The Cliche New Years Resolution Post

I know it's cliche to do a post on New Year's resolutions, and worse to post about it a week after the New Year BUT I have a three month old. So sue me. ;)

In thinking about what I want to commit to for 2012 I've considered; what I regret about 2011, what I appreciated and am proud of from 2011, what I want for my family and my daughter, who I aspire to become and what it will take to become that woman.

So, my New Years Resolutions are as follows:

1. Live everyday consciously, choosing to be the heroine of my own story and living to be an example for my daughter. As Adam says, "if you're not living, you're dying."

2. Become connected with a volunteer organization such as Junior Women's Club, Volunteer America, etc. I'm not setting any amount of goal hours just yet because Maeve is still small and our schedule can be pretty unpredictable. I feel like it's important for me to infuse myself in our community and find a way to give back. Loving the world is being a part of the kingdom, and I don't feel like I'm very good at this. The last time I was really involved with volunteerism was high school through the symphony, ballet and nursing homes. I grew up watching my mother and her friends give back to our community through Junior League on a weekly basis and I aspire to follow her example.

3. Run a Half-Marathon! This was a goal of mine last year that was pushed aside due to doctor's orders with my pregnancy. I'm giving myself all the way until next December to meet this goal, and until the end of May to pick my half-marathon. Running for me has been a new and fun outlet over the last year, as well as great exercise. Considering I still have a third of my baby weight to lose, I feel like I have even greater motivation to meet this goal. So far I've done several 5ks and two 10ks, and I'm due to run my first race (a 5k) in a year next month.

There.

There are other goals I have lingering in the back of my mind, other things I feel half-committed to, but for now I think this is a good stopping point. An achievable, do-able list of goals for this year.

2012

Can you believe it?

New Year, New Traditions

This New Years was also a little different for us. Normally my family is aflutter with candy making, the kitchen is full and constantly sending out wonderful food of one kind or another, Christmas music is still playing, and we can't stop talking. Things are generally a little different at the Owens' house...except for this year. This year, they hosted a New Years dinner, which included all of us, and some of our friends. Homesick, I made my mom's 3 signature Christmas time dishes, Carrot Casserole, Spinach Soufflé, and Mushroom Stuffing! This was huge since...I don't cook. But, I have to say, it turned out pretty well, and made me want to try cooking more often! (you'll have to ask Adam whether that is a good thing or not...) We played some games, and even made it to midnight!!! (I crashed at about 1:30am...)

We also spent a lot of time hanging out with Mitchell, Jessica, Cydney & Brandon, playing Wii (I so, so want one!), Balderdash, and hanging out in the hot tub!!
Being with them always makes me laugh, and reminds me how lucky Adam and I am to have friends who are so awesome!!!

3-2-1 Happy 2010!!! Here's to the next year!!!

Our Holidays

We had a unique holiday season this year---for the first time ever, we were in Amarillo with Kaitlin's family for Thanksgiving. Normally an out of town affair, we were glad to have the chance to spend some time with the O'Connells in Amarillo, and Kaitlin's cousin Shannon and her husband Kyle even made the trip! Adam's parents and oldest brother Jacob were invited to the O'Connell's for dinner as well, making it a giant family affair. It was also a chance to see our best friends Cydney and Brandon, who just came back from a 5 week trip to India. We were glad to be able to give them hugs and hear all their stories. But, since we had taken so much time off this summer, and in October for the wedding, we had to make it a whirlwind trip, and were only there for 3 days. It was just enough time to eat too much, talk a lot, and have Ryan lead a tour of the Palo Duro Caves.



Christmas was a first for us too---our first official married Christmas was also the first without our parents. The O'Connells were off to Hawaii to visit Kaitlin's grandparents for the holidays, and the Owens were in Amarillo to celebrate at home. Adam's sister and her family live an hour away from us, and they invited us to share in the holiday with them. We went the distance to make this Christmas special, and played each others Santa as well making each other save all our gifts that came in the mail. We spent Christmas morning drinking coffee and listening to a Rat Pack Christmas! We had worried Christmas would be less then spectacular since it was a deviation from our norm, but it was quite romantic and very relaxing. Just before noon, we headed over to Cynthia and Mark's to spend the day with them, our niece and nephew Elizabeth & Ethan, and Mark's parents. Needless to say, Santa Claus had made quite an impression on the kids, and the living room! We spent the day learning all the cool tricks the kids new toys could do, and talking with everyone. Even though we live so close, we seem to be lucky if we see each other once a month--a whole day together was really nice. Mark made quite the feast, though we did have to find an Albertons to make an emergency Diet Coke run for Kaitlin (you're shocked, I'm sure).

The weekend before New Years, we were lucky enough to have our friends Cydney and Brandon stay for a couple days before they headed on to party in Austin on the 31st. It looks like it may be quite some time before we're back in Amarillo-which means quite some time before seeing all our closest friends, so it was a great surprise when we learned they'd be coming through. New Years Eve is one of the biggest holidays in the restaurant business--so Kaitlin had to work from 2pm until about 2am. Adam was off to our friends Derek and Cara's New Years Eve Party while Kaitlin was busy running the restaurant and ringing in the New Year with her co-workers and patrons. She did make it in time for one round of 'hellos' before the party was official done! Work work work seems to be our motto for the break, and always on opposite schedules it seems-so the first was a welcomed day off to spend together doing our favorite thing---absolutely nothing!