Our Magic Carpet Has Arrived!

For those of you who looked at the pictures from our cruise, you may remember that we purchased a carpet (rug) in Turkey. They said it would take 6-8 weeks to get to us. Add in the holiday shipping delays, and it took a little longer than that. But we finally have it! This is what the package looked like when it arrived. I'll never be able to get it rolled up like that again.

They had me sign the rug at the store so that we would know it was really the rug we selected.

This is a wool on wool blend. Apparently it is mid-range quality, as far as Turkish rugs go. The cotton rugs are lower quality and the silk rugs are the best (obviously). The quality of a rug is measured in how many knots are tied per square inch. More knots = higher quality. We were told that it took someone 10 months to make our rug.

The rug is still in our living room so we can admire it for a few more days. We'll have to wait until we have a house before we can leave it out for good. Oh wait, we do have a house. Someone else just gets to live in it instead of us. But I'm not bitter...

Party Time!

It's already been one week since Cory's birthday. Where does the time go?? Oh wait...I'm doing three people's jobs at work. There's no time for anything anymore. But I digress. Cory celebrated his birthday by going to the Packers' playoff game against the Cardinals. The Packers didn't win, but it was a great game!
Cory and Evan both drove semi trucks to Phoenix and Jordan hitched a ride. And no, I was not invited. :-)

Our celebration at home paled in comparison. Cory went to Mutual on his birthday and then he opened a few presents. My parents gave him a cover for his new chainsaw. Cory is so anxious to go out and cut something (anything!) down...

He also requested a book titled "Elk Hunting the West". This book now has a proud place in our bathroom. Happy birthday to my wonderful husband!

Homemade Bread

As far as successes go, this one isn't monumental. But it was still a pretty big deal for me so I figured I better document it for posterity's sake. After all, it may never happen again. I made my first-ever loaf of homemade bread and it was actually edible! My brother tells me that I am turning into my grandmother. I'll take that as a compliment, thankyouverymuch. I received a wheat grinder for x-mas so now I can make my own flour and my own bread. Sweet! I'm also going to try sprouting some wheat and then drying it and making my own wheat germ. I have a recipe book of all the things you can do with your food storage. If anyone has any suggestions, I would certainly love to hear from you.

Happy New Year And All That Jazz...

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and I wish you all a healthy and prosperous 2010! It has to be better than last year... Cory and I went to dinner with Jared and Camille last night and then we went to chaperon a youth church dance. I was highly entertained at the dance but I think Cory was about ready to slit his wrists. The techno beat and the songs from Beyonce and Lady Gaga about did him in. I would never want to go back and repeat those awkward moments at dances. The sweaty palms, trying to hide from the guy that you didn't want to dance with, everyone grooving to the fast songs and then running for cover (or back to your safe group of friends) when the slow songs came on, etc. Good times.

I'm slow at posting our pictures from Christmas, so here are a few of them. Ashlee and Emilee helped me pick out new Christmas tree decorations this year. Hooray! Thanks girls! The tree came down two days after Christmas...

Cory got a toolbox for the back of his truck. And he gave me some of my fine china dishes (but they are still somewhere in UPS-Land).

Cory also received a chainsaw for Christmas. Let's please all take a moment to make that grunting noise that Tim-the-Toolman-Taylor makes. :-)

Karen got a window-pane for Christmas. She is so creative - she can turn old stuff into something cute and fun!

I think this was Jaron's box of socks...

Jaron & Karen gave Cory a little pan so he can make his own eggs when we are camping. When we were camping this summer, Cory informed everyone that "a lot of good things come out of Marisa's kitchen, but eggs aren't one of them." *GASP* I know...it's a rookie husband mistake.

We stopped by Grant & Connie's house to open presents on x-mas night. They spoiled us rotten too! I took some pictures of the rest of the fam, but they didn't turn out. Dang!

Thanks to everyone for another great Christmas. We are very blessed and fortunate!