Top 10 for 2010!

I have been thinking about my list of goals for 2010 for several weeks. Things I really want to work on, change, and implement this year. Here is what I have come up with:

1. Get involved in a ministry that makes my heart sing. This is really important to me this year. I have a few ideas of where I would like to get involved, so I'm gonna start checking into volunteer opportunities.

2. Get my house and life more organized. This is *always* a yearly goal for me and for some reason it's just so hard for me. I am really great at planning but really bad at executing. I'm a work in progress, I suppose. Baby steps.

3. Read through the bible. I got a "daily" bible in The Message translation (I have to say, it's really weird reading this translation when I'm so used to NIV. It's going to take some getting used to!) and I'm really excited about getting all the way through the bible this year. My mom is doing the same thing (although a different reading plan), so I'm hoping we can keep each other accountable!

4. Memorize 24 Bible verses. Beth Moore did this during 2009 on her blog. I'm just a year late :) I will pick a new verse on the 1st and 15th of each month. Here is my first one: "Let the morning bring word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul" (Psalm 143:8). I have a little note card book that I'm putting my verses in so that I can keep them with me and meditate on them whenever (in the car, waiting in line at the store, etc.). If anyone wants to do this with me, let me know :)

5. Complete doula certification. I am going to training at the end of April (it was suppose to be in February, but it had to be pushed back because of lack of participants, which I was sooo bummed about!). This is my dream job and I'm so excited!! :)

6. Lose 15 pounds by the end of April. 'Nuff said.

7. Paint out bedrooms and bathrooms. It's killing me that our bedrooms are still beige. I have a few ideas of colors. Chloe's room is up first -- poor girl...what princess wants to live in a BEIGE castle?

8. Stop "actively" trying for another baby. This is a huge one for me this year. We've decided to let God completely decide what is going on with our family. No more stressing. I'm so over it!! If we get pregnant this year, I will of course be thrilled, but its definitely not in our plans.

9. Be wise with our money. We don't have a ton of debt, but we really want to completely knock it out in the next couple of years. In order to do that, we need to be even more diligent than we've already been about spending our money wisely.

10. Be more intentional about loving others. 'Cuz that's really what it's all about, right? ;)

So, what are your goals for this year?

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Santa

Now that I've had my pity party, lets move on to something else!!

Disclaimer: Please know that these are *my* thoughts about our own family. I fully support whatever your family decides to do regarding Santa.

As Christmas has been approaching, something Justin and I have talked a lot about is Santa and whether he will be part of our family's Christmas. This is something I struggled with a lot more than Justin did. Justin was really fine either way. He tends to be the much more level-headed, easy-going one around here! Oh, you're not surprised?? ;)

What really concerned me the most was making Jesus first and foremost in our child(ren)'s minds during Christmastime. I feel like Christmas can easily turn into Santa, gifts, me, me, me, and that's not what we want. After *much* talking, thinking, praying, crying (yes, I cried over this as I was worried I was depriving my children of something) we decided that Santa is not going to bring gifts to our house.

There are a couple of reasons we came to this conclusion:

• The main, BIGGEST reason: we want Christmas morning to be more about Jesus being born and celebrating that, rather than what Santa brought and what gifts we get.
• I really hate the idea of threatening my children that if they're not good they won't get gifts on Christmas morning - does anyone really not give their kids gifts from Santa because they were bad? I tend to kinda be OCD about following through on my word.
  
• I don't really like the idea of lying to my children. So many people compare it to other "farirytales", and therefore render it harmless, but I really don't think it's the same. I don't tell Chloe that Barney or Elmo are actually REAL and shimmy their way down our chimney.
  

So, here's what we have decided our ChristmasEve/morning will look like. On Christmas Eve we will bake and decorate a birthday cake for Jesus. On Christmas morning, the kids (yes, this is assuming we will have more than one!!) will wake up to JESUS IN THE MANGER!! (we will have had him out of the nativity set until Christmas morning). We will then eat birthday cake and read about Jesus' birthday. After that the kids will each have 3 gifts to open, just like Jesus had!

When she gets a little older we will talk about St. Nicholas and the godly man that he was. She can still sit on Santa's lap and be excited about seeing him (just like she gets excited about seeing someone dressed up as Elmo). He just won't be visiting our house and leaving gifts.

I'm so excited to make this our little family tradition!!

What are your thoughts? Its okay, you can be honest :)

What does your Christmas look like?

16 Months

I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would not be able to have children.

I'm ready to get off this roller coaster.

I need a hug today.

P-Dub in da house!!

Anyone that knows me knows I love the Pioneer Woman (real name: Ree Drummond). I talk about her like we're best friends. My family knows that if I'm trying a new recipe, most likely it's hers. In fact, most of the time when I'm cooking they ask, "Is that from Pioneer Woman". Not only are her recipes awesome, but her blog is one of my most favorite to visit. She's witty, smart, and talks about calf nuts (who could resist?).

Ree just came out with a cookbook of lots of down home, delicious ranch recipes. The cookbook is a perfect reflection of her. It follows the same theme as her blog recipes, where she gives you step by step (picture by picture) directions. It would be a wonderful Christmas gift for anyone who loves to cook -- or even better...for those who have no idea how to since she makes it *super* easy!

On Monday my mom and I went to her cookbook signing and it was so much fun!! She answered questions from the audience (one of which was mine!), shared her husband (Marlboro Man as she likes to call him) and 2 boys (aka her punks) with us, and signed cookbooks. She was even more beautiful in person. And I have to say...MM is everything she said he is (ahem!). She was even so kind as to bring us cute-as-can-be Pioneer Woman t-shirts.

Here are some pictures from the awesome evening:

MM and the punks bringing in our T-shirts



Oh hello there...



The beautiful Ree answering audience questions



Singing a little Ethel Merman for us (hilarious!!)


Todd taking a picture of me taking a picture of him (and MM looking a little concerned for Ree's camera)



Seriously...she has the CUTEST boys in the world!!



I got Todd to smile for me (is he stinkin' adorable or what??)



Mom and I wait in line to have our books signed. We brought PW some Smokehouse BBQ sauce and Bean mix.


Haha...at one point the boys got a hold of the microphone and started making noises into it. While everyone there thought it was hilariously cute, I don't think MM was all too happy as is evident by the "come hither" finger!



It was finally our turn!



Cheese! (I have to admit that I did crop my mom out of this one as I think she was checkin' out MM rather than looking at the camera!)



That's better



It was such a wonderful mother/daughter evening and I hope to get to meet Ree again (maybe I'll get invited to the Lodge...hehe).

Praying for Bennett

My sweet friends Brian and Breck Gamel, who attended church with me in college just recently had their second son, Bennett. Sadly, Bennett came into this world having a very hard time breathing. The doctors discovered that Bennett had a bowel obstruction which allowed meconium to leak into his abdomen. At this point, the best case scenerio is that Bennett's bowel obstruction was random and he will completely recover. The worst case scenerio is that he has Cystic Fibrosis. The doctors are running tests and performing surgeries on the little man to figure out exactly what is going on. He will be in the hospital for at least 6 weeks at this point. Oliver, Bennett's older brother is staying with family and it has been really hard on him to only get to see mommy and daddy for short periods of time.

I am asking that you please join me in prayer for this sweet family. Brian and Breck have not been able to hold her newborn baby and as a mother I can not imagine the grief. Please be praying that Bennett's situation is a unique one and he would pull out of this a healthy little boy. Also, for Breck, Brian, and Oliver that they would be able to find balance in this hard time and that God would comfort and bring peace to their hearts.

I asked a sweet blogger (mommy2my9) to help me make a blog button for Bennett. Please put this button on your blog to remind yourself and others to be in prayer for this family.

The button along with the html is below. Isnt he the sweetest little guy? If you are using blogger, you can go to your layout, click "add a gadget", click the add HTML button, and then copy and paste the entire HTML from the small box below the button. The button, when put on your blog, will lead right to Bennett's blog.

<a href="http://bennettgamel.blogspot.com/"> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388784722309592562" style="WIDTH: 221px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 160px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCfcaPkZLCH0V_FCb53n-XquhHq2xXOh5h6_ZIkVDUyUEl0oSMY2N25xve6jKyxWYgir3Eu6bmJkwYPGia89JRRwvM61GGA0tG5h6S8CHmTYgsdbjo8Lqaq76odvfzl36Z_-tPxVN4xZH/s320/New_Page_34.jpg" border="0" /> </a>

Let's storm the gates of Heaven on behalf of sweet Bennett and his family!!

Top 100

I have decided to make my way through Guardian's Top 100 Books You Can't Live Without.

You can find the list here.

I had planned to go in order and start with Pride and Prejudice, but the library didn't have it so I skipped to Jane Eyre. I still plan to go somewhat in order, but may have to do a little rearranging from time to time.

I'm not very far in Jane Eyre yet, but am really liking it so far. I haven't really read many of the "classics", so I'm excited to get some of them in my repretoire.

I like this list a lot because there is a good variation of genres as well as some new books and some old.

I do plan to skip The Complete works of Shakespeare (because there are way too many and I don't know what the heck he is talking about half the time....I may take a friend's advice and read Shakespeare for Dummies as a replacement) and the Bible (because I already read it regularly).

Have you read any good books lately? Wanna join me on the journey through "the list"?