Christmas Update

Merry Christmas (Yesterday) and Happy Boxing Day today! Hard to believe that Christmas is over. What a good day it was yesterday. We had my uncle, cousins, aunt, grandma and grandpa come over in the morning for breakfast. The house was packed since there was 5 dogs (luckily 3 got left at home or else there would have been 8!) but we had a great time together playing games, eating and just hanging out.

Our family opened up our presents at 2:00 pm. Some presents that I received were a footspa, spa treatment items, books, kitchen stuff, clothes, and money. James got a really cool gift, he got the 20 question game. He played that game all afternoon and tried to stump it, but the game own most of the time. That little thing is smart!

Lexis is starting to warm up to Maddy and Bailey. The first couple of days she wanted to go in the car and every chance she got she ran out to the car. Now she is trying to play with Maddy, taunting her with toys and the getting mad when Maddy decides to take the toy away. The new puppy is just the cutest thing I have ever seen. She sleeps a lot of the time, but when she is awake she loves to snuggle and play with the big dogs.

Tomorrow we get our family picture taken at 5:00 pm. Every single time we are together we get our picture taken and then someone doesn't like the picture so we don't order it. But we have now decided that we are going to a place that you can see the proofs before you walk away. So hopefully we don't have to take too many pictures to make everyone happy!

I should go and get ready for the day... I have some clothes to return to the wonderful store of Taget! Hope everyone has a great boxing day and the rest of the holidays! Happy New Year!

Made it here to Washington safe and sound... 19 hours of driving!

The puppy is so cute.... her name is Bailey not Kenzie.

Anyway. James said that I shouldn't be updating this right now... so I will have to write again another time!

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas Present!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS!!! James and I exchanged Christmas presents last night! This is what he bought me, a Kitchen Aid Mixer! Isn't that just great! I was so excited to use it that I baked a cake at 9:00 pm, just to prove to him that I would be using it. It came with a bonus set too, spatula, whisk, baster, measuring cups, and spoons! Then we also splurged on each other because we went out and bought these really modern dish set.... James picked them out. What did I get James for Christmas you ask? Well, he got sweatpants, socks, underwear, a t-shirt and a new Christmas Eve shirt, and I subscribed him to the Leader-Post Newspaper. How boring!

Another Pic!

Here is a pic of my sister (Kristi), Maddy (bigger pup), and the new addition (name might be McKenzie "Kenzie"). I will let you know when they get a name that they keep. Aren't they just adorable!!

Another puppy for the Williams'

What are my parents thinking? This is ANOTHER new addition to their family. Last December Madison was born (and came to live with them in Feb.) and now they have another puppy! Spur of the moment decision (someone backed out on taking her and the breeder was moving today to Nebraska) so my parents have decided that Maddy needed a baby sister. She has not been given a name (since she has only been there a couple hours). But she sure is adorable! This christmas will be quite the adventure with Lexis, Maddy, Libby, and new puppy! FULL DOG HOUSE!

Just Breathe

Everyday I check this one celebrity's blog to get my inspiration of the day. Now in some people's eyes she is not looked upon highly, but in my eyes she is just human. That is what we all are and what everything comes down to, we are human. We make mistakes, we have flaws, and we say things that get us in trouble. We are all on a journey and where that journey takes us depends on who we are. Some are searching for happiness and others are searching for wealth, some people are not aware that they are searching for anything until later on in life... but we are all searching. Constantly on this celebrity's blog she tells people to "just breathe". Which is something that I think many people need to do this time of year. Sit back and breathe. Let the hustle of this time of year pass you by for a moment and reflect on what really matters. Say no to a Christmas party, or skip a christmas concert. Don't get wraped up in the festivites of Christmas and forget the true meaning of it. Celebrate with friends and family. Thank God for the year you had, even if it was a year of pain, thank God for bringing you safely through it.

Just breathe.

Happy Birthday Kevin!

Happy Birthday Kevin!

Today is my little brother's 17th birthday! Hard to believe my brother is 17 and my sister will be 20 in a 2 weeks... where does the time go? WOW!

Christmas Gift Exchange

By the end of the season, someone is going to have roll me out the door. The great part of working in a place where everyone "appreciates your business" is everyone drops of treats for you to eat. Today the "treat of the day" is Laura Secord chocolates, yesterday was chocolate covered peanutes/almonds/jube-jubes. MMMmmmm.... I love Christmas!

Tonight is my Royal LePage Christmas Party, which will be different from my previous christmas parties (LHAC's). Seems like everyone is excited to get drunk and party since that is what has been talked about for weeks now. Oh sad.... but I guess that is how they have fun. I use to give mugs in the gift exchange but this year I am going to change it up a bit. We are doing the "new, used or regift" exchange so I have to think of something good. I think my one gift will be cash ($15) but I would love to have something funny as my second gift! I just can't decide what!! I am not sure if James will let me or not (okay, I just called him and he said no), but I would love to give away the N64 that has sat in a box in the closet for 3 years now. But James keeps telling me that he wants to play it and it doesn't even work on our tv. I have to think of something sweet. Any ideas?

Too sad

My heart goes out to the less fortunate people in this city. Those who are dragged down by the demons of drugs and alcohol. I just had a man come into my office this morning and tell me that he left his kids in a van outside of white city and he needed money for gas. "White City?" I asked, "Sir, you walked past many other businesses to get here, we are half way down this busy street." He assured me his story was true, but I knew it was a lie. He smelt of booze and had vomit on his lips. He could hardly stand up and wore women's gloves. I couldn't handle him, I had to get someone else to help. Phil took over from here, questioning and trying to get to the bottom of his story. Phil phoned his friend who works on the reserve this man said he is from, the friend had never heard of him before. Another lie busted. Phil gave him $5.00, said that he knew he was being screwed, but it was Christmas. On his way down the hall the man fell into the wall. I just looked down at my computer, scared to make eye contact with him. He came towards me, like he wanted to tell me something, Phil told him to leave and he stumbled out the door.

Big Night Last Night!

BIG NIGHT LAST NIGHT!!!

Oh Ya! We parked in the garage last night for the first time EVER! James and my grandpa decided at 7:30 that they would clean out the garage (which was so full of crap from building the house that we could hardly walk in it). They thought it would be a 1/2 hour job, but they didn't finish until 11:30! They brought the rest of the boxes inside, cleaned out all the garbage (2 full truck loads taken to builders bins), straightened up the miscellaneous objects that were still there, and then swept out all the dirt. Now, I would never have thought that it would take a 1/2 hour, but I have learned that you take the time that James says it will take and multiply by 3, and then you will get a better estimation of how long it will take. But in the end my car and his truck were parked side by side, all ready to spend the night cozy in the garage.

Also last night we gave my grandparents their Thank-you/Christmas presents. They have used the same luggage since 1960 and it is an ugly red leather suitcase. Every time they travel (which they do quite often) they get out the ugly red leather and jam them full of clothes. And it is not like my grandparents just travel to Moose Jaw or to places in Saskatchewan... they go on cruises, down south for 3 months, to my mom and dad's a couple times a year. So, James and I decided that we would splurg on them and get them matching luggage sets! They loved them and were so excited. And I made it clear to them that the ugly red leather suitcases that they had been using for 46 years HAD TO BE THROWN OUT!

Well once again I should go and get some work done at work.... We have another big night tonight, Trademark Construction's Christmas Party. Okay, who am I kidding? Conrad and Sheena are just coming over for supper... but we are trying to make it seem like a Christmas Party.

Weekend Recap

What a weekend!!!!

This weekend was such a good weekend, I am so sad that it is over. Not that anything too exciting happened but I do feel like I got quite a bit accomplished! Let's give you a short recap:

Friday
On Friday James and I got last minute tickets to the Crawford Xmas party. And by last minute, I mean like 5:00 pm tickets were given to us and 6:00 pm the cocktails started. We love going to this Christmas party and were kind of sad that we would miss it this year. But just our luck we were able to go! Now I must admit that it wasn't as fun as previous years (especially last year's when Conrad and Sheena went with us), but it was still very good food. The Comedian this year was so brutal that I was ready to fall asleep. He was this Magican/comedian... so his tricks were bad and his jokes were even worse!

Saturday
We woke up at 6:30 am to drive to Outlook, SK for the day. Lexis had a vet appointment at 10:00 am, which went really well (She is healthy, has good teeth, and didn't flinch when she got her 2 shots). Another great thing about the vet visit was that we got some sleeping pills for Lexis!!! She is horrible to take on trips because she chases passing cars in the back seat and whines and jumps around. Now, we can handle this for about 2 hours, but not for 22 hours straight when we go to Portland. So Julie, the vet, gave us these wonderful pills to use and I am really looking forward to a peaceful drive down at Christmas.

James was able to spend the day snowmobiling around town while I napped on the couch and read my book (Dr. Phil's wife, Robin, has written a great inspirational book). James' uncle from Toronto surprised everyone this weekend and came to Outlook so we were able to see him and James' cousin Caitlin.

Sunday
We came back to Regina late Saturday night as we had to teach Small Groups at Church on Sunday morning. After church we came back and worked really hard on getting the house together! WE GOT SO MUCH DONE! We brought the washer/dryer in for upstairs, the washer/dryer in for downstairs, the fridge for downstairs and the stove for downstairs. Everything worked out great until there wasn't enough room for the stove to fit in the kitchen downstairs! The cupboards were made wrong, so we have to call Kitchen Kraft back to fix the cupboards! Oh well, they will come this week and make everything work....

I did so many loads of laundry yesterday it was unbelievable! This is the first time I have ever had main floor laundry (which happens to be right across the hall from our bedroom). Laundry now takes no time at all, and I look forward to doing laundry more often. I am a very lazy person, who can sometimes go 1 month before running out of clothes to wear, so there are times when there is a month worth of laundry piled up in the closet! But not anymore!!! I am now going to do laundry regularly and always have clean clothes! I am so excited.

Oh yeah! Another fun thing that we got this weekend was a glass top for our table! It is a custom made glass top that fits right over the table so that we don't have to worry about our table getting scratched or getting rings on our table. I was so excited when it came, and now I don't have to worry about ruining our new table, like I did our old one ( I put a pot on the table and burned a ring in it... opps!).

Well that's my update for this weekend. Definetly was a great weekend.... Later friends!

Christmas Letter 2006

December, 2006

Happy Holidays Friends and Family,

Hard to believe it is the holiday season already! Each year it seems to sneak up on us and I am never ready for it. This past year has been a year of change and transition for James and I, and we are thankful for the opportunity to share with you the changes that have happened.

Last winter we spent many evenings and weekends fixing up our cozy 850 square foot bungalow that we purchased in 2005. It was our first house and we were quite proud of all the work that we did to it. But after a long Canadian winter in it, we soon found ourselves toying with the idea of selling it and buying something a bit bigger. Before we knew it we were in discussion with one of the New Homebuilders here in Regina, Crawford Homes, and were drawing up floor plans for a brand new house. In April we finalized our plans and put our down payment on a 1225 square foot, 3 bedroom bungalow, just blocks away from the house my (Melissa’s) family lived in when they were in Regina.

In late June we decided to sell our house during the peak spring/summer market. I thought that I would try to sell it on my own and if that failed I would have Grandma list it. I soon discovered (and as did my new boss – more on that too come) that I have the Williams’ eye for Real Estate, as I sold our house within 5 days without having an Open House. By August 1 we were moved out of our house and were living with Grandma and Grandpa Williams for what we thought would be around 2 months. 2 months turned into 3 months, which turned into 4 months… and we were still living with Grandma and Grandpa but on December 1, 2006 we moved into our new house. We are very proud of it since we (I will admit James did more work than I did) were able to do a lot of it ourselves. We spent endless days and nights working on the house (paint, trim, hardwood floors, ceramic tile… the list goes on), but now that it is all finished we are able to sit, relax and enjoy our hard work.

This past August we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. Crazy how the time flies bye! I wish I could tell you that we are expecting a baby, but no, you won’t be hearing that in this Christmas letter, we will see what next year brings. Right now the only baby we have is our two-year-old Lab/Husky, Lexis, who still takes up a lot of our time and energy, but we wouldn’t trade her for anything.

Up until spring James was still working for Crawford Homes part-time while going to University (majoring in Human Justice). Instead of going up North to tree-plant, like he had done the two previous summers, he decided to look for work here in Regina. He was offered a job running a franchise for College Pro Painters on the East side of Regina. Through this summer experience he learned two main things. First he learned he loved running his own business, and secondly he learned that he missed working on the construction site. After much thought James decided to take some time off University and open up his own construction business, Trademark Construction. The business does mainly siding, soffits, and facia, but also does some interior renovations as well. The business is now too busy for James to do alone and has allowed him to hire a fulltime employee, a good friend of his named Conrad Shepherd.

This past year has been a hectic year for me (Melissa) as well. Last winter I was still attending the University of Regina (majoring in Psychology) and working at Living Hope Alliance Church. I had been working at the Church for the past 3 years and loved every minute of it. When I decided to sell our house myself I never dreamed it would lead to a new job, but that is just what happened. I ended up meeting and talking to the owner of Royal LePage Regina Realty and he offered me a job. So I have taken some time off of school and I am working as the fulltime Receptionist for Royal LePage Regina Realty while I take my Real Estate courses. I plan on being a licensed Realtor by spring!

James and I both are still involved in teaching/mentoring the students at our church. I am one of the leaders of the Grade 11/12 girls small group while James is the leader of the Grade 12 boys small group. We both enjoy impacting the students lives and look forward to seeing them each Sunday morning and connecting with them. We also keep busy by traveling; there are short trips to Outlook, SK to see his parents and longer trips to see mine in Vancouver, WA. This winter we are hoping to get away to Los Angeles for 10 days and take a much needed warm and relaxing vacation.


We trust that you will have a happy and memorable holiday season! If you are ever in Regina, please drop in and see us. We would love to connect with you, especially those who we do not see on a regular basis!


God bless you in 2007,
James, Melissa (& Lexis) McCullough

Opps!

I had my first mishap in the house yesterday morning, and James will not let it slide. Usually when I put on my makeup I sit on the floor in front of a full length mirrior. That is how I have put on my makeup for over 15 years I bet. James and I have separate bathrooms now too, he uses the ensuite and I use the main bath because he is so messy in the bathroom and I don't want to be embarressed if someone drops by. So anyway, I now have to put my makeup on in the main bath and I just can't seem to find a way to get close enough to the mirrior. So I decided to sit on the toilet seat and put my legs between the toilet and the counter, that way I can look directly into the mirrior. So that was all fine and dandy, I finished my makeup and swung my legs out from where they were and I knocked off the toilet paper roll and holder! I didn't just knock it off, I RIPPED the screws right out! James came in and made me feel horrible. He said that I had to have some real force behind that, but the truth is I didn't even feel my legs hitting it! He was like, "Let me see the bruise you have on your leg now" (because I bruise so easily), and I didn't have one! So anyway, he refuses to fix it because he says I need to think about being more careful with the new house (who does he think he is? My father?).

So this morning when I was getting ready James poked his head in the bathroom and he checked the shower rod and the towel rod and said, "Looks like you haven't torn anything else off the wall... way to go." He was laughing but I was so mad!! I know he meant it as a joke, but that isn't really funnny. I told him if he didn't put the toilet paper roll holder back on the wall I was going to do it myself, which would be really scarey, or I would call the plumbers back to install it because obviously they didn't put any anchors in it or they hardly screwed it on! He told me the plumbers would just laugh at me and say that they don't come to fix things that people rip off the wall because they are careless.

In other news...

My friend Deb called me last night after viewing my blog and told me that I should put a plate under the plant that my mom sent me. Thanks so much Deb, I went home and did just that! See how handy this blog is, you guys can look out for me! Also yesterday we cooked out first dinner at the house (Chicken and Sidekicks). I am not really a fan of sidekicks, but James is so I eat them when he would like them. I have no clue what to make tonight... I am kind of craving a pasta dish.....

Well I better go and check my other friends blogs.... Be sure to click on the links at the side of my blog to view others. Shauna Archer has a great blog that she does from Dalat International School in Malaysia!

Housewarming Gift!

This was our first (and so far only... hint hint) House Warming Gift! My Mom and Dad sent it to us, and I picked it up from Safeway. I was explaining what it looked like to my Mom (since she didn't actually pick it out) and she got all worried that it was tacky looking. So I told her I would take a picture of it and put it on here....

See Mom, it's not tacky!! It's a Pointsettia with some other plants in a basket... and No, it has not died yet... it's still looking good and healthy!

Finally Some Pics!

This is looking from the Living Room towards the hall way, which leads to the bedrooms and bath room.
This is loooking into the Kitchen/Dining Room from the Living Room

This is a shot of the Kitchen/Dining Room

This is standing in the Dining Room looking towards the front entrance

This is the new TV! Looks small in the picture but it's a 37" LCD TV!

This is my new Kitchen Dining Set!

Kitchen Again.....

Kitchen Again......

Finally the pictures are ready! I know these are only of the Living Room/Dining Room/ Kitchen but that is really all that has been set up right now. There are many pictures of the same thing, but I guess that will help you understand where everything is. Our Bedroom is almost done (just got to hang some pictures) and tonight we are setting up the office/den room. Everything looks so good, and I am so happy with the house!

Lost Cord

So.... we made it back safe and sound from the McCullough Family Xmas Weekend. The roads were okay on Friday when we went out there. We got there around 8:30 pm, just in time to meet the fam at Perkins for dinner (we always time it just right for a free meal - Thanks Cheryl). On Saturday we were able to watch Christie Anne play some basketball, which was a nice treat, and then we headed over to the shopping mall. I thought James would be grumpy have to spend 3 hours in the shopping mall with me, but he did just fine! The mall was very busy, but what can you expect the first weekend of December. I did have to kick James out of one store because he was following me around like a lost puppy and was starting to get on my nervous. We came home on Sunday in not the best driving conditions. James' parents who left only 4 hours after us got stuck 2 hours outside of Winnipeg... good thing we left when we did.

I took some really good pictures of the house last night, but I can't find the cord to put all my pictures on the computer. So tonight that is my mission... get pictures of the house on the blog!