We trimmed the holiday tree, have you?

Normally we apply for a permit and venture out in to the forest to cut our own tree down, this year since we just barely moved to our new hometown in September we didn’t have time to put in for a permit so we resorted to buying a tree instead.

A local boyscout’s troupe was selling holiday trees just around the corner from our house so we stopped by to check things out on Sunday afternoon. They had quite a selection of various trees in all shapes and colors.

We found a full one that was a greenish/ blue color. This is something we are not used to seeing as in Arizona all the pine trees are a plain green color.

We spent $45.00 on the tree which is funding the boyscout’s trip to Washington D.C and we headed home with our purchase.

After N drilled the hole in the bottom of the tree and got it standing up straight I took a photo of it in the bay window of our rental home. I even hung our new and fun stockings!

The tree came from Michigan and it is pretty! You can’t really see the unique color in the photo because I used the flash and it washed everything out a bit.

Next we hauled the boxes of holiday decorations that we could find up from our flooded basement and we started decorating.

What holiday season is complete without a struggle with burned out and tangled lights? Somehow we have like 4 strands are are dead now, luckily we had enough to decorate the tree…

Once all the found decorations were hung on the tree the cats began playing with the tree skirt and messing it all up. I suppose it is better than them climbing the tree and destroying everything right?

So here is what our finished and decorated tree looks like, we still can’t find the tree topper yet…

Again the flash washed all the color and glimmer out of the shot so I tried a few close up shots of the ornaments to share with you.

Have you started your holiday decorating madness yet? We usualy try to get our tree up as soon as possible since we are so quick to take it down after the holidays. Plus a fresh tree just makes the house smell so amazing!

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Our first day of fall leaves, now I need a nap.

I have to say I have never been lazier (that can’t be grammatically correct) or more tired in my life. This pregnancy is just making me want to lay and sleep, it is very odd.

I have never been one for nap time and people always thought I was crazy. Sleeping during the day was just strange to me, a waste of life as I have put it in the past. Even when sick I was unable to sleep during the day.

Well now laying and dozing off all day is just what I want to be doing and I am very conflicted about it. I feel guilty for not getting more done around the house and I feel very unproductive but my body just wants to sleep. Am I being a baby?

I know there are several mothers that read this blog who have been or currently are raising young ones while being pregnant. They can’t lay around and sleep all day, if they can carry on what is my problem? Just a random musing.

Also, today was the first day N and I got to marvel at fall leaves. The yard across the street is just covered with an array of colorful leaves. This is a new concept for us and it is so cool! Now dealing with those leaves is a different story but we haven’t gotten there yet. Right now we are just enjoying our first fall in an area that has fall colors and leaves.

Our neighbor has started dealing with the yard leaves though. He has a leaf blower and he just blows the leaves in to the street. Kind of dumb if you ask me. Wont the leaves just blow back in to their yard eventually? We think composting the leaves is the better option but that is just our opinion.

Well, I am sleepy again so I am going to publish this and have another nap. Oh, I weighed 108 at the doctors office this week so I am gaining weight. Still no actual vomiting with the morning sickness, yay! Just wanted to post an update on that for the Talina’s baby weight contest. Hope everyone is staying warm today in the states, I know it is a stormy day for many.

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A functional desk makes for a productive day, right?

We have been in our new home for about a month and I just now got my desk items unpacked and sort of situated. It is amazing how much more productive and motivated I feel now that I am up off the futon and away from the TV while working on my laptop.

There is just something about “wife swap” on lifetime tv that keeps me from being productive and motivated in my writing endeavors. Oh and that show makes me feel like I am a useless bump on a log for not cleaning my house for 5 hours every day. I have no children to chase after so it makes being a stay at home gal feel ridiculous too.

Anyway, now that I am out of the living room and at my desk I feel all professional and motivated again. Oh I sold another article to an online publisher thanks to a publisher I am already writing for (if you want me to send you an invite so you can write for them too email me). I am also in the process of getting a guest author thing set up with another online publisher so my writing is really keeping me busy.

I even partially got dressed today even though all I do is sit in my home with my laptop, working. This is just more proof of my productivity thanks to the desk! I have a decent top on and I am even wearing eyeliner and mascara! Too bad I am still wearing my light pink cow PJ bottoms…

Sure it seems like being able to spend 5 days out of the week at home in your PJ’s or bathrobe is great but in all actuality it just makes you feel like a hobo or a shut-in. Sure I shower every day and wash my clothes but not actually getting dressed and put together for the day takes it toll, trust me.

Tonight N and I are going be strange and visit the local super walmart after he gets off work at 11pm. Back in the day doing our grocery shopping in the middle of the night was the norm. I worked 3rd shift and he worked the 2nd shift so that was the crazy schedule we were on. The stores were quite too!

After last weekends shopping hell we vowed to try shopping when less people were in the stores, that means midnight super walmart shopping tonight! We’ll let you know how it goes.

Anywho, I have gotten way off topic here! What I was actually trying to get at in this post was my desire to see YOUR desk set up. Yes I do want you to post a photo of your desk in action. Now don’t go straightening it all up, I want to see it in all it’s functioning glory!

If you are brave enough to participate just post an un-staged (no cleaning or straightening first!) photo of your desk on your own blog (you can link back here if you want to). Then leave me a comment below with the link to your post so I can check out your desk. Your work space says so much about you and I am just too freaking nosy curious!

Now here is my photo:
See my sewing machine and the unfinished T-shirt quilt behind my MacBook? I sew and write and love plants!

And the photo of N’s desk:
It is a dresser actually because we gave his desk away to save on moving costs. We are going to buy a new one someday, just haven’t done it yet.

P.S. I wanted to give some linky love to Donna B for her snort worthy caption she left for my Wordless Wednesday October 1st post. Thanks Donna you totally made me laugh!

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7 days to go and we have news!

Our going away party was yesterday as most of you know. Our crazy week of working the week before pretty much left us unprepared for the going away party. Our house was just trashed. So we spent much of yesterday morning straightening and cleaning in preparation for the party.

N insisted that we go for a nice drive before the party started, you know one last calm time together before the chaos of it all. So we head up the san francisco peaks, N said it was his favorite drive and it is very pretty. So we are driving along and enjoying the scenery. When we get to the lodge we see that the ski lift is running. We have never skied or been on the ski lift so we get tickets and embark on the ride up to the top of the mountain for  one last look at flagstaff before we move away.

He brought the camera and tripod so we could get some photos of the amazing view from the top of the mountain. We posed for a few photos with the view behind the two of us then he says “lets take on last photo”. He sets the camera timer, comes around to pose for the photo and gets down on one knee…

He proposed right there on the mountain and said

“I’ve viewed this mountain, the highest peak in Arizona, as a symbol of our relationship together.  Over the last six years together, we’ve climbed the highest and achieved the most here in our home state together.  There’s many more peaks out there for us to explore and I want to continue doing it together.  Talina, will you marry me?”

Now it is time for us to really to move on to the next phase in life with an engagement and a new beginning. The ring is beautiful and the moment was so thoughtful and special. I got to proudly wear my ring at our going away party and share the news with our pals. It was a very special day for us.

Now we are getting a handle on the fact that we are moving in 7 days. We need to get busy now but we just wanted to share the news with everyone. We are engaged!

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31 days till we leave Arizona…

It’s the first of the month, that means 26 days till N is done with his current employer and 31 days till we are outta here. It is all very exciting and also a bit unbelieveable. We have signed a lease in Evansville, paid a security deposit and tomorrow we are forking over $1800 for our RV.

We still have movers quotes to sort through but we are pretty sure we will be going with SelfMovesUSA, they seem to have the best price and after news of wage garnishment price has become an issue for us. By the way, the garnishment was indeed deducted from the check today so we have 15% less income being directly deposited… This sucks but it is inevitable when the issue is swept under the rug. Hopefully it is a learning experience for the future.

Last night our hamsters got out of the cage and one of them was dead when we woke up, not at Dixie’s hand but at the cats hand. It was the sweetest thing, Dixie tried her hardest to clean up the poor hamster after the cats were done with it. She licked the little guy and smoothed it’s hair all down, the cats just shifted focus from the dead hamster to the still live one under a shelf. I guess their natural instincts were coming out and Dixie was just trying to make it all better after they were done.

When N woke up and discovered what was afoot he was very upset. He poked his head under the shelf where all the cats were positioned and the poor little live hamster simply walked right on to his hand, he was relieved to be saved and knew N was safty.

So, we have a dead hamster, a live- trauatized one, a wage garnishment, 31 days till we move, 26 days of work left and a motor home to pick up this weekend. Oh and my period is coming…

We are working to plan some sort of going away party so we can say goodbye to all our Arizona peeps, it is looking more and more like madness every day. We are doing it potluck style (thank goodness) and we have about 60 people on the guest list so far. This house is going to be packed!

Well, that is all I have to report right now. I need to go do the finances, I’ll make the blog rounds shortly. Hope you all are doing great and have fun planned for the weekend!

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