Friday, December 31, 2010

A year in review.  
Yes, I know, I've been delinquent in keeping up with the blog.  And I could make a thousand and one excuses for why I've been so bad with posting.  Let's just say that I'm sorry I have not been around for awhile, and I will do my best to keep everyone up to date with pictures and stories of what's going on in our lives.
  
If I could assign one word to spell out 2010 in the Swindell family, I would pick the word "NEW". We took on new projects, had new adventures, saw new places.   With so much bad going on in our country and world, we'll only focus on the good, and the new. :-)

January:   What can I say about January 2010? It was way too cold for Savannah weather, and way too long! Mother Nature gave us some snow. It didn't stick, but it snowed just the same! John made snow one day.  Him and the girl next door had fun playing it.   Where was I you ask? Inside my warm house, where else? LOL!








February: our first new for the new year.  Usually John goes to Stowe Vermont to play in the snow.  This year, they had little to no snow.  So, we tried something new, we went to Snowshoe West Virginia. We had incredible snow!







Deer that came to our rental unit everyday to bum food from us, they would eat right out of your hand!




The views were breath-taking! Unlike most ski resorts where your room is at the foot of the mountain, and you're looking up, at Snowshoe you are on the top of the mountain looking down! Incredible! 
I took my first ski lesson ever! Something new for me.  





The first lesson went great, I only fell once.   I should have stopped after one lesson! But no......John books me another lesson with the same instructor.  This time, she takes me on the ski lift! Let's just suffice it to say.....ski lift 6, Penny 0! :-(

March: my birthday month! Celebrated dinner at my favorite Mexican Restaurant, and I got a margarita the size of my head!




I never did finish it! I started to get so hot, I thought I was having a stroke! Had to call it quits.   Margarita 1, Penny 0.  :-(. Birthday weekend John took me to Orlando. Saturday night parade of old cars in Old Towne Kissimmee,







and a day at Sea World. It was a great birthday.  






April: new way to eating begins. I do not call it a diet, because I always fail at diets.  I chose to cut the crap out of the way I eat.   No fast food, no cookies, candy, chips, real sodas, junk food.   And, I started a very intimate relationship with my treadmill that had been collecting dust since last year! By month's end, I was already down 10 1/2 pounds!

May: John's Aunt June comes to visit for a week, and Judy flies back to Boston with her for a vacation.  Judy was to embark on a first for her, she was booked to go on her first cruise. But, 2 days before the cruise, she falls in her brother's basement, and breaks her ankle! Yet another first, and I'm sure she would have rather not experienced that kind of first!
John embarks on remodeling our house.  


Downstairs gets a coat of paint, chair rails, crown molding, and the start of tearing out wall to wall carpeting and replacing with hard wood.  Carpet feels great under the feet, especially on a cold winter night! But allergies and carpet do not mix! And until someone invents a cat food that is dyed the same color as our carpet, we'll go with the wood, thank you very much!




June: 6 years of wedded bliss. Still waiting to have that first big argument! Next year we're supposed to have our 7 year itch, I feel no itch yet.  :-)

July: HOT, HOT, HOT! Hottest summer on record. Wish I could remember how that cold winter felt! John started a big job, converting Wachovia bank signs to Wells Fargo. During the hottest month ever. I sure felt sorry for him. No pics for July, we want to forget that! 

August: our bathroom remodel begins! I was really worried it would take forever, and there would be a lot of problems. But, all in all, it went smoothly, and now we have the travertine bathroom of my dreams! Thanks babe!








September: while John worked on the house, I would escape to get out of his way. Spent a day with Deb and Zac at the zoo.  That was fun! Can't beat a day at the zoo!





October:  I embarked some newness of my own.  Went on excursions to St. Simon's Island




and Harris Neck Wildlife Refuge.  Had a great time, just me and my camera. Next time, maybe my husband will join me?






November: another new adventure.  Took John's nephew Matt to vote for his first time!


That was nice to see him make a difference.  We also went on our first ever cruise to the Bahamas.  I loved it, I think John was bored out of his head.  Oh well, it was only 4 days out of his life, and he lived to tell about it.   











December: getting ready for Christmas, and John takes the nephews to Stowe 
Vermont to snowboard. By Christmas morning, I am 50# lighter! Never did I imagine I'd reach my goal! But, it sure does feel good! 
Christmas was quiet and relaxing.  Enjoyed time spent with family and friends. Already wondering what to buy him NEXT Christmas! Ah, the pressure! LOL!

And that brings us up to today, the last day of the year.  As we face a new, shining year, I wish all of our family and friends the best this year can hold.  Let's toast to our health and well being, and pray for lots more firsts and new things in our lives.   

Now to select a new word for 2011.   Maybe I'll wait until it's over, and sum up the year in one word then.  

God bless, and good night.  Happy New Year!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Diet Progress!

I did it! 42 1/2 pounds in a little over 6 months! I'm back to my "wedding body"! And, it feels great! Didn't think I could do it. But, I've literally walked my butt off the last 6 months. And worth every bit of sweat!


Saturday, January 16, 2010

Sucky Weather

Taking advantage of some sucky weather to get the blog updated.

Happy Belated New Year! Here's hoping everyone had a blessed New Year's! That everyone partied responsibly, and are sticking to those New Years Resolutions! LOL! I have resolved not to make any more resolutions. It's just too dang hard! It's too much pressure to keep up with! Instead, I resolve to just do the best that I can, with whatever I do. If I fail, I'll pick myself up, and try again. :-)

So, back to the sucky weather. We had like 14 days of below normal temps. And we're talking COLD! Daytime highs in the 40's when we were lucky, and teens at night!

Hello.....what has happened to their whole "Global Warming" crap? Sure aint pertaining to this winter, now is it? Last weekend we dipped down into the teens, so John took advantage of the cold, and made snow Saturday night!

Yep...you heard that right, he made SNOW. Seems before we were married, he bought himself a snow machine! I even remember seeing this man on the news one winter who made snow, and all of the neighbor kids were playing in his back yard. I thought to myself "the ding dong."! Who knew that how many years later, I would marry that ding dong?! Small world, huh? :-) There are other quirky stories about how we could have met a long time ago, but I'll save those for another boring sucky weather day.

Back to last Saturday night. I'm getting ready to go to bed, all comfy in my flannel pj's, which I don't get a chance to wear flannels here in Savannah too often but they're getting broken in good the last few weeks! I'm ready for bed, and my hubby goes out into the cold night air to rig up his snow machine! Sunday morning, I woke up to a yard with snow! Not a lot of snow, just a dusting, but it sure was a sight to see in Savannah GA! LOL!

Of course John was out Sunday morning playing in his snow, and the neighbor's daughter Kerstyn came over to help him have some fun. They had a snowball fight (if you can call it that! ) And then they used as much snow as they could, and built a little snowman. He stood about 3 feet high. Pretty darn good for Savannah snow! And, that little snowman lasted until Thursday! THAT was impressive!

Below are some pictures of our Savannah snow, and our little snowman. I hope you enjoy them.



It looks so pretty on the oak tree!





A snowball fight with the neighbor's daughter



Looks like Kerstyn is in trouble!



Do you think roses mind being snowed on?!



An icicle teardrop?



A small blanket of white



Forming the snowman



Let's use Hershey kisses for eyes and buttons!



A powerdrill?! Poor Frosty!



Snowman needs Lasik!



Now that's what I call an Original Savannah Snowman!