One more thing....

Go see MARLEY & ME!

We went to see it on Saturday evening...and it's a wonderful, touching movie. Below is a picture of the real Marley taken off of the cover of the book the movie was based on called "Marley & Me" by John Grogan.

2009 Goals

After reading my sister Dusty's 2009 goals it inspired me to write some of my own.

• Lose 9 lbs. by the time Lori gives birth! (April)
• Continue to pay off debt- Debt free by Jan. 2010 would be wonderful
• Continue financial dicipline
• Drink more water
• Drink LESS coke
• Work out 5 days / week...Wii Fit or Gym
• Keep experimenting with cooking and try new things

We'll call this the "short list"

Christmas

Christmas Eve: Luckily, we finished our shopping BEFORE Christmas Eve, so we did not have to venture out into the wild to get last minute gifts. We had a nice day of the girls begging to open "just one gift!!"....(Chris at his dads). Penny, the boys, my girls and I visited my grandmother in Ottowa, KS. We played cards and ate together...it was really nice to see her and spend some quality time.

At 5pm we attended the Christmas Eve service at our church. It was nice to see everyone again. I've always enjoyed the feeling of praying in church....there is something about it that makes me feel more in touch with God. After church we TRIED to run by the grocery store...but both Price Chopper and Hy-Vee were closed! Note to self: don't forget the potatoes next time...and don't ever think you're going grocery shopping on Christmas Eve. So- we went home and Jeff lit the grill. After letting it heat up for what seemed like an eternity I threw on the KC Strips that I had been marinating for almost 10 hours (Mmmmmmm!) I'm telling you....those were some GOOD steaks! Here is what I marinated them in:

• Kosher Salt & Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Teriaki Sauce
• Hot Sauce
• SMALL amt of A1

I like the taste of spicy meat....if you do too...this is a great steak marinade. After dinner, everyone opened one gift and the "out of town" presents. The girls loved their gifts- Jeff was very happy with his DICKS gift card (meant for new running shoes) and I was THRILLED to open my Garmin GPS. I've only been singing "Garmin dot com Garmin dot com" for about two years now. Luckily, Jeff revealed he got a good deal on it at DICKS...so I was relieved that he did not pay retail.

Christmas morning we slept in until about 10am. We woke up and had doughnuts (dont tell my diet). It was an unusual Christmas morning because we would usually wake up and immediately open gifts, but this year we decided to wait until Chris got home. At 11:30, Jeff and I went to get Chris from his Dad, and spent about 1/2 an hour with that side of the family in NKC. It was a nice time. We finally got home around 1:30 and opened our gifts from eachother. I LOVE watching the kids open gifts. We do not spend a ton of money, but we DO put a lot of thought into what we buy them. We got Jewel a nice ring from Kay Jewelers. It brought tears to her eyes when she opened it...that of course made me tear up as well. Lizzy got lots of reading material (of course) and a nice docking station for her IPod. Chris' big gift was new tools. He asked for them...and we got him a bunch of tools and a tool box which he is calling his "baby".

After opening gifts we relaxed (and cleaned up the mess) for a while. At about 4pm JD picked up my mother...and everyone in the family followed in the next hour or so. We had my brother Wayne, his wife and baby, Ruby (Jeff's mom), my mom, Penny, Kitch and the boys and our family.. Oh..and Andrei- Jewels boyfriend. We enjoyed a great meal...then opened gifts from everyone. It was SUCH a great time. My mother made me a scarf...I will cherish it forever. I LOVE it! I really loved watching my little baby niece teter around squealing and having such a great time playing with everyone and being passed from person to person. She is a great baby and really fun to be around. Some babies stress me out...but not Caroline. She is very pleasant and soooo cute. I wish we lived closer and could see them more. The Wii was a big hit. That was our family gift from Grandma Alice in Las Vegas. It is SO fun! Jeff and I decided to get the Wii Fit also...so between the 2 we had several hours of playing and having fun. Kitch, the boys and my brother loved playing with it too. I have been Wii "Fitting" for 5 days now and I'm SORE but I feel good. It's really fun.

I took down all of our Christmas decor on Saturday. I've always been the type of person who is ready to move on from Christmas before the new year. Just pack it up and get back to normal life! (That's my motto) I'm glad Christmas is over but I think it's one of the best we've had in a long time. Once again, the only thing that would have made it perfect is if my baby sister Dusty and her husband were with us. I miss them. Next year? Haha...

Weekend Wrap Up

It's been a pretty good weekend. We did a whole lot of nothing...

Friday we rented a few movies and stayed in. Saturday we did our normal routine... I get up and take care of the dogs while Jeff, Lizzy and JD sleep in. (Chris is with his dad on Saturday mornings) I turn on some music and after an hour or so, the fam gets woken up by my music and wander downstairs to join me. So- I get in about an hour to an hour and a half of housework. I was listening to John Legend too...so that double annoys my family (wait...JD loves him too :) Saturday night I was feeling like being left alone by everyone so I just hung out at home and went to bed at about 11 (pretty early for me on a sat.) Today (Sunday) we went to Richmond, MO to my baby niece's 1st birthday party. She is one of the cutest babies I've ever seen. Of course, I'm a bit partial :) She looked like a little angel...and so well behaved! I really enjoyed every minute of her party today...and it was really nice to see my brother and his wife. When we left, we got a little turned around and went about 45 minutes in the wrong direction. In the end, it took us a total of 1 hr 45 minutes to get home....but you know what? I had really great company (Penny) and we talked and talked the whole way.

I have to work this upcoming week but only 2 days. Monday will be a full day and Tuesday will be a bit of a screw off day. My boss goes to Sam's with an "elf" (a male employee) and buys booze and chocolate for each employee. It's a tradition that I've been a part of for 7 Christmas' now. This is the benefit of working for a small business....we're family and I am really grateful to be a part of a business like the one I work for.

Jeff and I are "THIS CLOSE" to being done with our Christmas shopping. I have a daughter that is very hard to shop for because she has her hand dipped into so many hobbies and has so many interests. She'll be the 1st female president :)

I'm really excited for this Christmas. My family and Jeff's parents are coming over for presents and Christmas dinner. The only way it could be better (perfect really) is if my sister Dusty and her husband Adam were with us. Hopefully, we can arrange to spend a Christmas together within the next few years.

8 Days Mom...

....this is what my son, Chris who is 8 told me today. "Eight days until Christmas" Yep- time is flying by. I am ALMOST I mean really close to being done shopping. I started early (for me) this year...so I feel good about my progress. I'm ready for some down time at home....it's coming. Next week I work 2 days and the week after I work 3.

So I've totally falled off the horse with working out. I suck. I have a Wii Fit waiting to be opened on Christmas and I'm really excited to use it. Yesterday I weighed myself and I'm at 145. I don't want to hear anyone bawk at me for being down about that weight. It's the most I've ever weighed.....and I'm not happy. I will get back on track- I have to.

So did anyone see the finale of The Biggest Loser? I'm so happy Michelle won. She went from 242 to 132...that's 45.5% of her body weight!

I'm a little cranky today...because I've got some kind of silly stomach bug that is nagging me. I'm not full fledged sick- but I've got a really bad stomach ache that is nagging me and has been for two days. My mom and Jewel had it...but way worse. I have not thrown up at all....but I feel close. Ug..e.nough complaining.

A Beautiful Mess

I only put music on this blog that I think is really worth listening to....this song is beautiful.

Ug

I don't feel well. I feel queezy. Not sure why. I'd like to go home and lie down....but no time for that. I'm busy until 8:15 tonight.

:(

The Weekend

What a weekend!

Friday night was pretty boring..I actually went to bed about 10:30 if you can believe that. I think all of the working out last week caught up with me.

Saturday, Jeff, Chris and I went to Olathe to look at some things we needed to repair the outside dog kennel (did I mention that Sophies crafty ass broke out of the outside kennel?). At 2:00 Jeff and I watched Lizzy perform in a violin concert for the "honors strings". It was fun and I'm really proud of her. This was also in Olathe. Then, at 5pm I picked up Penny and we went to an ornament exchange party at my good friend Kelly's house (also in Olathe!). It was a great time! There were a few people that I've kept in contact with from HS but a few I have not seen in about 15 years...makes me feel old! I hope we do it again soon...it was a blast catching up, talking about our current lives/kids/husbands etc... and it was also fun talking about old memories from HS.

Sunday, Jeff and I took the kids to do some Christmas shopping....we are ALMOST done! It's about this time of year that I am starting to be OVER IT. I'm ready for the holiday to come and go so we can get back to normal life. I'm looking forward to having a few short weeks at work, and spending some time with my family. Anyway, we watched Denver beat the Chiefs- but it was actually a really fun game to watch. JD's boyfriend came over and I made a big pot of ham/potato soup (which was really good btw). I made it to bed about 11:30pm...not too bad.

Great weekend.

Working Out

I'm sitting in my new office- it's freezing in here....but it's MINE :) Blowing off work apparently...I've got things on my mind. Nothing major, just life stuff.

I lifted weights last night for about an hour. It felt GOOD! I love lifting weights (light ones...duh)..it makes me feeel strong and that's a great feeling. I printed out a calendar yesterday with my workout schedule for the month of December. I'm going to do every day on there...even if it kills me! I have given myself off 2 days per week....usually Tuesdays and Saturdays. 2 days of lifting weights and 3 days of 30 minutes of cardio (minimum). Jeff went with JD and I to the Gym last night. He was doing 700lbs on the leg press...yes, SEVEN HUNDRED POUNDS!!!! He's got some really big and strong legs, you know what I'm talking about if you've ever seen him. Jeff has been lifting weights for so many years that he does an unbelieveable amount of weight ...he does less reps than I do, but it's very effective. Anyway, if I can put a smiley face over every day that I have planned to work out for the whole month of December...I'm going to do something really nice for myself...I'm not sure what, but it'll be good. I need to lose about eh....10lbs AT LEAST....15 if I get really motivated....and 20 if I get crazy. If I lost 20 lbs I'd weigh 124...it's been a very long time since I've weighed that much.