a taste of spring...

The weather this weekend was gorgeous...
low 60s & sunny both yesterday & today

I heard the birds out singing,

noticed my crocus blooming,

my tulips, hyacinths, & daffodils peeking out of the ground,

it's staying light out past 5:30 p.m.

Spring is indeed coming...hooray!

picture perfect...

that just about sums up our weekend.

I was off and we were in town both Saturday & Sunday for the first time in 5 weeks.

It's amazing how I have been missing the little things I love about the weekend.

It was good to get to enjoy those things this weekend, especially since the weather was awesome (finally!)...

sleeping in even if it was only 'til 8:00,

cooking breakfast for Chris & I,

walks with Sadie in the Duke Forest,

catching up on laundry,

going to church today,

enjoying lunch with friends after church,

finishing John Grisham's latest, Ford County,

reading more of C.S. Lewis' The Four Loves,

sewing,

time for blogging,

watching a movie with Chris,

going for an afternoon jog,

just relaxing in general...

feeling rested & ready for the week ahead!

official

It's official...

our house is for sale.

The sign went up Friday night.

We just got a call that we have a showing tomorrow at 1 pm.

As excited as we are for this new stage in our lives,

I am not looking forward to giving up our home.

We love our home!

It's unique & fun.

We have made so many memories here...

It will always be our 1st real home.

It's a bittersweet thing...

not looking forward to packing up the house,

moving things to a new place,

getting re-organized all over again,

being renters again...

Oh well, a home is what you make it...

I'll be blessed to have a roof over my head and my family at my side.

That's what will make our new abode our home!

will it ever stop?

These have come in handy for the last month...

It's been raining AGAIN today...

if it's not rain, it's SNOW!

I'm ready for the sunny days of spring!

skiing

We've been back from skiing in CO for over a week now & I still can't get over how fun it was.
Copper Mountain is absolutely beautiful.

The Rockies are absolutely breathtaking...

It snowed 5 out of the 6 days we were there...the biggest, most beautiful snowflakes I've ever seen!

We had such a blast!

It was my 1st time ever skiing, even though it has always been on my "bucket list"...

i was scared & intimitated at 1st,

never got used to just how heavy the ski boots are,

finally got the hang of it all about day 3,

was cruising the green slopes on day 4,

came home sore and with a few bruises, but no broken bones!

We spent 2 evenings tubing down the Coca Cola tubing hill...what fun.

I laughed the whole time like a small child!

So glad I at least tried it.

Even more glad that I loved it!

snow, snow, snow

Over the weekend we got 7 inches of snow!

I have never had to deal with this much snow on the ground.

I've seen this much snow on the ground from a distance, but that's about it.

Normally, I wouldn't have minded a weekend full of snow, but I had to work.

So, I spent Friday & Saturday nights in a hotel across the street from Duke with my co-workers so we could all safely get to work Saturday & Sunday mornings.

Being snowed-in at a hotel with your co-workers isn't the same as being snowed-in with your husband and sweet dog by the fire at home (not saying it's not fun, just not the same!).

Luckily, the roads from our house to Duke were plowed on Sunday so Chris was able to retrieve me from work Sunday night so I could come back home.

The snow was/is beautiful...we still have probably 5 inches on the ground in our yard.

It made for some pretty pictures...

This morning we're off to Colorado where we hear there is over 2 feet of snow!

Perfect for our mission...skiing!

deals

I love a good deal!

Check out my new fun shoes...

$8.48 on clearance at Target!

I made a Kroger run today & also found some great deals.

When you buy 10 participating items you get $5 off your total purchase.

I ended up buying 20 participating items to get $10 off...

On top of that, I had coupons for some stuff, so for instance...

Hunts canned diced tomatoes were $.49 if you bought them as part of the participating item sale.

I LOVE Hunts canned tomatoes. I use them a LOT!

I had 2 coupons for them...$.45 off of 3 & $1 off of 4.

With Kroger doubling the $.45 coupon, I got 7 cans of Hunts tomatoes for $1.53!!!

Can't beat that...

I LOVE SAVING $$$!

Queen Fest 2010

(At last I return from my blog hiatus!)

Mom, Cheri, Sissy, Jennifer & I enjoyed the long weekend at Hilton Head, S.C.

For many years my mom, Sissy, and Peppes had a tradition of going for a girls weekend.

This year, Sissy & mom invited all of us "other girls" to come along.

We missed having Abbey along but she was with us in spirit!

We had a great time eating out, shopping (lots & lots!), indulging in chocolate fondue, laughing, playing games, and recalling memories of Peppes.

Here are a couple of pictures from our "Queen Fest"...

don't forget...

Don't forget that you can recycle the front of your Christmas cards by sending them to:

St. Jude's Ranch for Children

Recycled Card Program

100 St. Jude's Street

Boulder City, NV 89005

They allow the children to reconstruct them into new cards for various ocassions...what a good idea!

Christmas recap

Sadly, Christmas is over ...

Overall, we had a great Christmas.

It was so wonderful to visit with our families and friends for an entire week.

We were blessed with such lovely gifts from friends and family.

I can't name everything, but here's a quick run down of some new fun things I have...

*an FM transmitter so I can play my iPod in the car :-)

*the newest John Grisham & Dan Brown books

*adorable shirts and sweaters with ruffles & fun embelishments

*polka dot rain boots

*a beautiful cake plate

*The Pioneer Woman cookbook (love all the pictures!)

*a memory foam pillow (it's awesome!)

*a super adorable personalized picnic basket

*a mini-felt owl handmade by Lyndsey (I'm using as a keychain :-))

*a subscription to Food Network magazine

*ski gloves and ear muffs for my upcoming 1st ski vacation!!!

*a ski jacket

*AND...last, but definitely not least...

a pair of diamond solitaire earrings from my sweet husband

(he's such a dear)

We got back Thursday afternoon and I went back to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so I have yet to upload any Christmas photos but plan to do so soon.

Now, it's back to "reality" again...

Christmas memories.

This will be the 1st Christmas without Peppes.

I know it's going to be a day filled with varying emotions for each of us.

We miss her so much, so much more than I can say.

I think of her on a daily basis.

Like when I...

*put on my Clinique makeup every morning

(Clinique was the only makeup she wore)

*make a banana sandwich

(it's because of her that I love them so much)

*fry an egg

(she taught me how to fry them the "Peppes" way)

*finish a good book and want to tell someone about it

(we shared a love of reading)

*see anything with a lighthouse on it

(another love we shared)

*drive past a library

*open my mailbox knowing that there won't be a "Peppes letter"

*sing her favorite hymns in church

*cook her Spanish rice

(it never tastes quite as good as hers did)

*play the piano

(a love for music-something else we had in common)

I will miss her presence at Christmas but am glad that we have memories of Christmas' past with her to reflect on...

*Christmas mornings with Peppes & Pop coming over to see what Santa brought

* her unique way of wrapping gifts

*the "big bulb" Christmas lights she strung on the fence outside

*Peppes' annual "memory gift"

More than ever, this Christmas will be about being with family, sharing Christmas memories, creating new Christmas traditions, and remembering the real reason for the season.

Christmas card

Our 2009 Christmas card...

I love it!

great giveaways.

There are more wonderful giveaways going on at PinkNothings blog!

I've won 2 great things from here so far (Skin MD lotion (it's great!) & a set of Days Ago timers (love them too!)).

Right now you can win several things from here, but my favorites are the Sleepyhead pajamas and the Crabtree Handbag giveaways.

What's better to a girl than a new pair of pj's & a new purse?

Check out all of the entry rules and deadlines at PinkNothings.

Thanks ladies for more great giveaway items!

exciting!

I can finally share my exciting news!

(NO, it's NOT about BABIES YET...)

I have officially accepted a position as a Clinical Instructor (C.I.) for the

Duke School of Nursing in the spring semester!!!

This is the "opportunity" that I mentioned a few weeks ago.

If you recall, I had applied for this position last fall and again last spring and both times never heard anything after submitting my application.

Needless to say, I gave up!

A few weeks ago, I was in the breakroom at work doing some work on policies and procedures and in walks a friend of mine (Penni) who's a C.I. for the school and her boss (Kathy).

Penni introduced me to Kathy who on the spot offerred me a job for the spring.

I let her know that we were moving and I could only fulfill the role for 1 semester.

I think I was in shock for the next few days...

This spring is going to be so busy for us with Chris & I both preparing to graduate and move to Nashville.

I had so many doubts and insecurities about taking on another thing.

Chris & I talked about it,

Chris encouraged me,

I prayed about it,

all the while knowing God had this in store for me all along.

This opportunity will only be possible because I have the most wonderfully supportive boss in the world.

She is willing to let me drop my status to 2 days/week so I can continue working for her while taking on my new role!

There aren't many bosses like her...thanks Joey!

I sent Kathy my resume soon after and that set the ball rolling...

I got the official offer earlier this week,

accepted it,

sent in my payroll papers today,

and will officially sign my name on the dotted line next week!

What a crazy semester it's going to be...

Mondays- 10 hours of preceptorship for my final class

Tuesdays- C.I. duties or preceptorship

Wednesdays- C.I. duties

Thursdays- work

Friday- work

weekend- try to relax, catch-up on things

whew!

I'm so excited about my new position and the opportunity to try something new!

December!

Where November went I don't know, but December is here meaning it's only 22 days until Christmas!

Time sure does fly!

We have our tree up and the majority of the decorations out.

We had hoped to put up our icicle lights on Saturday, but with highs in the 40s & a prediction of rain turning to snow (that's right...SNOW), I don't think that's going to happen.
No sweat...that's my motto for myself this holiday season!

If it doesn't get done, it doesn't get done and that's OK.

We are hoping to finish up our Christmas shopping this weekend despite the weather.

Then I can start wrapping gifts with my beautiful papers thanks to Hobby Lobby (had to make a trip there over Thanksgiving to get some)!

Bring on more Christmas fun!