<--- Looking Back and Looking Forward --->

So much is going on right now with the holidays passing and the New Year approaching rapidly. Danny and I had a wonderful Christmas with our families and have been so busy I have hardly had anytime to myself to relax, read a book or watch TV. We've got some big changes coming up in 2010 and I'm so excited to kick off the New Year. Even though we currently don't have any New Years plans I am completely content with whatever we decide to do. I'm not making any New Years resolutions, I just want to appreciate each day and spend more time with those that mean the most to me.

I can't believe that it's almost 2010! Where has the time gone? I remember when the whole Y2K scare was blown way out of proportion. I was a freshman in High School and I remember my parents didn't want us going anywhere just in case something were to happen. Looking back on the last 10 years I can't believe how much has changed in my life. I have had heart breaks, first kisses and a happily ever after. Ten years ago I would have never guessed that I would be where I am today. Who knew I would be married, have a house, two dogs, a great job and a wonderful husband? Whew, more updates to come in the New Year! Stay tuned :)

16" and counting....

Well, no cocktail party tonight. We have about 16" of snow and it's still coming down. It's been a pretty good day though. I made some food, scrapbooked, played with the pups in the snow, watched the hubby shovel the snow, enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and relaxed! It's a bummer we couldn't have our party but mother nature had other plans for us today.

Ready for the weekend!

Christmas is so close I can almost taste it and our Christmas Cocktail Party is this Saturday! It is supposed to snow this weekend, so I am hoping that it at least doesn't ruin our party. I have enough food to feed a small army and I was really looking forward to the White Elephant gift swap and spending time with friends. I thought it would be a perfect way to celebrate the holidays and kick back and have a good time. Plus, who doesn't love finger foods? Personally, I think I could live on finger foods, which I guess might happen if no one shows up on Saturday! ;-( Ha, ha...I guess Danny and I can fight over our two presents for the White elephant. I'd be happy with either.

Danny has yet to start his Christmas shopping, but I am 100% done (unless I go in the store and find something else I just have to get for someone). I've really been in the Christmas spirit this year and I hope that all of my family and friends are happy and healthy. This time of year really makes me grateful for everything in my life. I know I should be grateful every day for the life I live but it is so easy to take it for granted. There are so many people that will not have a Christmas dinner, or a tree with presents to wake up to, or even a family or friends to share the holiday with. And that's the most important part! What would Christmas be without your family and friends?

Anyway, I'm so super excited for Saturday! I've got so much yummy food to prepare and it makes my stomach grumble just thinking about it. I hope that everything turns out and that everyone can make it. *Wish me luck*

Success!

My peanut butter fudge was a success! Next time should be even better. Maybe I'll get really fancy and mix in some chocolate. :)

Here's a sneak peak, the hearts are for my hubby for his return home tomorrow. Just my way of letting him know I was thinking of him while he was gone.

MmMmMMmmmM....Peanut butter!

Peanut, Peanut Butta! (no jelly, sorry)*

Ok, so I am going to attempt to make Peanut Butter FUDGE for the very first time tonight. Yum-O! The recipe seems simple enough, but for those of you that know me, I'm not a very good baker. I love to cook, don't get me wrong, but when it comes to baking I have this terrible problem with following directions! One time I tried to make one of those Amish friendship breads, you know, the one you smash for a couple days, let it sit on your counter while it ferments and smells like beer, then you add some ingredients and separate it out for your friends? Yeah, I forgot to separate it out for my friends and ended up baking the whole thing. Ooops! Then my hubby asked me, where's the ones for your friends and I got totally embarrassed. I was really hoping he wouldn't notice. He says that song "Little Moments" by Brad Paisley reminds him of me. "When she misreads the directions and we're lost but holdin' hands," yeah, I think he may be referring to that part. :) Anyway, the friendship bread still turned out despite my inability to follow directions, it just tasted a lot different than it was supposed to. I even fed it to my friends and they didn't say it was bad....so that must of meant it was ok, right? Ha, RIGHT!!

Okay, totally rambling, I'll let you know how the fudge turns out; Peanut Butter is my all time favorite! If it ends up being an A+ recipe it just might make a debut at our Christmas Cocktail Party next weekend!

Anyone else doing any holiday baking?

**My Guardian Angel**

Somewhere out there is my guardian angel and I just want to say thank you. Today was a very strange day. To start, I had to go to Woodbridge to take two exams for my Personal Finance class I have been taking this semester. Every time (the whole 2 dreadful trips I've made) I have gone to Woodbridge I have had a terrible experience. The first experience I ended up leaving in tears and cried half way down I-95 and the second time I left cussing and throwing a fit. I'm usually a pretty well tempered person but I've just had horrid experiences there. Anyway, so I drive up 95 this morning, drinking my Gingerbread cream coffee, listening to music, dodging crazy Northern Virginia drivers and dreading going into this school that I have had so much drama with. I find parking with minimal problems, pay the meter and I trudge in to take my exams. As I'm walking through the hall I have this sadistic thought come to mind. I hate to admit this, but it really crossed my mind this morning. I thought to myself, I have had terrible experiences here, I wonder how many other students have left disgruntled and frustrated like I have? I then thought of the stress of the holidays, exams and just life in general. At that moment it crossed my mind that a student could so easily walk into this school and open fire on any innocent person that gets in their way. Sorry, I said it was sadistic...

Fast forward a few hours, I completed my exams, got a B in the class, drove back down 95 and headed to work. Seems like a pretty normal day, huh?

...Think again! I get a text from my best friend this afternoon asking if I was okay. She said there had been a shooting at the Woodbridge campus where I had been just two and a half hours earlier. I was freaking out at this point! I know that my thoughts this morning had nothing to do with what happened, but somebody was looking over me and gave me the intuition to know that something was coming. I'm not exaggerating and I didn't make this up. Luckily, no one was hurt and the 20 year old student has been arrested and is being held with no bond and has charges of attempted murder against him. It is so sad that the stress of life may cost this young person many years of his life. Yes, I get angry, upset, I may cry, or cuss or throw my hands up in the air and want to give up (after my first trip to Woodbridge I contacted my professor and told her I would not be completing the course) but I could never imagine letting something so simple get to me like this. I don't know what was going through this guys head or what possessed him to do this, but I am thankful no one was hurt.

When I called my husband to explain this story to him he sat in silence for a few minutes and just said that he was glad that I was okay. He couldn't believe that my thoughts from this morning actually came true. Did this student have the same thought as I did at the same time? Granted, my vision had no face to the person with the gun, but was he in the midst of planning this out? I cringed at the thought of someone doing this and it brought back thoughts of VA Tech not that long ago. I quickly shook the thought from my mind and went about my business. Not until I received that text did it dawn on me again.

Though a few hours separated my thoughts with that young mans actions, it brought chills down my back and sent a flash of reality to my mind when I heard the news. Life can be so short, today, the Woodbridge faculty, staff and students had someone looking over them. Tonight, I pray for the safety of all my family and friends and I hope that you know I love you all!

Last Week Away Before the Holidays!

So, it's that time again...Danny is in New York. Which is a total bummer because I've had him home for the past two weeks, but on the positive side (I'm trying to make a conscious effort to start thinking more positive!) this will be the last week of travel for him until the holidays are over. That means I have him all to myself starting on Friday! And I don't have to give him up for a whole three weeks! Okay, so maybe not all to myself, we have Christmas parties, an 80's theme party, time with friends and family that I will have to share, but I can take that...as long as I am there with him. :)

The weekend turned out slightly different than the original plan, but it worked out all as well, minus a few glitches in the system. My parents ended up getting six inches of snow on Saturday so we opted out of the 2 hour drive through the woods and over the mountains to mom and dad's house and stayed home. I went to a tupperware party on Saturday night and because of those too darn cute smidgens (I think that's what they were called, anyway, it's a little miniature tupperware container on a key chain and if you decide to pick one then you have a chance of having to throw your own tupperware party!) well, needless to say, I couldn't live without one so I put my hand in the bucket and of course pulled out a tiny little tupperware keychain that nominated me for a tupperware party of my own. It will be held on February 6th at 1:00, so if you need tupperware you know where to go. :)

Sunday we went to a friends house to watch the Redskins lose another game that they should have won. You know that saying "you win some, you lose some?" well, the Redskins seem to lose more than not. Ah, the glory of being a Redskins fan. Back to Sunday, we had a little mishap with our chocolate lab, Eli, and our friends boxer, Hotah. It was their first time meeting each other and Eli was apparently a little unprepared for the meet and greet. He snapped at Hotah and got a hold of his ear. It was bleeding really bad and I felt so bad for him. It happened so quick that I didn't realize what had happened until Hotah's white coat had red spots on it. Hotah seemed to be handling it very well. I know it could have been a lot worse but I just don't condone that kind of behavior from my dogs. Eli has never been aggressive and this was a first for me. My heart was racing and I just can't stand it when dogs fight. I've seen dogs fight before and things can get out of hand so quickly, whether it is two big dogs or two small dogs.

Overall the weekend was pretty good, just too short as always. This week should be pretty uneventful and I look forward to Danny's (safe) return home from NY.

Centerpiece for a Wintery Day*

Today it is *cold* and there is white fluff and sleet falling from the sky. I thought it would be a good day to go to the Opp Shop in town and see what kind of goodies I could pick up. Kristin joined me for her first adventure into the Opp Shop. Ha, ha, I talk like I'm some seasoned shopper, it was my second trip! Anyway, I was able to find three taper candle holders (for a quarter a piece, can I say..I'll take those!?) so I decided to make a Christmas centerpiece for our new kitchen table. Yesterday I rushed to town to get a table cloth for the new table, I'm very impatient, what can I say!? Of course, adding a table cloth just brings it all together and makes me happy, calm and the feeling of accomplishment!

Okay, back to the centerpiece. I went and got three candles and the rest of the stuff I had just lying around the house. Here's the finished product! The picture doesn't bring it much justice, but the white poinsettias have glitter on them and the little berries have a pearly shine to them. And of course, my favorite, Ting TING (you can't really see them in the picture, bummer)! That's the spiral things coming out of the centerpiece, they are gold and sparkly and once the candles are lit they should add a nice touch.

Off to watch the Fall turn into a ~*Winter Wonderland*~

Frustrated and A Happy Note

Ever just feel frustrated and don't really know what to do about it? I've been feeling like that lately. I don't like (slightly revised, I finally found the words I had been searching for) confrontation, drama, or competition and there's a few people that I feel just can't seem to escape it. Sometimes I think that if I'd just disappear out of their life it would be so much simpler. There would be no more wondering and no more feeling frustrated that I've done the wrong thing or said the wrong thing to them. There would be no competition, no hurt feelings and I'd just take things for what they were. Of course, that's the easy route out...and being me, I continue to stress and wonder if my every move is right or wrong. I don't like hurting people's feelings and I generally go out of my way to make sure that I don't, but every once in awhile, it would be nice for someone to return the favor. I have more feelings than I might show. I just had to get that off my mind before I lose anymore sleep over it. My husband will tell you that I'm a worrier and he just has this laid back, I don't give a sh!t what people think about me attitude and some days I wish I could be more like that. But then he tells me that I'm a kind person and that is why he loves me, so I torture myself with the agony of wanting to say something, but never following through. But you know what, life is too short and those that want to be here for me are going to be, and those that don't, won't be. All I wanna be is happy*

On a better note, it's almost Friday!!! Whoo~hoo! We got a new dining room table today. We now have a six seater, which is great because I love entertaining and trust me, a dinner for six at a table for four can be a little tight! All I need now is a table cloth to bring it all together (and six new chair cushions to make it nice and comfy!) I was a bit skeptical at first because our dining room is pretty small, but I think it fits perfectly and when we do get a bigger house it will be great!

We are going to my parents again this weekend. My mom has decided to get baptized and I know she would like for us to be there for that. Dad says she is a "holy roller" lol, I don't think I've ever seen my dad in Church so this should be interesting to say the least. It's going to be a rushed weekend though. Once we get back from her baptism we will be hitting the road to come home and pack up Danny to leave for New York again. Then he will be gone all week. He will be home on Friday and *hopefully* the bestest comes to visit on Saturday! She's the one person who has always been there for me and I can talk to about anything. It's nice having someone that you can count on when everyone else seems to flake out on you.

The end, The Office is on...gotta run! :-)