Has it been ONE MONTH?

hmmm... one month has gone by since I last logged into my Blogger account... It's amazing where your attention goes once your husband returns home after being deployed for almost 8 months...

but in a nutshell, here's what's happened in the last month:

1. Most importantly, my husband is back. And it's great to have him home. Our family was more incomplete than I had realized without him. Our home-life feels so BALANCED. And I'm much happier and less stressed out.
2. Tax refund came, and WENT. It's amazing how fast money goes... Man!
3. My sister got MARRIED. It was a very nice wedding and we had a great time in Vegas. We hope for all the best for her, and her new husband.
4. I'm starting a job-search for a part-time weekend job, something to supplement our household income and to get me out of the house... Any ideas?

And that's about it, other than the usual day to day. Tonight I'm planning to hunker-down and get busy with a "Senior Year" scrapbook I'm working on for my daughter. I'm sooo behind...

my favorite holiday of the year.

yes friends, it is my favorite holiday of the year. but i have no hubby (at least on this continent) to share this romantic holiday with...

::: sigh :::

did i mention that my husband is a mere 5 days away from returning home from his 7-month deployment?

::: sigh :::

yep, it looks like valentine's day will be extending into next week for us. might as well make it valentine's month!

on a good note, the girls (my daughters) and i have some plans for raspberry s'mores after a nice dinner at home. i can't wait!

de-cluttering.

I've gotten started on the "de-cluttering" I mentioned in my resolutions. I keep trying to imagine what it will be like to be completely uncluttered. Is that even possible?

Man... If I could have a home that always looks just like the pages of my favorite magazine, Real Simple. It would be heaven.

Oh yeah, back to my de-cluttering project. I've started to list things on eBay, to find new homes for items that I don't use anymore. Much more to follow, hopefully. Link below.

My Items

Wish me lots of luck and lots of bids!

:: RESOLVE ::

Like I mentioned in my last post, I've got my resolutions for 2006. And boy, do I have plenty of them! I don't know if this is a good thing (I've got plenty of opportunities for change) or a bad thing (I'm setting my goals too high). Regardless of the outcome, I'm keeping them all on the list for now. We'll see on December 31st if they actually happened. But that's truly what I'm hoping for.

I've broken them down into the different areas of my life, categorized them if you will:

SELF

"Schedule" time in my days to do the things I really love to do.

Get out more often with friends.

Read more great fiction.

HOME

Continue making our new house a "home" by decorating and such... (get busy!)

Try one new recipe a month.

De-clutter and become more organized.

Keep to a regular housekeeping schedule to avioid those power-cleaning-marathons on the weekends!

Get selling on eBay and have a garage sale or two! Simplify! And no more knick-knacks!

FAMILY

More patience.

Find new and better ways to communicate with my teenage girls.

Work on building the relationships with my husband and daughters, on a daily basis.

HEALTH

Be strong and fit.

Run a 5K race this year.

Be concious of eating food that is really GOOD for my body. Don't waste calories on the crap!

SPIRIT

Attend church regularly, no excuses.

Attend a women's retreat, if possible.

Give blessings.

Pray WITH my family, not just for them.

ART

Scrapbook 50 pages this year.

Keep the scraproom moderately clean and organized.

Visit 2 peas daily, for inspiration

Attend CKU again this year.

Be creative in all facets of my life.

LOVE

Regular "date-nights" with my husband.

Remember to cherish my marriage, we've got a good thing going- even after 18 years.

Give more hugs.

Say "I love you" more often.

FINANCES

Build up my home business.

Continue to FOCUS on reducing our debt, make it a priority.

Save.

I think that about covers it. I'm planning to make a mini-scrapbook album to keep on my home office desk so that I can see it all 365 days of the year. I'm serious about doing all these things and I want a daily reminder of it every time I sit down here to get things done.

Thanks for letting me share. Now I'm off to make that mini-album!

I'm a BAD, BAD blogger...

Hmmm... We're already 27 days into this month and not a single post for me. How did that happen? What did happen? Oh, I know! LIFE. Sometimes life does not allow for the fun stuff like blogging. This month has been so busy. But on a good note, it has pretty much FLOWN BY. That's a totally good thing, because it means we are one month closer to re-uniting with the other parent unit of this family. My husband is due back in something like 24 days from now. I can't wait. My fuse is burning low these days!

So, with the new year came new resolutions from me. I will list them tomorrow though, I'm on limited computer time right now. The triplets are watching Dora the Explorer, so I've got exactly 20 minutes to get this blog entry written and published. Just curious... what are your resolutions? (Maybe I'll steal one or two from you!)

My sweet friend Christie sent me this list of "Five Simple Rules". I was happily greeted by this great message in my in-box this morning. Here it is:

THE 5 SIMPLE RULES TO BE HAPPY:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

I think this is great advice. This one may be print-worthy, and I may even hang it next to my workstation so that I can see this every single day. Even though I try to apply these things to my daily life, it would be nice to have a reminder to look at from time to time...

Be happy today!

Christmas Morning.

Early in the morning...





... and after the kids come downstairs...



It was such a great Christmas!

christmas card.