I'm now sad Christmas is over.

No more presents for a while. *le sigh* Maybe if I'm good I'll get something for Valentine's day! Until then let's recap Christmas shall we?

I think we need the abridged version.

Thankfully I DID update about my excision and the stitches I got. So on to the whirlwind Christmas.

Here were some prep pictures.

In my wrapping room.

Some of the finished products.

Christmas Eve day we decided to clean up the house and buy a dishwasher.

Did you read that right? Yep, we decided to buy a dishwasher. From Craigslist. In MD. So instead of cleaning and the like for Christmas Eve dinner we were having for Josh's family, we were driving to MD to pick up a dishwasher.

Now there is nothing WRONG with our old dishwasher. It runs fine. It cleans dishes. Anyone want to buy it? I have photos!!

Anyways, we wanted a new one for the large bike water bottles. Yes you read that right. JUST for BIKE BOTTLES. Otherwise they sat in the sink (or on the counter or in a bag somewhere) until Josh decided to clean them (because we would have to hand wash them) and then there was the mold. Okay, this is not the abridged version huh?

Found dishwasher. On craigslist. Retail $850. Never used (floor model in a showroom, but never installed). In MD. Purchased for $200. YAY!!

Looks... like a dishwasher huh? But that left area fits WATER BOTTLES.

Unless you are a cyclist or married to one... you just wouldn't understand.

Stopped at a WALMART on our way home (on CHRISTMAS EVE - ugh). Installation went smoothly (go Josh!). Was done in time for Christmas Eve dinner.

Before everyone got there I got one of my Christmas presents. A NEW lens for Nik!! It was the 35mm f/1.8. I didn't take a photo of it, but I let it take LOTS of photos for me. It wasn't really a christmas present since we had saved the money for it, but I didn't want to spend the money, so Josh did it for me. Good husband. :-)

Josh's family came over. We ate BBQ (his family tradition - but Josh made my mom's recipe) and then opened presents. Josh was our Santa.

After this we went to his grandparent's church for Christmas Eve service. His grandfather is the music director and his grandmother sings in the choir. They probably won't be doing this much longer (they no longer live in our city and have to commute) so it could have been the last one. They were surprised. I think it was a good surprise. Who knows.

THEN WE HEARD THE TRAIN WHISTLE. There is a story about this whistle. Apparently when Josh was little he was so excited to hear it (he grew up in this area until grade school) that he ran, slipped and fell cracking his head open.

He hadn't heard it since then (we'd never in our hometown on Christmas Eve).

So we hear it and... huh what? THAT was the much anticipated train whistle? If you have seen Finding Nemo when Dory calls the whales, well that is what it sounded like. If Dory was dying. And speaking gibberish. It was BAD. We spoke in whale speak the whole way home!

So home. Pack up. Open presents to each other and then at 1AM we left for my parent's house. Why? It was supposed to sleet and freezing rain with terrible driving conditions. We arrived at 3AM. I drove. Josh slept. Jerk.

Oh. And see this gift. Notice there are two? We got the SAME gift for each other. So weird. Lol.

IT NEVER PRECIPITATED. Ugh.

So up at 6AM, presents opened by 7AM, back to bed until 9AM and then up again.

Family time. Family photos (see).

Dinner at Aunt and Uncle's house. Relax - sort of. Sleep. Up again. Drive. Christmas again at Josh's Aunt and Uncle's house. More photos. Home. Sleep. Up again. Prep. Christmas for 17 at OUR HOUSE. This is how we fit 17 people in our kitchen/dining area.

I realized I petered out there at the end. I am not sad Christmas is over anymore. I got tired just typing it all out again. Lol. This was a photo from the first night. Maybe I just KNEW.

(and doesn't my hair look so SHINY and AWESOME?)

So that was Christmas. All four crazy days of it. Oh, and the materialistic side of me wants to show you part of our take this year.

I think next year we might want to go on vacation during Christmas. Just maybe.

Ending on a fun note. I totally loved our Christmas tree this year.

*hugs and kisses*

mj

One week. Again.

Sometimes I feel like my entire life is a series of countdowns.

Countdowns until the next birthday, Christmas, a weekend with friends, weddings, anniversaries, a new big purchase, etc, etc.

I am a numbers person, so countdowns make me feel better. Most of the time. The unexciting countdowns just kind of put a damper of things though. First I was counting down until Christmas - yay! Then I counted down until the New Year - yay! Then I counted down until my surgery scheduling doctor appointment - not so yay. I was also counting down until the day AFTER that appointment to have my stitches removed - not so yay, but kind of yay because they were annoying me.

Now is the countdown to my quickly scheduled surgery - hm. Last year this time I was counting down to surgery as well, but that was more exciting.

I am having SUCH a hard time this time around. *kicks rocks*

I guess I can look at the bright side and say that for about two weeks post surgery I will be enjoying myself watching TV, reading books and interneting since I am couch bound per the doctors orders. DOCTORS ORDERS. I am not being lazy, I am just sticking to my New Year resolutions.

Maybe the new year IS bringing good things. *smirks*

*hugs and kisses*

mj

Next Friday I will be...

at the hospital. Surgery is scheduled for next Friday January 15th at time TBD.

The information is Dr. P will be doing laproscopic recurrent paraesophageal hernia repair. He will be using the same incision sites as before (yay no new scars!) and it will be another overnight hospital stay. Barium test the next morning.

He won't know what he's getting into until he's in there. It could be that the stitches ripped out and didn't heal correctly or it could be that my diaphragm muscle is just way too weak. This will help him determine if he will use a product called Strattice which is pig parts or there is the possibility of him using Goretex. There are pros and cons to each, and I am leaving the decision up to him.

Apparently he has some research to do for next Friday, but I think we mostly agreed on the Strattice unless something is really different from what we expect.

I'm a little - I don't know - anxious? My last surgery I couldn't schedule for 3 months. This one was scheduled in a week. My last one I was sick and miserable for, this one I have NO symptoms really.

If this doesn't work (PLEASE let it work) I will be shipped to Hopkins to get some attention from a specialist. I know a lot of people would want to go straight to the specialist, but I am weird. My brain doesn't work like that. If I GO to a specialist then this is a MAJOR problem. If I just get it fixed, it's fine.

So ummmm. Yeah. That's that.

On to my awesome night last night (because this post needs a pick me up!). First the wonderful husband (he puts up with SO much from me) and I went to AC Moore to pick up a foam ring and pins. What for? Oh, that post is coming.

Then we headed to Target to pick up a few items. Next to Kohl's to make some returns. After that we went into the mall. I exchanged some items and then headed to AE. I had a sweater my mom got me to return and some underwear.

While trying to find something to exchange the sweater for I found this.

Now before we even left home tonight I whined to Josh that I don't have a NICE winter coat. I have two performance jackets, a very old fleece TNF jacket, and a couple of cheap men's old navy jackets. Yeah. Bleh.

So I found the jacket above, in my size on the rack. I tried it on and FELL IN LOVE. Problem? The price. $149.95. I asked the girl working if she could double check the price for me. She rang it through and YAY $59.95 AND I had a $10 off coupon. Then she mentions if I spend $0.05 then I could use my other $10 off coupon. I send Josh over to find a button down shirt for him

He finds this for $24.95.

So the girl returns my sweater, rings up the coat and shirt. Takes 2 $10 coupons off. I give her an old gift card for $21.21 and another one for $25.

Grand total for this transaction is... $0.55. Yes seriously. And to make things even better they only had ONE of that coat in the store. Why? Because it wasn't stocked in our store and this jacket was a return. Want to know an even better? That jacket is on sale online for $89.95 ($30 more than I paid for it!) and Josh's was $29.95 ($5 more).

It takes so little to make me happy.

I also got an ORANGE silicone iPhone cover. Photos to come of that.

I needed to brag about that to counter the upcoming surgery stuff. *whew* I feel better.

*hugs and kisses*

mj

Surgery Number Three...

is TBD. Lol. I see the doctor in an hour.

In the meantime I bought an awesome navy peacoat last night, an orange iPhone cover and did all my Christmas returns.

Details later about that too.

*hugs and kisses*

mj

Our updated house projects in 2010

We have a fantastically tiled entryway at our house (Josh is a MASTER tiler now - or something). Problem? It still needed a rug of some sorts. Otherwise everything got tracked up the stairs. Ew. So after over a YEAR of searching we came up with a new idea after not finding the right size, colors, availability or price.

FLOR tiles. Josh doesn't usually get my visions, so I have to map them out quite specifically. When I found out Lowe's carried the FLOR carpet tiles I drug Josh there to show him. He agreed it would probably work. We figured out how many we would need and placed the order. Unfortunately they take almost two weeks to come in (boo) so we didn't have them in time to host our multiple Christmases here.

Josh picked them up on Wednesday and we "installed" them on Friday morning. More iPhone photos so don't critique them too terribly.

This was the first configuration we contemplated.

It was okay, but a little too expected for me. So we switched it up to this.

Ignore Josh's foot at the bottom. Lol. My mom said the other configuration was better, but I like this one. If you look at it walking in the front door, it looks like a big "C" which is our last name letter! It's subtle, but I thought it was cute. I am SUCH a dork.

So total cost for this little project was about $65 for a 80"x40" (6.5' x 3.5' ish) rug. Not bad!

We may get two more tiles for a little rug in front of the garage door. Hmmm.

So then SATURDAY we started another of my hair brained projects. I wanted shelves in the kitchen above our island thingy. The color is WAY off on the walls, but you get the idea.

Here is Josh hard at work on my vision.

And the final results!

I LOVE them. Before all those wine bottles sat on top of that island and so if you wanted it as a work space you either had to move everything, or it got all messy. The glasses took up tons of space in our cabinets that I wanted for other stuff. It also looks neat and clean (well for now).

Total cost for this project - $50

2 shelves at Lowe's - $8 each

3 - 2 packs of brackets at Lowe's - $8 each

2 wine bottle holders from Ikea (I found them in the CLEARANCE section) - $1 each

2 wine glass holders from Ikea (ALSO in the CLEARANCE section) - $1 each

1 can of spray paint to turn the white wine glass holders into silver to match - $4

2 packs of screws - $1 each

So far our house is becoming more homey. After never really doing much in all of our apartments that we lived in, all these projects make this place feel more and more like ours. I love it. *smile*

Up next is some frame painting I'm working on (I got them super cheap on clearance at target, but they were white and banged up). We also have the hallway from the 2nd to 3rd floor to paint and all the bedrooms and bathrooms. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

*hugs and kisses*

mj

How many can I break?

I finally outlined my list of resolutions and goals for 2010. I don't know if I've ever really WROTE them down anywhere before. They are securely on my iPhone and now they will be on the internet for the world to hold me accountable and laugh when I break one within the first week.

Good thing I didn't add "be friendlier" to the list. Poor Josh.

Moving on.

1. Start listening to doctors orders.

[ The doctor told me after my first surgery - don't lift. My second surgery - don't lift. I helped Josh move a 300lb desk. I then helped his parents move. Hmmmm. Yeah. Oh, and my mole removal stitches I ripped out? *sigh* LISTEN BETTER!]

2. TRY to be less stubborn

[ This pertains to the first one, but expounds upon it more. I am stubborn. In all aspects of my life. I need to work on this. ]

3. FINISH projects

[ You know like our wedding scrapbook from 4 years ago this July. Or maybe those super cheap frames I bought to repaint and never did. Or that scarf I almost finished. I have lots of this stuff that needs done. ]

4. Spend less time on the internet to curb boredom. DO SOMETHING.

[ See how this can easily and neatly relate to number three? ]

5. Blog more

[ I think I'm doing ok, but some months I had sub 10 posts. We do A LOT, I want to keep track of it better so I can hopefully keep better perspective in 2010. ]

6. Take more photos

[ I photograph a lot now, but looking back, there is a lot I feel I missed. I need to start carrying my point and shoot around EVERYWHERE again and keeping the DSLR downstairs so I can grab it and go.]

7. Try one new recipe a month

[ I get stuck in a rut. I find something I like to make and make it a lot. We used to experiment more and just don't. This needs to change. ]

8. Find a full time job

[ I LOVE my job currently, but I would like to bring home more bacon. Boo to this prospect.]

9. Spend more time with friends and family

[ We always have plans to see people and it's always "well, we'll figure something out soon!" As soon as surgery is scheduled I am breaking out the calendar and a LOT of people are getting phone calls, texts and emails. Planning will commence!]

10. Declutter one target bag worth of stuff per month.

[ We have a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom house with ample finished space and lots of unfinished storage space. And no room. Ugh. You know those projects I want to finish? If any are unfinished by December 2010 they are getting the boot. ]

So I don't think I have anything too lofty on here. Some practical, some home related, some lifestyle related, that pesky personality related one. A good mix I would say. Now notice there are no "lose 20 lbs in 2010!" on here. Ummm, that's just not my style.

Here is to a new year and a fresh start.

Expect lots more posts to come!

*hugs and kiss*

mj

The END of 2009

Sometimes the best laid plans fall through. And the last of 2009 was no different. With my arm stitches all messed up and my bleh mood (did I mention I got my period??) going "out" was just not on the books for this year.

Wait what? NOT do something for New Years?? WE have ALWAYS done something for New Years. **I** have ALWAYS done something for New Years. But this year, well, we just decided not to.

After hanging around during the morning we made the decision to drive to White Marsh, MD and see the new movie Avatar in IMAX 3D. I cuted myself up in my new tunic thing and off we went. Now, please don't click on the photo. It is an iPhone photo. I just can't seem to get a clear one!

So we got our 3D glasses and had to wait in line. So of COURSE we took more photos.

SO HOT right??

Okay, so the movie was AMAZING!! Even if you aren't a fantasy/sci-fi fan, this was just a visual delicacy. Seriously. The story was bleh, but I was so stimulated in the visual sense I stayed completely alert the WHOLE time.

There was a brew pub across the street from the theatre and we headed over there for some beer and food.

Both were good, but neither great.

Quick stop at a liquor store to grab some champagne and we headed back to PA in the rain. Ew. What a way to put a damper on an already yuck mood.

We've watched some recorded TV shows and played a board game... and it's only 11ish. Lol. HOW do we waste hours on end normal nights and be like "where did the time go?" and yet the one night we want to TRY to stay up we are looking at each other completely bored?

Ha.

Well to all my readers, have a great New Year. Enjoy your time with family and friends. Take nothing and no one for granted, unless they aren't worth your time. It's a new year, a fresh start. Take advantage.

*hugs and kisses*

mj

Colorado or Bust (day 2)

The plan for day 2 was a trip to Breckenridge. A friend who had lived in PA (whose folding table came in handy for Christmas!!) had come late day 1. We also had plans to meet with several other former PAers at the mountain.

The morning started with Josh the yoga instructor helping Kandice and Blake in a little pigeon pose. Jason was cooking breakfast during this.

The troops on the way! See me ALL the way in the BACK? We had a Kia Borrego as our rental and it was GREAT. We were able to seat 5 people plus 4 sets of equipment and bags! All the backs of the seats were plastic which was nice for the wet snow stuff too!! I'm easily impressed.

That's Josh in the light blue jacket and brown pants. This was him heading onto the lift for his first ski run EVER in CO!!

Kandice, Jason and Josh on the lift!! Nice picture guys!

Jason on the snowboard and Josh on the skis coming at me.

This is about 2 seconds before he covered me in snow. Jerk. :-P

The boys at the beach in Breck.

The ladies. It was COLD, but it felt so WARM. I LOVED the weather and the super blue skies!!

And while everyone was out on the mountain I took the gondola down to the town and did some site seeing.

Here I am! The mountain behind me and the town in front of/below me.

There are quite a few of these abandoned buildings on the main street. They are boarded up and I am somewhat assuming they are historical, but no one wants to do the upkeep so they are letting them go. Hmmmm. Not sure.

The mountain from the town.

Some old bar. The exterior is original and has been maintained. Very cool.

So what else happened while in Breck. Well, I got a free sample of elk jerky (I am not a huge jerky fan, so this was just meh), a free glass of wine (a shop was having wine tastings and I was the ONLY person around), and a free beavertail (don't be a pervert and click on the link to see it's FRIED DOUGH). I chatted with a super sweet girl at one shop, got hit on by some guy (he even asked for my number!) at another shop, and ran into someone originally from Harrisburg, PA in another! My only downfall of rudeness was The North Face shop where they were SUPER rude to me. Thanks for nothing.

A funny though. While perusing the town I criss crossed the main street several times. The town is VERY walker friendly and each cross walk has large signs letting vehicles know to yield. At one crosswalk I looked both ways, nodded to the parking attendant next to me and went to cross. I almost got ran over by an SUV!! Apparently he didn't see parking lady and sped up. There was another guy at the next block she radioed too and he got fined!! I was impressed they took my safety so seriously!

After the long day for every one else (me too - I did a LOT of walking) we all met at Bubba Gumps for some buy one get one free appetizers and drinks!

The table from left to right around. Josh, Eric, Jennie, Lauren, Blake, Megan, Jessie, Tom, Stacey, Kandice, Jason and me! I'm in a photo! Yay!! (and sorry if I butchered anyone's name)

After this we followed our friends to one of the guy's work parties. It was in this CRAZY huge awesome house. There were three floors and THREE kitchens. It was HUGE!

Kandice and I played with the cutest little girl while the boys drank beers. Josh somehow got roped into trying this.

He said it was like a bloody mary. I thought it tasted like ew. CLAM and TOMATO juice with BUD LIGHT, salt and lime?? WTF?? Apparently you will never get a hangover from drinking this. Well duh, because you can't stomach enough to get you drunk!!

Day 2 ended happily and we may have done some hot tubbing to soothe their sore bodies and my sore legs.

I think it was sometime around this day that I fell in LOVE with Colorado. It's just beautiful!

*hugs and kisses*

mj

Colorado or Bust (day 1)

Colorado or Bust was a 6 day, 5 night adventure in Colorado with our friends Kandice and Jason. It was one day a few months ago that Kandice and I discussed Southwest airlines having great sales. In less than 48 hours we had made a plan, purchased plane tickets and started mapping out our time out there.

Kandice and Jason were seasoned Colorado visitors, but it would be Josh and I's first time west of the Mississippi river and into the Rockies. I don't know why we waited this long.

We left York, PA for Baltimore, MD where we flew out at 8AM. Here is the story in photos with commentary.

The rest of the photos can be found HERE and HERE for your non-commentated viewing pleasure. The second HERE were taken with Nik my Nikon D60 DSLR. I mostly shot in manual modes. I need some SERIOUS practice.

So here starts the show. Enjoy!

This is how we look at 4:30am waiting for our friends to pick us up for the airport!

Initially I felt pretty okay on the way to the airport. I felt a little flutter in my stomach while waiting to board the plane. I was okay when we were waiting for all the passengers to board. The engines started up, we started to taxi down the runway and I completely lost it. I had taken half an Atavin. Apparently that wasn't enough. I sobbed and hyperventilated. Josh held my one hand and our friend Kandice held my leg. Jason thought I might ground the plane. Thank goodness that didn't happen! Once we got into the sky I was fine. It's going to take some work, but I'm sure I can get over that.

Here are some photos in the sky.

After we made it to the airport, got our bags, grabbed our FREE (thank you Kandice and your sweet hook up!!) rental car, we headed into Denver to meet a friend for lunch. He was working down the street from this place

They had a $5 lunch sandwich special that everyone else got. I ended up with this

cold frosty beverage and some buffalo chicken fingers (that were REALLY good).

After leaving our friend we headed to good old Golden, CO. Home of Coors Brewing Company.

This is Josh and the first time he was in the Rocky Mountain Air. Do you see the love on his face??

These are all the beers made by Coors. I had NO idea they owned Miller now, and the "moon" beers, and Leinenkugel!! Who knew??

So I found these bottles stuck to the wall with velcro. Being such a kid I immediately ripped them off the wall and we handed the camera to a bystander! We then started a trend and watched as people lined up to hold the bottles and pose. I'm SUCH a trendsetter.

The husband and I enjoying our free samples.

This was the visitor's entrance to the Coors factory. The actual factory stretches FIVE miles long!!

We took a winding road that let us look out over Golden. It was a breathtaking and windy road.

Here we are at Loveland Pass. It was THREE when we got out of the car and felt COLD. Josh ran up some steps that take you to exactly 12,000 feet and he almost passed out. Elevation changes are really serious.

Here are Jason and Josh at 12,000 feet. A guy said he was a professional photographer and took this photo. Ummm... it's okay.

This was the sunset as we traveled to our final destination of the day. In the valley you can see the lights of the resort we stayed at - Keystone. They are one of the only mountains that has night skiing!

Unpacking the car in the underground parking at our condo.

Not long after this we ended up hitting up a place for dinner. We went to The Goat Tavern. Jason talked this up as a GREAT place. Maybe when the season is in full swing and you want a great place to grab some beers and hang out with friends. NOT a place you go to when you want some comfort food because you are exhausted.

All in all day one was AMAZING!!

*hugs and kisses*

mj

When they do external stitches

sometimes they do internal ones. Internal stitches apparently look like white string. Very similar to, oh say... gauze strings.

Now when one of those internal strings pushes OUT (which apparently can happen), it can wrap around the external stitches.

A normal person would have tried to untangle what they could THINK was gauze string with their fingernails, but I had just cut all mine short.

So I grabbed my tweezers and yanked.

The string of obscenities that left my mouth as I sunk to my knees to the ground WHILE almost passing out was unbecoming of a non-sailor.

I undid and pulled out about 1/2 inch (slightly less... maybe) of internal stitches from the inside to the outside of my body. My arm is in PAIN. Lots of PAIN. I must have hit a nerve or something while quickly and efficiently undoing the hard work my dermatologist did.

After sheepishly confessing my stupidity to the derm's office I was told no repetitive work, no lifting ANYTHING - even my arm above my head, no driving even. Needless to say my day has been loads of unfun nothingness. Can I catch a BREAK??

2009 is working on ending as memorable as possible. Just not memorable in the good way.

*hugs and kisses*

mj