Sometimes Reality Bites

So, I posted this great big dreams for the new year and then reality starts to sink in. We talked to our realtor and our house is not going to sell for what we want. We'd end up in the owing, and we put so much money into our house already. So it looks like we'll have at least 1 more year here in Utah. Maybe it's where God wants us to be right now. It's not so bad, but sometimes the whole reality thing feels like a smack in the face. We have a good life here in Utah. We'll make the best of it I know.

So here's my revised hopes and dreams for 2011:

1. Keep going to school. I'm hoping to graduate in the spring of 2012, if I work hard enough I think I can do it. Take the GRE so I can go to grad school, at the University of Tennessee. I'm hoping to get into their College Student Personell program along with an assistantship that will give me free tuition plus I'll be paid for working for them. If I get this opportunity, I think it will make moving easier!
2. Keep being healthy! I want to keep running and eating well. I would love to be at my long-term goal weight by the end of the year. Only 17 pounds to go!
3. Pay off some debt. Less debt means moving might be easier
4. I would love to hope and dream for my own car. We've been a 1 car family for 3 years now. It's been affordable but hard on me to be stuck at home while Brian's working. If we're able to do it, I would love it. Plus it will help get me to and from school.
3. Get Benny to sleep through the night. I'm so tired, enough said.
4. Get Lily into kindergarten, see her start to really succeed in school. Hopefully start teaching her how to read!
5. I really want to start painting again. I miss it so bad and I feel this desire in the back of my head, trying to get me to start again.
6. Start singing in church again. I miss being able to serve in this way. Alpine seems like the kind of church to get really involved in and is a good place for people who feel called to serve.


So here's me looking on the bright side. Everything happens for a reason.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

9-10 months old

It's so hard to keep up with my growing boy. He's 11 months today, so I better get caught up on his accomplishments for 9-10 months old.

- He weighs about 20 pounds now
- He has 8 teeth now! He's been the crabbiest baby!
- He now enjoys making a mess, to my dismay
- He dances anytime he hears music, it's the cutest thing you'd ever see
- He claps his hands when he's happy
- He shakes his head no when we tell him no. Sometimes just for fun too.
- He gives big, sloppy, open mouth baby kisses. And he gives hugs too
- He cruises on all the furniture, walls, and even walks behinds me while holding onto my legs.
- He does the whole finger grab walk (holds my fingers while he walks)
- He sings when I sing.
- He is drinking formula out of a cup - I'm hoping to have him weaned very soon!
- He still sleeps like a newborn, I wish I could figure it out. I'm just guessing that my kids don't like to sleep, since Lily did the same thing
- He has started eating some big boy food like chicken nuggets, cheese, and crackers.
- He is learning how to say "All done." But doesn't say many other words.

I can't believe that he's going to be 1 next month! My baby is growing up!
-

So long 2010

The new year has come, and now I'm just barely getting to write about it. Wasn't 2010 just a fabulous year! Last year I wrote:

Some goals I have for 2010 are:
1. Get this baby outta me! :) Hopefully without a c-section.
2. Hopefully lose a majority of the baby weight, if not all of it.
3. Move to Tennessee! Get a better paying, and better benefited job for Brian.
4. Keep going to school as long as I'm in Utah.
5. Try to afford preschool for Lily.

I have to say that I've done quite well! I had my beautiful baby boy without a c-section, check! I lost all the baby weight! Yup, 32 pounds, lost, check! WOOO! We didn't get to move to Tennessee. But Brian did get a better paying and better benefited job, check! I'm still going to school and doing quite wonderfully, check! Lily got to go to preschool which has been the best thing for her, check! Way to go me for setting some realistic goals.

So 2010 was a fantastic year.

My hopes and dreams for 2011
1. Move to Knoxville, Tennessee this year. We are currently attempting to clean the house up to get it ready to be put on the market in February. The market isn't looking too good, but if God wants us to move, He can definitely make it happen.
2. Get into a bigger house. We are so growing out of this one.
3. Get Brian into another good company that really takes care of him. Maybe even get a job out of the truck driving business.
4. Keep going to school. I can transfer to University of Tennessee if we do move this year.
5. Get Benny to sleep through the night. I'm so tired, enough said.
6. Get Lily into kindergarten, see her start to really succeed in school. Hopefully start teaching her how to read!
7. I really want to start painting again. I miss it so bad and I feel this desire in the back of my head, trying to get me to start again.
8. Keep being healthy! I want to keep running and eating well. I would love to be at my long-term goal weight by the end of the year. Only 17 pounds to go!
9. I would love to hope and dream for my own car. We've been a 1 car family for 3 years now. It's been affordable but hard on me to be stuck at home while Brian's working. If we're able to do it, I would love it, but I can probably go one more year if it means moving this year instead.
10. Start the process of being completely debt free. I don't think we can do it this year especially if we move, but I'm hoping in the next 2 years to be debt free!

Happy new year everyone!

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow!"

Christmas Celebration Day 9 - Last Day

The last day of the trip was bittersweet. I was very sad to be leaving and was going to miss my family so much. But part of me, the extremely tired part was happy to be going home because I was exhausted. On this last day, we drove into Johnson City and met everyone at the Cracker Barrel for lunch. My Grandma and Rhonda were there as well as my other uncle and aunt, Brad and Tammie and their son Corion. It was really nice to see everyone one last time before we left. I love my family.
Here are the last pictures of our fun time:

Christmas Celebration Day 8 - Ripley's Believe it or not museum

On Day 8 of the Christmas fun we were planning on attending a train show, found out it wasn't open that day. So then we decided to go to this spiffy upside down house called Wonderworks. We drove the very long hour drive there and found out that the price was unreal. But I got some cool pictures of the outside. So we decided to go into Gatlinburg again to the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. It was a pretty spectacular museum, filled with amazing and unbelievable pictures, creations, and stories. It had enough interest for each person of our diverse group of babies, to teenagers, to tired parents, to excited grandparents. Afterwards, we drove into Knoxville and had a great dinner at Chillis as a family. It was a great fun-filled day!

It's an upside down house!

It's me and the cutest baby in the world.

This is at the Ripley's museum. This is a horse made entirely out of coat hangers. Lily loved it cause it was a horse.

A chair big enough for 6 people and then some.

Look how tired us parents are. Benny literally kept us up all night for the entire trip. But we are attempting to look happy.

At the arcade afterwards. Sam and David dueling it out on Guitar hero at the arcade.

My kids riding the motorcycles. Lily looks determined to win. :)

Brian (with Lily) and Jimmy racing on motorcycles at the arcade.

Christmas Celebration Day 7 - My Tennessee Christmas

Christmas morning was fabulous. I didn't expect to have a white Christmas because we were in Tennessee, but it ended up snowing all day on Christmas. The kids were super excited over the presents they got. And I do have to say they were definitely spoiled! The house was full of laughter, yummy food smells, talking, and wrapping paper. The Christmas dinner, turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, ginger cake, chocolate ganache cake, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the amazing feast were just positively decadent.

Benny hanging out with his Uncle Sammy!

Lily's Christmas present spot.

Benny finally got excited over wrapping paper at my parent's house. I guess my Mom picks better and more interesting wrapping paper than me!

My little present. :)

That is one spoiled baby. Those were all his toys!

I love the silly faces. Sam's is my favorite!
Jimbo enjoying his sweet roll and coffee!
And there's Benny, trying to climb up the stairs for the hundredth time! He could climb all the way to the top! He would get really excited and climb up, look behind him and see how far he's gone (and almost lose his balance). I was deathly afraid of him falling down the stairs!
Sam with his new Mac that Erin gave him, and David playing on his iphone.
My Grandma came over a little before we had Christmas dinner. I was so excited to see her! I think she's just beautiful!

Lily couldn't decide if she liked my Grandma at first. Look at that face! I've never seen my Grandma crawl around on the floor before. But she followed the "Lily puppy" around and.....

.....ended up getting Lily to like her and got a hug out of the deal!

Here's the awesome wrapping paper fight that Lily and Jimmy had. Lily was having a blast!

My aunt and uncle, Rhonda and Mike also joined us on the festive occasion! I hadn't seen either of them in over 5 years! I was so happy to have them there!

I'm so excited to have a new family member, Erin. She's so sweet to Sam and they seem so great together. I know that both of them will be excellent parents because they were so good and extremely helpful with my kids!

This was one of my favorite parts of the day. Jimmy got a new guitar for Christmas, a Dobro. Mike, who is AMAZING on the guitar got it out and started singing some awesome honky tonk Tennessee music. Everyone joined in! Jimmy got out his Jew's harp and started to play.

Sam got out the electric bass.
And David got out his viola. It was one of those magical moments that you just want to remember. It's what family is all about. Sitting around together and making music together.

Brian and Rachel enjoying the spontaneous jam session.

There's my wonderful, spectacular, amazing, special, and beautiful Tennessee Christmas.
Happy Birthday Jesus!

Christmas Celebration Day 6 - Christmas Eve Service

Christmas Eve was the day that Sam and his new fiancee Erin showed up at the house. Everyone had arrived, and it was a packed, 11 people household. I couldn't ask for more. That evening was the Christmas Eve service at church. It was so great to see my parents working together. My dad was preaching, my mom doing to music. I know this had been a dream of theirs for a long time, and after so many years of waiting, they were finally working together in the same church, doing what they had been called to and had been trained in. My kids couldn't stay awake long enough to go to the service because it was at 9:00 pm. So my sweet little brother, David stayed at the house with them so Brian and I could have a break and enjoy the service together.
The service was simple and beautiful. They sang a few simple Christmas songs and my Dad talked about how uncomfortable Mary would've been, giving birth to Jesus in a barn. And of course the miracle of Christmas in everyone's hearts. Rachel did an absolutely beautiful interpretive dance to "Sweet Little Jesus Boy," that brought tears to my eyes.

This is the best picture I got of my mom at the piano playing.

We're all excited for Christmas in the morning! Sam and Erin look lovely and normal while Brian and I look deranged.

And that's Christmas Eve and Day 6 of the greatest Christmas ever!

Chistmas Celebration Day 5 - The aquarium in Gatlinburg

On Day 5 of the Christmas Celebration we drove to Gatlinburg, TN which reminded me a lot of Park City in Utah. It's a touristy town up in the mountains. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was on the drive there in spite of it being in the dead of winter. I couldn't get enough of the mountains, trees, and water. And the fact that there was no snow! I loved that. My parents took all of us to the Aquarium. I knew Brian would love this, since we have a 120 gallon fish tank at home. Also the kids were going to be super excited too!

I love my mom's face - loving on the Benny boo!

Silly Craziness

Happy happy excitement!

The sharks were amazing!

The tunnel of the aquarium was the best part - a tunnel of glass with fish and sharks all over!
Benny was incredibly grumpy there because of his 4 teeth coming in. Luckily I had my mom around to help our with the poor boy!
Yikes!

We loved the saw-fish. Lily looks amazed!

Mom and Dad being silly in the gift shop!

Checking out the sting rays!

Benny even got a kick out of it at the end!

My favorite were the sting rays! They are like underwater flowers. I couldn't get over how pretty they are!

That concludes day 5 of the Christmas extravaganza!