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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Cheers to the New Year- Fall Cheerleading Recap

See what I did there with the title?! I tried to tie in the fact that these cheerleading pictures from October would be perfect to share for this post because we are suppose to be cheering on the new year! Ha! It really did sound good in my head!

So Hailey did her first season of cheerleading this fall. It was a pretty good experience! They started out a little rocky, but by the end of the season our girls were loud and proud! She cheered for the peewee Falcon's team through parks and rec and they actually did pretty good this year with winning more games then they lost! Apparently this was their best year yet! So I am glad she got to experience that!

I posted some pictures throughout the season, but here are some pictures of the girls cheering!

Notice the seriousness in Hailey's expressions!









She looks like little miss thang right here! Ha!






GO FALCONS!

10 Things on Tuesday!

tues
It's Tuessssssday again!!!! And the end of 2013! Can you believe that?!
 
1. I am still grasping the fact that 2013 is over and 2014 will be here in less then 24 hours! Ahhhh! Funny thing is that at work, we have already been writing 2014 on everything since October 1! That's when our new fiscal years begin! It makes it an easy adjustment to switch to writing 2014 in everyday now!
 
2. I am feeling much better then yesterday and I am happy to report that I got some sleep last night!
 
3. I drove to work today and will get off at 11:00am! Then it's back to Maryland to pick up my little, who apparently isn't feeling very good. Womp Womp.
 
4. I called my Mom last night to vent about something and she totally made it worse. Her response went something along the lines of "You are upset and crying over that?! Nicole you have way more things to be upset about!" and then she started telling me everything else I could be upset about including some not so good results from a doctors appointment that someone had yesterday. I was like "Gee thanks, you really know how to make someone feel better!" Ha! I guess it took my mind off of the one thing I was upset about!
 
5. I am going to make some changes this coming year! I refuse to be stressed out and upset over simple things, when there is so much to be happy about. Positives always outweigh the negatives!
 
6. I used my kohls gift card last night. First, I checked out the clearance Christmas stuff, then the purses, and then ended up settling on a CUTE 6 pack of earrings, a 20" chain to replace the 18" one my necklace is on which just isn't as long as I would like, and Essie cuticle oil! And I paid $3.20 overage after the $25 came off! Not the most functional things, but Hey! They made me happy!
 
7. I ended up running into Target last night, to get KITTY LITTER! And I may have peaked in the clearance section! I did not see as many good deals as I wanted, which I really wanted more EOS lip glosses which I saw some people were getting for less than a buck, but I did end up getting a steal on a stocking holder set! I have been looking for one for years, but couldn't justify putting out the money. This is the wooden train four set which is usually $30 and I got it for $9 plus my 5%! I was pretty proud of that purchase, no more scotch tape for our stockings! And it was the very last one! Now if I could find a clearance tree skirt, I would be set on my Christmas collection!
 
Pretty cute right?!?
 
 
8. I have been waiting forever (11/25) for ebates to give me credit for my Magazine.com order that I got for my cousin's birthday. It was $8 so I was checking every day. Finally I submitted a help ticket and they found it and gave me the $8! So now I have $60.83 pending cashback for this quarter! Wahoo!
 
9. I was transferring money to make bill payments this morning and transferred money to the wrong credit card. It was showing as "processing" so I called BOA right away, and of course they can't do anything until it actually posts to my account and isn't pending anymore. I was hoping since it was still just pending that I would be able to cancel it before it posts. Guess my logical thinking was wrong!
 
10. The news paper lied! They said our Dunkin Donuts would be opening back up the Friday after Christmas! I had myself all excited to stop by on my way to work and it was closed! I had to wait until the DD 20 miles away, but I am happy to report that I am sipping on a very yummy Ice Mocha Latte!
 
Well this will be my last 10 on Tuesday for the year! Hope everyone is having an amazing Tuesday and a great end to the year! Bring on 2014!
 
 

Monday, December 30, 2013

Monday Morning/Midafternoon Ramblings!


I am stealing/nicely borrowing this from the lovely Jen over at Ramblings of a Suburban Mom!

- I am a little bit of a mess today. Okay a big mess today!

- I have been awake since 3:16am worrying about different things.

- One of my biggest fears is the thought of letting people down, weather it's that I didn't come through with something I said I would, or that I am not able to attend something. I hate saying no to things and I hate the twisty knot in my stomach I get when it happens. I am a people pleasure and I hate thinking I have upset someone or disappointed them.

- My anxiety is out of control today, which is funny because not even a week ago I was telling Kenny how I felt like switching medicines was a good thing because my anxiety has been more in check. Not today though!

- It poured all day yesterday which resulted in water in the basement (nothing like before) and in the garage again.

- I could have ugly cried this morning when I opened my Jeep door and discovered that there was a mini lake inside the drivers side. Water was filled the whole floor up to the pedals. It was interesting ride to work and I had to turn slowly so the water wouldn't slosh all over my pants.

- Thanks to my awesome husband who stopped by the park and ride and pulled the plugs to drain the water. He said nearly a gallon of water came out from just the driverside floor. Told you it was wet!

- I got my Aunt's birthday present today from Bath and Body works. Thank you Semi Annual Sale! I got everything including a sponge and bag for $12! Can't beat that since its all full sized items!

- I really want to go to Target to see if I can get some of these awesome clearance deals I keep reading about, but I just don't ever seem to be able to find them and do I really want to spend money on things I don't really need?!

- I have $25 kohls gift card that I was given from Kohls for the crappy shipping service they provided me. It expires tomorrow so I think I will head out tonight and see what I can pick up!

- I am hoping that tonight will provide me with a much better sleep so I can wake up refreshed and calmer for the last day of 2013!

Christmas 2013!

So another Christmas has come and gone! It's so hard to believe it's been five days since Santa came and left! And boy, has it been a very busy past five days!

We started our celebration off on the 20th with Kenny's family. He has a very large family so in order to get them all together they started doing their party the weekend before Christmas! It definitely makes it more enjoyable because we were able to go and stay instead of running off to the next place. They did a white elephant gift exchange this year, which we got lucky because we didn't bring a gift, but there were extras so the made us play! I walked away with a $10 target gift card! Cha-ching! It was nice visiting and catching up with everyone!

Christmas Eve I had to work half day. It was super low key at work and most people were out of the office. I think every day should be a half day! It makes me way more productive! Traffic was amazing on the way home, which is something I was worried about! I made it home in record time and it gave Kenny and I a few minutes to ourselves to exchange cards for our anniversary. We then headed over to Maryland to pick Hailey up from my Mom's. We opened presents there with my Mom which was nice. I loved the stuff I got! And both Kenny and Hailey seemed happy with their gifts too! We got home and did dinner then I worked at baking my first batch of "from scratch" cookies! This was something I was super excited about! I am pretty good at baking, but I have never made anything from a recipe. They turned out awesome! And Santa ate three of them so I think he agreed. I read Hailey "Twas the Night Before Christmas" like I have ever since she was a baby for Christmas! We finally got her to bed about 9:30, which she was so wound up and excited, but she seemed to fall asleep pretty fast! This is when all the wrapping started. I saved it for Christmas Eve again, because well it's just tradition. I got it all done in record time. It may not of been pretty, but it was wrapped! Everything got set up and ready!

Christmas morning was pretty nice. We slept in, thanks to Hailey having instructions to play her leappad or in her room instead of waking us up. Who knows what time she got up! We were up around 9:00 and she was ready to go crazy opening presents. She was pretty excited about everything she got and I took a lot of pictures. She was so excited about her Howleen Wolf Monster High doll, since Santa just knew how much she really wanted it. We all opened our gifts and then I fixed breakfast. I had some time to get the rest of the family's presents wrapped then it was off to getting ready to head to my Grandmother's. We got there about 3:30 and had a pretty awesome time. It's an hour and a half away so we ended up getting home pretty late.

Thursday was pretty low key. Hailey played with all her new things. Kenny ran back over to Maryland to get some stuff to work in the garage with. I piddled around the house until the afternoon when we went to do our Christmas exchange with one of my besties. We did dinner and then exchanged gifts and caught up. We pretty much see each other, maybe once every other month, even though we live only 20 minutes away so it was a nice visit.

Friday was an exciting day and I had an appointment in the afternoon (I'll talk about that in another post)! We went to that and then pretty much had enough time to go home and get ready to go out to dinner with Kenny's dad and brothers over in Maryland. That was a really nice time and I got to enjoy some crab dip and crab cakes! Yummmm! But it put us home pretty late again.

Saturday we pretty much got up and had to get ready to head to Kenny's mom's back over in Maryland. (You don't have to tell me how much gas and time we spent commuting this past weekend!) Dinner was good and it was a nice time for the most part. After that we headed back to his Dad's since he had asked if Hailey could spend the night and go shopping with him the next day. We did presents there and Hailey quickly showed us the door. We headed back home just the two of us. I ended up asking if we could go to the grocery store since food in our house has been pretty nonexistent. With a whole bunch of huffing and moaning and groaning, Kenny agreed to go with me. We ran into the store and did some shopping and some arguing (haha he seems to forget how much food costs, especially the name brand items he likes). Then we finished the night off with a movie on the couch and a bag of popcorn.

Sunday I decided was going to be my lazy day! I slept in and spent the whole day in my pajamas. It poured most the day so it seemed like a perfect day for it. I did do a few things around the house, but for the most part I just rested and watched Netflix. I defiantly needed a day to rest. I feel like I have been running a marathon lately and I know it will be a long week back at work, even with the holiday off.

So Christmas is pretty much over for us. The tree is still up and theres a lot of stuff that needs to be put away and cleaned up, but it can wait until after the new year! I want to enjoy a little more of the Christmas mess before it's gone for good. I can't believe how fast Christmas came and went! It was an awesome time and I loved seeing everyone and feeling the excitement in the air. I am still in shock that the new year is pretty much right around the corner!

So I have a couple pictures for this post from my phone since my camera was dead on Christmas morning (womp womp!), but the camera pictures will have to wait until another post! (I know, I know! Who knows when that one will be here!)

 
Christmas Cookies were a success!


 
In our PJs and ready for bed!

 
Santa came for everyone including the cat and dog!

 
Christmas morning!

 
Opening gifts! (This one is from my Aunt in FL)

 
The Christmas morning aftermath!
 
I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and holidays! I can't wait to catch up on everyone else's blog!


Tuesday, December 24, 2013

10 Things on Tuesday: Christmas Eve Edition!

tues
It's Tuessssssday again!!!! And it's Christmas Eve!!!!!
 
1. Did you read my above comment?!? It's Christmas Eve! Craziness!!!!
 
2. I only have to work 4 hours today so at 11:30 I am peacing out of this place!
 
3. I am pretty proud of what I accomplished last night! Hailey's room was a disaster area! Like seriously only a walking path! And now it's not 100% clean, but the floor is clear and everything is picked up! Good enough for me!
 
4. I have been dying to make cookies. I have never made any before and I went out in the beginning of Dec. and bought all the stuff to make it! Now here it is Christmas eve and I still haven't made any. So I am hoping that it won't be a Christmas Cookie fail tonight!
 
5. I can not wait to go get Hailey today from my Mom's! I am super excited to see her and share her Christmas Eve excitement with her!
 
6. I wrote a note from Santa to give to Hailey tomorrow morning when Molly leaves! I am pretty proud of it!
 
 
 
 
7. Today is my wedding anniversary and it marks 6 years married! I am pretty proud of this because we have really had our ups and downs over the years! We are no where close to perfect, but I think we are in a better spot that we have been. We seem to listen and understand each other a bit better then we have in the past. I guess that's also a part of growing up and learning to communicate better!
 
(February 13th 2005)
 
(March 9th 2013)
 
8. I got my last Christmas gift last night! I was in the store for 5 minutes and spent over 30 minutes getting out of the parking lot! Ahhhh Fredericksburg is a nightmare around the Holiday time!
 
9. I ordered my Mom a Sephora gift card yesterday and I have the free 1-2 day shipping attached to my account, which means most stuff only takes a day! On the site it said any orders placed yesterday would not be delivered until the 26th so I went ahead and chanced it so I wouldn't have to go to the mall and.....drum roll please......it will be here today! I am so happy about that!
 
10. I decided to take the rest of the week off from work. I know I need to save leave, but I seriously need some me time and I have something good planned for Friday!
 
So those are my Christmas Eve edition of 10 things on Tuesday! What would you like to share?!
 

Monday, December 23, 2013

Christmas Eve is Tomorrow, So Let's Recap Halloween!

And since I just shared my deer farm posts which was in October, I figured it would be a great time to do a quick post about Halloween! (ha! see how I snuck that in there!)

So this year we didn't do as much fall activities as I had wanted to due to the fact that money was extremely tight because of the furlough. We didn't do pumpkins this year or go to a pumpkin patch since we just didn't have the money at the time. Luckily Hailey won a huge pumpkin from her school's Fall Festival, but we still ran out of time for carving it! Hailey and I have already made plans for next year to take the baby to a pumpkin patch so that Hailey can help it pick out it's first pumpkin and also help it carve it! (She's going to be such a good big sister!)

Anyways.....back to the story! What we did get to do, which we had never done before, was go to Knobles in PA with my cousins. This is one of the only admission free amusement parks around! You can spend the whole day there walking around for free! You don't even have to pay for parking! You buy ticket books for rides and the prices are so  much cheaper then the fair or anything like that! We spent the whole evening there for $30 which $20 was rides for both Hailey and I (We probably both did 10 big rides) and $10 for food! Everything was so cheap! I loved it and we had a great time! The girls got to wear their costumes since it was their Halloween event and everything was decorated for Halloween. I was a little disappointed that Kenny couldn't go on the trip with us since he had to work, so one year we will def have to do it again! The next day we also got to go on a hayride through the country. It was the longest hayride I had ever been on and we got to see some pretty sights!

On Halloween night, Kenny and I took Hailey out in one of the local neighborhoods. Since we are still newer to the area this was a hard decision to make, but I was happy with the one we chose! Hailey dressed up as Clawdeen from Monster High. She had this huge dark brown wig and believe me, girlfriend thought she was something. I had to add clothes to the outfit because well apparently Clawdeen thinks that less is better in the clothes department and Walmart must have agreed because the costume was pretty skimpy! We went down one street and she got a good amount of candy so we called it a day. I wish she had other kids to go with, but regardless she still had fun!

So here are some pictures from both events!

These are before we headed off to Knobles......
 
 






 
These are from our hayride. Clearly I was annoying both the girls with trying to take pictures because neither of them wanted to give me a smile!
 






 
This is one of the oldest standing one way bridges that are still in use!


 
These are from Halloween Night before Trick of Treating
 

 
 
PS: You will notice the kissy face look Hailey does, she just can't help it! I kept fussing at her to stop because every picture I went to take had the same "duck lip" look, but then again this is the same kid who had that look all by herself in her 1 year old baby pictures too!

 
Silly girl!
 
 
 

Our Deer Farm Visit

Soooooooo.......this is a super late post, but hey! deer are kind of like reindeer which means this could be kind of Christmasy!

I wanted to share photos from our trip to PA with my cousins and Hailey back in October. We went to an amusement park during the evening so we planned a trip to the local deer farm during the day! It was pretty amazing! There was so many deer it was crazy! And we got to feed them little "cookies". So here are a ton of pictures from that day!