Good Evening

I hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas weekend. We had a nice relaxing break watching lots of movies and enjoying some popcorn. Yet we had no snow, which was a break from the 6 feet that lasted all last winter.

Today I got all the decorations taken down and put away. What a relief that was, I would have liked to keep the tree up longer but it dried out fast and was making a mess.

Today I also have been reorganizing for our unknown move. Unknown as in it should be in the next 2 months but we don't know exactly when or where. Every time it gets close to knowing we will move again I think crazy Kerrie comes out. The Kerrie that obsesses with having things labeled and trying to not keep excess items. Who knows how much I have spent over the last couple of years organizing our house so that my containers still work at each new home. At least I can honestly say I spent less than $50 on items for this house to organize, most of my containers coordinate so they can switch rooms if needed.

I not only am clearing out unused house items I also cleaned out my closet and filled up an entire box to donate. Tomorrow I probably will spend the day reorganizing my sewing room so when the movers pack everything I will be able to find things. Then I will probably clear out the cleaning supply closet and consolidate. I think that if I get the things done that stress me out I will be better off.

Did you know that moving companies wont move: cleaning supplies, batteries, glues, plants, paints, guns, and of course your pets....I know there are other items that I cant think of off the top of my head.

This means ALL of these items end up in my car as well as clothes for about 3 weeks since usually the moving company takes at least 2 weeks (this has been my prior experience). Usually I try to keep a few plants and give the rest away. Colin tries to take the chemicals from the garage, I have at least 4 misc. new quarts from refurbishing furniture. I may be giving a lot away this year. :(

Oh I thought of another item they wont take....food in the fridge as in condiments. The first time this happened I decided to move them, the second I threw them all out due to the first experience. It usually costs about $60+ to restock those items. Living in a hotel for a month will cure you of trying to move food.

I am not fond of moving yet it makes me clean out closets, boxes, drawers etc. and get rid of clutter that accumulates. Why would you need to spring clean if you move every year? Moving is much more effective yet very hard on furniture. I better put my trusty furniture pens in a safe place.

I have quite a few new jewelry pictures to share once I get some of my stress off my shoulders. At least I am not worried about needing to quit my job this time. That is the worst stress point for me. Does anyone else hate moving?

Merry Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Eve!

We will be enjoying the holiday tonight with wonderful friends as well as part of tomorrow.

Hope you appreciate those around you! We miss everyone and are sending our love with lots of hugs and kisses.

Love you all,
Kerrie, Colin, Gunther, and Maximus

Happy 21st Day of Christmas

So I haven't posted since I had that horrible day. Since then everything has been going great. Take that back, everything has been great except that it has been raining for 4 days straight. The ground has that soggy consistency that you sink into it and track mud into the house. I am getting good use out of our mop and Clorox wipes. Yesterday I made Christmas sugar cookies for our neighbors and the guys Colin works with. Not my favorite to eat but they look nice. My favorite cookies are sitting in the cupboard/fridge from Colin's Grandma. She sent 4 kinds of cookies and a tin of Carmel-nut-popcorn-chex mix that I love.

I thought I would share a few photos at our house the last few days.

After a hard day of playing with his buddy Gunther. He is comfy sleeping on Colin and a "Grandma" blanket.

Maximus couldn't find the right toy so he dragged the dog toy basket across the room and crawled inside it.

*The first photo is from our maple tree in our front yard.

Hugs and Kisses to Everyone! We miss you!

:( I need a pick me up.

This morning I am REALLY frustrated....

It started off getting up earlier, I hate getting up when its freezing. Colin let Max out which normally I have been doing and Max wiggled away and ran to our bedroom to find me. Of course he needed to go to the bathroom...mess one (less than 30 seconds from escape). The next hour was the same thing, we went from 0-1 accidents each day of the last 5 days to 4 this morning (in less than an hour). So far Max prefers the rug which I took down to the basement for at least the next month. No sense in cleaning a rug when I can wipe up the wood floor. I REALLY am glad we have wood floors.

My husband though helpful since he took the trash out this morning also made 3 huge messes. One in each room which didn't help my frustration at all. I have cleaned 1 up so far....

It snowed a lot last night which means I can't leave the house as Colin took our vehicle with 4 wheel drive. I like Spokane a lot but am not to fond of the hill half the town (aka our house) is on. It also means the dogs are tracking in snow and Colin does the same thing....might as well not put the mop away.

I like my house to be clean...due to husband and puppy we are very far from that.

So I am sitting in a messy house, very tired, thinking about what I can do so I don't lose it today. So far the puppy regressed on having accidents, Colin regressed on making messes, and I started crying this morning. Not a good way to start out the day.

I think I may put on my snow shoes and walk down to Starbucks with the dogs, that at least will wear them out and I can have some coffee. I probably should take a shower first so I don't scare the people that work there.

After I get some coffee I am cleaning my house and preventing myself from breaking down. When Colin gets home I am going to make him put all of his CLEAN clothes INSIDE the dresser not on top or sitting on the floor. The other messes I will take care of. I always thought I would rather have a small house so it wasn't as much work to clean. I take that back, small houses get dirtier faster and you have to clean more often.

Today I need to remember positive reinforcement teaches a puppy more than negative. The same concept works for husbands. :)

P.S.-I am really proud of Gunther for playing tug with Max this entire time so I can chill out. Thankfully they are getting along great! I knew there was a reason we got another dog before having kids, anyone that trains a dog while having small children has my utmost respect.

Day 10 of Christmas Spirit

Day 10 is a day of change. I finally made it to the dentist to get my cracked tooth fixed (Don't grind your teeth!) And since it just doesn't seem like Christmas we are finally going to get a tree tonight.

In preparation of finally getting a Christmas tree I decided to make a tree skirt as we have never had one. I am using extra fabric from the stockings I made last year and made two mini stockings for the dogs....yep we got another dog.

He is an early Christmas Present for me and Gunther though Gunther is still slightly iffy on liking the puppy when he crawls in my lap. My lap is Gunther's according to him. Other than that they are playing together which was my hope.

Colin getting kisses from Maximus or Max for short. The vote is still up on that name but we cant keep saying "Hey you".

Poor Gunther laying on the couch glaring at me last night.

So far the puppy slept through the night and had no accidents in his crate. He can hold it forever as he ate a full breakfast 30 minutes ago and still doesn't want to go outside. This I think will be a different training process than Gunther. Gunther also learned tricks/rules in less than a day, part of me hopes he is that smart and part of me hopes he isn't.

Update from Our Household

What an awesome Monday!

First I missed my dentist appointment....:) I am secretly happy about that. So today I have spent more time looking at the mess our house is in right now.

Good new to that is I am done Christmas shopping! The hard part now is wrapping and getting everything shipped out the door. I am not looking forward to visiting the post office! Their lines are awful this time of year!

Life is good here! I finished working Lion King yesterday. There are several more shows in the coming weeks so I hope I get called. I had a blast meeting new people and using my various strange crafty skills that I still can't believe they are paying me for. The bonus to having fun and meeting new people was the paycheck and the free shirts Lion King gave us :) I am pretending that I never got a paycheck and put the first one straight in savings. Yeah! It feels good to put a large chunk away in our house fund, too bad we don't know how many years it will be until we can use it. Hopefully 2010!

Colin was an awesome husband while I was working this weekend and even did some laundry for me! He has got his tailgate all re-painted (all by himself) and put back on the truck. The job that he is working on here in Spokane also won his company's quality award for 2009 so he received a glass trophy and a bonus check for contributing to that outcome. December so far is a good month in our house!

Hello Again

I have been absent for awhile with good reason. I have been working on tons of jewelry and working backstage on wardrobe for Lion King while it is in town. It is a great job with wonderful people and hours that work around me making jewelry, though they pay better than I pay myself most days.

I thought I would share an AWESOME gift that I received this morning from a friend I have met here in WA. It is an earring stand made out of moose antlers, one is from a baby moose up in Alaska. It even comes apart so I can take it to my jewelry shows. The wire that connects the two antlers is copper found up at the Paloose (spelling ?) River here in WA. I usually collect a Christmas ornament from wherever we have lived but this is an even better reminder of WA and our friends.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is all decorated for Christmas. We had a great Thanksgiving up here that we shared with new friends and our house has a few Christmas trimmings. The Lion King leaves town Sunday night so next week we will probably go get a tree since I wont be working when Colin is home. Happy Holidays!

We are so blessed to have wonderful families and great friends wherever we go! I am going to be very sad when we move.