My new favorite coffee mug

This Christmas my mom's side of the family decided to do a quality White Elephant gift exchange, in lieu of drawing names... quality meaning it's not really White Elephant, but I couldn't think of another name. It seemed that it was harder to shop for people each year, and then when it came time to open gifts everyone did it all at once and it was over so quickly.

This year, everyone brought a NICE wrapped gift... $25 range (or at least most were.. heehee). It's the whole game where the gift can be exchanged/taken 3 times, etc.... We drew numbers to see who went first... ME! Now, it's a lot of pressure to pick the first one... but also very open. I opened my white elephant gift... and what was in it? I wooden elephant and this coffee mug. Now, someone had a sick sense of humor.....turned out it was Cheryl, my lovely cousin. And, it turned out that the wooden elephant goes PERFECTLY in my office and the mug is now my favorite.

Thanks Cheryl. :)

BTW... the game was SO fun and is on the plans for next year!

Finally...

I'm a little behind, but I thought I'd post some pictures from our Disney trip back in November. I know! So, I chose some of my favorites... which was hard because there are so many. I know some on FB already saw many, but for my own pleasure I'm posting them here as well. Enjoy!

And yes, my background changed AGAIN in the spirit of Valentine's!

Don't Cramp My Style Dave Ramsey

Jonathan and I have started... as of Friday....a cash envelope system popularized by Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University. We actually did the FPU right before we got married... a "wedding present" from our church. All the ins and outs of Financial Peace made total sense then... but, then again, we weren't married so had NO idea what it was like to have a joint budget, etc.

After almost 6 years of being married, we are trying out the envelope system... due to, perhaps, some budgeting miscalculations...hmmm..... I would like to blame it all on Jonathan, who has the I-have-to-have-it-all syndrome, but I would be lying if I said I didn't feed my coffee habit or buy a little Mary Kay here and there.

I lectured Jonathan for 30 minutes on the ins and outs of it, how we must only use our debit cards for gas, doctors, and hair cuts.... and the rest would be cash... groceries, entertainment, eating out, fun money....

I went shopping today and bought a gift... with my debit card. GASP... and I got a lecture on how we are only supposed to use our cards for gas, doctors, and hair cuts. Gift buying is not a hair cut! Why didn't I use cash? I failed to make an envelope for gifts. oops....I do have a budget for gifts, I explained, which I did NOT go over... hmm... I see a new envelope being made.

Speaking of envelopes, Mr, Ramsey has a large assortment of envelope system wallets... which if I wanted to buy, I don't have an envelope made for so I would have to forgo getting a hair cut or buying a birthday present. And besides, they are kind of fugly and would cramp my style. I have found some others...here's one.... and another....and another (seen in pic above)....which are super cute. But, I'm not sure... I don't think my left over Christmas card envelopes are going to last very long... that's for sure... so something needs to be bought. I just have to figure out what envelope to buy it from.

Ps... This is number 80 and 81.

#1, #2

I can successfully cross off two things on my list... I made and finished making a list of 101 goals in 1001 days AND organized it.

This list somewhat stresses me out and makes me nervous for various reasons ... #1 - it's published... allowing many people to look at and judge me on my choices and if I've done my said choices... #2 - I will undoubtedly not make all of the goals in 1001 days, which leads me to #3 - why would I put things on there that I know I won't make?... I guess it will make me work towards them (I mean seriously... I could put something like "visit all 7 continents" but you and I both know this will never happen within a 3 year time frame, so why even put it?).... and #4 - if I don't make some goals, then I've failed... and I hate failure!

That all said, I've accomplished not one, but TWO goals. 99 more to go...

PS... In the midst of all of this, I've found there are TONS of websites and blogs devoted to this.
http://101goalsin1001days.com/
http://dayzeroproject.com/

101 in 1001 - updated and finished!

Inspired by Kim, I did my own list.... Coming up with 101 tasks is actually kind of hard, but hopefully worth it in the end.

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

The End Date: Oct. 14, 2012 (Zoe's 7th birthday, coincidentally)

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Me, myself and I – personal goals:

1. make and finish 101 list
2. put my goals in some kind of order
3. create a mini list of this list and laminate
4. persuade someone else to do a list
5. finish the Bible
6. read the Bible every day for a month (track on youversion.com) - **starting AGAIN with my "T-Group" (accountability group)...as of 1-2-11
7. keep growing hair – only get it trimmed when cut --- OOPS - FAIL - totally cut it in July...trying again as of 1-1-11
8. host a friend Christmas party  - Staff Christmas Party 12-10-10
9. start a Christmas pj tradition - Gma Collard totally got the kiddos and their cousins some matching PJ's! 12-10
10. get Zoe’s ears pierced (eek!)  - her 6th birthday! (updated 10/10 since first try went horribly wrong)
11. blog 2x/week for 4 weeks
12. get a different TLP… other than math - Got Team Lead to go along with it... I'm counting it!
13. get my grandma’s piano -- umm, found out my cousin confiscated it first, so will try in the future...
14. sign Zoe up for piano lessons
15. write a letter to myself, with predictions, to be opened on my 40^th bday
16. learn to play chess
17. take the 202 class at church - NOPE... changed churches so I need to take the first class at CCV!
18. send Christmas cards… real ones… not “green”
19. go to a concert
20. watch 26 movies I’ve never seen, starting with each letter in the alphabet. 
1. Avatar
2. Big Stan (totally lame and didn't finish because)
3. Cats and Dogs 2, Charlie St. Cloud
4. Date Night
5. Grownups
6. How To Train Your Dragon
7. Kung Fu Panda 2
8. Iron Giant
9. Letters to Juliet
10. Megamind
11. New Moon
12. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Theif
13. Remember Me
14. Shutter Island
15. Tooth Fairy, The
16. Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Narnia)
17. When in Rome
18. Yogi Bear
19. Zoo Keeper

Very important but secret (for now) mission:

21. **family aspiration**
22. raise/save money for #18

Do unto others….:

23. volunteer at the food bank
24. adopt a family for Christmas in lieu of more gifts for us
25. do something secretly nice for someone on my birthday
26. call my grandma 2x/month for 3 months
27. throw a surprise party
28. say only positive things to Jonathan for 1 week (yikes! Hee hee)
29. surprise someone with a gift just because

Places to go… People to see….:

30. visit the Tibbett’s in their new location - ITALY!!
31. go to the dunes with Jonathan
32. go on a girls' trip
33. visit Disneyland again --- maybe December!
34. take Jonathan skydiving
35. take a wine tour
36. take the fam to a hockey game
37. take Zoe to a play (Little Mermaid, 3-14-10) & (Alice in Wonderland 4-9-10)
38. have a Red Hat tea
39. have a fancy picnic
40. attend Eclipse midnight showing w/ my girlfriends (stolen from Kim)
41. go camping with the family
42. take an educational road trip with family
43. go to the beach
44. go to an outdoor/drive-in movie
45. see the Nutcracker at Christmas time

Make Martha Stuart proud:

46. try one new recipe per week for 4 weeks
47. make homemade granola
48. figure out how to make Grandma’s noodles
49. make Grandma’s noodles and serve them!
50. make a fancy bday cake for Hayden or Zoe
51. make a dress for Zoe
52. make the stocking from my grandma
53. organize tupperwear cabinet
54. clean/wipe inside kitchen cabinets – 2x
55. make my own cash budget wallet

DIY home projects:

56. hang curtain rods in Zoe’s room for art work
57. put up vinyl saying in kitchen  1-2-10
58. get shelves for Hayden’s room
59. hang shelves in Hayden’s room
60. paint office bathroom
61. clean the fans in my house
62. paint base trim in bedroom
63. get Jonathan to build a shelf for the kitchen
64. put up shelf in kitchen and decorate
65. brick the fireplace
66. organize pantry - better
67. hang pictures in bedroom hallway
68. hang Jonathan’s pictures 11-10
69. get Hayden a new matress
70. get Zoe a new matress
71. purchase rug for Hayden's room
72. fix or buy new vacuum cleaners
73. wash my car 1x/month for 3 months (February....)
74. organize cabinet above coffee maker
75. organize spice cabinet
76. organize kitchen drawers
77. shelf paper in pantry
78. shelf paper in bathroom drawers

Rollin’ in the dough:

79. start college savings funds for both kids
80. use cash envelope system successfully for 1 month (Feb. 2010) 
81. use cash envelope system successfully for 3 months
82. pay off Jonathan’s truck
83. pay off Jonathan's student loan (neva gonna happen....) 
84. make an extra mortgage payment
    
85. a month of free – spend one month doing only things that are free (with family)
86. double our emergency savings
87. pay off garage door opener
88. save for and purchase new tires for Jonathan
89. pay for Jonathan’s root canal/crown (ugg!)

Make mama sexy:

90. take a Zumba class
91. try the yogilates dvd
92. take vitamins everyday for a month
93. go a week without coffee
94. run in 5k
95. work out at least 3x per week for 4 weeks
96. use teeth whitener
97. do a diabetes walk in honor of my dad and MIL
98. have something that resembles a tan (tan lines!)
99. get a pedicure
100. eat suggested veg/fruit servings every day for a week

101. place holder for the one thing I’m sure I’ve missed

Gone again...

Almost a year ago Jonathan snuck Zoe out on Black Friday... while I was shopping... and cut her hair off. She had relatively long hair. Now, I really wasn't too upset over her hair having been cut, even though it seems all little girls should have long hair... I was upset that I wasn't there with her! I quickly got over it when I saw how cute she was, and how much easier it was to do her hair.

Since then, she'd decided to grow it out so she could have Barbie hair. Once it got to the pony tail length... I was pretty excited. Bad hair day? Ponytail! Yet, she does NOT tolerate pain well at all... thus any kind of brushing, especially in the morning, is torture for her and me! Crying, screaming, brushing, wailing... it was terrible. I would hint about the highlights of having short hair... no knots, no pulling, no screaming. But she didn't give in. She wanted her long hair.

Until recently.... miraculously she changed her mind and wanted it short! Like Hayden's! ha ha... So... it's cut again!

In the chair getting ready.... she refused to look at the camera or even smile.

Rock out, baby! Look at that cutie! Notice the bangs too... quite a point of debate. It took so much time to grow her bangs out! But all her hair did was fall in her face. But, they are cute.

Game Crazy

I've been coveting my neighbor's house keeper. Once a week she comes and perferms a mini miricle, turning a lived in kid infested house into a gleaming palace. Floors are mopped, blinds are dusted, bathrooms are cleaned, carpets are vacuumed, mirrors are washed, .... you get the picture.

I kept hoping my maid would come along one day... maybe a one day cleaning gift from Jonathan (right)... or a random act of kindess by some random person... Obviously, my dream of having a maid was just that, a dream. Let's face it... I'm a teacher, my husband's a teacher, and "maid" does not fit in our budget.

However, I have found a substitute maid. And HE's actually free! And I'm wondering how I never found him before!!! He's 10, addicted to video games, but has mean parents who only alot him 30 minutes a day. He also has to do chores every day... I know, those parents are wicked! However.... he can choose to do extra chores.... and for each extra chore, he gets 10 min. extra game time. Voila!

So far, my bathroom mirrors are clean, the bathroom counters are clean, and the living room has been swiffered... and it's only Monday! Of course, the payoff is a slightly brain fried adolescent, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.

seriously...again?

Disclaimer: I cannot make up my mind to save my life... on many things... haircuts, where to eat, what to wear, favorite color, and lately, the background for my blog....

The R word.... Resolutions!!

Well... what would the new year be like if I didn't have a few New Year's Resolutions??!!

I decided 4 was good, otherwise I may not make it.  Here goes:

1)  Continue working out at the Y... yes, folks, I've actually been going 2x per week!!
2)  Add an extra work out at home 1 or 2 days a week.... because even though I'm proud of myself for 2 days, I'm not sure 2 days will really result in much.
3)  Read the bible!  ... I started doing the 1 year bible 2 years ago.  I'm on April... from the first year.
4)  Blog 2x a week.  I figure if I do this, then maybe I can keep up ...even if it's just something short!

So, there they are.... Maybe since I actually wrote them down, I can follow through.  We'll see....