Oh the drama that is Christmas Cards!

Last year I discovered a love for picture Christmas cards! Why? Because I don't have to write anything, I can just shove them in an envelope and address them and off they go! It suddenly became a no-brainer for me. (I know, I'm so lazy). So I was pretty excited to randomly take a picture I thought would be perfect for this years Christmas card. We happened to take the pic while we were en route to Grand Junction for Black Friday shopping and my sister in law Karen suggested pulling over and taking a pic of me and Greg since the back ground was just so pretty. Greg and my brother were following behind us so they didn't know what our plan was when we pulled over. Which is a good thing, otherwise Greg would have said to just keep going! So we took several pics and this is the one that I used on our Christmas cards.



I do wish that Greg would have been wearing his jacket too since I'm all bundled up and he's not, but what can I do? Well, that was mild in comparison to what happened next. Off to Wal-Mart I went to download our pics and find the "perfect" Christmas background. Then I wrote a cute little message in red writing. Everything looked great on the computer. Hmmm....well, something happened from the computer to the printers. When my cards finally arrived I was so excited I just glanced at them in the store but didn't really pay attention to them.

The next day I settled down to start enveloping them when I noticed that my message in the red writing was barley visible. And I'm not being a drama queen. I'm serious. So much for my not having to write anything plan. My cards sat on our table for a week while I tried to come up with a way to solve the problem. I finally broke down and wrote "Can you find our hidden message" on the back of each stinkin' card. I wasn't too happy about it but I figured what was a gal to do? And just FYI, my husband thinks to this day that I'm on drugs or something because he can't see the "hidden message" at all!

So on Tuesday I went to my friend Christina's house to watch a movie and our card was laying on her coffee table. She told me it drove her crazy trying to find our message but that her husband finally figured it out. (And then afterwards he wasn't very impressed. Like I said, I didn't do this on purpose!) So I thought, "Cool, people will figure it out!"

Then, last night, I get an email from a cousin with "Hidden Message" in the subject line. I thought, OK, either she found it, or she didn't and it's driving her crazy! So I open it, and all it says is, "when is the baby due?" Oh. My. God. Here is what quickly went through my head: "Am I really that fat?", "Is it because of my coat?", "Am I really that fat?", "What is EVERYONE ELSE going to think?", "Am I really that fat?"

I convinced myself that it was just the phrase "hidden message" and the fact that I was wearing a coat and Greg wasn't as to why she would think this. But of course I quickly got online and IM'd my sister (who as I suspected was online) to see if she got my card yet. And of course, thanks to the mysteries that surround the US Postal Service, she for some reason had not received hers yet, although my cousin lives further away. So unfortunately she wasn't able to voice her opinion as to if I looked pregnant. (Of course she did write, "have you really put on that much weight?" *sigh*)

So I fell asleep last night with visions of all the "Congratulations" emails I'd be receiving today. And of course when I told Greg the story this morning he said, "Well, that means my family is probably going to think the same thing. You know how bad my dad wants a grand child."

I was so thankful this morning when two of my aunts emailed to tell me that they found my hidden message! And I have yet to have anyone ask me today when the baby is due. But had I known that this little "hidden message" business would have drawn people to the conclusion that I was with child I would have just broke down and actually wrote on "real" Christmas cards. So there you have it! I'm officially not pregnant! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

p.s. I'm so not mad at my cousin. Because I can at least appreciate the great blog material she gave me! ;)

Who, me?

So I stumbled upon this cool website called typealyzer that can figure out what your personality is based on your blog. So I figured what the heck and that I'd give it a shot. Here is what it said about me:
The Performers
The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions

Hmmmm....let me think about this. First of all, the fact that it calls me a Performer? Well, I did minor in Theatre in college and love performing! Check!
I am a very visual person and I love home decor and color and smells! Check!
I do tend to live in my own little world. I've had many people tell me this. Check!
I like to help people to the best of my ability. In fact, my very first major was in counseling. Check!
And do I avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation? Check, Check, Check!

Although I do have to disagree with two things. As much as I love living in my own "bubble" I am such a planner. In fact, my "to do" list for tomorrow is sitting right beside me. And I think I'd make a pretty good manager as long as people do things my way ;)

So, to all my blogger friends, you should analyze your blog as well! I'm curious to see what type of friends I have!

Are you kidding me?

I'm sick. I've been dealing with this crap since Sunday. And it's nothing too drastically bad, but it's annoying. One minute my nose is running, the next minute I can't breathe. I'm coughing and my ears feel like they need to pop. When I talk, it's hard to breathe and I feel like I'm saying words funny. So today I broke down and went to the doctor. I have three GNO parties this week and a table at an all day Holiday Shopping Extravaganza on Sunday, so I really want to feel like a normal person. While I was there, I figured I'd also ask the doctor about a random red patch that showed up next to my mouth last Monday that is chapped and peeling. It doesn't hurt, it's just ugly and I want it to go away.

So after I waited in the doctors office for well over forty minutes past my appointment time, the old geezer finally walks in and asks some random questions that he plugs into the computer. He then looks in my ears, nose, and mouth and checks my heart beat. That was it. Maybe he glanced at the red spot next to my mouth while I was saying "AAAAHHHHHHH", who knows?

What does he prescribe me? Halls menthol cough drops for my throat and nose and Vaseline for the spot on my face.

Are you kidding me?????

The "Circus" is in Town!

And I CANNOT wait!

I'm So Thankful!

Greg and I had a GREAT Thanksgiving break! We headed out on Tuesday afternoon and were fortunate to spend the evening with our friend Nell who lives in Canon City. Canon City is located on Hwy. 50, so we did not go out of our way at all! On Wednesday we woke bright and early and continued our journey up to Rangley. We arrived mid afternoon and enjoyed visiting with my brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces throughout the evening.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. And I couldn't wait to eat! Most of my sister-in-laws family lives in Rangely so there was a good size crowd and LOTS OF FOOD! No wonder I love Thanksgiving! Karen (my sister-in-law) makes the best home made dressing and rolls! Yum-o! Karen was also hosting a book party for me with The Body Shop at Home so I set up a display of products so everyone could sample and smell. It was a big hit! I even recruited one of Karen's nieces to become a consultant!


After we ate David (my brother) took Greg and I on a short sight-seeing drive. Afterwards we were able to settle down for the evening with more visiting and we even tried to watch a movie.

Then came Black Friday! We all got up bright and early so we could make the one and a half hour drive to Grand Junction to spend the day. The drive there was beautiful! There was just enough of a light snowfall the night before to make everything pretty!




We hit the mall first and it was crowded, but I think that's part of the fun of Black Friday! I didn't buy anything, instead Greg and I took turns shopping with each of our nieces so they could buy each others Christmas presents as well as birthday presents for their mom. Once everyone had shopped til they dropped, we cruised on over to Famous Dave's for some tasty bar-b-que! (This Southern gal never turns down a bar-b-que dinner!) It wasn't quite as tasty as my hubby's bar-b-que, but then again, maybe I'm just a little biased. ;) From their the gals went to some cute downtown boutiques and then we all met up again at a Christmas craft fair where Greg and I took this cute pic with our nieces Emily and Braylee. They are just too precious!



After the craft fair we headed on over to the movie theatre where we watched "Four Christmases". And let me tell ya, that movie did not disappoint! It was knee-slappin' hilarious! Greg and I actually want to go to the movies and watch it again. It's that funny. I guess it doesn't help that I love Reese Witherspoon and Greg loves Vince Vaughn. It was a two thumbs up for me!

The movies were followed by a quick trip to the pet store (just for fun!) and to a sporting goods store. Afterwards, everyone was tired so we headed back to Rangely and capped the night off with some yummy Thanksgiving leftovers!

We left around noon on Saturday afternoon and we decided to take a different route back to Lamar. We thought it would have been fun to take I-70 into Denver and spend the evening there. Oh if only I had a magic crystal ball.....

Shortly after we passed Glenwood Springs we got stopped in traffic for over two hours. It was horrible. And the reason was because the interstate has two separate roads, the road for the westbound traffic is slightly higher on the mountain than the eastbound road. Well, a semi went over the westbound highway and lets just say there was a major wreck.

From where we were parked we couldn't see any of this. But, the guy parked next to us happened to be a wrecker on his way to Denver so he was able to talk to the wreckers to find out what was going on. He did tell us that there was one fatality, which was really sad. I'm not sure what time the wreck happened but it must have happened shortly before we got there, because a guy from the Department of Transportation made everyone crunch in together so wreckers and ambulances could get through. We happened to stop before the accident to get lunch and fill up on diesel, so it really made me think, "that could have been us".

As if that wasn't enough, after we were finally able to get back on the road, about an hour later we were driving through the town of Avon. I was telling Greg a story about how much I hated that town because of an experience my sister and I had when I was driving through it several years ago. Not two minutes later, the next thing I know we were lost control of our truck and were sliding over both lanes of traffic. We ended up in the meridian and I just knew we were headed straight into the oncoming traffic on the other side. I freaked out! Luckily Greg manages to stay calm in the most stressful of situations so he clicked it into 4 wheel drive and asked (um, yelled) for me to tell him when the lane was clear. He knew if we stopped we'd be stuck. Somehow we got back on the road safe and sound. How we didn't hit anything is beyond me.

Unfortunately, things didn't get any better from there. I was pretty shook up about the whole near death experience and I was ready to just call it a night. Even though technically we had only driven three hours. But Greg insisted that the roads would be worse in the morning. I glanced at the map and noticed that we had to go over Vail Pass, so I called David to see how dangerous the pass was. (Greg warned me before I called not to tell him that we almost died, because according to him everything was peachy keen). So I kept the drama queen inside of me in check and my brother said the same thing that Greg did and that we should really make it to Denver. *Sigh* There's really nothing like the feeling one gets when one is driving down an icy road on a mountain in the dark. To say that it sucked would be putting it mildly. And of course my stomach was in knots from our near death experience, so I really had to pee. Like, bad. But, before we could exit at the next town, wouldn't you know, we get stuck in traffic. Again. This time we were at a stop for an hour and then it turned into a slow crawl. All I could see were red lights from the other cars brake lights. I have never considered peeing in a cup so bad in my life. How I held it is beyond me. Men are so lucky.

Needless to say, we never quite made it to Denver. Around 9:00 P.M. I knew we were approaching a hotel that we had stayed at back in April, so I convinced Greg to just stay there. We were tired and hungry. Not even the brand new Irish Pub with delicious potato and onion soup could revive us, so off to bed we went.

Sunday wasn't much better. The roads were extremely foggy until we got into Denver. (We were only fifteen miles away). The roads in Denver were wet but very easy to manage. That is, until we got past the airport. Then we were greeted yet again by icy roads. Luckily, we knew how what to do, so no damage was done! It did take us about an hour to drive maybe twenty miles. But after that, the roads were miraculously clear and dry! However, the wind speeds decided to reach 60 mph, so we had to laugh at all the tumbleweeds that crossed our path! I swear, I've never seen so many tumbleweeds in my life until I moved to Colorado! Who would have thought!

To sum it all up, normally if someone were to ask me what I'm thankful for around this time of year, I would say the normal things: good health, friends, family, blah, blah, blah. This year, however, I'm so thankful that we have not been in a car wreck!!!!

Never Say Never

As I mentioned earlier, Greg and I went to Pueblo this weekend! We have had this weekends trip planned for a little over a month. And the main reason we were going was because we heard that Gordon's Jewelry was having a huge platinum trunk show that day. My wedding ring is platinum and my wedding band was purchased separately and when we bought it, we bought it in white gold, not knowing that you have to get white gold jewelry re-dipped to keep it from looking yellow. To me it was very obvious that both rings were made out of different metal so we've been on the hunt for a new platinum band for awhile now. When we went to Pueblo about a month ago we learned about this show and so we made plans to attend. I also desperately needed to get my ring re-sized, so I have been "single" for this past month by not wearing either ring so my finger could go back to it's normal shape.

We arrived at Gordons just minutes before they opened their doors and I was soon so disappointed to discover that they didn't bring any platinum wedding bands. But, luckily a sales lady decided to show us some of their white gold wedding sets and said that we could order them in platinum. I was determined to walk away with a ring that day so I wasn't thrilled about the idea of ordering rings but I figured I'd humor the lady and have a look-see anyway.

Now, there have been several times when Greg has asked me if I would ever just want to upgrade my ring. And I always said, "Absolutely not!". To me, that ring symbolized our past and who we were at that time. That is.....until I saw this:











let's just say, "never say never". At first I considered just ordering the wrap in platinum to go with my ring. But the more we stared at the beautiful solitaire ring along with the wrap mine just seemed to fail in comparison. I had never seen or heard of black diamonds before and I love to wear things that are different so this was right up my alley. And the deciding factor was that they offered us a trade in on my platinum ring that was well over one and a half times what Greg originally paid for it! Of course before we made up our minds completely we walked away so we could think logically. I even called my sister since she used to work in a jewelry store and told her everything and she said it sounded like a great deal!

So now I have an absolutely gorgeous rock on my finger and I seriously feel like I'm newly engaged all over again. I can't stop staring at it! And remember that white gold wedding band I was wanting to replace? Well, they were only going to give us a $200 trade in for it, so we re-sized it so I could wear it on my right hand. So at least I still have some of our original wedding set!

And get this. I mentioned that I had been needing to get my ring resized for awhile now. Well, I had her tell me what size my old ring was and it was a 5 1/4. Guess what my new ring size is? 7! No wonder it was a struggle to get that ring on and off! And since my new rings fit so much better, I'm determined to listen to what my sister preaches to me, and I've been taking it off when I shower, sleep, clean, wash dishes, etc.

As if my Saturday couldn't have got any better, I even bought a new coat! I absolutely love coats! Seriously! But, if you've been a faithful blog reader, you know I do have issues when it comes to shopping (I know you're all rolling your eyes). But I literally haven't bought a new coat since my freshmen year of college. (OK, in retrospect, I did buy a denim jacket and a corduroy jacket, but they were both from Harolds while I worked there so I'm pretty sure I paid next to nothing for them!) And Greg absolutely hated my heavy winter coat because he thought it was ugly. So....this is my gorgeous new coat!

It's from the Jessica Simpson collection (I absolutely heart her and her clothing line!) And I love it because it has two different looks! If I don't have the top button buttoned, then the collar is more of your traditional collar. It is soooooo super adorable! But, I have to admit, (hopefully Greg doesn't read this) I am beginning to have a tad bit of buyers remorse over this. In the store it was a toss up between this and a cute white down coat. But, of course, I chose this one because it's dressier and more unique, which is more my style. But, after wearing it last night, I'm realizing that the bell sleeves are not all that warm. So, I'm trying to decide if I want to exchange it for the coat that is warmer and not so original.

Moving on to other subjects, I am super excited for what the rest of my week has in store! Greg is going to try super hard to get off work a little early tomorrow, which will mark the start of our Thanksgiving Vacation! We are going to Canon City to stay the night at Warren and Nell's house, and then on Wednesday morning we will be waking up and continuing our journey on up to Rangely to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and his family! I have not spent a holiday with them since they moved to Colorado way back in the early 90's. I honestly cannot wait and I'm sure I'll have a nice blog post all about that when I get back next week!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I got a Face Lift

Well, not technically me, but my blog did! Thanks to my sister for clueing me into www.thecutestblogontheblock.com I have been wondering how some of my friends manage to have the cutest blog backgrounds! And now I know. So (of course) I decked mine out for Christmas! And for your listening pleasure I've added one of my all time favorite Christmas songs! Enjoy!!! P.S. We're going to Pueblo for the weekend! Hopefully I'll have some awesome purchases to blog about on Monday!