Pictures

Mason took this picture of me and my Dad...not too bad for a 4 year old! Obviously my Dad wants to be a ROCKSTAR when he grows up!

Mason doing a little boogie woogie dance for me. I have a ton, and I mean a ton, of pictures of this little ham!

This is one of my typical pictures (me taking it) and typical Mason with me (doesn't want to do it!). I have to include these ones as they are what we are really like!

Again, my Dad rocking out. He was so excited about this new Rocket Pocket that he bought. It hooks up to your guitar and has headphones so he can play the electric guitar and nobody hears him, but he can hear himself through the headphones. It also lets you hook your CD player up and play along with the music you are listening to...he was a happy camper.

Maddy...my how she is growing! She is 9 years old and in the 3rd grade!

Christmas Work Party

Our Christmas work party was on Saturday the 22nd. We had a sit down dinner, a bar and dancing. We also had a gift exchange...some people don't put a lot of effort into their gift. I got a Hickory Farms box set (not too bad); however, it wasn't even wrapped...it was just rolled up in the plastic store bag...oh guys!!!

I found a new dress at Fashion Bug...I went shopping the Wednesday before and everything in the store was 50% off, including clearance. I found this dress for half of the clearance price, for a grand total of $15.00...WOW...quite the steal!

Shannon and I both went and had our hair done. I like how it turned out, even though it was a bit more than I was expecting. I don't think I've had my hair done since Shannon's first wedding in 1994...time flies.

Lots of dancing this night...most of it was Latino dancing (aka...Mexican music) so I didn't feel comfortable dancing to that. However, Juan kept asking me (yes, he had QUITE a few drinks that night) so I kept having fun and dancing with him. Even though it isn't the best picture, I am including this one to prove that I was out there on the dance floor!!

This is Armando and my sister practicing their dance steps.

I'm Bad

I know, I know I haven't updated since Christmas...I'm sure you don't want to keep looking at the news article, "Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" anymore. I promise that tonight when I get home I'll upload some pictures of our work Christmas Party, Christmas Eve/Morning Presents and some others! I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you were blessed with family and friends.

Merry Christmas

Dear Editor:

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Signed Virginia O'Hanlon

The answer as published in the New York Sun was:

Virginia, your little friends are wrong.

They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Santa, please bring me....

James Marsden dressed like this underneath my tree!! Oh Holy Crap is he good lookin'!

Christmas Program!

Maddy's elementary school had their Christmas program today. However, they do it a bit funky...each grade does it separately from one another (yet, still trying to maintain the same concept from one to another) and the parents come and watch their child's grade level. And it is all during the day...no more night programs. I was kinda bummed that we didn't get to seet the cutsie little kindergarteners!

Maddy was front and center and cute as ever. It was fun to watch her. She is definitely someone who marches to the beat of her own drum...or should I say, music. She was up there be-bopping back and forth, even when there was no music. She is definitely a dancer (she told me when she was in kindergarten that she wanted to be a rock star, who knows, maybe she still will)...anyways....it was fun!



This is Aubrey...she is Maddy's best friend. Unfortunately, they are in the same classroom together. Yes, I say unfortunately, because they talk too much and don't get much done when they are together. In fact, I believe that the teacher has separated them in the classroom!! Aubrey also just lives around the corner, so Maddy is always over there or Aubrey is at their house! Way too cute!

Honoring other Religions

So I was talking about Christmas cards with my sister today. Actually, I was addressing her envelopes and was getting names from her of those she is mailing to. I asked about a certain individual and she said, "No, he is a Muslim. He doesn't want a Christmas card." My response was hey, send him a card anyway and in big letters write "God Bless You and Jesus Loves You." At the time I was being a bit facetious. However, I think that if I had friends that were Muslim or of other religions that don't celebrate Christmas or recognize that Jesus is Savior that I would send them a card anyway and let them know that I was thinking of them during this season and that Jesus does love them. Do you need to give a sermon and an altar call inside of a card? No, just a simple message.

So do we remain a polite society that honors all religions no matter if they believe in Jesus Christ or do we push the envelope and let ALL who don't believe know that we do believe?!? Me? I say, go for it...push the envelope..make them think....let them know Jesus loves them and maybe, just maybe they will come to know who He is!

Gross, Gross, Gross!!!

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Researchers in a remote jungle in Indonesia have discovered a giant rat and a tiny possum that are apparently new to science, underscoring the stunning biodiversity of the Southeast Asian nation, scientists said Monday.
Unearthing new species of mammals in the 21st century is considered very rare. The discoveries by a team of American and Indonesian scientists are being studied further to confirm their status.
The animals were found in the Foja Mountains rainforest in eastern Papua province during a June expedition, said U.S.-based Conservation International, which organized the trip along with the Indonesian Institute of Science.

"The giant rat is about five times the size of a typical city rat," said Kristofer Helgen, a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. "With no fear of humans, it apparently came into the camp several times during the trip."

I just saw this news article and thought GROSS! I have a very unhealthy fear of rats and rodents in general. And the thought of seeing a rat this big makes me want to pass out! Can you imagine coming in contact with this thing...UGH!!!!

Crazy Video Fun

When my college friends and I got together last weekend we had a bit of fun singing some crazy songs! You would think that at 30 and older we would sing mature Christmas songs, etc; however, we sing crazy songs about BEAVERS! Yes, you heard me...BEAVERS!! I believe this song is called Beaver Jive. Our song leader is Dan D., and yes, this is an interactive song. Enjoy!

In Search of a....

Nan Pun Yau

Shannon and I and a girl from work went out to lunch last Friday and had Chinese food. These days on the back of fortune cookie papers is a Chinese phrase for you to learn. The English word or phrase is written out, and then in Chinese (yeah, my pronunciation is probably way off.

So here is the thing...you need to tell me what Nan Pun Yau means, and I'll let you know either when it has been guessed correctly or after a week or so (you might need to remind me). Good luck!!

**Answer** Nan Pun Yau means Boyfriend! Congrats to Marcie for figuring it out; however, she cheated by using Google and not her own thinking skills. But then again, isn't that why Google was created!!! What does she win (at least that is what she asked me)? Well, it just so happens that I have a fantastic Christmas card heading her way today, and I think she will enjoy it!!

Look Mom, I got INKED!

Mason and I were looking through a skater catalog tonight....lots of stuff inside for the skater and snowboarder. There were clothes...boards....shirts...etc, etc... Well, there were quite a few things in the catalog that had skeletons on it.

So Mason and I decided, well I decided, to give Mason a tattoo!

I was just going with the head of a skeleton; however, Mason really wanted the rest of the body done as well! I was just going to do something that would be covered by his shirt; however, he wanted me to do more and more..so I did! LOL. You gotta have fun when you are a kid, and pen (yep, black pen) tattoos are some of the best fun you can have.

OUCH!!! If I close my eyes, will it not hurt????


A full arm tattoo! Hmm...I wonder what he might really get in ink once he is old enough?

Finally, Team #6

Team #6 consisted of Ismo and Christina (our gracious hosts for the weekend) and myself. Right now, Ismo really, really wants to move to Hawaii (it's a lot warmer there) so he has ocean front property on the brain right now!

Our Gingerbread House is actually the Hawaiian Love Shack!



You will notice in the back are two palm trees (pretzels and pineapple leaves)...two tiki torches are on the front corners....warm brown sand surrounds the entire island getaway (brown sugar)....while the occupants can look out at the rolling blue ocean (yes, there is a safety buoy out in the middle for those who can't swim well enough!), a rock beach is in one corner and a huge palm tree sits out front while a bon fire is underneath. There are coconuts to eat (filbert nuts) as well as bananas (runts)....just be careful..you might not want to ever leave The Love Shack!

Team #6 won the award, "Best Overall Award...because Amanda wants to get invited back to next year's party!" Remember, Amanda was one of the judges.

That's it ladies and gentlemen, all the 2007 Gingerbread House Competition Entries!

Team #5

Team #3 was Dan O., Justin and Kristy! So, this is probably one of the most disturbing houses built this weekend....but one of the most talked about! It was almost as if Justin and Kristy were one team (they built the house) and Dan was his own team...he built the Dragon...Yes, that is a dragon outside of the house. The name of this house? Seymour Butts!

Explanation needed?!?

In this gingerbread neighborhood, dragons were obviously a problem, and the two little gingerbread children did not wan the dragon to eat their home, so they defeated the dragon....cut his head off and mounted it outside the house (because you know it was too big to mount inside of the house, duh!). So those two objects on top, with blue, are the gingerbread children showing their prowess as dragon hunters. The dragon head is actually a head of cauliflower! The gross stuff you see off to the right is the dragon's brains, of course! (Chili was used!). The lips were made out of two donuts...candles lit the sides of the dragons mouth (Dan proved they were edible candles, by taking a bite!) and of course a snake is coming out of the dragon's mouth (why? hmmm, not quite sure about this one!). Like I said, a bit disturbing! And even more so was the fact that the cutesy houses' value was highly depreciated by being situated between Seymour and the Jerky Factory!

Team #5 won the award, "Best use of Non-traditional Food Items"

Team #4

Step up Team Four...Married couple Leanne and Ty (standing in the back with the blue sweatshirt on!)

They actually made a lovely little gingerbread house. They came to the house in the midst of the competition and didn't fully realize that it was a competition and that teams had come up with themes. So they went the traditional, cute way of making a house. I'm sure that their little girl will enjoy the house.

You will notice that the owner's of this house have worked diligently all summer on their lawn..it is now lush and very, very green. The pathway up to the door is paved and lined....the lights are on the roof, hung properly and a lovely wreath graces the front door! Well done!!!

Team #4 won the award, "Best Traditional (and edible) Gingerbread House!"

Team #3

Team three was Chris and Toivo (sorry no picture of them). So this is one of those houses where things kind of go wrong....let me try to tell you the scenario that Chris gave us.

Fifteen years ago, the house seen was bought and used as a rental property. However, over the years, the renters and some minor disasters played havoc with the stability and condition of this house. In the entire fifteen years, no painting was ever done to the outside. A fire started and burned a hole in the ceiling...back towards the chimney. You can't see in this picture but there are gun shots in the windows, the front door is hanging off its hinges and gang signs/graffiti are all over the sides. There is a row of Christmas lights along the roof that have been there for almost fifteen years and obviously don't work anymore. The renters were evicted...one was shot in the leg and is bleeding...and even the Christmas tree was thrown out of the house. Obviously the house was put into Default and repossessed by the bank. Chris was trying to offer to sell it to Dan D., but he had to think on it for awhile!

Team #3 won the award, "Gingerbread house most likely to end up as an after school TV special."

Team #2

Team two consisted of married couple...Clayton and Katie! Their gingerbread house was actually named, "O Boy, O Rudolf Jerky Factory". Again, the imaginations of our builders was astounding.

Yes, it is a jerky factory, more specifically it was a reindeer jerky factory. Sadly, the reindeer go in as live animals and come out as, well...jerky!

The manager of this factory is Mr. Smiley..who really isn't a very nice guy. He is a very hard manager who oversees the gummies who work diligently on the factory line. You are probably noticing the processing line, where dried jerky, jerky patties and some other kind of jerky is coming out.

Unfortunately, if a gummies numbers are low or they aren't working hard enough their fate is sealed out back behind the factory. You might not be able to tell in this picture, but that is a gummy body on top....blood dripping down, leading to the decapitated gummy head. That poor, poor gummy!

Team #2 won the award, "Best adaptation of Last Year's Penguin Massacre" (You don't want to know about the sad penguin massacre)

Team #1

Team one consisted of Steve (on crutches), Dan D. and Levi....these three guys decided to go with the absence of blood, gore and dead people! I guess, the guys usually go with lots of blood...I'm assuming they are acting as the boys that they are!

So these three decided to make Snoopy on top of his dog house! It really was quite a great looking house....

Snoopy was primarily made of marshmallows (held together inside with toothpicks...remember everything has to be edible!)...his ears were fruit roll ups covered with frosting!

You notice the red ring in the yard, with a toothpick in the middle? Yep, that's Charlie Brown's Christmas tree!!!! The only thing they couldn't figure out how to make work (at least size wise) was Snoopy's dog dish. I really liked this house.

So Team #1 won the award, "Best use of Fantasy and Warm Fuzzies!"

Gingerbread House Contest

One of the highlights of our Annual College Christmas get together was our gingerbread house making competition. It was a fierce competition this year. The deliberation of teams beforehand caused some minor scuffles. Hours (at least it seemed like hours) were spent in the grocery store deliberating over EDIBLE foods that could make the houses spectacular! While at the same time stealing of the last gingerbread kit (in the bakery dept) was happening. The range of house "themes" was VERY, VERY broad...it was definitely a funky gingerbread neighborhood.

Above you see us in the kitchen, prepping to give our gingerbread house story to the judges...Alicia and Amanda claim they were bribable, but I don't think anyone actually tried to talk them into voting for their house! In total there were six houses made, with the teams ranging from two to three people on each team. You'd never think that a bunch of 30 something year olds could have so much fun; however, we probably had more fun making these then kids would have had.

I will post individual team pictures along with the "award" that they won!!!

Hi there!

Hi friends and family

So sorry that I haven't been up to my usual writing pace of every couple of days. I have been so dogged tired when I get home every night that it takes way too much energy to do anything. Work is good. I am working with the inventory...I work for a glass fabrication company so the inventory is hefty stuff...way heavy!! UGH!! I have been organizing the upstairs store room this week and I have bruises ALL over my body (legs, stomach...even across my boobs!) from lifting and hoisting heavy boxes. I've probably moved over 400 boxes this week. I am in dire need of a massage.

I am on the search for an apartment and found a perfect one...huge, great rent, and a view. However, the guy called back tonight and said I was too much of a credit risk....no rent history, new to town, new job...yada...yada...yada...He did say if I had a co-signer it would be fine. However, I don't have anyone to ask...and I don't really want to ask either! UGH!!!! I am trying to stand on my own two feet and it is kinda hard; however, as I've said before I am a girl who lives by faith. I know that God has something even better for me. It may not look like it on the outside, but God knows why He has me where I'm going. Who knows, maybe he has a specific person for me to live by to share my testimony with. I'm just going to keep believing for my needs and know that God will see that they are fulfilled.

Do you know that there is only something like 17 days left until Christmas? I was wrapping presents tonight (out in the garage where it is cold!)...and realize I only have a few more gifts to get and I will be done!! Yeah for me. I'm also excited because I am heading over to my friends Christina and Ismo's this weekend for a Christmas party weekend! Yep, that's right!!! We don't just do a Christmas party for one night...we have it the whole weekend. Chris and Ismo have been opening their home for many years to all of us...we are all college friends....and we still have a ton of people who come every year.....it's fun to get together and have kid type fun as adults!! We will be having a gingerbread house making contest this weekend...and I've already been thinking of how to decorate...I hope I get a good partner!

For those of you who live in Western/Southern Washington, my thoughts and prayers are with you if you are being affected by all the flooding. It is crazy! I can't recall in all my years that I-5 has ever been flooded! Weird! I hope that things get back to normal for all those affected.

Blessings and have a great weekend.

Vote for me

Hi all...I've entered into a contest over at whogets.com again! This time for a $25 certificate to bidz.com....yeah free money to bid with!! Will you go and vote for me?

Rachel's Certificate Contest

Thanks so much...greatly appreciated!

Teaching the Younger Generation

As a responsible adult, I know it is my responsibility to teach the younger generation of kids how to do things, how to act and speak, how to think for themselves, etc..etc... So in my overwhelming loving abundance (a bit thick you think?) I taught Mason the ins and outs of YOUTUBE.COM last night at Midnight! LOL!!!

I was still surfing around after watching The Santa Clause on tv last night and Mason came to sit by me on the couch...he had taken a very late nap yesterday and wasn't so keen on going to sleep at the right time. So we watched some videos on cats, frogs, Sesame Street, Elmo and Mickey Mouse. After a bit I was falling asleep and he was still going...but I ended our youtube session.

I am a going to be such a GREAT teacher, aren't I?

Mini Story

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a
well. The animal cried piteously for hours as
the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the
well needed to be covered up anyway;
it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and
help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began
to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the
donkey realized what was happening and cried
horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally
looked down the well He was astonished at what
he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his
back, the donkey was doing something amazing.
He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel
dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it
off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey
stepped up over the edge of the well and
happily trotted off!

Life is going t!
o shovel dirt on you, all kinds
of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well
is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of
our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out
of the deepest wells just by not stopping,
never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.

Live simply and appreciate what you have.

 Give more.

Expect less