Dirty 3-0!!!

First who came up with the saying "Dirty 30"? Why do we have to be Dirty?  Can't we be "Fantabulous 30" or.........whatever I suck a creating new words.  So I guess I will say I am now officially in the "Dirty 30" Club.  Yep, I have been 30 for two days now and it has been great so far. 

I did enjoy my 20s but I didn't live them to the fullest.  I am thankful to say good-bye to 29 though.  29 was a very hard year for my family and I.  I am welcoming my 30s with open-arms and ready to really start living life.  I feel like my 20s were so busy with college, growing up, getting married, being a wife, becoming a mother, and so on, that I let some of my dreams slip away and often watched life just fly right by. 

I have always heard your 30s are great because you truly start to feel comfortable in your own skin and you have a better understanding of who you are and what you want in this ONE life we are given.  I am thankful for my 20s since they brought me my husband, our first child, my college degree, great friends, and much more.  However I truly can't wait to see what the "Dirty 30s" have to offer. 

Here are a few things I am determined to cross off my "Goals, Dreams, and Adventures List" aka Bucket List........
1-Get my degree in Photography.
2-Take cooking classes in baking, sushi, basic skills of cutting, etc. 
3-RUN a 5K.  I have done two 5Ks in my life but I walked/jogged them.  I want to RUN
4-Renew our Wedding Vows on 10th Anniv. (two years to go)
5-Find the following - Church Home, MOPS, and Women's Bible Study.

Above are just a few on what looks like a mile long list of mine.  Right now the 5 above are feeling the most important to me.  Hope you all have a FABULOUS Sunday and whether you are in your 20s, 30s, or even in your 50s......I pray you are enjoying your life. 

Taken from Google Images

Mindful Monday

Well it has been a little over two weeks since the deployment has started.  All I can say is, it is just the pits.  However, there is something more important.

Joplin, Missouri. 
The Tornado season seemed to start here North Carolina with the tornado(s) touching down about 45ish minutes from our home.  Then Alabama and now Missouri.  *Side Note - many other states have had tornadoes but these are the "main" ones making the news due to the large number of deaths.  YouTube Clinton, Mississippi (my husband's home town) and see where the storm truly started before it hit Alabama and killing all those people. 

Back to Joplin -
Since I have family and friends all over in Missouri, Joplin hit closer to home with me.  I reached out via Facebook today to see if any of my family/friends have loved ones in Joplin.  Those who do said their family and friends are accounted for.  A few were still waiting to hear from their family/friends but they did get word that they are alive.  Reading those FB comments were a sigh of relief. 

I have made a point to not watch the news while we are a "deployment" family but tonight I had to.  Seeing Joplin basically wiped off the map (for now because I know they will rebuild and become a stronger community than before) is beyond heart breaking. 

Through  the sadness, loss, and tears something else shines through.  Hope, Pride, and unshakable Faith.  The people of Joplin are showing our Nation and the entire World that right now they are knocked down but they won't stay down.  They will grieve but more importantly they will survive. 

Since 2011 has started, it has been one natural disaster after another.  How much more will Mother Nature throw at us until she waves her white flag.  For I will admit, I am nervous about her wrath right now.  This is just Tornado Season.  We haven't even hit Hurricane Season yet........

On this Mindful Monday, I am praying and praying hard for our Country, the World, and the people we see on the news, Internet, etc that have been affected by all the Natural Disasters.  Know that when you feel alone, helpless, and want to give up, You are NOT alone!  Hold onto your Faith because with it, you can truly survive anything.

Picture via Google Images

Blogging still on hold......

I know I said I would be back this week but more like next week for sure!!  I haven't forgotten to reply to fabulous comments, just trying to spend as much time as a family before hubster leaves.  Hope everyone is doing wonderful and be back soon!!

Wedding Dress - Mindful Monday

December 6, 2003 is truly one of my all time Top 10 Days of my life.  A day where my last name changed and my heart was wrapped in such intense joy, love, and happiness ever since (add in few tears, heartbreak because that is what real love is....loving, getting hurt, but always fighting your way back to love). 

I searched for a few weeks for the "perfect" dress.  The dress where we will only wear once.  Some may dream that one day your own daughter would wear the same dress on her wedding day.....I wore my dress for a few hours, quickly changed out of it, hit the road for a weekend trip to Hot Springs, AR (both Nathan and I were in college so we were very limited on budget for honeymoon, he had finals the next week, and I had to walk across the stage for my diploma). 

Rocket forward (truly can't believe we will celebrate 11 years this Sept. since we have been together) to today.  8ish months short of celebrating our 8th Wedding Anniversary.  I have not worn the wedding dress since, it has been shuffled between 4 moves, and until this weekend, it sat in back of the spare bedroom closet. 

Till today.....A friend told me about a Blog where you can send in your wedding dress for donation.  The donation of your wedding dress, will then be turned into small gowns for babies and children who have died.  Your wedding dress that helped you look even more beautiful on your wedding day, will be able to help babies and children be buried in something beautiful. 

http://lisahusmann.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/wedding-dresses/

I knew in my heart that this was something meant for my dress.  Especially after losing our baby at 10.5 weeks (miscarriage) I couldn't help but think of what sorrow you would feel when picking out an outfit to bury your child in.   

So I have boxed up my dress and will ship it off this afternoon.  My dress is in honor of our own loss and friends who have lost their own precious babies.  I would gladly pull out every wedding dress I could to just be able to bring some form of relief and joy in a time of such sadness and grief. 

Mindful Monday

Things that are on my mind this gloomy weather Monday Morning..............

1.  Judging of others because they are Army vs. Air Force or Enlisted Wife vs. Officer Wife.  I always thought you decide a relationship by that person's character and how they treat you.  No by their marriage status or what other's tell you.

2.  Seriously considering trading in my SUV for a full size car.  Gas prices are killing me and in a month or so making a 15 hour drive back home.....that is a lot of gas.  Or should I keep the SUV, pay it off, and have husband get a truck.  But then two tanks to fill with gas, but only one car note.  I truly want something with better gas prices but need something to haul things.  Point in case a friend is giving us a little kids picnic table and we couldn't get it in SUV.  If we had a truck we could......

3.  Need to do a better job of posting our 30 Days of Outside Inspiration Ideas.  Out of 11 days we have been outside all but 1.  However, I hardly took pictures......blame it on upcoming deployment and living within the moment.

4.  Upcoming deployment.......

5.  Scrub and declutter house from top to bottom to get ready for MIL for a few days and then FIL.

6.  Gabriel.  He is growing up like me by being hundreds (some thousands) of miles away from his grandparents.  It breaks my heart to think of all the grandparent fun he is missing out on.  Yep some days it just kills me and other days I get jealous for him.  He doesn't know any different so he can't be jealous.

7.  My grandma in Texas and my Grandparents in Missouri.  Hope they know how much I love and cherish them!!

8.  4 craft projects half way finished.  Blame it on reading some amazing books lately and jumping feet first into a few of the projects without researching the best way to create these projects.

9.  Baby fever.........yeah moving on HA!

10.  The love I have for my family and friends.  May they know I am their biggest supporter and I miss them dearly!

11.  My nieces and nephew.  This Air Force life prevents me from being the fun and cool aunt that spoils them rotten, takes them to parks, movies, and coming to their school functions.  None the less I cherish those 3.....even if I am always late mailing them their birthday gifts.....time and I don't get along when it comes to the Post Office!!

Image courtesy of Google

Up and running with technology

It has been almost a month since I have laid my fingers on an actual key board.  Part of me has missed it majorly and the other part of me feels like I went through a detox and came out on top.  I have been using the iPad for FB, some email checking, but I am still trying to decide if I like the iPad or not.  I LOVE it for recipes while I am in the kitchen or listening to music through out the day. 

None the less, our lap top is fried.  It would cost more than what it is worth at this time to fix it so we decided not to fix it.  I am saving money to buy a Mac and want to pay cash for it.  Till then we decided to get the old-timer desk top of boxes from the garage. 

I am hoping to get back on track with Bloggin tomorrow, check and respond to many important emails, delete many emails and just reply with a phone call, and lastly, continue with my technology detox and stick with what is important.....family, cooking, crafts, exploring NC, and reading!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend and really great month!  I am off to download pictures from my two cameras....last count was over 500 pictures........

A lot of reading has been going on in this house

lately.....

Still no luck

Laptop is back from Geek Squad. They managed to get ALL my pictures, recipes, documents, etc off the computer and stored onto an external hard drive. But that was it. Nothing else is working. So last result is for Nathan to take it to work and hope some fabulous Geek squad people there can restore it.

Now I know with everything that is going on in the world right now, not having a laptop or computer is silly to complain about. But I have over 400 pictures that I would love to unload from my two cameras. Recipes and projects I would love to share. Not to mention Gabriel has not webcammed with his DeeDee and Papa in a few weeks. The poor kid finally had a break down about this....a very sad break down.

Till I have a computer again I'm taking notes and trying to become friends with the iPad. I've come to realize that I am old school when it comes to certain things and using a computer :)

We are still praying for the people of Japan and all the countries who are flying or sailing in to help Japan. It is heart breaking to watch but I know they will come back from this!

Technology......

My laptop is with the Geek squad trying to be repaired. Basically it is fried with many many viruses :( Fingers crossed they can repair it and get everything off my computer. Yes horrible I know since I hadn't backed everything yet. I use Shutterfly to upload all my pictures and the documents were being saved to thumb drives or slowly printed out. However many have not be backed up and hope not all is loss. We have plans to buy a new computer but wanted to wait to pay cash.

This also means until computer is fixed my Blogging abilities are limited at this time. I am using my iPad but Blogger and iPad are not user friendly. Hope to be back within a week. Have some great Dr Seuss, Mardi Gras, and St. Patrick's Day projects/recipes to share. Know the holidays are or will be over but can always store for next year!

Hope everyone has a Great Monday and Fabulous week!!

Mindful Monday

Today is President's Day.  I truly wonder at times what some of the 1st Presidents would feel about where our Country is today in aspect of politics, technology (would they be Facebookers and send out Tweets), the economy and so forth.  Makes me wonder! 

I am however thankful for Nathan having this Monday off.  Having today off is a great way to end a fabulous weekend.  Surprise visit from Ohio friends, fabulous 70 plus degree weather, and spending time as a family.  What is even better is sticking to my commitment of not being on the computer while Gabriel is awake. 

As in, staying off FB, not checking emails, and even trying to leave my phone alone.  There are times where I get on the computer to look something up for our schooling, a recipe, or reply back to a few important emails but overall I am trying to unplug from technology when my child/family needs me the most. 

I wasn't 100% successful of staying off FB this weekend but it is a start in the right direction.  I found myself logging into FB while hubster ran into Lowe's or filling up with gas.  I "liked" a few status and commented on others.  But then made myself log off.  At least I don't get alerts on my phone whenever someone posts or writes things....I am not that bad or that nosy. 

Bath time is about over (hubster is doing bath time so I can get in a quick Mindful Monday post) and we are going to play in the Sensory Boxes today.  Can't wait to see what Gabriel thinks of them.  They are a work in progress since I used things around the house or a quick trip to the Dollar Tree to put them together. 

Hope you all are having a FANTASTIC President's Day, Mindful Monday, and trying to live for positive impacts within yourself and your family.  Remember that no one is perfect and it is okay to fail.  Just remember to get back up, dust yourself off, and keep going.

Photo taken from Google Images

VDay Part 1

We truly don't really celebrate this "holiday" because neither one of us understands why so many focus all the love they have for their partner on just one day.  What about the other 364 days you can share and show the love, romance, and compassion?  We have alway exchanged cards because I am a sucker for the poems and letters Hubster writes to me.  But for bought gifts or chocolates, yeah not really our thing. 

However, throw a kid in the mix and I get all crafty and lovey-dovey ;)  This year I somehow even get sucked into buying gift(s) - not the normal handmade gifts to one another.  Since Hubster has to work VDay I made our VDay breakfast this morning (Sunday).  Nothing big just pink heart shaped pancakes, sausage, eggs, and my hand at free flow handwriting in pancakes...that I so need more practice! 

I-Heart-You

Yep need more practice!!

 

1st time making over easy eggs for Hubster.

Seriously don't get how people can eat

their eggs like that but Hubster loves it!

Then hubs did something he has never done before.  He surprised me with a "real" gift - an iPad!!!!  Totally shocked but I guess paying off our Best Buy Creidt Card and my student loans (YES those babies are gone!!!!) got him in the celebrating mood.  I might be MIA after this post due to  researching apps, iPad for dummies, etc.

Since he gave me my present early I was nice and did the same (super glad I bought into buying a gift this year).......

That face says it all!!!!

Two One-Minute Sessions at an Indoor Skydiving

place in Raleigh, NC

(thanks Groupon)

*Don't you love the kid's cheese lips!!*



Hope you come back Tuesday to see how Gabriel and I decorated for our Family's Date Night In for Valentine's Day. 

Super Bowl Sunday!!!

My family equals fans for the Chiefs, Cowboys, and the Colts.  Well none of our teams made it BUT there is always next year!!!  Today it will be just us three celebrating the Super Bowl.  I honestly could care less who wins or loses.  I like sports but find watching it on TV bores the heck out of me.  However the Super Bowl makes up for that boredom with commercials and a half time show.  Then not to mention the food!!!

Here is our menu for the day.  Will post pictures and recipes this week but I have to get back into the kitchen. 
1-Banana Pudding (hubby said to double the batch this time)
2-Sausage Balls
3-Little Smokies
4-Mississippi Sin
5-Spicy Queso
6-Cinnamon Rolls (homemade which is why I need to get back to the kitchen)

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday whether you celebrate the Super Bowl or not.  Happy Sunday!!

Preschool Adventures

Yesterday I spent all day organizing and turning the spare bedroom into a bedroom and mini classroom.  Come Monday, Gabriel will start PreK-2 here at home.  Also known as, a routine to help STOP the many I am BORED meltdowns he has graciously has been giving me lately. 

Before

After - still have a few things

to hang on the wall

Working with what I have but it works. 

Today I will label - I love a good label maker!

I went to the Cincinnati Home School Convention last year with some friends and another day with Nathan.  I went to get an idea of what is out there for homeschoolers and check out some curriculum.  Mind you I taught inner city 3rd grade students before I became a mom, but I have never looked into homeschooling our kids.  As of right now, I plan on sending Gabriel to public or private school as soon as his age allows him to go.  Until then, Gabriel and I need something to do during the day.  This fly by the seat of your pants stuff doesn't work for me.  I have to have organization, structure, and a game plan. 

The game plan is Flowering Baby 2-3 and Carson the Caterpillar.  As well as planned outings for the park, museums, play dates, the library, and other resources I may pull from such as No Time For Flash Cards, Confessions of a Homeschooler, Star Fall, Enchanted Learning (few of the many sites that I like).  

Nathan and I did not see many Preschool curriculums at the convention.  The few that we did see, seemed to have a lot of worksheets or were geared for the PreK 4 and 5 year olds.  I am not a fan of worksheets and hardly used them in my classroom when I was teaching (yes they have a place but not for everyday use IMO).  I think that is why I went with Flowering Baby and Carson the Caterpillar.  They are fun, creative, hands on, focused on age appropriate activities and learning for PreK school aged kids of 1-5 years old.  

Yesterday while I was getting the daily lessons together and organizing the room, I became really excited.  I felt like I was back to my summer days getting my classroom ready.  Mind you I have no desire right now to go back into a "real" classroom but I am really excited to be in the teaching mode.  Excited because it is my own child whom I will be teaching!  

Best of all I think Gabriel is excited.  He helped (as much as a 2 yr. old can help) set up the mini classroom and all day I heard wow, oh, and momma look.  Then not to mention how bananas he went over the puzzles and paint brushes.  Yeah I really think he is going to enjoy daily activities. 

I hope you come back each week and check out what we have been doing! 

Air Force Travels and Cookbook

With the Air Force life I will travel and live in several if not many different states and possibly countries.  To remember our travels, I try to have conversation pieces (art, furniture, glassware, etc) in my home to display these said travels.  From Mississippi I have this beautiful cross painting done by a local artist.  From Louisiana I have many items since I have lived there the longest.  Ohio is actually a gift from a dear friend.  A wall art piece that says Home Is Where the Air Force Sends Us.  Then little houses that I write what bases we have been to.  Not to mention I also make photo books of our adventures in said state we live. 

Anyway, I am also wanting to add to my cookbook stash.  When reading one of the blogs I follow I came across this cookbook - Best of the Best Cookbook: Louisiana (can be ordered HERE).

Photo courtesy of Amazon

It hit me!!!  How cool would it be to have cookbooks as well from each state/country I have lived in.  Yeah it might be overkill but I really love this idea.  So as I decided on which cookbook to get first (who I am kidding???  It will be Louisiana) I am trying to decide do I buy cookbooks from all the states/countries I have lived in when I was a Air Force Brat or just now as a Air Force Wife? 

Oh what the heck...they are cookbooks.  Can't go wrong with cookbooks can I?  Think I will do cookbooks from Air Force Brat and Wife :D

Reason #578

Of why I am thankful I am staying home with Gabriel.  Yesterday we went to Target for some much needed items.  When we got back to the car, I was about to open the trunk when Gabriel said "Look Momma".  He then proceeded to point out and say every letter for my car's name - SORENTO (how it is spelled and written on the car).  After wards he just looked at me and smiled.  Lord that smile is priceless and we did a HUGE happy dance in the middle of Target parking lot.  He is 2 years 1 month and so many days old (ha!) and amazes me every day.  Especially days like these when neither hubster or I have worked with him on this word.

However don't think our day is all flowers and rainbows.  Take today.  Gabriel was watching Mickey Mouse while I decided to jump in the shower.  I was about finished when he came busting through the door and screaming "Ewwww Momma!! Ewww my hands!!!"  I calmly talked to him while asking him to hold on.  I was almost finished.  That didn't work and he starts screaming even louder.  I pull back the shower curtain and see his little hand.  It is green.  No idea what is green that he could have gotten into.

Oh wait.  The hot steam of my shower disappears and it hits me.  POOP is green!!!  My 2 year old child, who knows about half of his alphabet, can recognize lower and upper case letters, has found he can stick his hands down his diaper.  I quickly close the shower curtain, breathe, pass on shaving, and get out to clean my son's poopy hand.

Tonight I can see the beauty in both of my days.  However I truly wish to have more dancing in the Target parking lot vs. poopy hand days!  Hope you all had a fabulous Friday.  I am off to read more about Potty Training because my son is ready.

Do you Shampoo or Nopoo??

I am a shampooer kind of girl.  I have extremely oily hair, it is thin, but I have lots of it to make it look thick.  My hair can't make up its mind if it wants to be straight, wavy (no such luck on curls), or just down right frizzy. 

I have friends that do the "Nopoo" (don't use any form of shampoo or soap for their hair) but I have never looked into.  I have wanted to try the Wen Shampoo line for awhile but Mr. Dean doesn't sell to my price range.  However, Mr. Dean if you find this, I would love to try your shampoo and tell my Blog readers and Facebook friends.

Instead it has been various Shampoos until this past October, when I was staying with my parents for awhile, I started using my mom's shampoo.  It is a Sulfate Free Shampoo. .............

The one I have been using is for colored hair even though I don't color my hair.  After the first wash I really felt and heard a difference with my hair.  Um, heard??? Yes heard!! I didn't have that crunch when I pressed the ends of my hair.  Don't get me wrong my hair is actually very healthy but for the first time it felt really clean.  Not to mention when I scratched my scalp there was no greasy, flaky, build up mess.  I was sold!  Skip to January, I am still using the shampoo and my hair is fabulous (especially fabulous when I am not lazy and actually style it).

Anywho, went to Wal-Mart yesterday to replenish my shampoo as well as the fridge and cabinets.  When these little "sale" tags caught my eye and I ended up buying this new shampoo.....

It is Sulfate-Free but with the added bonus of being Organic......no I haven't went all organic but we are trying...that is another post for another day.....This shampoo was .20 cents cheaper and a few more ounces.  Another selling factor is, it has this fabulous coconut smell...lord how I love anything coconut.  Not to mention it's magical powers!!  Standing in the middle of the shampoo isle, I closed my eyes and took a huge sniff.  I was instantly back to a size 9 (yeah I'm almost 5'11 and will never be a 2), flat tummy, and wearing a bikini, and then some one said "Excuse me please".  Okay so it doesn't really have magical powers but it smells great! 

I have never used this brand before but the smell had me from the first sniff.  So I am going to give it a go.  Will Blog back in about a week and let you know what I think.  If I don't give you a update, I just might have charged a one way plane ticket to Fiji...please don't come and rescue me....please!

Fiji with the fabulous huts over the water........

**Neither shampoo companies or Fiji have heard of me.  This post is based on my opinions alone and can not be held against me.  I would gladly write up a post about Fiji if someone would like to send me there though ;) **

Love...

Valentine's Day is just a month away and it is one holiday Nathan and I have never really celebrated.  Not a scrooge but we truly try to have romance and love in our relationship every day...just ask some of our friends about our "White Board".... ;)  Don't get me wrong, Lord knows we get on each other's nerves, I wish him at work sometimes when it is his day off, and we have disagreements, but we always find our way back to each other....always!

Sunday is Mr. May's birthday.  32nd Birthday to be exact.  I am a HUGE believer in birthdays.  Always have been (except this past bday....it totally was not my month) and pray I always will be.  I have kind of forgotten that his birthday was coming and I like to blame the move, new city, TLF, and the list could go on and on but in the end I should not have forgotten. 

Last night over dinner I asked him what he want/needed for his bday.  Him being a man went into this long story of what I could do for him (will spare details for any readers I may have under the age of 21) and I laughed, food came, and he never really gave me an idea (or an idea that he knows I will go through with!). 

Here we are this afternoon waiting for him to come home for lunch and he sends me a text saying we never finished his birthday discussion.  Girls you know what he texted me?????

Mr. May - I just want you to bring me a cup of coffee and tell me that you are still madly in love with me"
Me - Oh babe I can do that over and over for the rest of our lives!
Mr. May - That's all I need.....babe!

See ladies this is why I love this man.  Just when two weeks of being off our routine, living in TLF, my head on an endless spinning cycle of how to organize, decorate, paint, etc, I get a text like that.  Lord I love this man!

Now go out and buy yourself a white board.  I promise you will thank me!! Happy Thursday

Ohio, you have been FABULOUS!!!!

This week has been packed with "see you soons", packing and cleaning house, inspection of the house (which we passed but not with out a dang fight...why can't people just use common sense), dinners with friends, and now today is the day we leave.  Nathan and I have truly made Ohio feel like home and we will honestly miss this place.  We were talking last night in bed and I find it sad for people who don't give this area a chance.  Is it the #1 place to live I doubt it but who really knows what the #1 place is! 

But with all the area parks, museums, small towns, and big cities, Ohio really has it all.  Besides all of that I have truly made some of the best friends!  Lost some along the way, learned that some I didn't need in my life, and disagreements with some, but worked our way through it.  I will truly miss my Girl's Group but I will rely on FB, Skype, and the fact that this is the AF.  You just never know when you might run into each other again!!!

Well hubs is telling me to move so I must go help pack the car.  We head to North Carolina today with a over night stop in West Virgina.  I might be out of touch for about a week or so.  Happy Blogging Friends!!!

Layout needs and our Fabulous Sunday!

I am wanting two things right now with my Blog.  I want at the end of each Blog posting to have the section of You May Also Like.....AND.....I would like different sections at the top of my Blog for my Crafts, Recipes, Organization, and regular everyday Blog postings.  Yep those are my two goals to figure out how to do.......suggestions????

We had another great day here today.  Went to breakfast at our favorite place - First Watch.  Went with the Walkers and we truly love this family.  Wish we could take them with us, I will settle for their ADORABLE daughter even. 

Then I went to The Container Store (thanks to Mrs. Walker for telling me about this store awhile back) and IKEA.  The Container Store I truly could have gone bananas in that place.  The only thing that held me back was, well two things - A-we are moving and everything we own are in boxes waiting on the moving truck (tomorrow am!) B-I don't know what I will need for the new house.  Thankfully I asked one of the workers and there is a Container Store in Raleigh (hour away).  So I put many things back on the shelves and settled on a few things (will post under Organization...once I figure out how to have the different section).

When I finally made myself leave TCS, I headed to IKEA.  I have talked about IKEA many time before so will spare you another boring post about IKEA.  I will just say that IKEA made me proud again.  As well as, will post what I bought once we move.  For now the items I have bought are staying in their boxes until we move.

New Year!!!! Welcome 2011

I am thankful.  Oh so very thankful!  We are living in TLF till Friday and I have wireless Internet to keep up with my Blog, emails, and FB.  We are loving our friends who have offered to invite us over to their homes for play time for Gabriel and lunch/dinner.  Yes 2011 is off to a wonderful start.

I sat down to catch up with Blogs that I follow and just about every blog was about New Year's Resolutions.  Feel like I am about to beat a dead horse with a stick but today's post is about my New Year's Resolutions.  However I decided this year my NYR will be more like 2011 Goals.  Here are my goals for this year and for many more years to come..........

#1 Goal - Get OUT of debt.  As in pay off two of our credit cards that helped us during college, paid for our wedding, and purchases since being married.  Nathan and I have wants of traveling, paying for things using cash, adding more into our 401K than the average, building Gabriel's and future children savings/college accounts, and have the feeling of living life comfortably.

#2 Goal - Eating out only twice a month.  We did this last year and wow we saw a huge difference from Jan-March-ish....then we fell off the wagon.  As much as I love to cook and try new recipes, both of us really enjoy going out to eat and letting someone else take care of the food and clean up.  Plus with this goal it will go a long way of achieving #1 above.

#3 Goal - Instead of working on my Master's Degree, I have decided to focus on things that I have a love or want in this life.  Such as photography classes, cooking classes, learning to restore furniture, taking a bow making class, and many more.  I have always wanted my Master's Degree and even toyed with the idea of getting my Doctorate, but I have changed and those are just not important to me right now.  Maybe one day.

#4 Goal - Continue my growth with my Faith in God.  Find a church home and Sunday school classes.  I miss church.  I miss the sense of peace, love, and support from attending church regularly.  Nathan has made comments on how he misses it too. 

#5 Goal - Continue to appreciate life and live in the moment.  I will still make plans for I am just a planner.  But  I want to continue to find the positives in life.  Truly be thankful for what God has given to me so far.  To continue to be a supportive wife, mother, and friend, but realize that I can't control other people nor I am I responsible for their happiness and truth.

#6 Goal - Add to our family.  I honestly can't express the need and want I feel for more children in our home.  Even Nathan has expressed his need/want for more children in our family.  So whether we try one more time for our own child, adopt, or become Foster Parents, both my husband and I pray that 2011 will bring a child(ren) into our home. 

#7 Goal - Travel the East Coast.  We will be in NC for at least 3 - 4 years and just like what we have done here in Ohio, I plan to see everything I can while living in NC.  I have a goal to visit all 50 states before I die.  NC will bring me closer to the states I haven't visited yet.

#8 Goal - 2011 my Blog will become a fabulous blog...by my standards.  I am still not 100% on the direction I would like my Blog to take.  For now I will say that I want this Blog to be more "me".  I have 12 months to get it there.  Who knows, maybe one of the classes I take will be about Blogging and how to design one.  I don't think I want to pay someone to "design" my blog for me because then it wouldn't be 100% me.  That may be selfish or weird, who knows, but I truly want this year to be all about learning.  Me setting out and achieving my goals.

I pray for my readers that you have set achievable goals for 2011 and the years to come.  If you fall of the path of your goals, find your way, and get back on the path.  For every day is a new day.  No such thing as failing unless you truly just stop and give up!

Happy New Year!!!! 

Packers

The packers are here today.  They arrived bright and early.  I wish I had slept last night and that my body wasn't doing its time of the month thing.  I am tired, cranky, and cramps...lord the cramps!  Not sure if it is worse today since this is my first period since the miscarriage but man I am laying in bed while the packers are down stairs.  So thankful for friends who take our child and dog in while its packing time.  Hubs has been wonderful and keeping an eye on the packers. 

One packer laughed and said I have a lot of serving dishes.  This is when she has only been in the kitchen.  Wait till she gets to the garage and hall closet!  We move into TLF tonight for a week and then start our way to Pope.  I think I am finally ready to move on and start the next chapter.  Find it interesting to have the new year and new adventure starting back to back, 

Will post more.  Just needed to make a quick vent to get it off my chest and in hopes of getting out of the bed!