There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still. Franklin D. Roosevelt

What a good week it has been, busy, but good. My father-in-law came down and helped my husband put the new trim in our house. I told Mr. S. that if he wanted to have people over for new year's eve that the trim had to be done. I just didn't want people to come into an incomplete house. Right now it is bad enough that there is no carpet on our stairs, but at least the trim is done and it looks fantastic!

                    

The living room has new paint, curtains, and trim!                     Kitchen has new paint and a new table!

T-dog never fails to take a photo opportunity!

I am so glad that the painting and trim is done. We are going to paint all the doors white, too...so that is another project that is on the list. It never ends!

2009 is coming to an end in the next few days. I could look back on 2009 and talk about how it was such a great year, but I don't know that it was. There was nothing too exciting that happened this year other than celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary.

2010 is looking to be much more exciting. I can't wait to go into 2010 with a fresh outlook and more to look forward to. We are starting the year out with the party at our house, going to see Mr. S.'s grandparents, and a girls' weekend at my house. That's a good sign already! I am starting my Master's degree, too. My birthday is in February, so that is exciting. Mr. S. and I are celebrating our 10 year anniversary of being a couple in March, which to me is super crazy!!!! There are 3 weddings already scheduled this summer and they are all really close friends to Mr. S. and I. My grade partner is having her baby in June. Mr. S. and I are going to Miami for vacation with our friends! So the beginning of the year is really shaping up!

I can't wait for 2010!

A good meal ought to begin with hunger. - French Proverb

Click here for the recipe to the peanut butter pie from my last post.

This turned out really well! My friends absolutely loved it and then I had some of the leftovers when my father-in-law came into town. He savored each bite and said that he would love to have it again. Now, I am not what you would call a good baker, but thankfully, there is no baking for this!

***********************

What Happened During My Christmas

This year was not too eventful. Mr. S. and I went to my mom's house the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with her and my step-family. It went alright...nothing too exciting. We got the money to get the blinds that we wanted for the downstairs, and they look amazing! I will post pics soon!

Christmas day was spent at our house with me, Mr. S., and our roomie. We woke up and opened presents. Mr. S. and roomie were very good to me, too good. I got Clinique Happy perfume (yay!), the Twilight movie, a sweater, some fuzzy socks, a super warm winter coat, and a few smaller things...it went really well. Mr. S. was super excited about his P90X (me, too!) and we are going to start it after the new year! We have a trip to Miami to prepare for!!!

Mr. S.'s dad came down last night and we gave him his Christmas, a digital camera, and he is pretty excited about it. He is going to help us put in our trim today, which I am SO excited about! When that is finished, I will post some photos of the done house....or mostly done. We put shelves up above the TV and then put some shelves in upstairs to display some of Mr. S.'s sports memorbilia. We have been busy bees!

The rest of this day will be spent taking down Christmas decor so it is easier to put up trim, painting the  trim that is going up, and hopefully not cooking...I am so tired of cooking right now!

Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. ~Mary Ellen Chase

I was so unmotivated yesterday. Seriously...I think I left my couch just to go to the bathroom, let the dog out, and eat lunch. Now, I did shower yesterday and put on normal clothes, so that has to count for something. I took a lovely 2 hour nap yesterday, which was AMAZING...it has been forever since I have napped that well. No better time for a nap than when it is your vacation.

Today I have some things to get done. I need to pick up some semi-sweet chocolate for the pie that I am making tomorrow; peanut butter cup pie. Mmmmmm. I did add the link for the pie! Enjoy!

 

Time to shower, head to the store, and get the house cleaned...then Christmas lights tonight. I love to go look at Christmas lights!

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ~Norman Vincent Peale

Good morning! I know that it has been at least a week and a half since I have blogged. Honestly, my life has not been THAT interesting lately. I have just been busily getting ready for the holiday season.

Today is my first day of Christmas break, and I am so excited about this day! We had a half day yesterday and now we are off until January 4th.

Mr. S. and I had Christmas with my mom and step-family on Sunday, and it went really well. We got the funds to put the blinds in our downstairs, so my job today might be to hunt those down. I would really like to put them in today. They are the wood blinds, and I love them!

Mr. S. and I are going to have Christmas together with our roomie on Christmas day. There will be no traveling this year, and we have not had to travel for the past couple of years on Christmas. I almost like the tradition we have started here at our own house. We open gifts, watch the parade, I make breakfast, and we all sleep. Then I am making dinner that night. The menu includes shrimp scampi with linguini noodles (chicken for my seafood allergic roomie), baked potatoes, steamed broccoli, and bread...yum!

Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance, but disappear when you get up close to them.- John Shirley

I really enjoyed the snow day and it was good to get back to work on Thursday. My students have been absolutely CrAzY this week! You can tell that the weather has changed and that Christmas is just around the corner. Our school had their annual Christmas program Thursday night. It is the hugest thing I have ever seen. People stand because there is no where else to put seats. Preschool, K, 1, and 2 all sing 3 songs that are super cute. Then 3, 4, and 5 do a play. The 3rd and 4th graders are all in the choir and sing the songs and 5th graders are the actors in the Christmas play. It is such a fun thing to do!

Christmas shopping is mostly done. I have my first Christmas on the 20th with my mom, step-dad, and step-sisters...so I have to get done by then. I have a couple more things to get for my mom and then one thing for my step-dad. I really should go out and finish this weekend. That would be the smart thing to do. Online shopping has been wonderful so that I can shop around for deals and not have to go out in the cold and handle all the bags.

My student with cystic fibrosis is back in the hospital. I have been tutoring her now for a couple of weeks. She has double pnemonia right now and because of all the other sick children, she can't leave her room. They don't want her to come down with something else. The dr. said she would be lucky to be out by Christmas, which is also her birthday. I think it is so sad that one of my students has to deal with this. It makes everything else seem so small. She is optimistic and doing well though!

SNOW DAY!

I just a love a good snow day! What I don't like is getting the call when I have been awake for an hour, my make-up is done, and my hair is half dried...but I won't complain, beause I am HOME!

Because I was already up and beginning my day, I started Christmas shopping. I bought for my roomie and  a gift for the husband. Then I made muffins. Mind you, it is 7:42am. Yep, productive. I think that means I don't have to do a thing for the rest of the day, right? It is SOOOO windy outside, I don't want to go out in it. Thankfully, I don't have to. There are gusts up to like 45 mph out there. EEK! I could stand to go and buy some stocking stuffers today since I have the day off. Now I can get some much needed calls made today.

By the way, I got into my Masters program, so I am SUPER excited! I start in January. So one of those calls I have to make today are to my advisor. Neato!

Mr. S. and I are celebrating our 2 year anniversary as an old married couple on Friday. Where does the time go?!

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas."

Good morning, all! It has been a long time since I have updated. I know that I seem to be slacking on this. It just feels like I have very little to talk about right now. Let me begin with Thanksgiving.

We went to my mom's the weekend before Thanksgiving and had lunch with my family. I have to say that I had a wonderful time and it was so good to see some family members that I had not seen in a long time. My great grandma was there, and she just turned 89. She is doing pretty well, and I am glad that I got to see her. It had been too long since I had.

On Thanksgiving day, we went to a friends house for a huge potluck, mismatch of people, wonderful dinner. We had a great time with our friends and Mr. S.'s step-father came down to celebrate with us.

The tree is now up and decorated. I maybe slipped in silver and turquoise ornaments this year. My husband is more of a traditional decoration for Christmas kind of guy. I just wanted to have this tree one time in my life...and I LOVE it. It is gorgeous!

I am still Shredding. Now on Level 3...I took a lot of breaks between exercises, but I hope I am back on track. I am planning on kicking it into high gear between now and summer. Gotta get in shape!

Alright, I need to get ready for work...sigh. Is it Christmas break yet?