New Year’s Eve 2008.
Wow, another year gone.
Let me see….what went on in 2008?
Gary and I traveled to Arizona to celebrate
my father in law’s 80th birthday in January.
We welcomed a new family member (niece)
into the world….Reese, in February.
Traveled to Mexico Twice…
Once with Gary to Playa~
And once with my sister and her family
to Cabo in March (like the day after I
got home from Playa!)
Celebrated Tim & Laurie’s 25th Wedding
anniversary in April
And my 46th Birthday…
(thanks for the cupcakes Ron & Cindy!)
Birthday lunch with Jacquie at Redstone!
Visited my friend Megan in Chicago
I met Sam Puc of NILMDTS fame at her
Bellies and Babies Tour.
The wedding season hit in May
And so did Boo!
Born February 25th and he came to
be with Gary and I on May 5th.
More weddings in June
June was also a busy month for family.
My mom had back surgery and once that was
completed they hauled her back in for a
perforation in her bowel..NOT good.
Emergency surgery and nearly a month in
the hospital and the connected rehab
facility. My mom LOVES this photo! 
July brought with it many birthdays, the
MiracleKids Triathlon in Chanhassen, a HUGE
4th of July celebration at my sister’s
and the horrific loss of my beloved, Hobie.
At the age of 12, he was tired of the fight
with his colon and decided that he wouldn’t
leave us with the decision to put him down.
He passed peacefully on July 29th. We’ll miss
him forever.
August brought more weddings,
More High School Senior Portraits…
And my decision to go forward with my
SCUBA certification!
I’ll be all set this winter when I
return to Mexico! 
As August drew to a close, we all
wished G well as she headed off for
her freshman year at Missouri State!
Soon after, I opened a Facebook account so that
I could keep in touch with G while she was away.
The end of August, the RNC came to town and altho’
I was selected, back in January, by a firm out
east to assist in covering it, I declined in the
days leading up to the convention. I was thrilled
to be considered and I have the folks at Starkey
to thank!
September, Gary and I celebrated our 10th
anniversary with a night out..nothing big.
We decided that with the airfare being so
disgustingly outrageous (even to Chicago it
was about 800 bucks round trip!), our anniversary
could be just as easily celebrated her in
Minneapolis.
October is the busiest month for birthdays
in my family..starting with Gary. Therefore,
much cake was consumed in that month! UGH!
I met Jo Mosely, on Facebook after I opened
my account, through a colleague of mine.
We chatted it up for a few weeks online and
then I traveled to Albert Lea to meet her.
She has spent Thanksgiving with my family,
Christmas and now, at this very moment,
she is driving from Rochester, MN where she’s
just had a full body scan at MAYO and will
be joining Gary and I at the Hilton tonight
for the Miracles of Mitch Foundation’s 4th
Annual New Year’s Eve Gala.
October also marked another dark day for
Gary and I. 11 weeks to the day, after putting
Hobie down, we had to put our beloved Katie down.
Katie was Hobie’s sister, litter mate and I
held her as she went to sleep. It was horrid.
I am so thankful for Boo who was a gift from
my dear, dear sister, Anne…I love you Anne!
November…Election year, so no surprises
there…we are still awaiting the outcome
of the winner in the Senate race for Minnesota
between Rep. incumbent, Norm Coleman
and the DFL candidate (and it even pains me to
type his name here in my blog) Al Franken.
To date, they are separated by just 50 votes!
December…wow, how it flies by!
I opted out of cookie baking with my sister
this year. I won’t be making that same choice
next year, I actually missed that time with Anne.
Anne & Pete hosted Christmas Eve with the
whole Craig clan and friends (Freeses & Jo)
Gary and I hosted Christmas Day here with
his family and Jo. Yasuko and Mariko prepared
their famous Japanese stir fry. Soooo delicious
Also in 2008 countless NILMDTS sessions, countless
Minnesota Miracle weekends for cancer families
at the Hilton, countless makeovers for my hair
clients, countless bon fires out front with Gary,
countless get togethers with neighbors and friends!
if I’ve missed anything, I apologize. Clearly,
it’s been a big year!
I love all of you and I appreciate your dedication
to my blog even when it goes dark from time to
time. For those of you far, far away, please
continue to comment and for those of you that are
near, let’s make 2009 a time to make time to
get together more often. Besides, I need to get
out of the house on occasion!
Happy New Year to all!
Make all the changes you can so as to not regret
one single moment in the coming year.
See you at the Hilton!
Peace.
Snowfall was a bust.
I always feel like a kid on Christmas
morning when they forecast for a big
dump of snow overnight. I peek out the
bedroom window or head to the living room
to check out the massive white stuff.
Today, it was a bust. I hate that.
I think there is an inch of fluff. Just
enough to snarl traffic and track wetness
into the entryway when Gary brings in the
paper.
Last night Gary and I discussed our big
“snow day” plans…it included cuddling up,
popping some popcorn and watching movies.
Well, we will probably still do it but
it’s more fun when you know that you can’t
go anywhere because of the weather.
No matter, we will hit the gym and hang out
together today. That’s what Christmas break
is all about. Relaxing.
The tree may come down today too. Boo’s been
feeling a little displaced in that we had to
move is tower downstairs to make room for the
tree and extend the table for Christmas.
But make no mistake, he makes him self at
home no matter what.
I’ll head up to National Camera to see the
mighty Dave and get my images from him!
yay!
God Bless.
Where does the time go?
This has been a whirl-wind holiday season
so far. I don’t even know where to start.
Christmas..wait, was that already nearly
a week ago? That means that New Years Eve is
in 2 days, holy Hannah!
We all gathered at the Baker’s in Chanhassen
(my sister & brother-in-laws) for Christmas Eve
then on Christmas day, Gary and I hosted Gary’s
family here at our home.
My friend Jo came up from Albert Lea on Monday
and got in on all the Craig crazy goings on.
She even joined me on a Hilton greeting last
Friday.It was great having her here.
I’d be posting a ton of images but as fate
would have it I had to send my flash card out
to recover the files. Thank God that they were
all recoverable. I had 3 Hilton Families on there
from the day after Christmas and 2 losses for
NILMDTS on the same card. I never cried so hard
as I did when I discovered that. It was like I
suffered yet another loss.
But as God would have it, my good friend Dave
Johnson up at National Camera was able to recover
all of the images on that card.
Note to everyone….when you get an indication
that your card is corrupt, TOSS IT OUT! Do not
attempt to reuse it. It could and very likely
will corrupt again.
In my case it was the first time that I’ve actually
witnessed corruption and I’ll tell you what,
it ain’t fun.
That said, if you run into this sort of thing
with your digital files, contact me and I will put
you in touch with someone who can help.
It’s expensive in a lot of cases but well worth it.
I’ll be picking up my CDs tomorrow with the files
on them and returning the CF card to B&H out in
New York.
Today, Gary and I attended a funeral for a father
of a friend of ours, Randy Blackowiak. It was sudden,
a heart attack they think. His father was 75.
His mother passed away about this same time 4 years
ago…Randy now hates Christmas. God Bless you all.
The big New Years Eve Gala for the Miracles of Mitch
Foundation is just 2 days away! Come and Join us!!
I’m off this week and plan to relax (outside of
the New Years Eve Gala) then like everyone else,
I will hit the gym…two months until Mexico! yikes!
I’ll post a ton of images after I get those images
back in my hand!
God bless!
WOW is it COLD!
I am soooo, soooo sorry for not blogging.
Bad blogger, BAD Blogger, BAD BLOGGER!!
It is so cold here in my house this morning.
Furnace is set to 68 but it’s 61. CRAZY!!!
So why is it that in like March when it’s 60
we run around outside in t-shirts and shorts
and today, in my home I’m wrapped up like an
eskimo and I have to continually re-heat my
coffee? BRRRR!
I tried to wrap some gifts last night while
Gary was watching the Cowboy’s vs the Ravens
but Boo had other plans. It’s seriously like having
a child…I’ll have to wait until he is napping!
I am going ice skating with Owen today.
I’m very excited. He’s been taking lessons!
I think that Jo has decided to come up here
tomorrow…maybe Tuesday. Both Albert Lea and
here have been getting dumped on simultaneously
the past few days so 35W is quite treacherous!
I’ll feel better having her drive up tomorrow.
Stay indoors if you can!
A Week Away.
So, Christmas Eve is a week away.
Are you ready? I am. Gifts nearly wrapped
and house is almost ready for guests.
Now is that time of year that I gear up
for my hair clients and get everyone
beautiful for Christ’s birthday!
I’m feeling much better today.
I tell ya what…all I’ve done is take a
shot of Nyquil at night and that’s it.
This cold is only 3 days old and it’s
almost gone! I tried this the last time
(not taking a bunch of over the counter
stuff) and I have sailed through. Try it
next time you get that scratchy, tight
throat thing comin’ on.
Still cold. Blah, blah, blah…yea, well,
it’s Minnesota and it’s DeCEMBER!!!! No kidding!
I’m going to be off from the 24th of December
through the 5th of January. Just takin’ some
time off. Gary and I need some down time!
I’m looking forward to it.
Gary’s all done working and has been since
Thanksgiving and it’s been nice seeing heim
around the house! I hope he feels the same
about me during my time off!
Keep cuddling and I’ll see you tomorrow.
How Goes the Battle?
Well, we are battling more nuisance snow,
the kind that just mucks up traffic,
super cold temps and I have my 2nd cold of
the season that has barely begun.
And NO, I did not get a flu shot nor will I.
I’m resting a lot and thankful that I shopped
early when it wasn’t so darn cold.
The inquiries are beginning to come in for the
upcoming wedding season and at a time when
you don’t even want to go outside, I find my-
self thinking of spring, summer and fall 2009
weddings. Sure, it doesn’t take the snow away
but, remember, I LIKE the snow! The cold? Not
so much.
This is the week that typically is slated for
hair and lots of it. We ladies like our fresh,
holiday hair! That reminds me, I should have
made an appointment for mine! YIKES! Looks like
I may get the Christmas bang trim again.
What is it that they say about the cobbler that
goes barefoot? Yea, that’s pretty much me! :\
Boo has a new box to play with (thanks to Amazon)
and I think he is finally “over” the whole
Christmas tree thing (yay!). He’s our little
gerbal and likes to chew paper, however, so my
nice, new paper that I got from Provisions
is in jeopardy and that sucks! I can’t leave my
lovely wrapped gifts out under the tree cuz the
little JOY in my life likes to chew! Turd.
Our friends Matt, Jenny, Olivia and “Bucket’s” (their
new dog) come home this Saturday from Holland.
They’ve been there on business for 2 years.
I have something new for you to do. I recently
photographed a mom’s belly and her family knowing
that her son “Luke” would likely not survive this
pregnancy.
Well, Luke is a mighty boy and is struggling
to hang in there. Please visit their newly devised
Caring Bridge site and Pray for and follow the
progress thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Here’s Luke’s CB Site.
Stay warm.
Today's High…a New Low.
I think it’s about 12 below. The high today
will be about 2 below which means get ready for
the 10 degree warm up! Yippee!!
I spent the night at my sister’s last night to
get the girls on the bus today.
6 o’clock alarms are NEVER good and especially
when you are sick. I barely slept last night so
the train wreck that I felt like yesterday will
definitely spill over into today, no doubt.
Emily’s gone, I drove her to the bus stop and
sat with her until it came (way too cold to stand
outside and wait for a bus!) and now I’m going to
go wake Amanda and get her going.
I’m supposed to be going to my first ever board
meeting with the TCPPA 2009 group but I just can’t
even think about going…I feel like a pitrie (SP?)
dish!
That’s it for now….BRRRRRR it’s cold.
Back in EP.
It was almost 40 degrees yesterday!
Jo and I did a little shopping in Albert Lea
and then I headed back up 35W.
Fighting a sore throat all day I decided
that I would lay down once I got home
and by the time I woke up I could sense a
cold settling in. Dang it!
We did manage to walk down to Ron and Cindy’s
last night for a little Holiday Cheer but
I knew that this cold was inevitable.
I didn’t sleep well and by morning I was sunk.
I beat a cold the last time by not taking
anything (NyQuil one night). It seemed to run
it’s course much quicker. Try it sometime!
This go ’round, however, I have to go to my
sister’s and sit with her girls tonight as
they are in Arizona visiting friends and
attending the Cardinals/Vikings game at the
very cool Glendale stadium!
Anne’s never seen it. It’s pretty cool!
It’s raining here today. Niiiiiice.
It feels like March. Strange weather.
No matter, the bottom will fall out soon.
I have a really big week coming up and I really
would rather be feeling well but I guess we’ve
all been there, right? I’ll just walk around
with Purell in my pocket and Kleenex in the car.
enjoy your Sunday!
Albert Lea II.
Well, actually I have come down here 3
times but only twice I’ve stayed over night.
This time I left Boo at home 
Too much
bother.
A chilly drive down here but the drive seems
to go quicker and quicker each time I come
down.
We ate dinner at a crummy Mexican restaurant.
Casa Zamora…never go there! We hit another
one the last time I was down that was in
town and it was fabulous!
This one was horrid…tan refried bean sauce
poured over everything..gross, colorless and
flavorless. Sadly, for the residents here,
it was PACKED, as if everyone thinks that’s
what Mexican food should taste like. No bueno.
We are going to go into town and hit a few
stores. I have some things I need to exchange
that I got a few weeks ago.
Breakfast is smelling mighty nice. Fuel for
the day. Turkey sausage (yum) and eggs.
I brought along my press and some Dunn Brother’s
beans cuz Jo’s not a fan of the Joe.
Sittin’ hear in my blue snowflake “Grandma Pants”
and Jo in her pink camo one’s that I got for
her when she came up for Thanksgiving.
Just having a leisurely Saturday morning. Nice.
More later…..
Busy, Busy, Busy…..
I’ve been running and running and working
and working….now I’m going to head to Albert
Lea to visit Jo and her kitties.
I’ll post from there.
All is well here.
