Pirates and Butterflies: December 2011

Friday, December 30, 2011

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Speaking of Dr. Seuss....

What are my goals for 2012 you ask?

Many of last year's goals will remain, with the addition of a few new ones.

The goals carrying over from 2011 are:

To continue to learn Photoshop Elements.

Ideally, I think it would be best if I enrolled in a physical class because I learn by doing. If you are local to me and know of one, I'd love to hear about it.

Continue to learn my camera by starting and finishing the Two Peas course.

Run 2 half marathons. They can't be destination races this year, so I need to start looking semi-locally.

500 in 2011.

Started this morning. 3.5 miles done. 496.5 to go!

Not to get pregnant nor to have an additional child.

Yes, again.

Continue decorating the walls in my house as well as the actual house itself.

Read 4 books this year. Ideally, this is one per quarter. I'm taking suggestions if anyone has them.

Now for the new items:

Blog at least one time per week.

Take more photos of Tonka, as well as photos of Tonka and Lauren.

Travel

3 weeks of vacations planned hence the need for local races.

Enroll Lauren in an extracurricular activity such as swim lessons or gymnastics.

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you'll land in the stars right?

These are not lofty goals but there are a lot of them. I'm not going to achieve all of them however, having them written out allows me to feel like I am making forward progress all year long.

Here's to 2012 being another great year!

Let's Tally It Up, Shall we?

As I reflect on closing out 2011, I think it is fair to summarize where I've been and where I'd like to go in 2012.

No resolutions on this train. Goals are the most efficient way for me to measure my progress throughout the year.

January 1, 2011 is when I finally threw out the resolutions and started down the path of goals.

On a high level, I think it was productive. It gave me the breathing room to pull back some if needed, in order to direct my focus elsewhere.

For example, when I was at the peak of my running this year, there truly was not room to squeeze much else into my schedule between training and my daily life. During these times the other goals often sat idle until I could direct more attention to them.

How did I do in regards to my 2011 goals?

To learn Photoshop Elements.

Progress = 2% maybe? There is still a lot to learn here although I have learned how to adjust lighting, download/use actions, and of course crop. I've barely scratched the surface on this one so it will remain for 2012.

Continue to learn my camera.

Progress = 75% I took some amazing "for me" pictures this year. This one will remain on my 2012 list because there is still room for improvement specifically metering.

Run this half marathon.

Done with a bonus disaster for good measure just one week later.

500 in 2011.

Finishing the year with 350 miles.

Finally get my red Kitchen Aid mixer.

Done. Isn't she pretty?

Decorate the walls in my house.

Lots of progress. The hallway is almost 100% complete. My office is also well underway. We have also added 2 new prints to the living room.

Not least to not be pregnant nor to have an additional child :)

Done. Whew!

Start reading again.

This is definitely the one item where I can say I 100% failed this year. I am alone in saying I didn't read not even 1 book for the 1+ crowd? Unless you count Dr. Seuss I did not make any progress on this goal. Must regroup for 2012.

All in all, I'm really proud of 2011. At times, I felt like I was on balancing on a tight rope with no net below but in the end I can really see the progress I have made. It was hard yet fun and rewarding.

On to 2012......

Monday, December 26, 2011

'Tis the Season

To be jolly.

Another Christmas season is now behind us, yet I still feel that some tasks have been left undone.

The Christmas tree was never 100% decorated although it wasn't noticeable to others.

New ornaments have been added for both girls and I need to take photos to capture those memories for the future.

Finally, we must undo all of our hard work until bringing it out again for Christmas 2012.

Putting all of that aside for a moment, let's take one final glance at our Christmas from this little one's point of view.

This pretty much sums it up. She was all smiles from start to finish despite having no clue what was actually going on.

Happy. Healthy. Blessed.

She was spoiled to her very core with both gifts and love from others.

It was way to much for such a tiny person to soak in at one time

. We are so grateful for where we are in our lives and that we have this little one to share it with.

Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The last couple of days have been a true Christmas whirlwind. We are really loving this year since Lauren is actually aware of her surroundings. It makes for good laughs all around.

Last year, we toted her to see Santa while she was totally oblivious to the fact that we were tormenting her poor little soul.

Side note: She wore those same tights today. One thing that hasn't changed much is her size.

This year not so much. She kept giving the poor old guy the side eye while simultaneously curling up her lip in grand fashion. Needless to say she won't be getting any gifts from him this year.

Guess some other darling little girl will be getting a pony huh?

Just a couple of nights before meeting Santa she debuted her career as a performer. You could tell she had not the slightest inkling of stage fright.

Her lack of desire to walk on her own kept her from really running away with the show. This kid is a ham for sure so we can't wait to see future performances.

All ready to climb the stairs for her performance.

Not even 48 hours later, she woke up and decided walking on her own was no longer scary. It literally happened overnight. We have known for weeks she could walk, however until today she had chosen to crawl as her primary mode of transportation.

This morning, it was like she flipped a switch. She went to bed a crawler and woke up a walker.

Showing off her new walking skills after meeting Santa. She was walking all over the place like she had been doing it for months.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

L's 1st Birthday Party....2 Months Later

Last weekend, I was organizing my pictures when I realized I never blogged about her 1st birthday party. Shameful!

We decided to have her party at a local park because their were 100ish people invited. Go big or go home right?

The weather was perfect! All of the kids seemed to enjoy themselves while the adults were probably a little stressed. Or maybe that was just me?

Purple and gold was the theme because next year I probably won't get to decide.

My wonderful friend Christina had used these poms for her daughter's party, so she passed them on to us. She even left them hanging from her ceiling for a couple of months so they would still be puffy.

We had chalk with a little love on the side. This tablecloth was recycled from cousin Sarah's birthday party.

We had gummy bears. The kids really loved these. Cousin Sarah took charge of rationing them out, however she told her mom that I told her that were sugar free so she could have as many as she wanted. Nice try kiddo!