2008 In a Nut Shell...ok a LARGE Nut Shell...maybe a Coconut Shell?

In a Nutshell….

2008 was an interesting year. Words and phrases like ‘hockey mom,’ ‘Beijing,’ ‘Twitter,’ ‘staycation,’ Wii Fit,’ ‘The Dark Knight,’ ‘Ga$oline,’ ‘large hadron collider,’ ‘3G,’ ‘Bail Out,’ and ‘Change’ took on new meanings for most Americans.

At the end of each year, I try to spend some time reflecting on the past 12 months. I look at all of the marvelous things that have happened for us along with the disappointments as I prepare myself to move into the New Year with a fresh perspective and positive outlook. Each of the past several years have held great surprises, successes, experiences and joy along with time spent in the company of friends and family. We continue to face difficult times and make mistakes just like anyone else, but we try to focus on the positive and keep moving forward. 2008 was no exception.

WORK
As 2008 began, I left my job and started my own business. It wasn’t an easy thing to do as the economy declined rapidly the second half of the year, but I stuck to it and managed to keep moving things along. In March, Dennis said goodbye to AT&T’s Harvey garage as he was moved to Chicago Heights. With this change he found a much shorter commute to work and a lot more overtime availability. With all of this hard work under our belts, we met with a new financial advisor who has helped us to prepare better for the future and to refinance our home.

FRIENDS
We feel we are abundantly blessed with extremely good friends and are truly thankful for those relationships and companionship. Besides our frequent trips to Mi Ranchito with Nic & Rachele, we have been fortunate to enjoy many other great cuisines with friends throughout the year. My sister and I made a trip out to Tampa to visit with our oldest childhood friends Kim and Nikki. Steve & Angie built a beautiful new house and got married over the summer. We spent a rainy evening at the John Mayer concert with Doug & Amy. Jason & Lindsay come up from Alabama and spent a weekend with us. After three years, we finally had the chance to catch up with our friends Tony & Nicole and Nadene. Our circle of friends continued to grow as we attended a block party and got to meet many of the other people in our subdivision and became better friends with our neighbors Sean & Karin. Many of our friends welcomed new children into the world. Jen & Nathan now have a beautiful daughter, Gretchen. John & Robin have a beautiful son, Jack. Sarah & Jason were blessed with their little girl Cheyenne. And Dave & Janet just welcomed their little boy, Maxx. Matt & Tracy are expecting their first baby in March, Rich & Cindy are expecting a baby boy in April, and my cousin Jim and his wife Julie will be giving their son Jeffrey a new brother or sister in March. Our friends Christen & Mark welcomed a new puppy, Niko! Speaking of puppies, Kristin & Brandon have adopted a second puppy, Nike to be brothers with their golden retriever Hunter. And after losing their schnauzer Max, our friends Donna & Brandon brought home a new puppy named Murphy. We were blessed to have the opportunity to go to Florida and spend time with our friends Joe & Teresa and their amazing and beautiful daughter, Payton. On our way down, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner and night out with great friends Mark & Cindy in Georgia. We were lucky to see the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular with Fred & Cheryl and their family this Christmas. My friend and college roommate, Stephanie moved back to Chicago and started a wonderful new job working with special needs children. Beth passed the bar exam and started her work as a lawyer. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful and supportive friends who are so fun to be with. We always enjoy ourselves when we are in your company and we truly wish you all the best in 2009.

FAMILY
We were sad to lose Grandma Mary, Aunt Peggy and Uncle Jerry this year and hope that they are in a better place now. We were happy for the many wonderful things that happened for our families this year. Lisa bought her first house! Andrea & Pavel tied the knot! My mom celebrated her 50th birthday! We had a huge surprise party for Diana’s 60th birthday! Grandma B celebrated her 75th birthday and Grandma L celebrated her 80th! Dennis’s Uncle Dan & Aunt Bev came up from TX to visit along with his cousin Laura and her husband Jay and their 2 daughters. Emily received a promotion and is moving to Denver in January! Liz & Matt got engaged and will be celebrating their wedding in October. Dad & Diana have finally set a date for their wedding, April 4, 2009! Andrea & Pavel got a new puppy, Taz and Rick & Sonya got a new puppy, Lucy! Shelley moved into a new house and both Nathan and Tony are now in Catholic school full time! Traci & Adam bought a new house too! Greg & Linda have continued to be the best brother and sister-in-law you could ask for. Ray has gotten some medical issues taken care of and is now in much better spirits. Kenny has advanced his rank in the military and is continuing to serve our country on the John C Steinis aircraft carrier. Mark has gone back to school and is doing well and has introduced us to his new girlfriend Angela. We are so happy to have such a large family and hope that our family continues to grow!

US
We celebrated my 27th birthday in February with our annual trip to the Grand Geneva resort in WI. Dennis’s 31st birthday was in June and we celebrated with a pool party in our new back yard, complete with a privacy fence and an awesome deck. We did our fare share of motorcycle riding with our biggest trip being to Champaign and our worst injury being an enormous bee sting! We went to both White Sox and Bears games this year. We upgraded some of our hobbies with a great new fish tank in my office, an awesome new work computer for me (that Dennis is totally jealous of), and endless nights of video games and guitar hero. Dennis had his first jury duty experience, which he surprisingly loved! We took a few weekend trips to MI with our parents and siblings. We celebrated our 2nd anniversary in May and discovered a new favorite restaurant, “The Melting Pot”. The struggle to have a baby has been the most significant thing in our lives and it has continued. After almost 18 months of trying and no luck, we were overjoyed to learn that we were pregnant in October, but incredibly saddened with a miscarriage in November. Although it was just 7 weeks along, we had already been to Babies R Us and put together plans to finish the basement to make room for a much anticipated family. While it was a hard thing for us to go through, we now know we are more than ready to start a family and we were extremely happy to learn we could get pregnant without the help of fertility treatments. We are looking forward to 2009 with much hope that this will finally be our year to have a baby.

VETS & PETS
Not a month goes by that I am not overly thankful for pet insurance. All of our dogs have been to the vet a couple of times this year. The consensus is that Rusty is great but could lose a little weight. Belfry just keeps on ticking at the ripe age of 13 and besides a few ear infections she has been getting along pretty darn well. BamBam has unfortunately experienced a lot of problems this year needing surgery over the summer. Ultimately we discovered that he has a severe heart murmur and needs to be on medication for the rest of his life. He still is acting happy and energetic each day and luckily the vet says that he is not in any pain. Our little dogs bring a lot of unconditional love into our lives. Call us crazy, but we love them to pieces!

WRAPPING UP THE YEAR….
I have been thoroughly enjoying my iPhone, which is probably the best thing I have bought this year! (Much more fun than new tires for the truck or brakes on the car!). As 2008 closes, I am reminded of the many afternoons spent in the basement during tornado warnings, the Sex and the City movie, lazy afternoons spent in the pool with our nephews, what a bummer it was to find out we owed thousands of dollars in tax money and how “fun” it was to pay it back to the government with fines and penalties, learning how to post videos on my blog, watching Dennis leave to work hundreds of hours of overtime in the middle of the night, presidential debates, the Beecher holiday house-walk, my annual outing to Long Grove with Christen and Lisa, and laying in some stranger’s front lawn with Dennis to watch the 4th of July fireworks. As the year closes, I can say that I am happy. I am grateful. And I am ready for 2009.

We wish all of you a very wonderful, healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!

mmmmMelting Pot!

Sometimes it can be hard to shop for someone for Christmas, especially when it seems like they have everything they want. I thought long and hard about what to get my "step-dad" Dave for Christmas. Knowing that his favorite thing is spending time together with family and that he enjoys going out to eat, we decided to plan a dinner at The Melting Pot downtown. What could be better than a 3 hour dining experience in the company of family and great food! Dave brought along his camer and took some pictures of our dinner this past Monday night, Dec 29th.

The Melting Pot Fountain at the entrance of the restaurant.

Mom and Dave taking a look at the menu.

Den and I already knew what we were going to order!

Our waiter Chris was fantastic!

Here we all are ready to enjoy the main course after enjoying wonderful salads and cheese fondue along with a bottle of wine! Dinner was super tasty and we all had a great time. We can't wait to go back! If you have never been there, I highly recommend looking into it, especially for a special occassion.... www.themeltingpot.com

A Wedding!!!!

As most of you know, my mom & Dave have been a couple for years, as have my dad and Diana. For at least the past 5 years, I have referred to Dave and Diana's kids as my step-brothers and step-sisters. After so long, they really are like family to me and it's a heck of a lot easier to tell people "My step-sister is getting married!" than it is to say "My dad's girlfriend's daughter is getting married!" Well, at Christmas this year, Dad & Diana finally made it official. After 7 years of being engaged, they have set a date! They will be getting married on April 4, 2009 and we are all very very happy for them!

All of us kids have been harrassing them for a while to tie the knot. At our Christmas Eve party, Diana passed out Christmas cards to all of us. We all opened them at the same time to see this:


(In case you can't see it, it says "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, 2009 promises to be a special year because.....) Along with a family picture of us from Diana's surprise birthday party earlier this year. When we flipped the card over it had their wedding invitation!

Although none of us are really living at home anymore, except for Mark, we will now actually be the Brady Bunch of a family that we are. We are all very happy for them and cannot wait for the wedding. Diana has been a blessing in all of our lives. Her children, Liz, Emily and Mark are wonderful people as well. We are so pleased that we will officially all be family this April.

One more family party

I would venture to say that on Sunday the 28th, there were at least 50 people at my Dad & Diana's house for another family celebration...why another party? Well, Diana's wonderful sister, brother-in-law and niece drove in from Canada! We always have such a wonderful time with them. Andrea (Diana's niece) got a Wii as part of her Christmas bonus this year, which provided hours of entertainment at the party. It was great fun celebrating with everyone.

Emily "bowls" while Brian and Mark wait for their turns.

Me & Dad- I love the flip screen on my camera...it's great for self portraits like these!

Andrea looking at the craziness going on in the kitchen

Diana and her sister Jan

We are hoping to make it to Canada this summer to stay at Brian and Jan's lakehouse. We hear it is quite a blast and a great way to spend a few days relaxing!

Christmas at Mom & Dave's House

The day after Christmas we went to my mom and Dave's house for a family get together. We didn't take a lot of pictures, but here are a couple. I spent most of the evening sick, but it was still great to have everyone together in one place. Mom & Dave, Lisa & Doug, Me & Dennis, Greandma & Grandpa, Andrea & Pavel, Rick & Sonya, and Buttons & Sassy & Taz were all under one roof!

Sonya & Rick - sporting some new camping gear!

The mass chaos of gift opening in the family room!

Buttons in a box!

Entertainment Publications..update

Well, things have gotten worse regarding my experience with Entertainment Publications. Let me recap for you:

****UPDATE!***** Entertainment Publications has received 434 complaints at the BBB is the past 36 months - make that 435!

12/10/08 - placed order, payed standard shipping
12/18/08 - called company since order had not arrived, customer service rep cancelled out original order and placed a second order requiring me to pay for OVERNIGHT shipping. Company's website states that any order placed before 11am EST M-F will ship same day. (This costs me an extra $7.50 althoug the company is clearly at fault.)
12/19/08 - second order still has not shipped
12/20/08 - second order still has not shipped
12/21-08 - second order STILL has NOT shipped - WTF is up with the overnight shipping?
12/22/08 - second order finally ships
12/23/08 - second order arrives via UPS - We were cutting it close, but it did arrive before Christmas. Having taken 5 days to ship, I feel I was screwed out of $7.50 for so-called overnight shipping.
12/24/08 - UPS arrives with my original order that was placed on 12/10/2008 - with a quick check of my credit card statement, I see that I have been charged a second time for a second set of books that I do not need nor want.

12/27/08 - I call the company and they state that they can see this is their fault and that I will not be charged a restocking fee of $7.50 per book. They tell me to mail the books back and I will be refunded my $70 in 6-8 weeks!

I have now written a letter to the President and CEO, Mary Ann Rivers to let her know how disgusted I am with her company's incompetence and poor customer service. Upon speaking with a Customer Service Supervisor I am told that in reality it will be 10-14 days to receive my refund and that they just have to tell people 6-8 weeks because the US Postal System specifically takes a really long time when it comes to shipping things for their company. Apparently, he thinks I was born yesterday.

I urge you not to purchase anything from Entertainment.com or by phone. If you really want one of their coupon books, you can purchase it at Walgreens (I just found this out today) or through a fundraiser. I plan to take this up with the Better Business Bureau as well.

All Lit Up!

Here's one quick picture of the new lamp that Dennis got me for Christmas all lit up! Isn't it pretty?

Christmas Morning!

Since we live down the street from my in-laws, we usually go to their house early in the morning to watch the boys open their presents from Santa and to have a family breakfast. We return to their house for dinner in the afternoon while Dennis & Greg assemble new toys and take them for a "test drive" before our nephews play with them.

Tony got the Ben-10 watch he has been talking about for months. He was THRILLED! I have to say, I have learned about a lot of new things from these boys! Just a couple of years ago, I had no idea who Ben-10 was or what a Bakagon was and why would it have an arena? Toys sure have come a long way....especially video games....from when we were little!


Not only did Santa bring Nathan a PSP but mommy bought him the new Guitar Hero! Time to rock out Nate!

Dennis and Ray sit with Dad and open gifts in the morning. Ray is looking festive with a green bow on his head!

Time for mom and dad to open gifts!

As a special surprise, mom had this picture matted and framed for dad. This is a picture of a semi-pro football team that Dennis's great grandfather played for. His name was Otto Smith (Schmidt, changed to Smith when he came to the USA) and he is on the bottom right. This picture has been in the family a while.

Besides the many fun new gifts we got the boys, we passed along to them this miniature pool table. When I was little, my sister and I bought this pool table for my dad. Over the years, he has kept it in good shape but no longer has a use for it. The boys loved it!


Den and I on Christmas morning

Dennis and the boys setting up the pool table. Isn't it cute how they are all wearing Nintendo Pyjamas?

Greg & Linda arrive!

And now I begin my blogging! We got this awesome new Down Comforter from my in-laws for Christmas. Unfortunately I have spent all of Christmas sick with a fever, stuffy/runny nose, and lots of congestion. It feels good to sit in my PJ's and relax while Den enjoys his new PS3!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve has traditionally been spent with my dad's side of the family. 23 years ago, my Grandma and Grandpa Brewer moved from Riverdale to St. John. They were excited about oving into their new house as my Grandpa would soon be retiring. The new house had a great big yard where they planned to see their 7 gandchildren running around for years to come. As they setlled into their new home that fall, Grandpa declared that he would like to have a Christmas Eve party with the entire family. Unfortuately, Grandpa didn't make it to that party. He was killed in a traumatic accident while at work. The rest of our family did get together that Christmas Eve and has continued to do so every year. I can't speak for everyone, but for me, Christmas Eve is a good time to reflect on my Grandpa and the wonderful man that he was. Although I was only 5 years old when he left us, I have grown up learning about him, hearing stories about him and asking about him and thankfully I do have some very fond memories of spending time with my Grandpa. For the past 3 years, we have hosted Christmas Eve at our house. While it can be hard to get together a meal, etc. for 25+ people, I run around throughout the day and get things done for the party and as I run around doing these things, I think about my Grandpa and know that he will be with us that evening as he always is looking in on us. As I have gotten older, I have become more aware of the importance and significance of family in my life. I am so grateful for my family and for the times I get to spend with each and every family member.

Dad, Grandma and Diana, opening gifts...

Tony and Emily having a chat

Julie, Jeffrey (17 mos.) and Grandma.

Dad Smith, Shelley, Mom Smith, Dennis and Julie
(It has been a blessing to have my in-laws become a part of our annual family celebration as well)

Uncle Warren, Julie, Jeffrey, Grandma, Nathan, Dad, Diana, Dennis (Em's boyfriend), Emily, Angela - playing the ornament exchange /grab bag game

The party was great. This year we were lucky to have my Dad & Diana, Mark & Angela, Emily & Dennis, Lisa & Doug, Greg & Linda, Shelley, Nate, Tony, Ray, Mom & Dad Smith, Jim & Julie & Jeffrey, Linda & Warren, and Grandma over at our home. We love you guys!

Cheeker Deaker Christmas

Yes, I am sharing with you one of the many goofy names we have for each other...Dennis has been calling me "Cheeker" for a while claiming I have the most wonderful cheeks when I smile (Isn't he sweet?)...unoriginally, I have changed the CH to a D and called him Deaker...somehow it stuck. Anyway, with the enormous amounts of overtime he has been working, we decided to have our own little Christmas on the 22nd and open gifts then from each other. Good thing we did, becuase he was called into work on the 23rd and the 24th!

Dennis got me "the flip" camera ( www.theflip.com ) Our friends in FL have one and I really liked it. Basically, it is a small video camera that plugs directly into a USB port on your computer. From there, it is incredibly easy to share (and post) videos! Watch out...the blog might become more exciting in 2009!

He also bought be this beautiful lamp. There is a bit of a story behind this lamp. Every year, Dennis asks me what I want for Christmas. I am basically harrassed into giving him a list of things although I tell him that the one thing I really want is to be surprised. There is a little tea shop in Beecher that also sells antiques. I love this shop and go there often with my mother-in-law and whoever else I can get interested in having a sandwich and a cup of tea. Dennis has only been there with me twice since the place opened, but he remembered how I mentioned that I loved this lamp. For Christmas, he did surprise me this year..and that is the rest of the story
Dennis also bought me the book "Multiple Blessings" and the comfy blue robe I am modeling in the picture above.

Dennis was very happy to receive PS3 games and blue-ray DVD's.....

But he was even happier to receive a PS3 for Christmas. (A special thanks to Nic for helping me pick out the game and make the purchase. PS. Nic, I hope you are recovering from your grilled cheese injury and back to rocking out on the drums playing Rock Band!)

Ice Ice Baby

We experienced a big ice storm earlier this week. After the ice storm, temperatured plumeted to -9 (-27 with the windchill) and inevitable we lost our power for about 4 hours or so...not so bad...While I was cozy and warm in the house wrapping presents, etc. Dennis was called in to work several times to work on problem cell towers and T1 lines. He spent some time in the middle of a frozen field in Peotone trying to get a circuit back up and learned a new meaning to the word "cold." Here are a few pictures from our frozen days.....Winter has certainly come in like a lion!

No, that's not a blaket of snow, it is a sheet of pure ice!

Our mailbox!

Our frozen little tree in the front yard.

A couple of annual plants that usually come back each year....these grasses are completely surrounded by ice. It was pretty cool looking.

Trees all around town were bending over from the weight of the ice. Here are a few right outside our back yard.

Cookie Time!

On Tuesday, my nephews came over to bake Christmas cookies. I was surprisingly able to capture their attention for 5+ hours! Here are a few pictures from our baking extravaganza. In all we made about 100 chocolate covered cherry cookie, 100 peanut butter kiss cookies, and 100 christmas tree cookies!

Breaking the eggs to make the dough!


Adding the kisses to the warm peanut butter cookies! mmmmm....


Uncle D got home just in time to help us decorate the Christmas trees with sprinkles before we put them in the oven!


Nathan, enjoying a beater!

Tony, enjoying a beater as well....nothing like some good cookie dough!

JibJab

Since I posted our Elf Yourself dances, I have received many phone calls and emails of family and friends telling me how much they laughed and enjoyed the video....sooooo...I decided to make a few more Christmas videos starring you! Take a look below to watch some of them. We have:

Toy Makers: Starring my mom, Dave, Grandma & Grandpa, and Dennis

Decorating the Christmas Tree: Starring my mother-in-law Sue, brother-in-law Ray, sister-in-law Shelley, and nephews Nathan and Tony

Snowball fight: Starring me, Dennis, my brother-in-law Greg, Sister-in-law Linda, and nephew Nathan

It's a Wonderful Life: Starring my dad, Diana, Lisa, Doug, Mark and my father-in-law Ray.

Enjoy!

Toy Makers

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Decorating the Tree!

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Snowball Fight!

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It's a Wonderful Life!

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Shipping Scams of the Season

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy the holidays. While I keep in mind the true reasons for the season, I do get caught up in the hubbub of trying to buy the perfect gifts for my family and friends. I plan ahead, make lists, stock up on coupons and take advantage of offers on free shipping whenever I can. This year however, I experienced two shipping scams with two different companies.

#1 - HARRY AND DAVID
Every year I place orders for tasty gift packages to send to my long standing clients as a way of saying "Thank You" for their business. This year, I chose to send gifts from Harry and David. As emails flooded my inbox telling me to type in the code PRANCER at checkout to receive free shipping on any order over $100, I decided to get on the ball and place my order. I was planning to send gifts to 10 different addresses across the US. I selected my items and spent about an hour filling out personalized greeting cards for each order and entering in specific information for each of the 10 shipping destinations. Once I was ready to submit my order, a message came up saying that my order would be shipped on JANUARY 8th! Being that these are Christmas gifts, that would not do. I tried selecting an earlier shipping date, but a message came up saying that the items were not available before Jan. 8th. Frustrated, I called the company. After being on hold forever, I was told that my items were available, but only if I selected PRIORITY shipping which would cost an additional $13.75 PER ORDDER! Having no desire to pay an extra $137.50 I cancelled the whole thing and made my purchase elsewhere. I think it is complete crap that they tried to lure me in with their daily emails containing free shipping promises but then refused to deliver my product unless I paid priority shipping. I will not be using Harry & David ever again.

#2 - The Entertainment Book
I have an Entertainment Book and I love it. With thousands of coupons for restaurants, golfing, retail shopping and discounts on hotels and travel, it is well worth it's price and then some! I decided to order a few of these babies for gifts. On Dec 10th, I called into the company to place my order. I spoke with a nice guy from CT who was very thorough in looking information up for me and placing my order. He explained that all of my books would be shipped for $2.50 with standard delivery and I should receive them in a week. He also said that I would receive a confirmation email when the items shipped. As of today, Dec 18th, I have not received the books and I have not received an email. I called the company again this morning and they told me that they could see my order pending but that they had the wrong expiration date for my credit card and the order declined on Dec. 11th. I asked why no one called me to fix this problem and they had no answer except to say that that is not their policy. SO, to make a long story short, I had to resubmit my entire order along with my credit card number. However, this time around the standard shipping would not get the gifts to me on time. My only other choice was overnight shipping for $10. I complained and complained but they would not offer me free shipping or even the original $2.50 shipping. Not only that, but "overnight" shipping should really be called "over a few nights" shipping. The customer service rep told me that if I don't receive my books by the 22nd, I should give them a call! Unbelievable! Another shipping scam.

While I tried to plan ahead, I still got screwed. Now I am down to the wire. If these books don't show up on Monday I will be hitting the malls to find last minute gifts...just what I want to do. I was hoping to stay in and bake some freaking cookies! Oh well. At least I still have my blog where I can bitch about such nonsense and lure potential customers from falling for the scams of these loser companies and their little schemes with UPS. I bet they are getting a kickback on this Priority / Overnight Shipping BS....jerks!

Merry Christmas from The Smiths!

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