Saturday, January 31, 2009

From Snowmen to Seashells...WHAT A TRIP!!!

Oh! Can you believe this? I am going to make another post, in the same week and most likely way long before many of you have even gotten thru my last one. I do apologize for that, and honestly, I am trying to do better, so today's topic involves my Snowman Bathroom. Those of you that have seen my home, will probably be sad to see it go, and if you feel you have to grieve, please, come to my house and you and hubby can huddle together in grief...he misses it, but I tell ya, I am sooooo glad that this redo is OVER!

Another ordeal, and glad that I did NOT get to start it before the Christmas Clan of January 16th....due to that Furnace Ordeal...or I'd be in that Calgon Bath, still!

When I did this bathroom in Snowmen, I had created my own unique "trend". But after several years of this Snowman Darkness, I decided Spa Blue was for me, and I was concentrating on a brand NEW unique trend....Vintage Sea Cottage Bath. Yep....you have read that correctly. Of course, after I had already bought Every last item to be used in this Dandy-Brand New Vintage Cottage Bathroom, I read on Nester's Blog that HGTV had pointed out TRENDS were Out....Huh? Since WHEN? Along with Toilet Rugs and apparently I was a little slow adapting to that whole Spa Blue look, and that seemed to be on it's way out, as well! Well, according to HGTV, I was no longer the Decorating Diva I thought and truly believed I was! Just short of the Pearl Necklace I was wanting to wear with my holey nightshirts, I was beginning to think I was June Cleaver....Not Martha, cuz I am NOT neurotic, but June? I could be her, I think.
I wasn't giving up....I was set on setting another trend, by darned, and I was going to have that Vintage Sea Cottage Bath! And I have it, I think! Well, take a look for yourself! What Say You!

Be sure to click on Pic to see Larger Pics....

BEFORE: Dark Snowman Bathroom






It isn't much to see at this point, as I had already started to remove some Snowman items from here to make way for the new changes....After all, we are definitely WARMING things up in here! Get it? Snowmen to Seashells???? Okay....hope you're laughing as hard as I am...I thought it was funny! hehehehehe

Anyhoo....here is the NEW Vintage Sea Cottage Bath, with all the Foo-Foo....as DH says!



v
These bottles in this little cubby were my Mom's...




Yes, I made the little cottage sign...




This piece of art is filled with favorites.


These items are on the top of the Medicine Cabinet....neat, huh?


Well, that is all I will bore you with for today....I am sure that many of you will wonder if they should go back and finish reading the other post...but go, and have a good hearty laugh! I have already heard that although long, it was funny to read!





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Friday, January 30, 2009

Treasure 2 Trash, Rude Ruud Furnaces, Family, Friends, Faith?

Okay, I lied! I had promised to do better with my posting, and I let Life happen. Again! But is this NOT what we are supposed to do? Well, from the title of this particular post, I could just say goodbye at this point, and those words could just serve all that has been going on, but then you, my few followers, would be left scratching their heads in total wonder. WONDERING if I'd completely gone off my rocker...you'd be correct in that ASSumption! LOL!
Well, without further ado, I'll elaborate...Hope you brought your pillow & PJ's, you'll need those, along with a meal or two! Oh...grab a tissue....I think that comes in handy a few times!

Treasure to Trash: I don't know where to start with this one...I guess I would have to blame this on a very new-to-me Blogger person that I have been stalking. OOops! I mean gawking at! Her name is Annie of Olde Annie Primitives... She and I seem to have a LOT in common...not only with our crafting abilities, but of the amounts of "stuff" we tend to have in our CraftRooms! We are also discovering quite a few other things we have in common, thru each other's Blogs and thru Emails. Hamburger Helper, for one thing. Long story, but we tend to remember when THAT was an entire meal-in-a-box, for a family. These days, I think you are lucky to feed TWO people with the amount that is in the box. What's with THAT?!??! So, Annie has also done something that I would have NEVER thought I would do, and that was completely and courageously shown her "mess" of a craftroom in TOTAL chaos...and for all intents & purposes, I understand her reasons for doing it. There was also a few words on how she intended to get it all organized. Guess What?!?!? She did! Go here, to see this amazing work....BEFORE & AFTER. Great Job, Annie!!! Now Pray for me, cuz I am going to be tackling my OWN room, and soon! But for the meantime...let's see if I can bare my existance in this room, which is totally on the verge of being condemned! Look for yourself! You may choose to click to Enlarge, but be very afraid!
This is the CURRENT look....I just took this one. Don't even ask! Maybe LATER, you will understand. There are LOTS of reasons for this room to look like this, and like Annie, I am in a Transitional Phase...possibly the LONGEST transitional phase I have ever been in, but again, bear with me, as you WILL come to understand WHY this room is looking THIS bad....worse, actually, cuz you can't see EVERYTHING in this pic. But it isn't without hope. Lots of HOPE....cuz I have been working on this, as you can see from more pics here...





The paint wall Before...
As you can see, there just isn't enough room for ALL my paints and Embellishments, Glues, Brushes, etc. So here is what I have thought MIGHT work better, and I am in the process of working this out, but now it looks something like THIS.....for now.
The crates help with making the color groups go together, and the Bin Boxes will allow me to keep more of those small items I use, a lot more accessible. I am ALWAYS misplacing small items, so this seems logical, except that the bins do NOT come with those little dividers, and you have to CALL for those....and I am waiting on those at this time. I hope they get here soon, cuz it is holding up all my progress! Okay, and the other reason for this huge mess, was that I broke down and called a Professional Organizer. Her recommendation was to "gather" all my items into one area....Yeah, right! And as soon as she comes, she is going to RUN LIKE HECK! LOL!
But hey, there is madness and mayhem in unraveling chaos, and I understand her reasonings. So that is the other reason this looks SO BAD.

Now, THAT being said, I feel embarassed, overwhelmed by my OWN pictures, and here are some OTHER things that have been going on since my last post at the beginning of the month!
Furnaces....THEY SUCK!!!! Ours decided to take a slow walk of death...just as we were expecting our Family to come to celebrate Christmas the weekend of January 16th! I still had to get the house "fixed-up" and the ordeal of "the furnace" is a week-long ordeal. I mean it!
AN O R D E A L! We have a new son, Josh....OOops, I mean Craig's right-hand man at work, and friend, came to help. This poor boy...he lives close enough to be here quick, and he is probably the most respectful, helpful, knowledgeable young man I have met in his age-bracket of 20-something! He has helped with our vehicles, MIL crap, and now he was there for us at this Furnace Ordeal! What was supposed to be an easy thing, turned into a nightmare of Murphy's Law. Here is Josh....He's such a cutie...LOL!
Anyhoo....for three LONG Nights in a row this young man, came to OUR home, after putting up with "bossman" all day, to help him/us with this Furnace Ordeal...I know, I keep referring to it as that...but as my Brother once said, It Is What It Is....I hate him for ever saying that. He's right, but I Still Hate Him For That! The furnace ordeal refers to the Lego Block system that THIS system seems to have been made available to ONLY knowledgeable HVAC techs....We are DIY'ers, so we thought (first mistake),
when placing an order for a 14KW Downdraft F U R N A C E, we would get a Big Box with a Big Metal Thing, that once Properly placed would provide us with HEAT!!!! (second mistake)
After a day of me taking on the LOGGER profession, and swinging an Axe in true Logger fashion to split wood and old pallet parts, and lugging this into the house, to somehow raise the temperature to a fashionable 66 degrees up from 62...well, I was SOOoooo looking forward to those guys coming in the evening with a NEW Furnace...a NEW 14KW Downdraft Furnace! Now, the part I haven't told you was the entire day had been passing by with NO LUCK in finding the part we needed to replace....about $60. By the late afternoon, we ended up, and up to our arsenals in debt to the tune of SEVERAL $100's! Now, I am not worried. Okay, I am lying. But the truth of the matter came later, once Josh & Craig had removed the old Furnace, pulling the NEW Furnace from it's box...and me nursing some very sore arms, shoulders, and back from chopping wood, I had decided to make dinner for all of us....and I start hearing words such as "but that's what it says on the box", and "let me look at the ticket", and "it says it's an optional/available package"....Can you understand that sinking feeling one feels at a point when the words being spoken do not equal having a GREAT DINNER IN A WARM HOME?!?!?! I was actually hoping I had possibly missed the better parts of their conversation, due to my pot-banking, water-running, recipe-hashing moments in the Kitchen, on the other side of the wall, away from the "boys" and the "furnace" and the other "furnace"...and the house was starting to get cold again, so I am really hoping this is NOT what It appears? Well, just how wrong that was! In just seconds, I hear my DH's voice go 3 octaves lower, and that familiar sound of him clipping words, and now I am understanding that the people that "sold" the furnace failed to give them the correct furnace, or Parts, or BOTH....and I am in PURE angst, as are the "boys". I mean, REALLY! Who knew that if you ordered/purchased/ a 14KW Downdraft FURNACE, that they charge you 500+ dollars for a metal box with NOTHING IN IT!!!! I am NOT kidding, folks! Truly, this is HOW it is, unbeknownst to us, LOL! So, what could be done? Dinner. It's always good to hash out something over Dinner. Why not have indigestion all night, cuz we are in debt for 500+ dollars and have a BOX that doesn't HEAT without OPTIONAL Package 1 that includes the HEATING ELEMENT! Geez. Go Figure! Furnace=Heat? Doesn't it? We learned this in MATH, didn't we? I thought that was how it worked, but apparently it is more like: Box 1=Furnace Holder + Optional Box 1= Furnace/Heat. But it is now 8:45PM and there is no way to get Optional Box 1 that goes into Box 1. So, for the rest of the evening til about 1AM, the boys, tired & plain discouraged, work on the Old furnace and got it "reconfigured" along with "reinstalled" and we all wait to see what happens when it gets turned back on....for the house to Blow Up or something....But it looks like it was a go, and called it a night after putting Furnace B back into it's box. The guys go to work the next day and pick up Optional Box 1, so they can start another night after a LONG day, to assemble said Furnace Holder and Optional Box 1 so that we may come to the sum of Furnace=Heat. Guess what? WRONG AGAIN!!! The boys...although smarter, this time, leave Furnace A in place, while reading instructions for Furnace B. Now, ya gotta know, this is just getting ridiculous at this point....Josh says, Uh-oh. And we all go WHAT NOW! He informs us that in order to "flip" the A-coil around, (an AC part that we can't even use), to convert this into a "downdraft" furnace (which we ordered), we need OPTIONAL BOX 2/CONVERTER 1. OMFG!!! Are you Kidding ME?!?!?! So...now we are all enraged...This is just purely unreal! Now mind you, we are NOW up to $600. in debt...cuz Optional Box 1 was an additional $100. I'm thinking we should just pack up and MOVE! Here it is Wednesday....NO HEAT, and we are in the COLDEST TEMPS in 15 years....FIFTEEN YEARS!!!! And no heat to speak of! Furnace A, in trying to heat, runs continuously, non-stop, and never reaches any desirable temp... about 66 at the most. In just a few days, we are to have a house-full of family, and the house is in horrible shape. And at this point, the guys pack it up AGAIN! and this is what I am thinking. Everyone is going to see THIS when they come to our home on Saturday....

Merry Friggin HoHo!!!...See Box A??? On top is OPTIONAL BOX 1...Lovely sight....I was tempted to Gift Wrap all of it...just to help Blend it into my already Late Christmas. Big Tag....To Robin & Craig, From Robin & Craig and the people that Screwed up your Holidays....Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men! Okay....so I am getting a bit out of sorts, but could you Blame ME?!?!?! All my concerned friends were saying DUMB things, well, not dumb, but they "bothered" me....it could be just the cold wracking my body, on a daily basis, but I would hear,"Didn't Craig check the box??!?!" Well, my snappy reply, was it was NOT his JOB to do THAT part....it is the SuPPLier's Job!!! Craig is an ELECTRICIAN, not an HVAC person...there was an ORDER for a 14KW Downdraft FURNACE...That usually means that an HVAC guy should KNOW what is needed, and have it ALL ready for pick-up...but nope. That's not the way it is anymore! I explained it like this: You realize you need a car. You pick out your car. You make sure it has ALL the details you want...For most, this is Radio, Heat, AC, Automatic Trans., Sunroof, and maybe some spiffy stuff like a spoiler and sunroof. They make you sign papers for an unbelievable cost, you go with your new keys in hand, sit in the seat, put the key in the ignition and turn it....only Nothing Happens....then the salesguy says, OH, you wanted an ENGINE with this?!?!?! You ASSUME it CAME with one...you do NOT assemble cars, but someone does, and the LAST car you bought came with one, so why doesn't this one!?! LOL! Well, that is the best way to describe it to all the people that thought my husband, Mr. Electric Guy, should KNOW how HVAC now works....he doesn't! LOL!
So....I'm getting tired, but let me just say, in all this, Craig & I decide the next morning, bypass all others involved in this dilemma & chains-of-command, call the supplier, and go RIGHT to the HEAD HONCHO....we/I explain, that we are FOUR days into trying to install Furnace B, along with Optional Box 1, and find that we are NOW in need of Optional Conversion Kit 1 and we are desperate for someone's expertise in the field to tell us HOW many MORE options and conversions we are going to need BEFORE we can call this thing a FURNACE, or much less, have REAL HEAT! Oh, and the Money it is going to take! The man apologized profusely, as he is in Electical and has NO IDEA of what he is Reading on our Order #, but he will go to HVAC personally and hash it out with them, call us back, and "fix this" for us. Well, we wait....and in the meantime, Craig sits down, ONCE again, with the instructions for Furnace B sitting in it's box, begging to be wrapped up in pretty paper, and he says,"Uh-Oh"....and at this point, I'm ready to pop anyone that utters those words...are theses really words? Uh-Oh....it certainly has a profound affect on one's heart rhythm's....Anyways, he starts some drawl of Electrical Lingo, about connector bars, breaker box converters, 2-wires, single poles, double digits, fingernails, tailbones and ham hocks....who the heck knows....but I got it. He is saying we MAY NEED yet SOMETHING ELSE in addition to the Optional Converter 1 and Furnace B and Optional Box 1 to get to Furnace=Heat. (Sigh) Mr. Electrical Dept. along with Mr. HVAC Dept. call back...yippee, in only about 15 minutes since I spoke with them. They have determined that we do, indeed, need the Converter Kit 1, and it is OUT OF STOCK!!! No Way! It can be shipped to us, by UPS, which I immediately say ABSOLUTELY NOT! (Another story, but involves my computer monitor traveling all over the eastern seaboard, for 10 days, by UPS, but was shipped at the same time as the entire computer system, that had been sitting in my house unusable, two days after I ordered the system.) So....now we have to wait till Friday and then Craig and Mr. Electrical Dept., start that Electrical jargon about the Conversion Bar Kit, in addition....and Lo, and Behold, INDEED, we NEED THAT TOO!!! Oh my...I feel a Calgon Moment coming...only this time, I think I'll drown myself! Calgon is NOT for de-stressing, it is for Drowning, and then being able to HIDE your body under the suds!!! LOL! But I am looking forward to my Lavender-Vanilla Calgon Moment....if the bathroom EVER gets warm! So Friday, comes, and Craig travels an hour away, like going to work, and he picks up Converter Kit 1, along with Conversion Kit 1 and comes home....Josh isn't available, and in fact I Believed he was in hiding! I wouldn't answer MY PHONE, either! But actually, he was having a Birthday Celebration that day, and he had changed all his plans to accomodate us all week....so Craig went at it all alone, and to make this short, but 9:45 PM, he announced that he was getting ready to "hit the switch" so be ready to RUN.....Are you Kidding me?!?!? LOL! Well, I had no doubts in his talents and abilities up to THAT point, but he's good! It worked! In fact it worked BETTER than the OLD one ever did, and it reached it's goal temp in short time! So, all said and done, by MIDNIGHT, he had it all sealed up, screwed in, tightened down, taped off, cleaned up, shiny & new. We now had less than 10 hours to get the house in order for our Family's arrival.....oh my! And so they came....

While "boy" (our nickname for Jason) was sitting across the room from me, I couldn't help but notice TWO things....he looked SO different than in October, at his wedding to Meghann, in the Bahamas, a wonderful time....But I couldn't place the reasons for the difference....then it hit me....Meghann mentioned his hair being longer.....Well, duh....Yeah! That was it....and then the other thing....seeing that Wedding Band on his hand....strange. Love it, but StrAngE!
See it?!?!?! Love it!
And Meghann, well, she looks so darned cute but Oh So Sophisticated with HER new HairBob!
She had on that Lovely looking Scarf, too, which really played up those Blue Eyes she has!

And yes, we had a great time, opening presents, and visiting with family....here is "girl",our daughter Christina....I bet she won't know that I "painted" her nails for her....LOL!


Here are the "kids", boy and girl, together, checking out Technology, which is ALWAYS the big thing with these two!
That's the new I-Phone that Jason gave his new wife, Meghann, for Christmas....it is a neat thing, but way too much for my needs.
And of course, Jason had to have his "moments" with the Pixie-dog....Notice that ring, AGAIN?!
We all love his hair like this....
Then, we of course had my MIL here.....Craig took the picture, and said something "smart", which explains my expression...but anyone that knows me, knows the story.....so the pic says more than I will say here....Brother Bill, ya gotta love this moment! Love ya!


Now look here, to see us LAST YEAR, about the same time.....GEEZ!!!!


Have we changed??? Yep!
Lots has changed....and on the last subject of this post, Friends....during our great time of distress, we had some horrible news that a Friend/Neighbor had passed away! Such a shock to the neighborhood and all the people around her. My heart goes out to her family, as I KNOW what it is like to lose a parent. I lost both of mine 15 years ago, and I can still break into sobs of grief, at times. So, in Memory of Jeni Faircloth, I say, Goodbye....may you find Peace.
To her family, I wish them Happy Memories Soon!









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Thursday, January 01, 2009

Grab a Cuppa...we're gonna Be Awhile....



Hope you all have a GREAT New Year!
We pray that ours is AS GOOD as this last one, or better!
I know many of you have wondered,"Where is She?" I am Here...busy, busy, busy, and more busy! We had a LOT to do this year, considering what 2007 was like for us. We had a rotten year, and it got steadily worse by the close of the year, and by New Year's Eve, we brought in 2008 with a toast between DH and myself, proclaiming we would NEVER, EVER have another year like that one, so this past year has been lived in the fullest ways possible, and we tried hard to pick up where it all went so wrong.

So....we carried out our Annual Trek to the Virginia towns of Hillsboro, Purcellville & Leesburg, to see the sights, take in the towns and to shop at our favorite places. We also did something different this year, and that was to take a Home Tour of local historical homes in the Hillsboro area. Just Look at these pics of what we got to see....some will have explanations. The rest are just for you to ooooh and ahhhh at! Don't forget...CLICK TO ENLARGE!!!!

First, we went to Hillsboro's Old Stone School, to a craft show that is held there anually, and this year we had a surprise in store...we had NO IDEA that the Old Stone School had caught on fire just this past May....what a SHOCK!!! You can go HERE to see all about it, and to read about the fine history of this school. My cousin, Karen, went to this school and the Round School that was built behind it...so this is one of the reasons we go here every year. Memories of old stomping grounds! But the incredible work that was done inside, well....you'll have to explore that site on your own!



From there, we went on the Homes Tour....for the next SEVERAL HOURS we were totally mesmerized, and you will be too!!! Go on....and REMEMBER to CLICK to ENLARGE!!!



OH! To have tea here!!! (dreaming)



What a sight to see!!!

Tea in the Garden, Anyone???



This fascinated me....a sage green painted silhouette!



Notice the lady on the far left....???

This is MY FOOT as I am walking thru that passageway, to the room you see below!


I could take Tea HERE, anytime....bring my tea!

Ahhhh...peaceful sleeping!


Here below, is a NEAT idea to make PINE SNOWFLAKES for your windows, and check out this painting of Civil War Era Ladies....little ladies!


Another Room I loved!

Lots of natural greens everywhere!

Chess Anyone? Talk about HUGE!!! But look at the Scenery to be distracted by! I would surely lose this game, either cuz I couldn't lift the pieces, or the scenery would have all my attention!





Here is Craig....in front of the tree....got the perspective, here??? Whew! And this pottery birdhouse was the last thing we saw, as we left....he was cute!


My GOODNESS, things were big in the 1700's....this was a wonderful home! What a setting!
Largest barn....yep, that's FIVE stories tall, and the lady walking up to it, well, she is still about 100 feet away from it...she barely stood as tall as the top panes in those foundation windows!


Now THIS was my favorite outbuilding....I could see my craft studio here, and it was right beside the built-in pool and pergola....Oh me, oh my, oh dang it....LOL







Notice the tire hanging in the tree? That was a HUGE truck tire...not your everyday car tire....just so you get an idea of HOW WIDE that tree really was!

Last house....darn....it used to be a tavern in it's earlier years....

The FP lintels in these rooms are all about 18" of solid granite! Very unusual...but there were OTHER unusual things about this place. Scroll down for the FIND of the NIGHT!

Not this....keep scrolling!


Yep...here ya go! My other Fantastic Find of the Evening! THIS LOCK.... my first pic I took with no flash, but there was ENOUGH GLARE for me to FURTHER inspect with a flash...and I was CORRECT!!! This ENTIRE lock, knob and mechanisms are ALL WOODEN! I asked the concierge about it, and she didn't even know about it, nor had she noticed. So,we looked at ALL the hardwares of the interior doors, and whallah! They were ALL made of wood, yet any doors leading OUTSIDE, were all handforged metals.....very NICE find, I would say! I have NOT seen anything like this at all!



Beautiful Resting Places....Ya Think?


AHHHHH....but the perfect END to the Perfect Day!!! The farthest room away and the sound of wonderful acapella harmonizing! I can not tell you enough about these guys....The Chorus of the Old Dominion. Go check them out!
If anyone knows me, they just KNOW I love Barbershop Music...and these guys actually brought a tear to my eye with their rendition of Silent Night! Oh my...and in THIS room, they sounded just Fantastic. All of their songs were perfect, and it was a wonderful cap on the evening, and I would love to go to see them, again, so I will be checking their website quite often to see if they do anything nearer to us. I'm getting in the car and going! We have seen a few shows in our Berkeley/Jefferson County areas, but it has been years ago. These wonderful men just gave me all the reason I needed to add Barbershop shows to my list this coming year!



So, another thing we did, two or three times, actually, was head off to Williamsport, MD...just "over the bridge" from us....and we rode thru their city park to admire their Christmas Lights they put out every year....pardon the pics, because we did this TWICE in one night, as it seemed we had, not only people in a big hurry, but people that didn't realize they were supposed to turn OFF their headlights in order to appreciate the show...LOL!













Remember HER?!?!?! Well, isn't she all cutesy in her Pink Pom-Pom Sweater...??? She's waiting for Daddy to bring us Hot Spice Chai and Coffee....LOL! Did ya KNOW that Pixie is NOW One Year Old?!?!?! Yuppers, the puppers turned 1 on December 17th! Woo Hoo!

Okay....now all this Christmas finery, and displays of wonder, made me realize how much I have to do to my own home...but for those that didn't know how bad my health was, just a short year ago, can now see the difference in how my home looked BEFORE....yuck. Clutter had taken over! So did the dust bunnies, and cobwebs! I've spent this entire year decluttering, and cleaning, and still going at it....But take a lookie and see where I've come from, first...



Now look below.....and notice my NEW Black Chairs for the Dining Room Table??? LOVE THEM!
And these plate ideas??? From the one and only Nester!!!!


These are Battery Candles that are so darned realistic looking that although I have had them for months now, I am "careful" not to burn myself on them! LOL! They last for weeks on just two AA batteries, and the effect at night is wonderful....check them out! Oh and the toy car??? That's about 30 years old! I bought that for Jason, when he was a baby, to teach him about the old ways of playing and making the car noises with your mouth, not to mention powered by hand and not motorized!

Neat looking, huh!

I want to recover this sofa....but how?

Do you get the idea of candlelight???

Table on right of sofa...


Table on Left of sofa is a STOLEN IDEA From Behind My Red Door....check out HER desk idea!





I've come a long, long, long way, down a long, hard road...made some major changes, and spiffed up many things.... Just wait! I'm not anywhere NEAR done, as of yet! Changes, and more changes to come!




Oh! How about some Hairy Lights!!! LOL! Don't ask!!!




In just a FEW WEEKS, THIS car will be parked in MY Driveway!!!


No! It's not MINE....dang it!!!! But it WILL contain TWO PEOPLES I adore.....guess WHO?!?!


YEP!!! THOSE NEWLYWEDS!!!

Okay....I think I have bored you all enough....I am PROMISING to NOT make it so long between blog posts....but I just HAD to bring you up to date!
Oh....and Here is a pic of myself and Craig....Christmas Day! Aren't we just cute?!?!?!
Yep....we are!



Till Another Time!

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