December Journal

December 31, 2006

Well, Christmas has come and gone, and it's New Year's Eve!  I figured I needed to get in one last post for the year.  I'll probably revamp the whole site next year.  I'll print out my journal pages and start all over!  That might be easier said than done.

I went ahead and posted pics from our Christmas celebrations.  I didn't take as many pics as I wanted to...I just kept forgetting!  Anywho, enjoy the ones I did take:  www.amlewis2003.blogspot.com

The past week has been very busy.  I made a lot of Christmas goodies this year.  Even though we gave a way a lot of it, we still seem to have a lot left!  I gained two pounds because of it!  

The Saturday before Christmas was Girls' Night Out.  We hung out at Jeanie's house again.  This time Catie was able to come with me.  We all had a good time.  Sunday was Christmas Eve, and we spent the evening at my mom's house with Aunt Becky.  She's doing really well.  She can walk without any assistance now.  She got a lot of new clothing.  We watched Claymation Christmas (of course!) and had a really nice time.  Jason and Sabrina were in town Friday through Tuesday.  We hung out with them after dinner at my mom's. 

Christmas day was very busy!  Adam and I woke up early that morning and went to his parents' house.  We left there around 12:30 to go to my dad's.  We stayed there until 4:30, and then it was off to my mom's.  By the time we got home, it was nearly 10 p.m.!  It was a really great day spent with family. 

Everyone enjoyed the gifts we got them.  Of course, we didn't forget the reason for the season.  It is to celebrate Christ's birth.  Sometimes we all get caught up in Santa and the presents.  That stuff is definitely fun, but we should all remember Christ.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas just like I did.  Now that it's over, it's a little depressing.  We'll be taking down our Christmas decor tomorrow.  Ah well...it'll be here again before we know it!

This past week, I worked only three days.  I wasn't bored one second!  I had so much work to do, it was crazy!  It calmed down a lot by Friday, and I was able to get all the cases for the year posted by 2 p.m.  It was completely the opposite last year.  I remember being so stressed out.  I was lucky this year!  I'm really glad tomorrow's New Year's Day, because I'll be at home instead of at work. 

I hope you all have a very Happy New Year!   

December 19, 2006

Christmas is almost here!  Before you know it, it will have come and gone...*sigh*

Adam and I have made a Christmas music video instead of mailing out the traditional Christmas cards.  We've uploaded it to Google Video.  Check it out!  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3840403617476369541&q=adam+and+allison  I tried to send it to as many people as possible using an ECard from 123Greetings.com.  I noticed there are a bunch of pop-ups that come with it, though.  It probably would've been more successful if I'd just sent an email.  Anywho, I hope you all enjoy it!

Friday was supposed to be Girls' Night Out at Jeanie's.  Unfortunately, Crystie got sick, so we're doing it this Saturday.  I suppose it's a good thing, because now Catie can come :)  It should be a lot of fun.

Saturday was our ward's Christmas party.  It was alright.  The food was pretty good.  The primary performed their Nativity song thing.  The kids were really cute.  After it was over, there were two sheep who wouldn't go behind the curtain.  The shepherd came back out and herded them back.  It was hilarious!  Too bad I didn't get a pic of that.

Sunday, nursery was very exhausting.  It seemed like everytime I turned around a kid wanted me to pick her up!  Adam didn't go to church, because he was sick..poor boy.  He's still a little sick, but at least he can function.  After church, I woke him up, and we went to his parents' house.  Mary Bernice and I decorated their Christmas Tree while the others watched...Scrooges! 

The past couple of nights haven't been too great here in the apartment.  Our next door neighbor keeps blasting his/her music at all hours!  We called the police Sunday and Monday night.  Adam called the office today, and they gave him a number to call for apartment security.  If they have the music loud again when I'm trying to go to sleep (actually, they have it loud right now), I'll definitely call it.  I was completely asleep last night when it woke me up!  I've been exhausted all day because of it.  It's really annoying!

Oh, yesterday we decorated gingerbread houses at Adam's parents' house.  Check out the pics:  www.amlewis2003.blogspot.com  It was a lot of fun, as usual.  Afterwards we watched Claymation Christmas.  I have to watch that at least 3 times every Christmas, and last night was the first.  It came on TV back in 1987, and my parents taped it.  We watch that tape every year.  Adam got me the DVD a couple years back, and it's so much better than the tape.  If you haven't seen it before, you have to find a copy and watch it.  It's great!

So far this week work has been really busy.  I've heard more people tend to die during the holidays, but I haven't really seen that happen until this week.  We've taken seven death certificates to doctors offices so far, and I'll be taking three more tomorrow.  It's crazy!  Hopefully everything will be taken care of by Friday.

Anywho, please check out our Christmas card and pics from this week.  I imagine the next time I post it'll be after Christmas. If that's the case, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

December 10, 2006

Ok, so I'm a little T-Oed at this point, because I just typed a bunch of stuff and it didn't save.  So now I'm not going to type nearly as much.

Monday I got a call at work from Graham Stewart, the new Regional Manager.  He asked if I would go to Williamsburg, VA, to train someone on how to use our datebase system.  I was a little shocked and was definitely ready to turn down the offer.  However, I sucked it up and agreed to go. 

Tuesday after lunch, less than 24 hours later, I left.  I drove up to Amy and Mark's in Hampton, VA.  Thank goodness they lived nearby, otherwise I don't know what I would've done with myself!  I had dinner with them, and we played Phase 10.  Colby was running around in a Spiderman costume doing all sorts of Spidey moves.  I got it on tape!  Now I just need Adam's help to post it to the Internet.  By the time I got to the hotel that night, I was so exhausted.  I stayed at the Fairfield Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Wednesday was the big training day at Bucktrout of Williamsburg.  Karen, the girl I trained, was really smart and very computer literate, so it wasn't hard at all.  The staff was friendly and had a sense of humor, much like the staff at my funeral home.  Graham was there, too, which meant I wasn't the only newby.  The day went smoothly.  After work, Amy picked me up from the hotel, and we had dinner at Black Angus Grille.  It was a little high-end, and we were a little underdressed, but it was yummy!  After dinner, we went to the Yankee Candle Company.  This is nothing like the one in the mall.  The place was huge!  There were little "shops" with different themes.  There was a Christmas section where it was dark with stars in the sky, and it snowed!  There as also a courtyard area where the ceiling was painted as if you were outside in daylight.  It was so neat!  We spent all evening there, and I ended up buying two snowmen ornaments and a car freshener.  Adam also had a final that day.  I think it went well.

Thursday I went back to the funeral home to make sure Karen had everything down.  She did, of course, and I left after lunch.  I didn't get on the road right away, though.  I saw this store called The Christmas Mouse and just had to go in.  The place was packed full of ornaments and decorations.  I bought a sweet little angel ornament and a Santa/Snowman scene.  After that, I hit the road.  It took me less than four hours to get back, and the weather was great.  I was definitely glad to be back home.

Friday was a catch-up day at work.  I wasn't bored at all.  Unfortunately, I felt myself getting sick.  I was feeling for a couple of days, but it didn't have a huge effect until Friday.  I didn't get a full-blown cold, but I have major sniffles. 

Saturday Adam and I shot some footage for a Christmas music video.  Adam had the idea of creating a video instead of mailing out Christmas cards this year.  I was a little weary at first, but it's turning out pretty good.  We went to his parents' house, and Jonathan helped us out a lot.  We had dinner and helped move furniture in the living room to fit the Christmas tree.  We finished most of the shooting and finished the rest today.  I still want to add a little scene at the end to make it more Christmas-card like.  Now I just need to make sure we have everyone's email address!

Today Adam's dad spoke at church.  He usually speaks in other wards, so it was a real treat.  He and Adam are great at giving talks.  Nursery was good.  There was a little crying at first, but it quieted down quickly.  The Bishop came in and reminded me I would probably be released soon.  I told him I didn't mind staying in nursery, and he said it was completely up to me.  It would probably be good for me to be involved with something else, though....to have some grown-up time.  After church, my mom, Chris and Meredith came over to watch some Christmas videos.  We watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas and Nora's Christmas from the church Christmas DVD.  Chris also helped me put some ornaments on the tree.

Now it's late and time for bed!  I took a fabulous picture of the Kitty this week, so check it out!  www.amlewis2003.blogspot.com  Have a great week! 

December 3, 2006

Wow, it's December, and Christmas is just around the corner!  Blogger was being very nice to me today, so I just posted a bunch of pics on my blog www.amlewis2003.blogspot.com  Don't forget to keep on scrolling down, because there really are a lot of pics!

Let's see, it's only been a few days since my last post, so it should be easy to remember everything that's happened since then.

Friday we got a new phone system at work.  We had to learn how to learn new phones, which shouldn't be too difficult.  The only really annoying thing is my phone rings even when I'm talking on it.  I don't think there's any way to fix that.  It was also period end.  I had to have everything sent to corporate by 6 p.m.  Luckily everything got posted with plenty of time to spare.

Saturday, I went to the Christmas Parade with my mom, Meredith, and Chris.  It was pretty neat.  We'd never been before.  The only reason I wanted to go was to see the big balloons.  The weather was really nice.  We only got cold when the sun's rays moved to the other side of the street.  Luckily, Hanes-Lineberry was giving away free hot chocolate from Star Bucks.  After the parade, we made our way to Burlington to go to Christmas 365.  On the way, we stopped by Replacements Ltd.  If you have an old china pattern and have lost or broken a piece of it, you can get it replaced there.  It was a pretty cool store...it was just really expensive.  We finally made it to the other store, and I'm really glad we went.  I found some great stuff for cheap!  I bought this nice wreath, and now we have it hanging on our door.  I highly recommend it to anyone who's thinking about going.  On the way home, we decided to stop by Garden Ridge.  Ugh, was that a mistake!  It was so crowded.  I just went to get a wreath hanger, and it took me 15+ minutes in line to buy it.  Don't go to Garden Ridge on a Saturday!  We were all quite worn out by the end of the day.  When I got home, I discovered Adam wasn't there.  He went to his parents' house, because Amy was in town with Gavin and Colby.  So I made my way over there.  They're really very cute kids.  Rocky the pomeranian came with them this time.  He weighs nothing compared to our cat!  I was pretty exhausted by the time I got home for good, but somehow I still managed to get on the tread mill. 

Today was a good day.  It was Fast and Testimony Meeting at church.  There were some really nice testimonies born.  We had a lot of nursery kids today.  There were 11, and three of them were new...so we were missing some!  It certainly would be interesting if they all showed up one Sunday.  There was a lot of crying toward the beginning, and a little girl named Blakely sat on my lap for a good 40 minutes until she was ready to play.   After that, all was well.  I was able to wrap all of Adams gifts today, so now he won't accidentally stumble upon them.  We were going to go to the Christmas Devotional tonight at church, but Adam was too tired to wake up.  Fortunately, I got to watch it on the Internet.  I just love this time of year. 

Well, that's all for now.  I hope everyone has a great week!