Scrapbooking Software!

For Christmas I asked for scrapbooking software, and Santa brought it to me! I have been playing around with it today, and it is SO fun!!!!! I love it!!! I think it is SO much easier than traditional scrapbooking. Here are a few of what I have done so far.

Today!

So today Donnie and I made the big trip back home. I think both of us were VERY ready to go back to the big city. The drive was long (about 8 hours) but we made it in one piece. I was very happy to see my bed and my shower! I missed both of those things dearly. I have no pictures from today. :-(

Day 5

Today was a funny funny day. Donnie needed to get some new tires on his car, so we drove to the town of Mud Fork. I think that is the funniest name of a town ever! Like I have said before, I'm a big city northern girl. I have learned that people from the north do things a lot faster than the people of Mud Fork. I went into the auto shop office to ask the lady if there was a bathroom. The lady answered me, but her accent was so thick that I had NO idea what she said. So I just walked out of the office.

The day got even odder when we took Donnie's dad to get his hair cut. The barber also owned a roster farm that was behind the barber shop. Me being the big city girl that I am had never seen a roster farm before. It was HUGE, with TONS of rosters. Here are some pictures.

By the end of this day I was ready to get back to the big city.

Day 4

Today we went to the great town of Wal-Mart. My father in law had to get some medications filled so we drove 30 mins to Wal-Mart. This is the funniest thing to see, there is NOTHING around but mountains, trees and a freeway. Then out of no where popes this huge Wal-Mart dug into the side of a mountain. I swear its bigger than most towns around there!

I'm a HUGE lover of animals, and my father in law has two outdoor cats. So I think the highlight of this day was playing with Twinkle, a kitten that was just recently added to the family.

Donnie and his dad today had the task of breaking up a large rock that was blocking his drainage ditch. I thought I would give it a try also. Needless to say I was not very good at this task. I'm much better at petting cats.

Day 3

The day after Christmas we left my grandma's house, and headed for Donnie's dad's house in Harts West Virginia. It was only about a 4 hour drive but it felt like we spent most of the day in the car! FYI Harts is a VERY small mountain community. Donnie guesses the population to be around 200-300. Needless to say a big city girl like myself has a hard time blending in here.

We stopped at the great Welcome Center for a bathroom break.

This night, Donnie's dad got out his guitar and performed for us. This was great fun.

Christmas Day - Day 2

Christmas morning we woke up to a great number of presents under the tree. (yes, Santa still comes to visit) My mom, dad, grandma, hubby and I all had a great time opening gifts. Many of the gifts that Donnie and I gave this year were from shutterfly. Here are some pictures!

After all the presents were opened we got dressed and headed to my uncles house for lunch and more presents! Every year my Aunt Deb makes a calender for my grandma using pictures of the family taken through the year. This year, somehow, I made the cover! However, she took the picture from my blog when I was sick with the flu over thanksgiving. Too funny.

As a Christmas gift my cousin Sarah was given the new Twister game which is sorta like Dance Dance Revolution. I had a blast playing it with her!

After that we headed over to my dad's side of the family for more food and presents. I'm sorry to report that I have no pictures of this event. :-)

Christmas Eve- Day 1

On Christmas Eve Donnie and I packed up and headed down to my grandma's in London Ohio. Its a pretty tiny town west of Columbus. We would have just rode with my parents, however we were headed to visit Donnie's dad after so we drove separate. Now this was my first time driving to my grandma's house without my parents, and needless to say it was a very odd feeling. Below are some pictures of the highlights of the day.

This is myself at a gas station in Ohio. When my dad drives we NEVER stop at this gas station. I had to tell on Donnie to my mom.

This is Donnie and myself in front of my grandma's Christmas tree before the midnight candle light service at Church. I have been going to this service literally my whole life. It would not be Christmas without it!

My mom and I before church

Every year my family ices sugar cookies to be eaten on Christmas day. However, somehow Donnie and I were the only ones that iced the cookies. Seeing that it was just the two of us we kept it real simple with just two colors.

This sums up day one!

So Much to Post About!!!

My blog got a face lift!!!!! How cool is that?? Susie is the best!!! Yeah!!!

I have much to post about...with many many many pictures. (maybe almost too many pictures) So stay tuned!

Gerbil Christmas Eve

It is a little known fact that tonight is gerbil Christmas Eve. To celebrate this we got Wilber and Timpleton a new cage. (They have other smaller things to open on gerbil Christmas day.) I took pictures of the whole event so no one would miss the fun. FYI Wilber is the older black gerbil Timpleton is the younger cream gerbil.

First Donnie got the new cage put together and attached it to the old cage. The new cage is one the right.

Timpleton, being the brave one, was the first to come into the cage on his own. Wilber would only come over for a second and then go back to the old cage.

Then the night got real good when we popped some gerbil popcorn. The boys love that. Timpleton, being the brave one, started to chow down. However, Wilber was still unsure about the whole new cage idea.

Tomorrow, before we leave for Ohio the boys will be able to open their stockings. Happy Gerbil Christmas Eve to Everyone!

Basket of Love

Today was City Mission's big delivery day. They delivered food baskets to every family in our neighborhood! How cool is that? Seeing that Donnie and I do live in the neighborhood we got a basket also! What a great blessing that is when money is tight! The basket also came with a big old turkey. Seeing that I'm a non meat eater I don't really care about the turkey. However, Donnie was very excited to see meat coming into our house. hahaha

City Mission also passed out clothes and toys for the children in our programs. Yeah for Christmas!

Blessings

Donnie and I have been really trying to watch our money the last few months. We are living on cash only and making sure we give our first fruits to God. This system has been working great for us, and God is really blessing us. I think I could come up with a ton of examples, but I will post the most recent. Today the family I nanny for had a Christmas party. We all exchanged gifts, and the family gave me a VERY generous tip for all my hard work.

Donnie and I were a bit worried about getting all the bills paid when both of us have this coming week off of work without pay. But God is good all the time, and he takes care of his children. Yeah God!

The picture is from our party today. Their mom was also taking a picture at the same time, and that is why they are not looking at the camera.

Our New Nativity

Last Christmas my mom bought me a nativity scene, because I had been wanting one to put in my apartment. Well...it was living at my parents house for almost a year, (mainly because there is NO room for it here) but when Donnie and I were at my parents last weekend we got it, and now its on display. I love it!

Closet Fun!

Does anyone watch "What not to wear?" I for one LOVE this show. However, seeing that we don't have cable here, I only get to see it at my parents house.

I decided that I need to be on this show. But..I don't think this is going to happen any time soon, so I decided to take matters into my own hand. One of the first steps in what not to wear is to get rid of your old clothes. Last night I went through my clothes and pulled evry thing out that I do not wear, or things that I wear all the time, but should not be wearing. This morning I took and dropped these clothes off at the local Salvation Army.

Then it was off to shop! Just like the show...however, on the show they get $5,000. Needless to say we don't have $5,000 to spend on clothes. So I headed to the Old Navy Outlet at the corner of Woodward and 9 mile. I had never been there before, and it is HUGE! Being that I went early in the day, and most people were working it was not very crowded at all.

I ended up getting two pairs of pants and a sweater. All three of these items were on a great sale! I'm on my way to improving what I wear!

Garcia Christmas

Yesterday Donnie and I got the joy of celebrating Christmas with Donnie's adopted parents, the Garcia's. We had a great time visiting and enjoying each others company. Buford (their 60 pound pit bull who thinks he's a lap dog) opened the dog treats, that I made for him, all by him self! I think that was the highlight of the night for everyone!

This is Peggy and myself in front of her tree

This is Donnie getting Buford love. I myself will not let Buford give me kisses. I have been told that a dogs tongue is cleaner than a humans, but I don't buy it. I ask Buford to keep his tongue inside his mouth around me.

Bark-o-Fun

Today my mother and I had a great time making chocolate bark. To make this first we picked out some toppings that we would add to the chocolate. We wanted to use nuts, candy canes, and toffee. So took these things and grounded them into small pieces. Below is a picture of me crushing candy canes with a rolling pin.

Next we melted chocolate (make sure it is baking chocolate) and mixed in the desired topping. Then we spread the mixture on to a wax paper lined baking dish. We tried to make sure that it had an even thickness throughout, but that did not always happen. Then we topped the chocolate with more of the candy that we mixed inside.

After that the baking dish goes in the refrigerator for one hour. Then you can peel the chocolate from the wax paper and cut the chocolate into smaller pieces.

This can be a great creative experiment with different types of chocolate, and different types and combinations of toppings.

Friday Night Fun!

Donnie and I had a great time last night! First we went to East Side Mario's for dinner. (with a coupon of course) After that we drove through the Wayne County Lightfest. For those of you in the area the lightfest is on Merriman south of Warren.

Here is what someone else had to say about the lightfest;

Assembled each year on the banks of the Middle Rouge River, the annual Wayne County Lightfest quickly grew to become the Midwest's largest holiday lighting displays. With more than 1 million lights set up to resemble holiday and wintertime scenes, spread out over more than four miles in the park, the festival is actually pretty impressive for families arriving to take the trip at night. For a mere $5 per car, you'll see the glowing snowmen, animals, greetings and the symbols of the season from the comfort of your vehicle. Mix in some Christmas carols, some tasty treats, and cheer, and the holiday scene is complete. -- Brian C. Louwers

All I can add to that, was that it was really great! And the best part for us was that it was free! The car in front of us paid for us to get in! How cool is that! That was the best part of the whole night. I love Christmas time!

The Oaks Christmas Party

Last night the Oaks Church had a Christmas dinner for all the ladies. We had so much fun! It was nice getting a chance to really talk to great women that I normally only see on Sundays. We also had an ornament exchanged, which turned very competitive. I got to take home a hand painted bird ornament from India. Also all the profits of the ornament go to support free trade! How cool is that?!?!