Blogging is just not my thing!

I can't believe it's been 6 months since I last updated this blog! Oops! I guess it's better late than never.

First off, I have to say that we've enjoyed our first winter in our home. It's absolutely gorgeous here! Our biggest challenge was figuring out how to keep it heated evenly throughout. This is probably a challenge with all 2-story homes, but since our thermostat is on the upper level, it took a bit more work to figure it out how to get the downstairs to warm up without over-heating the upstairs. Eventually we're probably going to have to replace the siding and insulation to help conserve heat better, but it works well for now.

This is a picture I took one morning when everything was covered in snow and frost.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was nice to be able to have family over. Mike and I both moved around a lot as kids, and we both missed out on the big family holidays. My folks always invited the single Marines over so they wouldn't spend the holiday in the barracks, which was nice, but that wasn't quite the same. We're both hoping that as our kids grow up and move away, they'll always be close enough to come "home" for the holidays.

Speaking of growing up and moving away, Nick will be leaving for Air Force Basic Training on March 30. I have very mixed emotions on this and I'm not going to blog much on it as I don't want all the negative ones to come out right now. There's not a lot of job opportunities here and, Lord willing, this will help him get out on his own, get an education, and figure out what he would like to do. He's hoping that it might help him to get stationed in Japan again. :o) Whatever the future brings for him, I pray that he would walk close to the Lord and honor Him in all that he does.

We have a new member of our family now. Mike's mom, Carole, surprised me with a Yorkie puppy for Christmas. We've named him CoCo in honor of when we got him (what's winter time without hot cocoa?) and the brown coloring on him that reminds us all of our favorite curry restaurant in Japan, CoCo's. He's the cutest thing, but boy is he a stinker! At the present time, he's not allowed upstairs except to go in his kennel at bedtime. He seems to think the upstairs is a great place to use the bathroom whether we're up there or not. We're trying to figure out what to do once the ground thaws. I'd like for him to come outside with us and be able to run, but he also doesn't like to "come". We've been working on it, but, unless the leash is on, his ears don't seem to work very well. :o( I'm worried about him running into the street. We're trying to weigh the pros and cons of a fence vs electric fence. Any opinions?

This picture was taken when we first got him. That's the look he gives me when he's in trouble!

This is the Prince and Princess of the house!

Let's see, what else is going on around here? Angel is taking Driver's Ed right now, and I've been teaching a few classes. I just finished teaching a basic cake course through a community education program. I'm trying to get my Stampin' Up! business up and running again and am going to teach some cake decorating classes here at home. I've also started teaching the Preschool/Kindergarten Sunday School class at church. I love it! The kids and I have so much fun, and I love to see when they've really grasped a lesson-especially when they've applied it to their own life (i.e. "God wants me to "love one another". Hitting my brother would make Him sad, so I won't do it.") It's such a fun age to teach.

Well, I have a cake in the oven, so I will close this post here with no promises as to when I will post again, but hopefully, soon.

Till next time, God's love and blessings,
Tammy