It's been almost a year since I was on here!

I guess I have alot of catching up to do....so what happened in 2009 that I need to update on:

In a nutshell......

~The latest news is my grandfather died 2 days before Christmas 2009. I always knew Grandpa's death would be hard to deal with but through Christmas made it even harder.

What an amazing man and his funeral service was a wonderful tribute to his acheivements in life.

RIP Grampa! I love you!!

Well....what else....

~the bad economy and recession hit our home with us being both being in the automotive sector. It wasn't excruciating but we did have to cut back on trips and spending money on extras... through 2009 (no Disney trip or Vegas trip this year). We had to make our own fun by going to beaches or hanging out in the backyard through the summer.

We bought the kids a trampoline so that kept them occupied! lol!

And we did have one really fun weekend excursion to Kalahari Resorts in Sandusky Ohio for one of Hayley's cheer competitions. This was alot of fun! We plan to go back next summer!

~Next news! We moved!

It's taking some getting used to (I never do well with change) but I think I am finally starting to feel like it is home now.

There is a basement apartment that we have rented out to Thomas' mom so it worked out well for all of us.

This is Hayley posing in front of the house. Since this photo Thomas has redone the landscaping and it looks amazing.

What other "major" news?

OH...we have a little "side" business now!
I stumbled upon a antioxident product that a friend recommended to me. It has a $35 price tag on the bottle but we thought if it actually works we have spent $35 on more foolish things in life (example - I am an ex-smoker...cigarettes are a total waist of $10.... or Tim Hortons coffee...or beer for that matter - this is how I justified it to myself).
I had been looking for something at the Nutrition House and GNC...all these products were pricey too...so we gave this one a shot just to support my friend's new business.
Surprisingly we did feel a difference within a month and we are hooked on the product. We started feeling rejuvenated, we started sleeping better at night, my hair and skin started looking better...Thomas' aches and pains from work were subsiding....
So I spoke to the girl that sold it to me to see how we could get to the point where we wouldn't have to pay for the juice (as this was mentioned when we started drinking it) and she showed us how the "business" end of it worked.
Within a couple months we acheived our "initial goal" and now it has become a nice, steady, 3rd income. It really surprised us!! ....and it really helped us out to have that extra money through 2009 when our hours were cut at work.
So...I like to think someone is watching over us when opportunity comes out of no where! ;-)
The way it works is we get paid for recommending the juice to others. And when those people refer it to others we get paid for that as well....typical multi-level marketing...and something I NEVER would have bothered with in the past (which is why I became my own scrapbook store owner rather than being a Creative Memories Consultant)...
I was skeptical but you can't knock it til you try it! Sometimes it's better to think out of the norm and this is one of those times!

~Lastly...2009 proved to be a trying year for our new and fresh marriage and it sure was a year to test the "for better or worse" in our vows.
We struggled through a bad economy and financial stress that comes with that, stress moving into a new home, stress with family (blended families are NOT easy), death and stress at work (Thomas has to have surgery in Feb 2010 for a work related injury)....but we managed to get through it all.
So I think it's safe to say that when I started this blog and was hesitant about whether or not starting a life with Thomas was the right thing to do??
I'm going to say now that it definitely was the right thing to do!!!

Have a fantastic 2010!!! Happy New Year!