I make one new year's resolution each year, and believe it or not, I usually keep it. Not because I am a super motivated person full of all sorts of self control, but because I set really REALLY easy and fun resolutions to make my coming year a little more enjoyable than the last. For example, in 2010 my resolution was to care less about cleaning and more about playing... definitely an easy and fun to keep.
This year my resolution is...
TO CELEBRATE MORE!
And even though January hasn't offered many occasions to get started just yet, the idea of it has already helped me look forward to all the good that is to come in 2011.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
December 22
I can't believe it has been a whole month since I last posted! What have I let happen to my blogging for the holidays? Probably the same thing I let happen to the Christmas cards I have yet to stuff photo's in and mail out...
We have been in Utah since last Friday and are getting ready to pack up in our car and make the two day trip back to Texas. I have pictures to share of some of our fun, as well photo's taken all the way back on Thanksgiving. I will get those posted sometime on Christmas Eve.
Until then, I hope all of you are having happy holidays! 3 more sleeps until Santa comes!
We have been in Utah since last Friday and are getting ready to pack up in our car and make the two day trip back to Texas. I have pictures to share of some of our fun, as well photo's taken all the way back on Thanksgiving. I will get those posted sometime on Christmas Eve.
Until then, I hope all of you are having happy holidays! 3 more sleeps until Santa comes!
Monday, November 22, 2010
So Good, It Must Be Shared!
A friend of mine shared a recipe with me recently that ROCKED MY WORLD and is perfect for this time of year! I am not exactly sure where it originated from, but it's so good, it must be shared!
Pumpkin Waffles and (Sugar) Cinnamon Syrup
Waffles:
Mix well, no lumps:
-1 1/2 c. flour
-1/4 c. brown sugar
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1 tsp. salt
Stir in a separate bowl:
-1 egg
-1 1/4 c. milk
-1/2 c. canned pumpkin
-2 tbs. oil
Combine the two groups until batter is smooth. Spray waffle maker with Pam. Use 1/2 c. of batter at a time. Cook for 4 minutes.
Syrup:
-1 c. sugar
-slightly less than 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 c. light corn syrup
-1/4 c. water
-1/2 c. evaporated milk
In a saucepan, combine sugar and cinnamon. Pour in corn syrup and water and stir to dissolve. Boil, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes. Cool. Stir in evaporated milk and serve. Refrigerate leftovers.
We ate these for dinner tonight, and let me just say, it was HEAVEN.
Pumpkin Waffles and (Sugar) Cinnamon Syrup
Waffles:
Mix well, no lumps:
-1 1/2 c. flour
-1/4 c. brown sugar
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1 tsp. salt
Stir in a separate bowl:
-1 egg
-1 1/4 c. milk
-1/2 c. canned pumpkin
-2 tbs. oil
Combine the two groups until batter is smooth. Spray waffle maker with Pam. Use 1/2 c. of batter at a time. Cook for 4 minutes.
Syrup:
-1 c. sugar
-slightly less than 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 c. light corn syrup
-1/4 c. water
-1/2 c. evaporated milk
In a saucepan, combine sugar and cinnamon. Pour in corn syrup and water and stir to dissolve. Boil, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes. Cool. Stir in evaporated milk and serve. Refrigerate leftovers.
We ate these for dinner tonight, and let me just say, it was HEAVEN.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Good Things To Come
I have mentioned in earlier posts that our move to Texas two years ago was quite a bit more difficult than we expected. We had spent well over a year planning the details of our move and looking into all of our options. Originally Marcus wanted to move back "home" where the economy seemed better for finding a first job, after graduating with a health science degree, and certainly would be a less expensive place for us to buy our fist home.
Well, after months of applying and interviewing for jobs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area it became obvious that we were wrong. Every job offer came with a much smaller salary than we hoped for or paid commission... something we were not comfortable accepting. We also discovered there was very little room for growth in any of the companies with his current degree. We felt hugely disappointed.
Hours and days and weeks of talking lead us to a point where we felt it was in our best interest for Marcus to pursue his dream of applying to medical schools. We knew it would mean a great deal of work just for him to bring himself to a point where he was a qualified and competitive applicant, let alone all the cost of time and money that would come if he actually got in. We decided, though, that as long as he was able to support our family and go back to school for the classes he needed without going into further educational debt that we really had nothing to lose. So, Marcus started looking for jobs that would provide what we needed financially as well as allow him the flexibility to go to school. And guess what? A job fell right into his lap.
With everything in place we moved to Texas in August of 2008, just 3 weeks after our little James was born. We knew we were going to have a challenging few years, but we had no idea just how difficult they were truly going to be.
I'll spare you most of the details. After all, there was good reason to not blog all about them in the first place. Let me just say, though, that Marcus and I found ourselves feeling very alone shortly after our move and our hearts ached for the love we had felt from family and friends when we lived in Utah. On top of that, our apartment was a dump. The area was full of crime and our neighbors were quite contentious and aggressive. We put our 60 day notice in as soon as we could and found a place we loved about 30 minutes away.
Just a week after Marcus started his new job he was offered a management position for another company. It had a better schedule and a nice salary, so he left the first job and excitedly took the second. Unfortunately, after about eight months the owner did away with his position. He allowed him to continue working for a smaller wage, but Marcus was forced to find other employment. We were relieved when he was hired to do marketing for a home care company. Five months later, though, they nearly went under and everyone was suddenly out of work.
We were blessed to have a good friend who owns a pest control company offer Marcus a job as a technician. We were especially happy that he was willing to put him on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday schedule so he could go to school full-time on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. This last summer Marcus joined the sales team and was able to boost our income quite a bit. In August, he was offered a position as the office manager and he has greatly enjoyed it.
School has been challenging, but pretty much what we expected. Marcus successfully completed 35 credits of hard science classes last school year and is currently taking 14 more, with 12 to come this next spring. He studied for and took the MCAT last summer and is preparing for a second test date to improve his score in the coming months. He completed his first round of medical school applications but anticipates having to apply again this next year. In addition to his work and studies, Marus has been shadowing a family physician for six months as well as serving as an assistant scout master for our church’s troop of Boy Scouts.
Our life has certainly been filled with a lot of ups and downs since our move, but I am certain each challenge has ultimately strengthened us. I truly believe that there is bright reason for us to hope for better days ahead, and that makes it easy to feel joy in the more difficult times we occasionally face now.
I wanted to share a clip that I love called “Good Things To Come”. I have watched this over and over and over… and it always encourages me to just keep moving forward. I truly believe there is always reason to hope for good things to come, GREAT things even.
Well, after months of applying and interviewing for jobs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area it became obvious that we were wrong. Every job offer came with a much smaller salary than we hoped for or paid commission... something we were not comfortable accepting. We also discovered there was very little room for growth in any of the companies with his current degree. We felt hugely disappointed.
Hours and days and weeks of talking lead us to a point where we felt it was in our best interest for Marcus to pursue his dream of applying to medical schools. We knew it would mean a great deal of work just for him to bring himself to a point where he was a qualified and competitive applicant, let alone all the cost of time and money that would come if he actually got in. We decided, though, that as long as he was able to support our family and go back to school for the classes he needed without going into further educational debt that we really had nothing to lose. So, Marcus started looking for jobs that would provide what we needed financially as well as allow him the flexibility to go to school. And guess what? A job fell right into his lap.
With everything in place we moved to Texas in August of 2008, just 3 weeks after our little James was born. We knew we were going to have a challenging few years, but we had no idea just how difficult they were truly going to be.
I'll spare you most of the details. After all, there was good reason to not blog all about them in the first place. Let me just say, though, that Marcus and I found ourselves feeling very alone shortly after our move and our hearts ached for the love we had felt from family and friends when we lived in Utah. On top of that, our apartment was a dump. The area was full of crime and our neighbors were quite contentious and aggressive. We put our 60 day notice in as soon as we could and found a place we loved about 30 minutes away.
Just a week after Marcus started his new job he was offered a management position for another company. It had a better schedule and a nice salary, so he left the first job and excitedly took the second. Unfortunately, after about eight months the owner did away with his position. He allowed him to continue working for a smaller wage, but Marcus was forced to find other employment. We were relieved when he was hired to do marketing for a home care company. Five months later, though, they nearly went under and everyone was suddenly out of work.
We were blessed to have a good friend who owns a pest control company offer Marcus a job as a technician. We were especially happy that he was willing to put him on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday schedule so he could go to school full-time on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. This last summer Marcus joined the sales team and was able to boost our income quite a bit. In August, he was offered a position as the office manager and he has greatly enjoyed it.
School has been challenging, but pretty much what we expected. Marcus successfully completed 35 credits of hard science classes last school year and is currently taking 14 more, with 12 to come this next spring. He studied for and took the MCAT last summer and is preparing for a second test date to improve his score in the coming months. He completed his first round of medical school applications but anticipates having to apply again this next year. In addition to his work and studies, Marus has been shadowing a family physician for six months as well as serving as an assistant scout master for our church’s troop of Boy Scouts.
Our life has certainly been filled with a lot of ups and downs since our move, but I am certain each challenge has ultimately strengthened us. I truly believe that there is bright reason for us to hope for better days ahead, and that makes it easy to feel joy in the more difficult times we occasionally face now.
I wanted to share a clip that I love called “Good Things To Come”. I have watched this over and over and over… and it always encourages me to just keep moving forward. I truly believe there is always reason to hope for good things to come, GREAT things even.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Watching for Elves
One of the greatest things about the holiday season is watching Connor and James try with all their might to behave so they can be on Santa's "nice list". I love it.
Well, last Sunday morning Connor woke up in a terrible mood and his willingness to be nice was completely gone. He was grumpy and mean and refused to snap out of it. Marcus and I told him that if he would not apologize and at least try to be kind that we would have to call the north pole and let them know he was acting naughty. He crossed his arms, looked right at us and yelled "FINE"! So I picked up my phone and made the magic call. Santa told me he would send an Elf to keep an eye on Connor that morning and asked me to encourage Connor to change his attitude so the Elf would see him behaving (at least that's what we told him).
WORKED. LIKE. A. CHARM.
Here's a picture of the two little guys watching faithfully out our window to try and catch a peek of the Elf.
Well, last Sunday morning Connor woke up in a terrible mood and his willingness to be nice was completely gone. He was grumpy and mean and refused to snap out of it. Marcus and I told him that if he would not apologize and at least try to be kind that we would have to call the north pole and let them know he was acting naughty. He crossed his arms, looked right at us and yelled "FINE"! So I picked up my phone and made the magic call. Santa told me he would send an Elf to keep an eye on Connor that morning and asked me to encourage Connor to change his attitude so the Elf would see him behaving (at least that's what we told him).
WORKED. LIKE. A. CHARM.
Here's a picture of the two little guys watching faithfully out our window to try and catch a peek of the Elf.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Blogging for the Holidays
I regret not posting more the past two years. Honestly, our move to Texas proved to be far more difficult than we could have imagined, and I had a hard time posting anything if I couldn't post everything. That's the tough thing about blogging for me. I am a pretty open book, but my experiences obviously do not just involve me, and I never want to share anything involving someone else that my judgement tells me they might not appreciate having shared. So I fell off the blogging bandwagon and I've missed posting a lot of things that I wish I would have... and that's about to change. I have a private blog set up for the more private posts and I'm ready to bring this one back to life for the Holidays.
Marcus and I live for this time of year. We are Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years FANATICS. So stay tuned for all the fun we're bound to have these next few weeks and for a whole lot of catch-up!
Marcus and I live for this time of year. We are Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years FANATICS. So stay tuned for all the fun we're bound to have these next few weeks and for a whole lot of catch-up!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Go Rangers!
In light of the Rangers making history tonight and winning their first ever play-off series, I thought it might be time to post some pictures of the fun we had at one of their games just a week and a half ago.
Marcus got some tickets for his 33rd birthday and the two of us went with Connor while James hung out at his grandparents house watching all the action on tv with his Boppa. Connor may have wished he was somewhere else when the Rangers hit a few home runs and fireworks went off in the stadium (he sat with his hands over his ears for a solid half-hour afterwards) but all in all he had a GREAT time. I think he enjoyed it almost as much as his dad!
Marcus got some tickets for his 33rd birthday and the two of us went with Connor while James hung out at his grandparents house watching all the action on tv with his Boppa. Connor may have wished he was somewhere else when the Rangers hit a few home runs and fireworks went off in the stadium (he sat with his hands over his ears for a solid half-hour afterwards) but all in all he had a GREAT time. I think he enjoyed it almost as much as his dad!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
This Is What Happened
While I was taking my shower this morning. James dumped an entire bag of flour all over my living room floor and sofa. When I asked him what happened, he just laughed... with a mouth full of goldfish crackers and pretzles. I should have known better than to leave this little guy alone. And yes, those were clean clothes on the loveseat.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Just Because I Feel Like It
I'm writing this post just because I feel like it. I don't have anything too exciting to share, just haven't been on here for a while.
I feel like Connor starting school 5 days a week (only 3 1/2 hours in the mornings, though) has shot our life in a whole new direction, and I AM LOVING IT!
It is amazing what a difference it makes to HAVE to wake up at a certain time and get the day going every morning. I used to cringe every time my alarm went off in college (including while I was in classes after being married and having Connor). I would dream of the day I could just be a stay at home mom and rid my life of that awful morning alarm. Well, after a few years of just waking up whenever the kids did, and then slowly getting breakfast, getting dressed probably no earlier than lunch time, and basically spending the morning lounging around trying to pick away at a few random house chores between playing with the little guys, being forced to wake up, get ready, and get out of the door by 7:10 has been heaven sent. Sounds crazy, right? I know, but it's true. I'm starting to believe there really is something to the whole "early to bed, early to rise" thing.
Well, that's it for my random posting for now. It's just past 6:00 and I need to hurry and get dinner on the table. I think the little guys are getting hungry.
I feel like Connor starting school 5 days a week (only 3 1/2 hours in the mornings, though) has shot our life in a whole new direction, and I AM LOVING IT!
It is amazing what a difference it makes to HAVE to wake up at a certain time and get the day going every morning. I used to cringe every time my alarm went off in college (including while I was in classes after being married and having Connor). I would dream of the day I could just be a stay at home mom and rid my life of that awful morning alarm. Well, after a few years of just waking up whenever the kids did, and then slowly getting breakfast, getting dressed probably no earlier than lunch time, and basically spending the morning lounging around trying to pick away at a few random house chores between playing with the little guys, being forced to wake up, get ready, and get out of the door by 7:10 has been heaven sent. Sounds crazy, right? I know, but it's true. I'm starting to believe there really is something to the whole "early to bed, early to rise" thing.
Well, that's it for my random posting for now. It's just past 6:00 and I need to hurry and get dinner on the table. I think the little guys are getting hungry.
Friday, August 27, 2010
First Week of School
Last Monday Connor started Pre-Kindergarten. He was SO excited (and I'm not gonna lie, I was too)! He has LOVED going each morning this week and is a little bummed that it's the weekend now and can't go back for two days.
Here's a few pictures of the little guy on his first few days of school..
Yeah, this is how he chose to pose for his "first day of school" photo.
I tried for a better shot but he was far too distracted looking at all the other kids in the hallway.
He RAN once he saw the playground.
I was able to get a better picture of him leaving for his second day of school... now that some of the excitement had died down.
Maybe it is just because it is only Pre-K, but I haven't had any of the feelings of "my baby isn't such a baby anymore" or "I'm so sad I don't get to have him home all day"... I think I have loved him going to school just as much as he has loved going! NOT because I don't want him here with me, but because I truly truly know he is ready for the experience and I know he is beyond excited about it. I am just so happy for him and it is so much fun seeing him doing new things that build his self-esteem.
Here's to hoping the entire school year is as good as this first week!
Here's a few pictures of the little guy on his first few days of school..
Yeah, this is how he chose to pose for his "first day of school" photo.
I tried for a better shot but he was far too distracted looking at all the other kids in the hallway.
He RAN once he saw the playground.
I was able to get a better picture of him leaving for his second day of school... now that some of the excitement had died down.
Maybe it is just because it is only Pre-K, but I haven't had any of the feelings of "my baby isn't such a baby anymore" or "I'm so sad I don't get to have him home all day"... I think I have loved him going to school just as much as he has loved going! NOT because I don't want him here with me, but because I truly truly know he is ready for the experience and I know he is beyond excited about it. I am just so happy for him and it is so much fun seeing him doing new things that build his self-esteem.
Here's to hoping the entire school year is as good as this first week!
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