Saturday, December 31, 2016

Ready for 2017!

After my last post the whole house got sick!  BOO! But we got everything done and the kids had an amazing Christmas. It was quiet and simple and great.  

Obviously 2016 was not all I'd hoped it would be. On the bright side, I'd like to think I'm stronger for it. And hopefully good things await in 2017!

1. What did you do in 2016 that you’d never done before?  I made my first strides toward becoming a published author

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't make resolutions really. We did finish working on the house and Kelly and I sent the book out. 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No one super close to me.

4. Did anyone close to you die? I lost my unborn son, Gabriel in June.

5. What countries did you visit? I didn't get to travel at all this year.

6. What would you like to have in 2017 that you didn’t have in 2016? I would like to be able to buy a bigger house that suits my growing family better! (same answer as the last three years). I'd also love it if the book was published

7. What dates from 2016 will be etched upon your memory, and why? May 7th (found out we were pregnant) and June 28 (found out he was gone)

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? The house and the book.

9. What was your biggest failure?  Just didn't make the strides I'd hoped for.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?  Miscarriage and D&C

11. What was the best thing you bought? Didn't have the funds for much this year. I guess it was a good investment to work on the house. Hopefully, anyway.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I give us all major props on surviving this year.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Ugh, Donald Trump.

14. Where did most of your money go? Bills and the house

15. What did you get really excited about? Actually getting to house hunt was fun.

16. What song will always remind you of 2016? Beam Me Up by Pink

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? This year was a downer, honestly. So sadder, fatter (I need to delete this question), and poorer. But hey, it can only go up, I hope.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Finding ways to be positive

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Stressing out

20. How did you spend Christmas? We hung out at home. Angie's b/f came over, we did gifts and breakfast and just relaxed all day watching the kids enjoy their gifts and letting Tyler ride his bike outside since it wasn't to cold.

21. Did you fall in love in 2015? More and more every day with my husband and kids

22. What was your favorite TV program? Big Bang Theory, Dancing with the Stars, and The Little Couple

 23. What was the best book you read? The Martian

24. What was your greatest musical discovery? My loss playlist. It brought me great comfort.

25. What did you want and get? To finish the house and book

26. What did you want and not get? A promotion, publication, and a new house!

27. What was your favorite film of 2016? The Martian

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 34.  I actually had the day off. I don't remember doing anything much, but it was nice and low key and I DIDN'T HAVE TO WORK!

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? If there hadn't been quite so much to overcome.

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2016 ? I'm still loving leggings and boots, especially my Candian boots and the new brown ones my mom got me. And I got a pair of "jogger" sweats yesterday and I think they might be my new lounge go-to.

31. What kept you sane? My hubby, my kids, my mom, my sisters, my family, my friends, and my coworkers! Talking and writing and laughing and music!

32. What political issue stirred you the most? Donald Trump is really going to be president.

33. Who did you miss? My sister, my grandparents and my great aunt and my little Gabriel.

 34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2016.  What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

 35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "I hear your voice and I break in two and now there's one of me with you." Pink "Beam Me Up"

Monday, December 12, 2016

All about Christmas!

I'm so predictable. I nearly vanish in November and December every year. I suppose it's a busy time for everyone. My job is EXTREMELY busy around this time of year, and this year is, if anything, more so! I'll be covering for the maternity leave for a coworker (well, a coworker from Birmingham) who is the go-to for all things for my group. Side note: It's a little hard to swallow, as we were literally due the same week. Anyway, I'm fielding lots of questions on invoicing and year end stuff. It's interesting and different, but can make getting my normal work done a little challenging.

So yeah, busy. I need to finish my Christmas shopping too. This weekend we took the kids to see Santa. We went to the mall this year. The last two years we attended an event at Tyler's school, but they didn't have it this year. The kids did great and were super excited--a change from last year when AJ was afraid of Santa.

Waiting in line! Blurry because they couldn't stand still from excitement!

They've been (pretty) good this year! AJ looks so deceptively innocent here.
We continued the Christmas preparation weekend by putting up the Christmas Tree.  I remembered that I planned to do a blog post about a few special Christmas ornaments, so I snapped a few photos after we'd finished.
Oh Christmas Tree!

Turtles!  Tyler's friend made him these!

Can you see tiny little me? Circa 1989

This used to be a rocking horse, until our sheepdog Shasta knocked over the tree one year and gnawed off a leg and the rockers.

Last year's obligatory Christmas Craft!

Tyler's first ornament! He loved that toy!

AJ's first ornament, complete with his footprint!

The ornament I bought the first year Adam and I were together 2002.

My first ornament! 1982

Our nativity scene--we put it down low where the kids can play with it.

We usually hang the stockings on bookshelves (no fireplace), but we put the shelves away this year, so command hooks it is!
Busy weekend and now it's the week again!  Any guesses on if you'll get another blog post before my New Years Post???