Amanda and Trevor (check out her engagement ring)

Christmas 2004

Christmas Day was quite fun. Cullen and I got the game Abalone. I won one game and Cullen won the second. It was fun. I am going to get real good so I can beat my dad. He is very good at that game so I have a hard time winning.
Cullen and I also got a Conure for Christmas. Her name is Madie and she is very sweet. She loves to sit up on your shoulder and give kisses. Her favorite food is peanuts.
Oh and I also got a karaoke machine. I have a horse voice still but next week my voice should be good and I can sing my heart out. Cullen got me a CD with country songs. I will enjoy that. Oh, and if I want I can record myself on a videotape (but I don’t think so).
My sister, Amanda also got engaged. Her ring was on the Christmas tree (a nice way to propose). She plans to get married in the summer of 2006. Well, we got several other nice things and had fun opening all of them. Tonight we are going to have a ham, with some other yummy food. Then off we go to the airport to pick up Cullen’s mom and sister. Overall, it was a great Christmas to have for my first married Christmas.

It's Madie! 

How To Have A White Christmas Without Snow

Instead of having snow for Christmas you can do what I did today. Well, first pretend you are cleaning the kitchen. Second, pick up the container that holds your flower. Third, gracefully drop the flower on the floor. Finally, take a broom and sweep the flower up, but in this process miss most of it, so that the flower is covering more of the kitchen floor than when you dropped it. Presto, you have a white Christmas without snow.

Hot Water, Cold Water, Hot Water, Cold Water, Hot Water…

Well, the hot water is back again! Thank Goodness for that. I got a shower before it decided to freeze. Cullen is still at work. I wonder if the water will still be hot when he gets home. I would laugh if we lost our hot water again and Cullen hadn’t gotten his shower. It would be sad for him though. Hopefully our hot water will stay hot.

Cold Water Alert!!!

Well, the water turned cold last night again. There are maintenance workers trying to fix it, but nothing has happened yet. So, I am stuck with washing my hands in freezing water. Oh, and it is 19 degrees outside. I can see my breath! You know if a blind person can see their breath it has to be cold. Cullen headed off to work but he gets off today at 7:30pm so we will be able to do some stuff together before heading to bed.
Cullen and I decided to start the tradition of reading “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” by Barbara Robinson, seven days before Christmas. There are seven chapters in the book so we are reading a chapter a night. It is a nice book to read for Christmas. Tonight we will read chapter three.
Oh, and we are very excited, Cullen’s mom and little sister are flying in Christmas day! We haven’t seen them in some time, so it will be nice. This is the first Christmas that Cullen won’t spend it with his family. Well, I am family, but I mean his mom and dad and siblings. Cullen has two sisters and a brother. They are all in Florida. It is sort of funny all my family is in Idaho and his entire family is in Florida. Let me tell you, Cullen and I got engaged and not less than a month later my dad said he was moving to Idaho, so there goes my family. Then, Cullen and I get married and right before we get married Cullen’s parents put their house up for sale. Is this a coincidence, I think not. Everybody just picked up and left. I guess I tormented them too much. I am just kidding. My dad was planning to go to Idaho he just did not know when until after we were engaged and Cullen’s family was planning to go to Florida for a long time. It is just the way things worked out, I guess. The good thing is that it has made Cullen and me more independent. Well, that’s it for now. I will let you know when we get our water back again.

Oh Goody, Snow and Hot Water!

Yea! It is snowing!!! The first snow of this season! Maybe we will have a white Christmas. Then Santa will have no problem getting here!
HO! HO! HO!

Our hot water is back. I am so happy! Oh, the joy of hot water.

Top 10 things I would miss if there was no hot water forever

Hot baths
Hot showers
Hot Chocolate
Hot coffee
Hot Tea
Washing my hands in hot water
Cooked spaghetti
Cooked Macaroni and cheese
Clean dishes
Hot Tubs

Can I Come and Take a Shower at Your House?

Well, this morning was fun. We did not have any hot water. Cullen and I both wanted showers though. I was the smart one, or you can say the one who is too chicken to take a cold shower. We took out four pans and boiled hot water for my bath. The water level was lower than I like, but it was much better than taking a cold shower. It was like going back to the time when people had to bathe with boiled water or they would have a cold bath. It was sort of exciting. Cullen on the other hand is not crazy about baths and decided he was going to grin and bear it. He took a shower and it was so funny! Outside the bathroom door I could hear him squealing from the cold. It sounded just like a pig that someone was trying to catch. Well, except for the fact that Cullen was going toward the thing he did not want to touch and not away, like the pig would. I was laughing! It was a good thing our apartment heating worked. If not I think Cullen would have stayed an ice cube. Oh, in my defense I still have a cold so a cold shower would probably make me sicker.
Cullen called maintenance and they said the water would be back to normal in a couple of hours. So, hopefully tomorrows shower will be much warmer!

My Job

Today I cleaned up the apartment a little. It is hard to do house cleaning when you don’t feel good. The mess was making me more uncomfortable than my cold though. I would not say I am a neat freak but I like some kind of order. Well, to get back to the point I decided to clean up instead of rest. I have many things on my mind. One of those things is a job. My field counselor sent me a few emails on jobs that she has found and I think that getting a job would be great. I just don’t want any of the jobs that are available. I guess that is how it is for most people. I want a job where I can help people. I am just not sure how I want to help them.
With all this focus on a job I have a hard time enjoying the time I have now, when I am not going to work each day. It seems to me that you are judged on the job you have, or in my situation the job I don’t have. On top of feeling judged on my job situation like everyone else I feel like I have to prove myself because I am blind. I sure don’t want anyone to think that I am incapable of being a productive human being. I do plenty of work each day, but it is house work, like cleaning and the bills. These things would not get done if I don’t do them, because Cullen says he is tired from working all day. Now I ask you if I get a job and decide that I am too tired to clean the apartment after I get off work, who would clean the apartment?
I don’t mind cleaning our apartment or doing the bills. I just want to be happy with what I am doing instead of what I am not. I am tired of feeling like the world is nagging me to get a job. Plus, there are so many benefits to staying home. I get to listen to as many books on tape as I want while I am cleaning (which I really enjoy). I also get to eat whenever I feel like it and take as many breaks as I want. Now, if I can find that perfect job that lets me work from home I will be set, or do I have that job and I just don’t know it. I guess there isn’t any money in just staying home, but I get paid with the time that Cullen and I spend together, which I would not have if I had a job outside of our apartment. I am sure I will find something soon enough for now I think I am going to try to enjoy life as it is now and not dwell on the job I don’t have. I am sure I will have a job soon enough, because there is always time for a job, but the time may not always be there that I can take time for myself and my husband. (Writing about this helps me make sense of things)

Christmas Sniffles

Well, Cullen and I have our lovely tree up. We have two new butterflies on the tree that are from my mom. We have our manger set sitting on top of the television stand. I think everything looks very happy and smells good too.
The one problem is that I have caught a small cold. It is actually a little funny, because Cullen was sick last Christmas. I guess it is my turn, don’t you think. I am hoping to feel better by tomorrow to get the house back to the way I like it. It is so easy to make a mess when you are sick. Though I don’t feel very good right now, I and thankful for my loving husband who takes care of me. I am also looking forward to our first Christmas together as a married couple.

Our Leaky Neighbors

Today water came through three vents, both the bathrooms and one by our closet. Water was everywhere. What a pain. Cullen came home from work to help me with the mess. The maintenance guy came by and looked at the mess. He is going to have professional cleaners come and clean our rug that got dirty and our bathrooms. Well, that is the good part about this mess. Oh, and this is the second time our neighbors did this to us and we have lived here less than three months. Good grief! Our neighbor is blaming the mess on her kids saying that her kids put stuff down the toilet and let the toilet overflow. Cullen had to teach her how to turn off the water to her toilet. Now that’s what you call real apartment living.

It's Me Again

Our Christmas Tree

Yesterday Cullen and I put up our Christmas tree. We found a lovely one and brought it home. It actually fit into the car with the trunk shut. Cullen cut the bottom off the trunk and then we put it in some water. The decorating went well. I wanted more lights but Cullen said it looked good with only two strands. He strung icicle lights by the window and put last years Christmas tree star above our manger scene. It looked very cool. The tree was then decorated with our ornaments and finished off with tinsel. On the top of the tree Cullen and I put an angel. We picked up a tree skirt from the store and added a Christmas train around the tree. The tree is lovely. (Next year I am putting more lights on the tree)

Writer Wants A Bone for Christmas 

Waiting for Santa 

Angela and Cullen's Christmas Smiles 

Christmas Tree 2004 

The Blanket I Crocheted

My grandma sent me some yarn and I crocheted a blanket with it. I added some color with multicolored yarn that was mostly purple, my favorite color. The blanket is very soft.

Writer and the blanket I crocheted. 

Cullen's Surprise for Angela!

My Surprise

Today Cullen came home with purple flowers in a purple vase and purple balloons. It was such a surprise. He said it was for me because he loves me. It made me very happy.
Now, I ask you isn’t that what love is all about. Surprising the one you love, caring about them, and making sure they know you care and love them. Cullen did just that today.

Anna and me.

Anna’s New Clothes

For the Christmas season I made my build a bear, Anna, some Christmas clothes. I crocheted them. It took me three days. Now she has a winter hat with holes for the ears, a shirt, and a new pare of pants. Anna is very soft and says “I love you” if you push on her tummy.

Anna's new clothes. 

Quiet Moments on the Phone

Some days I want to be on the phone with someone, just for comfort, but I don’t feel like talking. There really is no purpose of staying on the phone if you have nothing to say. It is like having someone there just incase you need them. I remember one time before Cullen and I got married we were on the phone and for around five minutes we didn’t say anything, but we both were still on the phone (I know he was there because I could hear his breathing). It was very calming.

The Lonely Job Hunt

Today I went to a temp job center and put in my information. Hopefully they will find something for me. It may be temporary, but it could lead to something permanent. They said they will call if they find me a job.
I am glad I am out of school, but this job searching is just not turning up much. Well, not much that I can do without a driver’s license or the ability to read things that are not on a computer screen. I can say one good thing about school. School gave me a social life. Right now all I have is Cullen and people I talk to over the phone. I am thankful for both of these, but it just isn’t the same as having a couple of real good friends who I can go and visit (not to say Cullen isn’t a real good friend).
I went to the library two days ago and talked with a librarian she told me about a mystery book club. I think I will try to join it, and with any luck I will make some friends. For now I have my books on tape, my crocheting, house cleaning (but who likes to do that), other crafts I feel like working on, the occasional television show, and my job hunt.

Our First Gingerbread House.

A broken candy home

For Thanksgiving Cullen and I had a great dinner. We had tons of food. After our feast we decorated a gingerbread house. This poor gingerbread house is loosing all of it’s decorations and looks pitiful. Overall, our first thanksgiving together was wonderful.

It's Me!