moi??

look-y someone really likes me! {said like jim carrey in the mask. ham's favorite movie at the tender age of 3 or 4}

1. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

2. Link to the person who nominated you for this award. thanks stacy from order of disarray for picking me!!

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

* i was born in south korea and adopted into a very white family. they say my sister is my real sister but i beg to differ. {kidding! sort of.}

* i use to be a swimmer and would of been the 4 top butterflyer at college if i had stayed in swimming my freshman year.

* i have 2 tattoos but one is disappearing. seriously disappearing!

* for my second wedding we had a surprise wedding/cookout and got married in our front yard.

* before i got my "cosmetic braces" i could fit my fist into my mouth.

* i would love to be a beach, surfing bum in hawaii

* since the time i turned 16, i have had 17 jobs. {in my defense, i've worked 3 jobs at a time}

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers and post links to the 7 blogs you nominate. All of these blogs are wonderful places to find creative people and independent thinkers.

* go to my side bar at my daily reads. not all are posted yet.

word!

i so believe this! {via ali edwards}

one of those weeks on friday

my mean pesky cat yawning; aug 2008

1. so yesterday was one of those boring and lazy days for us. kaylee is getting better- her congested coughing is down to a minimum.

2. and i ate junk food all day too. it was really awful! the husband stopped by the house with breakfast from mcdonald's and that was my only nutrition for the day.

3. and i hurt my right shoulder. can't figure out how, maybe strained it a little from stretching!!

4. my home cooking took a dive this week. tuesday i made pioneer woman's fettuccine alfredo and made it too runny- it was still edible. wednesday i tried to make thai curry chicken but that ended up not being edible so we went to my parents wing joint instead.

5. hate it when the husband doesn't call to say he's going to be late especially when its because he's out at the bar with the guys. second week in a row that dinner would of been around 7:30. {we got tired of waiting so it was eat what you can find for dinner night}

6. i think what's got me down with the new house is that i have so many things i want to change yet feel like we spent so much money on it, it should be close to perfect already.

7. i should really quit the pity party because we are so blessed with so many things!

8. i went to our local mall recently to find a book only to find our bookstore empty. hopefully and maybe they are remodeling??

9. no big plans for the weekend.

10. i finally got my lens fixed and its back. so excited to start taking pictures again!

old vs new

so i've been told by a blogging friend that i'm photo-stingy but if you know me, its more like photo- lazy! {plus blogger gets on my nerves when uploading more than 1 pic} so this morning i sacrificed my time and ignored laundry, dirty dishes, bathrooms and kaylee's whining to make this mosaic. the top row is the old house and front yard. see that nice retaining wall in the first photo? it cost us over $15 grand which was NOT covered by insurance and it did not add any value to the house when we sold it. that sucked! {welcome to home ownership!} i think what i miss about the old house is that after 10 years, it was close to being the way i wanted it- landscaping and all.

the bottom row is our current place. the 3rd photo is looking out to the pond from our front porch. the 4th photo is our "woods"+fire pit area. we've had some great cookouts/get togethers out there and can't wait for warm weather to host more. and the last picture is our side yard which could house our pool someday. {we have almost 2 acres of land} while i love our current place i wish it had some character from the old house and i wish i was done with the decorating and landscaping so i could just sit back and enjoy it!

words of wisdom

i've had this on file to share for some time now. {via the bedlam of beefy}

slow moving wednesday

1. this image reminds me of the cute little coffee/ice cream cafe in lake winona which is in warsaw. i'm hoping to take mini road trips to neighboring small towns this summer if there is no pool in our backyard. {via hooray}

2. i went back to my old blog and was reading the old stuff. hard to believe i started blogging back in january of 2008!

3. is it just me or is january the longest and slowest month ever? this week seems to be going by really slowly too.

4. i missed tea with my neighbors yesterday. kaylee was not feeling well and i didn't want to take any chances. she's ending up just having a cold.

5. so i rearranged kaylee's bed again. i love her room. its girly but not over the top girly plus more of her toys are making its way downstairs.

6. then i decided to take the plunge and start taking down the wallpaper border in both bathrooms. lucky for me, its coming down very easily. unlucky for me, the previous owners didn't paint under the border in the kids bathroom.

7. and i've decided to paint my bedroom the same color as my bedroom in the old house. i went back and looked at pictures from the old house. i loved our old house. ok i loved the hardwood floors, the arched doorways and i finally had it the way i wanted it- paint, decor...

8. funny thing: back in 2008 while looking for houses and land, i had mike drive into a nearby neighborhood. he told me to keep dreaming -there was no way we could ever afford to live there. i told him to quit being such a dream stomper. well, i did keep dreaming and here we are!

9. so i finally sent my camera lens in to get fixed. a hundred bucks later it should be good as new and here by monday. i can't wait. i need to take more pics even though i have over 1000+ to be printed from last year.

10. kaylee's still watching mamma mia. good thing i like the movie too.

*** can't seem to get the new color +look for the blog. very irritating!!

mee a bee

even though kaylee doesn't need another purse/bag, i'm on the hunt for a messenger bag for her just because i think she would look cute with one. this one from mee a bee is adorable.

random tuesday

1. big "brudder" ham was a grouch this morning. we love him anyway. {taken 2009}

2. yesterday while dropping kaylee off at preschool, one of her teachers asked if i would mind helping out so she could see one of her son's get an award during his class time. i said no problem since i had nothing planned plus i remember those working days...

3. i'm letting kaylee sleep in. she didn't look like she was feeling too well last night and she fell asleep by 9:30 which has been rare lately.

4. answers to blog comments: no ikea trip on saturday. i didn't want to push my luck though we did mention that we should of turned in some reward points for a free night so we could spend more time in chicago.

5. when we went to hawaii we stayed in honolulu {waikiki} for a few days then took a 7 day cruise around the islands {maui, kona, hilo and kauai} then stayed a few days in honolulu {same area} again before heading home. BEST TIMES OF OUR LIVES! though its a different story when it comes to the cruise itself.

6. for not having an ikea close by {most are 2+ hours away?} i didn't do too badly last year and went 3 times! {twice to bolingbrook- much easier to get to than schaumberg and once in canton, michigan. for my day of birth, its schaumburg baby!!!!}

7. bummed i did not win this blog contest even though i have no friend(s) to take with me. {the husband would have to stay home to take care of the kids. he's bummed. not really.} i want to meet ree. bet she's wickedly cool.

8. ironic that my parents own a wing joint that has 11-12 different types of sauces yet they have none in their house.

9. this morning i did it! i deleted a few people off my face book. hope they don't notice.

10. after dropping ham off at school last friday i did a drive by the old house. it was depressing! it looked like shit! no other words can describe it. i would love/hate to see the inside.

weekend/on my mind monday

1. still kicking myself for not buying these anthropologie mugs.

2. friday went over to a friends house for a fun evening and dinner. while it was super delish, it was super spicy!! mike said it might be too spicy for me, boy was he right! i had to mooch some off the kids plate to tone mine down. i don't think our host believed him till she took a bite :O)

3. saturday we drove around chicago to look at 3 out of 4 bmw's that hamilton wanted to see. there was something good about each one which is making the decision super tough for hamilton. {this is all his decision so there will be no future arguments that we picked the car, not him}

4. so glad i had my iphone. it got us to each destination with ease. and it got us to pf changs. one of my favorite places to eat. its a good/bad thing there isn't one around us.

5. since kaylee was a "super trooper" {song from mamma mia} i went and bought her the movie saturday night. she's watched it 4 times since.

6. ever feel like laying low and hermitting? i think its still the weather.

7. proud of myself, we had 5 nights of homemade meals. 4 of them cooked by me. and i have a menu planned out this week too so our groceries shouldn't be as much.

8. didn't stay on budget but i guess that has to do with life and living but we were able to put some money aside. so not a total loss.

9. don't get me wrong, we are not struggling for money or anything of the like. just been seeing that we've been spending friviously and it just needed to stop. {my craft room is prime example. its full of stuff i barely use} i want to love what i have.

10. and to be able to go back to hawaii every year.

finally-its friday!

hawaii 2008

1. yes! more of hawaii. its cold and gray around here and these are making me warm and happy.

2. kaylee and i survived our morning of taking hamilton to school like the old days. we'll see how she does the rest of the day. {or me, i'm ready for a nap!}

3. thanks to chantal of keira's adventure , allie of hooray and leslie of little bits of lovely for your sweet comments. and if i ever make up my mind on how i would like my blog header to look, i might have to take you up on the offers.

4. i just need to take the plunge and purchase pcs3 or 4. then learn how to use it!

5. the fondue ending up being delicious! and very easy to make thanks to exceeding the speed limit. i halved the cheeses but added the 1/2 cup of heavy cream.

6. ham found a car he would like so there might be a road trip to chicago in the near future. i'm hoping its near an ikea. i've got spaces to fill and comforters to look at. {this is wishful thinking on my part though if a second trip is needed i might have better luck.}

7. yikes! just got off the phone with the insurance company. we've had hamilton on as a permitted driver- opps! instead of a license driver now our rates went up! didn't help any when he got that violation right after getting his license. hope his good grades bring the rates down some.

8. totally lost in who to call about pools. don't know what size to get and i'm really afraid to hear the estimates.

9. because of our bad experience with selling the old house and its drama, mike and i are holding our breath and crossing our fingers that selling the car will be a good experience. she seems much nicer and not one of those "lets see how much we can get from people" types.

10. after placing an ad for the car on vehix, i'm definitely going to place an ad for the motorcycle. hope it sells fast like the caddy!

10 things on thursday when it feels like a friday

oh long hair, how i miss you. i miss you too hawaii

1. two days this week tons of schools have been on delays. none for us. {if you haven't noticed, mornings are becoming a little more difficult for me}

2. i made the easiest dinner the other night. bought some boneless beef short ribs, threw them in a crock pot on low for 6 hours with some of our favorite bbq sauce and made some mashed potatoes. added some french bread and butter. wish i had corn on the cob and salad but i didn't plan that far ahead.

3. found this post on gray bedrooms. why is it so hard to find the perfect shade? and is it gray or grey?

4. this is what really got my interest in finding a new comforter. i LOVE it! so much that i'm almost tempted in buying it but not letting mike in on the price. ya' know, one of those "oh it was on sale" purchases. but the budget is toying with my emotions!

5. yesterday was one of those days where i could not get warm, i was cold all the way to the core. i had on socks and slippers and my feet still felt like ice chunks, a long sleeve shirt and two sweatshirts on top of that.

6. we wrote up a "purchase agreement" for the car so once she shows us the money, ham will be officially car-less.

7. i'm finding out that i have not taught ham much of anything. unless you've got some fat cash, you can not drive a new- to -us car home immediately especially if your looking at cars up in chicago.

8. we've got a play date today for both kaylee and i. i'm making a cheese fondue. if it turns out, i will share the recipe.

9. i'm going to see how much i can get the house cleaned before said play date. so far i'm already behind.

10. out of all the blogs i read, i love the ones who share moments of their lives along with their favorite things the best.

bare with me...under construction?

i want my blog to look a little like this. i love the font used and think i've found it except i'm not sure how to make them a little smaller. i tried using different fonts before but found that if you do not have the font i'm using on your computer, you wouldn't see it. then one day i happen to find kevin and amanda's blog. {i think i was googling how to change fonts on blogger}. they have some awesome + free! fonts and easy tutorials. now i'm working on my header. with limited computer supplies ie: no photoshop or illustrator...its a wee bit time consuming.

valentine's tea towels

i'm in love with these tea towels and i'm hoping i'm not too late in ordering one. {i've ordered a few of her other items and they are just beautiful!} via elisabeth bentz

dreams

she was on oprah yesterday. i know this story might be a little old but i never tire of it. when i hear her sing, tears well up because you can see it -everyone from the audience to the judges were skeptical. i LOVE it when an underdog proves everyone wrong. watch the video here.

10 things tuesday

1. i'm loving the grey + red + cream color combo. maybe for the master bedroom??? found via apartment therapy.

2. i'm also loving this menu planner better than the previous one posted a week ago. {via homely one}

3. want to do the 10 day detox cleanse that my chiro is recommending (for my allergies) but just the thought of giving up yummy, greasy, tasty food for 10 days. sorry, but the protein replacement bars is not helping either.

4. a new rule for ham since his day of getting into wee bit of trouble is that he has to be home for dinner. its been nice for me too because i have been cooking more meals.

5. i got my first issue of cooking light and tried this dish last night and got pretty good reviews from everyone but kaylee. cooking light has been my go-to for recipes. love that i get a year's worth for 5 bucks!

6. hate it when i can't sleep and a random stupid song keeps playing over and over in my head. down by chris brown. i don't even like the dude!

7. so the lady who came to test drive the car seems to be pretty serious. she's going to check with her insurance company and then hopefully she will be calling us back saying she wants it. good for ham.

8. though that leaves him car-less which means i will have to take him to school 3 days a week. {his friends go to school much earlier than he would like. spoiled? YES!!}

9. of course the bedding i want from target is not on clearance.

10. i need to start calling around so we can get some estimates for a pool. fingers crossed we can find someone who will give us an unbeatable deal!!

late sunday night

da girls {megan, michelle, sandra, christine- the birthday girl and moi}

1. another weekend come and gone. at least we get to sleep in tomorrow. martin luther king day tomorrow. mike's suppose to have the day off but he's a work nazi and will be going in for a few hours. plus, he's super bored. i told him he needs to find a hobby besides watching football and drinking beer.

2. i told the girls for my birthday we are taking a trip to ikea. i feel bad that i didn't let christine chose what she wanted to do for her birthday. aw well. i'm over it. {LOL}

3. my sweet, innocent little boy got himself in a wee bit of trouble friday night. for those who think teenage life will be much better and easier- sorry to tell you that's it just a whole different world.

4. the dude who's been interested in the caddy didn't show up again this morning. this is twice now. if he ever calls again he will not be getting a discount.

5. we do have someone else coming over tomorrow to take a look. {at the car} fingers crossed it goes well??? ham hasn't found a replacement yet.

6. i'm trying my best to convince ham to get a cheap car, one where we don't have to make monthly payments on it so i can sell mine and get one of these brand new babies. i love the wrangler/unlimited. any of the 4 door ones for now- since i have kids. {my dream vehicle is a range rover}

7. its been kinda nice to being able to see our driveway and few patches of green grass this weekend.

8. i'm debating on getting dog. why do pets have to be so expensive?! i want a bulldog. i love their bull legs and wrinkles.

9. hmm... as i typed that i just realized that's what i love about babies too- their fat +wrinkles. a dog would be much less painful than having a baby.

10. i went and bought a few of these today and i love them! {love that they don't bleed through my papers}

brainfartitis on thursday

ham, hawaii summer 2008

1. yep, still dreaming of warm temps, sandy beaches, cute cabana/surfer dudes bringing me a lava flow (Blended pineapple juice, coconut syrup, strawberries & light rum) and a hula pie. sad i did not get to try a hula pie but did have many lava flows.

2. had a great time last night for a mom's birthday dinner out though i dropped the ball. i had no balloons, no birthday girl crown and no candle for her dessert. I SUCK and i think we should do a do-over. next week girls??

3. i also found something about myself-i am a boring person. no wonder i have such a boring life. i am as much fun as i let myself to be.

4. i want to be their friend. {don't they look like sisters?}

5. yesterday while going through some bills, found out that the cash advance that mike took out to gamble with while down in miami did not get paid like it was suppose to have, so this morning i had to call them. got it taken care of and they are crediting me back the finance charges. yeah me! {point is- make sure you check your statements!}

6. a friend got me the cutest hawaii christmas ornament.

7. i'm super serious about getting on budget this year and staying on it and living simply. love simple mom's blog for so many reasons.

8. my sinuses are acting up again and i seriously have a bad case of brainfartitis. one side of my brain is functioning less than normal and i can't afford any loss as is.

9. and i'm ready to get back into shape. while its still cold outside, its perfect to start eating less and healthier.

10. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAR AND LOVELY FRIEND-CHRISTINE!! HOPE YOUR DAY IS A GOOD ONE!

word!

via its mary ruffle. {her link is on my side bar}

lisa leonard designs giveaways

love her jewelry? you can try to win one:

fabulous k giving away a $75.00 gift certificate. its too much work for me but hey if you want one bad enough guess you will do the work right?

sloan photographers giving away a specific necklace

the rockstar diaries a $100 gift certificate

vol. 25 a $50 gift certifcate.

{and be sure to check out lisa's cute blog too}

things that suck/don't suck

kaylee playing salon girl- i have major blue eyeshadow on and lots of hair things on my head

things that suck:

1. waking up at 4am and not being able to fall back to sleep

2. cat jumping on top of you at 6 am. then alarm going off 10 minutes later.

3. allergies

4. cold weather

5. brain farts that wont go away

things that don't suck:

1. ham getting great grades. we are looking at 3 A+'s and 2 B+ which should be considered A's. {come on 89% is not an A?!}

2. kaylee still singing mama mia tunes. she even remembers what song and the dance moves to a particular part. (ham and i use to dance to abba when he was a tiny tot)

3. kaylee buying strawberry shortcake toys with her christmas money and then plays with them all afternoon and evening.

4. moving my computer off the floor and into kaylee's unused bedroom.

5. dinner with wonderful girlfriends tonight for a birthday celebration- HOLLA!

sunshine + warm temps please

1. i'm seriously craving some warm sun. {cedar point summer 09}

2. craving it so much that i'm considering going back to work. it would be money just for hawaii vacations. thought we had found a job for mike that would at least get us out there and it was in his field-pipe lining, but it ended up being already taken.

3. craving for some fresh fruit too.

4. weekend was very laid back. we did manage to go and eat out twice but it was all for free. we're still on a budget, this time it was my parents budget.

5. i did manage to spend some money of course. after dropping kaylee off at school friday i went to our local "antique" store and bought a new clock and birdhouse. for once, someone was giving 30% off if you payed by cash so i ended up getting the birdhouse for free. {hey, i now have shelving that needs decorating!}

6. kaylee watched mamma mia with me and she loved it! she even watched it again without me and while giving her a bath last night, she was singing it.

7. caught the ending of pump up the volume on tv this weekend. LOVE LOVE that movie! and i loved christian slater in gleaming the cube. {i use to have that poster}

8. i miss those days. i miss my doc martens. i miss the music and the fashions and the freedom.

9. one of my face book friend's has planned a girls trip for indy and i'm going with! {end of february} i can't wait!!

10. need to start waking kaylee up earlier in the mornings. she's been sleeping in till 10am but wont fall asleep till 11pm or even later. {she waits for me}

start living!!!

can't to see this show on mtv....

and i found this blog tonight what do you want to do before you die? not to be morbid or depressing.... just want to start thinking and LIVING!!

random friday tid bits

1. the nugget getting her first hair salon trim yesterday. i would of taken more pics but i was getting mine trimmed too. we just went to some local salon that could take us immediately. i see future spa/salon treatments in our future.

2. stumbled on this {handbook 2010} yesterday. its got some great words of wisdom.

3. and came across this diy grocery planner and love the menu grocery list {download}. i love having my menu and what groceries i need in one spot.

4. got nothing planned for the weekend. will probably stay in because its cold plus we're trying to stay on a budget.

5. i don't think i'm liking our mail lady. twice now she has put down the mail flag but didn't take our mail??? and she's not very friendly. at our old house we had the nicest mail carrier EVER!

6. ham and his buddy tyler went and snow plowed two driveways after school yesterday and made 20 bucks each. ham had to shovel since we don't have a snow blower. whenever i say snowblower it reminds me of the movie stepmom.

7. mike skipped going out of town last night for work because of all the snow. i think its because he was missing his mancave and beer.

8. one of my favorite bloggers is going to vegas with her bff. i wish i could get some bff's to go someplace. warm. preferred.

9. finally got ham on board about moving to hawaii. he's seeing being a bum in hawaii isn't such a bad idea after all. {not that we're moving anytime soon unless i can find mike a job out there}

10. ham has already brought up senior year spring break trip to florida. by himself. with his buddies. he's killing me!

living the easily life

1. self portraits of the little nugget at cedar point. she let out a BIG+ stinky toot and tried to blame it on everyone else.

2. i CAN NOT get back on schedule! yesterday and today, i went back to bed after ham left for school and "slept" til 10 am.

3. umm hello indiana! you can stop with the snow now!! {it still looks pretty though}

4. i tried to upload over 1200+ pics on shutterfly last night to get 75 free prints but got frustrated with their cropping system so i canceled what was left.

5. i'm still in need of a hair style. i liked the style of my hair when it was short but don't want short hair.

6. went to dreaded wal-mart yesterday. even though i don't like shopping there, i feel they have the best prices on toilet paper, soap etc... i saved about 10 bucks by using coupons so that was a win for me.

7. till i went to at+t and bought the skin + iphone cover. no wonder apple stocks are doing so well!

8. mike asked me if any dudes have hit on me lately. i told him i went to wal-mart. i hope no dudes hit on me at wal-mart. dudes at abercrombie with their shirts off can hit on me though.

9. this convo came up because when i was in starbucks buying kaylee's teachers their gifts, the guy behind the counter asked me if i just got out of my classes.

10. someone i went to high school with friends requested me. is it rude to not accept and is it rude to delete the people who requested to be my friend? i never ever talked or talk to them and i seriously think they are requesting me just because we went to the same school.

finally back to routine

1. i ventured out in the cold and snow last saturday evening to get this pic. we had just returned from eating dinner out to celebrate ham's birthday and the fresh falling snow + the lights of the neighborhood was calling my name. {taken outside of our garage}

2. so far kaylee and i have not gotten sick. whatever ham had has not spread, thank goodness! and knock on wood.

3. i am one of those mom's who let their kid's skip school. i usually let ham have one day to skip for his birthday being that he hasn't missed a bunch before hand and his grades are still up.

4. so we went shopping yesterday. ham found a pair of shorts and pair of jeans. kaylee whined a bit because she was so hungry and we were not shopping for her. something i'm teaching her- that we do not shop for ourselves while shopping for the males in our house, they can handle only so much. {we went to 3 stores and ham did try on about 10 pairs of jeans. he was exhausted afterwards and ready to go home}

5. she did end up with a pretzel for the ride home. ham and i got smoothies and ham bourbon chicken w/rice. i did end up wasting 6 bucks. i dropped ham's extra large smoothie before he even had a chance to drink some of it.

6. ever since ham got sick, i still feel we have that "bond" and its such a nice feeling.

7. today is our official back to routine day. waking up at 6:10am this morning was not fun. kaylee will go to school too this afternoon which means i am back to running errands -we're almost out of toilet paper and getting some much needed free time.

8. i've cleaned kaylee's bedroom, next up is her toy room then my craft room so i can get started on ham's baby books.

9. someone wanted to trade their jaguar for our caddy. its nice car but ham's holding out for a bmw. (not to get the wrong idea, he gets X amount for the car so if he can find one in that price range he can have it but yes, he is so SPOILED!)

10. he knows it too. i did one of those "back in my days" when he said something about talking to his kids about back in his days...i told him i will make sure that his kids know that he got his own way with everything and to not believe a word he says otherwise! {he smiled at that one}

winners & losers

THE WINNERS! (tyler, ham, tommy + arron) THE LOSERS! (mike, tad, erron + kevin)

1. the fellahs after their paint balling game.

2. ham is better. i'm letting him have today off from school for recovery. just to make sure its all out of his system.

3. i made him filet migon with bacon, creamy parmesan risotto, mashed potatoes, salad and his favorite jello cake on his birthday but he didn't get to enjoy any of it. i did save him a plate which he ate last night.

4. slowly getting back to routine. i said slowly...still woke up at 8:30 this morning. all the decorations are down and put away. the house looks naked and bigger.

5. finally got to feel what most parents go through with little kids close in age. while ham was sick they both needed/wanted my attention. ham wanted me to stay with him and rub his back like the old days and kaylee, well she just wanted her mama. (good thing this was sunday evening, mike was home to play with kaylee till bedtime- she likes to fall asleep with me beside her)

6. it was nice to be needed by ham again and wish it would happen more often. i asked him if he ever thought about his dad. he said sometimes. i wonder how his dad could just not want anything to do with him. it breaks my heart in so many ways. and it makes me really angry too!

7. his dad is pure german and thats where he's been living since ham was about 7 years old. i think they have phones and stamps in germany...

8. ok enough on that. i get teary eyed thinking about it.

9. thinking of hitting the big mall today to return ham's clothes now that most people are back to work.

10. i had a big salad for dinner last night, does that cancel out the two chocolate chip cookies i ate earlier?? {trying to balance the good and the bad}

word!

my birthday boy ended up getting very sick on his birthday so i leave you with this:

{via bryn alexandra}

hello 2010!

1. i'm hoping to follow this quote this year found via it's mary ruffle.

2. funny thing, years and years ago while at a a lallapolooza concert, friends of ours were not having fun {dirt, paper cups, plastic bottles etc etc were being thrown all over the place} i told her "you're having as much fun as you allow yourself too" and this is something i have repeated to my kids, now i need to start repeating it to myself.

3. new years eve was a hoot! there was tons of yummy food, drinks, conversation, dancing, picture taking, kids being cute... everyone in my family managed to stay up to ring in the new year. (ham was with his friends)

4. today has been spent vegging on the couch and eating whatever we can find. {mike's been in his mancave watching football}

5. i pretty much have the same new years resolution that i normally have: exercise- get in shape, be a nicer person, shop less, save more, do more, cook more....you get the idea. i definitely want to take more pictures this year!

6. hard to believe but yes, i'm a list maker. so i'm totally digging this calendar by redstar ink.

7. i made these yesterday. they turned out to be pretty yummy. been eating whatever i have left over all day.

8. today's been a beautiful day outside. lots of freshly fallen snow with no one touching it. so pretty!

9. our crazy neighbors who live behind our neighborhood is firing off some fireworks. they look pretty too!

10. even though i want to save money, i have a weird urge to go to costco's.