Goodbye 2009!!!

Thank God! I'm so freaking happy this year is almost over. 2009 brought a lot of bad crap and I can say its definitely one of my worst years EVER.
Christmas has come and gone. It had good times and bad and I'm not gonna lie and say its my worst Christmas ever but I definitely hope next year is better. So lets see... things I want in 2010.
1- To be happy and content. This one is definitely a stretch but I'm hoping some of our ducks fall into line or whatever the saying is.
2- To be FIT. I'm not talking about thin, although that is a bonus. Losing 27 (yay me) pounds this last year has helped me feel a lot better about myself physically but now I just feel flabby. Not toned at all. So I'm going to take up Yoga and maybe pilates to help tone those muscles!
3- A new job. I love my job. I dont just love my job, I LOVE my job. But I am SEVERELY underpaid. I'm not going to be actively hunting for a new job but I am going to be browsing around for something that pays better, unless I get a nice raise of course. So if anyone hears of an opening for an executive assistant please think of me! :)
4- To write more. I made a good start on this goal, this year, but next year I want to really pursue it. I have some good credit as a writer now. I have the most read article on our buying guides and it is also the most referred article. So not only are people reading it, they are sending it to their friends to read! That makes me so happy!
5-To take a vacation. A REAL vacation, possibly with an airplane. My cousin Jessica and I are planning a roadtrip for her Graduation present in June, so at the very least I have that! Tracy's brother is getting married in Mexico but unfortunately its during the middle of Finals and there is just no way we can go.
6- To try more new things. I did fairly well with this goal this year. I tried new foods that I'd never had including chocolate jalapeno potato chips and fresh figs. I was introduced to asparagus risotto and Manchego cheese (mmmmmmmm). I want to expand on this over the next year and try things that I've maybe written off already and are hesitant to try again. This does not include sushi however. I dont care how old I get I dont think I'll ever be ok with putting raw fish in my mouth. Gross.
7-To play with my girls more. Outside. I have issues with the outside. There are bugs, its hot, and I sunburn faster than anyone I know. So this year, I'm going to make being outside more of a priority.
8- Less computer. I feel like i'm on the internet 24 hours a day. If I'm not working I'm playing and while facebook and gmail are addicting, I really need to do something that doesnt involve me sitting on my butt.
Yeah I was gonna go for 10 things but apparently my 2009 complacency has caught up with me now and I'm going to get back to work!
I hope everyone has a fabulous new years!

Dear God,
Please untie the knots
that are in my mind,
My heart and my life.
Remove the have nots,
The can nots and the do nots
That I have in my mind.

Erase the will nots,
may nots,
might nots that may find,
a home in my heart.

Relase me from the could nots,
would nots and
should nots that obstruct my life.

And most of all,
Dear God,
I ask that you remove from my mind,
My heart and my life all the "am nots"
That I have allowed to hold me back,
Especially the thought
that I am not good enough.
Amen

Author Known to God.

SADNESS!!

Kelcy cut her hair today. I had to cut it to even it out. :( Check out her new hair.
She loves it of course. she keeps flipping it around like it was long still. I cut off six inches to even it out. :( Only her second hair cut EVER and both times has been because she cut it first. I told her next time she wants a haircut to just ask me cause i'd do it for her!

Exhausted

How many times can you get sick in one fall? I'm up to 3. I know that stress is taking a huge hit on my immune system so I cant fight anything off right now. Lucky for us we got Swine Flu out of the way already. IT sucked. Dont get it ok? Right now I just have a cold but its kicking my butt. I can barely stay awake. I cant wait until the holidays are over. I dont usually wish for that but this year I'd love to fast forward to February.
However, since it is Thanksgiving I will do the usual list of things I am thankful for. So here it is, in no particular order!

1- My girls. They are my pride and joy right now. Yes they have good days and bad days but over all i'd give them a ten! :D
2-My job. Somedays I complain about it but when it comes down to it I really do love my job. I love my bosses and how easy they make my life at work.
3-Tracy. Even though times are rough, I'm still as in love with him as I was the day we got married. More so even. I want us to spend forever together.
4-My friends. Every last one of you, you know who you are. I know I can always count on you to be there for me if I need anything.
5-Singstar. This game makes me happy. Enough Said.
6-Books- Ah books. My escape from reality, what would I ever do without you?
7-Washers and dryers. Modern conveniences I could not live without.
8-Cable TV- what would I do to entertain the girls (when I need to clean. cough cough) without Spongebob??
9-Prayer- I've never been a big prayer person. In fact I used to NEVER pray. EVER. But after a lot of lessons this year on prayer, I've recently reminded myself how great it is to be able to pour your heart out to your father in heaven and know that he is listening. He might not always answer prayers as quickly as I'd like, or in the way that I would like, but sometimes, its enough to know he's there.
10-Financial aid for students I'm so grateful that Tracy took the time to look into this and decided to go back to school. He's doing an amazing job and will make an awesome illustrator/designer.

H-A-Double L-O- W-Double E- N Spells Halloween

I dont really have anything to say. Halloween was fun. Enjoy the pics.

Lava Lava Lava Lava take TWO

Thats right. Over labor day weekend we packed up the rendezvous and hauled ourselves back up to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho! This time it was just us and at first Kelcy was super upset about it but then she was so excited to be there that when the time came to leave she cried and said she wanted us to move there because she never wanted to leave! SO FUNNY.
I took almost 150 pics in like ONE day because my batteries were dead the first day so get ready for severe Lava picture overload.
We had drama of course when we were leaving. As some of you may remember in January our tire almost fell off of our car,well naturally when the car is loaded up and we are hopping on the freeway it decides to do that AGAIN. This time they were able to fix it and give us the good news that we need to buy a new rim for our car to take care of the problem. Lovely. So we didnt get to Lava until it was dark. We hurried and set up camp and then went to dinner. The restaurant we went to was nice and totally casual which made me happy because the girls were definitely wound up after being in the car.
The next day we decided it would be fun to drive into Soda Springs and see the Geyser. It was really fun and lasted a lot longer than I anticipated.


On the way to the geyser. we stopped for treats.


This is what the ground looked like.

Maddie gets scared of decks where she can see through the cracks and she freezes up and wont move. its actually really funny.


Exploring the walkways at the Geyser. It only goes off every hour on the hour so we had some time to kill.

MMM suckers


There she goes!!





It got really high. probably 50 feet or so.

YAY this is fun... is it over yet?
We drove past this cool barn on the side of the road on the way back to Lava



Then we decided to go to the arcade in town.



The girls played air hockey


Maddie got bored. So we went swimming in the cold pools. then when it got cold we moved to the hot pools. Kelcy made friends with a little girl in the pools and we all just lounged around before heading back to camp and roasting up some smores. Which i took pics of but really am to lazy to post right now.

I'm Published!!! (ish)

I'm on our writing team at work which basically means when I have free time I pick an article from our list and I have to write it. I've been trying to stick to How-To articles (like Andie from How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days!!) but today's article is the top 5 Chandelier styles! Yesterday our lead came around and was showing everyone that MY article on how to clean down comforters has been posted on our website. It says Staff Writer but we are working on changing those so that we get some credit for it! This is just the first of MANY articles that I will be writing for work so please check it out! :) I'm really proud of it.

http://www.overstock.com/guides/how-to-clean-a-down-comforter

Boise!

So my friend Jaci was going to visit her brother in Boise and asked if I would like to tag along with her. Naturally after checking with Tracy I said heck yeah and we set off on our adventure:

The first pic of the trip. Jaci calling her brother to say we are on our way!

I know how to relax on road trips! Except if you look at my left ankle you can see how jacked up it is... gross.

Random northern utah scenery. These little barns were in the middle of nowhere. It was kind of cool.

Welcome to Idaho!!

Really bad dust storm that we were in. It didnt show up well on camera but it was bad!

We passed this guy and noticed he was reading so we slowed down and i attempted a pic but missed and so we had to speed back up so i could capture his image. Seriously who reads while driving?? Apparently this guy does but we must have embarrassed him because he stopped. We passed him an hour later again after we took a potty break and it resulted in us pointing and laughing at him while he was laughing at us. Good Times.

The Snake River.

Flat topped mountains.

We ate dinner at this drive in. It was featured on Diners, Drive ins and Dives. It was ok.

The host of Diners Drive ins and Dives. They have his picture up in several places.

The Boise Sunrise. yep thats right SUNRISE! We went to the Farmers Market in downtown Boise Saturday morning. I gotta say downtown Boise is cool but I really didnt want to see it at 7 am on a saturday. ok fine it was 8 am but still!

I was so tired and it was freezing, so I laid down in the sun.. and I fell asleep. Whihc is seriously CRAZY for me! I dont sleep with noise and the farmers market was NOT quiet. It just goes to show how exhausted I was. Luckily Jaci and her bro were nice enough to let me sleep while they slaved away selling granola bars (which are AMAZINGLY delicous by the way. Everyone check out www.loadedgranola.com and buy some. The strawberry cracked black pepper rocks my world)

Cool bike taxi that is free! If i would have known i would have cruised Boise instead of sleeping.



Just a shot of downtime Boise


After the market we ate lunch at this dive of a pizza place called the Pie Hole. I thought the decor was totally college town-esque and the pizza was awesome! Dives are the best places to find great food for cheap!

On the way home we stopped at Loves gas station. Because Jaci's a love. haha it was cool

Home again Home again!

Saw this cool barn thing on the side of the road on the way home. I love how this pic turned out. I dont know how i didnt notice it on the way up!
Thanks for the fun weekend Jaci!!!