December already??

wow, i simply can NOT believe that it is already december! this year has flown by. i recenrly looked back at pictures of maia from when i met her... which doesn't seem THAT long ago, and she was this tiny little 'baby'. now she is a true toddler - no longer a baby at all. i can't believe the end of the year is upon us and i get to celebrate Christmas with her!!

we put up our tree on friday. my brother was here for thanksgiving and i needed help getting it in the house and up in the stand since i can't do that alone... so we decided to do it that day rather than wait until this weekend when my parents would be here. it takes so long for me to get the tree up, and put the gazillion lights on that i put on, and then the ornaments that i needed this extra week just to get it all done. as it is, i've only gotten the tree up with the lights... the ornaments will be tomorrow since we've had busy evenings this week so far. matthew didn't want me to do it at a time he isn't here. maia has been good so far with the tree, so we'll see how it goes with shiny ornaments on it!

i took 120 pictures (digital) on sunday just so i could get a good enough picture to put on our Christmas card. there were about 8 decent ones i could choose from - but not the stunner i was hoping for. they are great pictures though and certainly capture their personalities - so i'm happy about that. i've never done a picture card before, so this is all new to me. :)

the mortgage business isn't done being awful yet... two more co-workers from my old company got laid off today. one of them had worked directly with me when i was there. i know from experience that they are better off to be out of there, BUT that doesn't make it any easier to lose your job, when jobs are tough to come by right now, AND during the holidays. it really stinks. i'm not exactly sure what gets in to companies heads regarding this... the mortgage business has stunk for two years now. really bad for over a year... and they can't wait 3 more weeks (until after Christmas) to lay people off? i just don't understand the timing sometimes - but that's what makes me all the happier to be out of that business altogether. life is so much calmer and less dramatic now. work used to be a soap opera. now, i go in, i work and i go home. i have good friends, i love what i do, and there is no constant drama or stress. it is just wonderful and a blessing to be in this new environment. i hope my two friends realize that soon and are able to find new jobs, soon!! good luck guys.

time to try a few pictures - let's hope these upload tonight! :) happy december everyone!! ok, it didn't work, crashed my server again, so i'll upload some on shutterfly that you can check out there... enjoy! www.ourjourneycalledlife.shutterfly.com and see my pictures!