Christmas Fun

Paul giving Scottie his Christmas present.

He played so hard with his toy he pulled a muscle in his neck but that didn't stop him from playing.
Max got a furry mouse to play with.
The other cats got toys too but they weren't in the mood to play or get their pictures taken.

Guitar hero for my sweetie.

Rocking out on the Guitar or trying too.

I got the best present ever, the most beautiful engagement ring ever made. It is incredible. Paul treats me better than I deserve.

I love you Paul and can't wait to marry you!!

New Quilt

My brother asked me to make him a quilt a few months ago. It took me forever to find the colors I wanted to use. The fabric square that is dark blue with gold, red and silver stars was my inspiration. I wanted the quilt to be masculine.

Here is the finished product. It's just a small size twin quilt.
A view with the backing showing.

A closer view

It took awhile but I think it's nice. My brother liked it alot.

Christmas Time

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Our first Christmas tree. I love glass ornaments and have been collecting them for several years. It was nice to see them all on the tree finally.
Someone is trying to sneak a peek at their stocking. The middle one is the fur children's stocking. Don't tell them but Santa is bringing them some very nice presents.

The front door wreath. We've added some star lights to it. The piano is decorated with my small pink tree that I have had for a million years.

Tomorrow we are going to my brothers house to do Christmas. I'm really feeling happy this holiday season it's so nice to enjoy the holidays with people you love. I've made 4 batches of fudge today and this afternoon we are making cookies. The majority of the presents are wrapped and I am just finishing up my brothers present (I'll post pics soon).

Have a Merry Christmas everyone and make some memories!

Busy week

It has been a busy week. Last week was insane with work and school, but thankfully it's slowing down. Today is the first weekend in months that I didn't have to work, go to school, talk to people, go shopping, bascially I am totally free to sit on this couch and do nothing!!!!!!! Of course our house needs attention and I have wedding things to finish up and wrap presents, but those are fun things! A storm is hitting us this weekend, it's already put down a nice covering of snow. I am so glad we don't have to leave the house this weekend.

Soooo, I got a wedding dress, I would love to tell you about it or show you a pic but since paul reads this blog, you all will just have to wait til june and be surprised like him. Of course if you can't wait email me and I'll send you a pic and tell you about it. We got the tuxes for the boys ordered, centerpieces figured out, appointments with the florist and pastor scheduled and last night picked the invitations. Next on the list to tackle is favors, bridesmaids dresses, wedding jewelry and rehersal dinner.

Enjoy the weekend all!

I'm dreaming of....

..............a nice, clear, dry roads, no ice, no snow christmas. Any of you that have known me for more than ummmmm 10 minutes, know that I HATE snow. I truly wouldn't mind if it never snowed again. Since this is my first winter in the big city and farther north than I grew up, I'm not sure what to expect winter wise, but it sure isn't looking great so far. On Wednesday we got about 6 inches of snow with about 2-3 of that being dumped during morning rush hour. And then today we have 2-4 more inches, looks like about 1 1/2 out there now, but it's ontop of the ice from the melted snow yesterday. Plus, my job is in healthcare so you have to report unless the county closes the roads, oh what fun. Yeah, I know I'm a big baby, but I don't care, be prepared for pouting and whining for the next 4 months.

Oh a good note, school is over, these last few weeks of classes just about did me in. AND more importantly, only 6 months til the wedding WOOOHOOOO. I will be going dress shopping next week.

Off to go clean off a snow covered car and crawl my way into the office.

Updates

We've been working hard on planning the wedding. Actually have been doing a little too much wedding planning and not enough studying, but only another week and half of school left. Classes are rough still, but I have B's in both of them. But onto more fun thinks. This is where we are going to get married. It's a sweet victorian bed and breakfast. Here is the gazebo part of the covered porch where the ceremony will take place.

A better look at the gazebo. The surrounding gardens will be in bloom in June so we won't need much in the way of flowers.
This picture doesn't really do the site justice, but it's the view of the carriage house from the back porch. The reception will be held on the patio there. We'll be doing an evening wedding. That should make is cooler and the sun setting will add a nice touch.

There are still alot of things to plan, we've picked out a color scheme and have been working on flowers, reception table decor and favors. The biggest challenge right now is the DRESS!!! Oh my gosh I have no idea what I want. I'm going dress shopping in a few weeks with his mom and sisters and hopefully my maid of honor, but in February there is a store that has an annual running of the brides sale. They offer designer dresses at amazing prices, Lorri and I are planning to go to it, so unless I find an amazing dress before then, I am leaning towards not buying anything just yet.

We'll I'm off to wake up Paul we need to go do our black friday shopping :)

Wedding Bells

I'm getting married!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Date is set, site is reserved and we are both so very excited. More details to come!

Trick or Treat

Birthday Party

For my birthday I had made a list of wishes, I figured if I had to turn 30 I was going to do it my way. So to start the day I had homemade pancakes with raspberries. Paul is awesome at making pancakes.

Balloons to start the festivities
We decided to drive over to the Longaberger Homestead, this is their corporate office building in Newark on the way to the factory.

The entrance to the Longaberger Homestead in Frazeysburg. I picked up a new purse, tote bag and a retired casserole dish. No baskets, just didn't see any that I couldn't live without. Not alot of pictures, it rained all day.

Some of the buildings at the homestead.

The world's largest basket of apples. It's a real basket.

Back home to continue the fun. My light up tiara and wand.

(please ignore the messy house, classes are taking over our lives)

Paul with his party hat and noisemaker.

One of my wishes was for the animals to be dressed up. Here is scottie getting dressed up, he actually kept the hat on the entire time.

Shiloh getting her decorations, you can't see her necklace.

My ice cream cake complete with candles.

New pajama bottoms

And very cool present a new crockpot!

Paul went out of his way and made it a very special and fun birthday.

Sunday Afternoon Walk

Autumn

Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn. - Elizabeth Lawrence

October's poplars are flaming torches lighting the way to winter.- Nova Bair

Looking on the happy Autumn-fields,An thinking of the days that are no more.- Alfred Lord Tennyson

The tints of autumn--a mighty flower garden, blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, Frost. - John Greenleaf Whittier

Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower. - Albert Camus

Weird

Is it just me or is it weird that a public library has a starbucks in it? It was in one of the 'yuppy' suburbs around here. Very weird and kind of sad really.

Goals

Next week I'll be 30 (ACK!!) my goal for the last few years was to have some idea of where my life was heading and to have a path in mind by the time I was 30. I've met that goal and then some, I know the path and have my feet on the path, such a wonderful feeling. With one goal met it's time for another or a few more.

I will provide a loving, warm, home for my love.
I will obtain my nursing degree to assist my love in providing for our future family.
I will respect and honor my love and provide for his needs.
I will continue reading the Bible and expanding my relationship with God.
I will eradicate my debt.

My wishes;
a house in the country or at least if in the city a large yard with lots of trees,
kids running around,
a craft room :)
a happy husband who can't wait to come home at night,
being a stay at home mom as much as possible,
being able to homeschool,
have a garden and live more sustainably every year.

Onward and upward, bring on the next 30 years!

Hiatus

I'll be on blogger hiatus for awhile, school is demanding every bit of my attention, both classes need about 18 hours a week each to do well and since I don't have an extra 30+ hours a week to spare, I have to make practical use of my time. See ya all soon :)

Tamale Casserole

I've been trying out crockpot cooking. Paul is on a different shift for a few months and leaves before I am home to fix dinner, I've never been too impressed with crockpot cooking, but I've found a few good ones lately. Here's one we liked, I got the recipe off another person's blog (sorry don't remember who) but I changed a few of the ingredients to match things we like. Next time I make it I'll be using shredded beef instead of ground beef. Here's my version:

Tamale Casserole

1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 (15.25 ounce) can hominy, drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 jalapeno pepper diced (I used the sliced ones from the jar)
1 (1.25 ounce) package chili seasoning mix
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. In a crockpot, combine the egg, milk and cornmeal until smooth. Add hominy, tomatoes, jalapenos, chili seasoning, seasoned salt and beef. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese; cover and cook 15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Death

Even though I work in hospice I don't really get to spend much time with the patients or to really get to know them. This week I've had the honor to sit with a family while their loved ones' journey in life draws to an end. I've held the dying person's hand, I've held the spouse while they cried, I've listened to wonderful stories about their life...the nurses say it's an honor to do this job and they are right, it's also very very spiritual. The hardest part for me that it forces you to face your own mortality. Sitting next to the person today, I just kept thinking what will be like for Paul and I, who will go first, will we be ill or will it be sudden, will we have lots of kids and grandkids around us, will we be strong enough to sit there and hold the other person's hand, but in the end none of us know, we will all go eventually, we will have no say in how it happens or when, it's all on God's timetable. So let us create lots of memories and enjoy the journey.

Vacation Day

Since I am on break from school I decided to take a few days off, so yesterday we had a vacation day. Got up early and left the house around 8AM. I took Paul down to Southern Ohio and showed him all the places of my childhood. Here is the start of the hills of Southern Ohio (we're right outside Lancaster), in the distance you can see the early morning fog. The fog in the autumn is one of my favorite parts Southern Ohio.

The 4lanes narrow down to 2 outside of Nelsonville.
Almost to Athens! We stopped and visited my old workplace and got me caught up on all the town gossip. If you've never lived in a small town, you're missing an experience and half. Everyone knows everything about everyone. I hadn't realized how much I missed the town gossip.


My sweety looking sexy in those sunglasses :)

This is Perks, the coffee shop I worked at through college. I spent many hours working and studying there.

The gateway to the campus of Ohio University, our alma mater. Ironically Paul went to OU also and was there for about two of the years I was there. Just took us many years later to meet :)

We had lunch with my wonderful friends. I really miss them.

The football stadium, which is actually where I had the majority of my major classes (there are a few classrooms inside).

I love the old barn that are everywhere down there.

Cow crossing warning sign. I loved this sign! Paul exclaimed "there are cows in the middle of the road?!?" I just laughed, cause there is! The camera was too slow and I missed the caution sign of the guy on a tractor.