The thing about a blog is you have this great way to remember what you said and more importantly, MOST of the time, you can remember how you were feeling when you said it. 2013 was a great year for us, lots and lots and even lots more changes, but when I am looking over the grand scheme of things, it was just good.
I didn't even share at the New Year last year that Andrew had JUST been laid off, in a lot of ways it was scary but honestly, once again, God is good and I just wasn't that bothered by it. I knew he had a plan and sure enough, April came and he got to do something he loves. I LOVE that he loves his job. He loves the people he works with and he loves the prospects of not only the future of others, but his own future with Goodwill as well. It is a good match. I get such a kick out of him, he gets so excited when he has had something really cool donated. Not just because it is really cool but he knows someones life can change just a little because of that donation. I know that's a cool feeling!
Of course, our baby boy graduated from OCC in May, traveled to Seattle WA by himself in June and started his Dream Job in July. He started on his "dream house" in August, though I have been told there are a few 2x4's in the walls, that says, "I HATE THIS HOUSE!" just because they constantly take one step forward and two steps back. Original plans were to hopefully be in by spring. I'm thinking he may be sleeping there by spring, late spring, but I don't believe they will have siding, roof, and all the inside done until closer to his birthday. I guess the thing that thrills me the most though is that he and his dad are doing this hand in hand and I know, when it's done, it is going to be more than anyone thought possible.
2013 brought a new job title for me, though I had been being groomed for the job for sometime, it is still scary to all the sudden not have that extra person on the ladder that gets to tell me if I am being stupid...I still have that person, it's just that now, I have to have my Executive Director tell me that, instead of just my department head. I also am starting out 2014 down 55 lbs from when I started Weight Watchers, about 30 of that came off this year. It doesn't sound like a lot but when you take in to consideration that I spent the first 4 months of the year on enough prednizone to choke a horse, I'm not unhappy with it at all. Of course, I plan to continue losing this year.
So, this is not a resolution list, this is a list of things that I know we can get accomplished, if we just keep our eye on the goal.
My first priority is my Lord and Savior and what I want to do for Him this year. Last Sunday at church, our pastor had a message basically on this. The principal points were Worship, Work and Witness. I honestly love my morning quiet time with God. I haven't missed it one day in over 2 years. I am to the point now where I honestly think I would just expect the whole day to go wrong if I did. Not that I really believe God works that way, but I know I work that way. The month of November, I read through the book of Psalms, just because there are so many "thankful" psalms. In December, I decided to read through the 4 gospels, reading 3 chapters in one book one morning, three in the next book the next morning and so on and so forth. I finished Matthew, the longest one, on Monday. Funny thing is before I decided to do this, I picked up a book at Goodwill called the 25 days of Christmas. It was a devotional book to prepare for Christmas and I thought it would be a nice addition to my morning time. Little did I know, the book did exactly what I was doing. Starting with the birth of Christ and then reminding us daily what He did while He was here, what He came to do and what He is doing for us right now. I have said numerous times that this has been one of the best Christmas' ever and I think it was because I started out each day remembering WHY we celebrate Christmas.
I decided one of the things I wanted to learn was more about the Minor Prophets. I have read through the Bible in a year numerous times but this year I want to dig a little deeper and I have to tell you, every time I read through the Minor Prophets, I spend a lot of time wondering what this verse or that verse means, so I ordered a devotional book to go with them. I downloaded it on my ipad which is an experiment. I normally don't take any electronics with me to my quiet time, if it proves to be a distraction, the next thing I study, I will buy the hard copy. So, getting through that Bible study is the first thing on my list.
The second thing is to be bolder about my witness, Ben mentioned Sunday that we need to witness on a daily basis and I do get plenty of opportunities and I feel a lot of times I do but I'm going to seek more opportunities this year and try harder to get my friends who used to come to church back in church and those who have never came to at least try it out. I know my biggest witness is my actions so I plan on guarding them closely this year. Think twice, speak once. A saying that never fails.
Now on to "me" stuff. Of course, I want to continue losing weight and getting healthier. I have tried twice and failed to do a daily workout calendar so I am loosening the reigns a bit and going to try to work up to that. For now, I am setting a goal to exercise at least 30 minutes 5 times a week. That gives me two days to not exercise for 30 minutes, though WW would like to see at least 10 minutes on those days and I could probably come up with that. I have a grand goal that I am buying myself either a Chrysler Sebring convertible or a Chrysler 200 convertible when I get to a size 12, I am in 16's right now, so I am hoping by my birthday to have my car--it probably won't be new but I want brown or tan and hardtop so after I get there, it will take me a while to find.
Of course, the no brainer is to finish Robert's house. I am hoping to get a few things done around here before 2015 hits though. The tree needs to come out of the front yard to make way for a grander entrance. I still need new countertops, backsplash and sink in the kitchen. I want to redo the front bathroom and of course, when Robert leaves, we are making his room the new guest room and the guest room an exercise room. So, lots of goals there. There are more, but if we get to these I will be very happy.
I want to spend more time crocheting and scrapbooking this year. Those are "me" things too.
I also want to be more organized, why is it organized people never think they are organized enough? I am a very organized person, but there is always room for improvement.
So, that's my goals, as I look at them, nothing earth-shattering or life-changing but things that we can do nonetheless.
Happy 2014!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Christmas Morning
Pictures from Nila of our gifts:
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| Getting Ready |
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| Luggage from Initials Inc. He didn't want initials, so his luggage says Go Bag (thing Criminal Minds) and his shave kit says "Essentials". As we said earlier, he knew he was getting these. |
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He knew he was getting this too, a Pampered Chef Magic Pot. I use mine all the time and when I had a PC party this fall, it was to get him his own, otherwise mine would disappear. |
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| He is telling me he can't believe I did this. |
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Andrew and his insulated bibs.
Me and my bottle of Beautiful :-)
  There were lots more pictures but this is enough for now. Merry Christmas, one final LAST time... I promise. (Although, Christmas isn't over for me yet, it won't be until next Saturday at the earliest--I don't believe in leaving decorations up until Valentine's Day but I really like to leave them up at least through New Years--just my opinion). |
Thursday, December 26, 2013
So This is Christmas
I have spent the greater part of the last hour trying to embed a music player, didn't work, so easy peasy version, play this:
Okay, now that we have that going....as you know, if you have followed up to this point. I have had an absolute wonderful Christmas this year. I haven't added a lot of pictures and my sister took some yesterday that I hope to get copies of soon, but here it is so far.....
The first big adventure in pictures, our trip to St. Louis with Nila and Richard...
and a great snow while we were there!!
Me and Andrew at Soulard Market...
Fun at the Old Spaghetti Factory....
The next day we went caroling with our church....what a great bunch of carolers!!
(and there were more behind me!)
Just had to get a picture of Fred and Lela, one of our favorite couples in the whole wide world...
One thing I normally do for Christmas is make homemade presents for the girls at work....This year, I made Sugar scrubs and lipbalms....I didn't take pictures of the lipbalms :-( but ended up having enough of them to even share with our Sunday evening Bible Study group. I LOVE the feeling of giving someone something they aren't expecting!
So this is Christmas, literally, my house about 5 in the morning on Christmas Day.
Hopefully soon I will get the pics from Sis of Robert's big surprise. His last Christmas at home and I got him good....He had wanted a Surface, really badly. I explained that with the expense of his house and all the things going on there, he had a good job, he could get himself one in a few months and he was so totally fine with that. So he about fainted when in the bottom of a box that I had filled with Pampered Chef stuff for his kitchen was a Surface Pro 2 along with the keyboard. I was reading today about snot nosed kids who were unhappy because they didn't get exactly what they wanted for Christmas, my kid almost cried because he truly wanted this and truly NEVER expected it.
Christmas day would have been perfect had my mom not been hurting so bad with her muscles and joints but she was a trooper and even went to the movies with us....we had never all went to a movie together and I think it was a great new tradition, one I will try to keep going.
So these last two pictures are of the girls, I couldn't get them together, but just one at a time, this was today, after the guys were at work, Sis and Rich had left and I truly started to feel like I was on vacation..
So, this is Christmas......and what have you done? Another year over and a new one just begun.......I am really excited to make a new "bucket list" for the new year, not resolutions, just things I want to see happen in 2014...stay tuned.....
Me and Andrew at Soulard Market...
Monday, December 23, 2013
And Through the Third Week of Christmas...
Yet another awesome week of this Christmas season. I have to take a minute and remember I have friends who are going through things right here at Christmas and I know this is not their perfect Christmas.....that being said, most of my friends who are going through things are still rejoicing in the fact that God sent his only son to save us from our sins and that as they are seeing loved ones go through painful days, they know that Christ has his arms wrapped around them. I know of one family this Christmas season whose dad just accepted Christ as his savior, this dad also has cancer and I think the most touching post was from his teenage grandson who was elated with the news. He made the statement that he knew now, no matter what, he would get to see his granddad someday and that now, when his granddad does pass, he knows he will still be able to watch over him. Through the tragedy of illness, God is still good.
Wednesday evening was our AWANA Christmas program, how fun it was to work with the littles! All the kids did an awesome job though. One of my favorite things was on Sunday night, when we went Christmas caroling, Heath, one of my high schoolers from last year asked me to make him Oreo balls for Wednesday night. I did, he was happy and I brought home a totally empty plate from the fellowship time afterwards. Yes, I am one of those that gets hung up on people eating or not eating my food, clean plates always equals good.
Friday we had our catered in lunch and office party at work. I am trying really hard to get ready for vacation but I ran in and played a couple of games, funny, the very first one I did, I answered all the questions and then had to leave to take a call. When I got back I had won the game! It was a trivia game about Christmas movies, OLD Christmas movies, go figure.
Friday evening my guys and I did our regular Friday evening meal out at Puerta Vallarta, after that we truly just came home and vegged.
Saturday, oh Saturday.....Robert was supposed to go help with Christmas play practice at church, then he and I were going to head to Chicago. We had originally planned on leaving really early, like 6 am, but he does the soundboard at church and he was needed and so we just decided we would leave afterwards. We were only going for two reasons, to go to IKEA and to goof around together for the day. In the process of the morning, Robert's Droid had an accident and no longer worked. I hate one of us not having our phone so we decided just to run to the Verizon store and pick up a new phone, it wouldn't take us that long, right? An hour and a half later we were finally ready to head to Chicago, it was after noon but we still knew we had no time constraints so away we went. We went through the drive through at McDonalds, and ate on the road, so that cut some time too.
We got just north of Champaign and started seeing ice on the trees. Oh, by the way, TONS of STUPID, CRAZY drivers were out there, all needing to get someplace and not being sensible or even nice for that matter. When I started seeing the ice, I started thinking it was time to forget it. By the time we got to Paxton, there was lots of ice and still lots of bad drivers, Robert even decided it was time to head back.
When we got back to Champaign, we ended up with just rain again so we stopped at Prairie Gardens and then just came home and kicked back.
Funny how things happen, I had tried so hard that day to make that trip work eventhough things (and God) kept telling us it wasn't meant to be. I am so glad we finally listened because at 8:45 that evening, Robert's phone rang. It was Adam, Adam that Robert had his car, flew across the country to see and did a 4 day tour of the US to get his car safely back to Illinois. Adam had a surprise, he was sitting on his mom's couch in NEWTON!! Of course, Robert was out the door in about 3 minutes.
I cannot tell you how I would have been had we been north of Champaign when we got that call. Thank you Lord for changing our plans and thank you for making me finally listen!!
That brings us to yesterday and our church Christmas program. What can I say? It was great, and the perfect time to just soak in the real meaning of the season. Cherilea was in charge of the kids and they did a cantata, complete with parts....it was amazing!!! I had "Not That Far From Bethlehem" stuck in my mind since Thanksgiving, Cherilea and I have sang it together before and I asked her to sing it with me yesterday. I hated that it was over so soon. We used to sing together a lot and then life and kids and jobs got in the way and hopefully one day, we will get back to doing more. I played my flute but now it has to make a trip to the shop, yesterday morning a pad started coming loose so I prayed all the way through my song that we could just make it without it coming too loose to let me play the correct notes. Ashley Butler sang and Makenna Kuhn played the piano. Mya played for us during our opening song of Sunday school, it was just a perfect day. Our pastor Ben had a short devotional but mainly shared with us how God made his own sermon from the week before very real to him this week. I love seeing God work and especially when he just seems to pick somebody and says, "Today, I'm going to give you the opportunity to change a life, up for it?" Hopefully every time he does that we shout "YES!" but I know in my own life, I have let plenty of those times slip by. As I get older, and bolder, I hope it doesn't happen as often. Very proud of our pastor though for getting to make a difference.
Yesterday afternoon, Andrew and I ran to Olney and then to Effingham in search of his biggest Christmas present, a pair of insulated bibs to work on the house in. We finally found them after 4 stops, now everyone will have some things under the tree.
Last night, Kim had us do our Sunday School lesson from yesterday morning instead of our regular Bible study. It just made the day perfect, of course our lesson was on Luke 2.
So today, HOPEFULLY my last day of work this year, I have tons to do and am bound and determined to find the actual wood grain on my desk tonight before I head out the door. Looking just as forward to this week as I have the past weeks, I am loving this Christmas season.
Merry Christmas and Happy Monday!
Wednesday evening was our AWANA Christmas program, how fun it was to work with the littles! All the kids did an awesome job though. One of my favorite things was on Sunday night, when we went Christmas caroling, Heath, one of my high schoolers from last year asked me to make him Oreo balls for Wednesday night. I did, he was happy and I brought home a totally empty plate from the fellowship time afterwards. Yes, I am one of those that gets hung up on people eating or not eating my food, clean plates always equals good.
Friday we had our catered in lunch and office party at work. I am trying really hard to get ready for vacation but I ran in and played a couple of games, funny, the very first one I did, I answered all the questions and then had to leave to take a call. When I got back I had won the game! It was a trivia game about Christmas movies, OLD Christmas movies, go figure.
Friday evening my guys and I did our regular Friday evening meal out at Puerta Vallarta, after that we truly just came home and vegged.
Saturday, oh Saturday.....Robert was supposed to go help with Christmas play practice at church, then he and I were going to head to Chicago. We had originally planned on leaving really early, like 6 am, but he does the soundboard at church and he was needed and so we just decided we would leave afterwards. We were only going for two reasons, to go to IKEA and to goof around together for the day. In the process of the morning, Robert's Droid had an accident and no longer worked. I hate one of us not having our phone so we decided just to run to the Verizon store and pick up a new phone, it wouldn't take us that long, right? An hour and a half later we were finally ready to head to Chicago, it was after noon but we still knew we had no time constraints so away we went. We went through the drive through at McDonalds, and ate on the road, so that cut some time too.
We got just north of Champaign and started seeing ice on the trees. Oh, by the way, TONS of STUPID, CRAZY drivers were out there, all needing to get someplace and not being sensible or even nice for that matter. When I started seeing the ice, I started thinking it was time to forget it. By the time we got to Paxton, there was lots of ice and still lots of bad drivers, Robert even decided it was time to head back.
When we got back to Champaign, we ended up with just rain again so we stopped at Prairie Gardens and then just came home and kicked back.
Funny how things happen, I had tried so hard that day to make that trip work eventhough things (and God) kept telling us it wasn't meant to be. I am so glad we finally listened because at 8:45 that evening, Robert's phone rang. It was Adam, Adam that Robert had his car, flew across the country to see and did a 4 day tour of the US to get his car safely back to Illinois. Adam had a surprise, he was sitting on his mom's couch in NEWTON!! Of course, Robert was out the door in about 3 minutes.
I cannot tell you how I would have been had we been north of Champaign when we got that call. Thank you Lord for changing our plans and thank you for making me finally listen!!
That brings us to yesterday and our church Christmas program. What can I say? It was great, and the perfect time to just soak in the real meaning of the season. Cherilea was in charge of the kids and they did a cantata, complete with parts....it was amazing!!! I had "Not That Far From Bethlehem" stuck in my mind since Thanksgiving, Cherilea and I have sang it together before and I asked her to sing it with me yesterday. I hated that it was over so soon. We used to sing together a lot and then life and kids and jobs got in the way and hopefully one day, we will get back to doing more. I played my flute but now it has to make a trip to the shop, yesterday morning a pad started coming loose so I prayed all the way through my song that we could just make it without it coming too loose to let me play the correct notes. Ashley Butler sang and Makenna Kuhn played the piano. Mya played for us during our opening song of Sunday school, it was just a perfect day. Our pastor Ben had a short devotional but mainly shared with us how God made his own sermon from the week before very real to him this week. I love seeing God work and especially when he just seems to pick somebody and says, "Today, I'm going to give you the opportunity to change a life, up for it?" Hopefully every time he does that we shout "YES!" but I know in my own life, I have let plenty of those times slip by. As I get older, and bolder, I hope it doesn't happen as often. Very proud of our pastor though for getting to make a difference.
Yesterday afternoon, Andrew and I ran to Olney and then to Effingham in search of his biggest Christmas present, a pair of insulated bibs to work on the house in. We finally found them after 4 stops, now everyone will have some things under the tree.
Last night, Kim had us do our Sunday School lesson from yesterday morning instead of our regular Bible study. It just made the day perfect, of course our lesson was on Luke 2.
So today, HOPEFULLY my last day of work this year, I have tons to do and am bound and determined to find the actual wood grain on my desk tonight before I head out the door. Looking just as forward to this week as I have the past weeks, I am loving this Christmas season.
Merry Christmas and Happy Monday!
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
The Second Week of Christmas
What a great weekend, following a great week. Work has been a little crazy but what's new. We are putting the final touches on the email server and I am hoping to see it up and running flawlessly before I try vacation. Wednesday evening, I helped with the Cubbies at AWANA, talk about culture shock!! Going from High Schoolers to 3-4 year olds is, well, yeah, like going from High Schoolers to 3-4 year olds. The questions aren't as complex but the energy level is about triple. I loved every minute of it though and am really glad I got to help with AWANA again. I miss getting to help but it was my decision to give up the high school class, so it was my doings. This week is the Christmas program for AWANA and I have to tell you, the Cubbies behave far better than I expected.
Friday morning, Andrew and I took off to St. Louis. We were meeting Nila and Rich there that evening and I wanted to take in a little shopping first. Of course, Andrew being connected with Goodwill, we had heard more about the Goodwill Outlets, there is one in St. Louis and I was anxious to see it. Sure enough, it didn't disappoint. I found a lot of finds, but my find of the day was a resin snowman bird feeder, I'm guessing at least a $30 purchase from someplace. I got clothes, a crocheted bed skirt (which I am totally in love with) a blanket, books, cookbooks, and dishes. Total came to $12.07, I would have jumped on the bird feeder for $12 so I was ecstatic.
Last year, when it was just me and Sis, I finagled a suite at Drury Inn. This year, with the hubs going, we needed two rooms. When I went to make the reservations, regular rooms were $117, Suites were $179. I told Sis to trust me that I would end up getting the suites without the $179 price tag. So I called to book the rooms, getting a better rate over the phone at $99 each. About a month ago, I got an email for a FREE upgrade at check-in. It's always a gamble but I have never had it not work. I had never tried to get TWO rooms upgraded though. I had already decided if I could only get one suite, it would be for them because they just don't go like we do. No questions asked though, we got two upgraded suites for $99 each. Oh I love Drury Inn.
So, when they got there we went and had dinner at Lotawata Creek, we had been told about this last year but the number of cars in the parking lot scared us off. On top of that, it was starting to snow and people seemed to be staying home. We drove out to The Way of Lights at Our Lady of the Snows. Sis and I had seen the laser shows there and that was one thing she wanted Rich to see. We enjoyed the shows as well as the lights and then headed into St. Louis for some Ted Drewes.
Saturday morning we headed to Soulard Market, I have a friend who is a vendor there. I had never been and was kind of upset with myself that I had never been. I WILL go back and I WILL take my covered bridge cart when I do. Besides the unbelievable price on produce, they had a spice shop, homemade soaps, jewelry....hats, just a fun time and CHEAP!!! That was a lot of fun, and the icing on the cake was getting to see my friend Robb. We ran Richard's Refinery together, in a different life. I hadn't seen him face to face since I was pregnant with Robert. Thank you Lord for facebook :-)
We went to the JC Penney outlet next, sorely disappointed. They have jacked up all the prices this year apparently because they are closing. No bargains and we left empty handed. First time I have ever left that place with nothing.
Our last stop before heading home was the Spaghetti Factory. Who would have guessed that? Okay, most of you probably were waiting for me to mention it. I have to tell you though, the food is fantastic but it is better at Joe's here in town. It is just the ambiance that I have to have from the OSF. I think I could live there.
So a little snow didn't stop us, though we saw 4 vehicles in the ditch coming home, including a semi totally on it's side. Our personal trip home was uneventful, with Andrew sleeping the entire way.
Sunday we got to go caroling, I love, love, love that night. There were about 30 of us out and just the look on some of the recipient's faces, yep, it was just like Christmas....which is the point. We ended the evening with a party at Cherilea's. Just a great time celebrating spreading the true meaning of Christmas.
My only regret is the season is going too quickly, I can't believe Christmas is a week from tomorrow, but on a brighter note, that means I start vacation a week from today!!!
Happy Tuesday and Merry Christmas!
Friday morning, Andrew and I took off to St. Louis. We were meeting Nila and Rich there that evening and I wanted to take in a little shopping first. Of course, Andrew being connected with Goodwill, we had heard more about the Goodwill Outlets, there is one in St. Louis and I was anxious to see it. Sure enough, it didn't disappoint. I found a lot of finds, but my find of the day was a resin snowman bird feeder, I'm guessing at least a $30 purchase from someplace. I got clothes, a crocheted bed skirt (which I am totally in love with) a blanket, books, cookbooks, and dishes. Total came to $12.07, I would have jumped on the bird feeder for $12 so I was ecstatic.
Last year, when it was just me and Sis, I finagled a suite at Drury Inn. This year, with the hubs going, we needed two rooms. When I went to make the reservations, regular rooms were $117, Suites were $179. I told Sis to trust me that I would end up getting the suites without the $179 price tag. So I called to book the rooms, getting a better rate over the phone at $99 each. About a month ago, I got an email for a FREE upgrade at check-in. It's always a gamble but I have never had it not work. I had never tried to get TWO rooms upgraded though. I had already decided if I could only get one suite, it would be for them because they just don't go like we do. No questions asked though, we got two upgraded suites for $99 each. Oh I love Drury Inn.
So, when they got there we went and had dinner at Lotawata Creek, we had been told about this last year but the number of cars in the parking lot scared us off. On top of that, it was starting to snow and people seemed to be staying home. We drove out to The Way of Lights at Our Lady of the Snows. Sis and I had seen the laser shows there and that was one thing she wanted Rich to see. We enjoyed the shows as well as the lights and then headed into St. Louis for some Ted Drewes.
Saturday morning we headed to Soulard Market, I have a friend who is a vendor there. I had never been and was kind of upset with myself that I had never been. I WILL go back and I WILL take my covered bridge cart when I do. Besides the unbelievable price on produce, they had a spice shop, homemade soaps, jewelry....hats, just a fun time and CHEAP!!! That was a lot of fun, and the icing on the cake was getting to see my friend Robb. We ran Richard's Refinery together, in a different life. I hadn't seen him face to face since I was pregnant with Robert. Thank you Lord for facebook :-)
We went to the JC Penney outlet next, sorely disappointed. They have jacked up all the prices this year apparently because they are closing. No bargains and we left empty handed. First time I have ever left that place with nothing.
Our last stop before heading home was the Spaghetti Factory. Who would have guessed that? Okay, most of you probably were waiting for me to mention it. I have to tell you though, the food is fantastic but it is better at Joe's here in town. It is just the ambiance that I have to have from the OSF. I think I could live there.
So a little snow didn't stop us, though we saw 4 vehicles in the ditch coming home, including a semi totally on it's side. Our personal trip home was uneventful, with Andrew sleeping the entire way.
Sunday we got to go caroling, I love, love, love that night. There were about 30 of us out and just the look on some of the recipient's faces, yep, it was just like Christmas....which is the point. We ended the evening with a party at Cherilea's. Just a great time celebrating spreading the true meaning of Christmas.
My only regret is the season is going too quickly, I can't believe Christmas is a week from tomorrow, but on a brighter note, that means I start vacation a week from today!!!
Happy Tuesday and Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
FOUND!!! The forgotten Christmas songs
A couple of years ago, I had a song stuck in my head so bad that I mentioned it on facebook, asking if anyone could locate it. Several came up with a song by the same name, but it wasn't the same song. In either 7th or 8th grade, we sang "Christmas in a Small Town" and I absolutely loved this song. Big chunks of it was stuck in my memory but I just wanted to hear it again. I did another search yesterday and low and behold, a you tube video of a high school choir, many years ago, singing it.
So, let me share....
And then, if that wasn't enough, I decided to make a last ditch effort to find the OTHER long lost Christmas song....Christmas Candy. I had literally looked for this song for years because it was on an album we had when I was little. I really thought it was on one of the True Value, "Happy Holidays" albums, so I was searching in the wrong direction. It was on the Snoopy Christmas album.
Anyway, for your holiday listening pleasure...... (and please keep in mind how annoying it is to have parts of this song stuck in your head, as I said, for YEARS, and not be able to hear it--btw, the easiest way to get a song "un"stuck is to listen to it start to finish)
Christmas Candy...... One more little magical thing about this particular Christmas. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season! Happy Tuesday!
So, let me share....
And then, if that wasn't enough, I decided to make a last ditch effort to find the OTHER long lost Christmas song....Christmas Candy. I had literally looked for this song for years because it was on an album we had when I was little. I really thought it was on one of the True Value, "Happy Holidays" albums, so I was searching in the wrong direction. It was on the Snoopy Christmas album.
Anyway, for your holiday listening pleasure...... (and please keep in mind how annoying it is to have parts of this song stuck in your head, as I said, for YEARS, and not be able to hear it--btw, the easiest way to get a song "un"stuck is to listen to it start to finish)
Christmas Candy...... One more little magical thing about this particular Christmas. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season! Happy Tuesday!
Saturday, December 7, 2013
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
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| Kitchen, sorry about the lighting, it was either this or try to take them in the dark. |
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| Dining Room/ Living Room |
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| My Grandmother's nativity |
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| Andrew's Native American Nativity |
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| My Precious Moments Nativity, Andrew's Mom made for me and then I painted. |
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| My grandmother's Christmas tree, with just her decorations on it, I should have taken another picture with the tree skirt and the rest of my antique decs....but I didn't. Before Christmas is over. |
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| Not a Christmas decoration, the newest member of my treasures though. My friend Patty painted this for me and gave it to me Tuesday evening. |
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| My fish, notice they have decorations too! |
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| Andrew's Mom's Christmas Village, it is the first time since we have been married that I have had room for it. The picture above is of Bollinger Mill, now a State Historic Site outside of Cape Girardeau, MO, and part of Andrew's family heritage. |
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| Even the bathroom got hit with a little Christmas |
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| as did the bedroom, I don't overdo in the bedroom because some days I live with Scrooge. |
Monday, December 2, 2013
One Monday I don't have any desire to see again
You all know I normally love, love, love my job. Well, today, I still loved it, it just wasn't the greatest Monday. Anyway my day was probably even better than someone who dreaded going to work this morning so I'm not even going to complain, Sheila heard enough of my complaining to do everyone a while--and she too knows I don't normally complain.
Anyway, I got off work, rushed to Walmart because I have a half set up, half lit up Christmas tree. I have always been a stickler for wrapping each branch with lights as I put the tree together. Of course, the fiasco of a pre-lit tree, you couldn't do that so when I got the new tree, low and behold, I ran out of lights. I drove to everyplace in Newton that was open Saturday afternoon with no luck. Guess what?? Walmart didn't have any either--go figure. I called Andrew and asked how stupid two different sizes of lights would look on the tree, one size on the bottom and a different size on top, yes, he confirmed.....stupid. He was getting off work though and volunteered to go to Menards and see if they have them. He sent me a picture, he got them......my hero <3 .="" p="">
So, I ran to Aldi and then to Weight Watchers. You all know I was dreading going to weigh in but I did. It was bad. I have a LOT of work to do in the next 29 days. I want you to see a typical me thinking though. This will blow everyone who knows me as a control freak's mind. All the way home, I thought, "I have had a bad day, I'm gonna go home and open the jar of real mayo I bought and slap it on the real bread that I bought with a piece of cheese and eat it. I LOVE mayonnaise and I love good cheese. I bought the regular bread and the mayo for Robert's lunch and because we are having hamburgers Wednesday evening and I counted 3 points so I could have a tablespoon of real mayo on my burger. But the cheese sandwich I was talking about was not on the menu today--it would have been an all out binge. I already had one of the girl's homemade cookies today (and counted it) I sure didn't need to sabotage myself with the cheese sandwich, so I walked in the door, grabbed a banana and let the air out of the binge. Now just a couple more hours, and lots to do before I go to bed. I am hoping to stay binge free the rest of the night. If I get through tonight, I am good until Thursday night, so you all may get to hear from me then too. As I said a couple of posts ago though, I NEED to use my blog as a journal right now and I truly believe just sharing what I did will help me get in the kitchen, make my meatloaf and potatoes and not do anything stupid....
and yes, I did do my C25K this morning....
Happy Monday
Anyway, I got off work, rushed to Walmart because I have a half set up, half lit up Christmas tree. I have always been a stickler for wrapping each branch with lights as I put the tree together. Of course, the fiasco of a pre-lit tree, you couldn't do that so when I got the new tree, low and behold, I ran out of lights. I drove to everyplace in Newton that was open Saturday afternoon with no luck. Guess what?? Walmart didn't have any either--go figure. I called Andrew and asked how stupid two different sizes of lights would look on the tree, one size on the bottom and a different size on top, yes, he confirmed.....stupid. He was getting off work though and volunteered to go to Menards and see if they have them. He sent me a picture, he got them......my hero <3 .="" p="">
So, I ran to Aldi and then to Weight Watchers. You all know I was dreading going to weigh in but I did. It was bad. I have a LOT of work to do in the next 29 days. I want you to see a typical me thinking though. This will blow everyone who knows me as a control freak's mind. All the way home, I thought, "I have had a bad day, I'm gonna go home and open the jar of real mayo I bought and slap it on the real bread that I bought with a piece of cheese and eat it. I LOVE mayonnaise and I love good cheese. I bought the regular bread and the mayo for Robert's lunch and because we are having hamburgers Wednesday evening and I counted 3 points so I could have a tablespoon of real mayo on my burger. But the cheese sandwich I was talking about was not on the menu today--it would have been an all out binge. I already had one of the girl's homemade cookies today (and counted it) I sure didn't need to sabotage myself with the cheese sandwich, so I walked in the door, grabbed a banana and let the air out of the binge. Now just a couple more hours, and lots to do before I go to bed. I am hoping to stay binge free the rest of the night. If I get through tonight, I am good until Thursday night, so you all may get to hear from me then too. As I said a couple of posts ago though, I NEED to use my blog as a journal right now and I truly believe just sharing what I did will help me get in the kitchen, make my meatloaf and potatoes and not do anything stupid....
and yes, I did do my C25K this morning....
Happy Monday
Workout Calendar
Here we go....
The Leslie Sansone's are all mile-long "walks", for those of you familiar, you know this is just truly a mild cardio, I am starting on week 3 of C25K because I have started it so many times, I am comfortable with starting on week three, I have never made it past week 6, so it will be a good way to start the new year at week 7. Don't let me disillusion you. I am extremely slow at my C25K but when I am really doing it, I do see a difference in my weight and my body. The Strength training is a video that I bought some time ago, it is from Exercise TV and it is doable, except for the pushups. I have ALWAYS had problems with pushups. Mastering those will probably be a New Year's resolution.
So, I will check in every few days and let you know how it goes!
December 2013
|
Sunday
|
Monday
|
Tuesday
|
Wednesday
|
Thursday
|
Friday
|
Saturday
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
|
Leslie Sansone Green
|
C25K Week 3
|
Strength Training
|
C25K Week 3
|
Leslie Sansone Red
|
C25k Week 3
|
Strength Training
|
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
|
Leslie Sansone Yellow
|
C25K Week 4
|
Strength Training
|
C25K Week 4
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Leslie Sansone Blue
|
C25k Week 4
|
Strength Training
|
|
15
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16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
|
Leslie Sansone Purple
|
C25K Week5
|
Strength Training
|
C25K Week5
|
Leslie Sansone Green
|
C25k Week 5
|
Strength Training
|
|
22
|
23
|
24
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25
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26
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27
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28
|
|
Leslie Sansone Red
|
C25K Week6
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Strength Training
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C25K Week 6
|
Leslie Sansone Yellow
|
C25k Week 6
|
Strength Training
|
|
29
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30
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31
|
|
|
|
|
|
Leslie Sansone Blue
|
C25K Week 7
|
Strength Training
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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So, I will check in every few days and let you know how it goes!
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