DMGeurts
Never open texts with the "Hand Sewn Button" attac
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2008
Wow you’ve been a very busy lady! Sorry I’ve been so absent- life has been a little crazy but I’ve finally gotten all caught up
I’m loving all your bags and matching ears. You really are very talented.
Your love for AK definitely comes across in your update/ plans for the day and the change in your shape is simply amazing. You’ve definitely anti-aged lol.
You’ve inspired me to find out more about Dave Ramsey so I can start the new year with a new budget. I’m to become a grandmother this coming March and I’d like to be able to help my daughter and son-in-law with things they’ll need for the new baby among other things.
Scary that your dad almost took a tumble and well done to your quick-thinking daughter. Doesn’t beat thinking about what could have happened! Glad all turned out ok. So happy for you all that you’re getting to spend some quality family time together
No worries at all - same here! LOL
Thank you - I am so excited to wear them on our trip!
Hehehe - AK is definitely our favorite!
Thanks - it has been a long road to finding my health and reducing size... I feel like it's now a life-long quest. LOL
Definitely - DO IT!!! It has been the absolute best thing we have ever done for our financial selves... The absolute security we feel now is something I have never felt in my life! Congratulations to you on the coming of your newest family member! You must be so excited!
Yes - we are now very careful where we park - something we never even thought of before!
Happy early Anniversary. 20 years
We love to go to The Melting Pot (well I do, Chris goes for me lol).
Love all the bags lined up like that. You need a small bag just for them.
I totally had my count wrong the other day lol. 54 Days and I cannot wait. I do a lot of my research, planning and board reading during the downtime we have from like 2am-4am. Everyone at work is probably ready for me to be done with Disney. Like that will ever happen lol.
Thank you - I have pictures to post from our Anniversary below.
Hahaha... Can't say I've ever been there?
Thanks! I wish it was that easy... I did the great majority of my packing yesterday - I'll post below... I am shocked I was able to get everything in there!
Woohoo!!! It's coming quickly!
Your bag collection is impressive.
I hope the shopping trip with your dad goes well.
Thank you - Josh gives me grief all of the time because it's sort of insane... But I have to remind him - people would be awfully disappointed if I only went to Disney with one bag - LOL... It just wouldn't be right.
It went OK... We had fun and we were able to finish everyone on his list.
Darn it!!! Hopefully you're able to scoop something up--I know you'll track one down!!!
Of course
Scary close call with your Dad! So glad for Allison's quick thinking/acting. Glad he ended up being OK.
Your bags, ears, and accessories are all TOO cute!!! I didn't realize when I saw it on FB that you had Magicbands tucked in with some of those outfits and those cute little gloves--to die for!!! Love it all, as always!
I can't even remember what your first reply was from??? LOL Whatever it was - I hope so. LMAO!
Yes - we were so lucky that she had the intuition just to step in there and get R' done.
Thanks! Yah - I had all of my MBs in there too. I can't wait to wear it all!
Yep, it's the Maharajah Jungle Trek which is the one near the entrance to Kali River Rapids and the Yak and Yeti Restaurant.
Wow, that's scary! My aunt (Mom's sister) tripped over a curb last week and fell and broke her shoulder. It doesn't take much!
Me too! I love all the patterns and how they all complement each other.
That's why I decided to limit myself to 4 bags in January. We are flying Delta and although we do get one checked bag free thanks to Jim's credit card, I'm still used to being able to check two. My second checked bag is usually filled with my bags!
They are all beautiful but I definitely can pick a favorite, the red and black Mickey/Pluto!
This made me laugh so hard. The looks on their faces is priceless.
Happy Anniversary! Jim and I hit 20 next year. We've been talking about a short semi local trip to celebrate but haven't figured out where we want to go yet.
Pixie Dust that this goes off without a hitch.
Perfect!~ We are going to look for them! They are so CUTE!!!!
Yikes! That is scary! I hope she is OK? I can't imagine how painful that must be!
Yah - we only get one checked bag, which we have to pay for... It's gonna be a tight squeeze. I already told V she is in charge of packing and bringing her own bags - I have no room in my luggage for any of their stuff. LOL As it is, I may have to put some of my stuff into their bags.
Hahaha - yah, they weren't thrilled with us at all... And we couldn't keep from laughing at them! LOL
Thank you - we wanted to do a short local trip - but I don't think it will happen... I think, instead - we are just going to "celebrate" when we go to Europe - it's close enough. LOL And justifiably a reason to celebrate.
Thank you!
All of the bags look great! I think the Up bag is adorable but then I also think Dumbo, Toy Story, SBWII, and the rest are adorable too. I can see why it’s hard for you to pick a favorite.
I read your AK park plans & wanted to let you know that we saw Rivers Of Lights a couple of weeks ago & really enjoyed it. I think your family would really like it too since you enjoy AK so much. It’s a peaceful, beautiful show. It doesn’t have the big wow factor of the other shows but we all really liked it. After we went to Pandora to ride FOP one more time. It’s an incredible ride. We also were able to ride Navi which said 15 minute wait but was more like 5 minutes. Pandora was really cool at night.
Thanks - LOL - they are ALL my favorites!! I can't choose just one. LOL
Good to know! I hope that we have the ambition to see it one night while we are there... And I hope we get to ride NRJ too - that would be fun at night.
I love how all your bags look. I can't really pick a favorite.
I'm wondering if you're over thinking your packing. Watch the weather and see what they're saying. Of course, I tend to over pack all the time.
My jacket looks much better. You really have to look to see where the grease is.
It sounds like it was a really close call with your dad. They tend to pile snow in the handicapped parking spots here. I had a close call Friday. As I was walking to my car I slipped on the ice. Luckily my car was close enough to grab onto or I would have been under it.
The picture of the boys is so cute. Max has that look like he's thinking Why just why?
Have a good day
Liz
Thanks - I know - I have the same problem. LOL
Probably - I always do. LOL I am trying to reign it in a little bit... I did 4 pairs of shorts and tees (I figure they are small)... Then 4 pairs of denim capris and 2 pairs of black capri leggings... Then when the time comes, I will pack 2 pairs of full length jeans and 1 pair of full length black leggings... For shirts - I just have a variety of long and 3/4 length sleeves... I'll be wearing my fall jacket on the plane and I'll have my denim jacket and a fleece jacket packed. It all fits - I did it yesterday... It's pretty sick though. LOL
That is awesome! I am glad you were able to get it out. I've already washed my white one once - it came out very nice. I am glad I Scotch Guarded it before I wore it!
Yah - it's terrible - that should be outlawed. We were very lucky that Allison had the reflexes to jump in there - because I just stood there unable to move.
Oh goodness!!! I am glad you are OK!!! Sometimes - not even falling can cause injury - and that's painful too! I hope you are OK and not too sore now.
Pretty sure that's exactly what MM was thinking. LOL Such a good sport.
Have a great weekend!
Wow that's a lot of bags to take, especially with all the accessories. I think I would just take the new ones you made and maybe leave a couple at home. They are all so great though I know it would be hard to leave any. I can't believe you didn't get that Minnie shirt. It would be so perfect with your SBW bag.
Love the dog's picture. We had St. Bernards when I was younger and we dressed them up too. It was so hard getting 2 dogs not to shake something off. We were laughing so hard it wasn't easy getting a good picture but we did it. We only did it one year though but sent it out as our Christmas card.
I don't know why handicapped spots aren't the cleanest. You'd think they'd realize that. My dad has balance issues already and doesn't like to go out of the house in the winter. When we bring him here we always drive him into the garage so we know it's safe for him to walk. The other day he told me he went out to try and sweep his steps. I told him he doesn't need another fall and his good friend will come over and shovel after work. He wanted it clean for the mailman! Hopefully your shopping with your dad will go smoothly.
I finally finished my shopping today. I've had a terrible cold that left me so tired to do anything so I did a lot more shopping online this year. I'm so relieved to be done and just have a few more packages to wrap now when they come. I laughed at the tree with all the presents. That looked a lot like mine when the grandkids were young. Now they don't get all the big toys so everything is smaller and easy to wrap.
Congrats on your anniversary. I told my husband when we finally get to Disney in 2019 we're getting anniversary buttons. Our trip will be a few months past our 45th anniversary then but we will wear them anyway. We went down for our 40th and got so many nice comments. So many people would ask the secret to 40 years. My husband would quickly reply "Yes dear". LOL
Hahaha - the funny thing is, only one of those bag sets aren't new for this trip. LOL I've been a busy girl! I found a perfect sized box at work the other day, which fits all of my Ears, so they don't get smashed in transit - then I was able to tuck all of my other accessories in around them - it worked pretty slick... My bags always just lay flat on top... I'll post pictures below.
Hahaha... Yah - we were laughing pretty hard too - they were not thrilled at all. LOL
Exactly... I should be more of a priority - you would think that those places wouldn't want the liability of someone being hurt. Shopping went well - we were able to get everything done!
WoohoO!!!! Glad to hear you are done shopping! We are too... I just got the last of the GCs I needed to buy yesterday - so I am DONE! I can't believe that Christmas Eve is only 1 week away!
I hope you're feeling better now?
Thank you - Hahahhaa! That is the truth right there... As I tell Josh - I am "always right"... LOL I also tell my co-workers that at Target too... On the days I work, it's not uncommon to be walking through our Target and hear a chorus of "Yes, Dorine..." said in a monotone, drone sort-of way. LOL
I hope you have a nice weekend!
Happy Anniversary! Hope you had a great dinner and evening out. I am so far behind here, I don't even know where to start. Love your bags and ears - all of them. We had a great trip to Disney, but as much as I love going at Christmas, we will not be going next year. We left the day after Thanksgiving and I kept thinking of how much I needed to do at home. Charlie agrees that we will "only" do 2 trips next year. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel this year because the girls and Andrew were not coming home, and Steve had dinner at friends. I couldn't justify making a big dinner for just the 2 of us, especially since we would be gone for a week. No black Friday shopping for me... its not as much fun without the girls along.
Still very far behind on decorating. The tree is up and the wreath is on the front door. Couldn't put lights up on Saturday because it was snowing - we ended up getting about 6 inches.
On top of all this, I've been having pains in my right arm and shoulder for a few months. I went to the dr in July and got a cortisone shot, but it really did not relieve the pain. Went back, finally, last Monday and dr sent me for an MRI. Turns out I have a tear in the rotator cuff and will have to have surgery in January. As a result, I'm not sure I'm going to be doing much more decorating since I won't be able to put it away until sometime in February.
Also, read today that the tiger cubs are out for viewing! When I asked 2 weeks ago, they said sometime in the spring, but they are already out!
You would love Hoop de do!
Thank you - it was very nice!
I am glad you had a great trip! Sadly - I understand how hard that must be to have a trip during this time... Though I enjoyed my trip with Suzi in 2015, I had the same issue - knowing I had so much to do yet and I had Allison's BIG trip just a few weeks after and Christmas right in the middle... I sure felt the insanity that year!
Hopefully you were able to get more decorating done... I know, if it were me - i'd probably call it "good enough" at some point. LOL I didn't go all out this year - just the living room, and a few towels in the bathrooms.
YIKES!!! How painful! Yah - I don't see decorating as a priority if it's that painful... Take a break this year, and allow yourself to rest - as hard as it is.
I hope we get to see them!
One day we will go - sadly - I don't think it will happen on this trip either...
Happy anniversary!!! It sounds like you had a lovely (and delicious) anniversary dinner. I'm glad.
I love seeing your physical fitness/wellbeing photos and seeing how much progress you've made. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- your dedication is so inspiring! Thank you for being so open and honest with us about your journey. I appreciate it.
We're looking into going paleo...my health has definitely suffered while living with my MIL and something has to change. This has been a rough week.
We're getting closer, I think, on the house. I went to look at appliances last night and realized that I can still get my double oven without having to enlarge the kitchen...the appliance package will be more expensive, but we'll still save several thousand dollars by going with an all-in-one range/double oven vs the double oven wall units with the separate cook top. It will save on appliances, square footage, cabinetry, granite, etc. So we're going to go that route. We've almost got the price to where we want it. A little part of me still thinks perhaps we should just suck it up and get something that we don't love but is less money so we have more wiggle room in our budget to work on debt....but at the same time, neither Mark nor I want to spend money on a house that we hate and we definitely don't want to move into a house that we're going to need to spend money on for updates, significant repairs, renovations, etc., in the next five years. So I'm a bit torn. But at least we're making progress. Our goal is to have a contract signed by the end of this month.
I laughed at the "before/after Dave Ramsey" pictures!
All of your park bags look great -- I love them!
Have a great weekend!
Thank you - I'll post pictures below - it was incredible!
Thank you - it is such a difficult journey to be on - we all have our "stuff" though - and I guess, this is mine... I am always happy to talk about it - as it seems my talking about it helps me too.
Paleo has been great for me... I am really enjoying it - though this last week has been a little rough. I hope you are able to find a solution soon - I know this has been so hard on you.
That is awesome! I knew you'd find some sort of solution... I know it isn't exactly what you wanted originally - but it does accomplish almost the same thing. I hope you can get started on your new house asap - as I know, having that "end date" will really help a lot too! Sending you lots of pixie dust for this!
Hahaha... Yah - those tree pics were pretty truthful. LOL
Thank you - I am so excited to carry all of them! It's going to be a fun trip!
Thanks Stephanie - same to you!
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Wow! It has been a crazy week here! It's just the time of year - as I am sure your weeks are much the same.
On Monday and Tuesday - I worked like a mad-woman in my sewing room... Putting in long hours as I knew those were the only two days I could dedicate totally to working uninterrupted. I've since been able to sneak up there occasionally for an hour or two, and making progress. I plan to put in a nearly-full day today to finish up last week's order.
Wednesday - I worked at Target... That was a sad experience. It's really gonna happen - they are closing our store. The reality is harsh. Our trucks have dwindled to almost nothing... We no longer get restocked in Seasonal, Pets, Softlines, Electronics, Hardware, Home... The only departments we are (barely) getting replenished in is Market, Chemicals and a very little bit of Health and Beauty. Our back stock rooms are emptying... And areas back by the loading dock that used to be filled to the rafters with pallets of TP and Paper Towels are empty - and the shelving has started to be disassembled. It's really just sick - and sad. Our community is just so sad about it... it's hard to believe they could do this to US... Despite everything - our community is still committed to rallying around us and telling us how much they loved our store - not just because it was Target - but our shopping experience was always so much above and beyond what you'd get at any other Target store...
Wednesday night was our 20th Anniversary... I splurged and purchased myself 2 new sweaters (I couldn't decide whitch one)... I ended up with a purple gradient one and the gray one that ties at the shoulders... I left the one that crossed in front, as I felt like it fit me awkwardly. I also didn't get the jeans - as I just needed something to try the sweaters on with. Both sweaters were on clearance and I paid a total of $26 for both after all discounts.
We decided to go out to dinner at a little Supper Club nearby... It's literally 4 miles from our house - and we've lived here for 12 years, and never been there. I guarantee, we will be going back... Though it's more of a "special occasion" place and not really a - hmmm, I'm hungry, let's go there place. LOL
The food was ridiculously amazing! The price wasn't that terrible either... Mine was a Wednesday night special of "Surf and Turf" for $26, and that lobster tail was HUGE! Josh had the Rib Eye steak, but I didn't take a picture of his... he was already growling that I had to take a picture of my food. LOL He doesn't get it.
Then, when our waitress found out it was our 20th Anniversary, she wheeled out his little cake for us... Totally unexpected, and just the sweetest gesture. And you can bet that I ate my half - diet or no diet - it was my 20th Anniversary. In my defense - I did only take a quarter of it to start with, and about 2 bites into it - I claimed the remaining quarter.
And then after we got home, we walked down to our local bar and each had another drink... I grabbed a selfie of Josh and I - which cracked me up - as he was visibly "sucking it in". Hahahaha! Love that man!
Thursday - I had to go to the Orthopedic Dr. with Allison - she hurt her wrist at work several weeks ago, and has been on "light duty" ( = no overtime or bonus shifts)... As it turns out - it wasn't a work injury, as she thought it was - it appears to be that she has a bone that is slightly longer than what it should be - nothing that has to be fixed and something she can live with - but at least we now know the cause. She is still wearing her brace, but she is off "light duty" and is able to pick up shifts again. She is one happy girl!
After - we took grandpa out shopping... He had a LONG list of places he wanted to go... Lunch, Target, Walmart, CVS... We started with lunch - at Pizza Hut... Sadly - I did eat there, the salad bar... Not a great lunch - but our waitress was incredible and very helpful with Dad.
We then went to Target - and after lots of difficulty getting Dad in and out of the car at Pizza Hut - Allison and I slyly tried to get all of Dad's shopping done at Target - I know this is kinda mean of us... But he was just having such a difficult time transferring + it was cold outside - we wanted to limit that as much as possible. His mind is willing - his body isn't. Thankfully - we were able to get all of his shopping done there - and he was done anyways - falling asleep in his wheel chair - even though he wanted to go other places, he just couldn't. Once we got him home and in his recliner - all situated - he was like "hey, I thought we were going to CVS?"... Grrrrr... Sorry Dad - another day. He just doesn't understand that he can't do everything that he wants to do - like really truly doesn't understand it.
Friday - Josh had his back procedure at the hospital... So, I spent all day there with him for that. We had to be there and checked in by 7am! All went well and we were home, and Josh was resting comfortably by 1.
Friday night was my last holiday "outing" with my Target co-workers, where I found out our "Store Closing Party" - where all Target Team Members past and present are invited will be taking place while we are in Disney. Broke my heart... This store and these co-workers are such a HUGE part of my life and I won't be there. Despite that - we had a lot of fun at our "unofficial" holiday party... And 2 nights of drinking for me in one week... Let's just say - that didn't go over well and my body wasn't very happy with me.
While I was at my holiday party - Josh and the girls went to see Star Wars... They had a great time and therefore were my "sober" ride home. This worked out well.
Yesterday - I spent some time packing - like really packing... I've been so nervous with all of the varying weather conditions I need to pack for in January, that I am not going to have enough room/weight - especially with all my additional bags and Ears. When I was at work on Wednesday - I was able to find the perfect sized box where I can stack all of my ears, then tuck all of my other accessories in around them - it makes packing so much easier! And it worked so well! I also decided not to bring my VB Hanging Organizer with on this trip - it takes up so much luggage space, and I really needed that space for other things this time. I weeded down my travel items and managed to fit them all into my Large Cosmetic Bag...
I also packed everything else... All I have left to put in there are my 2 pairs of jeans and my 1 pair of leggings that I am still wearing.
I also started charging all of our extra portable batteries, and getting them all in one spot as they tend to "drift" after trips. LOL
Then last night, Cindy was able to grab all new Magic Bands for us... I got red, Allison wanted gray, and V wanted pink... Surprising right? LOL Not the colors I expected my girls to pick at all.
I also weeded through our ADRs this morning - I had a couple of them that I was holding until after I got FPs, because I wasn't sure on timing... So, now that FPs are done - I released all of my extra ADRs... There is still one possible ADR I might try to get, if I get it great - if not, it's OK too.
Looking ahead this week - it's the week before Christmas (duh)... I have a lot of work to do upstiars, and some meal prep to do for the week... I plan to do appetizers for lunch on Christmas Eve, and we ordered a Prime Rib roast for our Christmas Eve meal... Honestly I'll do most of the meal prep for this on Saturday, and Josh will do the cooking of the meal on Sunday. We decided to do lasagna for our Christmas Day meal - which is opposite of what we normally do, but Allison works on Christmas Day - so this works out better for us, as our "big" celebration will be on CE... Dad will be here for both.
I am sure I'll be back sometime during the week to check in - but I think I am caught up for now. I hope you all have a wonderful week! Prayers and Pixie Dust to all!
D~
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