New Years Resolutions 2011

I love making new goals. There is just something exciting about picking some things to work on throughout the year and accomplishing them. I have been thinking about this for a long time and I am going to...


1. Read the Bible. I read this book for book club called "The Year of Living Biblically." It was an interesting read and so I decided to make this my year of "reading Biblically." I have read the New Testament but haven't ever finished the Old Testament (it's been hard to get past Leviticus). I, however, do reserve the right to skip the "begat" parts.


2. Get published. I realize this one doesn't fully depend on me, but I will have to write the book/books and send to the publishers.


3. Lose 10-15 pounds. Yeah, the holidays weren't very good to me. To do that I will continue to exercise but will eat fewer calories. I was thinking of running another marathon but then I decided that I don't really want to deal with the hassle of signing up, paying, getting a hotel, transportation, etc. so I'm not making that a New Years Resolution -- but it is still an option.


4. I got into couponing last year so I have decided that for my charity goal I am going to get as many of the free/super cheap things (i.e. free toothpaste or deodorant) I can and donate them. I will keep a running total on retail value so I can see how much couponing actually saves me. Hopefully the end result will be above a thousand dollars.

5. Limit T.V. watching to one show per day for me and one for Tom.

6. And there was something else so I'll have to edit this when I remember.

Completed New Years Resolutions

Last year I made a few resolutions for 2010 and completed most of them.


I bought coats and donated them to the school district for my charity resolution.


For my fitness resolution I completed the Boise Ironman 70.3.


I started a business for my monetary resolution... It is actually this close (put your thumb and index finger an inch apart) to being up and going. It is a hair bow instructional business where people can purchase my instructional videos online on how to make hair bows.


My spiritual resolution was to be on time for church. That is and probably always will be a work in progress.


For my relationship resolution I resolved to go out with Tom once a week. We mostly kept that.

My travel resolution was to either get another stamp on my passport or to do an Alaskan cruise. I failed with that one.

Christmas

After all the presents, Tom went in to the office to take a nap. Morgan's pack and play was in there so I took her in shortly after for her nap. A little while later Tom woke up to see little Morgan resting her chin on the top of the pack and play, staring at him and making snoring noises. Ha! Funniest thing that happened the entire month.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas with Tom's mom. The Christmas post will come later but I wanted to write a memory of Morgan.

On Christmas Eve she saw her new bike that she was going to get the next morning. This wasn't the first time she had seen it and she really liked it. She kept saying, "bike, bike, bike." I asked her if she wanted Santa to come and bring her a bike. She said, "Yeah. Bike, bike... eeeeeeeee" with a big smile. She was super excited.

Another thing... While I was doing her hair I started counting with her. I said "one." She said "two." Usually I say "three," etc. This time she just kept counting. She got to nine or ten then started counting backward. Apparently that is not normal for a 20 month old. She is pretty amazing to me!

Uncle Wendell

My uncle Wendell was killed in a plane wreck on December 18. He was going up for his third jump of the day. He had been skydiving weekly since 1984 and had done over 3000 jumps. One newspaper article called him "the Clint Eastwood of skydiving." He was one of the nicest guys I knew and he will be missed.

Money, Money, Money!

Morgan knows exactly where to put her money. We have taught her well (okay, Nana taught her). Pardon the mess. I have a 20 month old.

Writing Letters With Daddy

Just Some Bedtime Oreos and Milk

And to the Mall Again!

This time we went to the mall to see Santa. Morgan has been learning that Santa says "ho, ho, ho" and other things about him. I was hoping to prepare her so she wasn't scared to sit on his lap. She has been deathly afraid of the life-sized Santa dolls on display at Lowe's and the craft stores so I wasn't sure what to expect.

She was super excited to wait in line with the other kids.

And warmed up to him while sitting on my lap. She wasn't warmed up enough to sit on his lap, apparently.

So I helped her out. Hopefully he will still bring her what she wants.

Back to the Mall

We went to the mall again to play but this time we took some of our friends. Morgan had a great time playing with this little girl and boy and I had fun mommy time with their mom.

She played so hard that she fell asleep in her chair when we got home, which almost never happens (like this is a first!). Yay for friends!

Reading to the Dog

Our local library has a special time where kids get to read to a therapy dog so we went with our friends and their kids. Morgan loved it! We only read a few pages but she was more into the dog anyway. I read that kids her age should be saying anywhere from 10 to 50 words. Tom and I counted over sixty words that Morgan can say. We think she is so smart!

The Live Nativity: Year 2

(I have to defend the way I look in this picture. I was smiling for what seemed like forever waiting for the camera to take the picture and I ended up looking like I'm plotting a murder or something -- with a double chin.)There is a live nativity at the seminary building around here and the star of the show... Clyde the camel (I know you should go for the story of the birth of Jesus... but a live camel alone makes the trip worth it). Morgan thought he was so neat and he kept smelling her.

These guys do a great job. You have to walk from the shepards to the angels to the wise men and to the stable.

We're happy we went for the second year in a row!

Play Time at the Mall

Since it has been so cold and snowy we have not been able to go outside to play so really that leaves a big part of the day open. I heard from a friend that she takes her kids to the play place at the mall when they can't play outside. Fantastic idea! That's just what Morgan and I did last week and I think it will be a weekly date for us.

Usually when we go to the mall it is for me so she has to do what I want her to do. This time was special because I went without an agenda. It was her time. We played in the play area. We went on the escalator (many times).

We took a break on the bench.

We went to Build a Bear and played with some toys. Then to Toys R Us Express. Morgan ran to the Barney doll saying "Ba-ee."

Next we went to a mommy store and saw some pretty belts.

We took another break in front of the cookie store.

So we decided to have a snack. After the snack we walked around some more and ended with the play area and some more escalator. Such a good time!

The Meeting Formerly Known As Enrichment

I got a new calling at church (which I'm super happy about. I was the primary chorister and let's just say that wasn't my favorite). Now I am over enrichment, or what used to be enrichment and is now "Relief Society Meetings" or something. I'm not even sure. Anyway, I don't have a committee yet so I planned the Christmas party with the 1st counselor. We decided to do dinner and crafts. We also had to set up, decorate, bring food, and clean up (more people brought food and cleaned up so don't think I did it all). It was a fun night but I now realize why our ward hasn't done crafts since I've been in it -- it's a lot of work! Luckily I had some great crafters help out (thanks Michelle and Renee!).

We didn't have a budget for decorations so I made some things to go on the tables but let's be honest, as much as you decorate a basketball court in a church built in 1960, it's still a basketball court in a church built in 1960.

Here are some of the crafters. Making hair bows...Nativity silhouettes on glass blocks...and advent calenders. Thanks to everyone who helped out. I am supposed to send thank you cards but I probably won't so please consider this a thank you.

Latest Guillotine Victim

We didn't even have time to name it. I guess by default it will take the name of Marie Antoinette.

Snow Day

Before we moved to Boise everyone told us that it never snows here. That winter it snowed every day for two months. So much for listening to people. Today we awoke to a winter wonderland. Even though it has snowed normally each winter we've been here, we haven't seen this much snow. And it's the good kind! I was so excited to play in it with Morgan. I had to shovel some pathways for her or else she would just fall over. She liked it okay but was more excited to go inside and watch "Bike" (or Barney, the one about wheels).