Long Time, No Blog

So, I'm sure no one has been looking at this thing lately (except for Jason, who checks it everyday then says "No blog?" as if he's shocked) :)

It has been a while. And, while not necessarily intentional, I suppose I have taken a break from blogdom. I think it would be quite difficult to cover everything that has happened since the last time I posted, but I'll try to cover some of the major events (not necessarily in order).


Of course, there was Christmas -- absolutely wonderful! I really enjoy spending time with family, playing games, eating yummy food... it's hands-down my favorite time of the year. It reminds me how incredibly blessed we are with wonderful family. And the 2 weeks off work was nice too!

Oh! And Mom made Jason a stocking! She made me and my brother stockings that we've had forever and now all the kids, kids-in-law and grandkids have one. They are really special! (Jason's even has an extra special something on it)



Before we headed out to visit family, Jason and I took in some impressive light displays in the area:


Although our street didn't really have a theme or anything, I was excited that 10 houses in a row on our side of the street had lights!! woohoo!!

I have cooked in the crock-pot again since the last post and it turned out really tasty. I did a "cowboy" pot roast from a crock-pot cook book my parents got me for Christmas and it was yummy! In fact, tomorrow we're having another slow-cooked meal. Eating more at home is saving us time, money, calories and the oh-so-painful "where do you wanna eat" "i dunno, where do you wanna eat" discussions. Plus, there are usually leftovers that I can take to work for lunch, thereby saving even more money!

Before Christmas we re-financed the house and had a pleasant surprise at closing. Instead of the 5.25% we were expecting, they had re-negotiated and got our rate down to 5% even.

Just yesterday, Jason and I got library cards from the public library. I checked out two books. First, I'm reading "The Secret of Lost Things" by Sheridan Hay, which is pretty good so far. And even though he didn't check anything out from the library, Jason was inspired and read half of "Prey" by Michael Crichton that he had here at the house.

We were taking one dog for a walk each evening, but we got off track and haven't been doing that regularly. Maybe we can start that up again.

We've got some exciting things coming up. I can't wait to see my nephew's play this week. Then, it's off to Las Vegas for a little vacation.

I have a desire to do somewhat of a "spring cleaning" and get everything de-cluttered and organized. And I've also got the sudden urge to paint!! Maybe there are some renovation photos in the future of this blog?!?! Who knows. But I will try not to wait over a month before the next update. :)

What a great birthday!! :)

First, I found my hat! Then, since Jason was in the other room doing secret birthday stuff, I had to celebrate by myself. So, I ended up taking a million photos of myself on my phone in celebration (actually, the total ended up being 28, coincidentally). Hooray hat!!!


Then , my sweets came in and we took a few pics together:


Then we went over to my brother's house and got to celebrate with my parents and nephews and niece! Mom and Jason took most of the pictures over there, so I'll have to post some of those later. Plus, Jason got a few pics of the kids that are cute, and I don't want to post them without asking my bro and sis-in-law (they are getting back from their cruise tomorrow).

We had lunch, played "Ticket to Ride" (Jason won!!), ate cake and ice cream and enjoyed the visit!! Mom and Dad got me a crock-pot, which I am totally excited to start using!! Need to go look up some recipes...

Then, when we got home, I got to open the cards and gift that my sweets got me. The dogs got me a card and reminded me that I'm 193 in doggy years (which makes 28 seem REALLY young) :)

And Jason had ordered a customized jigsaw puzzle that we put together together (that makes sense, right?). I love it! It's one of my favorite pictures and I can't wait to get a frame for it and put it on a wall!!!


It was a great birthday! I love spending time with family!!

Here's a picture of Jason's new hair-do (I'm the stylist). I'm still not sure he likes it, but he's being a good sport about it. He's a cutie, isn't he?


That's pretty much it for the day. I was hoping for a Missouri win over Oklahoma, but pretty sure it wouldn't happen. I was prepared for the OU win, but it really does make me sick that they were ahead 55-21 with 5 min. left in the game and their starters were still in. Seriously? Classless. Something about being the first team with so many games over 60 points... which translates to the team with the least class of all time. Bleh. Hope the Gators win the National Championship!!

Oh, and I don't have to act my age yet, do I?

Has anyone seen my hat?

I made a hat a few years ago. I like wearing my hat in the winter-time. I can't find my hat. If you see it, can you tell it that my ears and my noggin miss it dearly?

Jason has been on a blogging spree lately. There have been 5 days in December and he has 4 posts. I feel like a slacker :-P

On the other hand, I am currently attempting to accomplish an un-slacker-ly goal of rowing (on the rowing machine) 100 km between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm currently up to 16 km and probably needing to kick it into high gear sometime soon.

I thought I had more to say, but my brain has apparently leaked and I can't remember what it was. This must be a symptom of almost being 28. That's tomorrow. I'm excited about going to see my parents and nephews and niece! My brother and sister-in-law are on a cruise, so we're going to have a party at their house :)

Gonna go play cards with my sweets, right now. I'm going to try to keep my blogging ideas in my head next time... maybe my hat will help... where is that thing?

A Great Day!

We had a family get-together at my brother's house today, and it was great! We ate yummy spaghetti and meatballs, watched the Longhorn game, played a neat new board game and had a nice visit. It was tons o' fun! We have a wonderful family and it's always great to hang out with everyone! :)

The new game we played is called "Ticket to Ride". It's a nice little strategic game, but one that won't drain your brain. It is also slightly fast-paced and doesn't take hours to play like a lot of games.

After dinner Jason and I played again... until he won... it took three times :)

Here are the pictures of my two victories (I'm red and Jason's blue):




And here is Jason's conquest: