A Decade in review

Lucy posted this and I thought it would be a good reminder of what the last 10 years have brought to my life.  Enjoy! :-)

2000
Was dating my first "serious" boyfriend of 8 months!
Went to his house for New Years Eve, parents picked me up at 11:55pm 12/31/99.....
Was finishing 9th grade (June), starting 10th (in Aug)
Was playing volleyball and running track
Thought I was pretty cool and started hanging out with more friends
Started getting into more trouble
Got in a bad car accident.  There were 6 of us in the car, I was 15, my friend was driving, I was sitting on my boyfriends lap in the back, in the middle..... Everyone survived, but I did loose a friend in the process.
First "serious" boyfriend broke my heart....

2001

Turned 16 and got my first car (A 1999 Hyundai Accent)
Played v-ball for last time in high school and ran track.
Went to first high school prom with a Senior. (in May)
Finished grade 10 (In June) and started grade 11 (In Aug).
Started dating first actual serious boyfriend in August.
9/11 happened... Enough said.

2002
Ran track for the last time in high school.
Finished grade 11 (June) and started grade 12 (Aug).
Took ACT, on my 17th birthday, it wasn't too exciting.


2003
Graduated high school in May
Started College in August (1.5 hours away from home)
Broke up with serious boyfriend of 2 years.
Had more fun in first semester of college than anyone should.  Passed all of my classes, but was unhappy with being away from home.
Lost my puppy in October. (13 years old)
Moved home in December.
Got a new puppy for Christmas (Bear)

2004
Transferred to a college in my hometown.
Bought my first home, near campus and had a friend/roommate rent from me.
Turned 19.
Finished my first year of College on honor roll.
Started 2nd year of college (in Aug)
Met new boyfriend, thought he was the one.
Lost a childhood friend in a car accident in August. She was 16 and far too young.  As I left the funeral, Kenny Chesney's song, "Only the good die young" came on.  It brought tears to my eyes, but also peace to my heart because it reminded me that she had better things to do up in heaven and I would forever have a guardian angel looking down on me.

2005
Broke up with boyfriend in Jan because he didn't have enough time for me.
Had a lot of fun, found some new friends and enjoyed life.
Finished 2nd year of college.  Started Junior year (Aug).
Started dating yet another boyfriend in July.  Knew he wasn't right for me, but did it anyway.
Continued to date said boyfriend, even though I had mixed feelings about it in my heart.
Boyfriend went away to war, missed him, was scared for him, but didn't want to be with him.
Roommate moved out.

2006
Continued to date boyfriend until I just couldn't stand to look at myself anymore.  Boyfriend knew something was up, called from Iraq to tell me he'd rather wait until he got back state side to date.  In my heart, I knew he did it for me and it was a hard decision for him.
Got new roommate.  We went to high school together, but weren't ever friends. 
Enjoyed my single life for the next few months.  Told myself I wasn't going to date anyone for a long time.
Finished Junior year of college in May.  Started senior year in Aug.
Just 3 short months after ex-boyfriend called it quits, I met future hubby.

2007
Graduated college with Cum Laude Honors with a BA in Criminal Justice.
Roommate moved out, future hubby's lease was up in June, so he moved in.
Bought Josie!
Future hubby got a job offer 1.5 hours away from my hometown.  He took it.  We moved.
I was sad and I hated it.
Finally got a job at a bank after living there for 2 months.
Hosted our 1st Thanksgiving dinner.  Both of our families came.  It was great.
Got Engaged December 15th!

2008
Applied to grad school.
Got accepted.
Planned a wedding
Found Allie on the streets at 6 weeks old.  Took her home.
Quit Bank job.
Started classes in June.
Got new job at Big Brothers Big Sisters in July.
Got Married!! 10/4/08
Hosted our 2nd Thanksgiving Dinner!

2009
Had LASIK
Ran Bix 7 for first time.
Went to Las Vegas
Bought a new car
Celebrated our 1st Anniversary!
Finally Ordered Wedding pictures 
Learned that Grandpa had a heart attack.
Hosted our 3rd Thanksgiving!

What has this decade looked like for you?

Clues and guesses, anyone??

I mentioned before, that I may be having a giveaway.... Well, no lies here!  Keep your eyes pealed in 2010! :-) Jan 1st to be exact!  You won't wanna miss this!  It'll make dinner making or snacks a breeze!

I'll even give an extra 3 entries to the first person who can guess what it is.  So what do you think will be given away on Livin the Great Live on 1/1/10?  Any guesses?  I'll be accepting guesses until December 31st, 2009 at 9:00am CST.

Good luck! :-0

New Camera

I posted before Christmas about our new camera purchase.  I'm very happy with what we ended up getting, but I still have a LOT to learn about the camera.  As of right now, I'm still mastering the art of learning how to take a damn picture! :-)

Anyway, here are a few pictures I snapped after we opened the camera.

Christmas 2009 (obviously!)

The in-laws

Out at my parents house

Parents house again

Bear & his cousin, Addie, "fighting" over a treat

My Parents dog, Samantha

Playing in the snow

And again....

Needless to say, Bear slept pretty well on the 1.5 hour drive home! :-)

These are just a few of the pictures I took, but there will be more to come.... Have a wonderful Tuesday! :-)

The Aftermath

Can you believe Christmas 2009 is officially over?  The presents are unwrapped and all that's left is to take down the Christmas decorations!  It's hard to believe that another Christmas has come and gone!  Makes me feel old actually.

We had a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of family.  We were so blessed this Christmas season and I cannot wait to see what Christmas 2010 will bring! 

I'll be back later this week to share some of the loot we got :-)

In the mean time, I hope you enjoy the upcoming week and have a wonderful New Years celebration!!

Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color??

If you haven't seen Elf, you need to immediately stop what you're doing, go rent buy it and watch it NOW! Best Christmas movie, hands down!  Anyway, since it's Christmas Eve, I just wanted to wish all of you a very lovely Christmas!  I hope you are snuggled up with your favorites enjoying "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year".  :-)  Enjoy it and just think, 2010 will be here before you know it!!! ~HUGS from us to you!

A lot of people have been doing this Christmas survey, so I thought what better to do on Christmas eve than a Christmas survey!! :-)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I use to love wrapping gifts, but this year I just couldn't get ahead with anything, so I resorted to putting things in bags for the most part...

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real.  Hands down! I just love the smell of a real Christmas tree when you walk into the house and I have to say, (sorry to those who have artificial), but you can definitely tell when it's fake.... No real tree looks that perfect! haha

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually about 2 weeks before Christmas :-)

4. When do you take the tree down? ASAP after Christmas.  Usually a day or two, maybe 3.

5. Do you like eggnog? Sometimes

6. Favorite gift received as a child? When Starter jackets were really cool, I actually got one!  I LOVED that gift, it was  Hornets Starter jacket.  Amazing! :-) I think I still have it!

7. Hardest person to buy for? My hubby!  Whatever he wants, he gets, so by the time Christmas comes around, he has everything he wants/needs!

8. Easiest person to buy for? My Brother

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I want one.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, there's something about sending out a Christmas card in the mail and receiving them as well.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hmmm..... Actually, I'm not quite sure.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf, no contest.  But Christmas Vacation is 2nd

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? This year I actually started earlier than most years.  I think it was the weekend after Christmas this year.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nah, if I didn't like it, I wouldn't want to give it for fear that person wouldn't like it either!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Ham!

16. Lights on the tree? Without a doubt!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Way too many!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We have to travel... The in-laws live 4 hours away and my family lives 1.5 hours away.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Hmm.... Probably not. haha

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Either

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Eve unless there's kids

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Rude people

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? Don't really have a favorite favorite

24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner? Ham, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole

25. What do you want to do for Christmas this year? See my family

26. Favorite Christmas tradition growing up? Going to a movie Christmas day with my family.

27. Favorite tradition now? Making sure to spend equal time with the in-laws and my family because I think all people should get to spend Christmas with their families!

28. Favorite Christmas Memory? No favorite one, this is my favorite time of the entire year, no contest!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!  HOPE SANTA WAS GOOD TO YOU! :-)

What a way to end 2009!

Wow, I don' even know where to start!  Let's just say you should probably get pretty jealous!  I just won a $70 shopping spree to Recessionista!  If you have not been to this site before, GO THERE NOW!  It's amazing.  I bought a couple purses and scarfs from there for Christmas gifts (one for myself, ha) and everyone loved them!  (Yes, we celebrated a bit early, last Saturday...)

Anyway, head on over to Recessionista to get in on the great affordable fashion!! :-)

Thanks Recessionista!!!

Favorite Cookware?

Do you have a favorite cookware?

We're not ones to spend a lot of money on cookware, usually because we have to replace it every few years and it just seems silly to spend tons of money on it.  Yes, you can argue that spending more means you'll get a better piece, but you'll still probably end up replacing it with something better in the future anyway.

We even went so far as to go to an "invitation" only cookware* demonstration.  HA, first of all, they gave us a $50 voucher to go towards the cookware.  Hubby and I apparently had nothing better to do, so we ventured the 45 minute car ride to the event.  We thought, hey what have we got to lose, at least we'll get $50 off something cool.... We were joking on the way there about how expensive we thought this cookware was going to be, we even hesitated to say that hopefully we could purchase a pot for just a little over the $50 voucher and at least leave with something cool.  Fat Chance!  We got there and apparently you can only buy this cookware in sets.... Sets that were priced at upwards of an arm and two legs $1200!  Can you believe that?  $1200 for some pots and pans?  I.Kid.You.Not!  I don't know about you guys, but I could definitely find a better use for $1200+!

So, I've been looking for new cookware and I came across the Rachel Ray Cookware.  Have any of you ever tried it?  I'm thinking of using some of our Christmas money to try a piece.  It's super affordable and very colorful!  I think there are 6 different colors you can buy!  How cool is that?  So head on over to this site for a look at the Rachel Ray Cookware.


Stay tuned for a giveaway after the new year!! :-)  It may be cooking related, you never know..... 


*  I'm not naming names on this type of cookware, for one, I hate to bash them and two I cannot honestly remember the name of the darn outrageously expensive cookware!