2012 part 2.

2012 continued...

James was on the road for most of the year. We were able to work out a surprise in June and go to my dad's to meet my brother in law for the first time.

EL CUNADO!!!

Love my bro-lo. We are both super nerdy. And his momma came for the trip. She's a nice lady. Lots of fun was had, and of course he ate lots of cookies. Thank goodness I brought a lot with me. I spent time trying to get him and Tifanie to move to Washington. My offers were no humidity, no hurricanes, and I'd be lots closer to make plenty of baked goods. Earl said he would need a Jazzy to get around if he lived closer. I told him to start saving up for one.

After their visit we learned that they were going to be parents come January/February 2013! Little Alicen Joyce should be joining us soon.

In June I also went to a tea party at my friend Morgan's. We had it indoors, and good thing that we did because there was a freak hail storm in the middle of the party.

Me being classy.

I enjoy the tea parties, they are super fun and always full of good yummy food and company. Can't wait for the next one.

I took Chase into the vet to have one of his cysts checked out. Turns out that it needed to come off of him so I took him in to have surgery. He had 2 cysts on his back removed and one on his front left paw.

Purple wrapped Chase :(

Then I scheduled him for a haircut, but about 2 days before that he started bleeding from his other paw. Apparently I missed a foxtail and it worked it's way into his paw and got infected. I had to take him back to the vet where he was kept overnight to have a drain put in his paw. He looked like he got beat with some clippers when he got back, they shaved all of his paws. It was a rough summer for Chase.

In July James turned 33. He also switched from nationwide to regional. Regional meant he would be home more often, every weekend, instead of every 5 weeks. It was nice, but an adjustment for us since we had become used to the 5 week schedule.
He wanted a strange sounding cake for his birthday. I made it, and wow was it good.

Yes. Mayonnaise cake. It's legit.

In August I learned how to Cross Stitch, which helped keep me busy. Oh, I was also promoted permanently to my lead position. Nothing like making it for real.

Star Trek!!!

Since I had 3 friends turning 30 I wanted to make them something special. Because you only turn 30 once. And they all did. Before me. HA! Love you guys.

For Caitlin, who loves ST:TNG

For Morgan, who loves Dexter

For Michelle, who loves The Golden Girls

The little golden girl one makes me smile, they are so cute!

In August James was involved in a roll-over in Montana. His truck was totaled, but he came out with some bruises and a cut on his hand/knuckles. I had to go pick him up in Montana since there wasn't a way to get him back to Washington. Later that week he was let go because the company had already payed once to have that truck fixed after another driver wrecked it. It was his first accident, and since he had only been with them 8 months they figured they'd just let him go.

In September James applied up at the Pen for an On-Call Officer position. He interviewed in October and started CORE in November. He graduated on the 21st.

 Getting his shield.

It's official!

We're all super proud of him. His training finishes up the first of the year, then he is officially working up on the hill.

We didn't get to do our usual Christmas card this year, so Chase offered to help us out with a cute photo.

Such a cutie.

I also sent Alicen's babyshower gifts with Rita and my dad when they went to Philly before Christmas.

 BABY!!

A Star Trek blanket, 2 Star Trek onesies, Wonder Woman onesie, Plush Star Trek Enterprise that lights up, a purple baby blanket and a Welcome, Tiny Overlord cross stitch.

 To boldly go...

I love the blanket. I had to do it. For Earl. He'd love how nerdy it was.

Christmas was good, we all had a great time together. My step dad got me a great gift:

Cartoon calendar!

Very few of those left. It's so cool. I think I'm going to frame it. James got me something nerdy too, but in a different way.

Rocket Glass?? YES!!

Glass that was formed during a rocket test. He knows me so well. I love space stuff.

I made a lot of gifts this year too, but this one I'm especially proud of.

For my dad.

It took me till 3:30am on 12/21/2012. If the world wasn't going to end, this thing was going to do me in. But, I got it done in time.

So, that was our year. Full of ups and downs. Thankfully, we've all come out of it ok.

Oh, one last thing. I've been obsessed with re-creating this photo ever since I came across it years ago.

My Duke puppy

I did it with Buster a few years ago:

Buster puppy

And this year with Chase:

Goo!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! I'll try to be better with this next year. Promise.