Adventures in Everyday Life: Christmas Pictures, New Furniture, and the "Secret Project" partially revealed

Monday, December 26, 2005

Christmas Pictures, New Furniture, and the "Secret Project" partially revealed

I feel like this might be the longest blog posting ever. I have totally had SO much going on, I haven't blogged since Friday. That's the longest away from my blog ever!

Firstly, let me say that what sticks in my mind most is that Evan and I took one giant step and financed our own living room furniture. We are getting a leather sofa and loveseat, and two mission style end tables and a coffee table. We went to the Quad Cities on Monday afternoon and visited Furniture Row, where we picked out our furniture. The leather set is called Vintage and we picked the mission style tables out seperately (they were displayed with a different leather grouping). We also picked out (for our future purchase) our dining room table and chairs and the matching mission style china cabinet. We also went to Target where I used a gift card towards new curtains for the living room, and to Bed Bath and Beyond, Michaels, Best Buy, and then out to eat at Governor's.

So it was a very tiring and exciting day. Our furniture is on a boat, crossing the ocean as we speak. It is expected to reach the US the first week of January, then it has to make it's way to Davenport and then we can go pick it up. We are so excited we can hardly stand it. I hung the new curtains last night, along with placing a new throw rug and some new candles and such. It is coming together and I feel like when we get our furniture, we will have an "instant room." Mom and Dad also gave me the cash to get the big braided rug (5' x 8') that I wanted for Christmas, and also the LL Bean telephone table in dark mission. Now I just have to decide if I still want the Golden Sunset rug or if I want the Harvest Colored Rug. Oh the stress.

Evan got his special Christmas Gift, a New Fender Acoustic/Electric Guitar. He was very thrilled, and surprised, and it was totally worth it! My sister Liz got him a matching Fender Gig bag. Mom and Dad got him all kinds of goodies, including a Craftsman Mechanics Tool set, Craftsman Precision Screwdriver Set, and new clothes, pajamas, and "steven segals" which are what we call the moccasin slippers that he wears around home. I got the Hallmark 2005 Fillagree Bell from Dad, and I wanted it desperately. I also got lots of goodies, like socks, dog magnets, dog cookbook, Fiskars ScrapBoss with 2 extra templates, a book from my mom.... there was so much good stuff I can't even begin to rememer it all. Beads and Charms to make more bracelets.

Evan got me my jewelry armoire, flannel sheets, a $30 Itunes Gift Card, Aveeno Lotion and Bath Wash, two cool pink bracelets, the Conair Lighted Oval Mirror for my dressing table, 2 DVD's (Badder Santa and Brothers Grimm) and some other stuff in my stocking.

Angela got me two doggie cookies shaped like snowmen, and a pair of doggles with flames from Two Boston's bakery in Naperville. The dogs CHOWED down on the cookies. They even had FROSTING! We had a great laugh when we put the doggles on them. We now need to get the dogs into extreme sports. Or at least get them used to wearing the doggles.

John and Amethyst got me a left handed notebook and a cool glass cake stand.
Liz got me a gift certificate to the new wine store in Peru.

Everyone loved the Pictures that we had taken professionally in November, with the dogs, which was the big secret project. We had them framed and gave them to our immediate families and our grandmas, and some of our good friends. We will be sending out New Year's Cards soon and after we do that, I will post what the picture turned out like on the blog so you can all see the "secret project."

I wore my pajamas and slippers ALL DAY on Christmas. That was my goal and I completed it. That's why all the pictures we took show me in my pajamas. Mom got a really nice Kodak Easy Share with a big zoom- from Dad. So we had to try that out and I showed her how to put the pictures on her computer.