Christmas Gifts and Goodies -

I am far too spoiled. I got everything (and more) that I wanted for Christmas. I got things that I didn't even know I needed until I saw them. It was a great holiday and just another reminder of how lucky we are to have such wonderful friends and family. Lots of my gifts were cooking/baking related so I am going to have to do a much better job of making homemade goodies. Here are a few of my latest creations:

Some of our other favorite Christmas Gifts:

-Roomba: it really does work and we LOVE it...bye, bye dust bunnies
-Beatles Rock Band: who knew Brett and I were so musically gifted?
-Bobbin Winder: I was winding by hand. If you know anything about sewing you know how INSANE that is! It's     a lifesaver!
-Coats: I got two cute new coats...just what I needed!!

-stainless steel mandolin: it will slice anything with ease...including fingers. I must careful. But now I feel like a real pro chef with it.  

Resolutions:

So 2010 is off to a great start…however my New Year's Resolutions are not. So far, I'm doing a pretty lousy job keeping most of them:

My 2010 Goals:

- Blog More (welp…clearly that one isn't going so well….it only took me 17 days to post my first entry of 2010.)

- Work out 3 times a week ( I worked out Jan. 1st and 2nd…but then it got super cold and I went back into hibernation. Brett says next week is supposed to be pretty. I hope so. I just HATE running in the cold!!)

- Get up earlier each morning and take time for a morning devotional (I always ALWAYS have a better day when I start it off right...but so far it's just not happening...I think I've only gotten up early 2 times.)

- Always leave the house dressed to impress (this one's going so-so…I've at least been trying harder to look cute-r no matter where I go. You never know who you will run into, but inevitably, you will see someone you wish you hadn't if you are looking scrubby!)

- Get organized (still a work in progress….I have much organizing still left to do. Luckily Brett is really good at helping me with this one)

Brett's Goals:

-Brush teeth 2 times a day (I'm proud of his new interest in dental health!)

-Run 40 miles a week (this is nothing new for him, but I still think it's an admirable goal...phew that's alot of running)

-Go to church 3 times a month (this gets hard when we are out of town but when we are here, we have no good reason NOT to attend)

-Get up earlier (clearly, this is a struggle for both of us)

The good thing is that we have the rest of the year to continue to work towards these resolutions. I really do want to do better. I'll pretend that we just waited so long to get started because we didn't want to burn-out too early and then not follow-through all year, yeah, that's it.

Below is a best/worst list that Brett and I both filled out. I meant to post it before the end of 2009…opps, didn't happen. Oh well, here it is now:

Brett's 2009 Best/Worst List -
Favorite Band of the year: Dredg
Favorite Song of the year: Jamais Vu - Dredg
Favorite sports team of the year: Texas Rangers
Best memory of the year: Christmas Eve at our new house
Worst experience of the year: mile 15-26 of Rock and Roll Marathon
One thing you learned this year: owning a house is hard work
Favorite movie of the year: Step Brothers
Favorite TV show of the year: Modern Family
Favorite recipe of the year: Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches
Biggest success: Cowtown Half Marathon
Biggest mistake: paying to go to the Texas A&M vs. Tech game
Coolest place you went this year: Town Lake in Austin

Molly's 2009 Best/Worst List -
Favorite Band of the year: Artist - Priscilla Ahn
Favorite Song of the year: can't pick one song but I've enjoyed listening to the Ingrid Michaelson station on Pandora
Favorite sports team of the year: Texas Tech football team
Best memory of the year: Our first night in our new home
Worst experience of the year: realizing that our Wii was missing and that we'd been robbed
One thing you learned this year: Despite hardships, we are so blessed!
Favorite movie of the year: The Proposal ( I didn't see many new ones this year)
Favorite TV show of the year: Modern Family
Favorite recipe of the year: Anything that Brett grilled...yum!
Biggest success: Saving enough to purchase our first home
Biggest mistake: ignoring the warning signs of a kidney infection
Coolest place you went this year: Opening Day for the Rangers….(not really but I can earn some points with this answer!) : )

UP - Not for the weak at heart:

Two weekends ago, while Brett was out of town I decided to pay our local Red Box a visit and rent some "chick flicks." Instead, I left with the cartoon, UP. I'd heard it was kinda sad but really good. I wanted to see for myself. Note to readers: Bring out the Kleenex before you even start the movie. It is a tear jerker…but worth the tears! For being a kid's movie it seemed to have a pretty grown-up story-line. I'm glad I watched it. I definitely came away with an important life lesson.

        -Life is an adventure: It's all in how you look at it: it may not be full of money, glamour or exotic vacations and "adventures" but that doesn't make it any less special. Sometimes the fun is in all of the little events and excitements that happen every day. If you are waiting for a MONUMENTAL adventure, you may miss all the mini adventures that come your way. I've been sad this past year that Brett and I haven't been able to go on a cool vacation. I wanted that to be our big adventure this year. However instead, we had so many other memorable moments and I wouldn't trade them for anything.
       

The Woes of Parenthood:

Maddie is in her "teenage years" and becoming a bit of a handful lately. Since it's been so cold, combined with the fact that she is our little Houdini, we've been letting her stay inside the house while we are at work. Well, she's been getting worse and worse about getting into things while we are away. It started off innocent enough but Sunday she took things way too far and made a HUGE mess on the couch. It was then that I decided we were going to have to do something to keep her out of our pantry and all our food. See her last (hopefully) mess!

New Furniture on the horizon?!?!

Brett and I have been patiently waiting till the day we could afford a new couch. Well, we are getting closer to that day and in preparation we have been testing "scenarios" on our drawn-to-scale floor plan Brett made for us. Now I'm not typically one that likes to plan big purchases…I'm more of an impulse buyer (ahem, my big plasma TV), but Brett likes to really think things over first. I guess it's really pretty smart of him…just kidding, it's extremely wise of him.

Here's what we did to plan out our future living room:

We did take the plunge and buy the furniture this weekend. Very exciting!! Sadly, it does not arrive until January 30th but it will be just in time for Super Bowl Sunday. I can't wait. We bought a couch and matching love seat as well as a rug. I think it will make our living room look even better than before. Here are a few pictures....but they of course don't do the furniture justice. So everyone will need to come see it in person once it arrives.

This is a swatch of the rug we bought:

Brett testing out our future couch..he looks comfy.