Yup, we're still around...

So I haven't posted any updates in a while... a long while!  Here is where we all are here in 2011...

Joey is doing the same work he has been.  He returned from his first big deployment as a diver in September 2010, and we were so very glad to have him back!  He got right back into family life and has been enjoying his time at home since then.
Shalynn graduated last May, worked hard to pass three different exams and earned her RRT.  She is now working at a local hospital, and aside from the early mornings - enjoys her new work.
Annabella started kindergarten September 2010, and has been doing well.  She loves her class and is reading, spelling and doing addition and subtraction like a champ.

The new year will bring many new and exciting things for us, as we are expecting a new addition to the family.  Yup, Annabella is going to be a big sister around July 9, 2011!

Whoo, hoo - here's to a good 2011 for us ALL!!!

Vacuum review AND Giveaway...

Ocassionally I come across some really neat things... and giveaways that I have to share.  Here is another:
Just for Me...and You's Frosty Festivities is giving away a FREE Hoover WindTunnel T-Series Vacuum

I don't have one, but Just for Me...and You does - and did a review... so now I want one.

According to the review and information available from Hoover, it has many of the features we all love in our current vacuum and more:

• bagless, but this one looks so much easier to empty then what I deal with now
• 27-foot power cord... that you don't have to wind
• all the tools and attachments, plus a special attachment you can use for furniture or stairs
• carpet height adjustment has 5 settings including one for bare floors, so I can use it upstairs on the carpet and downstairs on the wood floors... love it
• The filters can be cleaned with water, and the system check light will tell you when your vacuum needs attention.

So if you are like me and now in love with a vacuum, check out the giveaway information and see if you can win one for yourself... or just buy it.

Bring it on 2010

We made it!  Back from our trip and through the holidays, that is.  This year we drove over the river and through the woods to my in-laws for the holidays.  We were in Houma, Louisiana for Christmas and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi for New Year's.  We had a great time, but are glad to be back home in our own cozy beds.
On a sad note, my Great-Grandmother passed away January 4th - a sad start to the new year.  We will miss her greatly and are fortunate for all the years we have had her with us.  Rest in peace Grandma Jacobson, we love you.
As for the rest of 2010, our little family has a lot of changes and new things headed our way.  I will be in California for my best friends wedding toward the begining of the year.  Joey will be deployed for the first time oversea as a diver... and for the first time since we have been together.  I will graduate as a Respiratory Therapist, and after some exams will have some fancy letters behind my name -RRT.  Hopefully no later then August I will start working again. Annabella will turn 5 and start kindergarten this year as well.  We are excited for the many new adventures all of us will face in 2010!!

Happy New Year to all.

He's home!

Thank goodness he's home... Joey (my husband) that is.  It's been a hectic month and a preview of what deployment time will be like.  In the last month he's been home four times, never for more then 24 hours.  He wasn't able to communicate with me at all, so we couldn't plan anything for the short visits home.  When he came home this last time Annabella (our 4-year-old daughter) asked, "are you going to be home a lot of hours this time?".  Fortunately, he was able to say yes... for now.  We're definitly going to need to work something out for keeping in touch when he leaves for deployment - any suggestions?
Until he leaves we treat each minute we have together a little more special then we used to...