PS

Ps. I gave several pictures as gifts this year and there were the highlight of christmas. I gave my aunt leslie a beautiful picture of Hank. He is sitting on deck with his goggles on looking at the camera. He is so cute and perfect. I'm so glad she loved it. I also gave my dad a picture of ashby. It is a straight on picture of him swimming butterfly, his favorite stroke. My dad loves it and wants everyone to see it. At our christmas party everyone was very interested in my picture of an old truck sitting in an open field which I gave to my mom last year for her birthday. I'm so happy that I could make people happy with my artwork.  

 If anyone would like a sample or to purchase a piece of my work I am willing to work on any piece I have in any size you wish. I do my own window-hinge mats for each piece. It's all original work. I can send them with or without a frame but of course that would up the price. If anyone is interested, I have a digital portfolio I can send you. 

Santa Came!

Santa Came! I had a great christmas. I started work this past monday, which is later than usual. And due to a miscommunication between supervisors, i was only supposed to work 2 days. Which is ridiculous. Well due to a few people quitting I was able to redeem a bunch of hours and worked my butt off monday through wednesday. Yes I worked Christmas eve, which i've never done before. But when you need the hours you do what u can to make the money. right? well Hannaford, which a 24/7 store closed it's doors at 6pm for the only day that it's closed all year long Christmas. We close from 6pm on christmas eve till like 7am the day after christmas. Every other day we are open for business. So anyways, after work on christmas eve, We went to dinner at the Hillside manor for dinner. I had a wonderful rack of lamb. We then went to church for the candle light service. Afterward, we opened our one gift ( Which has only become a custom in our family since ashby was like 5 years old or something). Amelia slept over and we celebrated christmas together. Opening stockings on the rents bed, and then gifts down in the view room. I was excited cause me and ross got the majority of gifts this year instead of ashby! lol. Ross and I both got amazing kitchen items. And I made out with 2 egg poachers! I got a bunch of gift certificates. Amelia and Ross (mostly Amelia) made home made gifts. I received hot coco as well as a book I wanted. So far it's interesting. It's called Eat, pray, love. I forget the author. I went an got a book today to learn how to make sushi. Our whole family loves sushi, including Amelia and my boyfriend Collin. I love that I have a boyfriend who already enjoys the same foods as I do. We love to make our own sushi at home. It's so healthy, it's light but fills you up. Ashby bought himself a Wii and got a new game from me and a few accessories from his brother. Ross got a few items for his Wii as well. My fav gift was from my parents which was a new lens for my camera. it's a zoom lens 70-300mm. I'm so excited to get to use it. Another favorite was a hand made wood box my grandfather made me. Usually he gives money but to have a gift made from the heart was really nice. He usually isn't one to express himself in that way so to have something like that means a lot. Well, this week I got plenty of hours and will be working nights pretty much all week, including new years. I dont mind working new years because honestly there is no point in being home before 11 anyways. the ball doesn't drop till midnight so getting off at 11pm is fine by me and i get paid time and half. I'm looking forward to this week. I'm super excited for the 7th because i'm going to be going to Kentucky to visit my boyfriend. Overall it's been a fun few weeks so far. 

 By the way, I helped my mom make a blog so check her out at thelifeofjulieann.blogspot.com . She is super excited she finally set one up! 

rambling about xmas

It's almost here. I love christmas so much. But it seems to get tougher and tougher to really enjoy the excitment. It's bogged down by worrying about how to pay for gifts and doctors appointments that I need to get taken care of while i'm home. I have to get my hair cut while i'm home because I haven't found someone i trust to cut my hair in NC. I'm happy because i'm home to celebrate my friends birthday this year. But I also have a bazillion friends who have birthdays around xmas that i have to buy for and go out to eat a million times. I am so broke it's not even funny. and yet i'm at the point where I dont really care. I'm over the worrying how i'm going to pay for it all. i'm over the family drama going on in our family at this point in time. i'm over my brother not wanting to spend time with the family and my parents wondering why. Maybe it's cause we are tired of the resentment issues you have towards each other or the argueing that sorta happens but doesn't cause you dont want to argue. i can't speak for him but i can speak for myself. I AM OVER THE DRAMA BS. I just want to enjoy christmas. I want to enjoy everyone getting together like at our 2nd annual holiday party happening tomorrow. I am so psyched that so many people are coming! I love getting together, even with my parents friends who i've never met or hardly know. I love making loads of food and talking and playing with the kids. it's so much fun. I can't wait for xmas. We go out to eat to dinner for xmas eve and then We go to church xmas eve. my best friend goes to the same church and it's super fun to go. We have a sermon and get chocolates and sing carols. I love singing carols at church. We usually open one gift xmas eve. then ashby goes to bed and we help put the presents under the tree. which to me is super weird helping cause i liked it better not being in the loop. i like surprises and have never been one to try and find my xmas. then we wake up early on christmas day and open stockings first. then we have breakfast and then we open gifts. We sit around afterward playing games and spending time with the family. We go to Mimi's for dinner around 4pm. I love getting the family together and having yorkshire pudding!! i freaking love this stuff so much that I wait all year for it. We all have amazing appetizers and then dinner a few hrs later. We sit and talk with the family about the year and goals and the gifts. It just is so much fun for me. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

christmas questions

Wrapping paper or gift bags?  gift bags... they are so much easier

real or artificial tree? um either way dont matter

when do u put up your tree? um the weekend after thanksgiving cause my parents are crazy!

do you like eggnog? um i did as a kid but i dont anymore... or i just stopped drinking it cause it's got crazy calories! i dont remember

favorite gift as a kid? um i always enjoyed having a unwrapped gift usually a barbie doll at the top of the stairs. 

hardest person to shop for ? my mom and my boyfriend

easiest person to shop for? um ashby cause he has so many game systems to buy games for

do you have a nativity scene? my mom does from the holy land...

mail or email cards? mail!

Worst christmas gift your ever received? a christmas vest 

favorite christmas movie? um... i like frosty the snowman and its a wonderful life

have you ever recycled a xmas gift? yes

fav thing to eat at christmas? yorkshire pudding!! 

lights on tree? yes white lights

travel at christmas or stay at home? both work for me

can you name all of Santa's reindeer?  um.. no

whats your favorite christmas memory? um.. i dont really have one right now... i like spending christmas with the family and all the traditions that go with it. going to church on xmas eve and singing carols

most annoying thing about christmas? not being able to get in and out of a store if ur just running in for something fast and people who dont know how to drive in the weather... 

fav christmas ornament? we have a tradition in our family to get ornaments when we go on vacations and get ones with each others name.

fav christmas dinner? we have the same thing every year. roast beast with yorkshire pudding and mashed potatoes and broiled tomatoes.. and apple pie along with an assortment of other pies and deserts... 

Update

Ok so it's been a few days since I've posted. Sorry. The last few days have been crazy. I went home for thanksgiving. I had a great time. On wednesday, my boyfriend from high school came over and made me dinner at our apartment over the garage. It was delicious. Then we went over and spent time with the family and ross's girlfriend Amelia. It was a blast. It was so much fun to get to know him better all over again and have the family get to know him again. We have started dating again and I couldn't be happier. It's been five years since we've talked and we have become super close in the past 3 months. We still have a lot to learn about each other. I'm throughly excited to get to do this. i've never been happier. 

 Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. I spent the whole day with the family. Aunt leslie and the kids and Mimi came over. We played games and ate appetizers. Then we had dinner about 5pm or so. It's kinda sad cause everyone left before 8pm. I remember growing up and everyone went to Mimi's. We would have around 10-15 people. We used to have so many people that there was always a kids table. Over the years the numbers dwindle. I'm ready for the numbers to grow again. Cause even though we had a good time, I miss the whole family getting together. Usually our get together lasts from around 3pm till 10pm. and usually there are about 5 different deserts. This year we stuck to the usual pumpkin and boy-scout apple pies. Never the less, it was fun.

 The rest of the time i split my time between family and friends. Collin ( my boyfriend) and I went on a few dates, including going to see Twilight. I was super excited. I tried not to go in with expectations but I couldn't help it. I was disappointed. I felt that the passion didn't come across as it did from the author. The characters didn't behave as I had pictured it from read i the books. But what can you say. It was a good movie. I finally was able to get together with my friend Jamie. We've been friends on and off since we were like 7. In high school and especially the last 5 years we have gotten extremely close. If it weren't for her, I dont know where i'd be. She's the only one who really knows me. And she feels the same about me. She my best friend and I love her to death. This semester has been really hard on both of us so i'm glad we were able to catch up. 

 I have been back in NC since last monday. I had classes Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was reading day and Friday was the begining of finals. Thursday and Friday were also the days of the art buildings annual Holiday sale. I decided to try my luck at selling a few pieces, i'll find out tomorrow if I did or not. This week is going to be a long hard week. I work mon, weds, and friday. I have finals tuesday and friday. I already have taken 2 finals. But I have a lot to work on for my sculpture class. Wish me luck! 

I'll be back in NY by the 18th of Dec. and i'll hopefully be back at work at Hannaford. You never know with today's economy. I plan on spending time with friends and working most the time. On Dec. 21st, My parents are having the 2nd annual trim the tree christmas party. This year the theme is sports i think. We have friends and family over and everyone brings the kids and a ordainment for our tree. It's kinda cool. It's always been sorta a family tradition to get each other ordainments for the tree. like from a place we went that year. It's fun.  anyways, i'm looking forward to going home. I'm tired of being alone. I like staying busy and here there isn't much to stay busy with. So after my friends 21st birthday next tuesday i'm heading home again. I'll be there for about 3 weeks and then i'm probably gonna go to Kentucky to visit my boyfriend for a little bit before i have to come back here for MY LAST SEMESTER. 

 Well this is getting long and I guess I should let ya'll go. I'll try to keep the posts coming more frequent cause like you, I enjoy reading up to date posts about your families. It makes me feel like i'm a part of your life. Hope you all had a great thanksgiving and Have a great Christmas!