Tuesday, December 27, 2011

2011 Report Card

Last January I set out 11 goals for the new year.  I have been contemplating my 2012 goals, just so you know, but first I thought I would look back and see how I did this year...

Eleven Goals for 2011:
1.  Completely finish the office remodel.  Paint, floor, floorboards, hallway, desks.
Weeeeellllllll.............. we came a long ways on the office.  It is occupied.  It is painted, has a floor in it...It has beautiful windows, electricity, great drywall, a new desk for Dave, my desk, and a heat vent and insulation and a little space heater which can keep up and actually keep Dave warm during the day.  But is it totally done?  Not yet.  Just a few touches and a final inspection left-- and my handy husband has been so busy with other things lately this doesn't even bother me.

2,  Repaint two walls in Master bedroom and decorate.  ("Hello, Kim Hazlip, it's Stef")  Heck yes this got done.  I'm thankful to this list of goals on this blog because when I was looking over them at the 6 month mark this goal did motivate me to get moving.  And... I love it.  You can see the finished product HERE.  I also did two other rooms, including Dekker's new room and a new nursery, which I promise is finished and I will get pics up someday!  Kim did help me and it was another fantastic experience.  Why are you not calling her?

3.  Make a few necessary changes to my work.  It's fair to say that I met this goal, too.  With great relief and such excitement I am teaching at Nebraska Christian College.  You can read about this change HERE.  I feel so much better, mentally, with this change.  I hope to work in a clinic again, but this just wasn't the best fit at this time in my life.  Starting a new job, having a baby, and going back to work after a brief maternity leave is a lot to cope with, but I do like it and that is helping tremendously. 
 
4.  Take two outrageous risks. (like maybe... Apply for the Dr. Phil show, run a 1/2 marathon, call Bo Pelini's wife for an interview which will somehow make me famous and save her husband's reputation... ...)  I am really not sure what I was thinking here.  I must have been drinking and doing drugs again.  So I say I did not meet this goal.  But I will say starting a new job 7 months pregnant was a pretty big risk.  Though honestly not what this goal intended!
 
5.  Go to the zoo and Children's museum.  I might be destined to have kids who never get to see that DARN Children's Museum!  We did get to the zoo several times, even bought a pass which came to Mr. and Mrs. Rove, which I never corrected.  I love the zoo, especially the walking.  We had a fun family day there this fall and even rode the Skyfari, which I might never do again.  At one point on it Dekker declared he was "all done" and tried to get off the seat!! While we were over man-eating Giraffes.  Seriously, that thing is spooky-- plus I was hugely pregnant and Dave is hugely tall and we had a squirmy toddler.  The train, on the other hand, was fantastic!  My beef with the museum is its location.  I can't get there without ruining nap time, and since I've never been there I'm not sure it's worth it.  Plus, I'm so afraid of crowds of people being there, like a school tour or something.  Is it big enough to accommodate all that?  I hear if you buy a pass you can get in at 9AM, so maybe I'll consider that... someday.

6.  Take a vacation with just Dave.  Yes, a fantastic cruise which I am dreaming about this winter, as I sit in the cold... sleeping in three hour stretches.  I miss the Caribbean.  Sigh.  We took a "we made it" trip on Dekker's one year birthday to Vegas, and maybe we will do something similar for Tucker's first birthday.  You know, travel without him to an adult location to celebrate that we survived his first year.  That, friends, is quality parenting :)
 
7.  Think about expanding our family.  We did more than think about this one.  We love you Tucker James.
 
8.  Eat out less. Maybe.  I can't say for sure, but I can say that the last six weeks we have eaten out less than usual.  And I probably ate out less when I was focusing on the "Made to Crave" mentality (see below).
 
9.  Think about inner beauty as much as I think about physical appearance.  I give myself a Pass for this goal thanks to the book/book study "Made to Crave," which I plan to read again this winter and highly recommend. 
 
10. Stay active.    Typical me, this has gone in spurts but has not been something I have stuck to real well.  I do love walking, and I logged roughly 10 miles/week or better this fall with my friend Suzanne and our strollers.  I didn't gain any weight with this pregnancy until after week 24 thanks to the Made to Crave mindset and these walks.  I hope to walk more, though Dekker is harder to convince to sit quietly in a stroller, so staying active is something that is constantly evolving and something that I am considering for this winter and 2012 as a whole.
 
11. Blog more. Big. Fat. Fail.  Maybe next year.  I blame our new camera, which I don't know how to download onto my blog, but I'm sure I would be able to if I would just sit down for five minutes and have my handsome hubby teach me.

Here's to 2012.  Stay tuned for some goals, and start thinking of your own, too!  Mine will be scaled back and just shy of "survive the first year", but I still have some things I want to check off!


On the Journey,
Mae

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

That Awkward Moment...

Following the trend on facebook, I thought I would list a few "awkward moments" from the last three weeks...

* That awkward moment when you put your toddler to bed in the same jammies he woke up in...

* That awkward moment when your pediatrician asks (at the one week appointment) when you last bathed the baby.  And "we haven't yet" isn't an option...

* That awkward moment when anyone who carries a brown paper sack into your house gets greeted by your son who asks "donuts?"

* That awkward moment when your toddler shouts to the small group "I love you" on the way out the door.

* That awkward moment when you bring a half eaten bag of Oreo's as your contribution to small group "treats"...

* That awkward moment when your friends bring you a meal by and you grab a zip-up hoodie to throw on, only to realize half way through the conversation that your stain remover did not work on the, um, embarrassingly placed and very noticeable stains...

So there you go!  If you are by any chance a student of mine (all nine of you) and wondering how I have time to blog but not grade, please know that I wrote this while my bath was running with one ear to the "about to cry any moment" baby still in his car-seat, now hooked up in the swing (awesome feature)...

On the journey,
Stef