Blessings

I so love my new niece, Autumn. She is such an adorable little grunter. I haven't gotten to see her much, so it seems like she is growing up so very fast. I'm behind, but on the 8th, Autumn was blessed by Darin. It was good to be there and Jacob and Joni and Xelly also got to be present. I always love seeing them. We had lunch after the 3 hours of church were over and all the cousins got to play together. So fun. We were remarking about how neat it is to see the growth of one year Maelee to Xelly... Xelly to Shea. So much happens in those first years.

It's neat to hear about and see Autumn's development having Maelee so close in age. With my other nieces, I'd nearly forgotten all the "baby" things of my own kids. It's also really nice to share baby items with my sister who is always so generous. I've been using a lot of Shea's old clothes for Maelee and then I give them back along with other things I've acquired to use for Autumn. Pretty awesome system. My coolest find lately was this neat girly exersaucer.  Maelee loves it! She likes being a big girl and standing up. She also really likes to put her mouth on all the cool toys. I'm excited about this because not only is it great for her, it was also only $10 on Craigslist! And to think for that small sum that Maelee AND Autumn will be able to be entertained and develop their little muscles. It's just one of our many blessings.

Game On!

Last Saturday was Braden's first football game. It was funny. Three dads from Braden's team (including Braden's dad) were out there coaching the kids on plays and such. I'm not sure what they were telling them, but something tells me that it wasn't translating to what the kids were actually doing. I give Braden an "A" for energetic effort. He ran soooo much during the course of that game. Unfortunately the QB didn't often look for the long pass and so Braden didn't actually run the ball more than a couple paces (on a hand-off). I enjoyed watching the game and taking pictures. Jade helped me to do that by taking on the role of a little mommy and feeding Maelee a bottle. What a sweetheart! I'm excited for the next game this Saturday. I have a feeling we're going to crush the opposing team (OK, not really. This league is more into fun and learning than crushing). Game on!

New Beginnings

Well, it's a new year. I've been writing on this blog since 2007, folks. 2007! This summer, the blog will have served 5 years of narrating parts of my life and the ramblings of my mind. I'm grateful to be able to look back as I prepare to move forward.
This year for New Years Eve I struggled to know what to do. Do I get a babysitter and brave a New Year's party alone? Ugh... not interested. Do I do a little party with just the kids? Could be fun, but I do sometimes wish for adult interactions outside of church. Do I become completely anti-social and just pretend New Year's Eve doesn't exist? No, this really is a new beginning, so it should be marked somehow. The kids and I ended up going to a party at a friends house and I was really grateful that she invited us. We played games and had sparklers and sparkling Welches at midnight. It was fun and it allowed me to include the kids in the celebration which was really important to me. At the party there was a good mix of married people and un-married people. It was the first time I'd hung out with un-married people since I'd been divorced. That fact was insignificant other than I thought to myself... "hmm, that's weird. I'm not married either." And that I was vaguely conscious that I had no one to kiss at midnight so instead accepted a casual toast-with-plastic-cups from a guy there. Incredibly, all three children managed to stay up until midnight. And then we all had a lovely time getting to 9am church the next day.

A new year is always a time to reflect on where I am and where I want to go. I've been thinking about it a little, but I haven't really sat down and decided concretely what I want to accomplish this year. I suppose there is one obvious and obligatory goal that needs to be met. That is establishing a source of income in the sum of $1000 or more per month by the fall. I really am excited to become a paid writer (even if I am intimidated and daunted by starting). Another desire I have is to make our house our own without using any money from the bank. I'd like it to be comfortable, organized and personalized for the kids and I. I've started, but it's a long process and I'll give the whole year for that. I also really want to understand the atonement better than I do. I need to learn how to give my pain and anger to the Saviour. I'm not quite sure how to do that fully. I'd like to increase my faith that a better future awaits through following the Lord. And, naturally, everyone needs a half-hearted fitness goal for the new year. I reached my "goal weight" of 120lbs months ago thanks to a combination of not eating much during the last 2 weeks of pregnancy, having a baby, experiencing a depression-induced lowered appetite, nursing, running, and good old-fashioned anguish. Oddly, I still don't look great, so I'm thinking I should gain about 5 lbs of muscle and lose about 5 lbs of fat. It will take going off sweets (again), continuing to run, and doing some difficult and consistent strength training exercises. I'm not really sure I'll stick to this (when I actually start). But I'll at least remain active throughout the year. Above all, my main goal will be to have a better year than last year. I think it's doable. I'm grateful for new beginnings.