Here it is!

We got permission from Paris Studios to publish this to my blog, so we thought it was best to mention their company name. Didn't they do a great job?

This is the picture we have on our Christmas cards this year. Who knows what we'll have next year.

Now I just have to get Jim to get the list together of who he wants cards sent to!!!

I can't help staring at this picture. He looks so handsome!! I look at it and think how incredibly lucky I am. I've never been so happy in my entire life. It's as though we were made for each other...

What is really nice is that I know in my deepest heart of hearts that this is the person I'm meant to be with for the rest of my life, and that we'll be together to support each other and love each other for always.

During the holidays, it's easy to forget about the importance of quiet time. Already, I'm feeling the affects of not taking a little time for myself to just reflect and be peaceful. And the results of that are showing in my home and on my waistline.

So far, Jim and I have celebrated Thanksgiving twice -- once last Sunday when my mom made her huge announcement and again on Thursday with my Mom, Dad, Uncle Richard and my cousin Rick. Each one was lovely in its own way. The food was delicious. I made a simple spinach salad both times (the second time at my mom's request).

And, we may be celebrating Thanksgiving again tomorrow with Jim's brother and sister. Jim has to work tomorrow, so we're not sure if that will actually happen. If it does, it would be the first time I've spent any real time with Jim's family, and for that reason I'm looking forward to it.

But I'm getting off topic a bit...

Besides all the family celebrations, I've gone back to work, which has been both a blessing and curse. I love having money to pay my bills and buy an occasional treat for myself. (Last Saturday I went shopping all day and bought myself a lot of new clothes, and had a great time doing it because I could afford it.) Going back to work has also gotten me out of the house and given me an opportunity to interact with others. The fact that it might give me some much needed supervisory experience to put on my resume is not bad either.

However...even with all the good stuff that comes with going back to work, I find myself missing the simplicity of the routine Jim and I had developed. I actually enjoyed cleaning the house and having a meal ready for Jim when he got home. For some reason none of that seemed like a chore when it was what I had to do.

Now, cleaning and cooking aren't as enjoyable. When I get home from work, the last thing I want to think about is what to cook for dinner. Before I could take my time. I often started making dinner at 3:00 in the afternoon, and had plenty of time to do the little things that make cooking fun. I can't do that now. Jim and I get home at about the same time, and he's hungry when he gets home. So I find myself rushing to make a nice meal in a short period of time so we're not eating too late... Needless to say, the meals are not as good as they were when I had three hours to prepare.

And I won't even get into how much I hate how cluttered the house is looking because I don't feel like picking it all up every night. It doesn't help that I simply don't know where to put everything that is piling up on the dining table. That is one thing I miss about my apartment, I had a place for everything, and it was easy to keep it looking clean.

But back to my original thought... I am thoroughly enjoying being with Jim. I know I've indulged in a little whining about mundane things, but I love, absolutely love my life with Jim. And I'm really looking forward to the holidays this year. I just know that because we're together that Christmas and New Year are going to extra special!

Still... as I'm sitting here on the sofa, Jim peacefully sleeping in (something I've rarely seen him do), I realize that sitting still in the quiet is something I need to make time for more often. And maybe I need to create a little corner of the house that is just for me to do that...

Yes, I need this quiet time to breathe deeply and just appreciate how wonderful my life truly is.

After many years of not getting together with my mom's side of the family, yesterday we joined them for a Thanksgiving feast. Of course, I was very excited about introducing Jim to my family, and I know they were excited to meet him. Although, I was surprised by how many people I didn't know! Names I recognized, but the faces weren't the same as I remembered from the past.

Thanksgiving, as it turns out, is a very good time to reconnect with long-lost family members, to get reacquainted and to reminisce about the old days. But I really did not expect turned out to be the reconnection of a life time.

One of the highlights of that was seeing Aunt Tommy, the only remaining sibling of my beloved grandpa. So it seemed appropriate that Aunt Tommy's son--my cousin Jerry (or was it Terry--I always get the twins confused)--asked everyone stand up and share how they were related to Aunt Tommy (he called her Marie, but I've always known her by the affectionate name of Tommy.)

One by one, table by table, the members of Aunt Tommy's family stood up and introduced their families and sharing "I'm Marie's _______ (granddaughter, son, daughter...fill in the blank)."

Then it was my mom's turn... She stood up and introduced each of us at the table, me, Jim, Nick, Glenn, Larry, Kris, and Sara. Then her voice caught, "Marie is my aunt...but it was recently revealed that she is my biological mother, so I'm also her daughter." (I've paraphrased her words, because quite frankly I was shocked she announced it.)

There was a moment of silence... and then everyone in the room started clapping. Mom sat down. Tears were in her eyes. I leaned over and hugged her. After the rest of the introductions were made (none of which I really heard), one by one, her new brothers and sisters came over, hugged her and told her how happy they were.

Although mom said it was recently revealed, we had known the truth for many, many years. In fact, so did my mom's half-siblings. Shortly before the introductions started, I had seen my mom talking to her brothers, and I think they agreed it was time for the secret to come out.

Anyway, I don't think Thanksgiving will ever have quite the same meaning since our whole family dynamic has suddenly been changed. And I'm thrilled for my mom!

We had a productive week last week, which has resulted in a lot of new storage space! That's always a good thing when you live in a small home!

As you can see from the picture, we have a new storage shed. At least, it's classified as a shed. We've decided to call it a barn, because it's much larger than a standard shed. It's cute. Our neighbor went nuts about it when it was being delivered. She squealed and and shouted, "How cute! I want one!"

I wish that I had thought to take pictures of it as it was being set up, but too late now. It was delivered fully installed, except for the top cupola and weather vane. Those were installed once it was in place. It was fun watching the flat-bed truck tip it up and gently slide it right into place. Just to give you a little perspective on how big it is, Jim is 6 foot 2 inches tall, so it is NOT a small building. The dimensions are 12'x16'. (Apologies to my European friends, I don't know the metric dimensions, and I'm feeling a bit to lazy to calculate them!)

Needless to say, Jim is very excited about it. He has all kinds of plans for what he's going to do... a work bench here, pegboard here, the snow blower and lawn mower over there...we can store luggage up in the loft... The list goes on and on.

Of course, my thoughts are on the house and the many tools that will be moved from the utility room into the barn. Jim has already moved quite a bit of stuff. Now I can unpack the final two boxes that are in the kitchen and put those things on the pantry shelf.

Even Tia has benefited from the addition of a new barn. When we were standing on the deck admiring the barn after it was installed, I mentioned to Jim that we could run a cable from the house to the barn so Tia could have a dog run. He loved the idea! He loved it so much that we went out that same day, bought the supplies to build it, and he installed it the same day the barn was delivered!

Watching Jim install the dog run made my heart just swell. Here is a man who loves me and my pets so much that he will rush out to do things just to make living here better and more comfortable for us. He doesn't mind that there is cat hair on his office chair, or that his clothes have been moved to the office closet. He's okay with the girlie touches I've added here and there. I have no idea how I got to be so lucky, but I know I'm the luckiest woman ever!

Well, it took a while, but I finally took a picture of the bracelet Jim got me for my birthday. I think it's gorgeous. In case you're wondering, the stones are sky blue topaz. I am definitely one lucky lady--not because Jim has very good taste in jewelry, but because Jim is fantastic, sexy, wonderful man, and he loves me!!

For I while I felt as though I had to constantly pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but this weekend it finally sunk in. This is real. It's not going to disappear or go away. I'm not dreaming. I'm wide awake and with the man I'm going to love for the rest of my life.

Some people say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. As much as I love Jim, I never would have believed that was possible, but it's true. When he was gone last week, I missed him more than I ever thought possible. I was so happy when he got home, my heart nearly burst.

He's gone again this week, and I do miss him, but I'm finding this time a little easier. Maybe because in the big scheme of things, another week apart is minuscule when you consider we're going to be together for a lifetime. It feels soooo good to know that an trust it!!

Next week Jim will be in Detroit for work. He's doing some training. He'll be home for the weekend, but then will be back in Detroit the following week. This will be the first time that we've been apart for any extended period of time since I moved into his house. He's gone away before, but it was only for a weekend for Reserves.

Now I have to think about what I'm going to do to keep myself busy whilst he's gone. I know one of the things I'm going to do is try to find somewhere to put all the things that are in boxes here in the house. We've been living with boxes stacked up against the wall for a couple weeks now, and it's about time that that were either unpacked or stored.

Of course, I've gone back to work for the Census Bureau in the Muskegon office, so I'll be working there during the day. It will be the evenings that will drag a bit. I've gotten used to him being around. I mean we're not joined at the him or anything, but even when he's in his office, there's something comforting about him being somewhere in the house.

I find it somewhat surprising that before I met Jim, I spent a lot of time alone. It's not like I haven't spent time alone before. It's just now I prefer to spend time with Jim.

I think it's wonderful that I have someone in my life to miss when he's gone.

You've heard that saying before... "You just know when it's right." I'll admit I always thought I understood what that meant, especially when it came to relationships. I thought I knew when a guy was right for me. But I got it wrong a lot...so I'm not too proud to admit--as evidenced by all my previous relationships--that I did not have a clue what it meant.

It's true. With every one of my past relationship, I said, "This one is different," "I'm really in love this time," and let's not forget the infamous "He's the one." Yes...I'm saying the same things this time, but this time it really is different!

So what makes this time different?

To tell you the truth...I don't know how to explain what makes this time different, but I can tell you it is...

In the past when I said those things, there was always this nagging little voice in the back of my mind, which I chose to ignore, telling me that I could do better, that something wasn't right. I was always having to talk myself into the idea that I was happy, even though I always felt off center or insecure or even uninterested. There was always something that told me whoever I was with wasn't perfect.

To say that isn't the case this time would be an understatement. This time there is no little voice putting doubts into my head. I feel secure and very, very loved.

Now, that's not to say I haven't had moments of foolish insecurity, because I have. I remember one time--I was hormonal. That's my excuse, and anyone who tells you hormones don't make you go a little nuts is stupid. Anyway, I had a major moment of insecurity. I called my friends to cry and vent, and expressed real fear. Although this time, instead of the voice saying "yes, this relationship is a mistake," the voice was saying "trust him, he'll never betray you." And...everything that voice was saying about trusting him was confirmed the moment I saw the love in his eyes.

So yes, this time is different. I can trust Jim with my life. I know that without a doubt. He may not be perfect, but he is perfect for me. You just know when it's right... and this time it IS right!