A's 25 Random Things...

1. I have a HUGE sweet tooth (no secret there)!

2. My favorite movie of all time is Empire Records - "damn the man!" And my favorite TV show is King of Queens, even though I've probly seen every episode 3x.

3. Im' a big sap at heart - I will cry at any sad movie - but only when I'm alone... I try not to show that weakness in public.

4. I like to make plans for everything and hate leaving things up to "chance". If I could plan everything I would - just to have control.

5. I'm a bona fide perfectionist... it's both a blessing and a curse.

6. I love to sleep in, even if I'm already getting more than 8 hours of sleep.

7. I hate working out, but feel that as I get older I need to stay fit so I can live a long, happy life.

8. I always wanted to be popular in high school, but later realized that I would rather have a few very close friends than to have everyone like me and not have any sense of friendships.

9. I used to scrapbook... A LOT. And I miss doing it. But it's also so much work!

10. I don't have a very green thumb... I only have one plant, a corn plant - and even that I can't remember to water very often (so I got Aqua Globes... and I forget to refill those too).

11. I like to try cooking new recipies that I haven't made before, and Paul is so good about eating it even if it's not that great.

12. I like to bake, but always feel guilty when eating the cakes, cookies, and breads because I know what went into them.

13. I love spending money on "kitchy" decorative things. My house is full of them, and then I'm constantly trying to buy more things to organize them.

14. I like to use my creative design skills to help my friends in their own homes... whether it's paint selection, art shopping, or designing a whole baby nursery.

15. I can Photoshop really well and I like working on it - I have fooled many with my super-impositions (if that wasn't a word, it is now).

16. I get really bad cluster headaches that last for several days at a time - I have to take 3 Excedrin just to make it through the day, and even then, they don't fully go away - I wake up with them the next day.

17. You might call me a "pack rat"... I save EVERYTHING.

18. I wish I made more money, so that I could take some of the pressure off of Paul.

19. I want to get a Shih Tzu puppy, but am afraid I could not care for it right (if it's anything like a corn plant)... so instead we have a Beta fish (and Paul takes care of it).

20. I want to have kids one day, but am afraid my "life" will be over once I do.

21. I currently don't attend a church, although I am a Christian. I love the Lord, I pray every day, and I have faith that things will always work out for His perfect will and purpose.

22. I have often wondered what my life would be like if I had done just one small thing differently - like gone to a colllege out of state, or travelled abroad for a year, or gotten a big-time design job just out of school...would anything be different?

23. I miss my friends and family back home in WA state. I thought we would have moved back there by now, but with the economy rut we're stuck in, it's looking like a long way off.

24. I'm in love with Dave Matthews - he'd be my "one night pass", and Paul's OK with that... I think.

25. I love my husband more than words can say (and more than Dave), and the life that we've created togeher.

Just for mom...

I know, blogging 3 times in one day?!?!?!?!

(Click to enlarge)

This is the temporary spot for it... it's been on the wall since mid-December when I decorated for C-mas. It looks real good next to all my nutcrackers and garland there, but I don't know if I'll like it there once the nutcrackers are put away. I'll keep you posted, as we're probly putting it all away this weekend. :) Love you!!!

Posted by: ~Shaboo*

2008 TEST

Match the headline event to the month it happened in 2008 (sorry I can't format it like a matching game in here...). Try to do it without looking them up online:

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY
AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER

• Detroit Red Wings defeat the Pittsburg Penguins to win the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals 4-2
• Democrat Barack Obama wins the 2008 US presidential election, making him the first African American president
• Starbucks announces it will close 600 underperforming coffee shops in the US
• NY Giants defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII
• The Games of the XXIX Olympiad commence with the Opening Ceremony in Beijing
• OJ Simpson is sentenced to 15-33 yrs. in prison for kidnapping & robbery of 2 sports memorabilia dealers in LV casino
• The Olympic torch relay for the 2008 Summer Olympics began in Olympia, Greece
• Sichuan province in China suffers an 8.0 magnitude earthquake, killing at least 69,000
• Philadelphia Phillies win the 2008 World Series 4-1, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays
• Delta Airlines takes over Northwest Airlines and creates the worlds largest airline company
• Actor Heath Ledger of Australia dies of a medicine overdose
• Crude Oil drops below $100/barrel for the first time since February, and gas prices drop to under $4/gallon

I will post the answers later this weekend. :) No, there is no prize - except a virtual *hug* from me!

Posted by: ~A*

The countdown is over...

HAPPY 2009 everyone!!

OK, so we all know that things don't always go excactly as we've planned. I had all these grand ideas (including a game to play) and great menu foods ready (including cheese fondue and a chocolate fountain)... well, it's a good thing that most of the stuff I was making don't require a lot of prep time, and as a professional procrastinator, nothing had started being prep'd by the time the cancellations starting ringing in. My neighbor Sara got strep throat that day, Trisha wasn't feeling well and went to bed early, and Crystal got sick the night before with a flu bug. So that took 3 couples / 6 people out of the expected guests list.

Our close firends, Brian and Danielle showed up around 7:30, and by that time I had already changed out of my "dressy" clothes, and into something much more comfortable and casual, since I was upset and didn't feel the need to be a "fancy hostess" any longer. So instead of the whole lot of food I had ready to go, we just had a few bites to eat (mini quiches, mini crabcakes, BBQ lil' weenies, cream cheese & pepper jelly dip with pretzels, etc.) About an hour later Mike, Lisa and Vinny (3 yrs. old) showed up and they were able to stay until about 10:00. We entertained Vinny with some Mario Kart Wii and Monsters, Inc. until he just couldn't last any longer!

After Mike & Lisa took off to put Vinny to bed, I brought out some chocolate fondue, since I wasn't doing the fountain. We dipped away with strawberries and bananas, brownie bites, and smores makings... the dish you can't see had pretzels in it. YUM!!!

Paul & Brian

Danielle & Alicia

After our champagne toast and watching [poor] Dick Clark on the New Year's Eve Countdown, the boys went out on the deck and enjoyed some cigars while D and I stayed in and did what we do best - talking and sipping champagne! We also enjoyed a little Wii Fit, and my favorite new Wii game, Animal Crossing!

So all in all, it was a good New Year's. I guess if you're going to have a party and only a few people show up, it is good to have it be your best friends that show up. :P

Posted by: ~A*

Merry Ho Ho's & Happy Ding Dong's!!

WOW! It has been an eventful week!

Well, if you haven't seen it or yours was lost in the US mail (as many things have been so far this season)... here is our Christmas Card this year. Since you can't read the bottom corner, it says:

"Wishing you the very best of

everything this holiday season.

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

~Paul & Alicia Jacobson"

Well, we have had 3 days of Christmas this year, because we were sticking to the typical "McClees" tradition of Christmas Eve gift opening and "Jacobson" tradition of Christmas morning gift opening and dinner celebration. Well, due to the blizzard conditions in the great white north (aka Seattle), Steve & Kerry's flight got cancelled and John & Mark no longer wished to drive in the weather's dangerous conditions... so we sent gifts up to them and vice versa their gifts were sent down here - but they didn't show up until today. As soon as Paul got home from work, he wanted to open more gifts and have our "third Christmas!!" Not only that, but yesterday we had a full on turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and Uncle Jim, Aunt Judy, and Auntie Michaele came over to enjoy it with us!

CHRISTMAS #1 - "McCLEES CHRISTMAS" - Christmas Eve night

Tree photo #1

Really mom? Cashmere? Mmmmm... so soft!

Legos and Wii! Nothing goes better together!

Wii game, DVDs, and new cozy PJs!

Some light reading... OK, so some of us do more intellectual reading than others... :P

CHRISTMAS #2 - "PandA CHRISTMAS" - Christmas morning

Tree photo #2

She looks like a pink nightmare!

Paul looks like a happy 8 year old, opening up his Zune MP3 player!

And Alicia looks like a 3 year old, opening up her Wii Fit from Santa!

Christmas breakfast with danishes - ham in the eggs - a new twist to the ol' favorite

Playing with our new Wii toy

Holiday PJs, toes, fingers, and Wii Fit balance board

CHRISTMAS #3 - "JACOBSON CHRISTMAS" - Earlier today, the 26th

Mmmm... birch bark!

Tree photo #3, after boxes arrived today! ;)

Hung the stockings back up with care

Discontinued balls...

Wii game (a penguin one from Mom 0024, imagine that!) and DVDs

Paul's new Man Utd jersey

Opening the last gift... finally! ;)

Well God (and Santa!) has been very good to us this year. Even though I was laid off from my job and the economy / interior design business is down the drain, He had a plan to give Paul a new job and managerial position to balance out the loss we were feeling in my salary. Through his new job, we were also blessed with health insurance (very important to me) and a transportation allowance. On the side, we were still able to afford the mortgage on our home, plus we even started up life insurance this year (wow, we are so becoming adults!). Also, thank you to everyone for all the Christmas gifts! We will enjoy them, and hopefully you'll do the same with what we sent you! :)

So rather than looking back on the year and regretting what we didn't have, we are counting our many blessings! We hope your year has also been as much of a blessing to you and your family, and truly cannot thank everyone enough for being such an important part of our lives and support in this last year. To celebrate, we are having a small, casual get-together on New Year's Eve with some close friends, couples, and their kids that live around in our area. I'm sure the Christmas meatballs and BBQ Lil' smokies will be making an appearance as well as a bottle or two of Asti (my fave)! :)

We hope your Christmas was all that you wished for and full of family & friends!

May 2009 bring you much peace and prosperity, health and happiness!

(Will post photos from our New Year's Eve party

after it happens next week... so stay tuned!)

Posted by: ~A*

What Christmas is all about...

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And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Luke 2:8-14

Merry Christmas to us, Merry Christmas to us! (to the tune of Happy Birthday)

So, we were going to keep this a secret until my parents got into town, but Mother Nature seems to have conspired against us... so the secret must be let out!!!

Remember those really bad Lexus commercials where a car is on the driveway Christmas morning, and everybody thinks "Who buys a car for Christmas???" We always asked the same thing... but apparently, WE DO!!!! Meet the newest addition to the Jacobson family - our 2007 Volvo XC90, Sven/Glenda (There's two names because it has both a male and female voice on the GPS). In fact, we might just call is Svenda (who am I kidding, we already call is Svenda!).

In a time of epic financial difficulty for the country, this is my company's newest attempt to save the economy. Who cares if Obama or McCain won, consumerism is the biggest victor!

Initially, we were looking to get an S60, the rental car I loved so much on our last trip up north, but we fell in love with the SUV when we got on the lot (I know, I know, stupid Americans and their huge cars.) We had to get one with a special package that folds in the side mirrors automatically to fit it easily in our little garage, so the manager offered to go buy one just for us at the auction! He went out with our Christmas wishlist and found us exactly what we were looking for, and even added heated seats for fun! A didn't think that she needed heated seats, but then she sat down on them for the first time, and now they're her favorite feature. Imagine that.

Now A has all the space she needs to put tables, artwork, and helper monkeys in the back, and with the prices of SUVs these days, it cost the same as a sedan made a heck of a lot more sense.

So, this is our Merry Christmas to us! I guess we'll be getting rid of the Honda, she has served me well. I'll miss her and her two doors that were impossible to get into and out of in the garage, and the hole in the arm rest, and the inability to tell me how fast I'm going or how far I've gone, and the... well, you get the picture. I'm sure she'll serve some 16 year old well until she goes the way of the Yugo.

Until next time, stay classy Stockholm.

Posted by PJ