Christmas pictures!!

Ok, this first batch of pictures is from the weekend of the 15th, when Steph came to Jonesville.










Next is when Allison and family came to Jonesville.

















This one is from Christmas Eve at mom's house.


And then Christmas Day


I only took like 3 pictures on Christmas Day.... Oh well. Hope you enjoy them!!

I promise, I'll be back

I realize I haven't posted in a while, but it's late. I'll be back tomorrow with pictures!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Ok, so I'm going to attempt to forget about my current jacked up job situation. I mean I'm off til Wednesday so there really isn't a point in freaking out about it the whole time, plus no one will be hiring til after the new year anyway.

So, now I have to clean, take a shower, get around and get ready to head back to J-ville. Oh, by the way I made cinnamon roasted almonds last night, I swear, they smell, taste and look exactly like the ones I used to get at the fair. They turned out really well!!! So, if you want to make them, here is the recipe


Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
1 egg white
1 tsp cold water
4 c. whole almonds
1 -1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla

*Preheat oven to 250
*Lightly beat egg white. Add water and beat until frothy, but not stiff.
*Add nuts and stir until well coated.
*Mix cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla in a seperate bowl. Add to nuts and toss until coated.
*Spread evenly on lightly greased cookie sheet.
*Bake one hour, stirring occasionally.
*Allow to cool and store in air tight container.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! I'll be out of town until Wednesday, so prolly not a whole lot of blogging til then. Bye!!

New Years resolution #1: A NEW JOB!!!

Ok, so I get back to work after lunch yesterday and everyone is freaking out. Apparently after telling everyone we would be closed Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, the powers that be (who are in Florida til March) changed their minds. They decided to tell everyone that they will only get paid for Christmas Day and New Years day if they work the day before and after. Ok, whatever. I'm pretty much f'd for Christmas, but I'm in the area for New Years, so that works out. So, I told Sandy to tell Bob Jr. that I can't for Christmas, but I'm good for New Years. She comes back to the office and says that he tells her that wasn't an announcement meant for me because I'm hourly not salary. It doesn't matter what days I work, I won't get paid for the holiday no matter what. She apparently tries to get him to change his mind. He says, there is nothing he can do about it. He spoke to his parents (the aforementioned powers that be on the sunny beaches) and they said they don't think my position is necessary to the company, so basically why would they do anything extra for it.

Yes, the Friday before Christmas I hear that the owners of the company don't even think the job that I do is necessary. I do emails and promo, basically they are thinking that the other girls in my office can do the promo and either they can have another guy do the emails, who was doing it before, or just let the sales staff send out their own emails, with no proofing. So, the new job countdown begins. Basically, I have to leave before I get booted. This is so damn frustrating for soooo many reasons, most of which I just won't get in to now. Of course I never heard any of this from Bob Jr or his parents, and I don't think they ever would talk to me about it. SHIT!!! Why this job?? I find a job I actually like, and they decide they want to get rid of my position!!!

Please, no suggestions to move to Ohio or Kentucky, no offense, but I have no desire to do either. I like staying by the lake. But, I guess now is a good time to look on getting the hell out of my current situation. Please wish me luck... I'm certainly going to need it.

Christmas shopping festivities, or lack there of...

My Christmas shopping is done!!!!

Walmart was ridiculous, thats all I have to say about that. Target was equally as busy, but just seemed calmer, cleaner and friendlier. I was in line at Walmart check out for 10 minutes. They had a whole 4 lanes open. The lady who was doing the lane I was at, thought it would be appropriate to chit chat with her customer and stop and talk about random items she was purchasing, even when she had a good 12-15 people in her line. Stack her chit chatting on top of the fact she was slower than shit, and I was getting real irritated, I mean I had 4 things in my cart!!! Thankfully when I was about 4th in line I noticed the Service desk line had 1 person, so I went over there. Target was slightly less painful, but I was a little irked there that I spent so much time looking for a movie to pick up for Bry that I couldn't find anywhere. I finally found one at Best Buy. I found one for Scott too, with some assistance from a very polite gentleman who noticed I was becoming frustrated wandering the isles. But he helped out, I found what I needed and left.

Omigosh I am glad I am done!!!! I got out of work at 5:30, then I went to get my hair cut. Then went to Walmart, Target and Best Buy. By the time I was finished and got home..... it was 9:30.
The worst part about that, besides I was wearing my cute black boots with the 3 inch heels and my feet were KILLING me, was that I completely forgot that today was when my apartment complex was judging the Christmas lights tonight. And mine weren't even on :( I was heartbroken. I really wanted to at least have them look at them, even if I didn't win, but now I just look like the bum who didn't decorate for Christmas. And I did!!! I love my Christmas lights!!! Bummer.....

Well, I think I have a pic of my tree.... let me look.

Here it is!!! Our tree!! Then we also have multicolored lights on our deck, around our slider doors and around our bedroom windows, then we also have white lights around our living room that you can also see from outside. As you saw from my previous post, one of my likes is Christmas lights, I love them!! Especially multicolored.

Alright, on to other pre- Christmas pictures. I have pictures of my sugar cookies I made. Scott did assist with the icing of the cookies. He only complained a little...

The picture with the 3 cookies are the snowman, Christmas tree and a snowflake. I'm really happy with how these turned out. The snowflake especially, cause I didn't know what I wanted to do with them. I didn't want them just white icing.
However, the picture below, are the rejects. They were gingerbread men, but for one, they are cookie cutters from the dollar store, so they are that great. (I actually had 3 that I didn't even use cause I wasn't sure what they were lol) The other problem was I didn't want to make brown icing. I had extra red, and decided just to use that. I think they look hideous. Scott thought they were hilarious. said they look like the red army. He calls them my communist cookies. I brought in some cookies to work. The commi cookies, were not on that plate of lol :)

Thats all for now.

The start of my blogging journey

Hi.
Ally are you happy? A blogger I am. lol
Let's see, what can I say to make my first blog memorable.....

Well, I just found out that I am pregnant.

















just kidding :)
Ok, now that the memorable part is over, maybe I should talk about myself some, just in case anyone who isn't related to me looks in here...
My name is Samantha, I'm 25 and I live in Grand Rapids MI with my boyfriend Scott. We've been together for 7 years! I graduated from Grand Valley State with a Bachelors in Communications and am currently working with a company called Kramer Entertainment. I love the company, the history behind it and how it came to be what it is today. However, it is a small company, and the possibilities of advancing are incredibly slim. So, I'm keeping my eyes open for whatever opportunities should arise.

Scott just graduated 2 weeks ago from Grand Valley, he now has his Bachelors in History, with a Geography minor and a Secondary teaching certification. He just signed up for substitute teaching, and will probably start around mid-January. He's going to substitute for a while, and try and find a full time job. He promised to give the job search in West Michigan at least a year, then if he still can't find a job, we will search elsewhere, starting with other parts of Michigan, branching outside Michigan if need be.

Now that he is finally graduated, we are going to focus on getting jobs, and money so we can plan our wedding!!! We want to get married on the beach in Grand Haven MI, and we want to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon, but that is all we know.

Ok, lets see.... how bout I do some likes and dislikes, so if you don't know me, you will start to get an idea.

Likes:
family* spending time doing whatever with my Scotty* Hawaii/beaches* Netflix* multi-colored Christmas lights* my Ralph perfume* the colors orange and pink* thinking about our wedding* apple scented candles* taking pictures of nature* baking* Grey's Anatomy* my ipod/music* my tiki torches* my car* The Biggest Loser* the smell of bon fires* Grand Valley State* Detroit Pistons*

Dislikes:
thunderstorms* spiders* static on the radio* buying gas* carrots* messiness* hot weather* lactose intolerance* ice on my windshield* the dark* spicy foods* being fat* tequila*

Well, I guess thats all for entry #1. Goodbye for now!!