Miley & Geordie watch television...

Need I say more?! That's Clint's hand by the way. The 3 of them were watching tv and he was petting Geordie but the picture was way cuter as a close up!

Grandpa & Grandma Swallow

Over the weekend we went out to see my grandparents for a late Christmas and to celebrate my grandma's birthday. I grew up with them living a field away which I walked through many times to visit. We (me and the siblings) spent a lot of time with them growing up. Not too long ago they moved from the farm house to a assisted living community in Dallas Center. They are both 91 years old now and amaze me every time I see them. They are still full of life, happy and have so many interesting stories to share. I never realized as I was growing up just how knowledgeable the were or how much they care for me. I saw them as the grandparents down the road where I went to play games, watch some television and have root beer floats. Looking back I realize some of the things they taught me and some of the wonderful moments I had with each of them. I wish I would have realized earlier just how important they are to me but am thankful I have realized now.

Home Improvement

So when we bought our home a year and a half ago we were already way ahead of where we thought we would be in the home improvement department. We started off talking about a fixer upper... thank goodness we didn't do that! For those who don't know, the house we bought was basically stripped to the studs and rebuilt... a long term flip. It took the guys 7 months to do the work before we officially bought the house. Sure we had to give up some of the things we wanted to have and the area we are in is not 100% out ideal and there are always projects just like any other house. The good thing is, we still love it! So overall our house is on the smaller side. Our top floor is 860sq ft and the basement is a little less. Our attic has a basic floor in it but isn't livable. We can store some things in it but not everything and definitely not the everyday things we use. Our kitchen is one of the smallest I've seen which leads to more storage issues. We have been using the stairs that go up to our attic as our pantry. I had half of my kitchen stuff in storage because there just wasn't room. Well... things have changed, thank goodness. Clint and I tackled the job of putting up shelving, floor to ceiling in the stairway. We bought the boards, cut them (Clint even got a new electric saw for this project which made him very willing to participate!), painted them, found the studs, mapped out the shelving and screwed every last screw in to the boards and wall. We did it!

~BEFORE~

~AFTER~

Happy Anniversary

Our wedding party

We both worked on our anniversary so we postponed the celebration until January 1st. Clint surprised me and brought home roses and a card on the 29th! We went to dinner at Bistro Montage on the 1st for dinner and came home to our year old wedding cake (which actually was surprisingly yummy) and some wine. The year has flown by. We have had a great first year and are looking forward to many more. I am so thankful to have a husband who is as wonderful and caring as Clint. He is always there to cheer me up when I'm down and to bring me back to reality when I need it. He drives me crazy some days but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I have friends that ask me how I knew Clint was "the one". I can't explain it, it's just something you know.

Love you babe! Happy 1 Year Anniversary!

Christmas

Phew, we have made it through another Christmas year! This year was especially busy. In addition to our usual activities we also went to WI for the Hill Family Christmas and Grace's baby shower and I worked Christmas day. We have the most wonderful family. Everyone was very willing to work with my unfortunate Christmas day scheduling so I was able to make it to all of the Christmas events for 2008!

Aunt Brenda and the kids reading The Night Before Christmas and having a gift exchange at the Hill Family Christmas.

HoHoHo!

Andrew (Clint's cousin, Matt's son)

Wisconsin was a great time, once we got there. We left around 5pm on Friday and drove through horribly thick fog all the way. I should say Clint drove. He was great though and got us there safe and sound. I met a lot of his family I hadn't met before and got to experience my first Hill Christmas! We also had Grace's baby shower with the family while we were there. Aunt Kathie, Aunt Brenda, and Lisa did a wonderful job. Everything was so beautiful. It was the perfect celebration to welcome Grace in to the family.

Lisa, Aunt Kathie, Jen, Grace, and Aunt Brenda

How adorable... that's a little candy baby in the star box! Love it!