Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

These are a few of the sights we've seen today. The weathermen predicted snow... again. But until today, those predictions never came true. Today, however, it is snowing heavily! Okay, at least for Arkansas, it's snowing heavily. Ness, Sara... I know you guys are trying to muffle your giggles!! Anyway, it's cool, and I thought I'd post a couple pictures of it. One is of our car early on in the day. The other is of tracks from our resident ducks that live in our apartment complex. They are so cute, huddled together, waddling from one pond to the other! :)

Homecoming

We went home this past weekend for a visit. Actually, we were helping Dad to continue cleaning out the house. We had to go through Mom's closet and my old room, etc. It was very difficult. Almost more difficult than when Mom first died. We found old pictures of us and her family. We found birthday and anniversary cards that she had kept from years long ago. She had kept projects that I had done in elementary school. One year we went to Disney World, and she had made us all matching bright yellow shirts with bears on them. She had kept those. Shoes, old newspapers, knitting projects, jewelry, pictures... The list goes on and on.

All this has made me think about what "home" really means. Is it the town you grew up in? Is it the people you grew up with? Is it friends? Family? A building? What is home? I found myself realizing that home has taken a different shape. It is no longer the things I thought it was. It is not a house, or a city even. "Home is where the heart is." And my heart is constantly unfulfilled with life here. I am looking forward to my final "HOME COMING"!

Louie

This is Louie. He is the protector of all things.... well, at least at my new job! He belongs to my boss, Stacey. He is a Belgian German Shepherd. If you know me at all, you would know that big dogs and I don't usually get along. However, Louie and I hit it off well from day one. He's got nothin' but love for those who are good and true. He loves to be petted a lot. Sometimes, he'll come right up by me and want me to scratch his back. I like it when Louie is there. We all feel pretty safe with him guarding us. And Stacey says he loves to be up at the shop with her. So, it looks like me and Louie will have many more days together! :)

Dark Star Visual

So I started my new job. It's going pretty good so far. Kinda slow, but hopefully things will pick up soon. I work at this place called Dark Star Visual (DSV for short) that was named after a Grateful Dead song. It is a bead shop/ hippy store. The hours are great! For January we're open 11-5. Starting Feb, we're going back to 10-6. Closed Sundays. So I get my evenings back with hubby, and don't have to miss church! Get this, the half of the store I'm currently working in has clothes, jewelry, incense, and other gift items. The other half of the store is full of beads. You can go and make your own jewelry, or pick out what you like and have someone make it for you. So cool. And guess what? My boss, Stacey, said she was going to start training me on the bead room. The girl who is there now will be leaving in May, so that would leave only Stacey to work the bead room. She might like to take a day off every once in a while, so she's going to start training me to make jewelry!! I'm so excited about that! Can't wait! Plus, she's starting to incorporate Precious Metal Clay art into the work... how fun!!

I've posted some pics of the store and two of the girls I work with. The one with the black wig was dressed up for a costume party. She normally has blond hair! And her name is Echo! She has hippy parents. The one with leg warmers on the OUTSIDE of her pants.... yeah, she's crazy! But she's leaving in a couple of weeks. Anyway, enjoy the pics. And if you're ever in the area, you'll have to come and see me!!

Cool Sky

Just thought you all might enjoy this picture. I thought the sky looked pretty awesome!

http://www.myheritage.com

Goodbye Vanity

I'd like to say that I'm saying goodbye to my personal vanity, but alas, no. I'm saying goodbye to my former employer. Yea!! Not that I didn't enjoy it, but good heavens! I always worked nights and basically had no social life! So glad that's over. I'll have to post pics of my new place when I get some taken. You're in for a treat!! Till then, here's a few of the last outfits I put together and some of the cute little high school girls that I worked with.

Laziness

Okay. OKAY! I know that I haven't posted in a while. I know! But here I am... posting. So you better enjoy it!! ;)

I was at the store buying some bread. And it's a pretty big bread section. I thought I'd browse the aisles when all of sudden I see this package. What is it, you say? Toast. TOAST! What the? Who buys bread that is already toasted?! Who is so lazy that they can't even put bread in a toaster?! I had to back up a moment and think to myself, "Self, you never know WHO might need bread that's already toasted. People without a toaster might need already toasted bread. People that don't know how to operate a toaster might need already browned warm bread." The only problem? It's not hot. Who eats toast that isn't hot? Who puts butter or jam on cold toast?!

Okay, well, some of you out there might actually buy this already toasted bread. I don't know. But I just thought it was interesting and just HAD to tell you all about it!

Christmas

The week before Christmas, my Dad came up to visit. He wanted to bring up some things of Mom's. So my sister and her family came down to visit too! It was great having a little family Christmas get-together. It didn't last very long, but it was wonderful getting to see everyone again. Thanks for making that long drive, Sis, just for a couple of hours together. I love ya!

This year, I was sick on Christmas day. It all began the day before. I had to pull a double shift at work, and we ended up staying late trying to set up the store for after Christmas. I was really late to a Christmas party, and didn't feel very well. Didn't eat much, didn't talk much, was dizzy and started getting chills. I was sitting right by an open fire and still couldn't get warm. So we went home early. I had a fever of 101+... *sigh* I woke up the next morning and still had fever. Didn't make the big dinner I had planned. I was so upset! Oh well. We're going to make dinner tonight and invite our neighbor over. She's a single lady who didn't have any visitors for the holiday either. Hopefully I'll get it all done in time.

Work

I've been getting better at putting outfits together at work. Recently, I've really enjoyed getting to try out new styles and I've been experimenting with creative ways to bring in the customer. So I thought I'd take a few pics of the ones I've really been proud of. Hope you all enjoy!!

Penquin Ed's

Okay. This is the best BBQ place we've found here so far. I love it!! It's at one of those places that you have to wait for a table because they're so packed. When we finally did get a table, this is what we saw. *See sign* If any of you come and visit us and you want BBQ, then this is where we'll go! Yummy homemade goodness!

Morning

I feel like I'm living in a wind tunnel.

Sleep, anyone?

Well. The cleaning guy came. And now we've got four large, LOUD fans trying to dry out our apartment. Two in the laundry room and pantry. Two in my closet. I'm so naive. I thought it was going to be a quick thing. He comes in, does his cleaning magic, then goes home. Imagine my surprise when he said, "We'll be back every day to check on it. Don't turn the fans off. It may take 3 or 4 days to get completely dry."

Huh?! Oh boy.

When it rains, it pours...

Apartment life... isn't it great?! The good news? I don't have to worry about paying for problems in my living space. The bad news? My upstairs neighbor's washing machine flooded.

It all began when Daniel and I were on the couch relaxing after a hard day's work. He had made me dinner, which by the way was delicious and extremely appreciated! We had just finished watching the season finale of "Jericho". We had just decided to go to bed cause Daniel has to work in the morning... like most everyone else. Then all of a sudden, we hear this strange noise like a little water fountain. You know, the kind like in a spa, or a doctor's office, or a little one that you can put in your home. So we listened for where this water was coming from. We haven't quite figured out all the noises in our new home, so we weren't quite sure what it was. We opened the laundry room, and wouldn't you know, there's the source. Although, it's not coming from us. There is this pvc pipe with water streaming down it. D thinks it might be made on purpose like that. Then it starts leaking from the door frame. I'm thinking this may not be what the construction plans had in mind.

So I call the landlords. They come over. However, by this time there's water now leaking (I mean a heavy waterfall) coming from the light fixture in my closet. Huh? Yep. You heard me right. From the LIGHT FIXTURE. D says, "DON'T TURN THE LIGHT ON!" And I'm in disbelief. So my clothes are getting wet. The floor is soaked. My camera equipment is in there, so I'm frantically pulling stuff out of the closet. Clothes, camera stuff, Mom's blankets, D's Christmas presents. Sigh. I was hoping those would be a surprise.

So now we're waiting on the cleaning people to get here so they can wet-vac our apartment. I'm SO TIRED. I just want to go to bed. At least I don't have to go in to work until later in the day. Poor D. He's got a long day ahead of him!

Update

Okay friends. I know it's been quite a while since I last updated. I've been incredibly busy with work, then my dad came to visit. Let's see, where shall I begin?

Work. I officially stepped down as store manager. And we actually hired a new girl to be the store manager. But... she hasn't come in to do her paperwork. She hasn't called. I don't know what to think. So I'm still "acting" as store manager until we can get one in our store. Grrr. So I'll be a busy little girl during this wonderful holiday season pretending to know what I'm doing.

Thanksgiving. Because of work, we couldn't travel anywhere to see family. We were stuck here. But some friends of ours were having their family over, and they invited us. We had a good time. The food was yummy. The company was great. It was good. But it was still difficult not being with our own family. But it was neat seeing the families' traditions mix together. And I'll have wonderful memories of that time together. *Thanks, Amanda!*

Dad. This past week, he came to visit us. We had a great time.

Well, that's about it. OH! Except that we did get a little bit of snow! It started out as ice, which made the roads difficult to drive on. And we really didn't get that much snow. Probably only about 5 inches. But it was beautiful all the same. *Sigh*

Well, until next time. Maybe I'll post pics of our Christmas tree!