Christmas Letter 2013

I finally wrote my Christmas Letter today so I thought I would share it here as well. Obviously if you read my blog you probably know just about everything that's in the letter but I thought you might still enjoy it :)

Merry Christmas dear humans! My mom figured out how smart I was so she made me write the letter this year. I was going to refuse until she promised me homemade dog treats, so obviously my tail said yes. Apparently I’m supposed to tell you what’s going on in our world, so here it is.  

The biggest bit of news is my dad (you humans call him Seth) finally moved home in August. Him and my mom went on a second honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean and when they got back he was at home. Thank goodness because Mom and I spent the beginning of the year seeing him only every other weekend when he made the long drive home from Texas. Before he moved home though my mom got to go to down to Texas for a long weekend in April to check out the big job he was building. She tells me it’s pretty awesome and that she’s not quite sure how he figured out how to build the job, but that he must be pretty smart. (Obviously he’s not smart enough to keep his shoes put away so I don’t chew on them though.) Anyway, dad’s in the Topeka office now being a Project Manager. He still travels a couple days a month but most nights he comes home to rub my belly, so I’m glad for the change. My mom must be glad too because she keeps making dinner. She must be wanting to keep him around or something. 

My mom spent most of the year working for the printing company she worked for last year. In November she was laid off though. It kinda came as a surprise, but I must say that I don’t mind, because now she hangs out with me everyday while looking for jobs. She has also kept pretty busy as a part time photographer when she’s not taking pictures of me, instagramming her food, or blogging. In November she got the chance to go to Indianapolis to the the National Catholic Youth Conference as a chaperone, since she volunteers with the high school youth group at church. She said it was awesome and that it was incredible to see so many young people there celebrating their faith.  

Since I’m sure you are all wondering, no she’s not pregnant with humans or puppies or anything else so you can quit asking. My mom and dad know God has a plan for them and until he decides to bless them with children, I’m the one getting the attention around here (as it should be).  

In other news, my dad has pretty much completed the giant shop and has been building workbenches, a house for me, and he even installed the wood stove last weekend. Now it’s nice and cozy. My mom spent the summer gardening and making fresh salsa, canning spaghetti sauce and trying out new recipes. Most of which have been approved by dad, all have been approved by me. They celebrated 2 years of marriage in October and feel blessed to finally live under the same roof.  

Okay, enough about them. I turned 1 in April and my parents didn’t even throw a party for me. To show them I wasn’t happy about it, I ate the neighbors UPS deliveries. Luckily the neighbors seem to like me so they weren’t really mad. I got lost in October when I was hanging out with another neighbor and got locked in their shed. My mom and dad came to search for me though and managed to find me at about 11pm! Thank goodness the neighbors were nice and weren’t too mad about being woken up to rescue me. I continue to live a pretty good life out here in the country. I dig lots of holes trying to catch moles, I bark at birds and the mail lady likes to give me treats. Speaking of treats, it’s about time for me to go get those homemade treats my mom promised. So, see ya later humans. Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Happy New Year!
 

                                                          Gunnar Johnson
(Seth and Julie)

This is actually last years photo because we still haven't taken one.
Story of my life. 

Walking Disasters - the story of us

Well, I guess it's about time I end my pity party and get back into the swing of things. Before I catch the ole' blog up on the happenings over the last month I thought I would share a short story.

I like to call this one "we are walking disasters".

Somehow over the weekend Seth managed to lose his wallet. The last place we know he had it was at the gas station on Saturday night. We filled up with fuel and left and he didn't realize he was missing it until Monday morning when he got up to go to work. Since I'm still unemployed I spent the majority of my day (after an interview) on a hunt for a long lost wallet. I scoured every corner of the house, yard, shop, Seth's truck and the side of the road from our house into town and at the gas station. I called the police station to see if it had been turned in. Nothing. Plus no charges on our credit cards so we are assuming it's really lost and not found by someone else.

Tuesday, Seth left work early to come home and look a little more before we went to the bank and DMV to get new credit cards and him a new drivers license. He was supposed to go out of town this morning (that changed) so he figured he would need those things. Somehow in one of our many stops at the gas station, post office, police station, the in-laws (for his birth certificate), the bank, and dmv, I managed to lose the keys to my car (Seth was driving which is why I didn't notice until we were home).

This is the part where you figure out why I refer to us as "walking disasters." I mean seriously, who loses their keys when searching for their wallet. Me apparently.

So, this morning I woke up and called the post office. Nope, they don't have my keys. Since they obviously took zero time to look for them I figured I better head into town to retrace our steps and see if I can find them. I stopped into the post office where I thought I saw them on a counter until realizing that some lady had just set her keys down and they weren't mine. Bummer. Next I headed to the gas station I have visited the last 3 days looking for the wallet. Frank, the owner asked me "find the wallet?" I embarrassingly had to admit no and now I've lost my keys. I'm sure he thinks we are two fries short of supersized but he said, "are they Honda keys?" This is when the skies opened up and the angels sang "hallelujah, hallelujah" and I told him yes! And that's where I found my lost keys.

It's been a good day. Now, if only we can find the dang wallet.

7 QT {21} - I lost my job

Well, it's been quite a week. One I wasn't expecting at all. For the sake of linking up at Conversion Diary I guess I will give you the 7 Quick Takes version.

1. After months of communicating via our blogs, emails and text messages I finally got to meet a blog friend in real life, on Saturday. Her name's Kala and she blogs over at My Breezy Room. My mom and I met up with her at First Fridays in the West Bottoms in her adorable furniture booth at Bella Patina. I think we managed to make it through without any awkwardness and I think we both hope to go on another blate (blog date) soon. I realize I'm not giving our first blate the attention it deserves but check out Kala's blog and she will give you a great rundown of meeting and discovery that neither of us was a serial killer. It's a good read, I promise!

Check out her booth at First Fridays! It's awesome:)

And on to the more depressing...

2. Monday rolled around and I headed into work feeling well rested because of the time change. I walked in and my boss immediately called me into his office. Obviously that was weird but I just shut the door and sat down. He then proceeded to tell me "where gonna have to let you go, we just don't have enough work to keep you busy". At that point I just sat and stared at him with what I'm sure was a look of shock and disbelief. It honestly was one of those out of body experiences where it's like you're looking down on what's happening but the voices are muffled because I have almost know idea of what he said after the first sentence. Something about healthcare and all that jazz but I didn't really catch it. 

Once he finished talking he asked if I had any questions and so I just asked if it was only because they didn't have enough work that I was being let go and he asked if I would disagree. I guess I was extra surprised because I have been nothing but busy the last month. Our business really picks up before the holidays and I thought we were doing well. I guess I thought wrong. 

3. I never thought I would be 27 years old with a college degree and filing for unemployment.

4. The past couple days I've spent hours at my computer searching and applying for jobs. Some seem okay and some sound dreadful. At this point, I don't know that I even want to go back to work in an office environment. I honestly feel pretty lost and not sure which direction to look. Thankfully I have a husband who has been amazingly supportive and encouraging. 

5. I guess it's times like these I'm thankful I have Faith that God has a plan for me even though I have no idea what that plan is. My Grandma (the one that freezes everything) always says if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans. I guess he's laughing now. Maybe this is his way of telling me that he has plans for me and he will help me when the time comes. For now, I'm waiting, praying and applying. 

6. I've officially been a desperate housewife all week. 

7. If anyone in the NE Kansas area has a job opening that I might qualify for feel free to let me know :) For now, I guess I'm a full-time blogger and housewife. 

7 Quick Takes {20}

1. I have a new neice! This is my brother-in-laws little girl and she was born on Tuesday. Her name is Journey Rose and as you can see is super adorable. I can't wait to meet her in real life!

Isn't she a doll?!

2. This weekend I have another photo session. The leaves are gorgeous around here right now and I'm so glad people are wanting to do photos with all the fall colors. If you're in the area and needing photos done let me know:) 

3. I'm considering reopening my Etsy shop with different printables but I think I need to do quite a bit of work before it's ready. I'm also not sure if I have the time to get it ready. Priorities I guess. Does anyone that reads this thing have an Etsy shop? Do you like it? Do you have any suggestions for me to make mine successful?

4. Even though this week has been really busy at both work and home, I kinda like it. I feel like I am way more productive on everything in general. Maybe I should add some more to my list. 

5. So, I'm pretty sure I'm going to meet my blog friend in real life this weekend and I'm pretty excited about it. While texting the other day we both wondered how exactly is meeting a blog friend supposed to work...

Like omg.
I have no idea why I said like so many times because I definitely don't talk like that. 

6. Apparently I'm getting old because my Facebook feed is no longer filled with scantily clad college girls (scantily clad?? I really am old) and instead was filled with hundreds (literally) of  photos of small children and babies. Looks like a ninja turtle and super hero were among the favorite outfits for the year. Being the old person that I am I spent my evening at the gym, followed, by two 50 cent Sonic corndogs (good thing I worked out) and then my couch catching up on DVR. And, thank goodness Erin posted a photo of her Halloween outfit to remind me that I still needed to catch up on my next Netflix episode of Breaking Bad. 

7. When do the black friday ads come out?!! I've been stalking all the websites that post the ads early but I haven't found many yet and I'm getting impatient! Black Friday is this month and I can't wait. It's seriously one of my favorite days of the year. 

Sidenote: Is it weird that I got engaged on Black Friday 3 years ago? I remember sitting at lunch with my mom and her BFF Karen (hi Karen!) and we discussed when Seth and might get engaged....I secretly wondered if it might be that night but didn't really know. Surprise! 

Okay, that's all for today but it got me thinking that maybe I'll post the next part of our story soon. 

Happy Fall Friday!

Linking up over at Conversion Diary.

The Best Gift I Ever Got

I know most of you are probably thinking that my engagement/wedding ring was my favorite gift, right?! Wrong. Though, that would be a close second. 

Love this ring!

The best gift I ever got, was from my husband, and it was lasik eye surgery. Those of you cursed with bad eyes can probably relate to this, while I'm sure those of you blessed with perfect vision would disagree and think I'm a dum-dum. 

I was gonna post a photo of my eye but that just seemed a little creepy...it is Halloween though....

Just think about it though, imagine waking up every morning and having to put on glasses so that you can see the alarm clock that is a foot away from your head. Or when you don't have your contacts in while showering and you're wondering if that's a fake mouse or a real mouse, but you're practically blind, so you jump out of the shower to put your glasses on to check (it was fake by the way, my family is HILL-ARIOUS). How about when you rub your sleepy eyes a little too much and that damn contact rips or falls straight out of your head. Maybe you enjoy getting up in the morning and having your eyes feel like they're on fire when you shove that little piece of contact plastic onto them. Or when you're crying like a baby and your tears form a barrier between your eyes and the contact and you are convinced that you might actually be going blind. How about all those times you want to jump into a pool or the ocean but can't because you didn't bring extra contacts if you happen to lose one? So instead you float around with your head above water, screeching at anyone that tries to splash you. 

Get the picture? 

Anyways, last year (2012), Seth surprised me by emailing me an appointment confirmation for lasik eye surgery on my birthday and I got the surgery done last October. That's right, one year ago, I went under the laser for about 10 minutes or so. Before I left the doctors my vision was already better and only a couple hours later we sat at home and watched a movie and I could actually see! Amazing! Every morning I would wake up and reach for my glasses, and get excited when I realized they were no longer setting there, because I didn't need them. 

Today I go for my one year checkup to make sure everything is going well (which I can already tell it is) and I celebrate a little more my gift of sight. 

So, thank you to my sweet husband, who gave me the gift I have wanted since 6th grade, when I donned my first pair of nerd glasses. And thank you for my gorgeous rings which I also love dearly but would have been willing to trade for new eyes as long as it meant I got to keep you too:) (P.S. Don't be jealous that my vision is better than yours now:)

Enjoy your vision people, it's amazing!

I little late to the party

It's Wednesday already?! Can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Bad, because I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to notice, but good because it's hump day again!

Here's a few quick notes to catch you up since last friday....

Friday we bought a new washer dryer. So far I love it:)

Saturday I helped my mom unpack more while Seth hunted and then we finally got to go out for our anniversary (better late than never right?). We celebrated at The Melting Pot which I thought was pretty good, but if you follow my Instagram you might have noticed Seth wasn't a fan. AND if you follow Seth's IG you may have seen the hashtag "shitty". I believe the words "never again" may have been uttered more than once. Let's just say he's more of a steak and potatoes kinda guy. 

Guess I should have known when he said "what's fondue?!"

Sunday was your average Sunday. A little cleaning and a lot of lazy. Followed by a Senior photo shoot while Seth went hunting again. 

Monday evening after work I traveled all over the little town of Lawrence with my mom looking for lamps, mirrors, clocks and rugs for her new house. After approximately 8 stops in two hours we managed to leave Hobby Lobby with two lamps. Not sure that I would call that a "win" but I think we are going towards KC on Saturday so hopefully we will have better luck there. 

Tuesday, after spending all day at work and wanting to jump out the window, which would be hard to do since I work in a windowless room (torture), I decided to skip my workout and head home. I feel like I'm way behind on everything around the house and needed to finish editing photos anyway. It was a crappy day so I splurged and had a Pepsi. I'm obviously rationalizing my cheat with the fact that some people have a beer or a glass of wine to unwind after a #shitty day. I just have a Pepsi:)

Here's hoping things go a little better today and I can cross more off my mile long to-do list!

Happy Hump Day!

7 Quick Takes {19}

1. I can't stop reading anything and everything associated with the JonBenet Ramsey case and the documents they released today. Reading all the comments is like a game of Clue with all the cards lost so nobody knows the real truth. Everybody's got an opinion about whodunnit and for some reason I'm fascinated by it. 

2. Seth's going deer hunting Saturday morning so he was practicing with his bow last night when he "Robin Hooded" an arrow. I'd say he shouldn't have much trouble hitting the dear if he can hit an arrow. 

3. My mom informed me this morning that Dillons (Kroger), one of my favorite grocery stores, is no longer doubling coupons. To say I'm devastated is an understatement. To all the important Dillons people that are reading my blog right now I say THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA. I mostly only shop two places, Dillons and Wal-Mart. I buy all my Dillons sale items at Dillons so that my coupons are doubled and everything else I buy at Wal-Mart and price match. Now I might as well just go to Wal-Mart and price match my Dillons sale items as well. Not Cool!

4. Does anyone out there watch the show Nashville? I'm sorta obsessed with it at the moment and hoping that their's someone out there that loves it too. 

5. Our washer decided to die Wednesday night and I've been scouring the interwebs looking for a new one. So far I'm not impressed. Any recommendations for something that is simple and reliable would be much appreciated. I think I would prefer a top loader and something not terribly expensive. I could care less about all the fancy steamers and automatic ironing settings. 

6. I'm ready to decorate for Christmas and I'm considering ordering some Christmas presents this week. I just love the holidays! Bring on the Christmas music:)

7. Here's hoping that Seth has something in mind for dinner because I'm hungry. Shocker. 

Happy Weekend!

Linking up with Conversion Diary.