i know how you feel about all this Christmas business....

i think Linus says it best--
"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"


doing: trying to stay awake--"adult time"
listening to: whatever Matts watching on the History channel (yeAH history channel, more on that later!)
feeling: happy

its saturday night, december 26. i can't believe Christmas is over... but then again it seems like it was a week ago!
we had a long week, but it slowed down long enough for us to truly enjoy it! i was worried that our Christmas day would just be GOGOGO! but it wasnt! we all but had to push Ethan out of bed in the morning. he didnt believe me that Santa had come! but when he finally got up he found himself a mountain of presents!


Kitty was watching them for us! :)

after we played with toys at home for awhie we packed up and headed out(in the snow) for the Croghan's house. there we had a second Christmas with my family!


Grandma Croghan might have gone present-for-Ethan-wild this Christmas!

of course he loved EVERYTHING that he got this year! after presents we chatted for awhile and ate lunch. Ethan laid down for a nap and i snuggled in to watch a 'Bones' marathon on TNT! :) love that show!

around 3 Matt came and picked us up and we headed to his parents house for our 3rd Christmas of the day!


a Cars ramp... its loud and goes off randomly!

we usually head off to Eddyville for dinner with Nancy's side of the family, but since the weather was iffy Matt didn't really want to drive. so from the Russell's house we came back home to relax together!

we ended up having a wonderful and enjoyable holiday together as a family! no fighting, we didnt get too cranky either! we had a great balance of family time, presents, food and love!

i'm thankful everyday for my family. for Matt who loves me on my worst days. for Ethan who can always make me smile! for our parents and siblings who are and will be there for us no matter what! and for our friends who seem more like extended family every day!
thank you to everyone who cares for and love us! we are blessed to have you in our lives!

"" why give up? why give in? ""

doing: working on youth wrestling memory mates--- theres a LOT of them!
listening to: my ipod--Breaking Benjamin--what else!?
feeling: tired but happy.

its been a long week already. bad to say because its only wednesday. the holidays are always stressful for us though-like everyone i'm guessing? i'm never on top of the holiday shopping, in fact i just finished yesterday! :) we always have a million places to go and people to see in such a short time.
needless to say... we always fight. we had a blow out on Sunday so hopefully thats our one for the season.

i have to admit, that for the last couple years Christmas has been a dreaded holiday for me. i used to be all about putting up decorations, the tree, lights, attending church, and everything else that goes with it! but for a couple years now its just been an iffy thing. i could have pry lived without it.... sadly. having Ethan around has made it easier and harder. easier because he is SO excited about everything that has to do with Christmas. he points out lights everywhere. he knows how to turn on our Christmas tree. he knows that baby Jesus goes in the crib! its wonderful to be reminded of all the simplicity of the season through the eyes of a toddler.
its been hard because i want to give him the world! i want to buy him every single toy that he says he wants, i want to take him everywhere to show him everything! i want to give it all to him!! so its been especially hard to shop for him, or to tell others what to get for him. he only asked Santa for ONE thing. a tow truck. so Santa has-or will- deliver just that to him! *pats self on the back*

now that the day is actually closer ive become less stressed and more excited. i'm planning to go to Christmas Eve mass tomorrow night-i havent been to that for a year or two, so that will be great! we are having Russell family pictures tonight while everyone is home! i hope my child will feel well enough to behave decently.... *crosses fingers tightly*


the next thing to look forward to is my birthday. as of monday the 28th of Decemeber i will be 27 years of age. i did have a slight panick attack about this age earlier this year. mostly due to the fact that my life plan was to have both of my children by the time i was 24.... apparently that didn't happen! not all bad... but i DO want to have my second child within the next year. i pray that i wont be 30 and just having my second child. not that there is anyting wrong with that... its just not for me!
but i've gotten past that... and actually am looking forward to being 28 soon(i just hate odd numbers...!!) i'll stick happily, with 27 for a year though! the funny thing is that sometimes i still feel like a kid right out of college. i have a good job that i know tons about! i can talk your ear off about photography/photoshop and designing until i turn blue! but sometimes i just feel like i'm a noob (thats a COD term for you!) i'm not sure if i'll ever grow out of that. maybe when Ethan is 15 i'll actually start to feel like a true adult! arg! Ethan at 15 -- panick attack!!


so all in all, this week is turning out to be decent! i hope that it continues that way! i also hope that my little family has a chance to sit together and think about the true meaning of Christmas and what a blessing we have in each other!

Merry Christmas everyone!

"" and we can have forever.... and we can love forever....""

well... i'm awake.

i haven't had much to write since NCYC... because most of it has been disappointing.

the Breaking Benjamin concert that was on the 8th was the one thing i've been totally pumped about for months! and of course... thats the night that we got crazy wind and snow. so needless to say, for our own safety, we didnt drive to DM. however, they had the concert anyways. so, we're out $100 and did not get to go see Breaking Benjamin. Lazer said they didnt cancel because of the band's tour and things.... i understand that... but, i also dont. i wont start cause it'll be a rant. Lazer is putting together something for those of us who have unused tickets in the next couple weeks. i dont know what it'll be, and i hope we arent busy that night... but i am glad that they realized they should do something for the people who couldnt make it. it wont be the same as BB in concert... but at least we'll get something for our money.

**a few days later**
yeah, its taken me multiple days to write one post.... i heard about the Lazer "special thing" for those of us that still have unused BB tix. the Hairball is coming to DM soon, which is a complilation of 80s rockbands. if we go TO the Lazer studio during business hours and present our BB tix we can BUY tickets for the Hairball for $10 instead of $10(normal price).
now i want to say that i didnt expect a full refund or anything.. but i did expect something along the same lines as Breaking Benjamin. if you've ever heard BB you know that they are not even close to 80s rock. and also, while i am a girl who listens to KGGO(Classic Rock that Rocks) i do NOT want to end up spending $120 (BB tix + discount hairball tix) to go see some group of knock off 80s rockers...... so while the DJ "really really thinks this is a great deal!" i will have to dis-agree.
i was quite upset and said some choice words to the radio when i heard this. so, my glimmer of hope is out and i'm back to sad that i missed one of my favorite bands and am out $100......

















after all of that........

the week of Christmas has begun. we always have troubles around these holidays trying to visit all of our family in the alotted week. Matt and i always fight-i wont deny it. and it really makes the season un-enjoyable.

we did go to my Grandma Croghans Saturday/Sunday for Christmas. i was really looking forward to this trip because i'd missed out on Thanksgiving there this year. most of my family was there, crammed into Grandma's kitchen/living room. it never used to be a problem until all the boys in our family started growing to 6 feet tall!! it was chaos!! but it was exactly how i've always remembered it, so it was perfect. i got to visit with my Grandma and aunts and uncles. we talked about everything from kids tv shows to politics to how to save the world from global warming! :) we're diverse!! hehe!

Sunday afternoon we packed up again and headed home. we were at our house for exactly 15 minutes and then headed off to Pella to Matts Grandparents. we had dinner and more family time there. Grandma Darlene always makes 3 or 4 great soups!

we got home just in time for Ethan to head to bed. and after 3 meltdowns and about 10 minutes of crying, he was alseep! needless to say, this week has only just begun.


today i have to go finish my Christmas shopping/wrapping. yes, i said finish! i'm late and i know it!

other than the Christmas rush and the disappointing concert... work has been good. we've been quite busy this month. we always set our cut-off for Christmas orders at December 4th. of course we always always get people calling a week later that just HAVE to have their stuff by Christmas. luckily our lab is quick like a cat this time of year, so as of last Thursday my order bin was EMPTY!!! its a good feeling to look over and see nothing pressing that i have to finish! now my biggest problem is all the wedding albums i have to create... i dont think it'll be too bad... i just have to sit down and do it! i'm planning to bring a few of them home on my laptop and hopefully knock them out in a night or two!

i guess i should start my day. i have alot planned and better just get it all started. then maybe this afternoon i can take a nap!! :)