Where I've been, how far I've come, and where I'm going

So on this day last year, I posted my New Year's Resolutions for the 2010 year. Here it is if you want to see it all. But if you don't want to, this was my list:


Lose weight - If I lost any, it's a small amount

Be a better mom - I had some successes and failures here - nothing too detrimental

Be closer to God - I am not any farther away from Him, but not sure about closer

Be a better wife - I think I have been a good wife though not sure about better

Go to church more regularly - FAIL and not proud to admit that

Get Hannah's BR fully decorated (dresser refinished, artwork up, and curtain) - got 2 out of 3 here; still need to hang artwork

Get Makaela's BR fully decorated (artwork and curtain) - does getting a curtain rod for her room count for anything?

Get our BR fully decorated (new bedspread, walls antiqued, curtains, artwork, big piece of furniture) - we got a bedspread!

Valance for above kitchen window - ironically, without looking at my list, I have been thinking about tackling this in the next couple of days

Drapery piece for back door - nope

Organize junk in office - ummmm no!

Scrapbooking layouts into albums - no

Find Christmas tree topper - yes, yes, yes! Man it feels good to say yes to something!

Christmas gifts purchased by end of November - I wish!

Plan a nice 35th birthday party for Joel - I must have thought I put 40th birthday party. :)

Create prayer list - no

Take more video of girls - I probably did more than in 2009

Meal plan for whole year - I think I did it for 2 weeks. It was the best 2 weeks of my life so I am not certain why I stopped.

Train for Camp Pendleton Mud Run - train? no! completed? yes!

Get older pictures printed and ready for scrapbooking - I actually did some of this, but not as much as I would have liked.

Get Hannah signed up for extracaricular activity - she played soccer this past Fall

Do a Jillian Michaels video at least once a week - ha ha ha ha

Get the kids exercising more - we did better but nothing too structured

Teach Hannah how to ride a bike with no training wheels - YES! She did it! And she was awesome at it. And then she outgrew that bike and we bought her one that is too big for her to start on her own so training wheels are back on it.

Exercise dogs more - does the fact that I took Buddy for a 3 mi run today count for anything? Who cares if it was the first run in ohhhh, a year!


So there's my progress for 2010. It leaves a lot to be desired.


Things that weren't on the list that I did accomplish were:

Train for a 1/2 marathon - so far my training has had me run over 100 miles

Prepare for, cook for, and host a fancy dinner for 6 of our closest friends - a 5 course meal was cooked and was a brilliant success if I may say so myself

Go on a 2 week vacation with family - stomach flu suffered by all 4 of us along the way and we still made it and travelled technically through 5 states

Furnished our living room.

Completed 3 Pottery Barn knockoff shelves for the house (with Joel's help of course).

Stopped biting my nails - I never really thought this would happen, but then one random day I read something about another girl who had the same bad habit and I just decided I didn't want to have that habit anymore. Can I just tell you, broken nails are SUPER frustrating and they hurt way worse than nails bitten down to the fingertips?


For 2011, I am going to carry over most of the unfinished items from 2010 (kitchen valance, back door drapery, finish girls' rooms, prayer list, meal plan) and add a few. Added are:


Create and follow a budget so that hopefully we can save some money but more importantly keep me from stressing too much after I pay the bills and realize I have $10 in the account and a full 2 weeks til I get paid again.


Complete my 1/2 marathon in January.


Continue with a running schedule 3x a week after my race.


Finish the 3 baby albums I owe friends (Milena, Charlie, and Payton - Charlie's is almost done)


Get some for artwork, pictures, quotes, etc on our walls.


Eat better - more fruits, veggies, wholesome stuff as opposed to the soda, candy, and other junk I love.

Spend at least 1/2 hour a day doing nothing but playing with my girls. I need to take advantage of this time that they want to do stuff with me and all the millions of other things I need to do will have to wait because they deserve at least that and so much more.

Potty train Makaela - who at this moment is showing no signs of interest in it.

Get some sort of a garden going that actually produces something we can eat.

I know there's a ton more things I want to do. Here's to a great 2011!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas. I know just a short time ago I was posting here and wishing the same thing. But this time I am including a festive photo of our tree, post-present opening.

May your day be filled with many blessings. I know mine is. I can hear them right now playing with their toys. :)

I now know how Santa feels!

It's 2:28AM as I begin this post. I am sitting here finishing up tags to put on the presents from Santa for out two little girls. I still have to hang the stockings, put out the cookies and milk for Santa, nibble on them, clean up downstairs so there's no evidence of wrapping or mess that will get in my photos. Gotta have the perfect picture you know. Still have to wrap hubby's gift. {sigh} I can't wait to crawl into bed. I don't know how Santa does it. Going going going all night long. Well, I take that back. Yes I do!

Merry Christmas to all of you. May you have a blessed day!

By the way, it's now 3:42AM. Good night.

In denial

I cannot believe Christmas is in 9 days! And I am sitting here wishing I had all sorts of wonderful Christmassy projects to share. Or photos of all the amazing holiday things we've done as a family. But truth be told, most of these past 16 days of December have been filled with the norm with a small few seasonal things mixed in.

I attended an ornament exchange early in the month. I spent several hours making mine and walked away with some pretty beautiful ornaments made by others. (perhaps a post for another time)


We hosted our annual Christmas party with all of our friends last weekend. It was the 8th Annual 4 Meats. Yes, we call our party 4 Meats and feel very blessed and honored that so many friends carve out a day in their own busy Decembers to gather around to celebrate. It is called 4 Meats because way back when, my husband (then fiance) and his roommate hosted a small Christmas party for some friends in their apartment. On the BBQ he cooked chicken, steak, and sausage and it was observed that this was the 3 meats of Christmas (just like the 3 wisemen). The next year he and I were married and in our own home. We hosted yet another Christmas party. As we fondly remembered the prior year's 3 Meats of Christmas it was observed that there were 4 meat dishes on the menu. And at that moment 4 Meats was born ... and has been going strong for 8 straight years now. It's a blast! Complete with a huge potluck, a White Elephant gift exchange, and "shot time" with the famous (infamous) jageritas.


We had the kids' friends over for gingerbread house decorating and dinner. After that we piled in cars and toured through a pretty cool neighborhood that decorates with lots of lights.


We saw Santa and then went to Disneyland to see it all decorated for Christmas. It was too chilly though and I had not packed proper clothing to stay and watch it "snow" on Main Street.


Tomorrow night is Hannah's Christmas recital in which she will be playing the role of Mary. I love it because when I was little, I too played Mary at the children's mass.

Then there's my office Christmas party.

And then the actual holiday will be here.

To date I maybe have a few presents of the 20+ I need to buy. I somehow have to miraculously come up with 2 teacher gifts between now (6:10PM and tomorrow morning).

I so want to feel the Christmas spirit. To really enjoy the season and the excitement that the girls get out of this time of year. But the pressure of everything is so overwhelming. Maybe if I can have all the shopping done and gifts wrapped by the end of the weekend there will be hope for me. Maybe.

Could it be?

Yes! It's something scrappy. A little card I threw together this morning for my darling God Daughter's 2nd birthday. I was feeling terrible that I hadn't done this earlier. Like I was slighting her by waiting til the last minute. But honestly, I love this card! I think it turned out rather well. I love the chunky German glass glitter! (sorry about the poor quality iPhone photo)

In other news, I won a contest being held over on Shannon Tidwell's blog. If you have not checked her out for scrapbooking inspiration, you need to! She is so very clever! But the contest was for a spot in Journal Your Christmas being run over at Shimelle.com. I am really looking forward to this. I'm hoping to be able to record some wonderful memories.

Today is the first day and she posted this Christmas manifesto she created.

I love all of it except for the "write real Christmas cards" part. What does that mean? Sit and write a special message to each recipient? If I did that, perhaps I might finish our cards by Christmas next year! As it is, I am supposed to hand make my cards, but I don't think that will happen. Sorry! Anyways, I really need to focus on the capture the magic part. Let's just say the Christmas spirit was not exactly with me as I raced around town cursing all of the "dumb" drivers around me. And of course cursing the world when I pulled into the gas station only to get out and realize that the tank was on the wrong side. How long have I been driving this car? A year and a half you say? Well certainly this is not my fault. The world is against me I tell you. {sarcasm}