Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

Boy oh boy has this year just flown by....I can't believe it's the last day of 2011! I started the year with many goals and stuck with them, even if I am in a bit of a rut with them at the moment. ha Stay tuned for a resolutions post at the start of year! :)

They always say that the older you get, the faster the days tend to go...and they were right! I am so thankful that I am in the midst of doing the Project 365 with a picture a day. There are so many days that I would have already forgotten if it weren't for having a reason to force myself to remember the day with a picture of something.

I hope 2012 holds as much promise as 2011 did. It has been a great year. I have traveled more (which I would do every day of every year if I could afford it!), I have opened myself up more (dating - need I say more?) despite some days of sadness, I got serious about losing weight and getting healthy (and have accomplished quite a bit!), and I have laughed more and spent more time with my loved ones doing the silly things we enjoy. There are of course some big things I hope for in 2012, but it's too soon to tell on at least 1 of those items.

Although I have family friends hurting from the loss of their daughter (Senior in HS died in a car accident last night), I pray that each of you enters the New Year with peace and joy in your hearts...may you know that God has a divine purpose/reason for everything that happens.

With all that being said...I better go get myself ready to celebrate this last day of the year and to ring in the new year! Pictures to come tomorrow! :)

Also - if you love my new blog design (which I do!!), hop over to Jenn's blog at Munchkinland Designs. She is great to work with and very reasonably priced.

Day 274

Lots more inventory sheets today...but I am done!

Also, Toby got a bath tonight...and yes, it most certainly takes 2 people. haha

Day 273

Today I got up early and got ready for the day. An old friend from high school called and had asked to come over to shop off my Scentsy shelves, so I had to be ready for her to drop by. She was just going to get a full-size warmer for her mom's Christmas gift (she lives out of state and they are just now celebrating this weekend), but ended up spending over $100! :) It pays to have stock on hand and to know what your customers like. I am lovin' Scentsy!!!

After Amanda left, I had to make a Scentsy delivery to another customer. Julie's house was on my way to the dentist. Yay me. NOT. haha Actually, today wasn't bad at all...it was just my 6 month cleaning. Very quick and painless.

I finally got to have some lunch on my way home (because yes, I'm one of those who fear eating before dental appts, even if I brush/floss). I stopped by mom's work and picked up more inventory sheets to work on. I finished those in time for a late dinner. Since I've been putting it off for the past month, I figured I had better get my new 2012 calendar filled out with the events I already knew...it's amazing how quickly the year is starting to fill up and the new year isn't even here yet!

Now that I am done with everything for the day, I am seriously contemplating baking some chocolate chip cookies....I've been craving them since the weekend. hmmm. I don't need them, but I sure do want them! ;)

Day 272

I was exhausted ALL day. I mean the "could barely function" exhaustion. I woke up and left my sister's apartment when she left for work. Stopped for some breakfast...I really do love Hardee's cinnamon raisin biscuits. Yum. :) I made the 1 hour drive home, where I immediately went to the excavating office to do the weekly payroll. I came home and slept for about an hour. I would have slept longer, but mom woke me up when she called to see if I had made it home. ha I couldn't go back to sleep then (don't ya just hate that? ugh!), so I had a burrito for lunch and snuggled on the couch with Toby for the rest of the afternoon. I was feeling really sleepy again later in the day, so I crawled back in bed and napped for about an hour while Toby crawled all over me. Then it was dinner time...and after that I had to motivate myself to do some work for my mom's work. Each year they do an end of the year inventory of the store where she works, and those inventory sheets have to be extended (accounting codes, totaling, etc). I have done this job for years and years and years...and wasn't planning on it this year, but mom's boss changed his mind and sent papers home for me to work on. I think I re-totaled the first page 5 times because I kept getting different numbers! ha After that, I seemed to get it together and managed to crank out the first pile. Fingers crossed, they turn out right! ;)

Day 271

By now, you've probably guessed that I am a Purdue Boilermaker fan through and through. ha I know it's hard to believe...especially considering all the football and basketball games I attend! ;)

This year my beloved Boilers squeaked out a Football Bowl Game invite! They played Western Michigan University in the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl on Tuesday in Detroit, MI. Jenna, myself, and our sorority sister Maureen (aka Mo), made the trek together for the game! We left Indy a little after 8am Tuesday and returned at 1:30am Wednesday. ha Let's just say I was one VERY tired girl by the time we made it back!! Since I am a John Purdue Club member and a Lifetime Alumni member, I was able to get us some decent seats (row 26 up from the field) and we took part in the Pre-Game Tailgate in Ford Field's Hall of Legends. The tailgate included an open bar, LOTS of food (hotdogs, cheeseburgers, cole slaw, potato salad, build-your-own-nachos bars, cookies, chips, popcorn), and a pep rally. We definitely enjoyed ourselves! :)

It was a wild game...the refs tried to help us lose it, but Purdue fought back and pulled out a W! Way to go Boilers!!

A few favorites of the day...

Jen brushing the SNOW off my car before we left Indy (the only place it snowed on our whole trip)

tailgate grub

Jenna

Mo & I

Purdue Pete & Kirk Cierny leading the pep rally

surely you've heard of the Big Drum by now?? ;)

pizza, pizza! hahaha

team rushing the field after the win!

our game-time crew :)

Day 270

On Monday I had to go work for 4 hours to help with paperwork while a very small group of employees came in to finish "must have" orders for our sister company. Thankfully it was a quiet day and because we'd told all of our customers we were on shutdown for the week - there were NO phone calls! Yay! Why can't every day be like that?? haha

After work, I packed up a few clothes and headed to Indy with my sister. We decided to brave the crowds and do a little after Christmas shopping. Even though there were lots of people out and about, we never had to deal with any craziness. I managed to bring home loot from DSW, Charming Charlie's, Maurice's, Ulta, and Kohl's. :)

We managed to finish shopping before dinner at one of our favorite places, Bub's Burgers. If you watch Man vs. Food, you've probably seen it! Always a good choice for food if you're in Carmel. We stopped at Jen's long enough to drop off our bags of goodies and then made a bee-line for Camp Sertoma's Bingo Night! haha Unfortunately we didn't win anything, but the interesting characters who faithfully play Bingo there twice each week more than make up for it. You essentially play bingo for 3.5-4 hours for $20 and their are multiple small and big prizes ranging from $50-1,000.

Day 269

Merry Christmas, friends!!

The main theme of our Christmas day has been....resting. We don't get to lay around nearly enough...even Toby who ALWAYS sleeps, found time to rest some more. haha

We've also played cards a lot (we do enjoy UNO) and have consumed wine & cheese. Yum!

Now that we're full from our Christmas night dinner...we're resting some more and getting ready for another round of games. I will be going to bed early tonight since I have to go to work tomorrow. Our company is shutdown for the week, but due to being overwhelmed with work by our sister company, a handful of us have to go in and finish things up. With any luck, I can be in and out of work in 4-5 hours. It's overtime, so I can't complain too much, especially since I'm already getting paid for the hours as holiday time. ;)

Day 268

I hope everyone is enjoying this blessed holiday weekend! :)

Yesterday, my family spent time relaxing at home and eating WAY too much food. ha As per our usual tradition, we opened gifts on Christmas Eve. Even Toby had fun checking out his stocking! ;)

wearing my new black & gold head scarf

mom's been wanting one of these like my cousin Z has

Toby was pretty excited about what he found...

Toby running away with his new squeaker ;)

one of my new scarves

 

Toby helping Aunt Nenners open her crockpot cookbook

Day 267

I'm so excited about Scentsy right now! (when am I not, right?!?) ha January is Bring Back My Bar (BBMB) month, when the company brings back 20 voted on scents. There are some really good ones for next month! I have already dropped off a few packets of sample scents so I can place my first order for them on January 1st. If you are interested in collecting orders in January (a catalog party), please let me know and I'll get a packet in the mail to you. An extra incentive is that January is Double Half Price Hostess Rewards! Normally if you had a $150 party, you'd get 1 half price item. In January, you'll get 2. And that number keeps climbing the more you sell. :) AWESOME!

Last night mom, Jen and I went to dinner at one of our all-time fave places, Sakura Japanese Steakhouse - we love hibachi!! Then my cousin Zach got home and came over to our house. Mom, Jen, Z and I sat around talking and laughing - the things we do best! ;) We always have a good time together and something extremely random is always said. Last night my sister announces to us (out of nowhere), mom's reindeer looks like he's into S&M. Wait...she said what?!? hahahaha This little reindeer my mom has had for as long as I can remember, is currently sitting on the piano, and in retrospect, the harness is a bit strange. Only my family would point that out. *still laughing* Then she posted it on twitter and facebook...and more laughing ensued due to the comments! What do you think?

Day 266

I can't really believe it is just a few days before Christmas and we are getting rain. I am not going to complain too much, as you all know I only want snow 1 day a year and we aren't gonna get it, but I could live without the rain. At least it isn't snowing...with the inches of rain, we'd have feet of snow! Yikes. :p

I have an announcement about my little fur-baby, Toby. On Monday, my mom took him to the vet to get his toenails trimmed. The lil booger will let 1 measly girl there hold him and clip his nails, while 4 of us here at home can't manage to hog-tie him and get it done. Argh. But back to the story...haha...Doc K looked over the list of his seizures and decided it was time to put him on meds. :( So my baby will now take an anti-seizure med every day for the rest of his life. This wouldn't be so bad (he thinks pills are treats); however, due to his small size/weight, there are no pills available and the little rat has to take a liquid. Have you ever attempted to stick a syringe of liquid down a wiggle worm's throat and get them to swallow it?? The vet's office swears it takes like butterscotch (now how do they know that? ha), but Toby HATES it. The first night was quite the struggle. The past 3 nights I have held him with one arm and used the other hand to forcibly make him take the liquid med. Tonight went better than the past 2, but he doesn't like us much right now. :/ I guess we'll just keep on doing what we're doing as there doesn't seem to be any other options. *knock on wood* It's been a few weeks since he last got sick/seized and the organic dog food seemed to be helping, but it just wasn't enough to completely get rid of his episodes. Hopefully now he won't get sick anymore.....even if it means he doesn't like us much for awhile each night after giving him his med.

His oral anti-seizure med & an antibiotic pill for an infected spot we've not been able to heal under his eye..it is kinda cute to see "Toby Menchhofer" on his prescription...haha

Day 265

Oh my gosh! I just realized...I only have 100 days left in my Project 365 challenge. It doesn't seem possible that it's been going on this long and although 100 sounds like a big number, I know how fast the days have been flying by, so it'll be over before I know it. And I'll be thankful I have picture proof of my life on fast forward!

So today we had the Christmas lunch at work...once again another work thing I had to plan. :) We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, coleslaw, and rolls. Yum! Each employee was asked to provide a dessert...and let me tell you...we were all a bit glutinous considering we had about 15 desserts on the table! haha

Day 264

Tuesday definitely lived up to the hype of the week before Christmas work craziness. For every time the phone didn't ring on Monday, it rang twice on Tuesday. Lucky me! ;) haha

After work, I had 4 Scentsy boxes waiting on my doorstep. I unpacked them and put it all away. Such an accomplished feeling!

I tried to call Dish Network to have them help me fix my TV problem. Ever since Saturday or Sunday (I haven't watched much tv lately), my cable hasn't worked on my tv only. I mean...really?!? The second tv in our house has no problem, but mine is hooked directly to the receiver and I can't see a thing. ARGH. After a long frustrating call and refusing to pay a $95 technician fee, I resigned myself to no tv for a few more nights. Mom called JoJo (yes, he really goes by that...ha...) who is a Dish Tech we met a few years ago and he takes calls from previous customers for cash (and beer). ha Unfortunately, JoJo had meetings all day and we haven't heard back from him yet.

I bought a Marie Calendar's Dutch Apple Pie...pretty simple to make, just stick the frozen pie in the oven! ha I almost forgot to bake it for the Christmas lunch at work, but it smells pretty heavenly!

Day 263

Fun day, Monday. I was shocked at how quiet things were at work today. *knock on wood* We have been swamped, overwhelmed, and about a million other words to describe the chaos for weeks now...and it looks as though it will spill over into the new year. I'm just going to keep crossing my fingers that we get through this week with as much peace as we had today! ha

And yes, to celebrate the wonder that is the last week before our Holiday Shutdown (I love being paid to take a week off next week and no, it's not considered part of our vacation package!), I ate the last piece of custard pie right out of the pie pan. Ugh. My jeans really aren't starting to like me...January 1st, I'm back on the weight loss bandwagon!

Day 262

Family day...to the max.

For starters, we attended the LAST (so sad, it makes me cry) Wagner Family Christmas. The Wagner's are my maternal grandmother's side of the family. I have only 1 remaining great uncle from the original fam (my gma's brothers/sister). It was a tear-jerker as we prayed before the meal and my cousin, John, shared some heartfelt words about how times change and it's up to us "younger" generations to keep the family together.

After lunch, mom and I followed Jen back to Indy. We helped her unload a rick of firewood. Jen and her roomie keep their apartment fairly cool because of gas prices, but they enjoy using their fireplace. It was a small price to pay to help them stay warm this winter! I treated mom & Jen to dinner at Boogie Burger and then we had dessert at BRICS. I am seriously in love with the Blackberry ice cream. Cannot. Get. Enough. :) ha Good thing I don't live there because I'd weigh even more than I do now! Yikes!

Day 261

I survived!!!! :)

100+ kids AND their parents/grandparents...whew! There were lots of smiles and laughs, a few cries (I didn't think Santa was THAT scary...ha), and many cookies consumed. All in all, it was a smooth running success. We were actually cleaned up by the time we said the event would end. Score for me! If they put me in charge of all company events, things would always run that smooth. ;)

Saturday afternoon, I held a Scentsy Open House at my home. While I was scarfing down my lunch, Toby was impatiently watching the door, waiting on our first guests to show up! It was a big success. I had a few more people stop by the house tonight and I have at least one more person stopping in later this week to pick up last minute Christmas gifts.

Day 260

Oh happy day...I made TWO trips to Greensburg today. 1 to get my nails done and the other to pick up the cookies and cupcakes for the work Christmas party AND to have dinner with mom.

These sugar cookies are the best. No joke.

Day 259

Got the last of the gifts wrapped and have the tables set up for Santa's visit on Saturday! I am so glad to be done wrapping gifts. I may rebel and buy a gift bag for the last item I need to wrap at home. haha

Day 258

Okay friends...it is past my bedtime, but I wanted to throw today's pics up with a reminder that this Saturday is my last Scentsy Open House of the year! I'm offering big discounts, so if you need anything, please email me for the deals! :) emenchhofer@yahoo.com

Tonight I spent my time starting the set-up for Saturday. I am almost done.

Day 257

Today I had to laugh...our hometown newspaper always has a section called "__ Years Ago" and it has items listed from that week's paper 10, 15, 25, 50 years ago. It's kinda fun to see your own name listed and this has happened multiple times to me. Well, today I was in there again for 10 years ago.

Day 256

Gotta love salespeople who come bearing gifts :)

One of the chemical salesmen who sells to us at work is from Kentucky, which usually means some sort of bourbon product for Christmas! None of us complain about that. haha

Here is this year's gift...

Days 254 & 255

Friday thru Sunday, our family gathered for the annual Christmas shindig at my cousin's house. It used to rotate between homes, but last year Zach bought a house in Georgetown and everyone else fell in love with the idea of a "slumber party" weekend. haha Some of the family stays at a local hotel, but most of us cram into the house. It's chaotic. It's loud. It's fun. We don't always see eye to eye and it's a dysfunctional group, but I love it. :)

I already posted my Project 365 pics for Friday, but I have some cute ones from Friday night that I have to share! I have 3 of the sweetest little cousins. Ethan is 8 (I can't believe that since I used to watch him one day a week when he was 1!!), Callie is 3 and Henry is 1. And I love 'em to pieces!

Henry loves Jenna...he has always gone to her which is funny because she is not really a "kid" person

Callie drinking her virgin strawberry daiquiri with the big kids ;)

Ethan & Callie

Wonder who the big kid is causing all the ruckus? haha

Saturday we mostly did our own things...the guys finished laying the laminate wood flooring in Z's hallway, some of the ladies shopped, some of us just relaxed on the couches and watched the kiddos. That evening, once everyone arrived, we had a big family dinner and included 2 of Z's neighbors. I was seriously laughing so hard that I was crying. No joke. It was the craziest, funniest, most random night ever. I can't begin to tell you the stories because you probably wouldn't believe the things that come out of my family's mouths. Wowza!

Z's beautiful Christmas tree

some of the fam hanging out

yes, we still write our names on cups and yes, my sister designated one for my alcoholic beverages!

Sunday everyone made it back to the house for a breakfast of epic proportions (donuts, waffles, biscuits and gravy, bacon, eggs, fruit, etc). We all packed up and headed home after helping Z restore some order in his home! I know he enjoys having us to visit, but as a bachelor who is used to peace and quiet, I know he can't wait to get rid of us!! hahaha ;)

I was the nice one to get up early and go get donuts every morning - brrrrr! 15 degrees ain't warm enough folks!