Hope you all have a great birthday/anniversary!
If I’ve forgotten you, please let me know so that I can add you to my list!

This picture was taken September 26, 2001 - the last time I was in Germany. I have fond memories from that trip, and a great scrapbook to match. I worked on the scrapbook throughout the whole trip - I’m lucky to have it now.
My grandmother was an amazing woman. From sewing our stuffed animals’ wear and tear, and trying her best to learn any English she could… she managed to sing “Happy Birthday” to us- but it always sounded more like “Heppy Burst-dee.” Still, it was pretty good for someone with no formal training. As kids, when we visited her in Germany, she would put a hot water bottle in our beds to warm the sheets before we got into bed!
And forget having hiccups - she would make us hold onto her pinky finger, and she would hold onto ours… she would tell us to hold our breath, and she would stare so hard into our eyes, promising the hiccups would “jump” from us to her. I’m not sure if that ever really worked … but she would always pretend that she suddenly had the hiccups, too.
She always had everything put together - the house was always spotless, and she even went as far as to iron tablecloths, jeans and nightgowns. She always had breakfast, lunch and dinner ready and on the table before we entered the kitchen - whether it was fresh-baked pastries or bread from the bakery, or a home-cooked hot meal, it was always thought of and prepared hours before the next meal. Her potato soup was the greatest - I remember asking her one time if she would share the recipe with me… boy, was I shocked to find out that it came as a powder in an envelope and just needed water added! This turned out to be good, though, because I was able to take some home with me and make it on my own.
Even though my German leaves a lot to be desired, throughout my college years, we sent letters back and forth to each other. She was always interested in what I was doing. I’m sure she had fun trying to decipher my horrible spelling and grammar - she never mentioned it, though… and her letters always came to me with a $20 bill inside.
She had been in the nursing home for over 6 years, and had not been doing so well for at least the past 3 years. I know she is better off now. Still, it is strange to think that she’s not there anymore. My thoughts and prayers continue to go out to my mom and my family.
Like I said, she was awesome… and I am so happy to have wonderful memories of my life with her.

The past couple of weeks have been nutty around here, and I’ve thought about writing to tell you all about it for several days… but alas… at least I am here now.
On Friday, we got off work early (about 2p) - snow began to fall about 1:15, and it fell fast. The grass was fully covered by the time I arrived home! The snow was very pretty - and it wasn’t that icy crap we usually get in Georgia… it was really great crunchy snow. And… since it wasn’t ice, we didn’t get trapped up on our hill again.
Yesterday’s sun pretty much melted all the snow… but here are a couple of pics I took in the morning.
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Last weekend was our 4th annual Super Bowl party!
It was our biggest party yet - with over 40 guests. Wow.
My parents and sister came to visit, and SB’s parents stopped by, too. They both said we have some of the nicest friends - and they are right! We could never pull off a party like this without them!
I wasn’t all that interested in the game this year, so I spent the evening playing hostess for my guests. I think everyone had a great time… now, as Steven says, 358 days until the next SuperBowl party!

Hope you all have a great birthday/anniversary!
If I’ve forgotten you, please let me know so that I can add you to my list!

We don’t have any real new year’s resolutions… I’m tired of making goals and plans that I probably don’t intend to keep. Not making resolutions is the easiest way for me not to be disappointed later.
Tomorrow I go back to work. I’ve enjoyed my 4.5 days off!
I did get a few scrapbook pages done, though not as many as I’d hoped… I have some free weekends coming up where I plan to work on them again.

If you ever do any online shopping, I would like to ask you to join my BlastOff Network. It’s a totally free site where they pay you a percentage back of the purchases you make online. A few of their many online stores include BestBuy, Barnes&Noble, Kohl’s, OldNavy and Target. It’s quite an extensive list, and I’d love for you to check it out.
Here’s my link: http://ppl.blastoffnetwork.com/steflrb/

Hope you all have a great birthday/anniversary!
If I’ve forgotten you, please let me know so that I can add you to my list!

2009 had good times and bad times. Many things changed, but some things remained the same. We learned a lot, and had some fun along the way.
We had our 3rd annual SuperBowl party in 2009. Steelers vs Cardinals - Steven was excited to see the Steelers play, and even win. We had a nice gathering of friends to party with us - I hope we can continue to have this tradition in our home for many years.

In 2009, a few of our friends’ families grew. Justin & Lisa, Nicole & Danny and April & Bill all welcomed baby girls. Jennifer & Nathan recently welcomed their new baby boy. Congratulations to you all.
March marked our three year wedding anniversary. Here’s to many more anniversaries!

My friend Kate got engaged on April 18 to her long-time boyfriend, Jonathan. I look forward to being Kate’s Matron-of-Honor in June 2010.
We celebrated her engagement in Nashville in July. I met some new people, and saw some old faces again.
We also were lucky enough to see Kate in June and October, as she visited us here in Georgia.

June 1-5, Steven and I took a cruise to Nassau on Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas. It was the first cruise we’ve taken together alone. We visited Atlantis and Señor Frogs, had many drinks, won some money, lost some money… and I got sunburned.

For the 4th of July weekend, we traveled to Hilton Head Island with Steven’s parents and his sister and brother-in-law. We stayed in our favorite place, and again, saw some familiar faces and sights.

We made a few home improvements throughout the year. From new curtains, to finally hanging a few pictures on the walls, the new mailbox, a new refrigerator… and the major job, the new roof. Granted the new roof came about because of the major rains we had here. We surely weren’t expecting a new roof at this point in our home ownership, but it’s something that will last long into the future.
I succeeded in some de-cluttering, but it’s still a long work in progress.

We saw a few Braves games during the summer. Jeff Francoeur was traded in July, which made me very sad… but I knew it was for the best. Still, the Braves didn’t go to the playoffs. Maybe next year…

Kristina came to visit us over Labor Day weekend. It was her first trip to visit us where she drove down alone. She was very excited about it, and seemed to have a good time with us.
We celebrated two weddings in 2009. Congratulations to Jack & Lyndsey and Ryan & Rachel.

We made some new friends, and had more great times with the old friends. We look forward to many more years with our circle of friends.
I took lots of pictures in 2009. Sadly, I fell down on my scrapbooking hobby and really didn’t put many pictures in their books. With my next few days off, my goal is to get several months (or even the whole year) into their books!

Ten Years Ago…
I spent New Year’s Eve with Shanti, Mike and Sandie in Spring Hill, TN. We weren’t 21 yet, so we had a lame house party complete with sparklers, sparkling grape juice (maybe there were wine coolers)… and parents. We worried about 1999 ending, and what would happen to all the computers and banks… we thought about how weird it would be to go from saying ‘99 to ‘00…
Life went on, and oh how times have changed since then.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! We wish you and your family all the best for 2010.

After the Thanksgiving holidays… we had some changes at work. Please keep my workmate in your thoughts, as she’s going through a rough time right now. It was all a big surprise to come back to. I’m getting some new responsibilities, which likely means more job security, too.

This past week, I’ve had something going on with my eye- it somewhat resembles pink eye, but doesn’t have a lot of the same characteristics. I don’t know what brought it on… maybe the new stress from work? Who knows? It’s looking a lot better today — but I’m still using “pink eye drops” and wearing my glasses just in case. It’s amazing how many people didn’t even know I had glasses!

Friday was the first night of Hanukkah. SB and I went to his aunt & uncle’s house to celebrate. As always, it was good to see family… and his uncle made cosmopolitans!
We have one more Hanukkah gathering this week - the wedding of SB’s cousin this upcoming weekend, where we will light candles for the last night, as well as celebrate their marriage.

I wrote all of my Hanukkah cards last weekend, and this weekend finished all of the Christmas cards. For a few hours, I felt very productive!
If you are writing cards this year… where is the farthest one traveling? Other than the two I have going to Germany… my cards travel to Georgia, Tennessee, Virgina, Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania. I’m actually surprised I don’t have more states covered!

Hope you all have a great birthday/anniversary!
If I’ve forgotten you, please let me know so that I can add you to my list!