A Few Pictures

Here it is at last. Our holiday memories shared in pictures

Kaylie loved her hot chocolate

We had to mail a letter to Santa

Micah enjoyed the holidays by chillin

We checked out a really cool neighborhood where each street had a theme. Our favorite was the Peanuts theme

And what would Christmas be without a trip to the Galleria? Honestly, a lot cheaper on the wallet. Kaylie looks like she might be afraid of falling three stories.

Once again Micah is more interested in his feet than shopping.
Ahhh Christmas dinner at Italliani's. You can tell Kaylie is thrilled about another picture, or looking for an escape route.

Mommy and Micah celebrating our first Christmas together.

The family

Santa left a bicycle under the tree!!!!

Some of the cousins on Christmas day. It was the best we could do with three tired kids!

We had a fun and eventful holiday season. Now the decorations have been packed away till next year, but the memories will remain. It is definitely like ripping a band-aid off. I never feel like packing it in, but the longer I wait the harder it will be.

Our New Years was quiet and uneventful, but that is not a bad thing. Next week its back to the old routine. May this week bring you a fresh and happy start to the new year.

Ludicrous, Yet Politics at Its Finest

Can someone please remove the man with the forest animal on his head? It may be a danger to all of us.

I am going to say this in my best girl with an attitude voice,"Oh no he didn't!" Did this man really just appoint a replacement for Obama's Senate seat? He's a gutsy man I say, a gutsy man.

Another Day

I was a bit worried today would drag on an on. I am fortunate that I kept fairly busy, a welcome surprise during the slowest point of the season. It has been harder than I expected to return after a nice long weekend. Luckily I have another few days off that will help ease me back in.

This week I have found myself daydreaming about doing other things...being with my kids more, traveling, missions, maybe being in an occupation that is more fullfilling. Of course money is always a key factor in all of these things. My greatest goal for 2009 is to continue the process of getting out of debt. I long for the freedom from bondage to creditors. I dream of being able to save huge portions of our income for the future. I am am hoping that with a lot of diligence we will come close to accomplishing these goals in 2009. We are seriously considering selling our home this summer when some terms in our mortgage become more favorable. A lot of our income is tied up in an adjustable rate mortgage that is higher than I would like. It is very difficult in this economy to decide the benefits to selling and perhaps settling for less than we want or sticking it out a little longer and not having as much extra to pay down debt. We both know we want something a little bigger, but if we do sell we may have to settle for an apartment for a short time to make the savings really add up. These are all difficult decision that we face this year, but I am determined to see our family free and prosperous in the coming years.

I apologize for the rambling. These were just thoughts rolling around in my head as I anticpate the year to come. I pray that this coming year will bring each one of you much joy and that you are blessed with the perseverance to see each dream, goal, or resolution through. If you fall off the wagon there is no shame in getting back on for another try! Happy New Year!

Quarter of a Century

In eleven days I will turn twenty five. I have never paid much attention to the passing of time. As I get older I don't really give thought to the number as I still feel like the same old me on January 10th as I did on the 9th. This year has me feeling a bit retrospective. In the small increments life seems almost unchanged, and yet if I look back over twenty five years I am definitely not the exact same person as I was twenty, ten, or even five years ago. Maybe we don't necessarily change as much as different attributes of ourselves bloom and fade with time.

Nevertheless I face the fact that I may not be old but I am inevitably getting older. As long as wisdom is my reward, I cannot complain.

Christmas Withdrawl

It amazes me how one day can change everything. How is it that Christmas decorations can seem so lively and festive on December 25h, but December 26th it all seems awkward and out of place. I suddenly realize reality must be faced tomorrow and somehow I must learn to face it without the glowing lights and soundtrack of merry Christmas tunes. In spite of the withdrawl another year is approaching fast, and a little spark of anticipation begins to grow in hopes for the new year.

I really wanted to add pictures to this blog, but I am just so terrible at sitting down and getting them uploaded and organized. I blog rather impulsively and this does not lend well to any form of organization. I will probably end up getting them all out in one huge picture blog. Never the less without the pictures to aid I will recount our Christmas day.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve. Dinner was wonderful and we pretty much followed the usual routine. I wrote Christmas letters for everyone, following the lead from my dad who had done this a few Christmases before. It made for a little teary eyed prelude to the gift opening, but what are gifts if no one knows how much they are really appreciated. Kaylie was very excited and a little overwhelmed with all of her gifts. Chris bought me a new 10.2 megapixel camera. After that I really should be posting more pictures. My brother also surprised us with a gift certificate for a night out together at Del Frisco's. That was pretty awesome as well. My parents gave us some gift cards and monetary gifts. We were extremely grateful and were blessed beyond our expectations. All of the kids chipped in to get my dad a blue ray player for his new T.V. Micah was pretty much content to sit by sucking on his fingers while we opened his gifts. My dad and I attended services Christmas Eve. It was especially meaningful. The last hymn we sang was Joy to the World. In the Luthern church everyone stands as the crucifix enters at the beginning of the service and then again at the end as we watch it exit. As we sang that last hymn I looked at that cross and my heart flooded with hope. In spite of economic woes and turmoil abroad everyone sang with such gusto. What peace we can have knowing who is in control. He truly does rule the world with truth and grace! We spent Christmas day at home with Chris' family. We had a very tasty meal, and it was relaxing to just be home. Overall Christmas 2008 was a complete success.

The last couple of days have been spent recovering. I barely slept the first half of this week. We all slept in yesterday. Last night we were able to reunite for dinner with my best friend from high school, her mom, and step dad. It was wonderful to reconnect remembering old times, and sharing what is going on in our lives. It has been so nice being off it will be hard going back to work Monday. Such is the cycle of life. Oh and I forgot to mention my other Christmas gift. I asked Chris for the Jillian Micahels 30 day shred dvd. Jillian is one of the trainers on the show the Biggest Loser. She is so tough, and has a tendency to make people cry, but for some reason I like her. She gets results. I read nothing but good reviews on the workout regimen so we will see. He also got me a nifty little watch I can wear when I work out that will take my heart rate and count the calories I burn. Now I'm not making a crazy new years resolution about weight loss. We will just see where it goes =) Losing weight would be great, but I also want to get my energy levels up and increase endurance. I am finding these are musts when you have two kids.

I will try to get pictures up tomorrow. Chris will be glued to the television for the last day of regular season football which means I will have some free time. Until next time!

Merry Christmas Eve

After days and days of preparation and anticipation that hallowed day is upon us. The culmination of parties, decorations, and retailer's holiday flair, which has been on the shelves for months now, will all come together in that glorious date we call Christmas.

I have wanted to add some photo updates from our Christmas adventures, but I always seem to blog at work. I don't have copies of all my pictures on this computer so it makes it quite difficult. I hope to get some pictures up over the holiday weekend.

Tonight is the big night for our family. Since I was a child we have always opened our gifts Christmas Eve. We now have a tradition of going to dinner Christmas Eve at a local restaurant called Italianni's. They have wonderful Italian food in a romantic old school atmosphere. It's the kind of place that feels a little fancier than your everday chains, but has that comfortable neighborhood feel. Afterward we go home and gather in the front living room and read the story of the birth of Jesus. We then do the usual and open gifts and let the kids and adults play around with all the new toys. We usually end up watching a movie that someone received. At 11 pm my dad, Chris , and I head out for a candle light service at a local Lutheran church. This is perhaps one of my favorite traditions. After all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas it is almost sacred to drive out into the empty streets. Everything is quiet and calm. We head into the church surrounded by the faint glow of candles and twinkling lights. The sound of carols fill the air and suddenly I forget about the list of things I needed to do or the gift I forgot to buy. As we participate in the liturgy my spirit is lifted as we verbally affirm the truths of our faith. Some may find this pratice rigorous and monotonous, but there are times when this unification of a body of believers is especially meaningful.
After services we always spend the night at my parents to be together Christmas morning for our stockings. Tomorrow we will go home late in the morning to prepare Christmas dinner at home, and Chris' family will be over. I am pretty excited. We are cooking prime rib which I believe will be delicious!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I Can't Take It With Me?

Stress has been eating at me for awhile. I don't want many thing for myself, but I have a desire to see my loved ones have everything they could want. I'm not a perfectionist or a neat freak, but I long for my house to be perfect. I can work myself into a tizzy adding to my list of to-do's, and the things I hope to do someday. I hear this is fairly common in our fast paced world, but I have been fortunate enough to hear something screaming at me in the depths of my subconscious. Am I so busy worrying about tomorrow that I forget to live out today? The kids will only get older, and I too will grow old and meet my end. When it is all said and said and done I can't take perfection with me. The grasping for the ever dangling carrot will vanish.
Plans are good when they act as a guide, but they can be deadly when they control.