Christmas Past & Christmas Present

Ok, this weekend was awesome!

We stayed at the beautiful and historic Hotel San Carlos in Downtown Phoenix. Brass elevator doors, a pool on the roof, and suites named for stars who stayed there... the whole works! They even have stars in the sidewalk out front with the names of stars! Apparently, they also have a ghost tour which we were unable to attend because of timing... but wouldn't it be so cool to go back there for that?!!!

The purpose of the stay at the hotel, though, was to go to Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding!!! Grammy bought tickets for everyone in the family (Thank you, Grammy)!!! Let me tell you, this was an AWESOME concert, and all for charity, too! Check it out at www.alicepudding.com !

Look what Grammy gave me!

This ornament was made by Granny, it's porcelain and hand painted! It's one of three (two santas and an angel) that were given to Mariah, Erick, and myself. How cool is that!!!

So, after days of looking at lonely little Smokey under the tree...

I've finally wrapped most of the presents! Doesn't the tree just look more complete now?

So, tonight, we'll be packing for a little weekend trip to Phoenix to go see Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding!!! Grammy bought tickets for the whole family to go! Thanks Grammy! We'll be staying at the historic Hotel San Carlos in downtown Phoenix... it looks so cool on the website! And, they have ghost tours, which we will unfortunately have to miss on this trip because of the timing with the concert. But, this should be a very awesome weekend!

Reaching for Christmas...

Ok, the tree is up and decorated, the inside of the house is decorated, the vast majority of the shopping is done... and it's still November!!! We don't have lights up on the house yet, though. Am I pushing it? Maybe a little, but I work too much, and this is such a busy season anyway, I just figured we could get it all done while I had the time! Plus, now we can just enjoy the season, which is what it's all about!
For now, though, we have got a seriously cold and windy day on our hands today... well... as cold as Arizona gets this time of year! Sounds like a good afternoon to curl up with a good book... and later, maybe a nap!

A Little Holiday Fun!

A cute Quiz that was being thrown around on SplitCoastStampers today!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate (Or coffee)
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? If Santa's Gifts are small enough to go under the tree, he wraps them, and often delivers them early! If they are too big for the tree, they are delivered on-time and unwrapped!
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White this year, but I have an appreciation for both!
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Yes, it has a special hook that hangs above my door!
5. When do you put your decorations up? As soon after Thanksgiving as I can convince Thomas to get them out of the garage!
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Stuffing... I just love the stuff!
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Decorating the tree... complete with tinsel!
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't understand the question. What "truth?"
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Usually one gift on Christmas Eve, but this year I am working Christmas Day, so we are having our big "opening" on Christmas Eve!
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Love to play with ribbon, and then ornaments! The tree is pre-lit!
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Snow??? You meen that stuff up on the mountain?
12. Can you ice skate? I have never actually tried (the only ice around here is indoors, anyway)!
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My camera! And Jewelery!
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being with Thomas and my Family.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas Eve... it's always our biggest family gathering (and it's at night, so adult drinks are acceptable)!
17. What tops your tree? A star. With a bow underneath, this year!
18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Giving. I usually want to give everyone their gifts before Christmas because I can't wait to see their reaction!
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Christmas is All Around (you have to see the movie "Love Actually" to appreciate it).
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yum if I'm in the mood for one, Yuck if I'm not!
21. Stockings? Or no Stockings? Stockings hang all over the walls at our house, with two large ones that get filled for us every year!
22. Do you like sledding? Never actually been. I've been tubing on the mountain, does that count?
23. Farthest you've traveled for Christmas day? Well, I guess the 8 hour trip to Bullhead City to see my Dad every other year was the longest.
24. Do you leave out cookies or carrots for when Santa comes? Cookies... I guess it would be nice of us to leave out carrots for the Reindeer, too... never thought of that!
25. What gets you into the holiday spirit? Decorating... Christmas Music... Shopping!
26. Does your wrapping color coordinate? I try... but then, inevitably, Thomas picks some paper that so doesn't "go" with my scheme!!!
27. Favorite gift you've ever given? I think that would be the first year we were married, I gave Thomas a really nice shotgun that he wanted, which he still loves (it sounds redneck, I know, but we are a hunting family, and we treasure our guns)!!!
28. Most fun Holiday memory? Last Christmas... setting up our "glorious" 9 foot tree we had bought, and hearing Thomas say he thought we should have gone with the 12 footer!!!
29. Do you wrap your own gifts? Well... I wrap the gifts for Thomas and others, then Santa and Thomas wrap the rest!
30. Most missed memory from childhood Christmas? Christmas morning at Grammy and Ponka's... Everyone just kinda does their own Christmas morning thing now, I guess because there are no little ones!

How was everyone's turkey?

So, Thanksgiving was nice! We had dinner at Brenda and Shawn's house, with a whole slew of family, including my Mom and Dad, Grammy, and Liz. Dad, Stephanie, and Hannah were also down visitng from Bullhead. And, just because the dinner was at another house, doesn't mean we didn't fire up the pit to cook a turkey of our own!!!

Friday, Thomas and I took a ride with Dad, Stephanie, and Hannah over to Bowie for some good ol' wine tasting (and buying)! Then it was off to The Thing! We were in need of a pecan roll and we figured that was the place to find it (and they did have them)! Then a loooong ride home via Ft. Grant precipitated by a failed search for Apple Annies! All in all, though, it was a fun trip!
Saturday, I bumbled off the the Craft Shows with Mom and Liz, found some really nice things for Christmas gifts (and for myself)! Meanwhile, Thomas and Dad worked on our truck which ended up needing a new fuel pump, among other things (I don't pretend to be the expert). Uuggh!
Sunday was all about decorating for Christmas and stealing Mom and Dad's furniture! Yes, Mom and Dad gave us the Prohibition Chest, a beautiful piece, along with Granny's tea service. It looks great in my dining room, if I do say so myself. Then Mom asked the lethal question: "Do you want anything else?" So, we also accquired a beautiful old red chair, and an awesome ice bucket with a stand. Oh, and a mirror... and Mom's rocking chair from when she was a little girl! Wasn't I just telling Thomas the other day that I needed to "do something" with the dining room.....?

Summer's Over...

I haven't posted for a long time... but, on the flip side, there hasn't been much to post about!!! Another great summer has come and gone since I posted last... filled mostly with work! Thomas and I did have a chance to get away for a weekend to Phoenix. We took in a D-Backs game, shopped, and were generally lazy!
I also had a chance to go to Tucson for some R&R with Mom and Mariah. Very Nice! And, on a very happy note, Mom is Cancer Free!!! I'm so proud of her for the way she has soldiered through this, she is an inspiration to all women! And, she has a full head of blond hair now, which is just beautiful!
Now, we're all back to work (of course, some never really stopped work for the summer), and enjoying the hell out of it!!! Have a fabulous day!!!

We're filling the pool...

and I cannot wait to get in!!! We set it up and started filling it last night, but it got late. So, we'll hopefull finish filling it this afternoon, and maybe then it will be warm by tomorrow afternoon. I'm so excited!!! In the meantime, we are taking the entire school to the Pima Pool tomorrow, which will be a good little break from the ordinary. And tonight... is stampin' night!!! Can't wait to go make some stuff... and order some stuff!!!

At Last!

My first post in a week! Things have been so busy! But, I wouldn't have it any other way... I think I would get bored without all the craziness! A break is good sometimes, however! And yes, I am sitting at home on a work day. Not for pleasure, though. For all who may be wondering, though, my mom is out of surgery and all went well! I'm so proud of her for how STRONG she is! She is a great woman!

The weekend was nice. Friday night we went to Josh and Jennie's house and played poker! We love our poker!!! Thomas worked part of the day both Saturday and Sunday, so he was out of the house most of the time. That's alright though, beacause we will be together non-stop next weekend in Laughlin, really looking forward to that! Plus, I got a chance to be crafty... maybe I'll post pics!

Great weekend!

I feel like I actually accomplished some stuff! And, no, not the stuff I mentioned before, but more along the lines of CLEANING that needed to be done, etc. Oh, and the TAXES are done! WooHoo!

Saturday night we went over to Josh and Jennie's house to hang out. Josh had taken down a cat claw that day, so we turned it into a little bonfire. Megan was WAY into roasting the marshmallows! After she went to bed, we all sat down and watched "The 40 Year Old Virgin." HILLARIOUS movie! My stomach still hurt on Sunday from laughing!

Sunday we got more work around the house done... and we were lazy too! Went shopping and bought some new glassware. Thomas has long despised most of the glasses we got for our wedding 3 YEARS AGO, so now he can be at peace!

Thomas won his bet on the Super Bowl, so his co-workers will have to fill out his time sheets for him for a little while. Good prize, apparently, as these aren't just "punch cards," they have to account for every 1/2 hour to 15 minutes of their day (to see what percent of their hours are "billable").

Looking forward to a good week!

New profile pic

Feel free to ignore this post unless you really wanted to see this picture. I am adding a photo to my profile, and this seems (hopefully) to be the easiest way to do it! Oh, but if you would like to check out and note all the other changes I've made to the blog, feel free. This is only the beginning...

Went shopping...

with Thomas after he got off work... I did get the exercise video (amazingly, they had the one I wanted at Wal Mart). Excited to try that out. Also bought all the stuff for my Alaska album... paper, ribbon... ok, so I already had everything else I need. But really pumped to get to work on that as well!

But, at the moment, I decided it is finally time to install the software for my new Canon A610 I got for Christmas. Haven't done it before because we have been using the card reader Thomas got for Christmas (thanks Mom)! But now, I am finally really curious what the "software bundle" includes, hoping for some pretty neat stuff!

Maybe I will post some pics later...

Payday...

Woo Hoo! Trying to think of some little treat to buy myself for making it through this week alive! Actually, thinking of buying myself some workout videos (I never go to the gym if I sign up there, but I may do it if it's in my living room). Planning on making a smallish comitment to this health thing...

Also thought of buying myself the Making Memories Simply Fab foam alphabet set that is out now... too cute!

No huge plans for the weekend... clean the house, scrapbook a little, etc. Really want to get my Alaska scrapbook done if I have time. I am going to try Stacey Julian's "Scrapbook 200 Pictures Tonight" concept on this project... where you use the regular "2-up" album and puts pics and scrapping in the 4x6 slots. I just hope I can still make it look like I put some effort into it, and didn't just "throw" some photos into an album. If all goes well on this album, I may do our Honeymoon album (see how behind I am!) and any future vacation albums the same way. It's just so easy, but still creative!

Signing out for now, may be back later....

Here it is....

OK, after reading many blogs, seeing people talk about them, and a little tug of war with myslef (will I use it, will I not??), I have finally set up my own! But, instead of posting right now, I'm gonna go play and set this thing up. Meet ya back here later!