tree with such ferver it was a hoot. He was on a neverending quest for dark blue ornaments-they are harder to find than you think they'd be. It took him forever to get the new LED lights on the tree..but I loved it afterwards. The new tree grew on me too!
#17 We have a little shindig at our house every New Years Eve with Matt's brother and sister. Matt and I spent ALL day cleaning the house for our party...then shortly after midnight Lauren SOMEHOW got a hold of some confetti! I don't think I have seen Matt that angry in a long time. This static-confetti might be lingering around for a long time despite our many attempts at clean up. Look at Lauren smiling even though she was in BIG trouble.
#18 Even though I am not very crafty, I LOVE crafts. I bought this foam kit and the kids and I had so much fun assembling it, okay I had fun assembling it. I was quite proud of the final product. I need all projects to be this easy!!
#19 I love love love Christmas Cards! It is the only time of the year when it is FUN to get the mail. At my old house I used to put the cards on our front door...but ever since we moved into this house...I haven't known what to do with them. This year...I taped them to the wall. I LOVED it! The wall seems to bare now without it.
#20 Okay-this isn't new...-I just thought I should mention it. I probably need to invest in a new nativity scene-maybe it will be the first addition to 2012. Well, I don't know where I got this and it isn't very high quality. BUT, I just can't bring myself to throw it away and I have tried a few times. Many years ago-like before Lauren was born-our dog Dixie ATE baby Jesus. I tried to tell Matt that it was the proof that she was really a devil dog. However-I think that it now symbolizes how empty Christmas is without "Christ", literally.
Well-hopefully this photo-palooza makes up for my last two photo-less posts. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year!