until I'm done

Its a big week for me at Hobby Lobby...I am training for what will be my new position (surprised anyone? kidding). One of the front end supervisors moved on to a job that will eventually be better for her as she finishes college so there was an opening and the store manager asked me if I would like it. It does mean that I am offically full time as of tomorrow (but yes, it comes with benefits after 90 days) and yes, I will have to close the store more often but I might get some Saturday's off and hopefully get to see Chad at night a little more. My new job basically puts me in charge of all the cashiers at the front of the store and the first in line when someone has a complaint to lodge (woohoo!). This week though I am actually doing little in the way of front end training...it is the week when we go through the ENTIRE home accents department (the whole center department of the store, the largest by far) and take out (a.k.a. "pull" is the official term) any items that have been there 9 months or longer, reprice them at 66% off and move them to another part of the store (where Christmas stuff was) and try to get rid of it. I spent the whole day repricing, moving, reorganizing home accents stuff and thinking that no wonder people didn't buy it, some of this stuff is hideous!! We still have...oh...about 90% of the department to go but hopefully I will get some actual training this week because I am off tomorrow and Thursday is my first offical day as supervisor and frankly I don't have the foggiest idea what I am doing.

Chad is off Thursday and we are a little bummed that we didn't get the same days off. No one wants to stay up late and do stuff when it is their turn to go to work the next day so we probably won't be doing anything late night tomorrow because I will have to go to work and nothing late night tonight because he will have to go to work tomorrow. So much for our New Year's bonfire plans...
Headed to see Chad's grandmother tonight when I get off work (she isn't doing well...hospice has her on serious pain meds) so keep his whole family in your prayers. Knowing it is coming never makes it easier.

and more pictures

My friend Danielle finally posted about her Christmas full of lies...enjoy the camera my friend.
I am still working on Photoshop so here are some more unedited, in their full glory, pictures from our Christmas week extravaganza...

Crazy uncle Jay and Gwendolen wearing their Christmas finest

Megan, my fabulous sister-in-law (who might live with us next year
and yes, I would be super excited)

The stockings at my parents house. Mom had to make new stockings for the family additions.

Left to right:Gwendolen (Noah's ark fabric), my sister's (My Mema cross stitched ours back in the day), Frannie's, mom's, dad's, mine, then Chad's on the end.

Fun Times!

My cool mom, admiring Christmas gifts

My goofy dad tempting me with faces...I had to take the picture!

for the pictures!

My beautiful sister (who is the head chef at Eddie's Attic in Decatur...check it out!)

At the bottom of our stairs...

the greenery goes all the way up the banister and is tied with satin bows

Candles and metal trees on our window table

Our tree, lit up with our "All things merry and bright" signs

An overbright self portrait...

I will work on this one with photoshop since it is a decent picture

in preparation

To tell the whole story...finally...
So, as you folks know, when Chad bought my new camera on Ebay he bid on two of them and ended up winning both. It wasn't a big deal because we got such a great deal on both of them BUT we didn't need two obviously. We knew we could find someone who wanted the other one so we asked around. My fabulous friend Danielle said she wanted it but we never really worked out the details. I knew I could just take it to her when I went home for Christmas so I wasn't too worried...then one day I got a phone call from her mom (Hi Becky!!) that said she and Dani's dad wanted to just buy it for her for Christmas and didn't want her to know. We came up with this long story about how my camera got broken (bad drop in the woods!) and I wanted to keep the second one until I knew whether or not mine could be fixed (we also came up with this idea that there is a short, rarely noticed part of the Christmas story where the angels hark the birth of our Savior and then kindly excuse lying between December 1st and 25st...for gift giving's sake alone of course!). The rest of the story is that I had to avoid Danielle like the plague for the past two weeks or so...I mean SERIOUSLY...every time she texted or called I had to ignore it and it drove me CRAZY. I was so worried that I would tell her or somehow spoil the secret that I just decided it was best to pretend I didn't have a clue what was going on and that I was just really busy! Also, it meant I couldn't post any pictures with my new camera since it was "broken" (see the things I do for you Dani?!?!) In other words, be prepared for the onslaught folks...
I've been moving all my pictures onto my new portable hard drive (I had about 1,000 pictures from India alone...total about 5 GB of pictures on my computer and now I am freeing up all the space on my laptop, hoping to make it run a little faster). I might be able to get a cheap copy of Photoshop CS3 from a friend so cross your fingers for me...I would be eternally in his debt!
As soon as the camera battery charges and I can get some pictures off, I will commence picture loading immediately...

(just trying new stuff out)

I am trying to figure out how to add links in my posts without putting the whole ugly web address in my text. I think I've got it figured out so without further ado...let's try this thing!
Hm...for a first try...check out my friend Danielle's blog . She is too cute and finally getting to celebrate Christmas with her family today (Saturday). Oh boy do I have a story about her...but that can be tomorrow's post....when all will be revealed.

This is one of my favorite pictures of us...I had just gotten home from India and I drove over to St. Simon's Island with her so she could go to a job interview at a hospital there for a summer job. Ooo..she's awesome.

and then its back to work

I am sitting on the couch, surrounded by (ok, truth, being sat on by Chad and laid upon by Gwendolen) and then Jay (who is minding his manners on the other side, quietly sipping his coffee)...theoretically enjoying a few minutes of....oh, who am I kidding...the dog is driving me crazy and Chad is laying on my right arm so I can't type correctly....oh how I love them.

I have to go back to work today (ugh...gotta work till 10 tonight). I think it is worse after having a few days off but I will be off tomorrow for Sunday too. Hopefully we will get Christmas presents put away today and clean up a bit on Sunday but we plan on just lazing around together today, enjoying our last offical day of freedom before the "Real World" starts again.

I got some cool gifts (besides the camera...long story...we'll see how it turns out) I got the portable hard drive (160 GB...plenty for all my pictures and I already freed up the space on my laptop...from Chad's parents), cute fleece jackets from my sis and Frannie, cute App State shorts from Megan, some tools from Chad's dad (Chad got the cordless drill and I got all the accessories to go with it so he's really stuck with me now!), a beautiful jewelry box from mom and dad, scarf and mittens...and the list goes on. I can not believe how blessed I am and now that I have two families I am twice as blessed. We got back to The Nooga last night and the Irwins and Jay all came over and we ate good pizza and had Irwin family Christmas. It was fun...and nice to just be with them. Chad and I decided that we are leaving the tree up till after New Years. No point in putting the thing up if you aren't gonna get your "goody" out of it, as my mom would say.

Maybe I will be able to post pictures soon...I'll let you know.

because I'll be home for Christmas

Yes, oh yes, I'll be home for Christmas....and not in my dreams!
I can not explain how excited I am to go to Columbus and hang out with friends and family that I haven't seen since October (I know, doesn't seem that bad but to me...its terrible!).
Don't expect a post for a few days and don't expect pictures (long story on the camera that I might tell one day...to upset to talk about it now)...I'll take some with the point and shoot and see how they are...mostly of us all with messed up hair, no makeup, and in our PJ's Christmas morning. Did I mention that my CRAZY sister thinks that you should still get up super-early on Christmas and open presents even though we aren't 8 years old anymore? I haven't told Chad that part yet. It will probably break his little I'm-an-Irwin-we-sleep-in-whenever-we-can heart.
So, Merry Christmas from us our little family to yours. I hope you remember why we are truly celebrating and who's birth we are "harking" into our lives. Enjoy these days...

too bad

Sorry, I will be better about blogging after Christmas. I will post pictures of our photography hike Sunday morning but for now I MUST get some other things done...like the Christmas cards, and cheese straws, and cocoa mix.

Then we got THIS in the mail

Our first Christmas card came in the mail!!
It was from one of my best friends and her husband in Columbus (J&R as they will be known). I was so excited but it made me even more anxious to finish mine and get them out (seeing that Christmas is less than a week away now).
Mom and I got a TON of stuff done yesterday. The big one was a home made fleece sleeping bag liner to keep him warm and snuggly when he (goes crazy) and decides to camp when it is far too cold to do so (and yes, I am sure I will be right there in the tent with him, losing our minds together). We also made little treats for all the guys that Chad works with up at the forestry and took them up there to them...can't tell you what they were because some other people who might read this are getting similiar ones as well so I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise! I did make home made toffee though so I hope no one made themselves sick eating all of it...so rich!
We did some Christmas shopping too, finishing up Uncle Jay's (from me and Chad so no, it is not homemade, I am making exceptions) and Dad B's (again, not homemade because it is a joint gift). We still need to get something for Megan and I need a little something more for Danielle but I already have a plan for that one. Other than that and needing to finish a few projects, I am about done with Christmas stuff. Hopefully I will get to work some at the house on Sunday so I will finish up then.
Oh, did I mention that my fabulous, wonderful boss gave me the day before Christmas AND the day after Christmas off so I can spend more time with my family in Columbus. Can't wait!

because tomorrow I don't hafta..

I don't have to go to work.
I don't have to get up early.
I don't have to make my lunch.
I don't have to blog while eating my cereal.
I don't have to do anything I don't wanna do (except laundry).

I do get to hang out with my mom, one of the coolest women I know.
I do get to do some Christmas shopping (I WILL finish tomorrow...ok, hopefully).
I do get to work on my handmake Christmas gifts with mom and the sewing machine.
I do get to eat good food (maybe Mexican on top of Signal Mtn.)

I might even get to figure out out to get pictures off the new camera onto the computer...now wouldn't that be icing on the cake.

before I go to work

Quick post...boring too. read on if you dare...
work again today. It is the "Christmas party" which means they supply lunch. I'm ok with that because it means I save about 5 minutes packing one in the morning.
Our store manager gets his Christmas present today but he has to do a scavenger hunt to get it and I am one of the clues (they are all people in the store). So, I have a clue and a pack of peanuts in my cash register drawer, waiting for him to figure it out!
Get off at 6 tonight then dinner with Dad B and Mom S and some family friends of theirs...belated wedding congrats I think.
The best part about today is tomorrow.
My mom is coming up to see me and help with some Christmas presents. Bringing her sewing machine to help me make Chad's large gift and then leaving it with me so that I can finish up a few others that I have been wanting to make. I am SO super-duper excited that she is coming that I can barely stand it. I haven't seen my parents in a couple of months (since our reception maybe??) so I am really happy to see her. I might wait in the upstairs window and stare out like Gwendolen, expectantly waiting for someone to show up!
Much love...P

finally post the pictures

Yes, for those of you who have been patiently waiting (and will probably be very disappointed when they see them...sorry!)....here are the pictures of Christmas decor in our little place. here

(Still can't get Picasa to work so no cool captions...and new camera is sitting at the UPS warehouse and I can't get it till Monday so bear with me on the quality).

Our Apple tree

Garland on the stairs with our stocking and mini-presents!

We have two little trees outside the front door and a wreath on the door, all with matching bows (made by me!). Please note the little face looking out the window at me taking pictures.

Our "JOY" stocking holders...Chad, mine, and Gwendolen's. There has been some question what we are going to do when we get another dog...wait, who said anything about another dog? We will NOT be getting another dog. JOY will stay JOY for a quite some time, if you know what I mean. The candles were some I already had and I wanted to be able to use them again so I just tied some red and green embroidery thread around them so I can change the color later!

And finally, the tree! I painted the little signs above the tree...they say "All things merry and bright". There are currently two wrapped presents under the tree, which I did NOT wrap. Jay did them. That is my project for today.

Headed to church and lunch with Dad B and Mom S then we are coming back to get the house ready for our Survivor finale party tonight. Ok, ok, we don't actually watch Survivor on a regular basis but Boss B and Fun-Wife L are coming over tonight to hang out, eat dinner and watch the finale for a fun Sunday night. BUT, that means I need to go to the grocery store and clean up in the kitchen and living room and get those presents wrapped before then!

When I might

I might go Christmas shopping tonight to buy a gift for our Uncle Jay (I am making a handmade exception because it is from Chad and I together so it doesn't really count). Hopefully we can get him exactly what he wants because that always makes people happy.
Or I might just stay home tonight and wallow in my "I don't feel cute today and I had to go to work" misery. Its a toss up. Jess would understand. Chad just doesn't.
And that stupid dog we love so dearly has been barking incessantly (did I mention the FOR DAYS part) for no apparent reason.
I'm going crazy.

Oh a different note...Chad and I both have some opportnities at work that we need your prayers about. Life seems to always come at you fast so pray that we will make the best decisions and do what we feel God is pushing us towards (because I know I can be hard headed sometimes).

Christmas decor pictures to come later....after the wallowing.

Today's the day.

Day off...here's the plan.


Still naked tree. The lights came home with Chad from work yesterday but only one strand was entirely functional so I am keeping the HL ones until I see how many more strands I need. I WILL decorate that tree today. The whole thing. And finish my apple tree (you'll see).

Shopping with M-I-L S. For my Christmas present I think.

Clean up kitchen. It needs it. Bad.

Clean up living room. It needs it. Bad. :)

Chad vaccumed the living room, stairs and our bedroom yesterday when he got home.
He. Is. Wonderful.

Haircut and eyebrow appointment at my new fav salon...its called Salon Haven and I pay too much for a haircut but I really like the girl that cuts my hair and she did EXACTLY what I wanted last time so I am letting her do it again! and yes, finally taking care of those bushy, out-of-control eyebrows (I even have a coupon to get the brows done free with a haircut so I AM saving money!!)

Running errands with Chad when he gets off tonight. It will be so nice to be home when he gets off and be able to hang out with him. Then, only two more days before I get another one off. Happy! Maybe I will be able to post pictures tonight.

I would go as far as to say that this was my most exciting post yet....no, seriously. :)
Posted at 10 am.

Update at 4:30 pm.

I just spent five hours with S. All I have done is the tree. No lie.
And bought one Christmas present I did not intend to buy.
And got my haircut so that is a success...yea for freshly razored bangs!

Not you? Then it must be me.

My Christmas tree is still naked.
I am unhappy about it.
What happened to getting and decorating the tree on Sunday? Life.
That's what happened life.
Oh, and Chad trying to be thrifty.
Now let me be clear, thrifty is perfectly fine. I realize we need to be saving money.
But he wants me return the lights I bought (on sale! at Hobby Lobby! AND used my discount!) and he is supposed to be bringing some home from Boss B and Wife L.
Urgh.
Stupid. Naked. Tree.
I refuse to post pictures until I can post ALL OF THEM.

Ok, done with that for now...

Made Rice Krispy Treats tonight. Oh yes. I am happy. I will take them all week in my lunchbox. and then I will have something to look forward to for hours on my feet.

Chad's mom, S, came to see me at work today and bought some of her Christmas stuff. We didn't have exactly the thing she wanted to she bought it at my store and is switching it out at the store across town for the one she wanted. Oh yes, a city big enough for TWO Hobby Lobby's. Amazing.

My mom is supposed to come see me between now and Christmas to help me with Chad's present but it is looking like we are running out of time. She might just have to help me do it when we go down home for actual Christmas. By the way, for those of you that are interested in seeing me, we will be in Columbus from VERY late night on the 24th to the afternoon of the 26th. I know I am not going to want to come back home but that is all the time I can get off for one holiday so that is what we are doing. Mom talks and muses about the two sides of the being employed coin...either you are unemployed with plenty of time on your hands and no money to do the things you want or you are employed with NO time on your hands to do the things you now have the money to do. Its a sad cycle. I had all this time on my hands to visit people and have them come see me and do fun stuff but had no money. Now, I have NO TIME and a little bit o'money. Oh well....

We paid for my Christmas present this morning and hopefully UPS will deliver it by this weekend so we can use it. I am so incredibly excited. I am going to take the instruction book to work and read it while I am on my lunch break (oh, I am such a nerd.)

My car got a new battery yesterday thanks to my fabulous husband. It wouldn't start a couple of times...something about it not liking the cold weather (ok, really just something about cold crank amps, whatever the heck that means). So, new battery (with more cold crank amps I hear) and all seems to be doing well (of course, wouldn't really know judging by the fact that today was the warmest day in about a month).

Finally, I like my job. I would even go as far to say I love my job (except for the tired feet part...seriously!). Its the people that I get to work with. I really like all of them (ok, with the exception of like ONE person. There is always one person right??) and they seem to genuinely care about each other. BUT, let's be real. HL is not my dream job by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, I would LOVE to keep getting a discount there forever but I am desperate to be doing something that my heart can get a hold of. I know that sounds super vague but selling crafts doesn't feel like my calling, if you can understand that! So, for those of you who might be reading who don't know (ok, I am fooling myself here but I can be hopeful!) me that well...my degree is in Political Science and I have minors in Professional Writing and Criminal Justice. I am super passionate about victim's rights, women and children, orphans, community development, law, etc. If any of you know about someone that might be hiring or need someone just part time, please let me know! I need to be doing something to positively impact the community around me and I just haven't figured out what that thing is quite yet...

Yes, you...

Yep, I was talking about YOU Emily...
(confused folks? Check the comments on the "we won" blog).

but not for long

We got our tree...I am ready to post some wonderful decoration photos so here they are...!


Oh wait, I can't.
Why is that? (oh, I know you MUST be wondering).
The tree is naked. That's right folks, I said naked.
I got bad intell (that's Chad's phrase, he loves to use it at really inappropriate times like when I tell him what we are having for dinner)...about the existence of PLAIN, single strands of white Christmas lights.
We have none. We DO have those crazy net lights (for the lazy outdoor decorator...and yes, we have been reqested to put those on our bushes so we atleast look like we are in the spirit to the neighbors...don't get me started on the stupid, U-G-L-Y neighborhood association required gold/maroon bow again, PUH-lease...).

I guess it is a FABulous thing that I work someplace that has Christmas lights...woohoo for the Hobster Lobster. So, headed to work. To work. oh, and then to buy lights for the tree so we can FINALLY finish decorating and I can post pictures (because we all know, that's the whole reason I decorated!).

Oh, and Chad still hasn't done my eyebrows. You don't want to know what they look like. It is time to take matters into my own hands.
Much love from a hairy girl.

We won!

Chad bid on a Rebel Xti camera on Ebay this morning. Ok, two of them.
He won my Christmas present. Ok, two of them. This camera retails at Canon for like $700 dollars and granted the one(s) he won don't have lenses, but I already have lenses. But, I sorta don't need two cameras. So, if anyone is interested (Emily you get first dibs because I know you are thinking about one and I DID just text you about it), let us know. We will give you a SUPER good deal on it. I mean, one is cool. Two is a little much coolness for one girl.

I am off work tomorrow. Joy, oh joy.
We are going to the last Sunday Market downtown (a really cool mix of artists, farmers, locals, etc). It is the Christmas edition because it is the last I guess but I am going to see if I can pick up a couple of other handmade gifts tomorrow for some gals and guys that I am struggling with. Any suggestions? (I am struggling with Chad's gifts...help people!!).

Getting our Christmas tree tomorrow too...I can-not-wait. I will finally finish decorating so I can post some pictures. (Maybe with my new camera!! Chad said I could use it between now and then and he would just wrap the box....Oh joy, joy again...)

Not too much to say other than that. Headed to bed soon. Long, crazy, buzy day at HL.

decided not to blog.

Was gonna blog.
Tell you about all the exciting things that happened today (like Chad reading my blog for the first time or me being at HL all day again...etc)
But decided to go crawl in bed with that fabulous husband of mine instead.
And sleep dreamy sleep.

because today I...

I am decorating the house for Christmas today...I will show you before pictures and post after pictures when we finally get the tree this Sunday. I am pretty excited. Mostly because I am home by myself and I got to do it however I wanted to! (I can't get my Piscasa to work to edit images so what you see is what you get...)

Our boring living room...before.

The dining room table covered with all the crap, I mean beautiful decorations, that I am putting out.

That's snow on them' thar hills!

A couple of days ago it was really cold and we got a little bit of snow on and off all day. It snowed overnight and the houses on the top of the mountain got a couple of inches. We didn't even get enough to stick to the roof tops but it was nice anyway. Hopefully we might get a little more (even though I do NOT have appropriate snow attire and I do NOT know how to drive in winter conditions!!).

We are going to dinner tonight at this guy's house..Chad's boss Brian...I know he's a cool dude or I wouldn't have put this fabulous picture (that Chad surprised him and took, thank you very much!) on the blog. I really like him and his wife and we have a good time when we hang out with them...its nice to have some friends/people to hang out with even if they are more of mom/dad figures to us. I'm excited...

And I leave you with this....a picture of Chad brushing Gwen's teeth last night. Yes, seriously. But, admittedly it helps her have better breath. And we all know how bad dog breath can be so anything is an improvement.

They are the cutest...

but it's ok

All is well because today is already Tuesday.
And I get Thursday off.
I'm going to do some Christmas decorating and rearranging to make room for Sunday's visit to the tree farm....woohoo!
On the subject...I am doing good with the Christmas presents. I already have Jay's, Dad's is finished, mom and sis' are in the works, I got something small to go with Megan's, Jessica's, and Chad's. Looking forward to a handmade Christmas folks (there will also be good stuff to eat...I got a cookie press on sale at HL!). I have the stuff to make Chad's thing but I am lacking the sewing machine so my sweet mom is going to come up and bring her's and help me out. Even better!
On a scarier note, my Dad is having an epidural this week to try and rid himself of constant back pain. Say a prayer for him when it crosses your mind please! I love you Dad!
Headed to work...maybe more later.