2017 was pretty good

2017 was a pretty good year at our house.

In January, a certain someone hit a milestone birthday (it wasn't me...) that begins with a 5 and ends with a 0.

In February, another someone hit a milestone birthday....

In March, my Mr. and I went to New York to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame

April brought regular season baseball. Mr. got me a ticket to Opening Night at Wrigley to celebrate the banner raising of the World Series Champions flag.  Wet and awesome night!

In May, we went to St. Louis to watch the Cubs get beat by the Cardinals.

In June, Mr. and Young Miss went to Washington DC for a week. It was hotter than blazes (100+ everyday) but they saw quite a bit.

In July, Mr. & I went to see Sara Evans and take in a South Bend Cubs game

August 22, was a the complete solar eclipse. Mr. & Young Mr. traveled to the path of totality and enjoyed it.

August & September, brought a car repair that took the mechanics almost 2 months to figure out and fix. (I'm still pretty angry about it and haven't been able to post the whole tale here yet)

We visited Disney in October with some friends. It was a lot of fun!

November was our 20th anniversary and we took a few days to visit San Francisco

We are looking forward to our 2018 adventures.

I hope your 2017 was wonderful and wish you all a fantastic 2018!

Happy Tuesday!

HELLO!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I hope you had a Happy Hanukkah (I know it ended last week) and a Merry Christmas!

Our holiday was relaxing and restful. We haven't had one of those...probably ever. We stayed home, watched movies, ate, and just enjoyed being together.

Fri-YAY! letters

Dear Friday, Where have you been all week? Every day this week has felt like a Friday....


Dear Camera, Prepare yourself! It's holiday time.


Dear Friends, Thank you for stopping by my little blog. I love hearing from you. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!


Dear Stack of Books, I see you! I am hoping for some time over the next week that we can hang out together.


Happy Friday!
Enjoy your weekend

2018 Reading Challenge

I still have to pick my books for each theme.

Are you going to join in?

#popsugarreadingchallenge

What I'm Loving Wednesday

It's Wednesday again and Christmas is almost here.

I hope you are all having a good week.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Day at work last Friday:

Beautiful sunrises:

Humor:

Wishing you a wonderful rest of your week

Thoughts on....

We watched this last night.

I will admit, the first half hour, I was ready to turn the channel. It just seemed to be dragging.

Once I accepted it as a musical, it was ok.

I wouldn't highly recommend this but it was ok. Some of the casting choices were not so great, BUT....  I will say I enjoyed Matthew Brodrick as grown up Ralphie and as always, Jane Krakowski as Miss Shields was FANTASTIC!

3 hours was a little long for me but what else did I have to do on a Sunday evening?

I would give this 2 - 2 1/2 stars.

24 Days of Christmas-Day 10

Day 10-Christmas List

I honestly really don’t have much of a Christmas list-bookstore gift card; iTunes gift card. I don’t have a kitchen gadget or anything like that I want this year. 

I have always liked knowing what others want or ask for. So-what are you asking for?

Blogs

Here are some blogs you should be checking out.

BLOGS YOU SHOULD BE READING

I hope you will stop by, leave them a comment and say hello.

24 Days of Christmas-Day 9

Day 9 - Stocking Stuffers

There are some things that are traditionally left in our stockings each year.

A plastic candy cane of Reece’s; a toothbrush; a small gift card.

We usually  get a few things specific to the recipient. 

What are some of your favorite stuffers?

24 Days of Christmas-Day 8

Day 8-Christmas drinks

I enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate (perhaps with a nip of something in it)

My favorite drink is mulled cider.

24 Days Challenge - Day 7

Day 7 - Gift Ideas

I will admit, I am a TERRIBLE gift giver. I am not creative in thinking of what to give. And honestly, I am usually under the gun trying to find something. It is probably my greatest stress of the holiday season.

How do you decide what to get people?

What I'm Loving Wednesday

This is my EXACT sentiment this week. Wow - it's been a long week so far!

I am loving a few things:

*My Christmas shopping is progressing

*It looks like a relatively quiet (but cold) weekend ahead

*Catching up on some podcasts this week (namely Stuff You Missed in History Class and The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd)

*Christmas cards are ordered

What are YOU loving this week?

24 Days Challenge - Day 6

Day 6-Christmas Tree

We decorate in a snowman theme. We have collected them for 20 years and have to rotate them each year we have so many.

24 Days Challenge - Day 5

Day 5 - Christmas Movie

This is TOUGH!

I have so many favorite holiday movies!

For the funny side of things, I LOVE:
A Christmas Story

Christmas Vacation

For the more "serious" side, I LOVE:
Miracle on 34th Street (the original)

It's a Wonderful Life (please don't tell me it's not a Christmas movie)

What are some of your favorites?

Oh what fun

Last Friday, my office hosted our annual ladies' shopping day. We take a bus of clients to downtown Chicago for shopping.  My Mr. came as my guest this year. We had a nice time.


The weather was PERFECT! Sunny, no wind, 50 degrees.


We went to see a movie - Bad Moms Christmas. SO crude but SO funny!


We got a little shopping done and spent a lot of time walking around. (People watching is always fun) The Macy's windows are fun this year. We plan to take the kids to see them in a few weeks.

24 Days Challenge - Day 4

Day 4 - Christmas Memory


WOW! I have so many wonderful Christmas memories!


*The Christmas I got my Cabbage Patch Kid (an original one!)
*Christmas Eve dinner when I was growing up at the dining room table with the good dishes
*Hosting Christmas for our families when we were first married
*Our son surrounded by Thomas the Train themed gifts one year
*Our daughter getting her cell phone last Christmas


These are things I will hold onto for many years and I look forward to more wonderful Christmas memories yet to be made!

24 Days Challenge - Day 3

Day 3 - Real or Artificial?

Our tree is artificial. Due to allergies, we don't have a real tree.

24 Days Challenge - Day 2

Day 2 - Christmas Tradition

Every year for several of the past Christmas seasons, we have visited the drive through light display about 1/2 hour  away.

It has grown every year and it quite a display.

What are some of your traditions?

24 Days Challenge-Day 1

Let it begin....

Day 1 - Christmas Book

One of my favorite Christmas books is:

There are SO many different printings of this poem. Most of them have FANTASTIC artwork to go with them!

What is your favorite Christmas book?