Back to normal...

Well, my parents and grammie left about half an hour ago. This is the longest they've ever stayed with us, and it really went by fast! We had a lot of fun, and a lot of quality time together. Since I'm starting work next week and a new semester in two weeks I'm not sure when I'll get to see them again. Maybe not until May or later in the summer. My dad has a Vietnam Veterans reunion in Indiana in September, so they're thinking that they'll drive up to see us after that. But hopefully we'll see them before then. Nine months is a long time to go without seeing your parents.

Even though I'm sad that they've left, I am happy to get my house cleaned. Not that it was very dirty while they were here. My mom was a big help with washing the dishes (we don't have a dishwasher) and doing laundry! But, I enjoy the clean-up part, so I'm looking forward to getting it done.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great day with family or friends! We were busy and had a nice time with John's family.

This is a picture of Mom opening a gift from my grammie and my sister...it was a charm for her bracelet from James Avery, and since she knows what kind of boxes they come in, I wrapped it inside of another box.


Dad and John received neck/face warmers and my Dad was wearing it as a hat...



Mom reading Grammie her Christmas cards...

This is to show that the sun was up and we had not even started opening our gifts or stockings...as a child my family was known for opening everything and eating breakfast before the sun would rise. I guess as you grow older, these things change.

Growing up in Texas I never had a white Christmas, and since I've lived in Michigan I've been able to experience them. My Texas Christmases are not over even though I've moved so far away, but who knows, next year could find us there for the holidays.

Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy the rest of the year!

First basement party...

Now that our basement is finished, we wanted to have the family over to see the results and to also celebrate my grandmother's 93rd birthday! I can only hope to live as long as she has...

The men in the house hanging out before everyone arrives...hubby, Waldo and Dad



Me and Grammie with the gift we bought her. A photo mug from Snapfish with pictures of us on it...




Grammie with the cake that I made her...she enjoyed it!

Me, Mom, and Grammie...

A random pic of everyone...

So, since my parents and grandmother arrived a few days ago we've stayed busy, but have enjoyed some relaxing days before Christmas Eve and Christmas. We're all done Christmas shopping and can really enjoy this time together. I think we plan on doing some baking before Christmas, but other than that it should be a stress-free week.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

everywhere you go!!!

Snow storm, December 19, 2008!

No grilling for us for a while...


It's hard to tell where our yard ends and the street begins...



Snow drift on the back patio...

Hot tub, hot no more...

Welcome to our snow covered porch...

Just waiting for the next one to hit...should be any day now.

Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and WARM!!!

I've been tagged...

Ok, I was tagged by my cousin Lori to post the 4th picture in my 4th file for my digital photos...Luckily it wasn't anything embarrassing! This pic was taken July/August 2007 of Misty (tan) and Waldo (black) at our place in Vermont.

I'm tagging: Jill and kccat!

My Mini-Project

Apparently these pictures don't post in the order that I pick them. oh well...

I posted a few days ago about not knowing what to do with my extra time (especially since my internship start date was pushed to the beginning of the year)...well, my solution to this was to re-paint my bathroom. I thought it'd only take a day...small bathroom, small amount of work...I was wrong. With all of the other stuff to do that I didn't think of, it took my 3 days. Not 3 full days, but still 3 days. So, here is the finished product, and the before/during.

We replaced the mirror that was hanging before, but when I took this pic, it hadn't been hung yet.

The Handyman's Work

After much anticipation, the basement is finally finished! We started the construction last year around Christmas time, and then took a long break from it all to enjoy the summer. There are still a few things left to do, but for the most part it is done!!!

Above is the "bedroom" where my parents will be staying during their visit. We have a 3rd bedroom upstairs, but it is currently being used as my office.

This is the before shot taken last year sometime. I can't even believe this is the same space.

This is the full-bath in the basement. Since this is supposed to be a "man cave" I was instructed that no girly pictures could be displayed in the basement. So, the picture next to the mirror was taken about 10 years ago or so, and it's of my dad and my uncle Pete, pretending to be sleeping with their hands in their pants. We were in San Antonio for Thanksgiving spending time with our cousins from Amarillo, and apparently got pretty goofy and I took this pic.

Looking towards the other end of the basement...stairs to the main floor, bathroom, and wet bar. The counter top for the bar was made out of poured concrete, and stained a nice brown color. We (by "we", I mean my husband) plan on building cabinets to put above the bar to display barware and such.

This is looking to the other end...hubby made the entertainment center (built in, to hide our sump pump...or whatever pump it is).

It is so nice being married to a handy man, he has done such a great job with all of the updates we've done to our home! No more projects planned at the moment...time to enjoy this one for a while!

Goodbye Fall 2008...

Fall semester of 2008 is finally over!!! Funny thing is, is when I look back to the beginning it doesn't seem that long ago. And now that I have a few days off before I start my new job I have no IDEA what to do with myself. I mean there's always cleaning, getting ready for my parents, holiday baking, and putting outside Christmas lights on the house in 17 degree weather...but nothing really strikes my fancy at the moment. I just don't know what to do with my time when I don't have a class to go to or prepare for. How sad is that?! What on earth will I do once I graduate (which happens to be a year away!!!)?

More Winter Madness...

This is today's sunrise, after our day and a half winter snow storm. I had to drive home in it last night, which wasn't much fun, but luckily there weren't too many other people on the road. It's going to be such a beautiful day!!!

Winter is here...

Morning classes were cancelled today! YAY! As of right now, though, I'll still need to go to my 12:30 class...but there's hope that it could be cancelled as well! Oh classes were cancelled due to the winter storm we are having right now. It's been snowing since yesterday afternoon and is supposed to continue until this afternoon sometime...total inches of snow expected could be close to 10! So, as I said before...Winter is here!

While it's beautiful to look at, not so much fun to drive in...Have a safe day everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving weekend has been really great and productive! John has been working hard in the basement (I have been helping, but he's done most of the work), I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping, and I've decorated the house for Christmas. I'm so excited that I'm so close to being done with getting ready for Christmas, so now I can enjoy the rest of the season, and spend time with family and friends!

I also want to post a "before" picture of our basement. In the last year it has transformed from dark, ugly dungeon, to what could be considered a studio apartment. We don't have the basement completely set up yet, so I'll wait to post the "after" picture.

I hope everyone is enjoying this time with their family and friends. I'm very thankful that I have such a wonderful family, and that John has a wonderful family as well. We are truly blessed!

For Toni...

Last night was the second annual benefit for the Toni & Trish House, and it went GREAT!!! There were more people there last night than there were last year, which is great, because it shows we're reaching the community and people are hearing about the organization, and that they support the cause.

*side note* For those of you who don't know, the Toni & Trish House is a hospice home for the care of the terminally ill. The Toni part is in memory of my husband's late mother (she passed away tragically in a car accident 12 years ago) (Toni was short for Antoinette). She was an RN who dedicated her time to hospice care. After her death, my husband's family tried to get a hospice house started in her name, but weren't able to get enough support. Ten years later, a man who lost his mother (Trish) to cancer also had a vision to open a hospice home in memory of his mother. The two families collaborated their thoughts and dreams, and came up with the Toni & Trish House. The house opened it's doors in February 2008.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the event last night because we were so busy with the silent auction, raffle tickets, and the occasional polka dance.

The link posted below is to the website for the Toni & Trish House.
http://toniandtrishhouse.org/

Catching up...

Well, it's been a little while since I've posted, let me catch you up.

John was out of town on a hunting trip last week and he shot an 8-point buck with his bow and arrow. It was last Monday morning, and the first day of hunting with the guys, so he was pretty excited about that!

While he was gone, I did some rearranging of furniture in our house. That's what he gets for leaving me for a week to go hunting! In our office, we had a queen sized bed and my desk, so it was really cramped in here. We were planning on moving the bed into the basement anyway, but I couldn't take it anymore and moved it myself. Yes, I'm probably a little crazy for doing it myself, but I do have experience in this area. When I was a kid I used to rearrange my bedroom furniture all the time, even a set of oak bunk beds. So, I knew what I was doing.

I have just 4 weeks of classes left, which is awesome! Then I start my internship a week later, which is exciting too, but I'm a little nervous about it. I'm required to dress in professional business attire, so before I start I need to fill my wardrobe with suits. Suits aren't that comfortable, but there's no other choice.

That's it for now. Pretty boring stuff...

It's a YES!!!

Ahhh, the moment you've all been waiting for...I GOT THE INTERNSHIP!!! Not the first one I interviewed for (still haven't heard back from them), but the second one that's 10 minutes from my house!!! I start December 16 and finish in April sometime or early May, 40 hours per week, plus it's PAID, and they'll work with my school schedule although I only plan on taking one course at night next semester. Not to mention if they like me, and I like them after this is all done, I'll most likely be able to work there once I've graduated! I'm so excited and nervous all at the same time! I'll mainly be working with another lady in the office doing audits, so most of my time will be spent away from the office, but when I am in the office they'll have me doing tax returns. How scary is that?!

Life in general...

I haven't had a whole lot to report lately, but here's an update on what we've been up to.

I haven't heard anything back from any of the jobs I interviewed with. I plan on contacting the person who interviewed me later this week to see if they've made a decision. We're just over half way done with the semester. Seven weeks from tomorrow will be my last exam day. I'm not counting, though. :) I've been itching lately to do some re-decorating in my home, but waiting on the hubby to finish some of his projects so that I can move forward with mine. I know my sister doesn't think I have a life outside of school and housework, and thinks a pony would liven up my life, but she should know that her ponies are not welcome here, and that I am very much a busy person, which is why I look forward to the times I can just hang at my CLEAN house and not have anything to do. Anyway...

John doesn't have much going on right now, either. He went hunting a couple of times last week, but only saw a few deer, and didn't take any shots. In a couple of weeks he is going to Ohio for a guys hunting trip (obviously not a girls' hunting trip) for a long weekend, and I know he's very excited about that. He's starting to work in the basement again, and when it's completely done we'll have a full bath down there, a wet bar...basically more gathering space for when we have friends and family over. We have a smaller home, so it will be nice to have that extra space for when we entertain.

We don't have children of our own right now, but we do have two very spoiled cocker spaniels, Misty and Waldo (although we usually call him "Wallie" now, unless of course he's in trouble). Waldo is a really funny dog, with quite the personality. When we're in the living room watching t.v. and another dog or animal comes on, he runs to the t.v. and starts whining and barking, like the thing is in our house. It is so darn cute! Before we bought him, one of his best friends was a beagle. Apparently the beagle taught him how to howl, so when he gets excited, or very hungry, he begins howling at the sky like a beagle. Incredibly funny, I should try to get it on video sometime. Then tonight I realized that he must have had some yoga training in the past. Like all dogs do, they stretch when getting up from laying down or sleeping. Tonight I watched him do this and he put his front paws out, like in the child pose with his butt in the air, and then in one swift motion he pushes his body forward (with all four paws still in place) and stretches out his back legs. I guess instead of calling him "Wallie", we should have been calling him "Yogi"!

The picture attached is of the field behind my father in law's house. The fall colors were absolutely beautiful! I'm glad I took the picture, because it won't last much longer. I checked the 10-day forecast for our area, and they're calling for rain/snow showers next Monday. Are you kidding me?! It's not even Halloween yet! I know, of course, that the snow won't stay, but still...it's just too early to be dealing with this. Ugh, I guess that's life in Michigan...

The daily life of J&M

Well, I wish I had something really exciting to report, but unfortunately I don't at the moment. I noticed I hadn't posted anything in a week, so I thought that I should.

John is out hunting again this morning. Last Sunday he did hit a deer, but didn't kill it. That we know of. He came home shortly after he shot it so that I could help him find it. Now most of you should know that I have no experience in tracking deer. But for 2 1/2 hours I tracked, and was actually better at spotting the tracks than him. However, the deer was never found. Can't say that I was disappointed. I wasn't really looking forward to finding a dead deer on the ground, or worse, an angry deer ready to fight!

This week was pretty much the same for me...homework, school, housework...BUT I did get an interview with an accounting firm in the town I live in. The firm seems like a great place for me to work and get experience. And when I graduate I'd love to get a permanent job there. It's only 10 minutes from my house, which means that I'd be saving in gas each week, and in the winter it won't be such a big deal if there's a huge snow storm. So, that was my excitement for the week. I should hear back from them by this Friday, so hopefully it will be a YES!

This weekend we've had a lot of fun, too. Friday was spent going out to dinner with our friends who just got married. What an exciting time for them?! They're doing great and I hope to see more of them now that they're both in the area. Yesterday I walked with "Making Stride Against Breast Cancer". It was great to see so many people there. Some survivors, some still battling, and the rest there for support. My sister in laws mom was just diagnosed in August, so I was there with my sister in law, niece and a cousin in law walking for my SIL's mom.

Last night we had John's brothers and their families over, plus his dad and wife. It's always so nice when we can get together and just hang out. John spent the afternoon clearing out the dead branches under our big pine trees, so we used the branches to make a bonfire in our backyard. Nobody sat around the fire, of course, because it was so big. Oh well, it was pretty to look at anyway.

Christmas is coming...

Two posts in one day?! Something must be wrong. Actually it's 3 posts in one day if you count my other blog, but nothing's wrong...

Part of my motivation for organizing the closets yesterday was because my parents and grandmother will be coming again this year for Christmas. So, in preparation for their arrival (in two and a half months) I knew I needed to create closet space. For those of you who have never been to my house we have 3 bedrooms (one is being used as my office), and they all have small closets. At least smaller than I'm used to. So, all of my clothes are in the guest room closets, making it hard for guests to hang their clothes, which is why I needed to create more space. One day I'll have a walk-in closet again, but until then I'll have to make due with this space.

Ok, now that I've bored you with my desire to organize, I can move on to other subjects.

John is out bow-hunting this morning, just as he did yesterday morning. Yesterday he didn't see anything, but hopefully today will be a different story.

I have school work to attend to which won't be much fun, but it has to be done. Now that the leaves are starting to change, and the cooler temps are sticking around I'm really getting excited for the holidays. It's my favorite time of year.

The photos attached are of yesterday mornings sunrise in my backyard and our Christmas tree last year.

Have a great day everyone!

Martha Stewart would be proud...

So, since I've been so busy with school this year, there hasn't been a lot of time for cleaning or organizing the house. I have a little bit of down time right now, so yesterday was my day to do whatever I wanted. Don't judge me, but on my "me" day I reorganized the office closet and also the cabinets in the laundry room. I know, not the most exciting activity, but it really needed to be done and I'm so glad that I did.

So, now that I've organized the closets, I see that I have a ton of pictures to organize, so my next project is to get those pictures in frames or albums. Ah, it's a vicious cycle, but I'm looking forward to it!

First blog, second blog profile...

Well, I thought I'd start another blog to talk about daily life in the W household. Should be much more interesting than the other blog I started.

Just a recap on our lives right now...

John is busy at work (at usual) working on bids in NY, and traveling there every other week. He's very excited about deer hunting this season, and has been practing in the yard with his bow and fake deer.

I have been very busy with school...fall semester started a month ago and it has flown by. I've also been looking for an internship for the upcoming tax season, and had my first interview yesterday. The interview went great and I could really see myself working for the company.

Misty and Waldo also have very busy schedules. It's hard to find time to do anything else with them with all of the eating, playing, and napping that they do. Such a hard life that they live!

Fall has officially started with the colors changing, and the colder temps...it's in the high 30's this morning. It's too early to start feeling these temps!

That's it for now!