Resolutions

Resolution.....the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc...the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose. What are your resolutions this year? I had the very best 2011 so it took a lot of thinking for me to think what I would like to change for next year, this year. But I know there are things I can do better and things I am excited to try and do. I am not going to make a long list of to-dos for the New Year, but there are a couple of things I am excited about. I can't wait to get back into running (starting tomorrow), cook at least one new dish a week with my husband, read, read, read, and keep working on my marriage and friendships. What are you all doing to welcome in the new year and make 2012 even more amazing than 2011?

Steamboat Springs, CO

This New Year's Eve David and I spent time with wonderful friends in one of the most beautiful places I have been. We went skiing, for my first time ever, in Steamboat Colorado with two other couples. Skiing was a huge challenge for me (probably because I decided I didn't want to take lessons) but it was a beautiful place and I got to spend some much needed one on one time with my husband, challenging myself and learning something new. At one point I got very frustrated that I simply couldn't make it down one hill without falling (and tumbling and falling some more) and David stopped with me, calmed me down, and I fell more in love with him (again for the billionth time). It was beautiful scenery, we had amazing food, we laughed and celebrated, and we said goodbye to my favorite year ever and hello to what will quickly be my even more favorite year.

David on the slopes.

Yummy Alaskan Salmon

My husband being silly, relaxing.

First Christmas as a Wife!

This Christmas was absolutely wonderful! David and I spent Christmas Eve Eve cooking and celebrating with our little family of 2 plus Bo. And then Christmas Eve we woke up and spent the whole day and night with his family. And Christmas morning we had breakfast and presents with them and then left for my parents' house where we spent the day and night. It was the most wonderful Christmas. Here are some pictures.

It's a Wonderful Life

We had a fun, fun Christmas weekend! Friday night we went to David's sister and her husband's Ugly Christmas Sweater party on Barry Road.

Cute Bets and two of her brothers. Joe missed the memo about the ugly sweaters.

Are these cute boys or what? My brother-in-law Zack and Davey

And Sunday, my husband did something very, very sweet. He surprised me with a real Christmas tree. I have been a little bummed that we weren't getting one for our first Christmas. We have just been so ridiculously busy that we haven't had a chance to get one. And then this weekend we had some time but it's only a week until Christmas so I didn't think we needed to get one. We are leaving right after Christmas to go skiing so I was concerned about getting it put up and then taken down in time. Well, I got back from Christmas shopping and this beauty was in front of my fireplace. How wonderful is he? And Bo helped.

Of course I loaded it up with purple ornaments.

And I added some purple ornaments around the house. These ornaments were used to decorate at our wedding reception.

And now, after eating homemade pizza my parents brought over, we are going to pop popcorn, light the fire, drink egg nog, smell the fresh trea, and watch our favorite movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." It is.

Nourishment

Today in church we talked about amazing parts of the Christmas story that we have all heard over and over, but maybe haven't really thought about. For instance, I don't know why on earth I hadn't thought to ask, "Why did the angel tell the shepherds first?"

We explored a lot of the signs from this story. One of my favorite parts was how the angels tell the shepherds that there will be a sign, they will know they have found the baby who is Christ when they find a baby in a manger in Bethlehem. Do you remember what a manger really is? It’s a feeding trough. And do you know where this particular manger was located? Bethlehem, the “land of bread.” And who was laying there? The “bread of life.” Right there in the land of bread, the bread of life, laying in a feeding trough like a platter.

And do you know who would understand sacrifice? Not as big of sacrifice as what would be to come, but still big, big sacrifice? Shepherds. But not just any shepherds. The shepherds that were in charge of the flock that would be sacrificed during Passover. So the angels went and told those shepherds about this tiny savior baby, laying in a manger, in the little town of Bethlehem, that was sent to save us all. And they got it. And they went to see and then they told everyone about this miracle.

I love signs.

Lights and Candy

Last night David and I did one of my favorite Christmas things...we handed out Cherry Mashes at Krug Park!

It was so much fun. If you've never been, you have to go. You get to drive through the beautiful park and look at the way they have decorated and listen to Christmas music. It's really quite amazing. And then at the end you make a donation and get a Cherry Mash.

Well last night we were the bundled up goofy people handing out the Cherry Mashes. It was so much fun.

If you come through our little town between Thanksgiving and Christmas, make sure you go through Krug Park and see the beautiful decorations.

Pictures from http://www.stjoemo.info/parks/holiday_park.cfm

Almost Christmas!

It is two weeks until Christmas! I cannot believe how soon that is. I haven't really done anything Christmas-y that I usually do. For instance, usually by this time of year I have done all of my shopping and wrapping, drank so much egg nog I can't even stand to look at it, have spent many nights and morning staring at my Christmas tree, have read Little Women and all my fave John Steinbecks, and worn out my Gap slippers. This year, nada!

David and I have been busy. I know I've said it before, and I know we do it to ourselves, but yeesh, this holiday season has been busy! We have NOT had egg nog, we have NOT wrapped (or even bought most of) the presents, we have NOT watched It's A Wonderful Life, we have NOT gone to see the lights at The Plaza or EVEN Krug Park, and oh my gosh, hold in your gasps, we haven't even bought a Christmas tree.....

But all of that is about to change. This week. Right now! It starts now because I just finished my final school project! Now instead of going to class all night Wednesday and Thursday after working all day and doing homework all day Sunday and a some Monday night, I get to spend time with my husband. I couldn't be more excited. I have big plans for us this week and all of them include either hot chocolate, James Stewart. or tacky lights and decorations.

That is, of course, whenever my husband gets home from hunting.

You Win Some, You...

I was driving home from class this Thursday night, pretty tired. You will think I'm crazy, but I started a new job this week. Again. Right in the middle of preparing for finals and the holidays. And it's a pretty intense job right now. I keep reminding myself that it's because it's new. And the bottom line is, I love it. It's a wonderful ooportunity. I am one of four contract negotiators/analysts for my same company. It's been challenging and exciting already. I have worked hard each minute of each day, and I love that feeling so much.

So back to Thursday night. I was driving home from my second class of the week at 9 pm after working a full day and heard that Jason Mraz song, I'm Yours. (I have no idea why my radio wasn't set on Christmas music, forgive me?) I decided, or was too tired to pay attention, to change it so I was singing along and heard myself say, "I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn..."

I love that line. I was nervous to leave my team and move to a new team with a completely new job. I was nervous about not liking the atmosphere and worried I wouldn't be able to figure out this role. And I don't know what came over me on the day I accepted (besides my loving husband's support and my prayers always feeling comforted and peaceful about it), but I felt like it couldn't be bad. Even if the atmosphere was different and even if it took me a long time to figure out the role, it would be new and I would be challenged and I would learn. So I said yes, and two weeks later I moved my pictures of my family and friends and my plant and coffee cup over to a new desk.

So I'm wondering if we don't have to worry about winning or losing quite as much. Even if this had been a wrong decision, wouldn't I have met new people, learned a lot about my company, learned a new role and experienced new processes? And it wasn't. This time I won. Even after one week, I love it and I'm so excited, even if I am a little bit tired and scared still.

Jingle All The Way

Two years ago I was living on the Plaza in a little one bedroom apartment. When I say little, I mean little. I didn't have enough room for a full sized Christmas tree. My husband, then boyfriend of the time, sent me this adorable little pre-lit tree to put in my window. I loved it.

And today we cleaned our home and unpacked all of our Christmas decorations - half from him, half from me - to decorate our house for the first time as husband and wife. I pulled this beautiful little tree out of its box today and thought about all of the wonderful memories we've already made together and how excited I am to spend every Christmas from now on with him.

This little tree will always mean so much to me.

Old Navy Coats

I'm at work today so I'm not out Black Friday shopping. I do have some great finds to brag about though.

Last weekend Old Navy had a sale: 75% off of their outerwear. That's right. 75% off. Crazy right?

Another crazy thing is my obsession with the show Friends. Yep, the show that ended seven and a half years ago. I'm still obsessed. And I still love some of the outfits the girls on that show wear. For a long time I have wanted a short, hooded red coat like Moncia wears on and off in season 7, episode 6.  Well, can you believe that I found one at Old Navy on sale for 25 big ones? (Sorry about the bad dressing room pictures)

And I also grabbed this plain black, long peacot to wear to work. I love them both!



Did you get out at the crack of dawn to shop (or, I guess some even opened Thanksgiving night....that's just crazy to me!)?

Gobble On!

I just love the blog world. One of my favorite bloggers shared a free template on her blog, compliments of yet another blogger. So fun!

Check out Shasta Anne at shastaanne.com for other great Thanksgiving decorating ideas. And click the link at the bottom for this cute, free printable. Thanks everyone for sharing!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhml6TmKUw59XBwqyNX5lwhpT73RvANux9cdA1K3dWeaV_xQvc69WMHa_BPAuc7HtI0swwiMkvfNuKnFiQCAWRSEgwFThdEWYu3rQQlvn7Gd0OKWlmVpp_muRWI7pPuq29DOCOtlx6atkpE/s1600/Keep+Calm+and+GOBBLE+On.jpg

Have to Pass on the Kindle



I promise that I tried it, and I just can’t do it. My boss at work just bought the new Kindle Fire, and it is so cool. Now he is selling his Kindle for an unbelievably great price. He let me take it home and try it last night. It’s so very cool. Don’t worry, I think it’s cool and I get it – it’s fun to be able to order books and have them right there, instantly for you to read. I get all the pluses. I just can’t do it.

I love books. And not just because I love to read. I love how the pages feel. I love holding something that someone else has held and written in and highlighted and folded. I love bending back the paperback covers and how it feels to write notes with a gel pen on old paper.

I also think the price is supposed to be a plus for Kindle books. I don’t usually pay more than 5 bucks for used books on Amazon, and from everything I have seen, the Kindle books average about 10 bucks. So you aren’t going to be able to cater to my frugal (cheap) side with that one.

And yes, I love the way they smell!

In case you can’t read that unbelievably small print, it says “lignin, the stuff that prevents all trees from adopting the weeping habit, is a polymer made up of units that are closely related to vanillin. When made into paper and stored for years, it breaks down and smells good. Which is how divine providence has arranged for secondhand bookstores to smell like good quality vanilla absolute, subliminally stoking a hunger for knowledge in all of us.” Perfume: The Guide

So I tried it. Really, I did. And I just don’t want to do it at this time. Maybe someday they will invent a Kindle that feels like paper and lets you write with a stylus that feels like a gel pen. And maybe you will be able to see the two pages at a time and it will flip open like a book. And maybe they will even sell them in “old used bookstore” scent. Until then, I think I have to pass.

Drumroll Please...

It's time to announce the next series I am going to read to hopefully get me through my burning desire to re-read Potter from the first one....actually, I don't think I will ever get over this desire, but I have to at least read something else for a while. That's right, I'm still obsessed with Harry and friends. In fact, I can pretty much assure you that I haven't seen a movie in the past few months that doesn't feel like a huge waste of time because it wasn't one of the Harry Potters. (Disclaimer: I haven't seen Breaking Dawn yet and don't get to until Sunday...oh my, I seriously don't know when I became this person. Poor John Steinbeck, Little Women, and Charles Dickens...I'm so ashamed).

Anyway, back to my new (to me) series. I am going to start reading the four books in the Wicked series. Okay, don't yell at me, I know this is a very old idea. But just like I was late jumping into the Harry Potter and Twilight phenomenons (oh yes they are phenomenons!), I am late on this one. I actually read Wicked the summer after my freshmen year in college and LOVED it, but I need to go back and read it again. And one of my friends has agreed to read it with me. And that makes it oh so much more fun.

I know I owe you a discussion about The River Why. I know, I know. But right now all of my theoretical, deep, anything worth your time discussions have been spent on school. I have been reading and writing and reading and writing about technical communication theoretical foundations, practical foundations, and program assessment, and the different levels of edit. That's right. Just smile and thank me for not posting all of that information.

For now, can I please get away with saying that The River Why is important and good? I think it was a wonderful book. I gasped out loud, I cried, and I yelled for my character to buck up and snap out of it and then I was relieved and laughed when he did. It was good. I think you should read it. And I owe Sister #2 a thank you for suggesting it. And I will discuss it further with her, and maybe she will guest post for us on here about her thoughts on it (In case I can't persuade her to do that, check her out at http://loveitall-ajs.blogspot.com/ for some great ideas about health and happiness).

What are you all reading? I'm in the market for suggestions!

Boots, boots, boots

I am on the hunt for a good, casual boot. I love all the riding boots right now, but I am looking for something chunkier, maybe almost western like to wear with jeans. And not skinny jeans, but like to wear under flared jeans, khakis, and other casual looks. I want to wear them to work when originally I would have worn tennis shoes.

Well I found ones that I love, but when did Steve Madden become more expensive? I always thought of Steve Madden from when I was a little girl, and there's no way we would have spent $150 (at the super-low end of this brand) for boots!

Go Griffs!

This weekend I will be out of town and miss my Griffons taking on the Bearcats in the first ever playoff game at our stadium! I am completely bummed that I won't be in town for this, but you can bet your Bearcat-hatin' butt that I will be listening with my ears glued to the radio!

My whole family loves Missouri Western. It's in our blood. David grew up at the basketball games, my mom is an alumni member, David's grandpa was a teacher back when it was a junior college, Sister #1 and her husband are alumni, and Sister #4 is still a student there (and a retired dancer). We love it. And it is so fun to have this school right in our hometown. There is the cutest old couple in town and these two lovebirds make it to all sporting events - even out of town. This will be David and me someday.

Oh, and if you ever run into my friend Tim, tell him he still owes me cookies shaped like Griffons for our two weeks ago. Silly Bearcat.

Sister #4 and me two weeks ago when our Griffons beat Northwest! A preview for this Saturday? I think so!  M-W-S-U, Go Griffs! Go Griffs!