New Year's Resolution

So....is anyone going to make some New Year's resolutions this year? I have been thinking about what mine should be. I could always go with the resolution to lose weight again. I have tried it before and it never really works. Or maybe I should spend more time with family. It's a good resolution, however, I should be doing that anyway. I guess I should make a resolution to visit with my friends more. How long has it been since I visited with you? I know...way to long. I think I will also resolve to become involved in an event to raise money and awareness for cancer research or programs for cancer patients. I thought about starting something new in the Martinsville area to raise money for programs at the cancer center there. I think my last resolution should be to get back to work on my master's degree. I had to drop my classes last semester and I still have not registered for the spring semester - I should really get on that! If any of you have more suggestion of resolutions I should make, please let me know (be nice!!!).

Christmas

Well Christmas has come and gone and it is now time to get ready for the new year. There were a few sad moments this year, but overall it was very nice. On Christmas eve I went to dad's house and spent some time with Dallas, Leslie, and their families. I had created a dvd of all the slides that I had scanned into the computer. It was great looking through all the old pictures. I did discover that mom loved taking pictures of Dallas. And the sad part is I still have about 30 more slides of Dallas that I didn't get scanned in. The slide show dvd was such a hit that Leslie took it with her to Uncle Phil's house so the rest of the family could see it on Christmas. Christmas day we spent the morning opening gifts at home and then went off to spend some time with Mark's family. We went to his nephew's house - he has a pool table right as you walk in the door (I'm sure that was supposed to be the formal living room, but a pool table is much better). Mark and Jared enjoyed playing pool and spending time with everyone. Last night we got together with Lesli, Bryan, and Lauren. What a fun evening of pizza and games!!! Only one more Christmas get together left (this weekend).

Thank you to everyone for a wonderful Christmas!!!

Christmas Time is Here Again

Well it is Christmas time again and Mark and I are trying to get into the festive spirit. We even went looking at Christmas lights the other night - of course the mood was ruined as we got flipped off by a little old lady!! And she put some attitude into it. Ok, so I might have swerved a little into her lane as I looked over to see the nice display, but I had at least 4 car lengths between us and she didn't even have to change her path. Apparently she thought I was wanting to play a game of chicken. Merry Christmas!!!


It is always agonizing for us to do Christmas cards. One year we addressed them all but then never made it to the post office. Then there have been the years where we have tried to take a family photo for the card. As you can see by last year's photo, that doesn't always work.

So this year we were still creative with our cards (you'll see them soon) but have spared everyone from our latest family photo. I'm sure Mark, Jared, and the beagles are all thrilled I didn't make them pose for yet another picture. We have even mailed out about 6 cards. I have another 6 that I need to mail tonight. Some I am in search of zip codes for.

You can see the pain that the whole Christmas card issue causes you can only imagine what it is like for us to go shopping. I actually love buying gifts for everyone and often find myself going a little overboard. This year is not as much fun because we are buying a lot of gift cards. It just doesn't seem as much fun. However, for those that have or have been around 15 year old boys you will know this is the best possible gift for them. At least I got to buy a few stocking stuffers. I am really looking forward to Christmas this year - It should be fun!

Photo Cards

I have been spending a lot more time taking pictures and pursuing my love for photography. It has always been a hobby that I enjoy. I have been working with a friend to take some of my photographs and create cards with them. She recently sold some of hers at a Christmas craft fair and did really well. Below are some of the ones that I have created. I actually have about 50 different images so far. Please forgive me for the quality of these photos, they don't do the cards justice. I have some amazing ones from pictures I took while Mark and I were visiting Cape Cod. I'll have to post some of those pictures as well. I have also enlarged several of the photos for framing.

Thanksgiving Photos

Sorry it took me so long to get these up on my site.

These photos show the amazing bathroom renovations. For those that are familiar with this bathroom you will notice that the sink has been moved to where the closet use to be. It actuall works out well since the bathroom was so cramped before.

It was so hard to get a good look at the Thanksgiving feast...there was so much food!

Thanksgiving is over, now it's time for Christmas

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone. And if I do say so myself, was a great success. Mom was definitely with us in spirit. Nothing burned and everything went according to plan. Everything went almost too well. I kept waiting for something to go wrong...but it didn't. Thanks you to everyone that brought stuff. It was delicious. I had planned to post pictures from the fabulous event, however, for some unknown reason I haven't been able to get them on here. I will try again at a later time.

For those that were wondering - I actually got the bathroom complete enough to use. I can not say it was totally complete because I haven't put in the tub surround and there was one area that was not sanded because the spackling decided to take to long to dry. This project was started before mom got sick and needless to say took a little longer than excepted since there was about a month where we did not do anything. The pictures of the bathroom will also be posted soon. I'm sure dad is just thrilled to have that room back in order. I also decided to put in new flooring in the kitchen. That was a fun little endeavor just 2 days before Thanksgiving...what was I thinking.

I did venture out the day after Thanksgiving to do a little Christmas shopping. I did not go really early, I waited until about 8:00 am. To my suprise the stores were not that crowded and I did not wait in line anywhere. I was able to get at least half of my Christmas shopping completed. How exciting!!

Thanksgiving Menu

With Thanksgiving less than a week away the reality of it all is starting to set in! I am really looking forward to seeing everyone. I am also really excited about the actually cooking of everything. Of course, Mark will be on hand to help. He is the turkey master. I have never known anyone to baste a turkey as much as he does. The last turkey he made actually squirted as he tried to carve it. While we all like a moist turkey I do not think it is good when you need a raincoat to eat it. Let's hope he does not overuse his new baster this year. I am also in search of a cute apron for him. If anyone knows where I can get something really funny please let me know. I guess I could just make one myself. I would just have to come up with something really clever...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The good news is that I have finally set a menu. I have also lined up a few people to bring some of the items. The menu is below - please let me know if I have forgotten anything.

• Turkey
• Ham
• Mashed Potatoes
• Green Bean Casserole
• Carrot Casserole
• Corn
• Stuffing
• Oyster stuffing (mom always made it, but I have no idea who would or will eat this. Who ever eats it is in charge of making it in the future)
• Salad
• Deviled Eggs
• Sweet Potatoes
• Cranberry Sauce
• Rolls
• Gravy
• Drinks
• Desserts (pumpkin pie, sugar cream pie, apple pie, peanut butter pie, butter cookies, persimmon cookies)

Memories

I have acquired a new little "toy". I now have a scanner that scans slides so they can be saved as jpg files or you can print them out. I am having so much fun with this! Mom and Dad used to break out the slide projector every few years around the holidays but it was such a hassle. I have scanned around 275 slides so far and only have about 400 or so to go. This is going to take a while. Most of these slides were taken between 1966 and 1972. Once I get them all scanned in I will go back and fix some of them. There are a lot of scratches and quite a bit of dust on the images. I don't want to spoil the surprise for some of my relatives but I imagine there will be a lot of people getting photo cds or a DVD with a musical background for Christmas this year. They are just so much fun to look at. I have made a game out of trying to figure out some of the people in the pictures - I'm actually better than I thought I'd be!

Mom & Dad

I just love the matching shirts! Dad has informed me that back in "the day" if you were a couple you had at least one matching outfit.

Grandma & Grandpa Rawlins

Grandpa Rawlins & Leslie (she is chewing on a cigar!!!)

Valri & Lesli (at least I am pretty sure that is Valri)

Granpa Rawlins, Helen & Phil

Dad & Wylie on their motorcycles

I am not really sure who these people are but I just love the photo!

(I think I can identify the person at the stove, but I am not willing to do that until I am sure)

Christmas Beagle

Boris is all ready for the holiday season in his new PJs. While he is not overly thrilled, Zona seems to be enjoying it. Can dogs laugh? I really think Zona is laughing at Boris. I wish I could have gotten a good picture of Zona - he wouldn't stand still.

Anniversary

I could not have planned a better anniversary gift for Mark – The Red Sox won the World Series! The real story is that I am an idiot. Once again I forgot our anniversary. Yes, I said again, this has happened more than once. It’s not that I really “forgot” it, I knew it was on the 28th. I just didn’t realize that Sunday was the 28th. That is until I woke up to Mark fixing me breakfast and a card was on the table for me. And there I was with no card!!! Nothing!!!! I’m glad this wasn’t a big shock to him, as I am sure he is starting to get used to it. It turned out to be a very nice and relaxing day. I do wonder if I am the only one that this happens to. I can be such a ditz at times.

Thanksgiving

I know it seems a little early to be thinking about Thanksgiving, but I must prepare. For some unknown reason (maybe it was a case of temporary insanity) I have decided to host Thanksgiving for the family this year. And poor Dad, I have roped him into it as well since I can not fit 30+ people into my tiny little place. To be truthful about it, I am very excited! I enjoy cooking and think it will be good for the family to get together for the holiday. While I am sad that mom will not be doing the meal (she was the one who hosted every year) I know that she will be there helping me out. She has to be...every time I have been in charge of making a large meal it took at least 4 calls to mom to be sure I was doing everything right. I would hate for my guest to get food poisoning. For those that will be attending - No need to panic - I really do know what I am doing. The only dish I will not be making is mom's oyster dressing, though a coworker says he has a recipe and will help me with it if I do want to make it. Yuck!!!

The World of Bes

Well, this should be interesting. I have decided to start a new blog. I had a site before where I just ranted about everything. While it did help to vent it really did not do much other than that. I figured I would do this to keep everyone updated on my insane and often comical life. This should be fun. Feel free to laugh at me when ever you would like. It will make it more fun. To make it easier to laugh just look at this picture. Yes that is me!!! The things I get roped into.