Goodbye 2010! Hello 2011!

I have no divine thoughts to express about the new year.

I refuse to make new year's resolutions

simply because it's expected,

because how many of us really keep them

past February anyway?

I learned not to make plans of what the next year will be like,

 because God will remind me Who's in charge!

2010 has not been my best year. I've struggled in many ways throughout the entire year, so this is one year I'm glad to put to rest. I learned so many lessons the hard way, and I'm smack-dab in the middle of a long struggle right now. I'm not going to pretend that I've been a good friend or a good Christian this year. And God bless Marc, because he's hung in there when it hasn't been pretty.

I'm looking forward to 2011. I'm going to leave my failures behind me. I'm going to step into a new year with optimism and hope. I'm anticipating all that God has for me and Marc, and I'm confident that a year from now, I'll be sad to see 2011 end.

"I do not consider that I have made it my own.

But one thing I do:

forgetting what lies behind

and straining forward to what lies ahead."

Philippians 3:13

Recent Paintings...Christmas Gifts

Here are the last three paintings for 2010!!!

These were all given as gifts,

 so I waited until after Christmas to post them.

Come back on January 1st

to learn about my New Year special!!!

Jeremiah 29:11

Florida State wooden wreath

I painted this wreath as a gift for my sister for Christmas.

She's like me...we're not really "bow" kinda girls!

So I painted the Florida State symbol at the top instead!

Sweet P's

 This painting was done for a bakery business,
based on their logo and menu.

 This has been Marc's favorite painting!

(other than the FSU wreath...he keeps asking me where his is)

Some paintings he doesn't even comment on,
 but he loved the peas on this one.

He was sad the day we delivered it...how silly!

I am so grateful to all my family and friends

who've bought canvases from me this year!

Your encouragement and support has meant so much to me!

Thank you so much for ordering paintings.

I hope to continue using the gifts and talents God has given me,

as He allows my "little girl" dreams to come true with each painting!



The TV Saga Continues

or...

The After Party

or...

The Impromptu Shopping Trip

or...

Never Buy Your Husband a TV for Christmas

Yeah, I had a hard time picking a title for this post.

Possibly because it's the most random of all posts.

Possibly because the past 24 hours may result in more gray hair.

(I recently found my first two! Ack!

At least I can blame it on other people's kids! haha!)

So, let's back up a few weeks ago.

I had a paid day off due to Benji boy getting an ear ache,

and his Daddy took him to the doctor.

What to do? Head to Hobby Lobby, of course.

Well, Marc had been talking

(to me, to Dennis, to anyone who would listen),

doing research,

reading reviews,

 and quoting facts and abbreviations

(LED, LCD, HDTV, 3D...etc)

for a week about this TV at Best Buy.

When I heard how much this TV cost...I told him no way.

But...I ended up in Best Buy in Warner Robins,

with plans to surprise Marc with the TV that afternoon.

Bad news? None in stock

Good news? Can order it online

Marc comes home, I tell him he can order the TV...

Bad news? Not the same deal online as in the store

More bad news? Best Buy won't take over-the-phone purchases...
even with a BB card.

Back to WR we go...and I'd only been home 45 minutes.

Good news? Ordered the TV, great deal with the 3D/PS3 bundle.

Bad news? Dealing with Marc for the 10 days before it got delivered.

Now, it's Monday morning...first day of Christmas break.

Good news? BB delivers the TV early, guys set it all up...

Bad news? Remote doesn't work.

Oh, then it's all bad news from there...

told they'd overnight a new remote...

it took 2 days and they sent wrong remote...

Marc ordered another one...
didn't come before we left for Christmas,

so we stopped on the way to Valdosta...

Right remote, have to wait til we return home to try it out...

Remote still doesn't work,
finally figure out it's the sensor on the TV...

Marc calls Sony,
they connect him with repairmen in our area.

They say they'll be here Thursday...
we wait all day to hear the confirmation call...

Marc finally calls them this afternoon...
oh...that'll be NEXT Thursday...

Needless to say...we ended up back in Warner Robins today

and PRAISE THE LORD...
came home with a new TV!!!

See that magical little red light?

That means the sensor works!
HALLELUJAH!

 Now Marco finally gets to play with his big-boy Christmas toy!

He hasn't put the remote down!

{SIDEBAR...he's wearing his new Crocs

he got for Christmas from Granny and Papa.

Loves them already.

Christy...I won't even admit the number of days

he's been wearing that sweatshirt!

And he's wearing the most faded pair of jeans in his closet.

Because it's been a week since I did any laundry
until I started a load this afternoon...

and proceeded to wash Marc's wallet.

Oops! At least that's the first time it's ever happened.

Now...cough drops? That's a different story!}

 But when he finally does put it down...it can sleep in it's new bed!

Apparently, putting the remotes in the drawer is too much work,

so Marc was asking for "remote caddy"

which I personally do not like!

So I got this fleur-de-lis basket at the HobLob tonight

(hey...benefit to going back to WR, right?)

 Now that the TV saga is over...
I have to move on to the after party...

 YIKES!

I took down all the Christmas decor today,
 but never got to putting it away,

ya know...with the impromptu trip to Warner Robins and all that!

I was lucky to find a few
Christmas clearance items I couldn't resist...

I picked up the jingle bell at Target
in Valdosta before Christmas

(already marked down to $2.50).

I found this candle stand at HobLob today for 50% off...

had to have it!

What a perfect pair!

 I got these two decorative balls from Target, also $2.50 each.

And since we were in WR, we ate dinner at Cracker Barrel.

Can I just tell you, I've never had a bad meal there.

Supper was just divine. We ate ourselves silly.

And, of course, I had to shop.

All their Christmas was 70% off,
 and I got all 4 of these ornaments for only $5!

(Yes, that metal snowflake is the twin to the one Mama gave me!)

We got Marc a new pair of slippers from Old Navy...50% off...

...the last pair just happened to be his size!

Thank you, Lord for the little things!

And this last picture

(I can't believe I'm actually posting)

is for Mama...

I love my new jammies!

I exchanged the slippers...

but my Belk didn't have the black/white dot, either.

I got blue dots since most of my pjs are blue, anyway!

Thanks for the "work clothes!" ;)

Christmas Decorations 2010

Christmas Decor

I didn't change much this year from my "normal" decorations.

We added a few little touches to the new shelves above the couch.

 I got these 3 glass trees from a yard sale for $1!

Added pictures of Zelda in her sweater and our house covered in snow.

I got 2 sets of these green bells, so I hung one on the tree and sat the other on shelf,

picture of me and Marc in the snow earlier this year (February).

 Rena (well, Benji!) gave me this metal sign.

We don't have a mantel...so I duct-taped the stockings to the back!

And yes, that is a "Z" for Zelda..

.but no, we don't actually put anything in any of our stockings!

I hung this garland over the mirror this year.

I put it on the footboard of the guest bed last year,

but was afraid of Benji getting those mini ornaments!

(they are wired on, but better safe than sorry!)

White Tree

We normally put the presents under the big tree in the kitchen,

but this year I put them in the office.

I wasn't really sure how Benji was going to do with the tree or the gifts...

turns out he didn't mess with any of the trees

 and only touched the ribbon on one gift!

But the blue and silver theme I had for my giftwrap this year

really matched this tree...so it all worked out!

Little Tree

This is our little tree that sits in the corner of the mudroom.

I really need a slim tree so that it'll fit better.

This is the tree that fell over...

because I don't put the branches in the back,

so it makes it front heavy.

But fixed that with a heavy weight on the back.

I got 3 of these huge green glitter balls at Lowes about a week before Christmas.

They were clearanced for less than $2 a piece.

I only got 3 because that's all they had...I would've gotten more!

We didn't have a topper for this tree, so Marc picked out a fuzzy Santa hat...

I think it's perfect! (and only $4! haha!)

Main Tree

This the biggest tree we put up,

and this is where we hang our special ornaments...

the ones we bought on our honeymoon,

the souvenirs we get on vacation every year.

Marc loves this tree.

It's huge...takes up so much space

We have to move the kitchen table over just to have room for it.

But Marc will turn off all the other lights in the house and just stare at this tree.

It makes all the work worth it!

And this tree will be the very last of the decorations I put away,

so that Marc can enjoy every minute of it!

New Ornaments for 2010

The two red ornaments are souvenirs from our trip to Charleston.

I got them at Pottery Barn.

I got these wire/metal ornaments at Monograms and More.

I got a green star and white star, and two sets of green bells.

Love love love the glitter on these!

Mama had these metal snowflakes on her tree

and I oohed and aahed over it, til she gave me one!

 Snowman bottle cap from Mama

( it came from Cracker Barrel, I think)

Reindeer in a stocking

McLean gave me and Uncle Marc this ornament.

He bought us this and a ginormous pencil

at his school's Santa's Workshop.

What makes it so special

is that he bought our gifts with his own money

 from doing chores at home.

And he picked out all the gifts himself, too!

Penguin from Mama...it's a tradition now!

I get some type of penguin every year.

This penguin lights up....love that!

Hot Cocoa S'mores ornament...another tradition between me and Christy.

We love penguins and s'mores!

 Mega light bulb from Mama...perfect on my white tree!



Marc's Christmas Morning

Even better than the first official day of Christmas break...

 even better than sleeping in late...

 is delivery day!!!

 Marc got his new TV today...

and he's a happy boy!

I even made pancakes this morning....

it is Marc's Christmas morning!

My Largest Painting Order...ever!

I spent weeks working on 24...yes, 24! paintings.

I had 3 tables spread out across the office,

worked on these in "shifts"

to complete this order!

The night before I delivered these,

I told Marc...

"If there happens to be a fire tonight...

you grab Zelda,

I'll get the paintings!"

Each person on staff at SCA received a

"Sinclair"

canvas for their Christmas gift from the Headmaster!

Thanks, Heather!