It's January 9th and my Christmas tree is still up

However, the ornaments are off. I only did that this afternoon. I really have not been the mood to get everything put away this year. Actually, I want to get it put away, I just don't have the motivation to do it. Ugh. Our guest room looks like Christmas exploded. Hopefully this week I can get the last of it packed up and put away.



So, where have I been the last four months? Working and living. I don't even remember when I last wrote (I think it may have been September), so I'll try to do a quick recap:

* Work, work, work, and more work. I have been incredibly busy at work, but it has been really good. I've got my review coming up this week, so I am hoping for more good things to happen.

* My best friend had a baby boy!

* We had some pictures taken by a girl I work with. Those pics would be a great post! Check back in!

* I had jury duty. Thankfully I wasn't selected.

* We drove to East Texas to see best friend and new baby.

* I helped my mom with a garage sale that she said was never going to do again after the LAST one!

* Josh started the RCIA process at the church we go to. At Easter he will officially be Catholic!

* We celebrated our 2 year anniversary. (Has it really been 2 years already?)

* I made eyeball cake bites for a neighbor's Halloween party and that led to me getting a lot more orders this fall! Check out all the latest creations!

* We started getting really serious about starting a family and it's not happening as quickly as we thought, but we are staying positive and saying LOTS of prayers.

* I supported my dad as he ran in his second San Antonio half marathon.

* We hosted Thanksgiving at our house. It was a huge success and it was so nice to be able to be at home at the end of the day.

* We spent Christmas in Ft. Stockton. We were there for almost a week and it was nice to be able to slow down and relax.

* We rang in the New Year in Schulenburg. I actually rang it in in my sleep because I was out by 10:30!

* I got a Nook Color and a new pair of boots with my Christmas money and they have both been well worth it! :)

* We started the Couch to 5k program. We are one week down and looking forward to keeping it up.

I think that pretty much sums up the major points of the last few months. I am really going to try to do better about keeping up with updating this!

Happy New Year!!

Headed west for the weekend

Josh and I headed to Ft. Stockton for Labor Day Weekend. It was so nice to get out in the middle of nowhere for a few days and not do much.

We went down to Marathon to eat dinner at The Gage Hotel Saturday night. It was so good and the day was absolutely beautiful!! Beautiful enough for Josh and I to talk about quitting our jobs and moving our west! :)

Gorgeous west texas sunset

I don't know what it is about being out there, but I love it. There's just something about the environment that makes me feel so at peace with the world.

And when we got home yesterday afternoon, this was awaiting me! One of the first oxblood lilies of the season! Yeah!

In case you were wondering...

Yes, I fell off the face of the earth.

Work has been busier than I could ever have imagined! I racked up over 166 hours in the last three weeks. One Friday, I got to work at 6 in the morning and didn't leave until 2:30 the next morning! Most of the time it was getting to work at 6:30 and not leaving until 8 or 9:00 that night. I am still exhausted! I am a person who needs a good 9 hours of sleep at night, so this has been brutal for me. The crazy thing is this is only the beginning of the project...we have 3 more years of this!! Ugh!

I don't even remember where I left off with this blog, so there may be a lot of backtracking in the next couple weeks as I find time to post pictures and recap what has been happening!

Hangin' in there

I was hoping to be able to do a decent post, but right now, I'm just hanging in there. These last few weeks have been so exhausting, that I'm still trying to catch up with everyday life right now. And it's not going to get any better soon, because this weekend is the family reunion that I have been planning. Hopefully, after that, things will slow down, and I can get in a post about my garden, my family who came in for the funeral and update my baking blog with some things I have been doing.

Life and Death

I went home this weekend not just for Mother's Day, but to visit with family, mainly my Grandpa Jim. As of Saturday, he was starting to go downhill. He's been slowly getting worse since October, so we have been expecting this, but it's still so hard to go through, especially to watch.

I've now seen firsthand both of my grandfather's gradual decline to the end, and it is one of the hardest things I have ever done. It's such a strange feeling to watch this. On one hand, I am fortunate and thankful that I was in my late 20s until my grandparents started to pass away because I was able to get to know them; however, sometimes I think it would have been easier if I was younger because the pain of seeing them suffer is sometimes unbearable to think about.

I saw this when my Grandpa Bennie passed in October, but it has been this experience with Grandpa Jim where it has all come full circle for me - it is amazing how the end of life is so much like the beginning of life, but while the beginning is full of joy and excitement, the end is full of sadness and heartbreak. Just like a newborn, there is a diaper, someone watching over you at all times, checking how much liquid you drank, and basically making sure you are comfortable because you really can't speak for yourself. It is incredibly ironic.

While this has been incredibly difficult, it has definitely helped me to appreciate life and prepared me to someday help my parents, which is not something I really want to think about, but that's life!

Grandpa Jim during World War II

Baking Blog

Click on the pic above to check out my baking projects. Most have been on here already, but they are so delicious! Even to look at!

I'm going to be posting them all throughout the next few weeks, so keep checking back!

I am so tired!

Literally. Tired.

Everyday, I come home with intentions to blog, but by the time I take care of the dogs, check in on facebook and google reader, I pretty much have no energy left for much. Poor Josh hasn't gotten a home-cooked meal in about two weeks. But that is actually working out well for him. He's on a diet and working out everyday, and has lost 17 pounds in the last 2 months!!

It's been an exhausting three weeks since I started work. Mentally and physically. But it has been really awesome! I have been busy the entire time, and learning so much. I am so incredibly thankful to have this job!

Last weekend we went to Ft. Stockton to visit with the in-laws, which that trip is exhausting by itself. It was a pretty good visit, and I picked up some cute things from the local stores.

These next 4 weekends are already booked and going to be very busy. I hope that I can get through it all in one piece!!