We are sitting around watching home video from the year and I can't help but to think about where we are today. The best things in life are free. My kids make me extremely proud. My husband makes me feel like I am the prettiest girl he has ever seen. I really can't ask for anything more, except more money. Lucky for us, I played mega millions today so you never know!
All I ask for in 2011 is more of what I have from this year. We have our health and our love and there isn't too much more to ask for. My husband has a steady job, my kids are happy and thriving, our families are the best you can ask for, etc, etc.
Highlights from this year:
~Bryce got straight A's and a couple awards
~Leah learned how to recognize letters and numbers
~Bryce did VERY WELL at coach pitch
~Leah loves DANCE
~We celebrated our 10 year anniversary in CABO!!
~My brother got married and gave me a niece
~Our cousin Laura and Jerry got married and pregnant!
~Our other cousin Joey had a new baby Nichole!
~Our brother got engaged!!!
~My Bff got married
~My dad had many health issues which turned out OK, thank GOD!!
~Bryce received numerous honors at school
~ My PTA is growing with a great bunch of ladies I can now call friends
~My husband is at a new gym, which is challenging but will pay off, we HOPE!
~I started the process of getting Summerwind a new playground
~We saw the Lion King in Vegas
~We spent the 4th of July at the Marina with our favorites
~Leah started sleeping by herself at night
~We gave away our baby clothes
~We laughed, lived and celebrated more than the year before
With each year that passes I am a little more satisfied and a little more sad that time is flying by. I hope 2011 remains just as consistent as the years before have been for us. When you have enough to sustain you, all you can ask for is more of that. Happy New Year!!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas!
There is nothing like Christmas morning when you get to wake up to the smiles of your kids. I really hadn't been in the holiday mood until last night. You can't help but be effected by the spirit. We read the night before Christmas and stories out of their children's bible. Their understanding of Jesus just amazes me! I reminded them to wake us up before going downstairs, because we didn't want to miss their faces.
Around 3:30 I had two VERY excited kids walking into my room. I knew that was a bit too early and would make for cranky kids all day so I told them to climb up in bed with us and go back to sleep. I was surprised they did! I woke up first around 6:30. I was so thankful for this morning and to have them snuggled up in bed with us. I wanted to wake them up, but wanted to enjoy a couple more minutes of watching my sleeping family. I was moving around on purpose until finally Bryce woke, then Leah, then Bobby. We all went down the stairs in excitement. The kids faces lit and they jumped to the sky when they saw Santa had come.
And then the most precious moment happened. Bryce said, "Wait, wait, wait!" And went and moved all of the giant presents away from the tree to find the gifts he had got for us. He said he wanted us to be first. Leah followed and got her presents to us. What kid could resist the temptation of tearing apart their presents? I was seriously touched at the gesture.
The kids got everything they wanted from their Santa lists. Bryce had wrote his list and wrote down Leah's for her. They are so baffled by how Santa does it. I highly doubt this Santa bit will last too long with them. Too much curiosity about how the heck it all goes down. Bryce keeps smirking when asking me questions. He may be onto us. Bobby thought of everything this year from keeping the fire place open, with ash trailing out, to taking a bite of cookie. He is a great Santa guy to have around!
Bobby had made me an ornament out of our first Christmas tree. It was the sweetest gift I had ever got. He did it for the following year too. It has become a tradition to cut the bottom of the tree and make an ornament, but the last 8 years he never got around to lacquering them. Today I received my complete collection of tree stumps! I LOVE them!
We are about to go off and celebrate the rest of the holiday with our families. I am so looking forward to visiting with my brothers and catching up. It's funny because even if you're not a kid, Christmas will always put a smile on your face, ear to ear!
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Words of Wisdom
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough, and we will be more content when they are. After that we are frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with, we will certainly be happy once they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is there is no better time to be happy than right now. Your life will always be filled with these challenges. It is best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. For a long time it seemed like life was about to begin- real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life will begin. At last it dawned on me, these obstacle are my life. So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday Morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until you are off welfare, until the first or the fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again only to decide that there is no better time to be happy than right now. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. ~Unknown Author
I've been diagnosed with SBS =/
I have been in a bit of a funk lately. Don't know what else to call it. But today I am deciding to pull myself out of it, because quite frankly, I'm getting irritated with myself!
I've heard we are entitled to these days, but I always end up feeling really guilty when I do. Why the heck have I been getting into these slumps? I'm going to go ahead and blame the shortage of time and money.
Then there are the annoying people who just advertise the good parts of their lives. You know the ones...every post on facebook is about how happy they are, how in love, a picture of the flowers they got, or how they have the best________ fill in the blank. I don't know...if it is ALL roses, people will see that it is by how you live your life, not by how many times you post and list every time something good happens. Maybe people have got lost in what true happiness is, and I'm afraid I got sucked into it too. Just waiting around for moments that are post worthy. We are so connected to this false sense of belonging, we forget to live for ourselves. So, that's the rant about that, hopefully I am not the only one to feel this way. Moving on to more ranting, because you know it will get me out of this funk and back into where I want to be...HAPPY =)
It is so hard to find a place where you can just accept where you are at in your life and be truly happy. I have been completely happy for lengths of time in my life before. I think this funk is caused by a case of the "Spoiled Brat syndrome" (SBS). That's what I am going to call it. I can be honest and say that the root of this evil is wanting too much, too quick. Loosing patience for the things that are not in my possession NOW! I mean what am I, a 2 year old?
Dear Santa (if you do exist),
I want concrete RV access. I want an RV. I want a covered patio. I want a new car. I want a new truck for my husband, who works so hard and by golly, deserves it! I want a new shiny, red washer and dryer. Oh yeah, a new oven and dishwasher to go with that. I want new clothes so I can be fashionable. I want to look AMAZING and be able to say I have good genes, not because I have to restrict my diet and exercise like a crazy person to fit into the jeans I want. Can I also have enough money for a mani/ pedi every week, and time to actually go and get one? I want money to invest and start a business. I want to work so I can afford all this, but I want to stay home too. I want it all and not sacrifice too much to get it. By the way, I have been really good this year ; )
I never feel like we have enough time to get done what needs to get done. Clean the house, fold the laundry, PTA, hit goal, dishes, bathe the kids, workout, etc. I run around doing so much for everyone else, sometimes I forget to get done the things I really want to do. I need to get better at managing my time and my family's time. We need downtime too! Even if we had the money for all the projects I wanted to finish, we would not even have enough time to finish them. I have never been good at patience. I am working on it...
I never feel like we have enough money either. All those wants up there aren't going to happen unless there is much more income happening! Am I willing to go back to work to fulfill these materials wants...not really. So I need to find happiness without the new shiny stuff. =/ These faces are kind of annoying but somehow really get across a point, so I'm going to keep doing them, even though they irritate me a bit too. Add that to the list of annoying things I am going to keep doing!
After talking to myself for the last month and getting a lot of guidance from my husband, I am getting to the point where the only things that matter and are important and will contribute to my happiness are things I have already. I know so simple, so cliche, so hard to achieve at times.
The Jones' can have whatever pretty things they want to have, because I do have everything I could ever want or need. And when I stop comparing where we are at, and where other people are at, I am allowed to really enjoy the things that matter. Sometimes I have to remind myself to not get caught up. Which becomes increasingly hard around the holidays for some reason.
Bobby has noticed my little funk attitude, which has to suck for him. He works so hard to make us happy. Happy wife, happy life. He doesn't quite understand what changed (possibly hormones?) to cause this new funk. You know men...he offered solution after solution. I was irritated with all of them, naturally. He said if I want all those things to go to work. I was appalled. I mean really?! I like my stay-at-home mom role. Then I started to consider it. I really could bring in a good chunk of money. I tossed the idea around. But something didn't feel right. I wanted the things and didn't want to have to work harder than any mother has to work. Moms, I know you know that is A LOT of work. Men, if any of you are out there and actually READ blogs, SHUT UP! You couldn't do it if you tried ; ) I thought we agreed that I wouldn't work, so I was confused by the suggestion for me to work full time. I mean, I am pretty sure there is a paper route he can take up for us to get some useless, material sh*t. Totally joking, I am not that cold hearted of a B-word.
After several suggestions and solutions that only irritated my mood more, he said something that just made sense. He came to the conclusion that I needed to make myself happy. He said if I needed all those things to be happy, I needed to work full time. If I find happiness with where we are at, I should stay home and forget about all the new crap that doesn't matter anyhow. He was right...and don't you dare tell him! I know he doesn't read this ranting on here, so I will just admit it to you.
The confirmation came later that week. We had a parent teacher conference. Bryce got all A's and had one of the highest reading levels in his class. The teacher said he is excellent at following the rules. He is receiving a writing wizard award this next week. Although I know his quick understanding of things comes natural to him, I was proud. Even though it comes easy for him, he still had to be confident in himself, put in the hard work and know right from wrong. I would have been just as proud if it was all C's and he did his best. The fact of the matter is, that is all that matters. Later Bobby asked me if I had decided if I was going to work. I held up his report card and told him that this is all the paycheck I need. I could seriously buy a ton of happiness with that!
I think we are allowed to fall into these little funks. Realize we could be worse off, we could be better off. Doesn't matter. I had a reality check and am back to the happy old me. I think. Until that red washer comes for Christmas. I know Santa can hear me. I dream about getting it and posting a picture of it to facebook. It will read, "My new baby..." I really was praying my old washer would break down so I could by the new one. Then it started to be on the fritz and I was praying it would last until after the holidays. Now I just pray and thank God we even have a washer and a house over our heads. Perspective can change a lot.
HAPPY =) Holidays!!
I've heard we are entitled to these days, but I always end up feeling really guilty when I do. Why the heck have I been getting into these slumps? I'm going to go ahead and blame the shortage of time and money.
Then there are the annoying people who just advertise the good parts of their lives. You know the ones...every post on facebook is about how happy they are, how in love, a picture of the flowers they got, or how they have the best________ fill in the blank. I don't know...if it is ALL roses, people will see that it is by how you live your life, not by how many times you post and list every time something good happens. Maybe people have got lost in what true happiness is, and I'm afraid I got sucked into it too. Just waiting around for moments that are post worthy. We are so connected to this false sense of belonging, we forget to live for ourselves. So, that's the rant about that, hopefully I am not the only one to feel this way. Moving on to more ranting, because you know it will get me out of this funk and back into where I want to be...HAPPY =)
It is so hard to find a place where you can just accept where you are at in your life and be truly happy. I have been completely happy for lengths of time in my life before. I think this funk is caused by a case of the "Spoiled Brat syndrome" (SBS). That's what I am going to call it. I can be honest and say that the root of this evil is wanting too much, too quick. Loosing patience for the things that are not in my possession NOW! I mean what am I, a 2 year old?
Dear Santa (if you do exist),
I want concrete RV access. I want an RV. I want a covered patio. I want a new car. I want a new truck for my husband, who works so hard and by golly, deserves it! I want a new shiny, red washer and dryer. Oh yeah, a new oven and dishwasher to go with that. I want new clothes so I can be fashionable. I want to look AMAZING and be able to say I have good genes, not because I have to restrict my diet and exercise like a crazy person to fit into the jeans I want. Can I also have enough money for a mani/ pedi every week, and time to actually go and get one? I want money to invest and start a business. I want to work so I can afford all this, but I want to stay home too. I want it all and not sacrifice too much to get it. By the way, I have been really good this year ; )
I never feel like we have enough time to get done what needs to get done. Clean the house, fold the laundry, PTA, hit goal, dishes, bathe the kids, workout, etc. I run around doing so much for everyone else, sometimes I forget to get done the things I really want to do. I need to get better at managing my time and my family's time. We need downtime too! Even if we had the money for all the projects I wanted to finish, we would not even have enough time to finish them. I have never been good at patience. I am working on it...
I never feel like we have enough money either. All those wants up there aren't going to happen unless there is much more income happening! Am I willing to go back to work to fulfill these materials wants...not really. So I need to find happiness without the new shiny stuff. =/ These faces are kind of annoying but somehow really get across a point, so I'm going to keep doing them, even though they irritate me a bit too. Add that to the list of annoying things I am going to keep doing!
After talking to myself for the last month and getting a lot of guidance from my husband, I am getting to the point where the only things that matter and are important and will contribute to my happiness are things I have already. I know so simple, so cliche, so hard to achieve at times.
The Jones' can have whatever pretty things they want to have, because I do have everything I could ever want or need. And when I stop comparing where we are at, and where other people are at, I am allowed to really enjoy the things that matter. Sometimes I have to remind myself to not get caught up. Which becomes increasingly hard around the holidays for some reason.
Bobby has noticed my little funk attitude, which has to suck for him. He works so hard to make us happy. Happy wife, happy life. He doesn't quite understand what changed (possibly hormones?) to cause this new funk. You know men...he offered solution after solution. I was irritated with all of them, naturally. He said if I want all those things to go to work. I was appalled. I mean really?! I like my stay-at-home mom role. Then I started to consider it. I really could bring in a good chunk of money. I tossed the idea around. But something didn't feel right. I wanted the things and didn't want to have to work harder than any mother has to work. Moms, I know you know that is A LOT of work. Men, if any of you are out there and actually READ blogs, SHUT UP! You couldn't do it if you tried ; ) I thought we agreed that I wouldn't work, so I was confused by the suggestion for me to work full time. I mean, I am pretty sure there is a paper route he can take up for us to get some useless, material sh*t. Totally joking, I am not that cold hearted of a B-word.
After several suggestions and solutions that only irritated my mood more, he said something that just made sense. He came to the conclusion that I needed to make myself happy. He said if I needed all those things to be happy, I needed to work full time. If I find happiness with where we are at, I should stay home and forget about all the new crap that doesn't matter anyhow. He was right...and don't you dare tell him! I know he doesn't read this ranting on here, so I will just admit it to you.
The confirmation came later that week. We had a parent teacher conference. Bryce got all A's and had one of the highest reading levels in his class. The teacher said he is excellent at following the rules. He is receiving a writing wizard award this next week. Although I know his quick understanding of things comes natural to him, I was proud. Even though it comes easy for him, he still had to be confident in himself, put in the hard work and know right from wrong. I would have been just as proud if it was all C's and he did his best. The fact of the matter is, that is all that matters. Later Bobby asked me if I had decided if I was going to work. I held up his report card and told him that this is all the paycheck I need. I could seriously buy a ton of happiness with that!
I think we are allowed to fall into these little funks. Realize we could be worse off, we could be better off. Doesn't matter. I had a reality check and am back to the happy old me. I think. Until that red washer comes for Christmas. I know Santa can hear me. I dream about getting it and posting a picture of it to facebook. It will read, "My new baby..." I really was praying my old washer would break down so I could by the new one. Then it started to be on the fritz and I was praying it would last until after the holidays. Now I just pray and thank God we even have a washer and a house over our heads. Perspective can change a lot.
HAPPY =) Holidays!!
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