Christmas Eve!

It's hard to believe it's Christmas Eve already! It hasn't really seemed the same ever since my Grandma Ina died in 2020. For 38 years of my life, Grandma and Grandpa had all the family over to celebrate Christmas. It was the one time each year we'd definitely see our cousins. It was a loud, full house and we've made so many memories that continued through my kids' childhood, too (although some years they couldn't go because they were with their dad). Spending so many years doing the same thing and then suddenly not doing anymore...it's just very sad. The family really doesn't get together as a group except for special events like weddings. It's sad how things change, but it's inevitable, I suppose. 

Part of the same Christmas routine since I was a baby was going to my mom's dad and stepmom's house for Christmas with that side of the family. While the group has gotten smaller as people have moved away and started their own families, my immediate family is still there every year. My grandpa is 90 years old now, but hopefully we'll still have many years left to keep the tradition going. 

Other than that we haven't been doing much. Johnny went to his daughter's house last night. My Cricut Maker 4 didn't arrive until yesterday afternoon, so I was busy setting that up and making orders that were due to ship today. And my Romeo started cutting off center on Friday and I was frustrated so I decided to just wait on finishing the orders. It was working so well...then all the sudden it was off. I figured out how to do the calibration...but even after calibrating, like, a dozen times...it was still off. But then I found how to manually adjust the camera and after a few test cuts and adjustments, I was able to get it cutting perfectly again. Thank goodness! My CandiMakerPlanners shop is doing better this December (and year) than last year. So far my CandiMakerStickers shop is almost on par with last December (I've only gotten 1 less order so far compared to last year), but I've had a 37% increase in orders and a 52% increase in revenue for this year compared to this point last year. Most of the increase in revenue is because I sell a lot more magnets now, which are a higher price point than stickers. 

Johnny asked me today if I got gifts for the dogs. Uh...I wasn't planning on it. lol. They already have a ton of toys and it's not like they know it's Christmas. But...I went ahead and got each of the puppies three new stuffed animals. I started out trying to get them through Petco, but every single thing I'd added to the cart for same day delivery ended up saying sold out a short time later. Johnny said he'd go to Petco after work if I couldn't order any...but they close at 7pm which is when Johnny gets off work. So I looked at Chuck & Don's website and was able to find a lot of toys available for same day delivery. I found three separate brands that had two of the same-ish size different animals (well, one is a snowman)...and I like things to be equal. ;)

I'll wrap them before Johnny gets off work and then we'll have them open the presents tonight after dinner. Last year, Bozley was more interested in the wrapping paper than the presents (he liked them after we threw the wrapping paper away, though). Nova LOVES toys and always has particular toys that she's most attached to. And when she gets excited--like waiting for her breakfast, waiting for us to sit down to eat dinner, or when Johnny is getting ready to go to bed--she'll lay on the floor and squeak one of her toys over and over again. She'll also look for specific toys that she wants at any given time. Bozley tends to just want whatever toy (or sock, shoe, or a stray towel he found somewhere) is closest to put in his mouth when he gets excited. He doesn't care at all about squeakers or anything. His favorite "toys" are rocks or sticks that he finds in the yard that he can toss around and roll around on. He does like tennis balls...though he isn't as great about the second part of fetch. He'll bring it back...he just won't let you have it. :P And interestingly enough, Nova doesn't care that much about tennis balls except for tearing them apart. And 9/10 times if you throw the ball to her, she'll run after it...but then just walk away once she gets to it. They're such funny puppies. And yes...I know that they're 5 years old and not literally puppies...but they'll always be our puppies. ;) 

We've been watching Invasion in the evenings while we eat dinner. Johnny watched an episode while he was visiting his brother in Seattle, so we started it from the beginning. We're only on S01E07. But tonight, Johnny and I are planning to watch Tom Segura's new Netflix special. He's one of our favorite comedians. The second volume of Stranger Things drops tomorrow, but we might not start it until this weekend. About this time last year I had just watched Season 6 of Virgin River and was talking about how we didn't have to wait until next December for Season 7. Well...we don't have to wait until December...we have to wait even longer. :P That's one thing I hate about the change to streaming...it seems that so many shows take forever to release the next season. We used to get 20-24 episodes a season and there was only a break over the summer and a shorter hiatus around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now you get only 7-10 episodes and it's typically at least a year before you get to watch the next season. You can binge watch an entire season in a weekend (or a day if you're not doing anything else). It's just really annoying. 

Well...I suppose I shall go wrap presents. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas! 

Getting closer to Christmas!

Things have been busy lately. 

Friday we ended up having to take Nova to the vet. I let the dogs outside early that afternoon and right after they came in, she was pacing around and whining to go back outside. She trotted out and immediately went potty again. I watched and she was basically just walking back and forth across the yard squatting to go potty. So I was pretty sure she had a UTI. Since it was Friday, I texted the vet to make an "urgent" appointment since there weren't any appointments available. They weren't able to get a urine sample, but we were able to get her some antibiotics and vetprofen. Nova seems to be back to normal now. By Friday night she wasn't going outside as frequently and not squatting as often while she was out. 

We had Christmas at my sister's house Saturday. We celebrate with my mom, her mom, my dad, my sister and her kids, and then my kids and their boyfriends. The rule for boyfriends is that they have to be dating for a year before they come to family functions...and this is actually the second Christmas they've come to now. Ashlyn's boyfriend had worked all night and then didn't get any sleep during the earlier part of the day, so he actually fell asleep in the living room chair toward the end of the evening...and he was snoring pretty loud. lol. One of my nieces ended up drawing pictures on his hand. :P But it was a nice evening with lots of laughter. We had a lot of finger foods and desserts. I took the ginger molasses cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and chicken salad sandwiches cut diagonally into 4 pieces like my Grandma Ina used to make every year for Christmas Eve. Oooh...and my sister made beer bread and I pigged out on that with the spinach and herb dip. Yummy! I hadn't had it in YEARS and forgot just how yummy it is. 

Then Sunday night, Johnny's daughter and her two kids stopped by for awhile. She also brought their golden retriever over. Boz and Nova had a blast playing with him. I think he's about 6 months old or so. It was fun watching them chase each other around. 

Saturday morning while I was in a hurry getting everything ready to go to my sister's, I knocked over the stand my Cricut is on when I was trying to get in the closet. At first I thought it was fine, but when I went to make orders on Sunday, I noticed that the power jack was bent sideways because it was plugged in when it fell and the cord was caught under the desk. I was able to plug it in and kinda pull the cord back the way it was supposed to go and tape it to hold it in place...and it's working for now. I have the Siser Romeo, but I still use the Cricut as well...especially when I have a lot of work and I can use both machines at the same time. The Cricut can also handle thicker materials and has several different kinds of blades that I use (debossing, engraving, foiling, scoring, perf, knife blade, etc)...and I generally cut all my magnets on it. 

So I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to replace the Cricut or just keep using it until the tape holding the cord stopped working. I looked on the Cricut website and saw that the Cricut Maker 4 was on sale for $50 off...which is cheaper than I paid for my Cricut Maker 3. On top of that, I had a code for an additional $10 and got an additional 10% off (after the first $50 discount) by paying $9 for the first month of a Cricut subscription. I ended up saving more than $100 for a newer model. Since my deposit for the last week was more than the cost of the machine, I decided to go ahead and get the Cricut Maker 4. Had it not been on sale and had the additional discounts, I probably wouldn't have gotten it right now. But...now I'll have three machines that I can use at the same time (at least for as long as my tape trick will work) and I should be able to keep both Cricut machines on the same stand. Plus we can deduct it on the taxes this year...which is good timing since I had such an unexpectedly busy July and August. 

Cricut cutting machines kind of have a bad reputation among sticker makers. Lots of people complain about problems they have with their Cricut...especially cuts that are off. But I've been lucky to never have significant problems with my Maker 3. There has been a time or two after an update when I've had to recalibrate the get my cuts straight...but that's about it. I've noticed the majority of problems seem to be for those using the Cricut Explore machines...so I don't know if that makes a difference. I'm hoping I won't have any issues with the Maker 4. There isn't a whole lot of change between the Maker 3 and the Maker 4 aside from speed...so we'll see how it goes. 

The last week of November and the first two weeks of December have been really busy with orders. November started out slow, but the month ended up being the best I'd had outside of the unusually busy July and August from my custom name sticker sheets in my CandiMakerPlanners shop. I had 162 orders in November...and I already have 128 for December. It has started slowing down this week since we're getting closer to Christmas, but orders are still coming in. I had 175 orders for the month of December 2024, so we'll see where it ends up this year. I've already passed 3600 sales in my CandiMakerStickers shop and I'm at 499 in my sticker sheet shop (hopefully I can get at least one more sale there before the end of the year!).  

I also need to clean out the office. When we got the new furniture in the living room, I kind of stuffed everything that was stored in the old living room furniture in the office to deal with after Thanksgiving...but still haven't gotten around to it. Thus the trouble getting into the office closet and the Cricut getting knocked over. :P So that's probably what I'll do this weekend. 

But for right now, I need to get back to work. :) 

Almost Christmas?!

This year has gone by so fast! 

On the 14th, we went to my sister's house to celebrate Christmas. She got Johnny a new Yeti coffee cup and I got a cool set of mixing bowls. My dad also got Johnny (all the boys, actually) a hair trimmer... which was good because I was actually planning to buy Johnny a new one. LOL. Oh, and mom also got me sone Hallmark miniature ornaments for my little wooden tree. :) The girls were spoiled too. 

Ashlyn has been sick this weekend...so hopefully she'll be feeling better by Wednesday. I think she's calling the doctor today to see if she can get an appointment before the holiday. So we'll see how that goes. And Aubry is off work until the 2nd. Johnny only has Christmas Day and New Years Day off. :( 

Work has slowed down for me now that we're getting closer to the holiday. For about three weeks I was super busy and getting about 50 orders a week. Last week it dropped down to 30 orders. I've gotten 141 orders so far for December with more than a week still left to go...which already beats my previous record of 137 in July 2024. 

I'm enjoying a little more downtime right now. I got several Sims4 packs from Johnny for Christmas, so I've enjoyed playing around with that. I love building houses on there. :) 

The Litter Robot is going...slowly. Angel LOVES it. She uses it all the time. She also likes to go in and watch it turn to dump it out. If she stands on the step, it stops turning. Leo has also used it several times. However, despite being the very first one to use it (before I actually turned it on), Milo is scared of it. He's scared to the point that he is nervous even going into the cat room. So I've been trying to work with him and I still have their old litterbox down there. It doesn't get used as often as it did, though. 

Oh! And I watched Season 6 of Virgin River! I watched one episode before I went to bed early Thursday morning and then watched the other 9 episodes throughout the day. It was pretty good...but has a big cliffhanger at the end. It moved a little slow at times...and the most interesting and pivotal moments from the entire season all happened in the last 7 minutes. :P It's been picked up for Season 7...and I really hope we don't have to wait all the way until December to watch it. 

And the rest of our shows are on hiatus...so we'll have to find some other stuff to watch. Nate Bargatze has a special has another Netflix special on Tuesday, so we're excited to watch that. No idea what else we'll be watching. 

Well...I should probably head to bed. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas! 

Overdue update!

I just realized that I hadn't posted in over a month! November has been pretty busy, though!

We had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving. It was just Johnny and I again this year. All the kids had their own things going on. I'd considered hosting my family again this year (we'd done it in 2014 and 2019) but it's always so stressful and I just wasn't up for it this year. It never fails...whenever we have people over for Thanksgiving, things don't go smoothly at all. :P We typically make a bigger turkey which ties up the oven for a long time. Then other things don't seem to get done in time. One year I turned on the crockpot for the mac n cheese...only to discover that it hadn't been plugged in. :P There's just so much going on at once and lots of people in the kitchen...it feels like chaos. But this year we had zero deadline for when anything had to be done...and I got it all done at relatively the same time without trying very hard. :P I didn't even bake the breads the night before like I usually do. And with fewer people eating, I just make turkey breasts in the pressure cooker instead of a whole turkey in the oven. It only takes about an hour and I don't even have to thaw them first. 

Work has also been super busy this month. Sales were slow during the first part of November...but they picked up A LOT starting the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I ended up breaking my previous record for total orders (from both Etsy shops and eBay) in one week (Sunday to Saturday)...which was 36 orders. The week of Thanksgiving, I had 45 orders! I actually ran out of the glassine bags that I use for packaging before my new ones were set to arrive. Luckily Amazon got them here pretty quick so none of my orders were late going out. I love being busy, though! :)  

During the slow part of early November, I used the downtime to make some new custom name designs using individual letter graphics and got a lot of them listed before I got busy. I even sold some of the new designs in the last week. :) I still have more letter designs that I want to make...but I'll have to wait for some more down time. 

Most of my recent sales have been for magnets...which are largely made to order instead of keeping them in stock. They're more expensive to make than my stickers so I don't want to have a lot of unsold inventory. I do try keep a couple of the popular ones on hand...which at the moment are my spreadsheet design and the flamingo design that says "Don't make me put my foot down." Since 11/26, I've had 68 orders and 36 of those orders were for magnets. I'm really glad that I changed my listing photos to make it clear that each design can be a magnet or sticker...because it has greatly increased the amount of magnet orders since then. 

While I'm working, I usually binge watch shows that I've already seen...that way I don't have to really pay attention to it. I just look up at the TV to see my favorite parts. It's my emotional support background noise. ;) I'd been watching a lot of 24 and then switched to Virgin River. I really wish December 19th would get here so I can watch Season 6. There's not a whole lot of episodes to binge watch Virgin River...so I've gone through it several times now just in the last few weeks. :P And then last night when Johnny and I were getting ready to eat dinner, I noticed that Martin Henderson was in the photo for the Australian TV miniseries, Secrets and Lies. So I decided to watch that last night after I was done working. I watched all 6 episodes...largely to see if my prediction was correct about about who the killer was (and it was...I'm generally pretty good at predicting TV shows and movies). It was a good show, though. I think the rest of the week I'm going to switch to Reacher. That's another show with an upcoming season that I'm excited for! It's probably my favorite current show right now.

Ooh! We're waiting for my birthday present to get here! :) We ordered the Whisker Litter Robot 4 during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday says. So I'm hoping that really works out well. It's supposed to arrive Thursday. We also picked out our Christmas present...which was a new set of non-stick ceramic cookware. That'll definitely be nice...since I've been using the same pots and pans (aside from a few new pieces here and there) that I bought in 2005 (and my pasta pot is from 2003). LOL. My favorite large 5qt sauté pan definitely needed to be replaced. So hopefully the new set will be good. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out which set to get. :P 

Well...I should probably get some more work done before I go to bed. 

Happy Holidays!

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. We had a nice, relaxing weekend. I made cards and custom name label stickers for the grandkids and then Christmas day we went to my grandparents' house here in town. Grandma made brisket for dinner and it was SO yummy, as always. And one of the gifts we got from my grandparents was the cutest. They always find the neatest things. 

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Johnny got each of the dogs two stuffed animals for Christmas and we wrapped them. Bozley was more interested in the wrapping paper and Nova just wanted the toys without actually doing any work to get the paper off. So she wanted us to unwrap them so she could play with the toy and Bozley was unwrapping the presents and then shredding the wrapping paper instead of playing with the toy. LOL. But one of the toys they each got was a chicken that makes recorded bird noises. It's so funny watching them play with them. Any time we press the part that starts the noise, they'll pick it up and carry it around in their mouth and then either put it in the kennel or by the backdoor. LOL. 

I made Creamy Chicken and Noodles on Christmas Eve. And then Johnny has been wanting a ham, so I made a spiral cut ham last night for dinner. I'm not a huge fan of ham, but it actually turned out pretty tasty. I was going to make it in the pressure cooker like I did for Thanksgiving in 2021, but the ham I got was too big to fit. :P But it was basically the same recipe, I just cooked it in the oven instead of the pressure cooker. Oh and Johnny likes cloves (I'm not a fan of cloves, either), so I added whole cloves stuck to the ham over the pineapple. 

I'm finally getting a new laptop! It's my Christmas present from Johnny...after Christmas so we can deduct it as an expense for next year's taxes. ;) It's basically just an upgraded version of the laptop I have now that's been trying to die several times this year. It'll be faster too...and everything should actually work! lol. I bought this laptop in June 2013...so it has lasted over 10 years. I'd definitely say I've gotten my money's worth...even though I spent extra money on it several times buying parts I had to replace. :P But luckily these laptops aren't hard to replace parts on. And I've liked my Dell laptop better than my HP laptops. Both of the HP laptops I had overheated and fried the motherboard despite always using them with an external cooling fan. Neither one of them lasted three years...one of them I had to get a warranty replacement 3 times in 2.5 years! So hopefully my new Dell laptop will last me a long time. :) 

CandiMaker is still going well! December has been my most successful month so far. I also forgot that I'd uploaded a few of my animal stickers on eBay earlier in the month and I sold 9 stickers there on Tuesday! So my next goal is to get the rest of my stickers uploaded there. I'm at 352 orders and 440 sales in my Etsy shop as of right now. Sales only count different stickers in an order and not individual quantities. The total number of items I've sold this year in my Etsy sticker shop is 574! And on my sales map...the only places I have left are New Mexico, Delaware, and Washington DC. Since there's only a few days left of December, I probably won't get them all by the end of the year. :P For my first year selling stickers, I'm pleased with my progress. I really LOVE making stickers, so it's been a lot of fun.

Approaching the end of 2022!

I can't believe the year is almost over. Time just goes by so fast! 

We had a nice, relaxing Christmas. Our original plan was to have our annual Christmas Celebration at my sister's house on Christmas Eve...but she was sick so it was postponed a little bit. Christmas Day we went to my grandparents' house here in town like we always do for chatting, dinner, desserts, and presents. It was the first time we've been able to go since 2020. Before that...we've gone to my grandparents' house for Christmas day every year since I was a child. We used to celebrate Christmas Eve at my dad's side of the family with all my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc...but when my Grandma died in 2020, that was no longer carried on. It's just not the same without her. :( 

Ashlyn finished all her classes for the semester which means she's officially done with high school! She'll still be able to go to Prom and then will still walk at graduation at the end of the school year with her classmates...she just doesn't have to go to class anymore. She turned 18 in September, but I told her that she wasn't allowed to move out until after she was done with her classes. She has wanted to move back to our hometown and live at XH's parents' house (where Aubry had been living since she graduated in 2020). Ashlyn has been excited so she started packing about a month ago. She moved some of the boxes she already had packed the Friday before her last couple days of school. Then she wanted to move the rest on Tuesday--her last day at school--but she wasn't anywhere near ready to go. She had a ton of packing and cleaning left to do. Then Wednesday, she'd gotten more done but still wasn't finished...and then the weather got bad so it didn't really matter anyway. She finally finished cleaning and packing on Friday and was able to move out the rest of her stuff. Aubry was excited...because she's been really anxious to move back here. 

Truth be told, I was looking forward to an empty nest after 10 years of people coming in and out of our house. But...I did have Aubry sign a lease agreement so that everyone knows up front what to expect. In an ideal world, that wouldn't be necessary. But we've found that adult children can often take advantage and not be respectful of others in the house (or property) and it's far easier to establish ground rules up front including how much they are expected to contribute toward expenses. And when it's in writing...no one can "forget" what the terms are. Aubry understood and had no problem with the lease agreement at all. Everything seems to be working out fine so far. She starts her new job next month and is planning to save up for a newer car and her own place. 

The dogs are doing well. :) With Aubry moving in...she brought her chihuahua, Linken, back with her. He's a little more vocal than Ashlyn's chihuahua, Neko. But he's starting to warm up to Bozley and NovaLee. It would be easier if Boz and Nova would calm down more...they tend to get pretty excited. They're fine by themselves...but they seem to rile each other up. It's the same way with the cats...by themselves, they're calm with the cats but together they end up chasing them back downstairs. We've been trying to work with them, but it's apparently a slow process. :P We need to get them to the groomer again too. It's been, like, a year since they've been to the groomer. :P They never need full-on haircuts, but a good bath and trimming their paws and everything is overdue. Johnny gives them baths once or twice a month depending on how dirty they get outside, but they always look and smell so good after the groomer. :) 

I've been busy with CandiMaker stuff...as always! Luckily I love what I do. :) I'm trying to finish preparing for the grand opening of CandiMakerStickers. I'm SUPER excited about this Etsy shop. I keep adding new products which makes me even more excited. :) I'll have die-cut stickers, sticker sheets, planner stickers including weekly kits, laminated and magnetic bookmarks, laminated planner covers and page markers, and planner dividers for classic-size 9-disc planners (to fit Happy Planner brand pages). I may branch out to different sizes and different types of binding in the future, but we'll see how this works out and go from there. I'm still maintaining my two current Etsy shops as well. My goal for 2023 is to really work hard on all my Etsy shops to make them as successful as possible. :) 

I hope everyone has a very happy new year! :) 

The year is almost over already!

I hope everyone has had a very merry Christmas! Our Christmas was a little more low-key than we'd originally planned. We went to my sisters on the 12th to celebrate Christmas with my parents and my mom's mom. I got a bunch of plastic storage bins (which is what I asked for) because we have a ton of stuff in the basement that I want to sort and move out to the garage so we can actually make the basement a usable space again. :P Most of what is down there is garage sale stuff. My 2022 resolution is to finally have a garage sale! We've just been setting aside stuff for years but then never actually having the garage sale. So...my mission this year is to actually have the garage sale. :P Johnny got a really neat hatchet tool and some storage straps. The girls got gift cards, fuzzy socks, a neat pen, etc. 

I haven't been feeling well (migraines, horrible nausea, and sciatica) so I haven't had a whole lot of energy. We were supposed to go to the annual pizza party with my mom's dad's side of the family last week but I was super dizzy and nauseous all week so Johnny and I stayed home. Ashlyn tagged along with my mom and sister though and they had a good time (Aubry had to work). Then shortly after that, my sister and her family came down with Covid. Ashlyn already gone to XH's parents' house but I had her get tested before she went to the Christmas party down there just as a precaution. She tested negative and hasn't shown any symptoms since. But my grandparents went ahead and brought all of our gifts from them over to our house on Christmas Eve so Johnny and I stayed home over the weekend and lounged with the dogs. The girls came over Christmas Day to open their gifts and then eat dinner with us.  

Johnny is back at work today after a nice three-day weekend. He'll have a three-day weekend over New Years too...so we're looking forward to that. There hasn't been much transcription work available lately but I've been working on CandiMaker stuff off and on when I've felt up to it. Other than that...we've just been hanging out and enjoying the peace and quiet. :) 

Another December!

I can't believe how quickly we are to approaching the end of another year! The weather has been pretty up and down lately. We actually had record highs in the area last week. It usually averages about 50 degrees around here in the month of December, but it was 74 degrees on the 2nd! I love temps in the 70s. :) But...I'm definitely not a fan of the wind we've had lately. Ugh. 

Ashlyn had Hollyball on Saturday. She just went with some friends this year. Her dad's sister helped her get ready and then she stopped by here so I could take some pictures. She hung out at a friend's house before and took pictures and then they went to the dance. Ashlyn said she had a really good time. :)

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Johnny and I went to get our Covid boosters on Sunday. It was basically just like the first two doses. Our arms were pretty sore that night and the next day. Then the following two days we were kinda tired and sore all over. But we're both feeling much better now. I made some vegetable beef soup Sunday night and then we had leftovers until Tuesday when I made some taco meat for Johnny and Ashlyn and then I wanted Mexican cheese soup so I made some of that. It's one of my favorites and so easy to make...just dump it in the crockpot. AND...more leftovers! I love leftovers because it means that for a day or two I don't have to decide what to make for dinner. :P I also need to remember to make chocolate chip cookies to take to my sister's house for our family's early Christmas party.  

This weekend I'll be working on Christmas presents. So far I just have one present figured out for each of the kids and grandkids that I'm personalizing for them. I think we may just do gift cards and/or stocking stuffers as well...but we still haven't decided on all that yet. Probably should...but my husband tends to be a procrastinator. ;) 

Well...I better get back to work! :)  

Thursday 13: Santa Claus!

The other day I was trying to remember what my daughters have gotten from Santa each year. So in the spirit of the holidays and my love for lists...I thought I'd write it down here to start some more Thursday13 posts. So here are the things Santa has brought my kids for the last thirteen years:

1. 2019 - The girls each got a Fitbit Versa (yay for Black Friday sales)!
2. 2018 - The girls got a PS3 and some games to go with it.
3. 2017 - The girls each got a Samsung Galaxy On5 cell phone from Straight Talk.
4. 2016 - Ashlyn got an iPod Touch and Aubry got Beats On-Ear Headphones
5. 2015 - Ashlyn got a Chocolate Pen kit and Aubry got a Sky Viper HD Video Drone
6. 2014 - Ashlyn got a Horse Stable for her 18" doll and Aubry got a Razor Electric Scooter.
7. 2013 - The girls got a 32" Vizio Smart TV for their room (which they shared at the time).
8. 2012 - They each got a pair of Adjustable Inline Skates.
9. 2011 - They each got a Nintendo DSi.
10. 2010 - They got a Nintendo Wii with a few games and my grandparents got them the Wii Fit Board.
11. 2009 - Ashlyn got a Fur Real Cat and Aubry got an Easy Bake Oven.
12. 2008 - Ashlyn got Ponyville Amusement Park, Aubry got Littlest Petshop Tail Waggin Fitness Club.
13. 2007 - They both got the Barbie Mini Kingdom Castle and two other set to go with it.

Holidays!

I haven't posted since the last holiday...but it's been a rough month.

I started a new medication hoping that it would help with my migraines, but the side effects were not great. I felt like I had mild flu symptoms (neuropathy like when I have a fever, body aches, chills, sore throat) and I was just so tired. For about a week I didn't have any headache at all...which I haven't experienced for as long as I can remember. However, it made my GI issues a lot worse...so I felt like I was just trading one problem for another. Sadly, I'm far more used to the headaches and migraines than I am the GI issues. So...I decided not to continue with that medication. It was worth a shot...now I can scratch that one off the list.

I've also been busy with work. I'm still really enjoying my job as a law enforcement transcriptionist. It is only providing a little extra income right now, but I'm hoping as things slow down around here that I'll be able to devote more time to it...well, if and when things ever slow down. :P 

Right after Thanksgiving, we had to rush to find a way to empty the storage unit that my step-daughter had taken upon herself to put all of my mother-in-law's things in. She informed us that she was no longer going to be paying for the storage unit so basically it was our problem now. Luckily between our car, Aubry's car, and my grandma's truck, we were able to get everything except a completely uncovered and unprotected mattress that was filled with who-knows-what out of the storage unit. Note to anyone who puts anything in storage: you can get zippered waterproof mattress protectors and tape around all the zippers or even get some heavy gauge plastic to wrap around a mattress and seal it with tape to protect it from bugs and critters in a storage unit. Honestly, anything fabric should be in plastic (put clothes and bedding in plastic tubs with lids, etc). Otherwise, you might as well just skip putting it in storage and throw it away...because you're likely going to end up with bugs and mice living in it. Ick. NO THANK YOU. But anyway...now we have a whole lot of boxes in our living room, dining room, office, and a few furniture pieces and plastic bins in the garage that I get to figure out what to do with. I'm hoping over Christmas break I can get the basement more squared away and move all the boxes and everything downstairs.

December was pretty busy for the kids at school. Not only did they have finals, they also had a school dance, Ashlyn had a music program, and they both had Commander's Call for AFJROTC which my parents and I went to (Johnny had to work).

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A post shared by Candi Pride (@tinycandi) on Dec 2, 2019 at 11:19am PST

We celebrated our Christmas at home early this year because the girls went to XH's parents' house for the first weekend of Christmas break and then they'll be home today. We went to my mom's house and my grandparents' house (my mom lives next door to them) to celebrate on Christmas Eve and then today we'll go to my other grandparents' house. That's all we really have planned this year.

It's just been a rough year. And unfortunately, this holiday season has been a particularly sad one for our household. A couple weeks ago our Australian Shepherd, Bandit, had developed a cough. He'd cough a few times then he'd gag like he was trying to cough something up. Then he actually coughed up a small blood clot, so we took him to the vet on Saturday the 14th. They took a chest x-ray and ran some blood work. His organ function tests looked good but he was anemic and his lungs looked pretty bad in the x-ray. The vet said that it was either cancer or possibly a fungal infection. So he was given some antibiotic and steroid shots and sent home with some antibiotics, steroids, and we decided to treat with anti-fungals in case it was a fungal infection. While his cough got better right away, his breathing became very labored. Finally it got to the point where Johnny texted the vet on Sunday and we took him in, because Bandit was just trying so hard to breathe that he couldn't sleep and he was just worn out. They put him in the oxygen cage and kept him overnight. They gave him some more meds including a diuretic hoping to ease his breathing. They ran more tests the following day, but unfortunately our baby's lungs and anemia had gotten worse despite all the treatment...not better. So we had to make the difficult decision to have Bandit put to sleep two days before Christmas.

Our vet clinic's new building has a separate "comfort room" for just such an occasion. There is a sectional sofa in there so it has a more comfortable setting. There is also a door that leads straight to the parking lot so you don't have to go back through the lobby while you're so distraught. The vet let us take Bandit outside...they even brought us a bowl of water and some fresh cooked chicken to give him. We spent quite awhile outside with him...perhaps too long. Outside of the oxygen cage he had to try so hard to breathe and he was becoming weak. We had one of the vet techs carry Bandit inside and put him back in the oxygen cage while they got everything ready for us. Then we held him and comforted him until he no longer had to struggle so hard to breathe anymore. Finally Bubbies could just sleep peacefully. :( 

It's been so hard. Johnny got Bandit as a puppy in 2010. He's been a part of the daily routine ever since. The house just isn't the same without him. All the cute things he would do and the noises he would make. The way he gave hugs and always wanted belly rubs. Just so many things that make the house feel empty.

I think Linken knew it was coming. In the last couple weeks, Linken had been very attached to Bandit. He kept wanting to sit or lay down next to him. I think Linken was trying to "be there" for him when Bandit wasn't feeling good. And while Bandit used to get annoyed with the puppies invading his space for too long, he didn't seem to mind Linken wanting to be close.

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A post shared by Candi Pride (@tinycandi) on Dec 18, 2019 at 8:13pm PST

Not that it's ever easy, but it's just such a hard time of year to go through this. It's hard to gather and celebrate family and be joyful when such a special part of your family is no longer there. But...I'm so thankful he got to enjoy one more snow fall. He has always loved going out and eating the snow and ice... 

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A post shared by Candi Pride (@tinycandi) on Dec 16, 2019 at 9:51am PST

Bandit Pride
aka Bubbies
January 27, 2010-December 23, 2019