Holiday Season

Well holiday season is in full swing, both in retail store and outside.  Unfortunately not in our household yet.  Usually the day after Thanksgiving I am busy pulling out all of the christmas stuff and setting up the tree but his year my weekend was jam packed with work.  So our Christmas stuff will have to wait until this coming Saturday when I actually have a day off work.

So in the spirit of the season we did some black friday shopping.  My brave husband went out Thursday night to a couple places hoping to get a few things.  He did pick up some stuff but not what we were looking for.  Unfortunately one store had a hard time keeping people from making purchases on items that were not suppose to go on sale until later in the evening.  After he braved the crowds Thursday evening we went back out Friday morning.  Nothing crazy like 5am or anything.  We got up around 7am and probably left the house around 8am and got to the stores and it wasn't too crowded or long lines.  We were just searching for deals and if they had what we were looking for we got it, if not no big deal.  I am not about to punch someone to get an item on sale.  We did get some amazing deals.  I think the best deal we scored was getting a custom frame ordered through Michael's for 75% off.  Custom framing is so expensive we couldn't pass this deal up and saved a ton on it.  Also added to our dvd and blu ray collection, pretty much finished christmas shopping(only a couple more people on our list) and even got a few things to help my photography business(a couple larger memory cards and photoshop).

Outside winter has fully set in and has given Grand Forks a holiday look with snow and cold.  Two days prior to Thanksgiving we had temperatures getting up into the 50s and then on Thanksgiving it started to snow and we have had snow showers every day since.  I think the snow is here to stay for the season.  Not necessarily a bad thing because Alexis loves the snow, but it's the temperature in the teens that make it not fun to go outside in.

So here is to a wonderful holiday season!

Thanksgiving

Since I doubt I will be posting tomorrow.  Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  We are not doing anything special for Thanksgiving.  It will be just the three of us.  It will be nice to spend a whole day as a family and not worry about work or anything like that.

Black Friday will be another story.  Although I am not much of a shopper, I know we will be heading out in the morning to catch some deals, basically whatever is left.  We are not looking for big ticket items this year.  Basically we will go to Best Buy and see what DVDs and Blu Rays they have on sale(they usually have great deals) and then maybe see about small appliances(bread maker and crock pot).  I do have to work Black Friday.  Ahh, working in retail during the holiday season.  I know TJ Maxx will not be like all the other stores, but I do know it will be busy and messy and just all out crazy.  Unsure if people wait outside TJ Maxx for it to open on Black Friday, but they do on Saturday and Sundays so why not on a big shopping day such as Black Friday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.  So here's to a wonderful day with my wonderful family.

Photo Card

Merry Little Tree Christmas

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Birthday

Well today is my birthday!  Yup, I am turning 29.  I guess 29 isn't really a magic number when it comes to birthdays.  I mean I could go around saying I have entered the last year of my 20s.  But for me I am not completely oppressed with age and some people seem to be.  Will I be a little dumbfounded when I turn 30, probably but only because where my life is and how blessed I am and the fact that I cannot believe everything that I have done with my life up to that point.

I have never really been big on birthdays.  Never had big huge celebrations and honestly I never really needed a big sweet 16 party or anything special.  My parents always made sure I had great birthdays and made them all special even celebrating milestones.  My parents had decided when my older sister was nearing the age of 21 that since we didn't get anything by way of a sweet 16 or even much at 18 that when each of us turned 21 they would take us to Las Vegas and let me say that was a great trip.  By the time my little sister turned 21 we were all able to go and celebrate with her which I think made her birthday even more special.  Also it was a special time because that is when my husband proposed to me.

I love having the small traditions like that for birthdays.  Going some place special for the day, or making sure you do something special on a milestone birthday.  Even though my daughter is only three I am thinking about and wondering what milestone birthday we will do something extra special for.  I like the idea of going to Vegas for your 21st birthday.  Las Vegas is a great time and when you are 21 and go to vegas you are able to do it all, drink, gamble and just have fun.  Plus there is a lot to do and see there, shows, tourist things and of course there is food.  If you want a place to go eat, you cannot swing a cat without hitting a buffet in Las Vegas.

For this birthday I am keeping it low key.  Alexis still has a cold and cough so we will just be hanging around the house.  I do have to Thanksgiving grocery shopping to get done, maybe spending the gift card to payless I got from my parents.  (yay I get new shoes for work).  Maybe a quick stop at the Humane Society(or doggy cave as Alexis likes to call it).

So here's to a great birthday!

Imagination Library

If you have never heard of the Imagination Library and have kids under the age of five I encourage you to check it out.  It's an amazing organization founded by Dolly Parton.  The basics of the program is from birth to age five when you register your child you child will get sent a free book every month until the age of five.  How can you not love that.  If your kids are anything like my daughter they will love getting mail and love that it's a book.  I bring all of this up because in the mail yesterday was her newest book from Imagination Library.  They pick books pertaining to the child's age so you do not have to worry about getting complicated books for your younger child.  When our book for the month arrives in the mail we spend the rest of the day, and usually a few days following reading it over and over again.

I was lucky enough to have this program pointed out to me by a really great friend.  So now I want to share it with everyone.  If you have kids under the age of five or are still pregnant please check this organization out.  Just visit their website at www.imaginationlibrary.com.  You will have to see if they have one in your area.  Usually it is sponsored by another organization in your town.  For Grand Forks, our United Way is the sponsor and sends the books out.  If you find you do not have an Imagination Library base in your town I am sure the website will advise you on how to get one.  It is a wonderful program and I am thankful my friend mentioned it to me when it came to Grand Forks.

Here's to many more books in the mail and lots of reading!

Not as bad

So I was expecting the idea of having to try and avoid this cycle to be exceptionally hard.  But due to other things, it hasn't been that hard.  Unfortunately the reason for this because illness going through our family.  Started with Alexis having a stuffy nose, which when she gets sick she really doesn't let it get her down.  I just get to run around all day with a tissue making sure I wipe her nose all the time.

The of course I come down with a stuffy nose and on Sunday I felt like total and utter garbage and ended up losing my voice.  Let me tell you spending 9 hours at work feeling like garbage and losing your voice is not an ideal situation.  By Monday morning I felt better but I sounded like an old man.  Thankfully I was able to get the two photo sessions I had booked done.  Yesterday my voice was going in and out but at work I register trained two new people so I did a lot of talking and by the end of the night my voice was going again.  This morning is the same as yesterday, voice just going in and out, we will see how it holds up all day, including at work.

Yesterday my husband informs me that he is starting to feel sick.  He mentioned feeling achy and all that so I am concerned he might be getting the flu, but he doesn't seem to want to take a day off work because he had got a lot on his plate so I hope his hectic schedule doesn't make him worse .

So needless to say neither of us have been anxious for trips to funkytown.  We are just happy enough to get sleep.  So here is to a healthy family again.

Support

I love having friends that are a wonderful support system.  When we first moved to North Dakota I didn't know anyone.  I would just take Alexis to the park and we would keep to ourselves.  Since moving into our house a year and a half ago I have managed to make some wonderful friends and find a great support system.

I am happy to be a part of a wonderful group of moms. MOPs(Mom's of Preschoolers) is such a great group.  I have met some wonderful ladies and I now Alexis has really come to her own and loves meeting new kids and really enjoys the time to play and learn.  Last year we went to a couple meetings and Alexis was still unsure about leaving me and she would prefer to stay with me at the meetings.  This year I am so happy that she is starting to get use to not having me around all the time.  She loves going to MOPPETS and is so excited to see me when I come and get her.  She likes to show me what they made and she talks about what they did while I talk with other mommies.  I love knowing that she is social and really can handle things without me.  I also love having that time to be around other adults and have uninterrupted conversation.  The support you get from a group like MOPs is unbeatable.  Having this group of women also clams my nerves and fears about having another baby.  My biggest fear is being overwhelmed with it all.  Then I see how these women come together to help each other when someone is in need and I know that I will be able to count on them if I ever need anything.

I hope to be a part of this group in some form for a long time.

Here's to the wonderful support system I have found and hope everyone finds a great support system somewhere in life.

When the Husbands away..

I have no time to do anything.  I was going to update several days ago and then just got bogged down with this.  My DH went away for a conference so I have been busy keeping DD busy.  I did get a lot done, but at the same time I got nothing done.  I had photo shoots, thursday, friday, saturday and sunday which was nice. (I am thinking about creating a separate blog for my photography so stay tuned).

Well to give a quick update AF arrived on Thursday.  I was disappointed but at the same time it was nice to know that my cycle was shorter this time then last.  It's getting closer to what 'normal' was for me because taking BCP.  With the way dates work out and everything we will be taking this cycle off.  Which actually could prove to be a good thing and hopefully my cycle will shorten again, and maybe go back to 'normal'.

One of my friends had her little girl this weekend.  I had the pleasure of going to the hospital and taking some pictures.  It's nice that some of my friends around here are having babies because then DD could get use to being around babies so she will be familiar when the time comes.  At the hospital yesterday she was so good.  She was quiet and didn't touch and listened very well.  She did inform me that she has a baby sister, a pretend one.  Unsure if that means she is now starting to have imaginary friends so that she just sees her friends having siblings so she doesn't want to feel left out.  Either way I thought it was kind of cute.

I go back to work tonight after having five days off.  It was nice to have the time off but I am looking forward to getting back to work.

Here is to a smooth night at work.