Holiday...Celebrate...Holiday!!

December is going to be amazing for our family this year!  We will finally get to spend Christmas together as a family and go on a real vacation too!  The last few trips that Tom made home this past year were very short, with one for sad circumstances and the other for happy circumstances.  This time, Tom, the kids, and I will be able to spend 12 days together where we can reconnect as a family and as husband/wife.  We'll be able to relax and get to know each other again, which is so very important since we spend so much time apart.

We will be heading up to Sheboygan, WI for the last week of Tom's holiday leave period and spending time at the beautiful Blue Harbor Resort & Spa, which is just about an hour away from home for us.

Blue Harbor Resort & Spa (Main Entrance)

Blue Harbor Resort & Spa - Winter (Main Entrance)

Blue Harbor Resort & Spa - Winter (Main Drive & Front)

Blue Harbor Resort & Spa (Grand Lobby)

We were able to take advantage of the Santa Special and get the Loft Fireplace Suite at a great discount!   This loft room is aaaaamazing!!  Check it out....

The 736 sq. ft. Loft Fireplace Suite features two queen beds and a semi-private living area with a full-size sofa sleeper on the main level.  Upstairs on the loft, there is an additional queen bed with half-bath. This suite includes vaulted ceilings, fireplace, private balcony, and 3 flat-screen TV's.  Also includes 6 waterpark passes, complimentary high-speed internet, a wet bar area, microwave, mini-refrigerator, coffee maker, hair dryer, in-room safe, iron and ironing board.

Jacob and Chloe are so excited that they get to sleep in their own bed at this resort!  The last hotels we've stayed at the two of them slept together in either the second queen bed or the pull-out sofa sleeper!  (Ooooh...Tom and I are also so excited because we get to sleep upstairs in our own private space in the room!! Love it!!)

Not to mention...THE INDOOR WATERPARK!!!  We love to play in the water! My little waterbabies, my sailor/swimmer husband, and I are going to have so much fun!

Breaker Bay is an interactive lighthouse water fort and at the center stands the Breaker Bay water activity center. The 4-story water-activity and fun center features 12 levels of water-based adventure interconnected with suspension bridges, cargo nets, web crawls, and over 60 guest-activated water effects. Every few minutes a nearly 1,000-gallon "tipping ship" at the top of the 48-foot tall structure fills with water, tips and douses the entire fort and everyone gathered at the bottom. The indoor water park is 43,000 sq. ft and features 7 exciting waterslides, and 12 levels of fountains, spray guns, valves and hoses!

I may even get to take some time to relax in the spa!  How nice would that be??

Trick-or-Treat : Halloween 2013

Our little group of dark misfits got all dressed up and ready to rock our neighborhood this afternoon. The neighborhood is always buzzing with tons of people trick-or-treating because not only do people in our neighborhood come out to our street but people drive to our neighborhood park on the street and come through.

Each house that is giving out candy either turns on their porch light or sits on their porch handing out treats.  A lot of houses are decked out and people handing out candy are also dressed up for the occasion.  Each year, our favorite house to visit is just one block down our street and the old Victorian house is decked out with humongous spider webs and other decorations.  A full-on witch, complete with green skin, warts, and all, passes out the treats from a bowl with a severed head in the middle!  So much fun!

Walking along in our group we got quite a few compliments on our costumes and the kids had a lot of fun!  I just wish that it would be a little warmer around Halloween in Wisconsin so we wouldn't have to stuff layers of clothes underneath our costumes to stay warm!  How do you like my stretchy exercise pants underneath my Dark Widow dress??  LOL!

2013 TRICK-OR-TREAT GANG
Dark Widow (Pam), Monster Bride (Chloe), Totally Skelebones (Jacob),
Gothic Witch (Grandma Ann), and Vampire (Rylan)

Chloe dressed up as a Monster Bride and I
did the makeup.  Not too bad, huh??  :P

She's totally got the pre-teen gothic angst
look going on, doesn't she?

School Pictures 2013-2014

Big changes this year for the kiddo's!  Chloe moved onto middle school and now Jacob is on his own in elementary school for the first time!  My "Boo-Boo" and "Baby Girl" are becoming such beautiful little people and I can't wait to see what this school year has in store for them!

Here are the pictures for Jacob's 3rd grade year and Chloe's 6th grade year:

Chloe - 12 yrs old

Jacob - 8 yrs old

Long Journey

In February 2009, I began on a journey towards getting a college education and I quickly realized that although I didn't know exactly what I wanted out of my education, I did know that it would change who I was and how I would interact with the world.  I started at Capella University in the business administration program but after taking a management and leadership course, where I was exposed to the StrengthsFinder assessment, I really started to see where I wanted to take my education.  I set out with a new goal of getting a business degree where I specialized in project management in order to give myself the foundation I needed to start my own professional organizing business.  After all, working with a client to organize an area of their home, life, or business is in its' true essence a project.

Capella was a great fit for my lifestyle because I could take all my courses online, while I continued to raise the kids and support my sailor as he performed his duties in the U.S. Navy.  Now, I will be the first to admit that after my husband transferred out-of-state on orders that it became much more complicated when it came to handling all the responsibilities of maintaining a house/yard, raising children, and getting a college education.  I did find that I was driven by the pressure and thrived when presented with challenges throughout my degree program because I did not want to fail and wanted to prove to myself that I could really do this and do it well.

Now, at just around 4 1/2 years later....I have finally completed the journey I started!  I can say with great pride that I am a college graduate and have a bachelor's degree!  The coursework was very rigorous and I worked extremely hard throughout my entire program to get to where I am today.  I have written so many papers within APA formatting that I know how to do in-text citations and reference lists in my sleep!  It amazes me looking back at the quality of my work throughout the years and I still am in shock at the fact that the majority of my papers were 20+ pages long, with one even reaching 87 pages on a project management plan for a project that I was the manager on during that 10-week course!  Holy moly!

So, as of September 30, 2013...I have graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 GPA from Capella University and I have been awarded my Bachelor's of Science degree in Business with a specialization in Project Management!  I will be receiving my official transcript and diploma within the next few weeks! I did it!!!  I am so glad that I'm finally done but it was completely worth all the late nights, stress, and hard work!  Wooo hooo!  It's time for the Snoopy Happy Dance!!

Pomp & Circumstance

With the completion of my degree program coming up in September 2013, I was approved to attend the Capella University Commencement Ceremony on August 10th because I am in good academic standing (GPA of 4.0) and I'm currently in the last half of my final Capstone course.  The Commencement took place at the Minneapolis Convention Center in downtown Minneapolis and most activities during the weekend took place within the Minneapolis Hilton, a very beautiful hotel just a short distance from the convention center.

On Friday - August 9, my family and I took part on Friday in the Capella University Meet & Greet, the Military Reception, and the President's Dinner.

Hubby & I dressed to the nines
for the President's Dinner

Capella Junior University @ President's Dinner
Jacob (3rd from right in green shirt/vest) and
Chloe (5th from right in center in teal dress)

University President Scott Kinney handing out
Capella Junior University Diplomas to the kids
on stage 

Capella University President's Dinner
in the Hilton Minneapolis Ballroom

 




















The commencement ceremony took place on Saturday morning and you can watch the commencement ceremony by visiting:  http://www.media-server.com/m/p/xg7kfads

Here are just a few of the photo highlights of the ceremony and a couple pictures of me from that day.

Color Guard - Cretin-Derham Hall
Jr. ROTC Color Guard

Bagpipes - Bagpipe Associates

Capella University Faculty

 

Capella University President - Scott Kinney

Commencement Speaker
Vernice "FlyGirl" Armour

Walking the Stage and Receiving My
Degree from the University President.

Proud Graduate!

Look Ma...I did it!!

Explosion of Streamers at Conclusion of Ceremony!

Capella University Graduates in Attendance at Commencement