We played a little Wii, had fun with out Gift Exchange, and told & heard some great stories. We played some Uno Tilto, and shared some good laughs.
This Christmas will definately hold some better memories for us than the Christmas of 2009.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Christmas Dinner 2010
This year for Christmas we decided to do something a little different. Last year, Christmas for us was rough, it was our first Christmas with no family around, and since Darin had to work for part of the day, it was just a rough day. This year to avoid any loneliness, we decided to host a Christmas Dinner. Of course we can't feed everyone without family on Christmas day, but we were going to attempt to feed a few. We talked to some friends and then posted it on facebook to get other people. Who wants to make a large Christmas Dinner for 2 or 4 people, right? We also decided to add a little gift exchange into the mix just for fun and bring the spirit of Christmas into our lil dinner. Plans came together and it worked out that our Ham and Turkey were donated by a guest who couldn't make it home to Minnesota for Christmas Day, and then we split the rest of the meal with our good friends Justin & Jessica, they brought some, we supplied the rest and cooked. We were telling everyone about it, so as not to have anyone be alone on Christmas Day. The count we were expecting was 12. We ended serving 10, and had a great time visiting and getting to know new people, and old friends even better. We had Ham, Turkey, Mashed Potato's & Gravy, Veggies, Stuffing, Corn & Rice Casserole, Rolls, Fruit Salads, Pumpkin, Chocolate & Apple Pie. It was quite the feast and no one left empty handed or hungry!
We played a little Wii, had fun with out Gift Exchange, and told & heard some great stories. We played some Uno Tilto, and shared some good laughs.
This Christmas will definately hold some better memories for us than the Christmas of 2009.
Gettin' some pie. Chris & Darin
Opening gifts during the Dirty Santa Gift Exchange.
Chris, Darin & Brian visiting
All out of fridge space, so we improvised. Hey, don't judge it worked well, and our Tiger's Blood got slushy!
Table set for 12!
We played a little Wii, had fun with out Gift Exchange, and told & heard some great stories. We played some Uno Tilto, and shared some good laughs.
This Christmas will definately hold some better memories for us than the Christmas of 2009.
Christmas Morning 2010
Christmas morning we woke up and opened our gifts. We were once again very spoiled by everyone. A run down of some of our great gifts are as follows.
Scotty- Treats- he loves him, all kinds, even the human kinds, his favorite this year was the mini pigs in the blanket from Grandma & Papa Bills. He was also quite fond of the "Duck" that Santa brought him. It doesn't squeek but makes a sort of Duck noise. He loves it!
Barkley- Again loves his treats! He's quite fond of the Snausages that Grandma and Grandpa Noe sent. His favorite toy this year was the non stuffing 2 squeeker Raccoon that Santa brought for him, he drags that poor coon everywhere.
Darin- got a super sweet Cordless Drill (it will come in handy), a nice new jacket, a few T Shirts, a Chicago Bears plaque to hang in his "man cave garage", and a clock he had been eyeing at one of Jo's Craft shows.
Jo- got the Anytime Fitness membership and sessions with a Personal Trainer she had been wanting, a wallet she fell in love with a few days before Christmas, and of course the Eclipse movie from the Twilight Series.
Those are just a few of the gifts we received, as said earlier we were spoiled and that Santa shocks us every year with some great gifts.
Scotty & Barkley enjoying their new "duck" and "raccoon"
All our gifts opened and under the tree.
Our stockings hung with care by the Air Conditioner. We are a chimney free home.
The Tree before we opened our gifts.
Scotty- Treats- he loves him, all kinds, even the human kinds, his favorite this year was the mini pigs in the blanket from Grandma & Papa Bills. He was also quite fond of the "Duck" that Santa brought him. It doesn't squeek but makes a sort of Duck noise. He loves it!
Barkley- Again loves his treats! He's quite fond of the Snausages that Grandma and Grandpa Noe sent. His favorite toy this year was the non stuffing 2 squeeker Raccoon that Santa brought for him, he drags that poor coon everywhere.
Darin- got a super sweet Cordless Drill (it will come in handy), a nice new jacket, a few T Shirts, a Chicago Bears plaque to hang in his "man cave garage", and a clock he had been eyeing at one of Jo's Craft shows.
Jo- got the Anytime Fitness membership and sessions with a Personal Trainer she had been wanting, a wallet she fell in love with a few days before Christmas, and of course the Eclipse movie from the Twilight Series.
Those are just a few of the gifts we received, as said earlier we were spoiled and that Santa shocks us every year with some great gifts.
All our gifts opened and under the tree.
And we became a Team.
We realized the other day that when catching up on the blog that we mentioned about Jo becoming a Director we didn't announce the Team name that was chosen, and how we came about the name. So here's the story.
Jo became a Director late September, in October we announced it and asked her customers and team to submit Team Name ideas. We received quite a few ideas, we went through them and narrowed it down to 5 names, we put those 5 to a vote in early November to the team. After calculating those votes we had a tie, so we contacted both of our immediate families and asked for their votes. We announced the team name in December.
Jo's team is, All Wax Noe Wicks!
Jo became a Director late September, in October we announced it and asked her customers and team to submit Team Name ideas. We received quite a few ideas, we went through them and narrowed it down to 5 names, we put those 5 to a vote in early November to the team. After calculating those votes we had a tie, so we contacted both of our immediate families and asked for their votes. We announced the team name in December.
Jo's team is, All Wax Noe Wicks!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thanksgiving Weekend
This year for Thanksgiving, we went to Utah. Due to weather conditions we ended up taking off a day earlier than we had scheduled, good thing to, the drive took us about 18 hours to get there. We had a blast. We relaxed, enjoyed spending with time with friends and family. We had a really nice trip, it was so good to see everyone and spend so much time hanging out and playing around. The drive home took about 14 hrs, because we again hit Snow, but the fun times we had with family, really made the drive worth while. We didn't use a professional photographer, but we did do some family pictures while we were there. Here's just a few.
October Slow down
For the most part, other than finalizing the move, October was pretty calm in our household, we spent the month putting the new place together, holding Scentsy parties, and working. That's not to say we had free time, with both of us working at least 40 hrs at our Full time jobs, then working our Scentsy business, we stay busy.
Jo's step up with Scentsy!
As you can read with the posts below, it's an understatement to say that September was a busy month for us. But adding to our crazy month, is Jo's advancement in her Scentsy business. That's right, Jo's goal of becoming a Director with Scentsy, happened. If you ask her she'll tell you that she's shocked it happened when it did. She did a party Sept 1, then stepped back for the move and all the craziness going on didn't work her business the way she normally does during that month. Needless to say, each month since then the numbers have steadily increased.
In the past year we have gone from a team of about 12, to now 34. We range in different states from North Dakota, Utah, Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, Montana, New Jersey, New York and California. We have some amazing Team Members on the team, and if you ask, they make being a Director not only fun and rewarding, but easy. We love hearing from them, and helping them in their Scentsy journey's.
A common question is what does being a Director entail for Jo, well it basically means that she has a team of people that has joined the Scentsy business under her. She helps them know the business and reach the goals they set for themselves. She gives out challenges to help each of them better themselves, which in turn makes them more money. In order to maintain her Director status, the team has to sell at least $10,000.00 in Scentsy products each month. And of course, you want to keep building the team bigger, because you then it's easier to reach those goals. She prepares a Team Newsletter for the team each month, and is always answering emails and phone call questions from the team. We are so very lucky, that most of Jo's team have become like extended family for us. We get to share in their excitement and help them when they need it. Jo loves being a Director and Darin loves being a Director's wife.
Jo has been hoping to make Director status for quite sometime but was always so afraid to say it, or put the goal on paper, well, back in July right after Convention some girls from her team asked her, you are always asking us for our goals, and you help us reach them, what are your goals to help you. She announced her goal to the team in August, and wouldn't you know that in September we did it! Amazing what team work does!
In the past year we have gone from a team of about 12, to now 34. We range in different states from North Dakota, Utah, Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, Montana, New Jersey, New York and California. We have some amazing Team Members on the team, and if you ask, they make being a Director not only fun and rewarding, but easy. We love hearing from them, and helping them in their Scentsy journey's.
A common question is what does being a Director entail for Jo, well it basically means that she has a team of people that has joined the Scentsy business under her. She helps them know the business and reach the goals they set for themselves. She gives out challenges to help each of them better themselves, which in turn makes them more money. In order to maintain her Director status, the team has to sell at least $10,000.00 in Scentsy products each month. And of course, you want to keep building the team bigger, because you then it's easier to reach those goals. She prepares a Team Newsletter for the team each month, and is always answering emails and phone call questions from the team. We are so very lucky, that most of Jo's team have become like extended family for us. We get to share in their excitement and help them when they need it. Jo loves being a Director and Darin loves being a Director's wife.
Jo has been hoping to make Director status for quite sometime but was always so afraid to say it, or put the goal on paper, well, back in July right after Convention some girls from her team asked her, you are always asking us for our goals, and you help us reach them, what are your goals to help you. She announced her goal to the team in August, and wouldn't you know that in September we did it! Amazing what team work does!
Darin's new venture
Just a couple of weeks before the "big move" Darin had been offered a new job with a company called Dickinson Ready Mix, he took the job and during his first week we got the word to move, so unfortunatetly the excitement of his new job was moved to the shadows while we moved. But, here's the lowdown on his new job.
Off every Sunday, this is great not only for church, which we don't attend as we should, but this means that we both have a guarentee'd day off together each week!
Hours can vary but they are pretty regular from 5:30am-7:30pm M-F, each day is different but those are about the earliest and latest. And on Saturday 5:30am-12:00pm
He now drives a Concrete truck, and stays pretty local delivering "Ready Mix", or Concrete. He gets pretty excited now when we are driving around, telling me he poured that sidewalk, that driveway, those footings, or that foundation. He is also learning the roads of Dickinson, and actually enjoys driving around town again.
Due to the weather restrictions on his job, he will be laid off during the Winter months, usually about Christmas or just after, until about March or April depending on weather. Jo is of course a lil nervous about this, but since Darin enjoys the job, and we get to spend a lot more time together we'll take it as it comes.
Off every Sunday, this is great not only for church, which we don't attend as we should, but this means that we both have a guarentee'd day off together each week!
Hours can vary but they are pretty regular from 5:30am-7:30pm M-F, each day is different but those are about the earliest and latest. And on Saturday 5:30am-12:00pm
He now drives a Concrete truck, and stays pretty local delivering "Ready Mix", or Concrete. He gets pretty excited now when we are driving around, telling me he poured that sidewalk, that driveway, those footings, or that foundation. He is also learning the roads of Dickinson, and actually enjoys driving around town again.
Due to the weather restrictions on his job, he will be laid off during the Winter months, usually about Christmas or just after, until about March or April depending on weather. Jo is of course a lil nervous about this, but since Darin enjoys the job, and we get to spend a lot more time together we'll take it as it comes.
A house into a Home!
When we found out we had to move, it was about 4:30pm on a Wednesday, we were FURIOUS to say the least, then we slipped into a panic mode of what are we going to do, there is a MAJOR housing shortage in Dickinson and the prices are outrageous!!! On Friday, after panicking and dealing with it, we posted on Facebook our situation and on Sat late morning, we received a phone call from a friend here in town. A coworker/friend of hers had just purchased a house and although it wasn't really ready to rent, our friend had told them our predicament and they wanted to show us their place and talk. We met with them on Saturday afternoon, and when we left, we knew all would be ok. We weighed out the options of waiting to see some other rentals becoming available or just going with this one. We prayed and thought about it, and the answer seemed pretty clear. So here we are, our landlords are simply amazing people! They are so sweet, and rushed with everything they wanted to do so we could move in quickly. They offered to help us move, and have been absolutely awesome to work with.
Our rent did go up quite a bit, but we should note that we feel we are being charged a pretty fair price for our place. Some 2 bedroom apartments are charging more than what we pay right now. When it was all said and done, we received the notice to move on Sept 9, and we were completely out and getting settled in our new place by Oct. 5. Can we say a crazy few weeks!
During this time, we really questioned our decision to move so far from any family, but going through it and after we realized again that we made the right decision. We had so many friends help us through the move, during the move and get settled. In the short year that we have been here, we have been so touched and so blessed by the amazing people we have been able to meet, and get to know. We can't imagine our lives without them.
A not so great picture of the garage, and most of the house. Very different layout. The door with the wreath on it, is our front door, you walk in and enter our garage, go around the corner and there are the stairs to climb and enter the house. Those stairs are in the middle of the house, so it makes a complete circle all the way around. Confusing, I know. Come visit, it'll make better sense!
The other half of the kitchen. Surprisingly for it's size, we have decent counterspace, and cupboard/drawer space is pretty good to.
The appliance half of the kitchen.
The Guest bedroom. Please note this was before any decorating in this room had been done, and it was still sort of the catch all room. Yes, the carpet is a nasty green shag. It's the only room in the house with the ugly carpet. Just adds character!
Of course, our home would not be complete without our Scentsy Office.
Master bedroom, there is a bathroom with shower only just off this room. Great size!
The living room. There is a deck, and then downstairs we have it all fenced in for the dogs. Also, please notice our make shift pet door. This way the Patio door closes, and the dogs can still be free to roam in and out. We have no messes with out Pet Door trained "kids"
The Dining Room, which also had a lil nook that is the very small laundry room.
Our rent did go up quite a bit, but we should note that we feel we are being charged a pretty fair price for our place. Some 2 bedroom apartments are charging more than what we pay right now. When it was all said and done, we received the notice to move on Sept 9, and we were completely out and getting settled in our new place by Oct. 5. Can we say a crazy few weeks!
During this time, we really questioned our decision to move so far from any family, but going through it and after we realized again that we made the right decision. We had so many friends help us through the move, during the move and get settled. In the short year that we have been here, we have been so touched and so blessed by the amazing people we have been able to meet, and get to know. We can't imagine our lives without them.
A not so great picture of the garage, and most of the house. Very different layout. The door with the wreath on it, is our front door, you walk in and enter our garage, go around the corner and there are the stairs to climb and enter the house. Those stairs are in the middle of the house, so it makes a complete circle all the way around. Confusing, I know. Come visit, it'll make better sense!
The other half of the kitchen. Surprisingly for it's size, we have decent counterspace, and cupboard/drawer space is pretty good to.
The appliance half of the kitchen.
The Guest bedroom. Please note this was before any decorating in this room had been done, and it was still sort of the catch all room. Yes, the carpet is a nasty green shag. It's the only room in the house with the ugly carpet. Just adds character!
Of course, our home would not be complete without our Scentsy Office.
Master bedroom, there is a bathroom with shower only just off this room. Great size!
The living room. There is a deck, and then downstairs we have it all fenced in for the dogs. Also, please notice our make shift pet door. This way the Patio door closes, and the dogs can still be free to roam in and out. We have no messes with out Pet Door trained "kids"
The Dining Room, which also had a lil nook that is the very small laundry room.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The Move!
I'm going to make this very long story short and say that the people we have been renting from since moving to Dickinson last year, have been renting to us illegaly, so we have to move. So as we celebrate our First Year here in Dickinson, North Dakota we celebrate it moving to a new place.
This causes stress because housing here is in very short supply and very very pricey. We got really lucky and a friend seen our plea for help on Facebook and was knew someone who was had just bought a Condo to rent out. We were in luck, such a sweet couple and more than willing to rent to us and let us begin moving in so quickly. We had some great help from the branch here and from some amazing friends. We were so nervous about the move but everyone really came through for us.
We have been so blessed this past couple of months and during this season of gratitude we are so very Thankful for all that has been given to us.
To all our friends that came through and helped us move, we owe you big and we plan to repay you. THANK YOU!!!
Stay tuned for pictures of the new place, coming soon.
This causes stress because housing here is in very short supply and very very pricey. We got really lucky and a friend seen our plea for help on Facebook and was knew someone who was had just bought a Condo to rent out. We were in luck, such a sweet couple and more than willing to rent to us and let us begin moving in so quickly. We had some great help from the branch here and from some amazing friends. We were so nervous about the move but everyone really came through for us.
We have been so blessed this past couple of months and during this season of gratitude we are so very Thankful for all that has been given to us.
To all our friends that came through and helped us move, we owe you big and we plan to repay you. THANK YOU!!!
Stay tuned for pictures of the new place, coming soon.
Labor Day Weekend
I'm going to make these posts short and sweet, as we are soo far behind in not only posting to our blog, but keeping up with all our friends blogs as well. Sorry, I'll try to do better.
So this year for Labor Day we were both off work and got to spend the entire 3 days together. That hasn't happened in awhile. We decided to take the dogs and a friend that Darin works with named Chris for a ride to the North end of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We seen soo many buffalo it was crazy. Chris and I got out and got really close to them a few times, made Darin super nervous. Other than that we just lounged around and enjoyed a few days off together, nothing special. Here's a few pics of our journey to enjoy.
This one was from the car. We ended up stopping for them for a few but, we literally could have reached out the window and touched them passing by the car.
We stopped to watch another herd and Chris and Jo got out of the vehicle to get a better view, Chris ended up stepping in well something not so pleasant and Jo made him clean his shoes before he could get back in the car with us. But here is a shot of Chris getting up close. And yes, Darin was freaking out!
This is just about as Mountainous as it gets here in North Dakota!
This is a herd just hangin out in the picnic area, they were so calm, we dared to get really close.
So this year for Labor Day we were both off work and got to spend the entire 3 days together. That hasn't happened in awhile. We decided to take the dogs and a friend that Darin works with named Chris for a ride to the North end of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We seen soo many buffalo it was crazy. Chris and I got out and got really close to them a few times, made Darin super nervous. Other than that we just lounged around and enjoyed a few days off together, nothing special. Here's a few pics of our journey to enjoy.
This one was from the car. We ended up stopping for them for a few but, we literally could have reached out the window and touched them passing by the car.
We stopped to watch another herd and Chris and Jo got out of the vehicle to get a better view, Chris ended up stepping in well something not so pleasant and Jo made him clean his shoes before he could get back in the car with us. But here is a shot of Chris getting up close. And yes, Darin was freaking out!
This is just about as Mountainous as it gets here in North Dakota!
This is a herd just hangin out in the picnic area, they were so calm, we dared to get really close.
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