365 Days of Gratitude

Well howdy!  See, I told you I'd be back soon.  Here it is, the 2nd of January, and I am thinking about the year to come. I am so thankful that 2013 was a good (or at least BETTER) year for me and my family for the most part, and I am hopeful that 2014 will also treat us kindly.

Last January I stumbled across a post somewhere (maybe it was on Facebook, maybe Pintrest, I don't remember) about how someone made themselves a jar of "Happy Moments."  I loved the idea and decided to do one for myself.  Here is an excerpt of what I wrote about in on my FB page.

This is the best idea I've come across in a long while. I saw this at the end of last year, and added my own little twist. Last year (2012) was a really tough year for me - so I was determined to remember the good moments of 2013. With each note I wrote I included a little cash. This morning, on New Year's Day 2014, I opened up each note, reminisced about the happy moment, and started adding up the cash. When all was said and done, I have some incredible memories, and $826! AWESOME! This will be a yearly tradition for me for sure!

Here are some pictures from when I opened my jar yesterday...it was so fun! 

As I mentioned, I will be doing this again this year for sure!  It was a wonderful way to stroll down memory lane and remember all of the really joyful days I had in 2013. The extra cash at this time of year is pretty sweet to have too!

I've already started my jar for this year - and have my first "happy moment" note it in - with a bit of cash of course.

I've heard about 2 other really fun things I think I'm going to at least try to do this year as well.  The first is the "weekly bank" game that so many people have been talking about.  You start off the first week of the year, week 1 of 2014, and you put $1.00 into a piggy bank, or other safe place.  Then, at the end of week 2, you put $2.00 in the piggy bank, and so on...until the last week of the year, when you are supposed to put in $52.  If you do it every week without cheating, at the end of the year you will have $1378!  That's not shabby! 

I LOVE this idea, but once again I'm going to put my own little twist onto it.  I'm going to reverse the order. I'm going to do a count-down with the money (since my funds always seem to be tight at the end of the year with family birthdays, holidays, etc.) So, every Friday, starting with tomorrow, I'm going to put money into a piggy bank.  Tomorrow I'll put in $52.  Next week on Friday I'll put in $51, the week after that $50.  You get the point.  I think it will be fun to do, especially if I can remember to do it each Friday!

The other thing I'm going to try to do this year is to post my 365 days of Gratitude.  Again, someone mentioned this to me, and I thought it would be a fun and easy thing to do.  This one is very simple. Each day you take a photo of something you are thankful for.  You post it either on your blog, or FB or Instagram, etc, and you simply mention what it is you are thankful for at that moment.  You don't need a long explanation, just the date, a couple of words and the photo.  I think this will be really fun to do.

Since it's only the 2nd of January, I figured it wasn't too late for me to start doing this.

So, here goes for my first two posts.

Jan. 1, 2014 - I am thankful for this group of friends, and so many others that weren't able to be with us on the stroke of midnight. 

Jan. 2, 2014 - I am thankful for these lemons, picked from the little tree in my yard just this afternoon. Without lemons we couldn't enjoy the sweet taste of lemonade. Corny? Maybe. But certainly true.

So...give it some thought and let me know if you plan on joining me in any of these little adventures...I'd love the company. 

6 Months!

I bet you gave up on me ever returning to this blog.  Heck, I even thought of giving up on it....but as always, I am drawn back.  I still love this blog and appreciate all of my readers, especially those who have been so faithful and have continued to check back day after day, week after week, and month after month.

Well, here I am!  Alive, well, and as always very busy.  Christmas is the day after tomorrow, and I can't believe that the last time I posted it was summer time and we were in the pool every day, enjoying the warm weather, etc.  Honestly, I don't know where the time has gone.

I'm making a New Year's promise to myself....I'll blog at least once a week in 2014.  It may sound silly, but I actually REALLY miss blogging!  I am on facebook a ton, but it's just not the same.  FB is great for the quicky little note and photo, but I don't get to share what's in my head nearly as much as when I get to sit down and really ramble.  Haha!  

For now I will leave you with our family Christmas card, and Kona and Lucas' card... yes, I had a special Christmas card made for the two of them....Kona's FB page is now up to over 11,800 fans....how crazy is that?  That boy and the little Squirt certainly keep me busy.  If you want to follow their antics, click over to their FB page, and "like" it.  I'm on that page at least once a day....here is a link for you.  Kona's Page

Merry Christmas, and happy holidays!  Let's keep in touch! 

In Limbo

I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't been spending much time on my blog lately. I don't know why, I can't put my finger on it.  I feel as if my blog is in limbo.

I can't pinpoint if it's that I don't have the desire to constantly update it...or if I have things going on in my life now that I'm not comfortable sharing. Maybe it's a little of both of those.  It's also partly because when I post I like to put a lot of thought into what I post, and thought takes time. I haven't had a lot of that lately.

For some reason, about a month ago I got a wild notion of starting a FaceBook page for Kona. Don't ask my why. It was just a silly idea. I thought it would be fun to see if anyone would "like" it.  Well, come to find out, I've had nearly 7000 people like it in just over a month! That's been a fun little project for me to play around with. Posting the pictures is quick, easy, and doesn't take much thought. I get the instant gratification of the people giving his posts the thumbs up.

It's been fun for me to watch his page grow. I guess speaking through him is like having a little alter ego. A sweet, furry, lovable alter-ego, that everyone seems to love. You can't knock that. If you are on FaceBook and want to check out his page, his link is Kona "The Love Sponge"

I've had plenty of stuff going on here, some really good, some not so good.  Such is life, right? I try not to dwell on the not so good, but sometimes that is easier said than done.  I'm sure it's like that for all of us.

On to some of the good.  Yesterday was Mother's Day.  I got to spend Mother's Day with my Mom, my husband, two of my children and my dogs.

 

We went out for breakfast, spent part of the day out and about, then came back to the house where I got some lovely gifts, and we enjoyed an afternoon of fun in the pool. It was a very pleasant, low stress, relaxing day.

I've got two big, exciting things coming up very soon. First a trip to Hawaii in just a couple of weeks that I am really looking forward to. I owe that to the fantastic company I work for - the RGT Group. Be sure to check out our new web site. www.rgtgold.com 

We are staying at the Sheraton Black Rock, which has some of the best snorkeling on Maui. 

I love to snorkel, and I am really excited about getting on my gear and hitting the water. So excited in fact, that I got it all out yesterday and did a little test run in the pool!

The other exciting "thing" happening soon is that our addition to the family will be coming home in about 4 weeks.  We paid a visit Saturday. Needless to say the puppies have changed just a little bit since I saw them last.

One of these 3 little fellows will be coming home with us soon.

 They had all had baths just before we arrived. They were cuddled and getting dry in towels SO cute!

 This was Kona (on the left) at about the same age....and one of the males from the litter.

 Snugly little wet faces.

 One of the sweet females.

So, as you can see, there are a lot of things going on. I've only mentioned some of the good here. There are more good things to tell about.  Fun, exciting things going on in the house. I'll try to stay focused on the good.  Promise. 

I'll do my best to keep up a little better, but please hang in there with me. I'm probably not going to be as consistent as I was - at least not for a while. Just too much other "stuff" going on. 

Egg-citing Eggs

I wish I was more artistically inclined.  I have great vision in my head, but poor execution thru my fingers. 

Take, for eggs-ample, Easter eggs. I have always admired the ultra cool things people have been able to create on these tiny canvas's.

In years gone by mine have looked like this...

 or maybe this if I got the right package of dye "stuff"...

or even this, if I felt egg-ceptionally creative.

  But, never in my wildest dreams, could I make something like these works of art! You name it, there are talented people out there who can make it.  

From Star Wars, Anime, Angry Birds, South Park, Family Guy, and Homer Simpson, to Hello Kitty, the Pink Panther, Garfield, and even Walking Dead Zombie Eggs....people come up with just about everything. How cool would it be to find that the Easter Bunny left some of these gems in your yard?

Have a wonderful day, however you chose to spend it! 

Hello 2013!

We rung in the new year with a quiet toast...

 some time with family (Mom was here earlier, but headed home at about 10pm...)

 

 watching the ball drop...

 and the San Diego version of a polar bear plunge. Only AJ and I were brave (or stupid) enough to do it.

 The water was a chilly 50F, and we didn't stay in it long.

 Thankfully the jacuzzi was a toasty 101F and we thawed out quickly.

 

I found this a couple of weeks ago on someones FB I think, and it really struck a cord with me. I love this idea, and I am going to do it for sure. Why not join me?  After the year I had in 2012 it would have been nice to have been reminded of some of the nicer things that happened. Unfortunately, I will not look back at 2012 with fond memories. I was glad to see it go...and I hope for a happier year this time around.

I have a few resolutions this year...as I always do, but I won't be sharing them with anyone. That way, if they don't come to fruition, I won't have embarrassed myself. I'll hold myself accountable, and that's enough for me.

I wish you, and all of the important people in your life a health, happy new year. Let's all keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

Merry Christmas 2012

Here's hoping that your Christmas was everything you hoped it would be.
From our family to yours...Merry Christmas, and happiest of whichever holidays you celebrate.

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas Eve and Christmas morning...

 Christmas Eve with Mom.

 She always makes us an authentic German dinner, and it is always out of this world!

 Kona guarding the presents

Harley thinks this whole 'get up early' thing is over-rated.

 Mom loved the giant coke bottle we got her - she always wanted a big bottle to put quarters in.

 Barry and AJ hamming it up for the camera.

 Mom was pretty emotional with the last gift we got her. I made her a special hard bound photo book in memory of my Dad. It was a very, very special moment.

Warmest wishes from us to you.