A Little Late Is Better Then Nothing At All

Happy New Year! ....ten days after the fact. Sorry.
I'm hanging my head in shame right now. I know it's been a while since i've really done a whole update (over a month), and since Husband and i are a bad married couple and didn't send out a cute Christmas card of us to all of our family and friends -- even though i wanted to but Husband shoot down that idea cuz he thought it was silly until we got a bunch from all his siblings proving my point -- i get to fill you in here. But i wanted to give an update on how life is going.
....It's going :) Nothing too great, and nothing terrible.
This past year included a bit of traveling, cooking, lots of cleaning, crafts, and lots of happy days together and with our friends and family. Husband got certified in September so he's flying with the crews on the C1-30's now. He keeps the planes running right, does safety checks, and currently he's working on getting qualified to work on the radio in flight. He'll say things like "Niner" and "Charlie" and radio talk stuff like that :) This is just in time for him to attend C school this coming February in sunny Florida for the month. He also started going back to college this fall semester. It was only 3 credits in English, but he's gearing up to get ready to go back to college full time when his time is up with the Coast Guard so we're getting ready for that when the time comes. He's still working with the 11 year old scouts at church. There aren't many of them in his group, but he's still having fun with it every week.
And me? Well, you've been reading about my life on here for the most part. i don't think i've left a lot out. I'm still working in Nursery at church, which really is a highlight of my week, and things are going good. I tell Husband every week how i wish i could kidnap some of my little nursery kids and take them home with me, but he says that i'm not allowed to and he's pretty firm on that. I've decided i may be going back to school myself this spring. I've talked with a counselor, and if i can get the schedule worked out, then i think i'm going to do it. I'm having a little trouble with the idea of having to get up before 7 a.m. -- yes, i've been spoiled as a house wife by sleeping in till 8:30 at least, and i admit it -- but as much as i hate to give that up, school isn't for forever. If i get into the program, 18 months will fly by. I could take evening classes, but then i would never see Husband. He's working nights now, so he's sleeping when he gets home in the mornings and i won't be missing much by being at school during that time.
So to fill you in on the last few months since i haven't been blogging.... for Thanksgiving we did not have a big thing at our house again. Last year we had a party less then a week after moving into our house with a bunch of new friends from church, but we didn't want to go to all that hassle again this year. Maybe next year though ;) We were debating weather to make a small version at home for just the two of us or to go out to dinner, but then we got a call from our friends from Utah, the Vallens, that were coming to see their Grandma in Napa Valley for Thanksgiving and they invited us to join them. Since the Vallens are like Husband's extra family, if we had had plans before, we would have had to cancel cuz there's no way we could have missed it. Thanksgiving dinner was amazing, Sister Vallen is a fantastic cook and i especially loved it because they wouldn't let me bring anything. I don't remember the last time i was fed that well with such delicious food. The day after Thanksgiving we didn't get up at any crazy hour for Black Friday shopping, not that i ever have. Instead we went with the Vallen's to San Francisco. We took the ferry and spent the day walking around Pier 41 and Ghirardelli Square being tourists. It was great, especially since that was one of the things on my list to do in SF that we didn't do for my birthday.



The beginning of Dec was Husbands work Christmas party. I've been asked to post a picture of how my dress turned out for that, but silly me, i didn't take any. Lame right? When the thought struck me that i should take one it was the end of the night when we got home, and since it had been raining my hair had lost all its curl/body and looked terrible so i decided it wasn't a great idea. Sorry girls :( But at least i have a cute dress and hot husband left over from the night, right? I'll admit it right now though, if he wants to go again next year i'm re-wearing the dress cuz shopping for that was not fun.
We had to do it a day early because of Husband's work schedule, but we had our first Christmas at home together without going to see either of our families. Our first year being married we went to see my family, and last year was with Husband's family. But this season I got to decorate my house and get a tree and everything. I got all the Christmas present shopping done 2 weeks before the big day even :) I'm a terrible wife though. Over a month before Christmas Husband's xbox had the dreaded Red Ring of Death. There are some guys out there that know how to fix that, but Husband isn't one of those. As soon as it appeared Husband declared it dead and asked if he could go buy a new one as he was disconnecting his old one and putting on his shoes to go out. Seriously. That red light started flashing and it went from zero to $300 in under 10 seconds. We had just taken the first trip to SF for my birthday, and Christmas was only a month away, so i was surprised that he was so willing to spend that kind of money. It made me feel like i was kicking a puppy when i first told him no, that he had to wait. But i gave in the next day.... I just couldn't tell him no. The new xbox came with the Kinect though, so it has given us some fun evenings playing together...except for the night Husband slapped my arm so hard while we were playing Ping Pong and i balled like a baby. I had a bruise for a few days from that one and now he's afraid to play with me. He'll be standing on the wall side of the room when we play for now though. But after that, he was impossible to shop for for gifts since i let him get it. He says he's a simple guy and he just doesn't want anything, so it makes me feel selfish that i do want things...until i remember that we spent $300 on the new xbox for him. I'm sorry for being a girl, but i want chair covers and curtains. I've done the pricing for both of them, and they didn't add up to $300. And a KitchenAid! I've been dreaming about getting one for years. But who's the one that has to wait for what they want? I'm ok with this though, only because i would have had to be the one to entertain him all the time if he didn't have it.
For my gift giving i decided to make gifts for all of my sisters-in-law. I'm in love with all the cute aprons you can find online, and i found so many on Etsy it was impossible to pick one for myself, but if i wanted to give them as gifts, at about $30 an apron, i wouldn't even get one for myself. But then i found a pattern on Etsy to make my own and decided to take on the project :) I went to JoAnn's Fabric and picked out enough cute fabric for all 5 of my sisters-in-law and hunkered down in my craft room with the sewing machine and ironing board, and the laptop with Netflix so i would have something to listen to/watch while i was in there. Four days later, and just in time to get them all in the mail, i was done.
Husband didn't want me to post these pictures, but after days of just showering but not doing my hair or putting on makeup or even getting dressed in more then pj's because i was holed up in the craft room, I wasn't going to be the one to pose for the pictures. Of course he doesn't fill out the aprons like a girl so they don't look as cute as they would if i had sucked it up and did it myself, but you get the idea.

For Coty

Sarah

Natalie

Hanna

Leah

He didn't want to smile for the camera even though i told him that the only people that actually read our blog are family or close friends, but i think he has some left over traumatic memories of some certain pictures that were taken when we were younger. One where he's dressed up in a dress.....

He's such a good sport for me :]

The aprons all turned out great though. I slowly got better and better with my sewing skills on each one and i'm happy with what i accomplished. From what i heard from everyone, they loved them :] I originally purchased the pattern to make one for me, but it quickly morphed into a much bigger project once i got the idea into my head and i still haven't made one for myself. I haven't decided which colors i want to use for mine and i'm not looking forward to standing in JoAnn's for hours on end again to decide what i like the most for me.

Since Christmas, i've been spending my time reading. A lot. Husband got me a Kindle for Christmas and i can't seem to put it down. It's so easy to just press a button and have a new book to read. It can only lead to trouble... I've read about 15 books already, and there are about that many more that i've wanting to read. But i've put myself on a budget and right now i'm reading on the free books that i can find that seem interesting.

I've taken breaks from reading to do a little crafting though. I've drawn up my plans and dimensions for the padded headboard i'm going to make for our bed, and this week is going to be the week i start making it. I have the money for the materials, i've borrowed a drill from a friend, and i'm ready to get it done. I'm excited to be getting this done finally cuz i've been talking about doing it for forever.

We're looking forward to this next year and seeing how it unfolds. This last year was great, but I'm thinking this year is going to be even better for us.

I hope everyone had a great holiday!