Happenings..............

I feel like I should have a ton to talk about with the Holiday and all, I'll start by saying we had a wonderful Christmas, it was nice to have some extra time off. Our Holiday happenings started on Wednesday night, Christmas Eve. That is the night my Moms side of the family celebrates. It is the one Holiday where everyone is together, Christmas Eve has been a tradition in our family forever. We have a pretty large family, so rather than buy for each and every person, we do a Yankee Swap. For the most part, the gifts are all pretty great. This year I was really excited, I walked away with a Sonic Care toothbrush. I know it doesn't seem overly exciting to you, but I have wanted one of those for ages. My wish came true!

Onto Christmas Day, we spent the day in Brookfield with Steve's family. Another great day, where everyone is together at the same time. With large families, it is hard to make that happen. So we look forward to Christmas for that reason. Our day usually consists of lots of running around, trying to make it places by a certain time, I'm sure you all know the drill. This year was different, we didn't feel as though we were under any major time restraints. We had a fairly relaxing day, had dinner with Steve's family, and then headed to Newfields for a visit with my family that evening. We had decided this year that rather than try to get my Brother, Mary and Faye to Newfields Christmas Day, we would set aside another day to celebrate with them.

We swapped gifts and enjoyed a meal with them on Saturday, another really fun day! Faye was a riot, she is getting so big, and really beginning to show her personality.

I will say that I was a slacker when it came to picture taking, but I did manage to take a few of Faye on Saturday.

Not many people are allowed to lounge in Grampa Paul's chair, but she may be the exception.

This is the sweater I bought her for Christmas, I loved it, though judging by her expression, Did She???

I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday as well! Next up........New Years, we will be spending that at Tom and Heather's with a large group of friends. Jeff and Kerrie are in town, so it will be nice to ring in the New Year with them as well. Worry not though, we are spending the night, I am not a big fan of being on the roads, drinking or not, on New Years.

Have a Great Rest of the week!

Love to All!
Kris

How unbelievably cool is this........

......I checked Kayleighs blog this morning, and she is continuing to make improvements. Honestly, I am so happy for The Freemans to be able to report such great news! Less than a week ago, the news was not so good, it was a waiting game. And this miracle baby has surprised us all again, she continues to fight, and is making unbelievable strides! Such a wonderful thing to hear today!

We had lots of fun stuff happening this past weekend! Friday Night we celebrated Kerrie's 40th Birthday with her and her family, we were happy to see the Martins, they are home for Christmas, so we will all be looking forward to spending lots of time with them before they go home on the 5th! Here is a picture from the party!

On Saturday Night we had my company Christmas Party, we had such a great time. It's always nice to spend time with your co-workers away from the office too. We had a lot of fun, today I am thinking maybe too much fun!

I hope everyone is home safe and sound, during the snow storm here in New England today! UGH....that's two BIG storms in 2 days!

Kristine

Update on Kayleigh and more SNOW!

Kayleigh is still hanging in there, that makes me happy. Everyday that The Freemans have with their little girl at this point, is a miracle. It sounds as though she is continuing to make strides in her recovery. So lets keep our fingers crossed for her!

Looks like we will be getting more snow, tonight and Sunday! As you know, I am not a fan off this! I am not one bit happy about this latest weather development! At this point, I will try to find something positive, here is what I came up with:

We are a one car household, what is good about that you ask? Well I will tell you, since I hate the snow, and I hate driving in it, this one car situation I am in, means I DON'T HAVE TO DRIVE IN IT!!! Steve gets to drop me off AND pick me up from work EVERYDAY! He gets to pick me up at lunch, and be my taxi and drive me to Marshall's and TJ Maxx, and all those other places I call FUN!!

No matter the situation, I am trying to put a positive spin on what I can!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Kristine

Kayleigh Anne Freeman

Some of you may notice that there are a few Blogs that I follow, I check in on them everyday, they are about the journeys of other families, whether happy or sad. I read them, and I consider myself to be so extremely lucky to have a happy and healthy family. I read them and I feel truly blessed that my life is not filled with such tragedy. At the same time, I commend these families on their strength, as they are faced with challenges that I myself am not sure that I could handle with such strength and courage, these are truly remarkable families.

Yesterday I checked in on a family, The Freeman's, checking their blog is a daily routine for me, often times, multiple times a day. Their daughter Kayleigh was born premature, June 23rd, weighing only 1 lb. Here is their blog, if you want to read this amazing story, www.kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/. When I checked in yesterday, it sounded as though Kayleigh was not doing well, today her condition is continuing to worsen. At this point, they are just waiting for the inevitable. My heart is broken for them, they have watch their daughter fight and fight, through surgeries, multiple episodes of hypertension, amongst other complications, but they remained so strong, and so did Kayleigh. They have done fund raisers, radio events, sold pink "Kayleigh" bracelets, and their story was featured on their local news station. They have done all that they can to someday bring Kayleigh home, and they are now learning that it may not be possible to do so.

I remember the first time I read this families story, I was instantly hooked. This little tiny baby, was fighting and really making it. As I continued to read this story, the more I became hooked. I came home one day, and told Steve all about them, I showed him their page, I read him some posts, and I went ahead and ordered us some of the "Kayleigh Ann Freeman" bracelets. The families plan was to have everyone that bought a bracelet send in a picture of yourselves wearing them, along with a letter to Kayleigh, with hopes that she would someday read letters from people who supported her and prayed for her everyday. I never had a chance to get that picture or letter to them. I am happy to be a Kayleigh supporter, I just wish I had taken the time to take that picture and send that letter.

Needless to say, my heart is heavy today. It's stories like these that make you want to hug your family, and cherish each and every day you have with them. Sometimes we take our lives for granted, and having the opportunity to learn The Freeman's story, has made me realize just how fortunate I really am.

Love to All,
Kristine

Our Jobs and Why I think "Things Happen for a Reason"

Year after year I have commuted to work, in fact, my first "real" job was in Boston. A job I loved, and endured that commute day after day for three years, probably a job I never would have left, had I been able to handle that commute. The winter months were the worst, leave at 7:00, get home after 7:00. Not only was I in Boston, a supper fun place to be, but I was in the Jewelers building, is there anything better than that? I don't think so.

That long commute everyday, brought me to a great company that was much closer to home, and I mean MUCH closer. Less than a mile. I loved that job too, but the company ended up getting taken over by a bunch of "Schmucks" and we lost our jobs.

So much for working close to home, the new company that was opened by the "Non-Schmucks" from the other company, was in Salem. Another nice long commute, but that was OK because these were great people to work for. I was willing to make the sacrifice. We stayed in Salem for about 3 years, and the company moved to another building in..............................MERRIMACK! UGH..................could we get further away from the Seacoast. Again, good company to work for, I'll make the sacrifice. That lasted for another 3 years, and the company was purchased by a bigger group of "Schmucks", these guys were real bottom feeders. Come May of 2008, I was laid off, Oh well. It was a blessing in disguise I think.

Naturally, my goal with my job search was to find a job closer to home, I scoured the Seacoast, submitted my resume to any and every company within a 5-10 mile radius. The job market was tough, so I wasn't getting a ton of call backs. I had heard from a friend that Craigslist was a great way to find a job, so I began my Craigslist search. I submitted my resume to quite a few companies, but one really stood out from the others. This was early-mid June, I was enjoying my time off, beaching it EVERYDAY since Memorial Day, I think I may have had the best "before summer tan" ever. I was loving every minute of it. Anyway, back to reality. I submitted my resume to a company looking for "Inside Sales and Customer Service", right up my alley, just what I was looking for. I sent it, and grabbed my beach bag, I was off. When I got to my car, I had realized that I had forgotten my sunglasses, so I ran back inside, and low and behold, my phone was ringing, and it was a Hampton number. So I answered it, and it was a call in response to my resume that I had submitted. We spoke for quite some time and it was an instant match, I felt great about things right away. I still think to this day, I forgot my sunglasses for a reason that morning.

I am a firm believer in the term, "things happen for a reason", after two interviews, I was hired on with my current company, that is a wonderful, 10 minutes from home. I work with a small group of people, very laid back, and I love it. Funny thing, today we woke up to one of the worst ice storms in years, normally had I been commuting to Boston, Salem or Merrimack, chances are, I would be home in bed, there is no way I would have driven to work this morning. But not today, today I woke up and came into work. I think there must be a reason for that, is it because I am so close? Is it because I actually enjoy my job and the people I work with? Is it because even though the ENTIRE town of Hampton is without electricity, we have a freaking generator so we can still work? Our entire Industrial Park is closed, but not us, we are open. While everyone on the Seacoast is psyched to have the day off due to weather, we are working. But I know one thing, while everyone else is home, without electricity or heat, I am in my office, blogging, with an electric heater toasting up my feet!

Seriously, does it get any better than this??

For Crying Out Loud

I have failed.........please see my previous post, "It's that time of year again", regarding my Christmas Cards. So as you all know, it is officially December 9th, I never came up with an idea for my cards, and have come to the conclusion that my cards are a failure this year! There are reasons for this:

1. The picture taking event that happens towards the end of November each year, is a traumatic experience for all involved, Musky, Phil, Steve and Myself. It is never easy, and if you were a fly on our wall the evening that this all takes place, you might consider having us committed. There is lots of coercing with treats and dangling of strings to make them look somewhat interested.

2. With that being said, I am not sure that any of us can endure that type of torture, given the move that we have all been through recently. Musky still does not recognize any of us as his family, the same family he has had for his 11 years of life, therefore, I do not feel as though it would be in my best interest to stuff him into any type of costume this year. I can not put myself in that much danger so close to the Holidays.

3. If in fact I was able to get the pictures taken, and submitted to the site to be printed, I highly doubt I would get them back in time for Christmas delivery.

4. After weeks of scouring the internet, on every pet costume site out there, I seriously could not figure out what to do with them. Nothing was jumping out at me, and it's not worth the effort for something I am not into.

So.....there you have it. I am a Christmas Card failure!

Merry Christmas to All, bah-humbug!

Kristine

Eventful Weekend

Well, we had our first gathering this past weekend. The Annual Christmas Parade was in Exeter on Saturday, so we invited some friends and their families over, we are walking distance to downtown, so it worked out really well. Those that wanted to go to the parade walked over, and those that didn't, myself included, stayed back at the house and "watched the snacks". We had a really great time, the kids were great and played hard in Mal's new room. We were joined by, The Smith's, The Dixon's, The Healy's, The Gilbert's, Donna, Karen, Phyliss and Heidi.

On Sunday, we decided that it was time to get the tree, so Steve and Mallory went and picked out a beautiful tree, and Mal decorated it that afternoon. We also went to Little Critter's, one of our favorite stores, well Mal and I love it, Steve...........not so much. But he was a trooper, we went and picked out 3 goldfish, Mal picked out two Orange and White ones for her room, and I got a chubby Orange one for the kitchen, he is pretty big for our little one gallon tank, maybe he needs an upgrade to a 2 gallon tank..........he looks pretty cramped in there.

Speaking of fish, our new yard has a small Coy pond, there are about 20 big orange fish in there, and a dozen or so frogs. This is one of Mal's favorite things about this place. So on Saturday when she made her daily visit to the pond, in here pajama's and slippers, the water was REALLY low. The normal depth is about 4 feet, I would say the pond lost a little more than half of its water. It seemed that the pump was pumping the water out, but not back in, though we couldn't find any reason why this would be the case, the hose was going back into the pond. Anyway, we had to take action, before these fish were frozen. Granted they stay in all winter, the ice is broken everyday, to relieve gas pressure or something, but the stay there all winter. Steve and Mallory were outside assessing the situation (I was watching from the window upstairs, and giving direction every so often). We were just going to refill it with the hose, so they turned on the water, put in the hose, and came back upstairs, naturally, it's going to take some time for this thing to refill, right? We did our thing for a little bit, ya know, breakfast, a game of Sorry, they went to pick up the tree..........by this time, I thought for sure Steve would have thought to check the pond, maybe before leaving to get the tree..............I was wrong, I guess I should have asked the question. We have a VERY FULL pond, surrounded by an ice skating rink on the lawn now, needless to say, it didn't take as long to fill as we had thought. Whoopsies.............lesson number one on taking care of the mini fish pond...........Monitor water level when refilling pond.

Another successful weekend in the Wilber/Peckham household.

I hope everyone had a great weekend as well!
Kristine

We are finally moved

So we did it, we are finally completely moved in. Could have been the longest 3 days of my life. Between moving into the new place, and cleaning the old place, my body is physically drained. But..........it was all worth it. Our new place is excellent, we are very pleased. Things are coming along slowly, the living room is complete for the most part, the kitchen is pretty much all set, the bathroom is another story, it will be a while before we are settled in that room. Mallory's bedroom is looking pretty good as well. At this point, we are working through some of the boxes that are filled with a "mish-mosh" of items, things that don't really have a home, but I can't part with them either, so we will find a place.

Steve is away this week, so I am in the new the place alone, well I have my cats, but they hate each other right now, and can't be in the same room together. I can't for the life of me understand why these types of events cause such a raucous with these two, they have lived together for 10+ years, do they not recognize each other? Are they suddenly strangers? I am having a hard time understanding. Anyhow, it usually lasts a week or so, and then they remember each other again, and love is back in the air. In the meantime, we are awaken by screeching and screaming when they bump into each other in a dark hallway at 2:00am, when this happens, I would swear they were being mauled by a Rotweiler.

Other than getting things in order, not much else is happening.

Have a Great Week!
Kristine

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We had an awesome day, it seems like it went by so quick. We spent the day with my Mom's side of the family, which is always a really great time. This years meal was hosted by Dave and Shelli, at their new place. They really did an outstanding job, and pulled everything off, without a hitch. Mallory and Alecia met for the first time, and hit it off really well. An excellent day was had by all, here are some pictures from our day!!

Here is Mallory on the car ride home, looks like she had a good day!

It was really great to spend some time with my neice Faye, she is getting so big, so fast.

Grammy, Aunt Judy and My Mom

I was able to get some pictures with my Grandparents, which I am realy happy about. It has been a while since I have had updated photos, I don't see them nearly enough, and it was great to spend the day with them.

I hope everyone out there had as great of a day as I did. We have a busy weekend ahead, lots of moving and unpacking and organizing to do. Lots of things to be thankful for these days!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kristine

It's That Time of Year Again!

Time where you think about your Christmas Cards...........mine are always a bit complicated, really never an easy thing, something I think about over the courses of the year. Here is why, I started a tradition with my cards many years ago with my cats, I believe it is something that friends and family look forward receiving..........."How will Kris torture her animals this year?"

I have a problem, I am stumped, I am out of ideas. I am afraid that I am going to fail at my Christmas Card duty this year...........

Here are a few samples of what I have done in years past..........

We had "Musky & Phil Clause"
(Definitely not one of "their" favorites)



We had Luau Cats...........Happy Holidays from our Bungalow to yours!
(A good time was had by all on this one, who doesn't love a Luau)



We had really handsome Argyle Sweater Cats
(Maybe "Reincats")

So there is my challenge, what now? I know the cats are wondering what I am going to do to them next, this is the time of year that they bolt into the other room when they see me coming. I always liked dress up, what's their problem.......looks fun to me!

Cheers,
Kristine

Happy 18th Birthday Derek

Today is Derek's 18th Birthday, very exciting! Derek is a senior this year, so we have some cool stuff to look forward to with him, Graduation, deciding where he wants to go to school, this is a big year for him. 18 was a great year for me, I hope this turns out to be one of his favorites too! Here are some pictures of Derek, he is a talented Wake Boarder and Snow Boarder.

This is Derek Wake Boarding at the family camp on Lovell Lake, with this weather we are having I think we are all looking forward to being back on the boat as soon as possible!

Here he is Snow Boarding at Bretton Woods, I guess the snow gives some people something to look forward too.

So..........Happy Birthday D!

Lots accomplished this weekend!

So we got a ton accomplished this weekend with the move. I would say majority of the boxes are packed and moved over to the new place. Our new "Landlady" has been nice enough to let us move some of our stuff over slowly, which helps out a ton. Most of what we have left is the big stuff, beds couches, tables.....all that good stuff. It feels good to have completed such a big portion of the move this weekend. More than likely most of the items will be completely moved in by Friday, and we will be able to take next weekend to start unpacking and get settled. YAY!

Even with all of our packing and moving this weekend, we still managed to find some time for some fun too, On Friday Night Alex came over and we played Scrabble (Which by the way, I am the queen and can not be beat), we had so much fun that night, that she came back on Saturday and we played Clue, but not without incendent, I am not so sure that we played by the rules, since on most games, Mallory has her own rules, for the most part we took her word for it, and played by her rules, a little tricky, but I still WON! For those of you who don't know, I love competition, and love to win!

We have a busy week ahead, all good things though. Steve's son Derek is turning 18 on Tuesday, very exciting for him, one of my best girlfrieds, Gretchen has a Birthday that same day, we have Thanksgiving on Thursday, which we are looking forward too. We are spending the Holiday with my Mom's family this year, which is really exciting, since we don't see that side of the family a ton. So I am looking forward to that. We will do the bulk of the final part of our move on Friday, get settled through the weekend, with another Birthday for one of our favorite little girls, Courtney, who is turning 4 this weekend. So lots to do, but like I said, all good stuff. I am looking forward to a quiet week the following week though to get settled in to the new place. Steve is traveling for the week, so I will stay busy unpacking and decorating.

That's all I've got for now, onto a nice short work week!

Kristine

New to this "Blogging Thing"......

So, I have a new found interest in blogging, I guess I never realized the extent of blogging and sharing your personal experiences with family, friends and even strangers. Something about being able to write it all down, and have someone show an interest in what is on our minds is intriguing to me. I have found that the blogs that I follow frequently, have become something I look forward to checking in on, I am interested in updates, and it is often times how I start my day, by checking in on those that I may not know personally, but have somehow become a part of my life. Anyhow, that is why I am here.

Currently, we have some pretty cool things happening in our life, which is a great thing, since this has not been one of our better years, that's for sure. I needed something good to happen, so even though it may not seem major to all of you, to us it is exciting. We are moving into a new apartment:

Here is why it is great.......

1. We are back in Exeter, which is exciting for lots of reasons. That is where we spend a lot of our time socially, and the apartment is in a great location to walk to lots of great shops, and restaurants.

2. The apartment is really great! It is in the processes of getting renovated, so new kitchen, new floors, new paint.......all that good stuff. And stuff that I'm not used too, never having been a home owner, I have always just dealt with what comes with renting. So we are excited to have new, pretty stuff.

3. Our landlord is wonderful, she is an acquaintance of ours, and super nice. Good Landlords are always a good thing, if you have to rent!

4. Steve is in sales, and travels quite a bit. He has always had an office outside of the house, since we haven't had a large enough place for him to have one, so good news........he is moving his office home, which of course, saves us some money, and it will be great for him to be able to be home and work when he needs too.

5. There are 3 bedrooms, plus the office. So lots of space, and this is even more exciting, especially for Steve's daughter Mallory, she will have her own room, one she can decorate, a place of her own. She is 9, and needs her own space, very exciting for her. And I am excited to decorate a little girls room too!!


Here is why it is a little sad too:

1. Currently, we live in the apartment next door to my Dad, My Step-Mom and my Sister Alex, who is 15. Needless to say, I am pretty close with my family, it is nice having them next door when Steve travels, and I am home alone. We spend a lot of time with them socially, so we will miss that.

2. Mallory is very close with Alex as well, she looks forward to seeing her on her weekends and nights with us. She is itching to get over there as soon as she wakes up in the morning. We spend a ton of time with Alex when we have Mallory, and we hope that doesn't change. For the record, Mallory's bedroom has a bed for Alex too.

3. The house I live in, is the house I grew up in, it is old and has great character, and lots of memories. But, we have out grown it. And it is time for Mallory to have a bedroom, and maybe time for me to "cut the cord", so to speak.

4. The town of Newfields, is a great, small, quaint little town. The town where everyone knows everyone, and families that grow up there, rarely leave! It seems that if you were a kid catching the bus in Newfields, at some point, you will be walking your own children to catch the bus in Newfields. Things rarely change in that town. And it will be sad not to be a part of it.

For all of these "sad" reasons, there is a good reason to be excited about our new "adventure".

So, I guess for my first post, I covered what I have happening currently. Though there is lots more I could talk about, I'll save it for my future posts.

I look forward to being a part of the blogging community!