It's been a long year...

...and boy, have we been busy. Shawn & I bought a house in North Ridgeville in February, moved in in April, and have been loving it ever since. It's great having a home of your own that you can do whatever you want to and no one will yell at you. We got everything unpacked and put away by the end of July (Mom says that's a record). I now have my very own scrapbooking area where I can leave my current projects out and don't have to pack up every day. It's wonderful. I am getting so much more done than when we were in the apartment and I had to work on the dining room table. Shawn is loving having a garage so that he can build stuff. Almost as soon as everything was set up, he went to Home Depot and bought new power tools. He wants to put a workbench in the garage so he can build shelves and whatnot for the basement and anything else he can think of!

Christina got married this year to a wonderful guy named Joe. We are all very happy for them both. They are adjusting well to married life. Joe gets along with everyone on both sides of the family, especially the kids. They LOVE him!!! I know he and Christina will be great parents. Speaking of which, Shawn and I have started to try having a child. Please don't ask us if we are pregnant yet...we'll let you know. It's fun trying and it'll happen when it happens.

More Later...

MERRY CHRISTMAS. HAPPY HANNUKAH. HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Time flies.....

July was a pretty busy month. It started off with a great party at Casa de Pascoe. Candi and Mike are fantastic hosts. Shawn a good time playing bocce and he loved the burning of the peeps. I enjoyed seeing everybody and was very glad that Erica and Dave were able to come up from Pittsburgh. I got a little tipsy, but only a little.

We visited the In-Laws for a weekend. We loaded into Marilyn's new minivan and went to the KitchenAid Experience in Greenville, OH. It was about an hour trip each way, so we got watch a DVD! FUN! FUN! FUN! I wish we'd had a minivan with a Video/DVD player when we were kids...it would have been fun to watch movies when we went on long car trips.

Shawn and I saw two movies in July; Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Fantastic Four. Both excellent movies...I would recommend them to everyone.

Health Services at GRC put together a healthy eating challenge called Colorful Choices that lasted for 20 days. The idea is that you eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day and that you try to pick items in each of the five color groups...red, green, orange, blue/violet, and yellow/white. A couple of officemates and I decided to participate and Shawn got involved too, unofficially. There were prizes for particpation, games, and grand prizes for the people with the best records. I won for the word search...a portable Pyrex kit including two dishes with lids, an insulated bag, and a hot pack. It was really great and I hope to continue with the plan even though the organized program is over.

There were two Bettcher parties this month, the first & second Saturdays of August. The first was at Geoff Rapp's house (Shawn's boss' boss). The theme was 'Dog Days of Summer'. the menu was...dogs! Hotdogs, brauts, sausages of all kinds. We had a good time and Shawn got to play horseshoes. The second was at Marinel Rosu's house (Shawn's boss). I didn't go to this one, but Shawn said it was fun. We made a deal that I didn't have to go to both unless I wanted to, so I picked the Dog party.

This Saturday is Grandma's birthday. We are having a small get-together at her house. Shawn made plans with Trevor and Jim, so he is not going. He has been verry busy this past month figuring out how to be the dungeon master for D&D. The first adventure is Saturday. He is really enjoying this. I haven't seen him this excited about a group activity in a while.

Well...that's all for now. TTFN.

It's been a while...

...but sometimes life just gets away from you. Also, I wasn't getting any response from readers, so I figured no one was reading it anyway.

Life's been pretty rocky at work lately. With all the budget concerns at NASA, several of my friends have been laid off. It's very hard to be happy about still having a job when my co-workers are being shown the door. The thing that gets me is that it only seems like the research centers that are being hit really bad. Johnson and Kennedy are doing fine because they keep getting all the work. It's very frustrating because it seems that they don't care that the rest of us are sinking. HQ keeps going on and on about ONE NASA, but they don't seem to really mean it. It's every center for itself. Well, it has been anyway. Maybe the new administrator will see the value of the research centers and realize that we are a vital part of the whole. Enough venting...

Home life is going well. I still love being married, even if Shawn drives me nuts sometimes. It's so nice to have someone to hold onto when everything else is going to crap. I am so glad Christina has found her soulmate. Joe is a great guy and I am very happy that they are getting married. I know they'll be great together.

Shawn wants us to start looking for a house. I am supposed to call Uncle Frank to get the ball rolling but I am scared. Owning a house is alot of responsibility. I like that we don't have to worry about a lawn or property taxes or all the other little things that can plague homeowners. I would like more room, but we've been doing okay so far. I'll try to get up the nerve to call Frank soon, I promise. Maybe when I stop shaking.

Well, it looks like it's going to be a nice long weekend at home. Shawn & I are going to be going to the Pascoe Fiesta on Saturday. Besides that, I think we're just going to the movies. I am hoping to get some sewing and cross-stitching done as well. I need to finish a couple of projects some that I can get back to my scrapbooking. Ever feel like you have too many things on your plate?

15 Days, 10 Hours, 30 Minutes to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...Yeahhh!!!

TTFN

Sniffles...

I am so tired of having sinus issues. I am congested and uncomfortable. I felt awful on Saturday, so I couldn't go to my scrapbook day at Annette's.
I did go to Mom's on Sunday. We managed to get all the photos out of the basement and went through the games. I am hoping that between the slides, negatives and photographs, we will be able to save our childhood memories. I think it's going to turn out to be more expensive than we thought, though.
Meghan and Elek stopped by for a visit. Elek is so adorable. Meghan has asked Christina to be Elek's Godmother. She is very happy and honored.
Mom is going to be flying solo this week. Dad is on a golf toot with some buddies. I am hoping to take her to dinner on Thursday.

TTFN
Lexa

March already...

I can't believe it's already March. The year is certainly going by fast. Let's see...what's been going on. Well, first off, my Birthday dinner at Mom & Dad's was alot of fun. Mom made my favorite tortellini with carbinara sauce and broccoli. Shawn made an ice cream cake that managed to melt enough in the car to spill all over my suede coat. Very sticky. The cakke turned out to be great though. Everyone liked in including Dad who is not a big fan of cake. Everyone was very nice and got me very lovely gifts. Mom & Dad got me Mulan II and a gift card to Coldwater Creek (a very nice clothing store). Christina and Joe got me a martini set and the ingredients for Appletini's, which I love. Shawn got two beautiful prints from Disney World. One is of Nemo, Dory, Crush and Squirt and the other is of Boo, Mike Wazowsi, and Sullivan. They are wonderful and it's so nice to have art on our walls. The in-laws got me The Princess Diaries II and Shawn's Mom made me a lovely bookmark. Everyone was very generous. My friends at work also got me some gifts, Gift cards to Blockbuster and Waldenbooks, a great Muppets t-shirt and a gift certificate for Stampin' Up! products. My friends are great.

The night of my birthday (Feb.15), Shawn and I went to see Movin' Out. It was very good. I loved the music and the dancing was great. It was the first 'Rock Ballet' that I have ever seen. Shawn liked it too.

I went to my first big scrapbooking event. I had a very good time. I got alot done and met some very nice people. I can't wait till the next event in April. Some friends are getting together this Saturday at Annette's place to work on more scrapbooking stuff. I hope I feel better by then. My sinuses decided to attack me again. I will be so glad when the weather calms down enough for me to get healthy.

Shawn has decided that he loves martini's now. Since Christina got me the set, Shawn has been experimenting. He has discovered that he likes 'dirty' vodka martinis. That means that you put a little olive juice in the glass with the vermouth and vodka. I personally like the apple martinis much more. Dad says that our drinks aren't real martinis and we shouldn't call them that, but REAL martinis are gross. I hate gin, it tastes like Pinesol. Christina says it tastes like Scotch Tape, but either way...Eewwwww!

Well, gotta go, Wal-mart awaits.
TTFN

Bored...

Well, it's another day of nothing to do. Right now we are in a lull and the work won't pick up for another week. So I am trying to find stuff to do.

Shawn and I saw Phantom of the Opera in the theatres on Saturday. It was very good (as long as you like the musical in the first place...there are some critics who put it down, but they never liked the original anyway). The film's creators did a good job and did not change very much, thank goodness. In fact, for the most part, everything was exactly like the stage version. The costumes and special effects were magnificant and the voices were beautiful. I will definitely own this one when it comes out on DVD.

My birthday is next week. Shawn and my mom are putting together a family dinner on Sunday for me. I can't wait to see what Shawn got me from Disney World. Clint got Shawn and I tickets to Movin' Out for next Tuesday (my actual birthday). I am very excited. I love Billy Joel music and am looking forward to seeing this phenomanon.

Gotta go...someone found me a task.
TTFN

Catching up...

The Linda Eder concert was great! Clint's Birthday Party was fun. Christina and I went to the North Coast Men's Chorus Christmas Show on the 19th of December. Also fantastic. Clint did a great number from Avenue Q. He is really coming along nicely.

Well, the Holidays were fine... everyone got what they wanted, more or less. New Year's was fun at Carol's, but a little sad because the Frank Ferraro's and Grandma were visiting Frank, Andrea, and the new baby in Chicago. Very beautiful little girl called, Alyssa, born December 22, 2005.

January flew by... I got to spend a Saturday with Mom sewing. She got me a sewing machine for Christmas and she helped me figure out how to use it. I hemmed two pairs of jeans and made a blanket. I am very proud. Since then, I have mended a pair of Shawn's PJs.
I had two Scrapbook events planned for January which were both cancelled. One was due to yet another Snow storm and the other was because our host got very sick. She is doing much better now, so hopefully we can do something this month or next. The first event was rescheduled and I have another planned for this Month. Shawn thinks I am a little crazy about all this, but I am happy and he knows it. He has gotten involoved with a new group from work to start playing D&D again. His original group was disbanded due to the fact that the Dungeon Master moved.

Right now, Shawn is in Florida at the Annual Solidworks Conference. He is having a great time. The entire conference had free reign of the MGM Studios last night. I am very jealous but also very glad that he is having a good time. He left on Sunday and is coming home Thursday. This is the longest we have been apart since we moved in together. I miss him very much, but am enjoying the time alone. I haven't gotten alot accomplished, but sometimes it's nice to be alone. Shawn said that I would be eating cereal all week, but I will only be having cereal tonight, so thpppttttt!

Going to eat lunch now....
TTFN