New Year....New Me!

Well...Maryland has officially thawed out! We got 20 inches of snow! UNHEARD of for this area! I just had to sit back and shake my head at how inept everyone was to handle the panic! We have picnics in this type of snow in Maine (not really but you get my drift) I guess the phrase..."We're not in Kansas anymore" came to mind :P

I am super excited about this New Year. I have quite a few goals to accomplish this year. Last year we accomplished two out of our three major goals and I think that is a great success!! I have decided that I want to become a more knowledgeable person. I want to know more about some of my favorite things so I will be reading everything I can get my hands on in interior design and romance! My major goals are as follows:

1. LOSE WEIGHT! I mean ALL of the excess!!!
2. Write down one thing each day that states what I love about Julio!
3. Take more classes i.e. a self-defense class, scrapbooking class..etc.
4. Keep my house clean EVERYDAY!!!
5. Keep all my magazine articles organized on a weekly basis
6. Be more positive
7. Get our own place
8. Take my vitamins more faithfully
9. Find more things to be thankful for each day
10. Make myself a better person, inside and out!!!

I also want to keep in touch better with far away friends and that means BLOGGING MORE!!!!!! I feel very motivated this year. I hope you all catch the spirit and keep me motivated too!!!! My motto for this year is New Year...New Me!

Reindeer Games

My kitties put up with a lot! Rocky would have no part of this picture, but Parker stood still for a few seconds!!!

Tomorrow is date night and I can't wait!! Gonna get Chinese food, maybe go walk around the mall, and come home and watch movies! I love my husband!

I still have soooooo much Christmas shopping to do! I am one of those last minute shoppers! So hopefully next week I will be all done!

It's The Most WONDERFUL Time of the YEAR!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Wow..this month is just flying by! I have barely had time to breathe. Between work and sickness, I was lucky to find time to GET a tree, let alone DECORATE one!!!!! Oh well....we found one! And I have to say it is our best one yet. Each year we go to the same place, and each year we keep finding a better and better tree!!! I look forward to Christmas 2026 if it keeps going LOL!!!

Every mom feels that their children are the most beautiful. Well I have to say I feel the same way for my "kids". I tend to think that Parker is one of the most gorgeous kitties I have ever seen. And Rocky is the cutest! But then again, I am pretty biased!!

Our tree!!! Okay I have a very bad confession. I am EXTREMELY picky when it comes to decorating (shocker huh?!) and I have never let Julio help me. Put down the rotten fruit people because this year I let him help. And I have to say it is our most beautiful one to date! We had so much fun! I roasted a chicken, we watched Rudolph and just had an amazing date night! What a blessing he is to put up with my picky ways!
Every year I get a new piece for my Christmas village. This year I got a "big" one to make up for the two I missed our first two Christmases. This one has a mechanical train that goes in that little tunnel. IT SCARES THE KIBBLES OUT OF PARKER!!! Rocky finds it fascinating, but our little twinkle toes Parker runs when we turn it on! He gets so freaked out the hair on his back stands up. He puts a whole new spin on "fradey cat"
I am so proud of these. When I was little, I remember having an advent calendar that had candy behind each window. For YEARS, I searched for one that I loved......here it is. All three pieces have little slots, such as the church steeple, doors, the trees on the last house, etc. and they all have a countdown number and a place to put candy!!! What fun it is to open each one!! I got it at Costco for 15 dollars!!!!

You may ask, "Mandy, why are you posting a picture of your toilet?" Excellent question. IT"S PENGUIN THEMED NOW!!!!!!!!!!

God knew I needed a man with a sense of humor and boy did he bless me many times over. I regret not letting Juli help years ago, but you live and learn
And lastly.....my chunkasaurus! I have such a special bond with Rocky and he knows it. I put up with his cranky days, and he puts up with my weird decorating habits!!!


* If you think about it, Julio has his journeyman test tomorrow at 2pm. This is a HUGE deal for him and has a big role in our future. Pray that the outcome is in his favor, or that he learns a lot from taking the test. Merry Christmas to everyone! I would LOVE to see pics of everyone's trees!!!

Friend Makin Monday

Saw this on Alisha's Blog and thought I would try it out. Just a little survey to let people know some not so vital, but somewhat interesting, things about me.



1. Favorite website
Amazon.com

2. Favorite color
PINK

3. Facebook?
Yes. More often than I should

4. Favorite Christmas song?
Marshmallow World

5. Christmas tree: Real or fake?
Very Real!!

6. Hottest celebrity?
Taylor Lautner and Gerard Butler

7. Favorite restaurant?
Ketchup

8. Favorite magazine?
Martha Stewart Living

9. Favorite thing to drink around the holidays?
Mt. Dew!!!!!!!

10. Favorite Christmas movie.
Hands down..."The Muppet Christmas Carol"

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Not much going on here. Work and decorating. Will post pictures soon.

Although....a very special little person was born on 11/26 and I am so happy!! Carly Nicole was born to two very wonderful people!!!

On ANOTHER note....my "baby" sister turned 20 today. That makes me feel extremely OLD!!!!!!!

So.....dizzy.....

Well...another "war" story to go in the vault. Saturday was an ....eventful..yeah let's use that word....day. About half an hour BEFORE my shift was to end, a puggle came in for a nail trim...no big deal....happens all the time. HA! This dog REALLY didn't want to get them done. He started biting, so we muzzled him and braced ourselves. Some dogs will quiet right down when they get the muzzle on, others....not so much. This one was the latter. He thrashed just at the wrong moment and thrashed right into the side of my head. Well I grinned and bore it to get the stupid thing done, but was in real pain. My ear was all red and I had the worst migraine I have had in years. I got off work, went home and took some pain meds, went to sleep and slept for 13 hours straight...looking back..not the greatest idea ever. When I woke up on Sunday I knew I was in a world of trouble. I was dizzy, nauseated, vision blurry, sensitive to light...all bad signs. I had a 5 hour shift that I couldn't miss so I went in to work. That didn't last long. They took one look at me, filed a report and sent me home.

I went to the dr.s yesterday and lo and behold I have a tear in my eardrum, head trauma, and temporary vertigo. Even as I type this the room is spinning LOL! And to top it all off, Julio had a seizure on the way to the drs. If we aren't the perfect couple when it comes to health I don't know who is. So I am on three medicines for the infection, nausea, and vertigo. I am hoping it gets better by Thursday as that is when I have been given the okay to return to work....so till then...MORE BLOG TIME!

Lazy bones

As the year winds down, so does my energy :P I just feel so very tired today! Probably all this rain! But we all know what is next month and I couldn't be happier!!! I have already picked out my ribbon, Christmas sweaters, and porcelain village piece for this year!!!

Tonight I am taking my hubby out for a date. He always takes me, so I wanted to take him to his favorite place to eat! We are going to Mi Rancho, the best Tex Mex restaurant in the state in our opinion!!!!

Not much news wise. Work is going well for both of us and we finally feel like we are making it out of this huge hole we have found ourselves in. Keep on keeping on I guess :P I hope everyone is doing well and trying to stay well in this time of sickness!!!

After 5 years......

I finally found the PERFECT curtains!!!!!!! I got a new bedding set and was casually looking at the curtains that matched and realized they were PERFECT for my living room!!! I originally bought two because I thought it was just the valance. Once I opened them up....I found it was the valance, AND two attached panels with tie backs!!!!!!!!!! You don't know how much of a blessing this is for me!!! I am the type to go without something rather than settle with something I don't fully love, so that is why for 5 plus years my windows have had no treatment whatsoever! Not anymore!!!!!!!!

Below is my new winter bedding set. I absolutely LOVED my one I had last winter but unfortunately ruined it by drying it in the dryer...oops! But I found this one at Walmart.com and could not be happier with it!!! Can you tell whose side of the bed is whose? LOL!!!!! I embrace my husbands collections that is for sure! Someday we will have a room just devoted to Spiderman and movie memorabilia.....someday!
I hope to hear from everyone soon *HINT HINT* I seem to be one of the only ones in BLOGWORLD right now!