Just Me!!

Excited to make memories tonight. We are headed out to the ocean, all of us, to share our hopes, goals, and dreams for 2013. I am taking a swimsuit, calendar (to map out our year), warm clothes for our beach walk, a camera (new resolution), and our wish lanterns. It may not be like the scene in Tangled but I'm sure it will be beautiful. .

Christmas was getting closer and Mark and I couldn't come up with a gift for my mom, and his parents. I was really excited about my dad's present, his Keurig Brewing system. It was the perfect gift! I always want to give perfect, meaningful gifts that shout, "I care about you enough to give you something you would love and benefit from." Arlene is great at all those types of gifts. She can give the kids gifts that they never asked for, or expected, but that are personal! I will tell you in a different post what Val got this year. We wanted to do the same for my mom, and his parents. Gifts together can be tricky. We went out on a limb and purchased tickets for 9 of us to go see Scrooge The Musical at People's Church. They have put on this play for 30 years, and I remember my mom and dad taking us to see it on more than one occasion throughout my early years. I loved it then! The love story, and the conviction to change at the end has always moved me, even as a lit...

We've been chilling a lot lately at home. It's really hard for me to do that since I know there are things I should be cleaning or doing. We put that aside and made sure to relax with the kids playing board games and watching stupid old Christmas movies that were supposed to be good according to all my FB FRIENDS. We played Masterpiece and Imaginiff. I love Masterpiece because it uses real art samples and the kids learn about artists and their works. In the evening, Chris and Jackie came over to bake. The kids played and the boys went to a movie. Jackie and I baked and did a little wine tasting. By the time the guys came home we were all dancing and singing at the top of our lungs in the kitchen! The cheesecake survived my few glasses of wine but the No Bake cookies are still laying on the counter in soft gooey piles! Merry Christmas Eve....

We spent a wonderful evening together at Zoolights. We went super cheap and I brought yummy cookies and hot chocolate for after in the car. We even got a chance to see Santa swimming with the sharks!

I didn't forget spell check. I meant mourning. My heart grieves for those babies, the same as it did for those lost at Columbine. I will try to keep quiet. I will NOT try and offend those that still pray. Please, in return do not tell me how something good can come from this tragedy, and encourage me to pray for the safety of my own children. I am not where you are in my grieving process, nor may I ever be. The only truth I see from this: Mark and I are the only ones who are able to protect our kids, and that apparently isn't enough. Today and for the next 40 days I will light a candle for those 27 souls who were lost to violence at the hand of a killer!

Trimming the tree was easy, finding a time to purchase it without getting wet from the rain was the difficult part. We used a new lot that was located on Canyon near Pipeline road. They were fair with their prices, and our tree cost us only $45. We both love getting a fresh tree, it always smells so warm and inviting! The top pictures are from the night we had planned to go get the tree, but by the time dinner was over, we were rained out! We stopped by my parents house to see their tree instead.

Mark and I had the pleasure of volunteering to chaperone Val's choir group in Seattle yesterday. Mark was extremely hesitant about the decision to come along, but we both had a great time, got lots of pre-HOA meeting discussions in on our ride up, and had a relaxing day chillin with some really cool 8th graders. Who would've guessed that this age group can be a blast of fun. We spent our time split between the EMP and the Seattle Center House. We actually were instructed to let them roam free but were told that they must not leave the building without their chaperones. Mark had 4 very nice boys, and I had four girls (one of which was Val)! Two of the girls left, but Val and her friend Alexsis stayed and hung with us! We visited the Nirvana exhibit, the horror exhibit, Sci-Fi, sound room, and the leather jacket exhibits! Great day. The night got sweeter when we conducted our first HOA meeting and resigned myself as president! We have a new bunch of leaders who I'm sure will...

We hosted this years Christmas "cookie" decorating party. I bought houses to decorate instead because no one had any cookies. Vic, Kirsten, Jeremy, Kat, Shannon, Mike, and the kids all came ready and eager to eat and decorate their houses. Afterwards we played a friendly game of 90's trivia...lots of fun!!!

I have much to be Thankful for: My sweet wonderful sexy adoring husband My three beautiful, healthy, smart children My mom and dad, sister and brother My country and freedom My ability to purchase and shop on Black Friday My job My friends My health My warm house and all that it offers us My Cat, Goliath My car (it's hanging in there) and much more.