Holidays 2009 - Thanksiving & Christmas

So I meant to make seperate post for Thanksgiving and Christmas...but since I've been workin' and such I haven't gotten around to it.

So let's start with the holiday that came first:

THANKSGIVING


Usually we spend Thanksgiving at our house, but seeing as Mom and Dad were putting in hard-wood floors and the kitchen and dining room were filled with stuff from the living room, and the furniture was out in the garage, therefore leaving us no place to sit or cook...we spent it at my Granparenis house.


We had our usual dinner of turkey, ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cheesy potatoes...and all the other fixin's that go along with thankgiving dinner.


Then of course there was the strategic planning for Black Friday Shopping! Of course the only one who really got into it this year was Little M, mainly because she was the only one who was going to go 'cause Mom was sick (although she did get up and go to about 2 stores), and I had to be at work at 6 (but I stopped by one store to pick up Dad's gift to Mom for him - which made my day really long).


Little M, starting the planning on the living room floor - yes she is making a list, and checking twice...or more. :)



Then she moved to the table.


Of course while she was planning, I was getting bored waiting for her to get done so we could play some games, so I gave myself something to do - doodle! I doodled on the Macy's ad (as you can see in the above photo, those litle Christmas trees are my doodles).


Then there are these...they are soo cute. :)

Yep. I doodled little stick figures on the furniture ad photos! :) I know I'm weird...but hey, I was bored.

This one is my favorite!

Of course, after the Black Friday planning was done...it was...Game Time!

We played one of our favorites - Aggravation!

We also played Phase 10...that took forever... :)

There is our Thanksgiving in a nutshell.

Now for the next holiday:

CHRISTMAS

Which is my most favorite holiday of all the holidays!

This year, I decorated the tree all by myself. I thought it looked pretty good.

And while I decorated the tree I enjoyed a little drink...no, it's not wine, nor is it in anyway alcoholic. It's actually Pomegranite Juice and Sparkeling Grape Juice, which is poured over a sugar cube - delicious!

Then we move on to the presents.

These two I recieved from my kids in my Sunday School Class.

R got me the basket filled with candy and makeup, and E brought me some home-made peanut brittle - yumm!

Then my dear friend B got me these wonderful gifts!

An Ice Skating Owl ornament, and a really cute owl necklace! I photographed them with the bag they came it 'cause it was just sooo cute!

Now how 'bout a look into that stocking! What goodies!

Sudoku, lotions and makeup from Bath & Body Works, Pictureka!, Sunny Seed Drops (Chocolate Covered Sunflower Seeds) in a Christmas light bulb shape, Ferrero Rocher candies (one of my favs!), and a Little Pet Shop's Turtle - which I've named Speedy and is going to sit on the dashboard of my car!

Then there are the gifts I got on Christmas Day!

Wii Resort from my Grandpa and Grandma (whom I also got the rest of my Christmas money and a bag of M&M's from), a Garmin Nuvi GPS from my Mom and Dad, a Zune from Little M, her Hubs M, her brother-in-law J, and her mother-in-law P.

Of course there was one of the best gifts...

SNOW! I actually had prayed and asked for a white Christmas - and we got snow on Christmas Day!

All in all th holidays were pretty good...now to look on to the new year and the challenges and blessings it will bring!

Back to School...

I thought I was done...but I'm not. Yep. I'm going back to school.

Waited for about 2 hours to talk with a counselor to figure out if I could do it in 1 year...looks like I can.

I'm going back for a couple of Certificates in Web Design. Hopefully that will give me the jump start I need to get a job in the Graphic Design field.

I'm registered, and as of today paid up for the upcoming semester. I should finish in Fall of 2010, provided everything goes well.

It will definitely be exciting - and if nothing else I'll be able to design a site for myself, and a site for my Church when all is said and done!

Designing on the Side...

As most of you know I'm currently working at Kohl's...but for the next week or two...I'm also designing on the side!

My good friend G contacted me on my FB page and told me his boss was looking for someone to design a logo, brochure, and website, and wanted to know if he could pass my info on to him.

Well...Yeah!

I can do it all...'cept the site for now, but he doesn't want that now anyways, but back to the point here. I met with him this afternoon, told him how much I'd charge, showed him some of my work, jotted down some notes...and I'm hired! Yessss!

Now I'll have something else I can put into my portfolio - that is being used for a real company!

Deadline for the logo...end of the week.
Deadline for the brochure...end of the year.

I'm so excited to do this!

I'm Thankful for...

My salvation first and foremost. I'm thankful for a God who loves us enough that He sent His only Son to take the punishment for our sins. I'm also thankful that He continues to forgive us, because I know I continually need His forgiveness. I'm thankful to have been raised in a home where my parents love God and showed me His love through their actions, and attitudes. I'm also thankful that I never stop learning about Him.

For my family:
My parents, who always continue to believe in me, even when I feel that I have let them down.
My sisters, who are always there for me, wether it's just to listen to me vent, or to hang out and do something fun together.

For my church family, who are just as close as my real family, and are always there to help in time of need, or to just simply pray for your needs.

For my friends, who are always there to talk to, or hang out with. Who I know I can be myself around, and have fun doing whatever it is we decide to do.

For the new friends I have made during the past year.

For my job. Though it's not my dream job, after being unemployed for about 9 months, just having a job is such a blessing.

I'm also thankfulf for the trials and tribulations that I have been through - I have learned from them and grown closer to Christ.

I know there are many more things I can put on this list, there is so much to be thankful for.
I hope you take the time this Thanksgiving to truly give thanks for the people, things, and events that have been or happened in your life.

It's Ordered...Now I Wait...

Today I finally ordered my new laptop!

I'm getting a Dell Studio 17...Yay!

It comes with a 17.3 inch screen, 4GB of Memory, 500G Hard Drive, Intel Core i7, Back-lit Keyboard, Web Cam w/Facial Recognition, among the other stuff that computers come with, and I got a fun artsy cover design! ('Cause we all know that black is just boring...) Oh, and I got me a new printer with it too, one that prints (obvs!), copies, and scans...and it's WiFi!!! Yay for no cords!

Plus, I got it below what I budgeted for....until they attached the shipping charges, but I planned for that to so I'm good!

The reason for getting new laptop...well this one (yes, that I am using right now) is getting slow, and if I'm running Photoshop, and Illustrator, and occasionally the Internet all at the same time it gets slow...well...it gets slow when I'm just running one program at a time lately too...so there's that. That and the fact that it get's really hot and Little M, had a laptop, basically just like this, same company and laptop - just a bit different configuration, and her's exploded (not literally I don't think) on her, and I know someone else who has had some problems with the same one as well...though I'm not sure if it was computer error or human error (or both) with that one.

My new laptop will have all the power I need to run the programs that I want to run and I'll have a longer battery life as well, this one last for maybe and hour if unplugged from the wall. Plus I will have ample storage to save all my work to.

Now I'll (hopefully) be motivated to get to designing something!

Looks like it'll be here on Dec. 12th! Yay I can't wait!