Great day!

We got quite a bit of snow yesterday...made driving home a real treat! Happy though that I made it home in one piece. We heavy slushy snow coming down fast does not make for ideal driving conditions that's for sure!
When I woke up this morning I wasn't sure just how bad it was going to be outside. The forecast varied depending on the weather person. Happily though we didn't get too much...enough but not so much that I wanted to stay indoors. I had a plan to go and look for a vacuum and also price laptops. I was doubtful about getting a laptop because it would be out of my price range. So we headed off to Walmart. I found a vacuum that looked pretty good and would serve us well. Dysons are great I just can't bring myself to spend 400 bucks for a vacuum! We headed over to the electronic dept. I wasn't too hopefully because this was walmart! I was looking at the ones in my price range...nothing very special. There was a guy there with his kids looking too and talking with the sales guy. Another surprise was the salesman really knew his stuff! Not what I would have expected at Walmart. So I noticed there were 3 different models all the same stuff on the inside but different in sizes. There was a dell though that was marked the same price....and was marked down 200 bucks!...a 17" beauty! I started questioning about it. Turns out they didn't have any...naturally! So I asked if other stores had one...nope...could I get it online...nope again :( Finally the sales guy offers to sell me the display for a discount. My ears perked at that...how much of a discount I ask. 30% he says. HELLO that was 180 bucks marked off the sale price! So here I type from my new "toy" all for just a bit over 400 bucks! TOTAL score! 4gb memory, 500gb harddrive, webcamera and office on it! I am in 7th heaven. Jarod is dying for me to move the desktop to his room. I need to have at&t come and move the router though because his outlet isn't hooked up for it. My day...no my weekend has been made! Next is the flooring for the living room. Hopefully I can get just as great of a deal!

I did it....

I finally did it! It's been a long time coming but I finally bought a new desk! Not a used, aka hand me down desk but a new just what I need to do good with desk! I hemmed and hawed about it in the store finding reason why I should hold off. I had other things in my cart. We all know how easy things fall into ones cart at target. I talked myself into going back and putting that big box in my cart! I am so glad I did! I have soo much more room to work now! I have also found another use for my teeny tiny old desk...it's the perfect home for my expression and a few other "tools" that I wanted a work area for. I am trying to get things dialed in. I am getting so excited about having a nice space! Many moons ago I had a scraproom, that was a long time ago. I don't have a designated room for just scrapping/crafting but I am more than happy to make my space in my bedroom. To me this is my retreat I like it in here. I have 2 good size windows that let a good amount of light in. I can't wait to finish getting things in there place and get working ;o)

Cover story

I am trying to tackle the weekly gratitude project. Something to be thankful for every week really isn't a hard thing to do. I have always been a person that finds something to be grateful for because I know there are many of people in the world that have challenges and troubles far worse than my own.

I really love the way my cover turned out. I worked on it last week but didn't get around to taking a photo of it until today. I wanted to do it during the day so I could get some daylight on it. Today is a cloudy overcast day but I think the picture does it justice. I love the colors I chose. Lately I have been really drawn to this combo of colors. Might have to find a way to incorporate these shade maybe in my living room. I have reds, yellows and brown. Why not throw a punch of this pretty blue!

Happy New Year!!!!

Well...the decorations just came down. I have done a bit of after holiday clean up. Gosh my rugs are in bad shape!! I can't wait for refund time so I can look into getting my laminate down like I want too! The house has been REALLY quite today which is AMAZING!! with both boys being home. Both have had there noses buried in their DS to find time to bicker. Jarod is actually about to play FIFA 10 on the Wii (one of his christmas gifts). I am thinking of heading over to Barnes and Nobles to pick up a book I found. Well it's not really a book but more a journal...only you are to follow the prompts and find new creative ways to destroy it. It looks so much fun! I love the concept!
Riley's birthday is in 2 days~!! I can't believe he is going to be seven!! Where does the time go. We are doing just a family party on Sunday and then the big party will be at the end of the month at Pump It Up! He is so excited!

The aftermath...

Christmas has now come and gone. It was one without snow which was a bummer of sorts. However the day itself turned out to be pretty darn good! I am so very blessed! Riley came down with a bug Weds night, poor kid got sick all night long. He couldn't keep anything down. By Christmas eve he was felling much better but still not a 100%. We had to postpone our annual trip to the circle because of weather and illness. We hope to get over there perhaps tomorrow.
The boys awoke Christmas morning around 8:30am. I have to say that is one way they are totally different then me as a child. I would be sooo excited that my sister and I would be bouncing out of bed before the sun came up....usually still in the wee hours of the morning. The rule we had growning up was that we could sneak out and grab our stockings. This would hold us over until the excitement was too much and we would wake our mom up usually around 5-6am! My boys however are not such earlier riser. The were excited to open the gifts and get to it. I found it very sweet that they wanted me to open the first gift. I choose the gift Jarod had picked for me...starbuck coffee! Does my boy know me or what? Both then took turns opening presents. Jarod was excited by all the nerf stuff he got and Riley was thrilled with all his legos! I always find it ironic that we spend so much time preparing for the BIG day only to have it over in a matter of minutes. All in all they were happy with there gifts :)
We headed to the Grandfolks house to start round two of presents. Again they were thrilled with the gifts they got. I know Jarod was ecstatic to get a real bow and arrow set! Riley got an awesome Darth Vader lego ship that I got the privilege to put together. I admit it...I enjoy putting the lego sets together :) I scored big with a great warm pair of slippers that I desperately needed, along with an awesome throw blanket. I will be oh so warm and toasty this winter! A tripod was another great gift. I can't wait to use it and get some great pictures with it.
After a fabulous prime rib roast dinner Grandpa made we spent more time together just relaxing enjoying a great day. Jarod however was acting a bit quite and I noticed he was curled up on the sofa. When I asked if he was ok he told me he wasn't feeling good. Yup...you guessed the bug Riley had, had taken victim number two. I quickly gathered our stuff and got ready to head for home. I knew how sick Riley was and didn't want to expose Grandma and Grandpa to any more of our cooties. Poor Jarod ended up sick like Riley. He even told me later that Grandpa's good cooking doesn't taste as good coming up as it did going down. Poor guy. This stupid bug did change things up a bit on our normal Christmas activites but it was still a great day to just relax and spend time with each other enjoying the holidays.

A little Christmas spirit

 

 

 

 

I just couldn't resist getting Max ready for Christmas too! I wonder if Curtis and Macaroni would be such willing participants?