Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the best in 2008! I know this year is going to be so much better than the last (in fact, much better than my last ten years have been) A time of new beginnings!

Andrea Bocelli - Laura Pausini duet

Andrea Bocelli - Laura Pausini duet

Speaking of new things in my life.....this is the new style of music that I love! My mom was a fan of Bocelli, but I was never interested in it until now. I love this duet. I love when Andrea falls to his knees and takes Laura's hand! They have such a chemistry together. Don't you love that salt-and-pepper hair? Did I mention this guy is ITALIAN? Did I also mention he sings more like an angel than Josh does? (sigh!)

Merry Christmas!

'Tis the season.......to be busy! We started out Christmas Eve with the annual Opening of the Pajamas for Katie and Emily (not a planned tradition--it's just happened that way over the years!)

Christmas Eve night we go to Barb and Brad's for the traditional turkey dinner and Rob Your Neighbor game (the highlight of the evening!) Before dinner, we had to, of course, have a little nativity scene fun. Note how the shepherds, wise men, sheep, and angels are mingling and networking. This is the scene you don't see every day! ;o)

Lauren and 98-year-old Gram visit before dinner.

Barb and her sister-in-law, Lauren (not to be confused with our Lauren!) make preparations.

Christmas morning started with gift opening! Then getting ready for the family to come over for breakfast and gift exchange.

Baby Aly was the star of the day as you can see!

"Aunt Mary Jo is my favorite!" - Aly (hee! hee!)

Cousins!

The traditional Mintman sibs picture (just like when we were kids....do you think we might all look at the camera and smile at the same time?!)

Christmas Angels

Merry Christmas!

Katie and Emily show off their new shirts from Diana. Thanks, Diana!

Katie baked a birthday cake for her friend, Chris, in Texas, took these pictures and then emailed them. The modern way of sending birthday wishes to friends far off!

Believe - Josh Groban

This man has the voice of an angel!

Flannel B'jamas

Diana gave me these cool pajamas (actually mine are light pink but I couldn't find the picture on the web and YOU are not going to see me in my pajamas which I am wearing right now!) These are the best, most comfy things I have ever worn!!


I never realized this, but when I'm relaxed I guess I go back to my childhood. I was talking to Kristen the other night, and she laughed and said, "I like how you pronounce 'pajamas' with a 'b'!" I never realized I say, "B'jamas" when I say it fast! :o) It's great to be a kid again this Christmas!

I'm listening to Josh Groban's "Believe" as I type this. I think I will continue listening to this way after Christmas. Check out the cool video of him performing it!

Children, sleeping.

Snow is softly falling.

Dreams are calling,

Like bells in the distance.

We were dreamers,

Not so long ago.

But one by one, we

All had to grow up.

When it seems the magic slipped away...

We find it all again on Christmas Day.

Believe in what your heart is saying,

Hear the melody that's playing.

There's no time to waste,

There so much to celebrate.

Believe in what you feel inside,

Give your dreams the wings to fly.

You have everything you need, if you just believe.

Trains move quickly

To their journey's end.

Destinations...

Are where we begin again.

Ships go sailing,

Far across the sea.

Trusting starlight,

To get where they need to be.

When it seems that we have lost our way...

We find ourselves again on Christmas Day.

Believe in what your heart is saying,

Hear the melody that's playing

There's no time to waste,

There so much to celebrate.

Believe in what you feel inside,

And give your dreams the wings to fly.

You have everything you need, if you just

Believe.

If you just believe.

If you just believe.

If you just believe...just believe...just believe.

New Things

Emily got her braces yesterday! She had to wear headgear at night for a year, but finally the braces arrived. Ever since her friends got braces, she's been anxiously awaiting her turn.




At last, I have my own bed! The couch has been pretty comfy these last few months but it's nice to stretch out at last. Still much to do (add a bedskirt, get a new quilt/cover, decorate!) but I finally have my room!

I got much done yesterday on my day off, including half my Christmas cards completed, some paperwork done, laundry, a little cleaning. Brother-in-law Brad was nice enough to wait at my house for the bed delivery while Marty and I went to a free sneak preview of Sweeney Todd. I'm not at all into slasher films, but JOHNNY DEPP was in it! So I just hid my eyes at the gross scenes (and there were many), but Johnny was adorable when he wasn't slashing people. As Marty said, "That was bloody good!" Haaaaaaaaaaa!!!

5 Things You Never Knew About Me

I got this from Dina's 24 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge and it sounded like fun! Hmm....It would be hard for me to come up with five things that my family and local friends don't know about me, so I'll write this for those new friends in the cyber world (waving to my friends far away!)

1) When I was in my late teens/early 20s, I had some 50 pen pals around the world. Then I met Mike and he thought it was stupid so I gradually gave them up. *Lesson Learned* - Never give up something you love for a man! I'm sure some of those friendships would have lasted past the marriage (and one has - I still write to Mary in England!)

2) I traveled to Bangladesh in 2006. Not exactly my dream country, but I had an opportunity to go with a team at my church to help out with a conference. It was an eye-opening experience and now it's made my dream of traveling to foreign places a reality. Looking forward to the next trip, whenever and wherever it may be!

3) I hate fish - swimming or on a plate. Eww! I think the trauma began when we had an aquarium in the basement as a kid. One morning I ran downstairs and almost stepped on a "jumper" who was flopping around on the floor. When I was 11, I went fishing with my uncle who made me put the worm on the hook and tried to make me take the fish off the hook, once I caught one. Then I watched him clean the fish and had to eat it later! Sorry, I DON'T DO SEAFOOD!!! I would rather eat something funky like goat meat!

4) I am a closet Hank Williams fan. We can blame my dad on this one. To this day, I can tolerate very little country music, especially NOT the twangy kind. But I own a Hank Williams CD. I think it's just because it reminds me of my dad and all the times we had to listen to him playing the records or better yet, singing the songs himself while he played the guitar.


5) Someday I'll be living in the Himalayas. Yeah, really! I've really developed a passion for that part of the world in the last several years, especially for the country of Nepal. No, I have no plans to reach the top of Mt. Everest, but it would be nice to go a few steps up just to say I climbed it!

TAG, YOU'RE IT! Hit me with five things I never knew about you!

Countdown to Christmas!

Well, so much for my 24 days of Christmas blogging! No stress here though. Much has been going on. Yes, the Christmas cards are still sitting on the table (I'm getting writer's cramp from having to say, "After 19 years of marriage, Mike made some unwise choices and we're now getting divorced. Merry Christmas!!")

The sunroom looks like a Christmas decoration/wrapping paper explosion (I'll spare you the pictures!), but hey the Christmas lights out there look great and look really cool when you're driving down the interstate behind our house! I still have gifts to wrap and the house to clean for Christmas morning here with my family. Still, amazingly, it's all okay.

Below are some scenes from our snowy weekend!

Snowball fight, anyone?

Shiloh the snow dog!

Brother-in-law, Brad, came over this past Monday to paint my bedroom! (a birthday gift from Barb). Doesn't it look cool? He even painted the ceiling and baseboards and replaced the outlet plates and switchplate. Thanks, Brad!! It's nice to see my room slowly coming together.

Let it Snow!

The weatherman is calling for up to six inches of snow here between tonight and tomorrow. Let's hope he's right! We need a little Christmas....right this very minute!

There's nothing better than wrapping gifts, listening to Christmas tunes on the radio, enjoying a mug of hot chocolate, and watching a cozy Christmas-scented candle burning (since I don't have a fireplace!) while the snow flakes flutter down outside the window!

I'm off to wrap gifts before I drift off to sleep while listening to Christmas music and dream of ............. Christmasy stuff!

I love monkeys!

We pause from the 24 days of Christmas blogging to talk about something I'm crazy about....

MONKEYS!

No..........not THOSE Monkees! (although I have to say I think Mickey was the first drummer I fell for!)

In my baby book, my mom wrote that my first word was not "mama" or "dada," but MONKEY! In fact, I traded in my pacifier for a stuffed monkey!

My brother, Marty, and I have a tradition of exchanging monkey cards for our birthdays! Growing up, I always wanted a pet monkey (but now I have tw0 real ones of my own!) ;o)

Enough monkeying around! Stay tuned......tomorrow we shall return to the regularly scheduled Christmas blogging! ;o)

'Tis the Season to be Jolly!

Last night I had some friends over for my Home Interiors party. It was nice and relaxing. I need to have friends over more often (plus it's a good excuse to clean the house!)

Under the category of, "It's a Small World," Kristen brought along her friend, Julie. All evening I kept thinking she looked familiar. I finally asked, and it turns out she went to the same church I grew up in. Wow!! Neither one of us recognized each other. Again, I say, "small world!"

Barb would be proud of my Martha Stewart moments! ;o)

Shiloh hopes to score some snacks with those pitiful puppy eyes he always uses on guests!

Joyful!