Merry Christmas!!!

It is alittle after 11:00 at night on Christmas Day. We are finally at home after a very busy day. I sure did miss my parents all day long. I talked to my mom earlier and that was nice. Hard to accept that I didn't get to see them today and that they are so many miles away. I hate that! Next year will be so much better when they come to Ohio for Christmas.

We had a really great day together. In the morning Tom, Ashley & I woke up around 7:30 and opened presents. I think Ashley was very happy with all of her presents - especially her digital camera. It sure is getting harder to get gifts for her the older she gets. And of course alot of the time there isn't anything that a 14 year old girl will get too excited over. :) She is such a great kids though! She's just started babysitting the last few months & has been saving her money. She used it all to buy Christmas gifts for her dad and I. She is so generous! She bought me 4 CDs (2 Trace Adkins, 1 Garth Brooks & a Tim McGraw), two packs of different colored "cool" socks, and a quilting book called "Still Stripping after 25 Years" that I have been really wanting. She paid for all of that with her own money. Plus she got about the same amount of stuff for her dad too! Great kid!

Oh, Tom completely surprised me too. Most years we don't have the money to buy each other gifts. It's disappointing but really I've gotten used to it. I know it doesn't mean that he doesn't love me or whatever - just that money is short. Well, this year was one of the years where money was too short and we weren't going to buy for each other. After we'd opened all the gifts today he went out to the backroom & came carrying in a big present for me. I absolutely could not believe it!!! He had completely surprised me and gotten me a gift. He bought me a really, really nice leather chair for the computer & my sewing table. It's so nice! I can't believe he did that for me. It sure did make me feel loved!!!

We spent the morning at my brother Nathan's house with his family. The kids sure are cute! Then we came home for few hours and rested. This evening we went to Tom's mom's house. Everyone was there so it was a madhouse! Things went well everywhere though. We got lots of nice gifts from all the different family members. It was also nice to just spend time with everybody. It seems like we don't get together nearly as often as we should be.

All in all it's been a pretty good day. Better than I expected in spite of missing my parents so much. The next week is going to be so nice though. Tom and I don't have to work again until January 2nd so we'll be spending lots of time together. Just relaxing and loving on each other!! Bye

Today is Christmas Eve

This morning I have alot on my mind. It's Christmas Eve. I'm excited because of it being Christ's birth. Praise the Lord that he came to Earth to save our sins! I can't imagine the world without the Light of Jesus here!

Unfortunately I'm also pretty sad today. My mom and dad moved to Florida from Ohio about nine months ago. I am missing them so much I can hardly stand it!!! I"m glad that they are getting to live their dreams but I really wish their dreams were here in Ohio with me. They decided to come home for Thanksgiving this year & stay in Florida for Christmas. That made me so sad. I miss them so much & hate to think of spending this Christmas without them. It will be the first one ever that they are not here. It really does break my heart. I'm trying to be happy for Tom & Ashley but it is a struggle. I miss my parents. I keep wishing they'll show up on my doorstep as a surprise but I know that isn't going to happen.

Okay, lets talk some quilting stuff so that I can clear my mind. I can't wait until after Christmas to get back to my machine! I miss it! With working now it is much harder to fit time in to quilt. But since I don't go back to work until January 2nd I should be able to get lots of quilting time in!!! I am hoping to get started on the Quiltville Mystery that Bonnie Hunter is doing. I just love her site! She is so much fun & so full of great scrappy ideas. I've joined her e-mail list and have been saving the steps for the mystery. I can't wait to start it after Christmas! I'm using the same colors as she is - it should be so neat when it is finished. :)

I hope everybody has a great Christmas & gets to enjoy all their family and friends. Be safe & enjoy the blessings that God has given you!!! Bye!

First post ever!!

So, this blogging thing is really huge. I thought I'd take a stab at it. I think it's going to be excited to write about all the things going on in my life. I'd like to take this post to introduce myself to you all alittle bit. I've been married almost 17 years to the best man in the world. We have a 14 1/2 year old daughter that I'm lucky enough to homeschooling. I work from home for a company that calls newspaper subscribers all over the country to provide customer service. I love, love, love to quilt. Alot of my posts will probably be about quilting!! I also love to read & garden. Oh & I love watching sports with my husband. Go STEELERS!! Well, that is enough for today. I look forward to lots of posts in the future! Bye!