How I did on my 2010 Resolutions

Referencing this post, I'm going to let you guys know how I did on my 2010 Resolutions, and tomorrow, or Saturday, I'll let you in on 2011's Resolutions! Hooray!

2010 New Years Resolutions:

1. Finish the house... all of it... down to the last curtain. - Did Not Happen. However, we did finish the kitchen (almost), all the flooring, and curtains for the front room. We also added massive amounts of furniture. I'm hoping 2011 can make this goal happen.

2. Significantly reduce my sugar intake (i.e. pretty much take sugar out of my diet) - This DID happen! Seriously! I rarely eat sugar (OK I wasn't perfect over Christmas), I mean, we're talking a DRASTIC reduction.

3. Make more time for Akira, teach her new tricks. - I could have done better on this if Akira would stop peeing so she could be with the rest of us all the time. I try though, I really do.

4. Make new friends and maintain old friendships better. - This actually happened. I got rid of the baggage in my life, I have made new GOOD friends, and made most of my old friendships better. I haven't been great with long distance friends, and I do apologize for that. It's hard when you live such seperate lives.

5. Enjoy one of my last childless years with my husband. - I deem this the best year of Marraige yet!!!

6. Take a Yoga class. - FAIL

7. Take Pilates. - 'nother FAIL - but in my defense I did try Zumba, and SKY DIVING this year... those are adventurous.

8. Be a better wife. - Not to toot my own horn, but I have been putting in some serious effort in this department and I feel like I was victorious this year.

9. Aquire a wardrobe that actually fits/looks good on me/get some pants tailored rather than rolling up the cuffs. - lost some serious weight this year, gained a little back, lost it, gained it. Eventually I ended up at the perfect ratio for me (I think) and have a good wardrobe to match. Outlet malls saved the day!

10. See all 4 of my sisters at least once this year and call my brother more often. - I failed. I saw Meghan. I saw April. I saw Rebekah. I did not see Valerie (though I tried). However, I did see Jonathan, so you could call it a WIN!

11. Clean my house more regularly. WIN! I clean it, or my friend Kathy cleans it. Either way I win.

12. Become a Better Trainer. - I'm gonna give this one to myself cause I have worked my buns off to learn and grow professionally.

13. Figure out where I stand on my Religious Beliefs. - I'm working on this. I'd rather not discuss how I feel on the matter at the moment. It's a private and personal journey, but I'm working on figuring it out for myself.

14. Move to Denver. FAIL. My parents just moved to DC so that's not even something in the cards anymore.

15. Learn to cook more than just Broccoli and Salmon. WIN!!! I now can make muffins, scones, crockpot anything, chicken a' la' Caitlin (my own madeup recipe that is AMAZING), healthy cookies, etc! I'm lovin it!

Merry Christmas!

My First Flip Video Blog!!!

http://www.flipshare.com/ViewFbReshare.aspx?i=41c5562a-282b-46a9-a039-1d9533d3adf6&s=43704991&p=facebook

This year we went all out with our Christmas Decorations! We were given tons of lights from both my Mom, and Jeff's Dad. It looks pretty good, better in person.

Jeff's hilarious bunny footie PJ's:

My awesome sock monkey PJ's... I'm wearing them right now ;)Our tree with all the presents underneathThis year we had the Pajama Party Christmas Eve at our house. This is me putting the "healthy" cookies in the oven.

I asked Gabriella to take a few photos, so she took the one above and this one of Jason about to serve up some grub.

Here we are all around the table. I tried to take "honest" photos where no one knew I was taking them... Jeff's dad was on to me...
Jason, Gabby, and Merideth chatting... Susan chatting with Baby Adelaide :)

Jeff and Andrew discussing LOL, Dan listening intently, Dan's nephew chatting with Jason.

We tricked puppy into wearing his santa hat.. he's so cute/not pleased

But he defeated the hat and decided it was his friend.

Here are Akira's and My Stockings


Jeff's and Cloud/Puppy's Stockings..

My pile of Loot

Jeff's Loot

Puppy's Loot (Akira's is not pictured because she wouldn't pose)

Jeff digging in...
Me, waiting patiently
In the aftermath, Puppy got tuckered out and took a quick Christmas nap
He's just uncontrollably cute

But even more cute... Check out these guys. Chris and Adelaide fell asleep together at Jeff's Parents after Christmas Linner (Lunch/Dinner)

Look closely at this photo... do you see the evil Cat? That's not one of mine...


So cute.



Then we watched A Christmas Story and hung out and opened presents. It was nice.



Blog Out.

Happy Endings/Scary Beginnings

I found out this weekend that my brother almost died. He has a fractured C2 vertebrae, collapsed a lung, had a concusion, broke his wrist and had to get it plated, will be in a halo for the next 3-4 months, and a few other injuries I can't remember.

The point is, no one knew until I got an email on Facebook about it from one of his best friends. It scared the absolute crap out of me. The last time I got an email from a friend of a friend, it was telling me that he died. So naturally, I was terrified when I saw that this email was about my brother and him being in the hospital.

Lucky for all of us, but especially him, he is NOT paralyzed, and should recover reasonably well.

Today he got out of the hospital. I feel a great sense of relief and gratitude. I love my brother more than anything. He's such a treasure to me. He's the only brother I have. He's so happy and full of life and energy, I cannot imagine losing him.

In other WONDERFUL news, my officer client passed his test today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That means he's not scared of losing his job anymore, and that I did my job. It was an amazing feeling of accomplishment.

I also finished my christmas shopping today. Hoo-rah. Funniest part is how I wrapped my brother-in-law's gift. But that's for later.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, Robin Laid an Egg...

Look at my shiney Christmas Tree It's so sexy you're jealous.

Look at me and Kristen being sneaky and taking pictures while we're supposed to be training! Muahaha...

Here's me, putting on my shoes so we can walk the riverwalk all day in San Antonio. We had a blast, why do I have such a fun husband?

The coolest hat in the world. I found it. I did not buy it. Why me?

The 2nd coolest hat in the world. Also did not buy.

Christmas Time makes us so happy... this clown made us extra happy in San Antonio.

The End.

Just Stuff

It's been a great week for me. I went to Houston on Sunday with my Aunts and spent some time with my parents, and my sister, April, who just had a baby. That's neice #2 for me, and I am a happy Aunt. She's a beautiful little girl, sweet natured, and looks just like her brother. April is doing so well, which made me relieved.

The only issue with the trip was my Aunt's horrific snoring. I'm considering paying for her C-pap machine myself. It was horrendous.

Akira is doing really well. She's been peeing in her litter box like a champ. Cloud (aka Puppy), is also doing really well. He's just so dang clingy. He's also getting a little fat, so now I'm having to work on cutting back his food a little bit.

Jeff's work situation is still stressful. We're working on solutions to that. My work, on the other hand, is going great, and I can only hope to add more clients soon since the Christmas bug has left me with too much free time.

Speaking of Christmas... I bought myself something on one of those couture-for-less sites (I believe this one was Ideeli.com). I decided that for Christmas, I earned a new purse. Betsey Johnson is one of my favorite designers... so enjoy this little peice of eye candy I just got in the mail:

It looks better in person, this is just an iPhone shot.

I suppose it was a little lavish, but I feel like I have earned it, and I'll be toting it around daily, so I think it's worth the money. I got it for a steal.

I'm not sure what to get Jeff for Christmas. In fact, the only person I have any gifts for so far is Adelaide, and 1 stocking stuffer for Jeff.

Nothing else exciting is happening. No funny stories really. But if anyone is out there searching for some good sites for christmas ideas, I have some good ones for you, here they are:

www.fredflare.com

www.ooh-shiney.net

www.perpetualkid.com

www.etsy.com

www.vat19.com

www.thinkgeek.com

Good luck christmas gift hunting!!!

Blog Out.

Car Shopping...

We're in the market for a new vehicle. Jeff's commute back and forth from here to Killeen is costing us a pretty penny, due to the fact that he drives a Ford F350 Diesel engine automatic. Yeah. Ugliest truck on the planet by the way. So soon he'll probably be taking my Yaris, and I'll be driving something newer, hopefully bigger, to cart my equipment around in.

If any of you guys have suggestions on A) A fair car salesman/dealership I should try out, or B) A great car that you love and own/wish you owned, I am open to suggestions.

So far I have tried out the following vehicles:

1) Toyota Prius (LOVE)
2) Toyota Rav4 (also Love)
3) Mazda CX-7
4) Honda CRV
5) Hyundai Tucson

I did go to CarMax, but they are overpriced. The whole point of haggling is to get a good deal. With them, there is no haggling, and thus you pay a little more for convenience. Psh, I live to haggle.

I'm planning on checking out Kia, possibly Volvo although they are relatively expensive, and maybe even Volkwagen. I also considered Nissan, but found they were a little pricey as well.

These are my current thoughts.
That is all.