I’m still here!
Whew tho, I have a lot of catching up to do over the last couple of months. So I’ll try to make it as brief as possible.
November was pretty packed, as I was learning a lot (in school) about using the paintbrush and tools in Photoshop. That’s when things began to fall off my plate. Like the blog, unfortunately.
And things were added to my plate.
I joined the girls for a day trip up to Rogers Gardens. It was great way to step away from my school work. It was the best distraction and just what I needed to kick off the Christmas season.
After my much needed day away, it was time to refocus on school work. The image below is one of the two paintings I finished in Photoshop.
Then Thanksgiving rolled around. We dined at the Hotel Del.
The view from our table.
Everything was cooked to perfection.
After dinner, we watched some ice skating beneath the blue sky and palm trees.
And we took a selfie to remember the day.
Then it was time to plan for our annual Christmas party. Hors d’Oeuvres, dinner, white elephant gift exchange, and a bonfire with s’mores – those were the highlights of the party. But it was our friends that made the party so special. If I remember correctly, we had 14 guests in all.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take that many pictures. But the Starbucks mug with gift card was a big hit.
By this time, the month of December was in full swing. And the churn of my busy schedule kept right on churning.
We had a lot of rain and I found that to calm my nerves as I planned my next and final school project. I had to give a speech. There was a lot of planning and the hubs helped out so much with my powerpoint presentation. He’s the BEST! Then I rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed some more. Finally the day came (mid December) and I was ready to present to the class my evolution and passion for art From Crayons to Photography.
And then, as time marched on, we only had one weekend to do our annual Christmas newsletter. I was inspired after all the rain to take an image of our ornament in a puddle. Turns out, we liked it so much that we made it our 2014 Christmas card. The only regret, we did not have a lot of time to review our newsletter and we found some type o’s. For shame!
Finally, we got to relax while the December dust settled. And I found the time to put my nose in a book called Delicious by Ruth Reichl. What a great read!
Our dear neighbors brought the most delectable plate of homemade yumminess over on Christmas Eve. What a treat!
Soon it was time to celebrate Christmas.
The hubs and I, along with our friend went back to the Hotel Del for Christmas dinner.
The image below was taken on our stroll along the pacific after dinner.
I kicked my shoes off to enjoy the soft sand between my toes.
And to check out this sandcastle.
A close up – it truly was a marvelous work of art, all the way around.
Our friend came back to the house to spend the late afternoon and early evening visiting. And we watched The Christmas Story together.
Then, the hubs and I found ourselves alone and made a mad dash for jammies!
Our Christmas picture later that evening.
On the day after Christmas, we decided it was time to put all the decorations away for another year. It actually took 1.5 days to get everything put away, cleaned up and back to normal.
The only thing resembling Christmas, are the candy-canes tucked in the bud vase.
I’m ready for the New Year. And ready to add more things to my plate. Like family/company coming from Alaska this weekend and the blog and other things of importance.
Until next time – Happy New Year and many blessings to you this year…
Blessings – Debbie