It's the Middle of January Already! WHAT???

I can't believe January will soon draw to a close. Wow! The new year has been very busy and it does not seem that it will slow down anytime soon.
A quick update since I last posted:
-Christmas here in Blythewood was wonderful! Erik was so sweet and he lavished me with many wonderful gifts. I can't even begin to pick a favorite. Maybe the Open Heart ring by Jane Seymore (Kay's--you've seen the commercials I am sure!) but the fun "stuff" were the Wii games! Holy Moly! Crazy!
-My final FULL semester of Grad School at Walden began! When I realized I was almost done I wanted to dance!
-Work/school is busy--nothing new to report but the same old same old...Now we have a countdown until Spring Break...how many days is it???
-Puppies & kitties are well. Working hard on not letting the girls (dogs) dig out of the yard.
-We have enjoyed the craziest weather for SC in January. It's been downright cold! But then we have several days of springlike weather. No wonder people get sick. Before we know it our cars will look greenish-yellow and we will be sneezing like mad men!

As we look forward to the coming months and days, Erik and I will be planning for some wonderful time together. In February we are hoping to attend a Weekend to Remember Marriage Conference. I have heard this is a wonderful opportunity to re-connect and spend quality time together. Check them out on the web.
In June Erik and I will celebrate our 10th, yes ladies and gentlemen, our 10th anniversary. We will be going on a 6 night, 7 day cruise that leaves from Charleston, SC. Our ports will be The Bahammas and Key West. I can't wait! The fun thing is that we are going with several of my friends from work. We all have so much fun together so it will be a total blast! WooooHOOO! It's sort of my graduation/anniversary present. I think it's well deserved!

That's all for now! I will catch up with you again soon!

Christmas in Simpsonville

I got Dad this red nose. It blinks! We all took a turn with it! That's my hat Dad gave me last year!

Oh, Christmas Tree! Oh, Christmas Tree, how lovely are your branches!

Mom as Santa's helper

For the last 8 years, Erik's Mom (Sharyn), Dad (Gerry), his Aunt Michelle and Uncle Mike (and us of course) have gotten together for Christmas the weekend before. For the years Erik and I lived in Georgia, they met us there--Mom & Dad drove up, Aunt and Uncle drove down; sorta in the middle, well, kinda, if you consider that Georgia is certainly in the middle of North Carolina and Florida. Anyway, once we all moved to the same general area, the two of us here in the Blythewood and Mom and Dad in Simpsonville, we have taken turns about where we visit for our weekend. Mom and Dad had it this past weekend, but Aunt Michelle and Uncle Mike were snowed in under 15 in. of snow, so sadly, it was the Barlik 4. Erik and I arrived on Friday in the rain--it was just nasty if you ask me. We still weren't sure if aunt and uncle would come down on Saturday, so we had dinner and relaxed and watched a Christmas movie on tv. Saturday, upon finding out that 15 in. of snow causes you to stay put, the four of us solved Tiger Woods' problems and the rest of the world's too, and then ventured into Pickens Co. to go to Aunt Sue's, a little setup with shops and a resteraunt, which ended up being right at Table Rock. It was pretty quiet, just us for the most part; they were getting ready to close for the last 2 weeks of the year. We had lunch there; as a side note: usually you are told what the place has, Aunt Sue's had a list of what they DIDN'T have, they were getting rid of all of their parishables I guess. Anyway, we left and took the long ride back home and prepared for our Saturday evening ritual--dinner, game--sometimes cards (Hand and Foot) or more recently, Erik's version of Christmas Trivia Uno-Monopoly style, then presents.

On a serious note about this, God was really good to all of us this year and blessed us. Because of that, we received very nice gifts. We are thankful that God has provided for all of our families this year when so many have had very difficult circumstances. Erik and I were happy just to have the time with Mom and Dad. But we were showered with love and presents. I am thankful for in-laws who care so much and demonstrate the meaning of the season in more ways than one!

Anyway, here are a few pics that I took. They are silly, but we had fun!
I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

Us--we try to take a family picture each year. This year we had to figure out our timers. I think this is the only time we do this!

Merry Christmas!

So, all I gotta say is:

Christmas + Grad School + Work=one busy woman.

Catch up with you all during the break...

Love ya!