Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Christmas/Anniversary Gift
My blogging has slacked off in the last few months and I hope to rectify that soon. Maybe that will be one of my new year's resolutions! Right now, I have several exciting things going on in my life. One of which is that for Christmas this year Brent and I didn't exchange Christmas gifts. Instead, we are going on a cruise in honor of our 10th wedding anniversary! Our anniversary isn't actually until June 26th but that is the week that we will be on our annual beach camping trip at Ocean Lakes so we are going to be celebrating early. Besides camping, going on a cruise is my favorite type of vacation. I love being on the boat, being in the warm weather, and seeing the beautiful blue waters. I love getting to have wonderful meals and not feeling guilty each time about the cost. Brent and I got a FANTASTIC deal on this trip or we wouldn't be going. Also, it is out of Charleston so it won't be too long of a drive. I am so excited about this trip and can't wait to have some quality time with my wonderful hubby! Only 25 more days to go!! We have actually been on this ship before (Norwegian Majesty) but it has a different itinerary this time. We will be going to Nassau, Grand Bahama Island, a beach owned by NCL, and Port Canaveral. It wasn't planned this way but it just so happens that this will by my 3rd year in a row going on a cruise in January. I am cheap but I love to travel so that is part of the reason that we've gone in January - the prices are great!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Menus4Moms
Do you ever pay attention to the websites that appear above your inbox on your gmail? Periodically, something strikes my attention and I take a look. I kind-of like how it takes words from your emails to come up with websites you might be interested in...it makes you aware of websites you might never have discovered otherwise. Like today, I was doing some emailing about Angel Food Ministries and this website was at the top of my inbox: Menus4Moms. Since I am interested in cooking and food and recipes, I thought I would take a look. It turned out to be a real blessing to me! It is a lady that creates several different options that you can subscribe to through your email. One is a weekly menu that you get each week that includes the supper menu for the week, the recipes, the shopping list, and the approximate cost for that week. She gives lots of money saving tips and the weekly shopping lists look like they might help me lower my monthly food budget! Another one, the one that I am most excited about, is a monthly subscription that gets you a list of recipes to help you use up your entire Angel Food Ministry box. How cool is that? I am so excited about this and have already subscribed to both of the ones that I mentioned above to try out. There is even an option where Angel Food host sites can subscribe and make copies to hand out to their recipients. (Are you thinking what I'm thinking??) I can't wait to try out my weekly menus and my Angel Food recipes!
Monday, December 22, 2008
By the way...
In case you haven't heard...Elijah is going to be moving out. He announced to us last Sunday that he is moving to our friends' (Nathan, Erin, Kaitlyn, and Patrick) new house. We aren't sure exactly why but he says he is taking his bed and that he has to put his seat in Nathan's truck. This past Saturday night we were over at their house and while in the playroom he said to me..."See, this is my room!" I asked him where his bed was going and he pointed to a corner of the room. He said "There's no bed in here. This is my room." I asked him if he would miss me. He said no. I told him that I would miss him! Luckily their house is only about 4 miles from us so hopefully I will get to see him often!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Christmas Quiz
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I really prefer gift wrapping with a few gifts in bags
2. Real tree or Artificial? Brent prefers real, but we have had an artificial one for several years due to finances/space reasons
3. When do you put up the tree? Thanksgiving weekend
4. When do you take the tree down? a few days after Christmas
5. Do you like eggnog? yes
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I'm not sure...but I have vivid memories of the year that my brother and I received bikes for Christmas
7. Hardest person to buy for? Brent's stepfather
8. Do you have a nativity scene? yes but I don't have room to put it up usually
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail (only to the people that I won't see during Christmas)
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't think of anything...but I do remember the year that I bought my mother the wrong size of panties and they were HUGE; that didn't go over very well!
11. Favorite Christmas Movie? don't really have one
12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? November, as soon as I get my list of what I'm getting each person ready
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? yes
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? the only thing that we really have the same every year is breakfast casserole; I need to start some family Christmas food traditions
15. Lights on the tree? clear
16. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? no long distance travel unless we go to Pine Knoll Shores to visit Brent's grandfather
18. Can you name all 9 of Santa's reindeer? Yes (I have to sing the song though)
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? actually neither...Santa
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas day? this is complicated for us: we open presents at my dad's on Christmas Eve; our house on Christmas morning; Brent's mom's on Christmas day afternoon; my mom's house Christmas evening; we try to fit in seeing Brent's dad somewhere in between; we also have several other family get-togethers that are scheduled at random times around the week of Christmas
21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? not getting to fit in all of the Holiday things that I want to get done
22. Favorite ornament theme or color? I like Hallmark ornaments and I have a collection of Classic Winnie the pooh ornaments; I get the boys an ornament every year as does my mom and step-mom so those are one there and then an assortment of others
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? is that lunch or supper? we usually do finger foods at Brent's mom's in the afternoon and my mom usually fixes us something yummy for supper
24.What do you want for Christmas this year? surprises; for my children to have a great Holiday this year
In closing, I can't go without mentioning that Christmas really isn't the same for me anymore since my brother is gone.
2. Real tree or Artificial? Brent prefers real, but we have had an artificial one for several years due to finances/space reasons
3. When do you put up the tree? Thanksgiving weekend
4. When do you take the tree down? a few days after Christmas
5. Do you like eggnog? yes
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I'm not sure...but I have vivid memories of the year that my brother and I received bikes for Christmas
7. Hardest person to buy for? Brent's stepfather
8. Do you have a nativity scene? yes but I don't have room to put it up usually
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail (only to the people that I won't see during Christmas)
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't think of anything...but I do remember the year that I bought my mother the wrong size of panties and they were HUGE; that didn't go over very well!
11. Favorite Christmas Movie? don't really have one
12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? November, as soon as I get my list of what I'm getting each person ready
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? yes
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? the only thing that we really have the same every year is breakfast casserole; I need to start some family Christmas food traditions
15. Lights on the tree? clear
16. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? no long distance travel unless we go to Pine Knoll Shores to visit Brent's grandfather
18. Can you name all 9 of Santa's reindeer? Yes (I have to sing the song though)
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? actually neither...Santa
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas day? this is complicated for us: we open presents at my dad's on Christmas Eve; our house on Christmas morning; Brent's mom's on Christmas day afternoon; my mom's house Christmas evening; we try to fit in seeing Brent's dad somewhere in between; we also have several other family get-togethers that are scheduled at random times around the week of Christmas
21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? not getting to fit in all of the Holiday things that I want to get done
22. Favorite ornament theme or color? I like Hallmark ornaments and I have a collection of Classic Winnie the pooh ornaments; I get the boys an ornament every year as does my mom and step-mom so those are one there and then an assortment of others
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? is that lunch or supper? we usually do finger foods at Brent's mom's in the afternoon and my mom usually fixes us something yummy for supper
24.What do you want for Christmas this year? surprises; for my children to have a great Holiday this year
In closing, I can't go without mentioning that Christmas really isn't the same for me anymore since my brother is gone.
6 Random Things
My friend Mindy tagged me to blog 6 random things about me...about 1 month or so ago. I have been such a slack blogger lately. Finally, here are my six random things:
1. A major pet peeve of mine is having empty hangers on a door knob. I can't stand to hear the jingly noise that it makes.
2. My favorite go to comfort food is a bowl of junky cereal. Usually I eat Honey Bunches of Oats or other low sugar, healthier option of cereal, but especially in the evenings if I need a comfort food then I love to have a bowl of cereal like cinnamon toast crunch or something else that the 3 boys in the house are eating.
3. A couple of years ago I said that I wanted to start a collection of food ornaments...fruits and vegetables, healthy starches, etc...so that eventually I can have a "food" christmas tree in my office at work. I haven't started this collection yet but I still want to.
4. One of my favorite things to do is plan the next fun trip/vacation/outing. I just love the process of thinking about and planning our next fun trip. Also, I love to have a "next" trip to look forward to. For example, at Ocean Lakes you can book your campsites up to 18 months in advance. I am patiently waiting for January to arrive so that I can book our campsite for June 2010! (you really have to do this if you want a specific date or site in the summer)
5. I am easily distracted. Not when working or doing a concentrated task, but say when I am getting ready in the morning or straightening the house. I am known to start about 5 different cleaning projects at one time when I have a day off to work in the house. Brent has been humored and, irritated at times, about this trait of mine. Nolan has picked up on it already and Elijah is sure to catch on soon. For example, Nolan says "mom, can I have some chocolate milk?" "sure" I go to the kitchen and get out a cup, the chocolate powder, and milk. I walk towards the opposite end of the kitchen to get a spoon out of the drawer. On the way, I see something sitting on the dining room table that I need to fill out and put away, then I see something in the living room that needs to be put away... "Mom, did you forget what you are doing?" "OH, yeah, I was making your chocolate milk, wasn't I? I'm sorry."
6. I am obsessed with our "budget". I never actually did a budget until 1 year ago. Yes, I took the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University course before that, but I decided that we could do what he described without a budget. Oops. Not so...I continued to have financial problems. One day I was talking to Leeann and Bonnie about it and Leeann said that I needed a budget. She came over shortly thereafter and helped me create a budget using her form on Excel. Now, I am a stickler for that thing and it has helped save our financial life!!
OK there it is...6 random things
1. A major pet peeve of mine is having empty hangers on a door knob. I can't stand to hear the jingly noise that it makes.
2. My favorite go to comfort food is a bowl of junky cereal. Usually I eat Honey Bunches of Oats or other low sugar, healthier option of cereal, but especially in the evenings if I need a comfort food then I love to have a bowl of cereal like cinnamon toast crunch or something else that the 3 boys in the house are eating.
3. A couple of years ago I said that I wanted to start a collection of food ornaments...fruits and vegetables, healthy starches, etc...so that eventually I can have a "food" christmas tree in my office at work. I haven't started this collection yet but I still want to.
4. One of my favorite things to do is plan the next fun trip/vacation/outing. I just love the process of thinking about and planning our next fun trip. Also, I love to have a "next" trip to look forward to. For example, at Ocean Lakes you can book your campsites up to 18 months in advance. I am patiently waiting for January to arrive so that I can book our campsite for June 2010! (you really have to do this if you want a specific date or site in the summer)
5. I am easily distracted. Not when working or doing a concentrated task, but say when I am getting ready in the morning or straightening the house. I am known to start about 5 different cleaning projects at one time when I have a day off to work in the house. Brent has been humored and, irritated at times, about this trait of mine. Nolan has picked up on it already and Elijah is sure to catch on soon. For example, Nolan says "mom, can I have some chocolate milk?" "sure" I go to the kitchen and get out a cup, the chocolate powder, and milk. I walk towards the opposite end of the kitchen to get a spoon out of the drawer. On the way, I see something sitting on the dining room table that I need to fill out and put away, then I see something in the living room that needs to be put away... "Mom, did you forget what you are doing?" "OH, yeah, I was making your chocolate milk, wasn't I? I'm sorry."
6. I am obsessed with our "budget". I never actually did a budget until 1 year ago. Yes, I took the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University course before that, but I decided that we could do what he described without a budget. Oops. Not so...I continued to have financial problems. One day I was talking to Leeann and Bonnie about it and Leeann said that I needed a budget. She came over shortly thereafter and helped me create a budget using her form on Excel. Now, I am a stickler for that thing and it has helped save our financial life!!
OK there it is...6 random things
Towels
Other than Walt and Jann, ff you gave me and Brent towels when we got married, then I can assure you that they have been or are being used now. When we married 9 1/2 years ago, I put away about 15 towels because we got more than we really needed. I thought that I would save them for later...possibly for when we built our house.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving when I went to the building to get the Christmas tree out, I got a little distracted (what a surprise!) and began cleaning out the building. It has gotten unorganized and full in the past few years and Brent has mentioned in the past that there was a lot of my stuff in there. So, I began culling out boxes and discovered the 3 boxes of towels. Brent couldn't believe it...here he was using the same few towels (our family HAS doubled in size since we got married!) that we have in the house and we had ~15 new fluffy towels just sitting in the building. Needless to say, I brought them all in and washed them and put them in the cabinets! There were even enough to put some of them in the camper.
My uncle Walter and aunt Jann sent me some beautiful towels that I am still saving for when we get our house built.
Yes, I'm a little like my grandmother...
The Saturday after Thanksgiving when I went to the building to get the Christmas tree out, I got a little distracted (what a surprise!) and began cleaning out the building. It has gotten unorganized and full in the past few years and Brent has mentioned in the past that there was a lot of my stuff in there. So, I began culling out boxes and discovered the 3 boxes of towels. Brent couldn't believe it...here he was using the same few towels (our family HAS doubled in size since we got married!) that we have in the house and we had ~15 new fluffy towels just sitting in the building. Needless to say, I brought them all in and washed them and put them in the cabinets! There were even enough to put some of them in the camper.
My uncle Walter and aunt Jann sent me some beautiful towels that I am still saving for when we get our house built.
Yes, I'm a little like my grandmother...
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