What a year!

I missed this post last week, much like I missed a million in the last month. Anywho..we just had our YEAR anniversary with Toby being gone. What a year it has been. I remember that day and not knowing how I would do on my own. Scared that I would not meet new friends in El Paso and be alone for a whole year.

I loved the house we were in on post and loved the location where it was at, even though the neighborhood was kindof ghetto. I remember thinking that this was our year as a family to really do what we said we were going to do. We set goals as a family the night before Toby left and I just pulled them out to make sure we have completed all of them.

Toby did great in school and has completed all the credits plus 15 more than he had planned on. He has surpassed his PT goal and got promoted 4 months earlier than we had expected.
I set out to lose 30 pounds and have lost 60. I am striving for 20 more by April. I remember thinking 30 pounds was all I was overweight. OK, maybe the doctor was right on me being obese but I am so glad I just kept going. I can run 5 miles at a time. I have not tried to go any farther except for intervals because the boredom factor gets me everytime. I set my goal at running 2 miles and here I am. I started last year by doing 0 real pushups and now can do 18. I can do 80 situps in 2 minutes, which makes me excited. I have also finished 20 credits for school and finished my associates. I have lacked in the missionary department especially being home with at my moms, but hope that I am making headway in my cooking?!

As far as the kids, we potty trained Carmen this year. She gained momentum on her shoe fettish (which is not good) and is working on how much she can put in her many purses everyday. She loved school for some of the year and loved dance and gymnastics also. Cyrus and Courtney did some sports and learned first hand from helping me what is required to take care of a house. Cyrus I am particularly proud of because he has some obstacles ahead of him. We have been finding help for a condition he had and all year have been working on it. This last month he finally beat it ( i hope) and now we can work to maintain it. It really was a difficult time for him and I am so proud of him.

Cera learned to crawl and walk this year and is now learning new words daily. She is just like Carmen and is a girly girl. Loves to get her nails painted and hair done up cute. She loves shoes and loves that Carmen loves shoes so she has a bunch to play with. We are pretending to be working on potty training.. it really is as much a parent thing as it is the child.. if I just made the effort she would be potty trained right now.

Courtney has made some great friends that she is wishing she didn't have to say good bye too, but it has been good to have a place to go and just have fun.

All in all this year has been pretty successful and I am proud of us as a family for making it through with little complaining.

New Years Resolutions

In the past I hated making New Years Resolutions becuase usually that meant broken promises to myself. ( Wow reading my last posts, in the past I was really unhappy) anywho..It is that time again and I am more excited than ever because I did what I said I was going to do YAY!

This year I have to do some followups of last years, but this year brings exciting things like Toby coming home and moving back to El Paso and moving overseas? Yikes I better get movin. I am continuing to work on my schooling, and Tobys for that matter. :) With fitness I still have some tweaking to do, but that is another post in itself. My book has 4 chapters done and although it will miss the publishing date I will have it ready for fall. I still have to get all my photos digital, and doing all my digital scrapbooking. I have found it to be faster and more my style. Mostly this year is going to entell moving and being together for longer than 6 weeks as a family.

I am breaking some of the major goals into sections due to timing. I have this last 15 pounds to lose and with Toby coming home I have a concrete deadline of April 1st. That is still realistic but better heal from surgery and hit the gym hard to make this happen.

I mentioned my book, and plan on it being ready for publishing in September.
Toby and I are going to take dance lessons this fall before we go to Japan and the kids are going to get back into their free sport on post.

I am happier than ever and so excited for this new year and reaching my ongoing goals. You all know how much of a goal freak I am but I hope you all set at least one and achieve it this year. YAY 2009

Happy New Years!

I for one have NEVER liked New Years. Well, maybe in High School, but I remember working a couple years and going to bed early more years. Usually, to really let you all know about me, I start a fight with my husband. Many many years of fighting on this day has led me to not like it. I don't know why I do. You know when you get mad at yourself and take it out on someone else? That is totally me on this day. In the past I get so mad at myself for not doing what I wanted that year that I get mad at Toby for letting me let it go. So Stupid I know.

Well this year, I promised Toby no fighting and celebrated with him in text at 2 in the afternoon when it hit midnight for him. He is indeed my man of the future and let me know that food even tasted better in 2009.. what a show off..lol.

As I dreaded the rest of the night I was lucky enough to have my sister Jen and her husband Mark with their kids still here. They always celebrate everything big. I got poppers and sparkling cider at the store and planned to stay awake until 12. It took forever. At 11 I was ready to hit the hay. I stuck it out.

Here is a picture of Courtney when the clock struck 12 on the tv.



Here are the kids outside banging pans


Fireworks.



Sparkling Cider




My sister and her husband helped me laugh on this day and that is very unusual for me. Makes me think of how fun this day could be in the future! Happy New Year to everyone. I hope 2009 brings anything you are in need of and then some.

Catching Up

I have so much to post and so little time. I have even had a smaller load of classes and just can't seem to do it.

The Sunday before Christmas I was downstairs at my Moms and Cyrus was yelling that Grandma needed me. I ran upstairs to find my mom had fallen and hurt her leg. We did not know what had happened to her leg but that her shoes were slippery on the wood floor and she fell while running in to get her glasses to go to church. The car was still running and everything. As I sat there trying to figure out what to do, I couldn't help but recognize that someone had taken my Moms super powers away. She trully is that to me and I realized as I work hard to follow in her footsteps, they can be taken away at anytime by random accidents.

I located my Dad at church and he came home to help her. It is so funny how couples know each other so well. They were nicely bossing each other around and systematically getting the situation under control. After that I did my best to keep the kids out of the way and the ambulance took her to the hospital. Turns out she broke the ball off her hip and had a replacement that afternoon.

Jan Taylor (my moms best friend) and her daughter Annie (who I still need to send thank you cards to) came over and helped me wrap the room full of gifts my mom had purchased. Took the three of us 2 hours. YIKES!

The rest of the week was full of waiting for family to come to town, go see Grandma, Costco shopping for everyone to come and eat, delivering Christmas things around the neighborhood ect. I was BUSY! The cool thing is this year I was so prepared for Christmas for my own family I had time to spare. I had taken care of shopping before Thanksgiving to be able to send Toby's stuff on time. My cards were out and for once, everything in my life was organized for that week. I loved helping and trying to fill my Moms shoes. Not often do you get to play your hero. She would have done everything better, but I tried.

She got home in the nick of time on Christmas Eve and arrived to my family with 4 kids, my two sisters Jen and Michelle who have 3 and 4 kids. Full house, but we were just glad to have her home.

I am so glad she is starting to get around with her walker and in a few short weeks will move to the cane and then rest will be history. I love you Mom.