December 17th - December 21st.

December 17th, I got up and did my laundry and started packing for my trip to Kalamazoo. I made sure my fire homework was all done. Then I had class. When I was at class Zach and I were talking about what we were doing that night. I, of course, was going home, eating dinner and going to bed, meanwhile he was going out to the bar. He kept giving me shit about it and finally I said I would go out. Well Jill asked me to go to her place to pre-game before the bar as a bunch of our friends from high school would be there. So I did. We went out. I got to see a bunch of people from high school that I haven't seen in years and I also got to hang out with some fire school people. Ryan brought me home and I crashed.

Day 270:

tired baby.

Day 270:

ready for bed.

December 18th, I got up fairly early, finished packing and got ready to go. I dropped Ryan off in town and headed down to Kalamazoo. When I got there, I needed to go to the mall to do some shopping, so Katie, Justin and I went to the mall. I did some Christmas shopping and then we had dinner there. After the mall we went back to the apartment and watched Survivor because I missed it the day before because of class. After Survivor we had our family Christmas party. In one word, it was insane. I was exhausted so we called it a night kinda early.

Day 271:

modeling the hat and scarf I made her.

Day 271:

at the Christmas party

December 19th, we got up early and got ready to go. Justin graduated from college! His parents came down and I rode to the ceremony with them. It was almost the EXACT same as my ceremony, therefore incredibly boring. When the ceremony was over, Justin and I took his gown back to the return site then met his parents at the apartment where we decided where we were going to lunch and went out to eat.

We went to Hobby Lobby to spend the gift card I got for Christmas. I know, I'm a dork, I get so excited over yarn and craft supplies, haha. Then we went to Meijer to get some stuff we needed. When we got back to the 409 we stopped at the girls' apartment, we (Krissi, Craig, Dave, Justin and I) decided to go visit my favorite girl at work and eat some dinner. So we ate, and picked on our poor waitress (Katie) then headed back to the 409. We played board games while waiting for Katie to get home from work. When she got back we got ready and went out to the middle school and went sledding. After sledding, we watched Katie's film projects and headed to bed.

Day 272:

tomato man.

Day 272:

sledding.

December 20th, Justin and I got up and got ready and headed back up north. It took a while because we had a ton of crap to pack. He was going to be staying here or in Grand Haven until mid-January. We had to drive two cars, so he followed me up. We got here in the evening and hung out with my parents for a while, then wrapped some gifts before heading to bed.

Day 273:

the flowers Justin got me for our semi-anniversary.

Day 273:

back home.

December 21st we spent the day moving all the boxes from the family room in to my back bedroom. I put away all of my clothes. I know! Shocking! It is so nice to be able to finally find all my clothes. And to finally know where all my clothes are! I love it. And it is also great to feel like I have something accomplished. When we were done working on that stuff we relaxed for a while before heading to bed.

Day 274:

a new shirt of mine.

Day 274:

in front of my closet.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

The bagpipe was originally made from the whole skin of a dead sheep.

"Christmas is a time when you get homesick - even when you're home."

-Carol Nelson

December 12 - December 16

December 12^th I had class at 8 am. Dad got me up and made me breakfast and coffee while I was in the shower, isn’t he great? After I got ready and ate breakfast I headed to class. I had class until around 2. Then I went to Cheboygan and did some Christmas shopping. Then I headed home and unloaded the car. Dad and I went grocery shopping then we came back and unloaded the car and I hung out with my parents for a bit before going to bed kinda early.

Day 265:

my disco ball dog from VS.

Day 265:

love that sweater. :)

December 13^th I did some studying in the morning while I was baking cookies and brownies. I decided the night before that I wanted to take baked goods to our fire meeting. When I was done baking I got ready and went down to the hall. We did SCBA training. We got dressed in all of our gear, including the air tanks and were blacked out, then we went in with a partner and had to find the ‘victim.’ Our meeting room was set up with tables on their sides to simulate walls in a (very small) house. Zach and I did really well and I really enjoyed it. Billy went in with Dad and ended up tipping a table over on himself and broke his finger. Oops. When the training and bullshitting was done we headed home. I worked on studying and knitting for a while before going to bed.

Day 266:

training. taken as the table was falling on Billy's hand.

Day 266:

home from training.

December 14^th I spent my day studying and knitting. I had class at 630 so I had to get ready and go to class. I got Jeremiah’s hat almost done, so I took it with me to class to sew it. When I got to class Bill had the Fireman’s Ball flyer from last year there for me to look at and change to fit this year. So I did that then finished Jeremiah’s hat while waiting for class to start. Class was great. Afterwards, I needed gas , so I headed to the Holiday station to fill up. When I was done, my car wouldn’t start! So I called dad to see if he could help, it turned out the gear shift cable broke. Bah. So he took me home and we had the car towed. When we got home it was almost midnight, so I went to bed. Well that was until Katie called. I talked to her for a bit then went to sleep.

Day 267:

not sure why it's tilted like that. oops. but i love kazoozles. :)

Day 267:

my eyes were so blue that day.

December 15^th I spent my day studying. I had a ton of fire school homework, so I really needed to work on it. I had a firefighter’s association meeting, so I got ready for that and Dad and I went to Danny’s to pick him up. Since I was still working on Christmas gifts I knitted in the car on the way to the meeting in Mackinaw. The meeting went well and I am in charge of creating a website for the Association, when it’s done I’ll have a link to it, I promise. On the way home I knitted some more then studied and went to bed.

Day 268:

current project.

Day 268:

:)

December 16^th I spent my day knitting and studying, I know my life is lame! :P I took a break to go down to the Fire Hall to run the air station and fill a few bottles up. Then I studied some more and went to go get the car when it was fixed.

Day 269:

the trees and sky in my back yard.

Day 269:

ready to go.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear. Any cup-shaped object placed over the ear produces the same effect.

"Knitting is very conducive to thought. It is nice to knit a while, put down the needles, write a while, then take up the sock again."

-Dorothy Day

December 7th - December 11th

December 7^th I slept in to try and make up for some of the sleep I didn’t get on the weekend. Then I spent some time knitting. I got more Christmas packages! I was so excited to get more! I worked on editing pictures and blogging until I had to get ready for fire school. I had school at 630, it wasn’t all that exciting, just registered and was told what to expect. I’m so happy Zach joined our department so I have someone who is stuck with me through class. And one of my friends from high school, Jill, is also in the class. When I got home I started my homework and worked on knitting some more. Once I got sick of those things, I wrapped some more gifts before heading to bed.

Day 260:

my fire books.

Day 260:

home from class.

On December 8^th I spent my day doing three things: blogging, studying and knitting. Oh and I watched Biggest Loser with my mom. December 8^th was also Justin’s presentation day. I was so happy to hear that he was finally done with it!

Day 261:

my desk.

Day 261:

.

December 9^th I woke up to a fire call. I’m pretty sure I was half way up the stairs with my pants in hand before I actually woke up. It was just a line down, actually a tree on the line. We had gotten crazy snow and wind during the night. It was so pretty though! So I got ready and went outside and took some pictures, then I came in and worked on my homework for a while. I did some photo editing and knitted before calling it a night

Day 262:

snow!

Day 262:

windy!

December 10^th shortly after I got up Jason called to see if I could go pick up his kids and watch them for the day. Since I needed to mail out my Christmas cards anyhow, it wasn’t a big deal.

So, I picked up the kids and went on into to town to drop my card s in the mail. When I got back home I spent some time studying and knitting before taking a nap. I tend to stay up too late and get up too early. When I woke up I got ready and went to class. I actually enjoy our fire classes. After class I went to Arby’s and got dinner then drove home. On my way home it was a pure whiteout. It was AWFUL.

Day 263:

a gift for me.

Day 263:

:)

December 11^th I got up and cleaned my bedroom upstairs. I got it all done! Well, mostly all done. And it took me most of the day. Bah. I guess it was a necessary thing to do though. When I was done cleaning I spent some time studying and knitting.

Day 264:

Justin on the phone.

Day 264:

laying in bed talking.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

The word "nerd" was first coined by Dr. Seuss in "If I Ran the Zoo."

"Let no man's ghost return to say his training let him down."

-Firefighters Saying

December 2 - December 6

December 2^nd I was supposed to help Dad with putting in the dry hydrant, so I got up early and got ready and was down at the lake at ten minutes to eight. Yes, in the morning, hold your gasps. I stood out in the freezing cold for an hour and forty five minutes, until I could no longer feel the majority of my body, the divers still weren’t there, I was miserable, and I had packing to do. So I told dad to call me if the divers showed up and that I was going home to pack. Well I packed and got ready to go to Kalamazoo and he still hadn’t called, so I crawled into my bed to warm up and ended up falling asleep. When I woke up I found out that the divers had showed up and Dad didn’t call. Bah. Oh well.

I got up and packed my stuff in the car. I stopped at the station and told Dad bye and headed to Kalamazoo. I got there around 5 and dropped my stuff off at the apartment, looked up the directions to Barstools and More and headed there. Alternatives, the Pregnancy Care Center that I used to volunteer at, was having a fundraiser there, so I stopped in and bought a cookbook to support them and saw the ladies. Oh how I miss them and working there. I loved that place so much.

When I left there, I went to Toys R Us and got some gifts from my parents for the kids and a couple gifts for Justin. Then I went back to the 409 and hung out until Justin got home. Then we went to Qudoba and ate dinner. After dinner, we made it back home just in time to watch the Pixar shorts on tv. They had all of them playing back to back. It was great. Then we watched one of Katie’s film projects and hung out with Katie and Krissi for a while.

Day 255:

what the lake looks like at 8 am.

Day 255:

me.

The whole reason I went to Kalamazoo on the second was so I could go to Tax School. So on December 3^rd, I got up early and got ready and headed to tax school. It was 8.5 hours of tax crap. I didn’t mind the material, just the 8.5 hours. And the fact that I felt like I was one of the few people in the room paying attention. After I got done at tax school, I went back to the apartment and got Justin. We went out to the mall and did some shopping. Then he had to leave to go back to school to work on his senior design project. So, I hung out with Katie for a while. We watched Survivor together then got ready to go out. Sarah, Katie and I went out with Krissi and some of her friends, er her friend’s friends.

We went to Bilbo’s for a while, Justin met us there when he got done with his project around 11. About an hour and a half later we went back to the apartment. Krissi wanted to talk for a while so I stayed up with her for a while before I finally went to bed.

'

Day 256:

Katie with my new jeans.

Day 256:

at the 409.

December 4^th I had tax school again. Staying up until after 230 when you have 8.5 hours of tax school starting at 8 am is a horrible, horrible idea. Oh well, I survived. As soon as I got home I took a nap. I was completely exhausted. Then Justin and I watched Survivor since he had missed it the night before. We ate dinner and hung out at the apartment for a while before the party began. Powersphere was played and good times were had.

Day 257:

books and my certificate for passing.

Day 257:

tired.

December 5^th I hung out with Justin for a while in the morning before he had to go to Parkview to work on his project. Katie needed a new battery in her car, so we went to the Auto Zone place and got it replaced. The only moral of that story that I have is do it yourself. It’s much cheaper.
After we got done getting the new battery we went out to eat at Olive Garden. Then we stopped by the mall for a quick minute and got a couple Christmas gifts before heading back to the 409. Katie had to work, so she left and I hung out with Krissi and Sarah for a while until Justin got home.

We had dinner then went out to a movie. We saw the Blind Side. I loved it! It was SO good and I would recommend it to anyone. When we got back we played Taboo with Dan and Sarah for a bit while we waited for Katie to get home from work, then we went downstairs to the girls’ apartment to wait for Katie some more. When she got home we went out to the Grotto, but it was PACKED and I was tired so we went to McDonald’s and got Egg Nog shakes instead. We hung out and drank our shakes then I headed to bed. I was exhausted.

Day 258:

movie ticket.

Day 258:

:)

December 6^th we slept in. When I finally got up, I packed up my stuff to go home. I said goodbye to the girls and Justin and I headed to lunch. We had lunch at Noodles and Company, then he went to school and I headed home. I hung out with my parents for a while watching movies and knitting before heading to bed.

Day 259:

Sam and Kal.

Day 259:

back in my room.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

In ancient Rome, it was considered a sign of leadership to be born with a crooked nose.

"It was as true... as taxes is. And nothing's truer than them."

-Charles Dickens

November 27th - December 1st.

So since I have been the lamest blogger EVER for the last month, I am going to do posts a section at a time. The good news is: even though I have neglected my blog, I have NOT neglected my pictures of the day and do have two for every day. I am hoping to have this posted by New Years, that may involve hitting send at 1159, but ya know, it still counts!! And you should be able to understand why I have been such a slacker by reading about my life.

Ok, November 27, Black Friday, Justin and I were not brave enough to go out and deal with the crowds, but we did get some amazing deals on our Christmas gifts online. We spend the day Christmas shopping and watching TV and I worked on knitting for a while.

Day 250:

good & plenty and good & fruity.

Day 250:

tired.

November 28 was just a continuation of the 27th. We spent more time shopping and I worked on my knitting. Oh and Lifetime started their Fa La La La Lifetime movies, so we watched Lifetime Christmas movies all day, Justin may tell you he didn’t like it, but that would be a lie. At the end of the day we spent a couple hours in the hot tub talking and enjoying being outside at night. I love the hot tub at night!

Day 251:

Sam surfing the internet.

Day 251:

fresh out of the shower.

November 29 Justin had to get back to Kalamazoo kinda early to work on his senior design project, so he left and I went back to sleep. I was exhausted, which seems to be the story of my life lately. When I got up I worked on my knitting and some other craft stuff. I also spent some time reading my tax books. And, of course, watched Lifetime Christmas movies all day.

Day 252:

the first gift I wrapped.

Day 252:

yep.

November 30^th I started my day by knitting for a while. I know I spent a lot of time knitting, but I gave quite a few knitted gifts as Christmas presents this year. My Christmas gifts started coming in the mail too! I was so excited every day the mail came because I my gifts were slowly trickling in.

Also, on the 30^th The Nest was launched. You probably know that I am a moderator on a Facebook Application called Weddingbook (I joined and became a mod when I was engaged and didn't leave when I became unengaged), well the makers of Weddingbook decided to start another application for marrieds, called The Nest. This was a big deal to us, and if you aren’t a Weddingbook girl reading this you are probably thinking why do I care? The simple answer is you don’t. haha.

I also got dressed and went into town. I had to mail out some books I sold on half, so I did that, picked up a prescription for Mom and went to WalMart to get some stuff. When I got home I worked on my Christmas cards for a while. Then I wrapped a few gifts and worked on my blog. My poor, neglected blog.

Day 253:

wrapping paper.

Day 253:

in my room. :)

On December 1^st I completed my Christmas cards!! Every year I try to have them done by the first, so I was happy to accomplish that one. Then I had to get ready to go to town with Dad. We had a party planning committee meeting. Every year, the Cheboyan County Fire Fighter’s Association has a Fireman’s ball. I have attended for the last three (?) years, but this year since I am now on the department and go to Association meetings I decided to volunteer for the party planning committee. Plus, as you probably already know, I thrive on throwing parties (and stressing myself out!). Our meeting lasted a few hours and we got a lot done. If you are going to be in the Cheboygan area or would like to plan on being there on February 27^th, you should come to the Fireman’s ball. It is encouraged for the public to attend and I would be happy to give you more details and sell you a ticket! After I got home I talked to Justin for a while and went to bed.

Day 254:

my cards.

Day 254:

home from the meeting.

♥ Sara

Random Fact of the Day:

Beatrix Potter created the first of her legendary "Peter Rabbit" children's stories in 1902.

"The quickest way to know a woman is to go shopping with her."

-Marcelene Cox