Reflections

Ok, first of all, I never thought that I would use the word "reflection" again in my life but here I am using it as the title of a blog entry. Let me explain why I had that thought. When you are an education major, you hear that word millions of times and you have to reflect on everything millions of times. By the time I graduated, I had begun to dislike that word very much! But, I am going to reflect on 2008. If I come up with something really interesting, I will share it with you! As of right now, I just can not believe that 2008 was over. This year has really gone by quickly. Things that I thought or hoped would happen didn't but I know that there is a reason for this. I just have to wait and see what God has in his plans and let my plans go. I have definately learned that even though I think that my plans are perfect, God's are better for me even if I don't understand it. As I am writing this, Mrs. H. and I are having a facebook chat so I ask her about the words of a song that really says it all about our plans versus God's plans. Part of the chorus says, "And if you wanna hear God laugh, tell him your plans." Why don't we ever understand this? Well, that is all the reflecting I am going to do tonight.
Happy New Year!

Update

Just wanted to let those of you who have been keeping up with Ms. Kitty, I have a quick update. My honey and I went to visit with her parents today. She still has a long way to go. She has congestive heart failure and fluid on her lungs. They still have her heavily sedated and hope to take her off of the ventilator tomorrow. The great news is that her skin grafts are doing really well. Please continue to keep Ms. Kitty in your prayers. I told her mom that she had people in blogland praying for her also.

Happy New Year.

Sit back and relax

Well, the hustle and bustle is over and now you can sit back, sip a cup of cocoa, relax and reflect on what the past year has brought to you. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are planning on a Happy New Year.

I want to wish everyone a very

It's coming. . . . .

It is almost here! Are you ready yet? We are done. We had our last Christmas on Monday.

Memories

Today is the one year anniversary of the day our sweet baby boy was born asleep. It is hard to believe that it has been an entire year. We had such hopes and dreams for our little one. He would have been 8 months old for this, his first Christmas. We pray that one day God will grant us our wish of having children.

Tis the season

Today we had Christmas with my Dad's side of the family. It was nice to get together and see everyone. We had a really good lunch. My sister and her family are here so it will be nice to spend time with them. We will have our family Christmas with them on Monday. Hopefully I will get my Christmas tree decorated and my cards out soon (like tomorrow!).

Merry Christmas Ya'll.

Good Times

Ok, first off I am going to stop the countdown. Everyone knows that Christmas is almost here so I will stop the torture!
Tonight was the Christmas party at Mr. & Mrs. H's house. We had a lot of good food, good fellowship and a good time (and some interesting white elephant gifts!). We saw friends who have moved away but came back for the party (we have been doing this for several years now and a good time is always had). Thank you Mr. and Mrs. H for a wonderful evening. We are so glad that we didn't miss it this year. We still can't believe that we (the ones who are always late) were the first ones to arrive (and the last to leave:)!) I promise to get my dip recipe posted soon if you will post your bacon bites recipe.
Ms. Kitty update: we found out tonight that she has pnuemonia. They had taken out her breathing tube but had to put it back in and she is in a lot of pain. They were supposed to take off the bandages to see how the skin grafts were doing today. Please keep up the prayers. I hope to write her a letter in the next few days and to let her know about her blogland prayer friends.
Merry Christmas Ya'll!

Only 7 more days OH MY!

One Christmas party down, one more to go! Tonight was my honey's work party. The food was good but we didn't stay long. We are looking forward to tomorrow night's party at Mrs. H's house. We really missed not being able to go to last years party. We would have much rather been at the party than in the hospital.

I want to wish my friends Brock and Felicia a very Happy Anniversary! I remember how lovely your wedding was!

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

And the days just keep flying by!

I have finally begun my Christmas cards. I haven't gotten very far but I have started and isn't that what is important? I only have one more person to finish shopping for and then I am done! Well, I told my honey that I would go find some things for myself because I just don't know what I want this year.
My friend Ms. Kitty had her first surgery today. They found that the burns went much deeper than the doctors originally thought. She will be in the hospital for 4 months and will endure several surgeries. The doctors also told her father that she has an 85% chance of leaving the hospital. Please keep Ms. Kitty in your prayers. She has a very difficult road ahead of her.

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

It's the final countdown. . . .10 more days!

Well, I noticed before I started this post that I have already done 50 posts. Wow, I didn't realize that I had that much to bore people with! I do hope that no one has fallen asleep from boredom while reading this and fallen out of their chair and hurt themselves! If you have, I apologize and I hope you are recovering from your accident.
Oh my, it has gotten really cold again. The thermometer says that it is 29 outside and 57 inside. Yesterday it was 79. I think that our cows are really confused! It is funny to think that last night I was sitting on my front porch staining some wood for Christmas presents in shorts, tshirt and flipflops and tonight I am sitting in the house in long pants, a sweater and closed in shoes and I am freezing!
Ok, we have 10 more days until Christmas and I am so not ready. I had planned on having things done early and why not, I am not working but things haven't turned out as planned (they usually don't). I haven't decorated my Christmas tree, haven't started my Christmas cards, haven't done any baking or finished the gifts for my husband's co-workers. I am telling myself that it will get done and will be ok. I will not stress, I will not stress, I will not stress.
It is hard to believe that one year ago today I walked across the stage and finally received my college diploma. Wow, what a topsy turvy year this has been.

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

11 more days and. . . .

I had better get a move on! Tonight I finished staining 13 blocks of wood to finish up the Christmas presents my honey needs for his co-workers. I am getting ready to finish up my Christmas letter so I can get crackin on my cards. Tomorrow my honey has a list of things he needs me to get for him and tomorrow night I am going to my little sis's house for a girls night. I am excited about that. The end of the week starts a three day marathon of Christmas parties. We get to see the niece and nephew on Saturday. Yippee!!!
On a very serious note, a very special lady that attends my church was burned in a kitchen fire last week. She will have her first surgery on Tuesday to remove her clothing that was burned into her skin. Please keep Ms. Kitty in your prayers that her surgeries are successful and her recovery is quick.

Merry Christmas Ya'll.

14 and Counting

What a difference a day makes. When I got up this morning there was still snow on the ground and it still looked awesome. I took a few more pictures of my yard, the pastures around my house, my G-mom's house, my parent's place and the snowman my mom built to show my niece and nephew! It really was special to get snow in December, well, the get snow at all and so much of it. But now it is all gone and I think everyone around has got pictures for souvenirs. It sure was cool (well, cold!) while it lasted!!
I did some more subbing today. This was a group of VERY talkative 1st graders. I do not remember being so loud when I was a kid. I think it was because we were afraid (not really the right word but it works) of the teacher and when she/he told us to do something we did it. I was ready for the day to be over with and I was only there for 4 hours. I did get to see some of the kids who were in my class when I did my student teaching and it was really good to see them.
Tonight we picked up our Christmas tree which is a family event. We go with my parents and my sister and pick out our trees together. I can't wait to get it in the house and to start decorating. Maybe that will help with the holiday spirit! The one we got looks like it is going to be really pretty and full. I will take some pictures and post them soon. That is all for tonight. I am going to start my Christmas cards as I watch CSI and ER.

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

There are only 15 days left!

Wow! Today was something we very rarely see in our part of the world. It SNOWED!! This is in the morning.
Getting ready to leave for a sub job. Snow, not ice everywhere!
The backyard and the back of the house.

These were from this afternoon amd evening. We still have about 2 inches on the ground.
My front yard.
The back yard.

Back yard.

Front of house.

Towards the road.

I am still not really in the holiday spirit but the snow did excite me. I am almost completely done with my Christmas shopping. Now I need to hit my Christmas cards.

Merry Christmas Ya'll!!

I hope you enjoy the pictures of what made a lot of people around here happy!!

16 days and counting

Well, I got more Christmas shopping done. I am ready to be done. I still have my mom and dad (they are the ones I still don't know what I am getting) and my in-laws but I know what I am getting, I just have to get it. Then there are just a few odds and ends.

This morning I watched my mom put my G-mom's Christmas tree and this evening I put up my outside Christmas lights (AGAIN). Now we are sitting in the house freezing because the wind is blowing at 26 mph with windgusts up to 32 mph. Well, in the morning I am sure that all of my Christmas lights will be back on the ground. That really irritates me. I love the cold weather but I hate the wind.

Yes, I know I still sound like Scrooge. I am TRYING to get in the holiday spirit!

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

17 days til Christmas. . . .

uugghh, that is scary. I am still not finished with my shopping but I am getting closer. I hope to have it finished by this weekend. Some of it has to be done because we celebrate our first Christmas this Saturday. We are celebrating with my honey's family but not only are we celebrating Christmas this weekend both in-laws have birthdays this month so that is an added gift buying thing. Next weekend we celebrate our 2nd Christmas with my G-mom and all my dad's family. Then there is Christmas with my family and then with my other G-mom and what ever family will be in town for that. Oh and I forgot about my honey's work party. Atleast I don't have to buy a gift for that one. Well, I know that I am sounding like a scrooge and I apologize. I am just not in the holiday spirit and can't seem to get there.

I hope that you are more in the holiday spirit than I am.

Merry Christmas Ya'll.

Something new to play with. . . .

About two weeks ago our big printer died. I really liked that printer because it was a work horse and it was color. I used it for my church work and then it died. I had been using my honey's black and white printer but it stopped working correctly for me so I had to resort to my little copy/scanner/printer. It was so slow. We got a new 4 in 1 printer and my honey is getting it hooked up. I can't wait to use it!

How is your Christmas shopping going? I am getting closer and closer to being finished. I had hoped to finish up most of it today by going to a local craft show. Well, that was a huge waste of time so I hope to get finished really soon!

Well, that is all for now.

Merry Christmas ya'll!!

All I want for Christmas is . . . . .

uuuhhhggg, I really don't know. My honey keeps asking me but I don't know what to tell him. We went shopping on Friday but I still didn't come up with anything. Hopefully I will come up with something soon.

In case you are wondering about the date on this one, I started it Thursday so it is a little off!

We did it!

Thanks to my mommy, my house was clean and decorated for the party. I of course wasn't ready when the guest got here. I was in the bathroom putting on my makeup and blow drying my hair. Oh well, a good time was had by all (atleast I think they did). The gift I ended up with was the cutest little night light. It is a fireplace and the light bulb is one of those flicker bulbs. It is cute. Actually, all of the gifts were cute. Ms. H was a real go getter and stole gifts several times but she always did it with a smile. Ms. H's sister-in-law was also pretty quick at stealing especially from Ms. H!! :) Oh, and the food was good too!! Well, that is all for now. I am pooped from the frantic cleaning and decorating!

Merry Christmas ya'll!!

December already

My oh my, where has the past year gone? It is so hard to believe that this time last year I was finishing up my student teaching and just weeks away from graduating. This year I am currently in panic mode as I try to get my house cleaned up for the ladies Christmas party I am hosting tomorrow night (oooh, that sounds so grown up! Hosting a party!!). For those of you who know me, know that I am not really organized and would much rather be outside than in the house cleaning. Now I am having to really work to get everything put together. Another factor in the house cleaning is that first and foremost, I collect things. A lot of things and secondly, our house does not have much storage space. We live in my great grandmothers house that is over 70 years old. It is 3 bedroom and only has 3 very small closets and one of those is in the bathroom. I try to creatively store things but it doesn't always work. This time my creativity has spread out. Literally, I am storing non essential items in the garage apartment next door. Now, you may be wondering, what about the people that live there? Well, it is currently empty and the big closet in it is perfect for all of my (our) junk!!! Just don't tell my grandmother that I now have stuff everywhere!!! One thing that I have that I would love to get rid of is all of the excess computer stuff that we have accumulated over the years. What do you do with old computers and scanners when you don't need or use them anymore? Anyway, once I get this house finished up, I will be ready to start (finish really) decorating for Christmas. The decor for the party will be very simple but after that, you just don't know what I might do. My honey thinks that I am related to the Griswalds! Well, that might be true. You should see how awesome my mommy's house looks this time of the year. Well, I had better go so I can do more house work. I hope that each of you are enjoying this time of the year. We all get stressed (well, I assume we all do anyway) but we need to remember what is most important about this time of the year. I look forward to seeing everyone's pics of their decor and their memories, wishes and whatever else is shared.

Merry Christmas ya'll!