It might reach a high of 1 degree today!

Folks, it is just downright cold here in Montana. Ben informs me that there has not been a white Christmas here in several years, so I think they/we are in luck this year. It has been snowing again since last night and we've probably gotten another inch or so of the powdery stuff. We've been blessed with a kind neighbor who has plowed our driveway the last few times, so maybe we'll get lucky again. I finally figured out that it is the guy across the street with his 4-wheeler with plow attachment. It was cute to see his dog riding on the back of the 4-wheeler, jumping off every so often to bound through the snow or take a potty break. Ben went over to thank him personally and introduce himself. He came away with a plate of assorted Christmas cookies that the wife said she had intended to walk over that evening.

Anyway, the temperature right now is -3 degrees with a wind chill of -17 degrees...not too toasty if you ask me.

HOWEVER, we have power and heat unlike a lot of our Indiana friends who were hit earlier in the weekend with an ice storm. I personally experienced a bad ice storm in the early 90's, so I can empathize.

I am posting a few pictures of our little family as we suffered the cold to get a family picture to send with our Christmas cards. The girls thought the snow was tons of fun, but soon realized just how cold it was. None of us lasted too long out there. The last picture is of our neighborhood wildlife. I remember seeing this bunny in the yard back when we were first viewing the house. It appears that he will be a regular visitor.

Hope everyone is staying warm and enjoying the season.
Love to all.

Where has the time gone?

It was so much easier to find time to blog when we were living in the hotel. Now my days are consumed with actual cooking and cleaning...ugh! Riley and I seem to just veg out most mornings and pass the time watching cartoons on Noggin or playing on the computer. Most mornings we don't make it past 8:30am without her asking to go "on the pewter." Too cute.

Just in case you were wondering...it's getting pretty lonely out here. I am once again thrust into a new city trying to put down little roots. I realize that I am not alone, of course, but I seem to be really talented at wallowing in self-pity. I'm so proud of Ben and all that he has accomplished in his career. He is extremely talented and exudes a passion for his work. However, I do not tell him this enough and should let him know more often how inspiring he is to me. Now...back to the self-pity... it just gets old trying to get a home set up all over again... it gets old trying to find quality, trustworthy childcare... it gets old trying to find a decent job to help pay the mounting bills... it gets old "waiting" to leave once I begin to really like it... It is really difficult to start over again and again and again. I'M TIRED!

Unfortunately, I have not been a good influence on my babies. Samantha cries about once a week, saying she wants to go back to Indiana. I'm sure my stinky attitude does not help her adjust to our new home. Since Ben so kindly enlightened me to my power over the children, I have told myself to have a better attitude. I probably won't listen to me...

I've ranted enough. I'm off to attempt to catch a few winks before dawn. I will try to return with a better attitude and positive energy next time. Maybe I'll even manage to take a few pictures of the house and post them for all to see.

Missy

Okay, okay, okay...I was tagged!

This posting is being made just to prove that I will, in fact, respond to being "tagged." I was initially tagged back on October 26th and I have now been tagged again. Here goes:

PART ONE

SEVEN THINGS YOU (PROBABLY) DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME...

I will preface my list with the following statements...

I have not spent a lot of time thinking about the subject and will probably think of much better things later on after I have already composed the list.

Ben knows pretty much everything about me, so this list will obviously not apply to him. I have a few close friends that might know most of these things and if they don't know it they won't be surprised by it.

1. When getting out of the bath or shower, I absolutely must dry off in a particular order.
Seriously, I will get all messed up and be disoriented. I hate air-drying and must complete the task as quickly as possible in order to prevent that being the case. I don't think I have enough energy to actually describe the order, but I actually had a discussion (and laugh) with Samantha about it last week after a shower.

2. I am a "picker" and "peeler."
I have an almost subconscious habit of picking on any sort of bump on my skin, especially on my head. I also love peeling skin...you know, like after a sunburn heals? I honestly think I get this from my mother. I remember getting a horrible sunburn in Florida on a band trip (this one time, at band camp...oops, wrong trip). After getting home from the 17-hour bus ride and finally getting a good shower, my mom was able to grab the skin at the top of my back and peel it off in one big sheet. She loved it!

3. I am SUPER METICULOUS!
Most people think I am "anal retentive," but I think it is a case of being "super meticulous." It's a much more positive spin on my "condition," don't you think?

4. I love smelling books.
Do you think that sounds weird? It must be something with the paper and/or inks. It also applies to magazines and basically any other printed material. I also have a fascination with the texture of pages...the crisp, untouched pages of a new magazine anyone? Want to know something "sad"? The girls ask to smell things after I do...I'm passing it on...Aaaaaahhh!!

5. I don't particularly care for the water (swimming) if I'm not in a relatively small swimming pool.
This has nothing to do with being seen in a bathing suit. I think JAWS exists and is waiting for me to let down my guard.

6. ?

7. ?

I'm all out of things to add to the list. Pretty much everything I could add would be one more facet of my "super meticulous" behavior. I could go on and on about that!!


PART TWO

SURVEY SAYS...

1. Two Names You Go By

Missy and Mommy

2. Things You Are Wearing Right Now

red, long-sleeve thermal shirt
jeans
socks (and undergarments, too!)

3. Two Things You Want Very Badly at the Moment

a job
financial peace

4. Two People You Look Up To

Ben
Jake

5. Two Things You Did Last Night

baked chocolate-chip cookies
played games on Webkinz

6. Two Things You Ate Yesterday

blueberry bagel with whipped cream cheese
turkey and cheese sandwich

7. Two People You Last Talked To

Samantha and Riley

8. Two Things You're Doing Tomorrow

cleaning three toilets
hugging my babies
(not necessarily in that order!)

9. Two Longest Car Rides

Seattle, WA to Morristown, TN (December 2002)
South Whitley, IN to Great Falls, MT (September 2008)

10. Favorite Holiday(s)

Christmas

11. Favorite Vacations

Kauai with Ben - August 1996

Tennessee with my in-laws

12. Last Trip

Relocation trip...cross-country from Indiana to Montana

13. Two Favorite Beverages

Vanilla Coke (from a fountain, not canned)
Sweet Tea


I feel that I can now go to sleep since I have responded to my "tags."
Once again it is 1:00 am...

Home Sweet Home

You'll be pleased to hear that we are alive and well living in our new home. Hooray!

It has been just over two weeks since we signed on our home. What a busy, busy time. Ben and I (mostly Ben) managed to get the two bedrooms painted as planned. Our master bedroom turned out really, really nice! We went from pale yellow to a deep maroon/burgandy color. Nice and cozy if I do say so myself. The girls' bedroom went from white to purple and lime green...it's crazy, but COOL! Two walls are purple and two walls are green. We also added some Wall Pops circles in a funky pattern...kind of a caterpillar/snake-like fashion. On top of that we added glow-in-the-dark stars (100 of them to be exact). Curtains were added last week in fashionable RED. Altogether with their rainbow-striped bedding we have quite a vision to behold! I'll take a few pictures and post them this weekend. Suffice it to say that the girls are quite happy to be sleeping in their own beds in their own room.

The rest of the house was SUPER CLEAN when we moved in...couldn't have been happier. We've spend the better part of the last two weeks unpacking all of the boxes and putting things in their place. My office/scrap room is a complete disaster, but the rest of the house is near perfect. We even have a guest room ready for anyone willing to be the first guest. Takers anyone???!!

With things calming down a little bit, I am beginning my job search in earnest once more. I am scheduled to take an exam for a job with the State of Montana next week. I'm not sure how many candidates there are for the position, but I remain hopeful until I receive a "ding" letter.

Ben is once again on a work-related trip out of town. This time he is in Kansas City, Missouri for eleven days. Ugh! It has actually been OK so far...the girls and I are settling into a routine as far as Samantha going to school...dinner time...bath time...play time....bedtime...Mommy stays up until 1:00 am playing on the computer...Mommy barely stays awake the following day... you know, the usual!

Alright...I'm off to bed. I'm shooting for an extra 30 minutes of sleep tonight (ha, ha, ha).

Love to all,
Missy