Sunday, December 30, 2012

Our Christmas Celebrations


We started our celebration with the Miller family (Tami, Todd, Zachary, and Brandon) on Christmas Eve.  We opened gifts, ordered Chinese food, and played the Dancing Egg game.  See Tami's blog, Pretty Purplexing (http://www.prettypurplexing.com/), for more details on the game.  We had so much fun playing the game and I have the bruises to prove it.

Todd & Chad
Zak, Zach & Brandon


Me & Tami
We got Todd & Tami a movie themed gift set.
My gifts from the Millers.














We had a very nice, very quiet Christmas day.  We started with early gift opening...Zak was up at 6:30 this year to start.  He loves his new iPad mini and Beats headphones.




Chad got a new center channel speaker that can mount on the wall beneath the TV and he got a bunch of new clothes.  I know, boring, but that's what he asked for.













I was spoiled with a new camera, Coach purse, foot massager, and a bunch of kitchen gadgets.














We had our traditional baked breakfast (an egg casserole I have been making since Zak's first Christmas) and a Honeybaked Ham for dinner.


Throughout the day we watched FIVE movies!  Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, Batman The Dark Knight Rises, We Bought a Zoo, and Trouble With the Curve.


We hope you all were as blessed as we were and had a wonderful Christmas!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Chad's 44th Birthday Celebration

For Chad's birthday this year we had a modest celebration but it was still very fun.  

We began with Chad opening his gifts at home.





Then we went to dinner at P.F. Chang's.  Todd, Tami, and Brandon Miller joined us.

Todd & Chad
Chad & Zak
Me & Chad
Me & Tami
Zak & Brandon

We finished the night with cake back at home.


Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Den Makeover Complete

Even though there has been several months between my post about starting the den makeover and now, the makeover was completed in early September.

This is actually what it started out looking like:




Cluttered, dingy, and a horrific dark blue carpet!

This is the final result:





It turned out fabulously...if you ask me. Haha!

Life Changes

I have been going through a lot of health problems over the last year and a half and it seems I just can't get myself in a good health condition.  With the surprising support of my amazing husband, I recently made the very life changing decision to resign from my job and take some time to get myself to that good health spot.  One of my goals is to maintain my blog better...I think this will be a good outlet for some social interaction that I will miss from work friends.  So starting today, plan on seeing much more frequent posts from me on my journey to recovery!

With these two by my side, anything is possible!!!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Den Makeover

Last Saturday Chad started tearing up the carpet in our front room (what we call our den) while I was sitting in there watching the olympics...and we wonder where our son gets his impulsiveness from.  So since the carpet was out, we decided we might as well get the painting in there done.  Yesterday, Chad and I finished the ceiling and today I am going to finish the walls (I lose his assistance to work, stupid job messing with my plans).  I can't wait to see the finished product!



Saturday, June 16, 2012

Summer Break Cooking

If you know me well, you know that I LOVE to cook, not only eat. Haha!  Well since I have been working at the school and get a summer break, I like to take advantage of the extra free time I have and try out new recipes.  The first one I tried this week was Italian Stuffed Beef by Fabio Viviani, courtesy of his webshow Chow Ciao! on Yahoo.com.

Before Cooking

Ready to serve!

I served it with a side of spaghetti and garlic bread.
It was cheap and very yummy!!!  Click here to watch the video and try it for yourself.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Creative Gift Giving

Zak and Lauren have been dating for over a year and this is the second time they have dated.  They are very cute together and seem to be a great match, they both even wear mismatched socks!










They have always shared a knack for creative gift giving...whether it's how the package is wrapped (hockey tape and duct tape have both been used) or the actual gift.  A couple of their best have happened recently.

For their one year anniversary Zak got her a Pandora charm and placed it around a large stuffed dog's neck like a charm on a collar.  She made him a graffiti picture featuring their names and the date they started dating and filled in with words from songs.










For Valentine's Day Zak got her a Pandora charm again but this time he put it in an empty spot in a box of chocolates.  She almost threw out the charm, though, because the silly boy didn't make sure she noticed that the tissue paper contained the charm!




She gave him a completely dog themed gift...a stuffed dog that says "sweet nothings", a dog chocolate pop, and this card:


I can't wait to see the next gifts!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

New Furniture

One of our 4-year-old Lazyboy recliner has a broken wing...the left armrest panel has come loose. I contacted and sure enough the part is fully covered under warranty, however the labor is $90.10 per hour and they estimate it will take 2 to 3 hours for repair. So, up to $270 to repair a chair we paid $420 for on sale.

So, long story short, we decided to get new furniture. In the process, we're going to repurpose the "den" into a "family room" with the furniture we're replacing.

Yesterday, we picked out the new furniture for the living room. It will be delivered on the 27th.

Then we will have 2 TV viewing rooms in the house and enough seating to maybe entertain every now and then!

Friday, February 17, 2012

ADD or no ADD

Chad, Zak, and I always tease that I have Adult Attention Deficit Disorder.  The jokes include: shiny things distract me, forgetting where I was going on my way there, not being able to find items I'm holding in my hands.  So the other day I started thinking, "I wonder if I do have ADD," and took a close look at the things I do in a day:

While I am getting ready for the day I am watching a TV show on my iPad.


While I'm driving to work, or anywhere when I'm alone in the car for that matter, I listen to an audiobook.


I take my iPad with me everywhere I go so I always have my Nookbooks to read whenever I have to wait or have an unentertaining moment.


I crochet while I am watching TV to keep my hands busy.


I scrapbook.


I blog.


I post on Facebook.


I post on Google +.


I tweet.


At any given time, I have no less than five projects in progress.

So, what are your thoughts...do you think I have adult ADD?  HAHA!!!