It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Recent picture I took of my cousin's daughter - Savannah

The fire is cracking in the fireplace, the snow is gently falling outside, the presents are wrapped, the cookies are baked and I just boiled the potatoes for Grandma's potato salad.

We're going to have a WHITE CHRISTMAS this year!!

My nieces and nephews - Johnathon, Brittany, Katelyn & Matthew

Well, I need to cut up the rest of the potato salad ingredients and make a cheese ball and then carry everything out in the snow. Shurtz's are gathering at mom & dad's tonight.

I hope everyone in blogland has a Very Merry Christmas!

Thankful for Friends

"We wish you a Merry Christmas" is the song they sang at my back door Saturday night. Two of my grade school friends stopped by with a few house warming gifts and to visit for a while.

I hung the new pot holders on the cabinet already. Love SNOWMEN!
They checked out the progress on the house, we told a few stories and had a few laughs. I didn't think to get the camera out while they were here, not that they'd have let me take their picture anyway.


They also gave me this cute t-shirt! I'm getting ready to put the flannel snowmen sheets in the washer and get them on the bed.
Thanks Deb and Sherry - hope you both have a very Merry Christmas!

Snow, Fireplace and Christmas Decorations

Well it doesn't show signs of stoppin'
and I brought some corn for poppin'
and since we've no place to go (tadada)
Let it Snow
Let it Snow
LET IT SNOW

Sunday morning here in SoIL and we finally have our first SNOW! I love the snow!
I really need to be at work today since I have a board meeting tomorrow in which I was given the shortest amount of time possible to get the financials done and then on top of it have to forecast the rest of the year to determine bonus checks. But instead I think I'll sit at home in front of my fireplace and enjoy the scenery. Big thanks to Dad for getting firewood out of the woods out back and starting a fire yesterday while I was at a photo session.

My thermostat is set on 60 and didn't kick on until around 6:30 this morning. Of course I didn't carry wood in last night and had to treck out in the snow early this morning to keep the fire going - well worth it though, I love the feel and smell of wood burning.

Oh forgot to mention, I am officially living in my house now!!

Moved in the day my first house guests arrived (day before Thanksgiving), well truth be told I had to pack an overnight bag with clothes in it after my house guests were here because I only had enough moved for it to be liveable (didn't get around to clothes) and it rained that entire week.

My first Christmas tree.

I'm not ready to show you pictures yet as NO room in my house is done. I've been super duper busy this fall with pictures and have worked 60 hours plus the last two weeks and expect about that many hours this week too so 'things' at the house have been put off. But on a good note, come Thursday afternoon......I'm on vacation until the new year! That vacation isn't going to be a relaxing time but rather a "I'm getting stuff done at the house" vacation. I"ll relax some, but I'm ready to get a few projects marked off as complete. I won't really be able to relax until I get things done.

On the agenda for Christmas break:
*build kitchen island
*faux tin tile ceiling in kitchen
*molding on kitchen shadow boxes
*lay flooring in kitchen
*seal basement floor
*paint basement walls
*maybe build a few shelves in basement
*do a funky treatment on north wall in living room (knocking it out in spring so as of right now it's totally unfinished and ugly - have an idea on cheap treatment to mask look until remodel)
*hang blinds and window treatments in bedrooms and kitchen
*fix paint on kitchen cabinet doors
*hopefully get my handy-men to finish the tile in my bathroom, run electrical hookups to rest of outlets and move my satelitte connection
*re-arrange living room

*lay flooring in closet
*get bed set-up and bedroom put together (matress is on the floor right now), the room is painted but that's about all I can say about it
*maybe if I have time and weather permits, get crown molding installed in two bathrooms

I think that sounds like enough work for a vacation. Here are a few of my Christmas ornaments......well, it's time for me to design a few photo albums and then start working on company financials spreadsheets so I don't have to go into work at 3am tomorrow morning to get them done in time!