Shopping on Black Friday!

You guessed it! Of course I was up Bright and Early on Black Friday to get some Christmas Shopping done. =) I was pulling into the JC Penny parking lot at the Tacoma Mall at 3:50AM on Friday. This year it was packed full of excited shoppers. I went to Macy's & completed my shopping for my cousins; Marisa and Adam, my Grandma and Mom by 8AM!!!
I also picked up a few things for myself (plates, 2 big pans, and a steamer) and some stuff for Josh. I love Christmas Shopping and getting out there and getting it done early. I also bought some more decorations for the house this year since we will be hosting our FIRST Christmas Celebration with the families. Yesterday was a long tiring day. Mike came over last night, so He and Josh stayed up all night playing Josh's new PS3. I guess Boys will be Boys! I am at work today and hopefully will be able to set up my sewing machine tonight! I got it on Wednesday and still haven't managed to get it together and start making Josh's pants for my Army Reserve Holiday Social (Old School Theme). I am going to make Josh some snazzy Hammer Pants!!! And I need to add some tool to my dress to make it PooF! Don't worry, I will post pictures from our blast to the past evening.
I will be starting Christmas Cards on Sunday with Jen and hopefully mailing them out soon. =) Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving and have fun planning for Christmas!

The Original 1st Blog Post.

Just a note: I attempted to start a blog about 2 months ago and then never finished, but just recently came across what I had written, so it is a bit out-dated, but I thought it would be nice to let you guys read it. =)
Enjoy!

(I would like to start writing in a blog just to keep family and friends up-dated. I have a myspace and facebook, but I think I am going to just start blogging instead. It is easier and a better way to stay connected with everybody. =)
I am so excited for the up-coming Holidays with Family. Josh and I will be hosting our First Christmas Day with both of our Families this year (Chelsea, Jason & Ivan, Hopefully we will have gotten a web-cam since you guys will be in Maine.). I can't wait to start decorating! Thanksgiving is coming up which we will be spending with Josh's Grandparent's on their boat in the morning, and then I will be heading up to my Aunt Debbie's House when Josh goes to work. I love TURKEY and potatoes, so Thanksgiving has to be one of my Favorite Holidays, not to mention the shopping the day after! (Last year I had all of my Christmas shopping done by 10AM on Nov. 28th!)
Also, Josh and I have talked about continuing the tradition of Our Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. This year we need more people to find the ugliest sweater you can! Don't worry, Josh and I will actually be participating this year =) Andrew was a champ last year with the best outfit!)

It's Almost Thanksgiving!!!

Today is one week from Thanksgiving! I think this is the first year in a really long time that I have been so excited for the Holiday Season. I have been working like crazy with Charles River Clincal Services, the Army Reserves, Volunteering for Steilacoom Fire Department, and Babysitting; I am very excited to have those extra days off. =) Also, as I said in my last blog, the shopping after Thanksgiving is Amazing! I started a list the other day of everything I am going to need for Christmas this year, and the list is just continuing to grow (With that said; If anyone knows of any great stores to get Christmas decorations or serving platter for in-expensive, Let me Know!). Josh and I have also been trying to eat healthier lately and even throw a bit of working out into our crazy schedules.
This Holiday Season, I am also planning 2 Christmas Parties, possibly 3. One for my Army Reserve Unit, the 2nd for the Volunteer Fire Department and the PSOs, and possibly Our Annual Ugly Sweater Christmas/ Poker Party... That one is still to be decided. I don't know if I will have the time or energy to make all of this happen within a few weeks. =)
Animal Up-Date: Stryker is still just as crazy as he was when we got him! Hopefully time will calm him down...
KoCo has her attitude problems sometimes, but is such a snuggler when she wants to be. The other day, I got her a pink sweater, elf costume, and a Christmas sweater to wear for the Holidays. Needless to say, she is not thrilled to wear them, but she deals with it. =)
And Mosely loves to get into everything. Curiosity should be his middle name, he also teases Stryker and gets him in trouble just like any little brother would. Mosely has also gotten a Christmas sweater that is just so cute on him, but Josh does not approve. I have to sneak the clothes on to him and then hide Mosely from Josh. ;)
Other than our daily lives, Josh and I have been really good and just trying to keep up with everything and all of our Friends.
We will also be putting up a FENCE (finally!) very soon, so if anyone would like to donate some time to help, it would be greatly appreciated. =)
Hope all is well with everyone and hopefully we will be able to get together before the Holidays take over the next few weeks.

Getting Ready for the Holiday Season!

Josh and I will be having Thanksgiving morning on the boat with his Grandparents. =) And then in the afternoon, I will be going up to Federal Way to my Aunt and Uncle's house for Thanksgiving dinner while Josh is working. Don't worry, I will bring him food from my family gathering.
Let me just take a few minutes to let you know how excited I am for Thanksgiving...
#1 All of the Delicious FOOD!
#2 We are drawing names for Christmas Gifts.
#3 SHOPPING @ 4AM THE Morning After!!!
#4 I get to start decorating Our House for CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Josh and I will be hosting our FIRST Family Christmas Gathering at Our House this Year!!!
I am so excited! (could ya tell?!?) My Mom will be here staying with us from Texas, and I haven't had a Christmas with my Mom in 5 years! So that will be amazing and Everyone is going to be coming to my house, which I have wanted since I was a little kid. [We always had to go someone in the morning and I just wanted everyone to come to me =)]
This also means that I get to decorate our entire house and cook for everyone! By the way, our cats got Christmas outfits yesterday! =) Josh was not impressed but they are so cute with their little sweaters!

Well, with all of the work I have cut-out for me, I am going to get going. =)

Our First Post.

Here is some background information before I 'officially' get started on our new blog. =)
Josh and I started dating 07/17/2006, We met when I became a Volunteer Firefighter for Steilacoom Public Safety. Josh is one of the PSOs in Steilacoom and I immediately thought he was cute! It was like one of those little crushes that you don't tell anyone about, but I let it slip to Earl that I liked Josh... and being new to Steilacoom, I didn't understand how everyone knows everyone and also the small town life of everyone knows everything about everyone! So, needless to say I learned that very fast, oh-yea, and not to mention that Earl and Josh are really close friends from High School. Basically, my secret was out, but everything ended up working perfectly. Josh knew that I liked him, I would always be at the Station on my Shift Night, and Josh would always be working. =) Coincidence... We became friends and he helped me get the cakes for our Volunteer Fire Academy Graduation, and from there it is all history!

When I first started volunteering I lived in an apartment in Tacoma, my first place by myself. (It had it ups and downs.) Josh was living in Lakewood with Brian who works for Lakewood PD. Almost a year after we had been dating, Josh decided that he wanted his own house and decided to rent for a year in Steilacoom. I moved in a few months later, since it was pointless to pay rent for my apartment when I was hardly ever there anyways. We lived in this house for a year and then Josh bought a house for us in Lakewood. We have an amazing house, it is an older house, but there is so much potential that we can't wait to get started on all of our remodeling!
We recently got a new desk for our office and just last night started to put together the furniture for my Craft Room! Yes, I am having a craft room. =)
To be continued...