Is It Really Over!?!

I can't believe I'm actually saying this but I'm sad that Christmas is over. It was slow going at first but once I got into the Christmas groove, I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday season and hated seeing it come to an end. I've NEVER felt this way and truthfully I'm a little shocked at myself. I'm usually relieved (elated is more like it!) when it's all said and done.

I don't know why this year was so different, but it was, and I couldn't be happier about it. After all these years I've finally wised up and am learning to enjoy life and all that it has to offer. I have made a conscious effort over the last few years to slow down, calm down, enjoy more, participate more, listen more, give more, and to be all that I can be. I've spent way too many years being wound up too tight and it's exhausting! Life is so much more fun now!

One of the things that made me happy this Christmas was my little Santa tree that I put together. I decided last year that I wanted to put up a Christmas tree this year with just Santa ornaments on it. I already had some ornaments on hand but I started seriously collecting them throughout the year and then picked up a few recently. I was also able to find one of a kind Santa ornaments at thrift stores for next to nothing and ended up with quite a collection. I put the Santa tree in our bar area and every time I walked past this tree, it put a smile on my face...










What are some things that made you smile this holiday season?

Up To My Eyeballs In Glitter!

A good nickname for my house these days would be "the house of glitter!" I have been busy making table arrangements for a Christmas party and I've got glitter everywhere, and I do mean everywhere! I'm sure we'll be seeing glitter sparkles around the house for months to come!

We have a close friend Lynn who owns a restaurant and we've become friendly with some of her other regular customers too. We tease that we have our own "Cheers" group just like the TV show but it's really true. This small group has become like family.

A few weeks back Lynn had a dinner for our group and mentioned that she wanted all of us to come for a special Christmas dinner on Monday, Dec. 20th. At the time, we were all seated at one long table and I told Lynn that I'd make the table arrangement for our get together on the 20th, thinking that it would pretty much be the same. One long table, very casual, no big deal. Little did I know!

Long story short, my husband happened to mention that Lynn was closing down the restaurant the night of the 20th for the party. It seemed odd to me that she would close down the restaurant for our little group dinner so Howard called her and come to find out, she was closing down because it was her employee and special customers Christmas party! She hired a DJ, was expecting about 40 guests, and here I had VOLUNTEERED to do the table decorations! I immediately felt panic but it all turned out beautiful, glitter and all!

Here is a glimpse as to what my dining room table has looked like this past week. Centerpieces for 6 tables, candy in ribbon adorned dishes, and candles, all waiting to be delivered to the party...




The restaurant looked so festive with the red tablecloths and green napkins. Lynn's twin daughters folded the napkins to look like poinsettias and did such a great job...



It was such an enjoyable evening and Lynn was so happy and thankful for the decorations. I was just happy that she was happy!

Is It Just Me...

Or has this been a really nice Christmas season!?! We've had such a great, stress free time with family that I hate to see it end. My sister was right when she said she hasn't had this nice of a Christmas in years. My two sisters had a little spat in October when we were all in Colorado but things cleared up before Christmas. Maybe it paved the way for a "be nice and watch your words" holiday season this year. Whatever the case, it worked!

My parents arrived last Monday night and split their time between my sister Kim's house and mine. They left yesterday morning to return to Denver and I must admit I really miss having them around. Normally I would have been frazzled with pre-Christmas activities, work, shopping, cooking, company, etc., but with me being off of work I've just enjoyed it all...even with a hurt foot. We've played games, eaten out, cooked at home, gone to the movies, watched movies at home, entertained, and yes, shopped a little. All 5 adults here had laptops so we had lots of computer time too. Each of us sitting around the dining room table on our own laptop, reading things to each other. Gosh, I should have taken a picture of it! All of this has me wondering, even though I love my career and truly do enjoy my job, might it be time to step back and relax. Time to hang up my stethoscope so to speak. I guess we'll see what the new year brings.

I'll be busy busy today. We're going out of town tomorrow to spend New Year's with a group of our RV friends. I guess there will be about 30 of us so I've got alot of preparing to do. Lots of food planning and party planning going on.

Sooo, if I don't get another chance to talk to you this week, Happy New Year friends! Be safe and I truly hope 2010 is a blessed year for all of you!

See you next year!

And It Was Over In A Flash

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. We spend so much time anticipating the holidays and then they're over just like that. Is it only me, or do you feel kinda let down after Christmas? While I'm sad on the one hand that it's over, I'm relieved on the other. It always nice to put my Christmas things away, clean clean clean, and then start off the new year with a fresh start. This year is a little different though. I'm just counting down the days and weeks until my foot heals. This whole foot thing is now starting to get on my last nerve. Enough already. I guess you just can't keep a good woman down!

We had a very nice and relaxing Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Christmas is usually at my house but thankfully my sister Kim hosted it this year and it turned out great. My parents are here visiting from Colorado and my sister, her husband, and Brandon drove up early Christmas morning. We talked, ate, played games, and we took lots of pictures. Here are a few pictures of my fun, crazy, beautiful family...









Fun times, wonderful memories!

From Our Home To Yours...

And a very happy and healthy New Year!

A Christmas Card Idea

I was reading earlier where a fellow blogger asked what people did with their Christmas cards that they receive. I shared with her a little tradition of mine that I did for years and it's a tradition I intend to start back up...this year!

During the holidays, as the Christmas cards were received, I always put them on display. I still do this each and every year. I have a special card display holder that I put all of the photo cards on for people to see and the regular cards get displayed in another card holder. My tradition involves what I would do with the cards after Christmas was over.

After the holidays, I would put the photo cards on our bulletin board in the kitchen and then keep the regular cards in a drawer nearby. Each week I would take one Christmas card and pray for that family during the week. I also tried to send the family a little note letting them know that I had been praying for them all week.

It's something so simple yet meant the world to others. I started this when my kids were small, but for one reason or another, probably busyness I'm sure, my little tradition fell by the wayside. Well writing about it now has spurred me on to start doing this once again.

Sooo, if you sent me a Christmas card this year, just know that you'll be specifically prayed for in the upcoming year...and for a whole week too!

A Case Of Neighbor Envy

There's just too much going on right now plus the clips that hold our outdoor lights don't fit on our new roof tiles. Do you think our neighbor would get mad if we just decorate like this...


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A Person's Worst Nightmare

Thursday morning my husband mentioned that he thought he heard sirens earlier that morning, around 3:00am or so. Sirens that were REALLY close by. As it turns out, a home in our neighborhood caught on fire. It didn't burn to the ground but I would imagine it's a complete loss. This was a well maintained 4700 sq foot home, with pool and 4 car garage. As you can imagine the loss is devastating. I drove by yesterday to take some pictures and saw the clean up crew busy at work. A gate has been put up around the house to keep people out. I also noticed that they lost 2 cars in the fire, they are still parked in the garage.




This house sits on a large corner lot and has always been known as the "Santa Claus House." Every year the owners decorated big time at Christmas, drawing crowds from all over the city. The owners would dress up as Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, hand out candy canes and pose for pictures. They also had 2 trains decorated for Christmas and gave children rides around the neighborhood to see all of the decorations. Our neighborhood has long been known as the place to be during the holidays. At times I'm not even able to back out of my driveway due to traffic. We have limo rides that come through as well as horse drawn carriages giving people rides around the neighborhood to see all of the decorated homes. Christmas in my neighborhood is magical to say the least.

The owners of the Santa Claus house sold it recently due to health issues. It was too large of a home for them to care for any longer. The new owners have only been in this house for a year or so. They have done some remodeling and updating and were really showing pride of ownership. Having your home burn down is every person's nightmare so my heart just breaks for them.

If you get the chance, please keep these people in your thoughts and prayers. I'm sure they would appreciate it.

OH...MY...GOODNESS!!

You are not going to believe what I got in the mail today...




This is mail that I sent out in November! November 28th to be exact!

I'm so embarrassed!

This package was a Christmas gift for an ornament exchange that I participated in. Obviously it never made it to my partner! You want to know the worst part about this, I received my ornament from this person and even hung it on my tree proudly.

I'm so embarrassed!

The other bad part about this is that I don't even remember who hosted the swap so I can't contact her to verify this person's exact name and address.

Oh my goodness, I'm so embarrassed!

I now again have the person's name who I was sending it to but the address probably is wrong or maybe she moved. I'll google her name and see what I can come up with. With the way the US Mail handled this package (keeping it in their possession for 5 months!), maybe I can have it in her hands by this next Christmas!

Lordy, Lordy, I'm so embarrassed!

We're Off To A Not So Good Start

This new year is starting off with a bang at our house...we're all SICK! As a matter of fact, I hear my husband throwing up in the bathroom down the hall as I type this. Poor guy.

I woke up New Year's Day with a stuffy nose and a headache but thought it was maybe from having run the air conditioning in the hotel room all night. By the end of the day I was dragging.

I didn't get out of bed at all yesterday...too sick, and with a migraine to top it off. I did go into the kitchen at 12:05 am this morning to get some NyQuil, thinking it might lull me to sleep. Nope. I watched the sun rise.

The good news is that I only usually get good and sick once a year. Maybe this will be it for the year then huh!?!

The bad news is that I still have my Christmas tree up!

Whew...I Need A Vacation!

After the whirlwind of the Christmas season, I need a vacation...and guess what, I'M NOW ON ONE! We thought we'd visit family in Colorado or even go back to Oregon again but we're not doing either. The bad weather all over has made us decide to stay home and get stuff done, spend New Year's Eve with friends, visit my FIL in Palm Springs, and overall just enjoy the time with no schedule. It sounds like heaven to me.

Our Christmas was dramatically different this year yet enjoyable. No family came into town (due to bad traveling weather) so it was unusually quiet. My sister Kim and her husband came for Christmas dinner which was nice. We all helped out in the kitchen and worked together to get dinner prepared. This is new for me. I'm learning to let go of things and enjoy the moment more, trying not to be so in control of everything. I don't have to "do it all" and I'm finally realizing it...and it's sure making life more fun for me and for everyone else in the process. We all helped out with the preparations but here is a picture of my two cute sidekicks and myself...




We originally had planned on more company coming and my thought was to include all of the women with the cooking so I bought aprons for everyone. We ended up only using 3 of the aprons but I thought it would be a cute "party favor" gift idea. My sister kept saying "you mean this apron is mine, really!?!"

Friday, bright and early, Kim and I hit the ground running. We were at our first store by 8:00am and I didn't get home until after 8:00pm. It's all caught up with me today and boy am I tired. This has been a pajama day...and I don't plan on getting dressed. I NEVER do this but I am today!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and that you are making time to relax too. I've thought of you so much over the holidays and wondered how you've all been. Each one of you have enhanced my life tremendously and made my Christmas so much more meaningful and festive. I appreciate you so much!

Speaking of appreciation, thank you so much for the beautiful Christmas cards and good mail that was sent my way. I loved it all!

Thank you Kacey!

Thank you Deb!

Thank you Jan!

Thank you Bren!

Thank you Jennifer!

And finally, this is what happens when your daughter gets a hold of your camera. I'd say she's got the SPT idea down pat wouldn't you!