Looking Ahead.

How was your Christmas? Mine wasn’t bad! Despite being sick Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I managed to get through it (with the help of DayQuil), make a yummy Christmas meal and enjoy a great Christmas with family and friends. Snuggle Bug made out this year with tons of gifts from the grandma’s, mom & dad and of course Santa. She didn’t fully understand the concept of opening the presents but she isn’t even two yet so I imagine next year she’ll figure it out. She did enjoy watching mommy and daddy open her gifts for her and showing her what she got.

Now I’m in the process of finding new homes for all these toys and preparing for the coming of the New Year which brings about lots of new adventures for our family! Between now and April I’ve got to get this house in top shape because in just a few short months we’re moving to Colorado. I’m so excited for our move and ready to April to get here! After our trip to see the area back in October I’ve been more than ready to pack up and head that way. The area is just beautiful! But until then I’ve got more than enough things on my to do list to keep me occupied all the way into spring. Speaking of that to do list….I should probably get off the computer and start some of it!

Holiday Baking

I absolutely love holiday baking! I must go through bags of flour, sugar, eggs and milk this time of year. But there is something so special about turning on some Christmas music, putting on my apron and spending time baking yummy treats for the people I love. Tonight I made the classic Christmas treat, Gingerbread….yum!

Here is Snuggle Bug decorating her very first gingerbread cookie! Its in the shape of a Christmas tree but she decided on yellow icing.
But she decided later on to add in a little green for good measure.
That cookie is looking pretty good! As you can see by her face she had to take a little sample of that green frosting. Gotta make sure it tastes good!

Here are the finished cookies and the hubby and Snuggle Bug decorated. Aren't they cute?
The hubbt decorating. Not too creative but at least I got him to help a bit!
Here are the rest of the finished decorated cookies. I made even more but decided to save the rest to decorate later, closer to Christmas. But these here are for eating NOW! After we were done I sipped some egg nog (no one else likes it but me) and we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas together before Snuggle Bug went to bed. I love Christmas moments like these!

Seasons Greetings!!

It’s the most wonderful time of the yearrrrrrrr!! I love this time of year! With the snow and lights and festive decorations it is such a happy season. It is also a very busy time of year! The hubby and I just got back from a week in Colorado and then two week long vacation in San Diego, with a little side trip to Las Vegas, and had such a wonderful time! We spent about a week in Colorado checking out the area we’re moving to and just seeing what the area has to offer. Let me just say I am so darn excited about this move I could burst! The area is beautiful being at the foot of a gorgeous mountain and the city has so much to offer. I really think our family could be very happy there. The post the hubby is being assigned to is also wonderful. Very pretty, small and clean. The entire week left us with a very good feeling about living there for the next 3+ years. We had about two weeks at home to rest before we packed up and flew to San Diego for Thanksgiving and two full weeks of lovely weather, family time and some yummy Thanksgiving food. The entire trip didn’t go without a minor disaster when Snuggle bug got very sick a few days after we got there. She started sleeping a lot and acting like she didn’t feel well then the fever started. Let me tell you seeing her temperature shoot up to 104.6 was so scary! Thankfully the doctors at a nearby hospital took good care of her and she was feeling better in no time. While we were in San Diego we took a quick side trip to Las Vegas while the hubby’s mom took care of Snuggle Bug. It was the first time since he has been back from deployment that we really got to spend some one on one time together. It can be nice to have some grown up time occasionally. As we were driving back from Las Vegas the hubby and I had a bright idea to stop at every tourist trap we could find and let me tell you we found some gems.
Now for some highlights from our trip…..

Here we have Alien Fresh Jerky. It is conveniently located right next to......
The World's Largest Thermometer! Nope, not joking. I'm standing in front of what is billed as the World's Largest Thermometer. They used to have a gift shop but sadly is was closed down :: sad face ::

Close up shot of the thermometer.

Then it was on to Calico Early Man Site.
Which apparently is closed on Tuesdays.
This was my personal favorite, Calico Ghost Town.
The hubby hanging out with the locals.

Sadly, this is the only picture of us in Las Vegas. We realized that on our way out of town and decided to snap one real quick, notice the car roof.

It was such a great trip and I've got so many more pictures to post in the coming days! I have been a terrible blog owner as of late I will admit. Once the hubby came home life got busy and my blogging has suffered quite a bit. But hopefully I can make a turn for the better and hop on here more. I've got so much more to share with you all!

Getting Back to Normal

He’s home! Well, actually he has been home a few weeks now but all the same….HE’S HOME!! It was a cold early morning when we went to the welcome ceremony but what an exciting morning! I was so nervous I was shaking a little bit getting ready to see him after such a long time apart. We’ve settled back into a routine so easily it is hard to believe that that we’ve only spent two weeks together out of the past 12 months.

Snuggle Bug is beyond thrilled at having daddy home. She had no issues getting used to him and knew who he was as soon as she saw him. Now whenever he comes home from work or walks into the room she yells “daddy!” and grins from ear to ear. She is such a daddy’s girl.

There is a lot going on over the next 6 months or so. We’re heading out to Colorado next week for a 4 day visit. Trying to find a place to live, tour schools and just look around the area. Then we’re spending Thanksgiving in California with the hubby’s family and 4 days in Las Vegas. Then Christmas comes which is always a time of year that flies by. Then New Years, Snuggle Bug’s 2nd birthday in February and my one year blogversary! Then we make our big move to Colorado! Wow! Lots lots lots going on.

BUT…..speaking of Christmas I found a great deal for those of you with younger children! Coupons.com has a $10 off coupon for the Playskool Musical Sit & Spin! That brought mine from $24.95 to $14.95 at my local Wal-Mart. Gotta love saving money on Christmas gifts!

I should get back to the housework but I wanted to post a quick update to say I’m still here, he’s home and life is great!

I cannot believe this....

Oh my. Let me tell you all it has been quite a time these last few weeks. The hubby was scheduled to get home on the 1st of October thus ending this awful 12 month deployment. That then was pushed back to the 3rd of October. He got to his first stop in Europe late Saturday which means you would think that today, Wednesday the 7th, that he would be home with his family. NOPE! Saturday rolls around and the landing gear on their plane breaks….but that doesn’t mean they get a new plane. That means they get to wait for the new part to come in. The part finally gets there, the plane is fixed and last night I was getting phone calls about the welcome ceremony that should have taken place at 5am this morning. I use the word SHOULD because last night I get a phone call letting me know that the hubbies plane as been turned around…..they lost one of their engines. Now they are going to have to wait at least 3 to 4 days minimum while the plane is fixed. They have other planes there but they are all scheduled for other missions. These are the only guys not home yet. Everyone else is back….and I mean everyone. I have no more friends because they are all with their husbands now. It is so hard to see everyone happily enjoying their families and here I sit alone. Every time I get my hopes up and believe that he is coming home he doesn’t make it back. Something always seems to happen. I feel like crap right now and I’m trying to stay positive but I don’t understand why they won’t find another way to get them home. I mean it may be a very small group but they still have families who have been waiting a very long time. At this point I don’t think this will ever end.

ELF order came!

A few posts ago I mentioned a wonderful website called www.eyeslipsface.com which sells bargain cosmetics, mostly for $1 each.

I placed my order on the 2nd and it made it to me on the 12th, but I’m sure part of the issue with the shipping length was due to the Labor Day holiday. I have heard people say in the past that shipping has been has fast as a few days and as long and 3 weeks.


This is what I received for a grand total of $17.45……




That’s a lot of stuff! I used a coupon code, which they have tons of different ones, and got $7.50 off my order which includes

Blending Eye Brush
Smudge Eye Sponge
Eyeliner Brush
Eye Shadow Brush
Brightening Eye Color Quad (in Drama)
Shimmering Facial Whip (in Toasted)
(3) Duo Cream Eye shadows (in Black Licorice, Mocha Swirl and Butter Pecan)
(2) Mineral Eye shadows (in Socialite and Glamorous)

I haven’t gotten to try everything out yet but I can give a little low down on what I have tried….

Duo Cream Eye Shadows – They are great! The pigments are good, not too intense but still very pretty. They are creamy and smooth and go on really well and have decent staying power. I wore them out today and they were still looking good this evening.

Candy Shop Lip Gloss tin (in Frosting Fanatic) – This stuff smells fantastic and offers a slightly golden shimmer to the lips. It is thick but goes on smooth. It smells so yummy!!

Plumping Lip Glaze (in Ruby Kiss) – The color side is lovely and sheer. As far as the plumping side goes, despite the tingling feeling I didn’t see a lot of plumping in my lips. I think as far as plumping glosses go I am going to stick with my Sally Hansen Lip Inflation. The packaging is also a bit deceptive. From the side it looks like there is a good amount of product. But when you turn it over and look from the bottom you realize that there really isn’t very much. But at the same time when you’re only paying a dollar for a product I suppose you can’t expect to get extremely large amounts but I do wish there were a little bit more.

Overall the quality is pretty amazing for products of this price and I’m really happy with my purchases. I will definitely be ordering from them again!

Where is that chicken noodle soup?

Oh my! This week cold cereal tiredness developed into full blown sick. I knew something was up because I was just so tired and then Wednesday night I lay in bed all night hugging a trashcan. First came the tiredness, sore throat, sick feeling then came the fever, chills, sweating and all over awful feelings. It was one rough night. Thursday morning came and I lay in bed wondering how I would make it down the stairs with Snuggle Bug to make her breakfast and get her ready for the day. I managed to get up the energy to get her diaper changed a basic breakfast of cut up bananas and a cereal bar made before I collapsed on our couch. Thankfully I have been blessed with a friend who came to my rescue. As soon as she knew I was ill she was at my house with a gallon of Gatorade, crackers and a bottle of ginger ale. Thank goodness, because I had nothing in the house to drink except milk, soda and juice all of which would have been way too gross to drink while sick. She ended up taking Snuggle Bug out for a few hours so I could sleep and rest without worrying about keeping an eye on my ever precocious toddler.

Thursday night my fever finally broke and I when I would have probably gotten a decent night sleep I was up every four hours. Why? Because my poor little Snuggle Bug had a fever and congestion. I knew the instant she was brought home that something was up because the poor thing just looked pale and tired. But thankfully her fever has gone down and despite a grouchy day today she seems to be doing well. I’m still fairly tired at the moment but I’m hoping to be back to normal soon. I’ve just got so much around the house that needs to be done. Pheeewwwww…..what a week!