RECAP of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! Christmas Eve found me out and about early in the morning (5:00 a.m.!). I did my Christmas dinner shopping when there were no lines! I then made my way to do some last minute stocking stuffer shopping. I also wanted to make sure I bought my Grandma G and hunny bunny's dad a gift (hint: Go Bronco's!!). With all that finished came home and we started on the house (is it not amazing how messy it can get in a few days!!!). Later that night we went to Chili's for dinner (yummy!!!...there Chocolate Molten Cake is "to die for!!"). We came home and got ready to see the girls first Broadway Show!!! It was "White Christmas". We dressed up and celebrated Christmas Eve at the theater! We then came home and opened our one gift (it is usually 2 but the show was one of their gifts!) and put on our pj's and took pictures! Good Times!! wow!!! Christmas is over! Wow!! It feels like Thanksgiving was yesterday! Where did the time go!! It was a cold and snowy day (but it sure was beautiful!!!). It snowed most of the day and i stressed over our parents and them driving here. *sighy* We went out earlier in the day to give my cousin her Christmas gift and the roads were horrible!!! I must confess it was a "little" fun driving in the snow!! We were all starving so we stopped by 7-11 (the only store opened!!!) and had a soda and nachos!!!! They were yummy and it was fun driving in the yellow cab/van, in the snow, eating nachos, listening to Mariah Carey and being with eachother!!! Good times!!! Later in the day out parents came over and we had a real yummy dinner. It was good to have everyone over (even if i was feeling some holiday blues). We opened gifts later and the girls received lots of clothes and the Grandpa's gave the girls a total of $800.00 cash!!! WOW!!! Grandpa Burgess gave them $300.00 and Grandpa Griego $500.00!!!! EACH!!!!!! It was fun watching them both give their gifts to the girls!!! The girls were thrilled and soooo excited! Grandpa and Grandma then taught us how to play a fun card game and it was so much fun watching then interact (who knew they were so competitive!!!). We will have to try the game again (and hopefully no fist fighting will occur...teeeehehehehe). They made it home safely (we were worried because of the snow and bad roads!! It was a wonderful Christmas and i am so glad the weather did not ruin it (or my blues....). I hope all of you had a wonderful 2 days with lots of incredible memories and tons of pictures!

Merry Christmas to All!!!! Well...yesterday was a very busy and good day (i will update on it more later...). Today our parents are coming over for Christmas Dinner and we will be enjoying yummy (at least i hope...) Prime Rib, baked potatoes, veggies, stuffing salad and lots of sweets!! This morning the girls and hunny bunny will get there "stockings". We are also hoping to get some gifts delivered before noon (hopefully) and last but not least...we are going to have a WHITE CHRISTMAS (just like the Broadway show we saw last night!!). So have a blessed and wonderful Christmas!!

wow!!! i did it...i had my first girls Christmas cookie exchange!!! it's over and it went really well (ok...my family says great but i am not real sure what great it for this type of event so....). Anyway, the stress is over, the anxiety put away and i can go forward. Isn't it amazing how freaky things can go when you step outside your comfort zone!! When you decide to do something and know it can flop but do it anyway!? When you leap and on the way down say...this is new territory so i guess i'll "wing it" on the way down!!! Yes, it is scary but somewhere on the way down it becomes exciting and fun! There comes a moment when you say "wow" did i really do this, did i really step off edge, decide to "go for it", LEAP????? and some small voice inside you answers, with wonder..."yes!!!". So what does a cookie exchange have to do with leaping? well...everything!!!! I am not that type of person; one who plans family get togethers. i think they are so wonderful and special and we will attend them but no plan them. So this year when i decided to try this it was a "LEAP" and an "outside the box" thought. I talked with my family and they supported me (don't you just love family!!! they are there when you decide to take the LEAP. they are waiting at the bottom with warm cocoa and words of encouragement!! yep...love them! ok...i digress... i am glad i did this and i think one of my 2008 resolutions will include LEAPING more!!!!

2 more from my Christmas Journal

9...Christmas Traditions

7...To Do List

Today we made cookies. Yummy!!! The girls and I did some our holiday baking (i forgot my lemons so we will have to make those cookies next week....). This year we made Peanut Butter Blossoms (those famous peanut butter cookies with the kiss in the middle) and Cherry Rum Balls (with rum and wow!!! they are potent!!!). I will post the recipes later (when i have more down time...teeehehehehe...like that ever happens!!).

I am sooo not prepared for out Cookie Exchange tomorrow. I still need to make a Spinach Dip (you know the kind you put in a bread bowl) and run by the store and get some plates and wrap for the cookies (this is so new to me so I will be learning lots as this progresses). We are also making ornaments so I will need to pack all the supplies for that! Fun Stuff!!!!

It is snowing so it is starting to feel like Christmas!!! I cannot believe Colorado weather! This morning (at 11:30 a.m.) the sun was shining and it was real windy and cold..this afternoon 4:00 p.m. it is grey and snowing!!! Only in Colorado (teeehehehe). I love it!!!!

Thursday Thirteen: 13 reasons to get your Christmas "stuff" done early!

1/ Less Stress!!!

2/ Less Stress!!
3/ Less Stress!!
4/ Less Stress!!
5/ Less Stress!!
6/ Less Stress!!
7/ Less Stress!!
8/ Less Stress!!
9/ Less Stress!!
10/Less Stress!!
11/Less Stress!!
12/Less Stress!!
13/Less Stress!!

Random Thoughts...

1/ Including today there are 6 more days before Christmas.

2/ I love shopping but I hate the mall!!!

3/ I am sitting here wondering where in the hades did this month go???

4/ Why did one of my peers up and leave (I have some thoughts but they are not random...teeehehehehe).

5/ We will be leaving in a few minutes to take Gigi to her friends for a holiday get together and then we are off to Chubby's for some yummy Mexican Food.

6/ 2 more year end reviews to write and i am done!!!! wahoooo!!!

7/ When will I get the time to buy my Mom her gift certificate (yes...i have done it...resorted to gift certificates!!!!)....shame...shame...

8/ why is she not answering her phone (i know she has caller ID). could it be related to a conversation we had on Monday??????

9/ i am liking these random though thingies....i will have to do them more in 2008/

10/ WHOA!!!! stop thinking about 2008...you are not even through Christmas yet!!!!

11/ who will be leaving this week on Project Runway???

12/ I need to call Angie...and it's time to leave!!! tehehehehehehe

more pages from the Christmas Journal...

Countdown

Christmas Past

Today I want to get to the mall and do some shopping. I need to figure out what to put in the Christmas stocking! This year I am drawing a blank!!! I usually have all the stocking stuffers down by now....sighy! So...maybe a trip to the mall will help me to figure out what I am going to fill them with. Candy, Cd's, make-up, gloves, little knick-knacks, jewelry...who knows!!! Boy it is hard to believe a week from today we will be celebrating Christmas! Wow!!!

Earlier today I found a fun site to send e-cards (this concept is real new to me!!). So I spent a few minutes sending some cards....teeehehehehe! I found them at myfuncards.com

This week i need to...
* figure out what cookies i am making for the cookie exchange
* figure out what i am cooking for the cookie exchange party
* make an ornament (for an example)
* make a desert for our potluck at work on Thursday
* wrap gifts
* plan the Christmas dinner menu
* figure out if Gigi's friends are coming over Saturday night and plan for that
* figure out if we all have black and silver for Christmas!

2 more from my Christmas 2008 Journal....

3...Christmas Cards


4...The Perfect Christmas

communication...

it is a love hate relationship...to communicate or not to communicate (when i say communicate i don't mean chit chat...we do that every day...). i think communication is essential to every relationship. i also think communication is a bittersweet thing...the truth and nothing but the truth (???)...please! the truth can set you free but it can also force you into places you do not want to go (dark places, places of illusions...). communication...it's like air to life...without it a relationship will perish. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow but there will be a point in that relationship where it will cease to be. How can it not? Going through life's journeys without expressing yourself, your inner thought, your deepest fears, your ugliest secrets, your incredible dreams???? How does one truly live if they do not share these things? Communication...it is such a vital part of humanity (how does one have a relationship with Christ if they cannot communicate??).

One is the sad things about communication is the ability to want to communicate, the desire to share yourself, the passion of wanting to have someone share them self with you and the sadness of knowing they will not do it. They will not share...they will not communicate (they can chit chat but they cannot communicate). This is such a frustrating and ugly place to be. You can try and try but they choose to put up walls...thick brick walls! You try to go over them, under them, through them and nothing...you think you have made some progress and BOOM! another brick, a thicker layer, more grout...anything and everything to keep the wall erect. Slowly the air is dissipating and weariness sets in (trying to get through walls is a very exhausting endeavor). What to do???

You can exist on the side of the wall. Wait for those rare moments when a drawbridge comes down. Wait for the times when you are allowed to "see" them (the time factor is determined strictly by the one behind the wall). Wait...wait and hope one day the walls will tumble down and the relationship can be flooded with communications (good, bad, angry, loving...it does not matter is is communication!!).

*sighy* Communication...to or not to?????

I signed up for the incredible Christmas Journal with Shimelle. It has been fun and challenging!!! I am not use to doing lots and lots of journaling so this is taking a little longest than I thought (i now know how much easier it is to put pictures on a lo and boom! it's done!!...it's the journaling that is the challenge for me!!!). Sooooooo...this has been doubly good forme! I decided to use Basic Grey (LOVE THEM!!!) for this projects and I am using 6x12 paper (love it!!). Here are my first 2 entries...

2/ Weather...

I found these on History. com... (some fun facts)

– Each year, 30-35 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States alone. There are 21,000 Christmas tree growers in the United States and trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.
– Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.
– In the Middle Ages, Christmas celebrations were rowdy and raucous—a lot like today's Mardi Gras parties.
– From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston, and law-breakers were fined five shillings.
– Christmas wasn't a holiday in early America—in fact Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the country's first Christmas under the new constitution.
– Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States on June 26, 1870.
– The first eggnog made in the United States was consumed in Captain John Smith's 1607 Jamestowns settlement.
– Poinsettia plants are named after Joel R. Poinsett, an American minister to Mexico, who brought the red-and-green plant from Mexico to America in 1828.
– The Salvation Army has been sending Santa Claus-clad donation collectors into the streets since the 1890s.
– Rudolph, "the most famous reindeer of all," was the product of Robert L. May's imagination in 1939. The copywriter wrote a poem about the reindeer to help lure customers into the Montgomery Ward department store.
– Construction workers started the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition in 1931.

Sunday Seven Blessings

1/ Family....I have an incredible family and I truly believe I am blessed to have each and everyone of the in my life. They "complete" me.
2/ Health...ok, I have not been feeling great lately but I still feel I am blessed to be able to function and enjoy life!
3/ Closeness...I am blessed to have my parents and in laws in the same state as us. They are always just a "scream" away.
4/ My job...I enjoy what I do and am grateful for the opportunity to have a great job!!
5/ America...as corny as this sounds I am truly blessed to live in the country. I have the freedom to live my life as I want without the fear of retaliation for any of my choices.
6/ a family who loves to travel...wow!!! the adventures we have been blessed with!
7/ the ability to have a relationship with Jesus!! ...what more can be said in that!!

good times!!! i was able to recover and we had our family Christmas movie night!!! Boo made the cookies...hunny bunny ordered the pizza...Gigi helped with the set up and i took pictures...teehehehehe. We have been having our family Christmas movie night for years and it is always fun. My favorite movie is "The Drummer Boy". I love it!!
We also love to watch the other classics...
Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Frosty the Snowman



Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer