243–The End of 2010 (The Year in Review)

While Tyler and Daisy had a date tonight, David and I took Maddie on a little date.  We went to Chili’s for supper…

…and then to Walmart for groceries… we are outrageous fun!

2010 has been a good year.  It has been full of changes and new life experiences.  I wanted to go back and recap what life has brought us, so here’s my year in review:

January – Kale and Kayla had just moved to Texas and we were adjusting to missing them.  We had two snows in January and Tyler left to stay in Hot Springs for a month for work. I was feeling pretty lonely.

February – Tyler came home from Hot Springs, we were supposed to go to Houston for our first visit, but David’s cousin died and we delayed our trip.  Only two blog posts in the month.  I got to spend a little time cuddling my niece, Sophia…

March – Tyler moved out of the house to live with a friend.  This was a big adjustment for me and the source of a lot of worry and fret.  We made our first trip to Houston, but I didn’t blog about it until the next month.  I had an abscessed tooth and had to have a root canal. Fun times.

April – I finally blogged about our Houston trip – a month later.  We got Izzy on April 2.  Lots more changes in the Wallace house.

May – I started “Project 365” (a picture a day – a year in the life) on May 2.  I haven’t missed a day since I started. (Pat on the back)  May included posts about dog training classes, Blackberry breakdowns, Mother’s Day, the loss of my Uncle Bob, the end of “24” and “Jack Bauer”, buying Ms. Charlsie a recliner, and Memorial Day weekend.

June – Brought the loss of our 12 year old cat, Holly.  I started and finished a room makeover which we now call “the love room”.   Vacation Bible School took us to “Saddle Ridge Ranch”.  And Kale and Kayla (and Bosley) came home for the 4th of July.

July – We celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary while the Ks were here, Daisy and Maddie came into our lives (and Tyler got his dog, Daisy, too).  Other July happenings included finally getting my crown finished, trading my Blackberry for my first iPhone, my cousin lost her husband in a motorcycle accident, and I made arrangements to go to Houston for the Labor Day weekend.

 

August – I spent most of August counting down the days til we would get to go to Houston.  August also marked the Preacher’s 25th anniversary as our pastor.  We spent a lot of the month falling in love with Maddie-Moo!!

September – Tyler moved back in (this was a huge answer to prayer…oddly enough), Dave, Tyler and I went to Houston, Maddie celebrated her 3rd birthday, and another Awana year started.

October – Kale came home for a visit and so did several relatives, my parents celebrated 54 years of marriage, we saw MercyMe in concert.  I secured round-trip airfare to Texas (for February 2011) for $79.50 per ticket!  Maddie was the cutest Minnie Mouse ever!

November – Tyler gave me the sweetest gift ever and God answered years of prayer in a nano-second.  Other November highlights include Election Day, our first fire, Daisy (the dog) had surgery, Operation Christmas Child, my brother got married and I lost my Uncle Don in the same day, Kale and Kayla’s first anniversary, getting ready for Christmas, and, of course, Thanksgiving.

December – We celebrated Charlsie’s 92nd birthday, most of the month was about Christmas (preparations, functions and just plain fun), we spent the best Christmas ever in Texas and we had lots of family time.

We’re so blessed and God has been so good to us.  He is our source of strength, our provider, our comforter, our ever-present help in times of trouble. He has shown us in the past year how His hand is at work and how He cares about our needs and hears our prayers.  I am praying that we will work harder in 2011 to serve Him and to love others and take the time to reach out to those in need.

May you be blessed in 2011 with an overwhelming sense of God’s presence in your lives!

202–Saturday

About 30 minutes after I got Maddie down last night, she woke up crying and complaining of her ear hurting.  Oh my! It’s been a while since I’ve had to worry about stuff like that.  (I forgot how that just breaks your heart.) I gave her a little Tylenol and she finally went back to sleep.  She woke up this morning feeling just fine, though, so I’m hoping her ear is going to be okay.

We had a good time playing this morning.  She wanted me to read to her again today.  I am a firm believer in reading to kids, so I am always happy when she brings me a book.

She also had a good time pretending to faint on me.  The girl makes me belly laugh!

Tyler, Daisy and I also watched “Letters to Juliet”, which I think is one of the sweetest little movies. Then Tyler left to go to Dave’s sister’s to deer hunt, Daisy and Mads headed home, and I started some laundry and finally, after all these months, tackled painting the “Love Room’s” closet doors.  I can finally cross that off my to do list.

This evening, David and I went to A&W for supper. It’s supposed to be fast food, but after about 15-20 minutes, one of the teenagers from behind the counter came out apologizing that they had dropped David’s platter on the floor and were re-starting his meal. (They offered us free dessert for the wait.  I took a piece of pineapple cheese cake pie.) I’ve only been there about 3 or 4 times, but I’ve never seen an adult there behind the counter and it always seems like chaos.  I’m hoping that’s not the way it is all the time, but on our way out of the driveway, I noticed the sign out front:

“Under New Management” Ha!

093 – My Baby Boy and My New Laundry Sorter (I’m a geek)

I have been on the hunt for a new laundry sorter since last week (I still haven’t fallen in love with a shower curtain either. Ha!).  So, I resorted to my old standby… Amazon!! I ordered it Friday night and got it today because I LOVE MY AMAZON PRIME membership.

My baby boy happened to come by to visit his momma this evening, so he put it together for me.  It is SO much sturdier than my old one, BUT he informed me that the brackets in my old one will be weak and break if they were not hammered in good when I put it together.  What? I didn’t use a hammer, I just used my hands. Ha!! So that explains it.  Anyway, here’s my new organization-fix:

Now to decide on that shower curtain…

090 – Saturday with Family, Toile Decision, and a Little OG

I spent most of the day at my Mom and Dad’s house today.  Tyler went with me and went golfing with my brother-in-law.  While at my Mom’s, four out of six of us Goulet girls were there at the same time.  (Where were you Shar #9??) That doesn’t happen all that often (unless we randomly run into each other at Walmart or something).

When I got home this evening, Tyler came to visit with a (cute!!) friend.  They are silly… I found a few of these on my phone this evening:

…Talk about perfect teeth!

She has an adorable little girl, named Mattie, and we had the best time with her at the Pizza Hut and then Petco.  That seems to be our M.O. - feed ‘em pizza and take ‘em to look at the animals! Ha!

Some of y’all mentioned letting you see my bathroom with the black toile.  The problem I’m having isn’t so much how the federal blue on the walls goes next to it – but how the bluish “marble” shower clashes with the white/black.  Of course, I can’t change the shower stall, so I need to find a color that will work with it.  See what I mean? …

The color isn’t really true.  The blue-ish looks more yellow-ish here, but you get the idea. (I’m going to get another rod and hooks when I decide on which “look” will work.

I LOVE the toile, but just not with the marble blue.  So, here are some other looks I’m considering:

What do y’all think, now???

Oh, and I forgot to tell you that a while back I mentioned how sad I was that the Olive Garden was discontinuing their manicotti.  Well, they added the Lasagna Rollata al Forno to their menu in its place.  It’s very similar in taste… you can have them exchange the five-cheese marina with their regular marinara if you want.  I thought it was really good!

089 – TJM and Target

Today was my last day to return a pair of too small swim trunks I got for David.  I didn’t mind at all since they were from TJ Maxx!! So, this afternoon I made a quick trip to Branson.  This may be my last TJM trip before our local store opens in August.  (Have I mentioned how excited I am that we’ll have a TJM within 20 minutes of my house???)

After TJM, we ran into Target and I ended up coming home with a new bathroom… well, things to go in my old one.  Like…

… a couple cute rugs, a black toile shower curtain (and fabric liner), and a toile hand towel.  I’m not sure I just LOVE how they look after all, so I may take them back.  I’m trying to decide.

Have y’all heard that Chelsea Clinton is getting married? Hahahahaha!

068 – Fester’s Handiwork

These are the closet doors that Tyler replaced.  They aren’t painted yet (hopefully I’ll get to that this weekend), and they still need a little trimming around the frame (from the house settling), but they are a BIG improvement over the bi-fold doors we had.

056 – He Has a Little Goulet Blood in Him

Tyler came over today and replaced a couple of bi-fold closet doors with slab doors for me.  Not an easy task, since this house has settled and nothing is square.  He likes to remind me that he is pretty “handy”… and I like to remind him that he got it from his Grandpa Goulet.

He did a great job!! Thanks, Tyler.

051 - Room Makeover Almost Finished!

Before…

After …

Desk before…

Desk after … (I don’t know what’s up with all the spots on these photos??)

 

(I haven’t taken the wrapping off the lampshade… because I haven’t made up my mind about it yet.  I think I actually liked the desk better white, but I wanted black for the room.)

And here’s David’s grandma’s old rocking chair…

And one of my antique dressers…

Any suggestions? Do you think I need to do something behind the headboard?? You can barely notice the breaker box… I’m pretty happy with that!!

Now, I just need Kale and Kayla to come home!!!! Less than six days left…

049 – Father’s Day 2010

We had Father’s Day lunch with Tyler and the Howards at our favorite Mexican restaurant today. (Tyler left before we did, so he didn’t have his picture taken.)

I spent the rest of the day painting my laundry room… and let me tell you, it was a MUCH bigger job than I anticipated.  I’m exhausted, so I’m off to soak in the tub.

048 – Branson with Jodi

Jodi and I went to Branson today… two stores for me, four for her.  I went to TJ Maxx first while Jodi went next door to Target, then she joined me back at TJM.  I found a quilt and some pillows for the new bed.

We had lunch at the Olive Garden… I’m so sad to say that the waitress told us that they are taking manicotti off the menu. I LOVE their manicotti!!  I don’t think they’ll have it when you come, Kayla. :(

Our last stop was the Tanger Outlet Mall.  Jodi ran into the Coleman store first and then met me at the Gap…they had some good sales. By then, we were pretty well spent (both physically and financially. Ha!), so we called it a day. A fun day.