Friends

Good friends are hard to come by these days. Chris and I have often pondered the passing of people in and out of our lives. Sometimes it can be quite lonely. So few people have truly understood us, our lives, and our call. I feel sometimes we must take the less beaten path. It is hard and difficult. Connection and understanding is something everyone longs for, but sometimes we must be satisfied to just be.

Birthdays All Around

Today kicks off a month of birthdays. Four people in my immediete family have birthdays this month including me. Melody gets us started today. She is turning eighteen. Happy brithday Melody welcome to adulthood! Where did the time go? It's really strange to think that it has been seven years since I turned eighteen. My birthday comes next and then my mom's is two days later. My dad rounds it out with a birthday falling near the end of the month. We will have our fair share of cake and happy birthday tunage to carry us till July when my brother's birthday falls.

I've always found it a bit rough having a birthday that falls in January. I know all you Christmas babies are shaking your heads right now. I don't know what it's like to receive birthday presents wrapped in Santa Clause wrapping paper, but at least your birthdays fall when everyone is in a cheery,holiday mood. I get the beginning of the year when everyone is hitting reality with a resounding thud. Credit card bills start showing up from those holiday purchases, and most people are gloomy because now that Christmas is over they long for warm summer days. I don't necessarily mind that my family and I share such close birthdays, but it can be a bit hard on the pocketbook with so many dinners and presents. You want everyone's day to be extra special, but at the same time you have to be realistic. It must be tough being a septuplet.

Here's to a month full of birthdays. With our combined ages we could probably really light a cake on fire!!! Happy birthday family, sharing a January birthday is not always easy, but I love you just the same.

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!