HITCHED!!

We had a beautiful week in Montana and the most perfect weather for our wedding August 13th in Bozeman. I'll post more about the wedding later, but that's why I've been MIA. Just got back to town and getting back into some kind of routine before we move into a bigger apartment in a couple weeks : ) Hope to post a little bit before all that happens. Until then, a picture from our ceremony and a picture of us the day after after a super relaxing float on the Madison River.

SUMMA WHAT?!

Oh my, it's June! What the heck happened to May?

There's so much to do in the next 3 months ... this month ... this week.... today ... and I am taking a little break to catch up on some blogs I like to check in on and with my latest favorite thing - pinterest ; )

I found this on there today .... so I'm not really wasting my time, right? It's a fun place to keep track of all those little things you find online and want to remember. I think it could be a little addicting.

I was mildly productive today. Yesterday Chad got his new drivers license and I figured since I don't have plans this morning today I would go get mine. Except the lady told me that I had to register my vehicle at the same time, but first you have to take it to pass an inspection test and blah blah blah. So I found somewhere to take it and sat there for an hour while they checked it all out and replaced my back brake light that was out.

By the time I got home to retrieve all the other info I need to bring in to get set up here I didn't want to drive back to the DMV where there were already about 50 people waiting when the first opened. Will be super prepared tomorrow I suppose.

I've got a couple different to do lists going. One of course for the wedding. And since I made it I've started having nightmares about something not being done (bridesmaid not making it to town, flowers not ordered, no one ready and the wedding is about to start). It's mostly just smaller details now, we've got to come up with some fun favors, print some engagement photos, plan the rehearsal, etc. I can't believe it's just over 2 months away.

A friend of mine here is getting married in 2 weeks. This weekend is her bachelorette party. We're gonna spend some time at a lake house and I'm way excited to get some sun! We went and bought new swimsuits earlier this week. I'm ready for a Texas tan : )

Chad is finishing up his review in class and will be employed again June 13th! His birthday is the weekend before so I'm sure we'll be doing something to celebrate.

We've been doing a little house hunting, although we need to come up with a timeline for when we think we can go approach a bank about a home loan. There are some beautiful places here that are going to make the decision hard. I am ready to get out of the tiny apartment, but it's not super practical to move somewhere else for another 6 months if we'll be packing it up to move into our first house (fingers crossed!). It's a lot of fun to look though and we'll have a good idea of all the things we need/want when the time comes.

So, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my quiet morning (the apartment is a disaster, but that's getting ignored today too) before work and will start running around again tomorrow!

CHECKING OUT ....

We will be out and about the next few weeks here and there doing a lot of "vacation" and some other important stuff too : )

BNSF BOUND

BIG NEWS! Our plan with moving to Texas is showing results! Here's the story so far.

After getting here Chad had another interview with BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) for entering into the training program to be a dispatcher, which is run through one of the colleges here. They take 15/16 people a time to train over 4 months and hundreds apply! His last round of interview had about 100 people and he was chosen as the 2nd alternate for the class. Which both bummed us out but we also knew he was on their radar. We were told the next class would be starting in June, which threw a major wrench into wedding planning... like, could Chad even be there if he's taking this intensive training?!?

We kept in contact with the person in charge of the classes to see if anyone hadn't registered or dropped out before the classes started and no one had. Monday the 31tst he got a phone call offering him a spot!! 3 weeks before the class!! We are thrilled. He started yesterday and has his first test tomorrow. Most of the first part of the training is in a class until the end of April. He'll get a little break - we're hoping to spend it in Montana - and then the last part will be more hands on training...June 6th should be his first day as an actual employee.

Looks like we'll be in Texas for awhile . . . .

"ADVENTURE IS JUST BAD PLANNING"

This is what I came home to 11 pm on Valentine's Day. A deserted little table that looks like someone got stood up. In most cases this story would be sad, but with all the luck Chad has in trying to surprise me (this is the 3rd Valentine's mishap!) we thought it was pretty funny.

Neither of us talked about making any kind of Valentine's plans. We're going to some shows later this week and most of the time we want to do something special we just do it then. So babysitting for Valentine's Day isn't a big deal (and is paying for our concert tickets!) and I had a family ask about it weeks ago -- it's on the calendar and everything. Between the screwy schedule we have right now with Chad working so early and me not getting home until late I knew that I wouldn't see him until today (the day after VDay) when I got home from work. I even left him a little note by the door to find on his way to work to say "Happy Valentine's, blah blah, will miss you today, blah blah... see you tomorrow since you'll be asleep by the time I get home".

I did get to talk to him on the phone between work and babysitting, which was a good thing, because he was about to start cooking me a special little dinner for a surprise. Since we live in the tiny apartment he knew he couldn't hide everything he'd picked up to save for the next night without me catching on, he told me about forgetting I had plans and to not eat the chocolate covered strawberries in the fridge until he said so :)

So tonight was try number 2 and was not a surprise but every bit as wonderful. We ate at our card table turned bistro in the living room with music, flowers and candles, pasta and bread, wine, chocolate, strawberries and cool whip. I even put on a dress for our in home date!


Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day -- whenever/wherever/however you decided to celebrate it!

IS THIS REAL LIFE?

Over the last couple days I feel like that kid in the youtube video on his way home from the dentist. I'm borrowing a few of his lines!

"Is this real life?"
Since Monday we have gone from getting super incredible news about Chad attending training (more on that later) to having my 4th day off I've had from work because of the snow in Texas to our apartment getting a little rainstorm. This is all crazy. I can't take it all in.

"I can't see anything"
Wednesday night at midnight the pipes in the building burst. The fire department came to turn off the water as well as the power to avoid any other craziness. From 12 - 3 we spent grabbing everything we could to avoid water damage and moving it to our room and having to clear everything else out later for the carpet repair guy to start sucking out all the water.

"AHHHHHHH"
I thought after 2 days of being stuck at home - even though I have the day off, the roads are covered in ice so going anywhere is not really an option - that I was doing okay, that surely things would get cleared up. With our big mess Wednesday night confining us to live out of the bedroom until it all gets cleaned up (or at least until all the fans are gone, they are so loud that I have to keep the door shut to hear myself think at all) I'm starting to lose my mind. I woke up this morning and couldn't even tell you it's Friday because it's all starting to blur together.

"I don't feel tired"
My sense of time is gone!

"I feel funny"
The only thing left to do is laugh at this all really. Laugh because we are happy with all the BNSF things working out. Laugh because we think it's silly that we can't remember having a snow day in either Montana or Alaska. Laugh because after everything was as cleaned up as could be in our apartment and finally getting to bed there is one last spot in our bedroom that decided to drip. We were watching the spot and placed a bowl to catch the water under it, but not until we closed our eyes that it started to "drip. .... drip. ..... drip.... drip..drip.. drip..drip.dripdripdripdrip". What else is there to do but laugh?

"Why is this happening to me??"
It's not anyone's fault (except for whoever decided it was a good idea to put up uninsulated pipes :S) that we've had this nightmare -- but still... why!?!?! It's one of those things that you don't ever imagine happening to you.

"Is this going to be forever?"
Our future hope is to someday be back up in Montana, or as close as we can get. We know that the start of Chad's career will be here, that our first home will be here and that our kids will probably be born here. And we're excited for it .. but I think we'll always be dreaming of when it is we'll get to head back north. I'm also ready to have the tiny apartment back. It will feel like we get to spread out, maybe I will appreciate it more ;) Plus, it will be super clean after repairs and reorganizing. I know that everything will be back to normal, but not Monday (so we've been told). But for right now it's only Friday morning and there's a couple more days of bedroom living. Hoping for the weather to warm up and the roads to clear so we're not stuck inside for it all.

"UGH!"
exactly ....

I AM A SOCIAL REALIST

Social Realists are popular persons full of energy. They are reliable, well organized and helpful. Traditional values are important to them. Founding a family also plays a central role in their life. Social Realists have a marked social streak. They are always ready to listen to the worries and problems of others and spare no effort when they are asked for help. With empathy and understanding, they can sense what other people need. Social Realists are always willing to highly regard the strong points of the other person and to excuse that person’s weaknesses. They are the most sociable of all personality types. Social contacts are very important to them.

Social Realists find it very difficult to cope with conflicts and criticism - harmony is their elixir of life. Acknowledgment and esteem are very important to this type. Differentiation on the other hand is not necessarily one of their strong points. At work and in partnerships, they are loyal, committed and always there when needed. They find it easy to make friends due to their open, warm manner and they have a large circle of friends. In love, they are faithful and attentive and care for their partners with a great deal of imagination and sensitivity. Social Realists show their feelings openly and honestly. Should a relationship break up, they tend to blame themselves. That is why they find it very difficult to end a partnership even if it has not fulfilled their requirements for some time.

Social Realists are more conservative types. They have a set system of values and rules which is orientated to the prevailing traditions. They prefer clear, structured surroundings and work processes; they find too much change and unrest unpleasant. Their strong points are carefulness and reliability and not so much flexibility and spontaneity. Social Realists are open-minded towards anything new only to a limited extent. But, should one be looking for someone to fulfill a task reliably and exactly, they are the right persons.

Adjectives which describe your type: extroverted, practical, sentimental, planning, emotional, temperamental, energetic, tradition-conscious, loyal, helpful, devoted, reliable, caring, objective, thorough, organised, warm-hearted, open, friendly, sociable, chummy, obliging, self-sacrificing, public-spirited, sensitive, kind, demanding

Who Are You?? Find out at iPersonic

**Thanks to Alicia for sharing her personality type and what test she used!

BRB

If you've been looking for a new post lately there has been none. The holidays have been kicking my butt with more hours at work, parties, having family in town, etc. All which are very good things and have been thoroughly enjoyed, but has left me a little run down and allowed some kind of icky green snot monster to invade my system.

Will be taking the next couple weeks to...
- manage my way through the last week of 2010 work, visiting, etc
- let my health system reboot -- lots of water and vitamins for this chick!
- hopefully have readjusted work schedules that give Chad and I some weekend time that don't include having to catch up on sleep, we might even make it to a movie past 7 pm!
- pull out the card table and make some more goodies, had have great success with the stores selling for me : )

See you in a few weeks!

(thanks to urban dictionary for brb definitions **slightly edited**)

TAKE THAT WEEKEND!

Thanksgiving was a little crazy for me. Not quite the quiet weekend I was expecting. Chad worked a lot of over time last week, including the early hours of Thanksgiving and both Saturday and Sunday after Black Friday. I worked Black Friday and all day Sunday. Between all the coming and going, setting up Christmas stuff and shopping we tried to squeeze in our apartment is a wreck!! I was not ready for Monday ...

Very thankful to have the morning off to get my life back in order! Got laundry done, kitchen cleaned, Christmas decorations that didn't get put up put away, got to the bank and post office. Opened up a new Scentsy bar -- Grapefruit Berry -- and the apartment is starting to smell lovely! I'm ready to come home tonight, take a hot shower, and crash on the couch with some knitting.

Itching to bake Christmas cookies and make caramels, but will wait until it's a little closer to my family getting here -- may have to make some chocolate chip until then.

SOME DOWN TIME??

Hoping to not jinx it, but I've been thinking about how quiet my week will be coming up. Normally I would watch my before school kiddo this week, but her mom has the week off so they don't need me. And there's only 1 day this week I'll have the other two. Plus the preschool will be closed Thanksgiving and the day after. I'll have 3 afternoons at preschool and hopefully after that a very mellow 4 day weekend (with the exception of a quick Black Friday shift at BBW).

I'm so excited to stay up later and sleep in and have the time to sew. So excited that I spent my morning cleaning just about everything in the apartment! The kitchen got a major scrub down -- I even pulled apart the pieces on the stove and cleaned them. It seems that it can get stuffy in our place real quick, so the windows are all open to get some fresh air in and blackberry apple oil burning. I wanna run to the store or something just to come back and unlock the door to a nice, fresh smelling place! The only thing left is putting away laundry when it's done, which I'm hoping to enlist Chad's help when he gets home from work. I hate putting away laundry.

Here's my "the only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary" projects for this week
- finish the 4 out of 6 bags I have already cut out and just need sewing
- work on some more bobby pins
- make some cute baby things
- start knitting this sweater
- work on Christmas stockings for us and my family who will be here for Christmas

BUSY WEEK AHEAD

The bad thing about having more than one job is that it doesn't work out often that you have a full day or weekend off!

The next day I'll have completely to myself will be the 20th or 21st, provided I don't get schedule at BBW!

Here's what I'm up to this week:
- watching K before school and dropping her off all week
- working at preschool during afternoon all week
- possible Tuesday/Wednesday evening babysitting for new family
- if not babysitting, then knit group on Tuesday night
- special art project for R & a friend Wednesday morning
- mandatory Thanksgiving event Thursday night for preschool
- Friday morning watching R & A
- Saturday shift at BBW
- Sunday morning watch R & A

Other stuff to get done:
- find new day planner!
- lots of sewing
- work on bobby pins
- knit lots of hats
- make something for Thanksgiving thing at preschool
- dream about my wedding
- don't get sick

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

Yesterday I turned 26!

It was a little sad not to celebrate with friends in Bozeman, but Chad and I had a fun day. We didn't get motivated to do much until around 2. We decided to drive over to Dallas and went to the stores that aren't in Fort Worth - like Crate & Barrel and Lush! They have a much larger mall than anything I've seen yet here, so I did a little birthday shopping. Favorite find of the day - my new boots!

BIG NEWS #2: WE'RE ENGAGED!

Along with all this moving to Texas stuff I've been waiting for an engagement ring. Chad and I have been together for 4 years. Last summer I started nagging that I'm a little more than over with waiting any longer and when talk of moving came up the beginning of this summer told him I would not be going anywhere with him until he proposed.

We've had a summer busy summer and plenty of opportunity for him to ask, but he's a perfectionist when it comes to planning and nothing seemed quite right to him. After we'd decided on moving he starting planning that on the night before we left he would have everyone over at my grandparents for one last little goodbye party and that in front of everyone he would propose. He didn't tell anyone this was the plan, and for various reasons, no one was really able to make it on the night of. We still had things to do that night and I was pushing to get out the door, so before we left, he said he couldn't wait any longer to ask, got down on his knee and pulled out a little white ring box. And after the week we'd just had with packing and loading our Uhaul and everything else I pretty much cried through the whole thing. I said yes ; )

There isn't a date set yet. There's plenty of ideas in my head. Once things seem a little more settled with things in Fort Worth I can imagine how much time I'll be thinking of our big day.

BIG NEWS #1: WE MOVED!

I have not mentioned this on my blog yet for fear of jinxing all that was going on -- but we moved to Texas!

Chad is trying for a position with BNSF as a train dispatcher. It involves a 4 month training class before getting the job. The idea was to take the class offered in September and be working right after that. However, a week before his tests and interviews the people in charge filled the September class, so now the next one offered is in February.

Rather than waiting things out in Montana, we moved to Fort Worth, Texas to be prepared and do everything possible to get this working in the right direction. We didn't want to be in a situation with breaking a lease on our place or keeping employers up in the air about when our last days would be. Also moving in February would have been terrible through all the snow in Montana and Wyoming. So, we're here now and have time to adjust to things here before his class starts.

Thankfully, our friend Drew helped us drive down our Uhaul and 2nd car and unload it all into our tiny apartment. We went from about 1900 sf in Bozeman to 750 sf here! But it's an exciting challenge to see if we can live in our space more efficiently. Before he left we went out to PF Changs for dinner - it's the best! The area it's in is known as Sundance Square, a pretty safe spot downtown. We'd planned on a movie after dinner, but there were so many people out and things going on that we walked around and eventually ended up in a rock and roll dueling pianos bar - so much fun!

I don't mind the heat. If we moved the beginning of the summer that might be different, so it was a good adjustment to come down in the fall. I've noticed a few things, probably more than a few, that I'm not sure if I expected or not.

- No one really speeds: People tend to follow the speed limits, and rather than passing you people are pretty content with just following behind you until they get wherever they're going

- People are very friendly: Maybe it's the accent (which the lady at the bank said we'd develop) but any time we've gone to shop or eat everyone has been so nice.

- Store are clean: I'm sure there are places that are no so clean, but because of all the competition and repeats of many stores (we live so close to 2 different shopping areas that are almost identical) there must be a higher standard for keeping things as clean as they've been.

At the moment we are looking for jobs. Probably the scariest part of moving was that we didn't have immediate jobs lined up. I found a great nanny agency to sign up with, but most of their clients are in Dallas and that's too long of a commute. There's a private preschool about a block away from where we live that's looking for help. I've had 2 interviews so far and should hear back by Friday if I get that job. Crossing my fingers hard!

CRAZY BUSY SUMMER

Gee. . It's been awhile . . . this is what I've been up to this summer and hope that the next 4 weeks have lots more sunshine and fun!

Floating the Madison River --- 3 hours on the river with a ice cold Mike's. .. perfect Saturday afternoon

Visiting Alaska --- Sitka, Haines, everywhere in between

An Afternoon at Pike's Place Market in Seattle ---

Edmonton, Canada --- to see my brother who is there over the summer, lots of shopping and some fun at the waterpark

Summer nights in downtown Bozeman --- Music on Main, Bite of Bozeman, and just because

PLANNED: ALASKA TRIP 2010

After lots of frustration with how Alaska Airlines allows you to redeem miles and syncing flight times with ferry times plus what we want to do while we visit we have tickets to go home this summer!!

The end of June we'll fly up to Sitka (via Seattle AND Ketchikan - ugh!) to meet up with my parents. We're going to take a 3 day boat trip on their boat up to Haines where we still have a cabin on Chilkat Lake. Maybe we'll fit in a quick Skagway trip and then spend the 4th of July in Haines. The last time I got to visit there was in 2004, it's been awhile!

We arranged our tickets to get back to Seattle as quickly as possible with having to take a ferry and then catch a plane so that we can stay the night with some friends and do a little bit of shopping the next day. So excited for a vacation!!

NEW FEATURES??

One of the wonderful things about nap time is the quiet time I get. Sometimes I bring a project to work on (that doesn't require lugging a bunch of stuff over) or a book to read. Occasionally I'll end up with nothing to do and while I'm kicking myself for not having something around, I end up checking out how creative other people are. I've had a list going of a few that I've been enjoying and just added them to my addiction of blogs.

There's so many things I see that other people have done that re-inspire me in a variety of ways. A few of them I've actually started doing . . . and hopefully can get it in gear enough to blog on as well!

Here's a few things I'm really into:
-- 52 Lists: by Hula Seventy (also seen on other blogs), like me she's a list-maker, and for 2010 is making a new list every week, on random things. .. like "Clothes I Loved Wearing As A Kid". Don't know that I'll keep up with this one weekly, but when I'm clever enough to come up with something that's list-worthy I'll try work something out

-- 5 Senses Friday: by Curious Girl and Abby, is really just what it implies . . . see, hear, smell, taste, feel . . . Have done a few 5 THINGS posts, but I like this better.

-- Interviews: Have seen on all kinds of blogs, right now I'm thinking it would be fun to have the kids I watch interview me. We'll see on this one. . .

-- Inspired by: Have posted a quote for this one already! Is really just a general topic for anything that I think just "clicks" with me. Blog posts from my favorite reads, a song, a photo, an anything.

Stay tuned!

OH FEBRUARY!

I got nothing accomplished in January . . .

And just as things have finally slowed down, we've decided to move! While I should have been working on all my do-to projects while Chad was gone, I instead goofed around a lot online and checked all the rental sites for what's available. Didn't really expect to find anything great, but I did! It's cheaper, it's bigger, it's in town (not that we're really out of town) and it has an awesome bathroom with a separate tub : )

We get to move in on March 1st, which is a Monday. Hoping that maybe they'll be moved out sooner so we can have the weekend to get stuff hauled over and the old place cleaned up. It'll be here so soon!

My one goal is to finish a bumper blanket I've been working on for nearly a year. It is my unfinished project challenge for my quilt group and they're supposed to be done in a week. We pledged our projects back in October. The second one I thought I'd be doing while Chad was gone did not get touched at all. So, this week, I will finish turning this crib bumper into a cute little blanket and then I can pack up my craft room . . and not feel as guilty for not finishing any other projects. Hopefully I'll see things with new eyes in the new space.

There's actually a second goal, but Chad will help with this one. We found a headboard/footboard/bed frame on Craigslist awhile back for $10. I enlisted my brother to help sand part of it while he was here over Christmas. We need to finish sanding and get it painted so it can be set up right away in the new place. This also might go for the coffee tables that I've got spray paint for (with a cool hammered finish).

The February header above is a little teaser for another project, but it may have to wait . . . to be continued with that one!

BUSY AND CONFUSED

So ready for this month to be done with . . .

I thought things were supposed to slow down after Thanksgiving and Christmas? Not the case this year. Chad's gone for most of the month for work and in the past I'm left with all kinds of really quiet time, that normally drive me a little crazy, but right now I'm craving a little.

I had all these things to get done while he's away, things like painting headboards and nightstands, days of sewing, things that take awhile to do and things that I like to do from start to finish (so I actually finish them!). And lots of little fun things keep coming up. I've enjoyed doing them, but it saps my energy to start into a long project late in the afternoon.

I'm anxious for a lot of things too. It's hard to be patient. Plus being alone for a month has messed with my sense of time. It is Sunday right?

This all sounds a bit vague. Here's what the month has planned.

-- Went back to work on the 4th. Love spending time with the kids again. Have been watching an extra kid since then as well, and I'm not sure if it will be for another 1 or two weeks. I like definite plans, so not having a for sure thing gets to me some.

-- Lots of dinners with my grandparents and other friends. Very thankful these people know how lonely I can get and that I can spend time with them.

-- Wedding events happen in Bozeman in January. **I am not engaged**. I sometimes work for After 5 and Weddings (used to work there full time, still maintain their website). It's been awhile since working there, so it's fun to dress up a little for work and to see the new styles and businesses here. Hard not to look at things and keep myself from imagining my own big day.

-- I'm very fortunate to have a great hair stylist and when I call to schedule an appointment I don't have to wait too long. Some people thing it's a lot of money to spend on getting your hair done, but there's not many things I do that "waste" money. She's less expensive than many other places in town. I also wait longer (most people go in every 8 weeks for color) to get mine done. This time it was more out of the need for a haircut (it's been since July? for a cut, Sept for color?). In my eagerness to cut off all the scraggly ends I asked for more to be cut off than I was ready for. 6 inches gone. It's great, I love it, but I shoulda eased into a shorter length and just done 3? I'm still experimenting on how to style it. I'd like to skip ahead 2 months here and have it a little longer and know what I like to do with it.

-- Went to my quilt group. It was my turn for snacks. I really wanted to make something yummy, but time escaped me. Luckily 2 people bring snacks, so we agreed that she'd handle the treat and I'd bring drinks. The speaker this month was from a local shop, which is typical. She talked to us about thread. I had no clue there was so much to know! I've always looked for whatever color I need and never what it's made of (cotton, polyester, wool, etc). Besides that there's all kinds of different thicknesses. I still have no clue. We have one month left for our challenge projects. Back in October, we brought projects that we pledged to be completed by the meeting in February. I brought two. One is a crib bumper that I cut apart to make a little kids quilt (it's something someone asked me to do, and I've had it for awhile). The other is a quilt my mom was making me for my high school graduation in 2003. She sent it to me at the end of the summer, all in pieces. I just need to sew them all together. This is supposed to be one of the things I get done with all my quiet time.

-- Had a good friend, Kelly, visit over the weekend from Alaska. It was fun to see her and I wish I had more free time while she was here (I had to babysitting Saturday morning). For Christmas, Chad and another friend bought myself and his wife a day at the spa. It was kind of a pain to get the appointments schedule as they only have one Saturday a month where they have someone to do facials. We had afternoon appointments and Kelly was able to get in for a massage too. It was so nice to relax in their little wait room and just melt into the massage table. Afterward, I was scheduled for a facial, which was heaven. I don't know what exactly hit me, but after my appointment I got sick, still at the spa. It was embarrassing. Came home and was sick more. Started to feel better. Went out with Kelly and some of her other friends, but left early since whatever what wrong with me started to come back.

-- After Kelly left today I started to rearrange my craft room a bit. And my bedroom. But I have no focus, so moved the bedroom back as it was and got most of the craft stuff more organized. Felt like it's been awhile for a post, so here I am, typing away, hoping that if I "talk" about my . . . I don't know what to even call it . . . that I'd feel less whatever it is.

-- I may have mentioned this before. I decided to try and expand the stores my bobby pins are at. I asked friends and family about places they might recommend sending a sample to. 16 businesses. Some funky gift shops/boutiques, others day spas/salons. I typed up a nice little letter and mailed them out Tuesday. Hoping to have some of them interested and having a hard time being patient on this. Decided that I need to give the mail time to arrive and managers time to hopefully contact me. I'll give it a week and start making phone calls to see what they're all thinking.

So . . . dear January . . . please slow down just a tad and allow me some time to really get things done, I really do enjoy the quiet.

2010

Happy 2010, it came so quickly!! At the last minute, we decided to not do the bar thing this year and had a small get together at our place. It was lots of fun, we played a new game, "10 Things", ate lots of snacks and drank a little too much champagne. Thanks to everyone that stopped by : )

New Year Resolutions? Not really. Things I've been meaning to do and hope to get a start on beginning Monday while Chad is gone for work most of the month? Plenty!

-- Get back into the Curves routine. 30 minutes. It's not tough stuff, just not always what I want to do on my way home from work.

-- Craft closet is a minor disaster, this will get tackled as well while Chad is gone

-- Quilt Guild Challenge. Back in October we had to bring in unfinished projects that we pledged to get completed by the Feb. meeting. Nearly done with my first project, need to get the second one going!

-- Make bread. I've got my wonderful KitchenAid mixer and have only make cookies and other sweets. Have wanted to make bread and when the urge to do it strikes, it always requires a trip to the store. . . and then I get lazy.

-- Go through my closet and get rid of stuff I don't wear, reorganize so I can find what I do want to wear.

-- Catch up on many old projects I want to share here!

There's probably a lot more, but those are what's in my head now. I've been itching to rearrange my bedroom as well. Chad caught me sitting on the bed today just looking at everything. No good plans for the bedroom yet, I'll have to wait until he leaves to start moving stuff around.

2 more days. My place will become a complete disaster in my efforts to make it less so. I love it.