20-11 Resolutions Update

I had a friend request that I do an update on my New Year's Resolutions... so... let's see... Lots of these were completely thrown off when we moved. As of January 1st, 2011 we weren't planning on moving from Utah. But by the end of March we were living in Texas. Life changes quickly, and goals do too... but here's an update :)


BOLD = I worked on
Italics = My thoughts on
Red, Bold, Italics= FINISHED

My Twenty
1. Go on three dates (3/3) - I moved to Texas and wham-bam... my 3+ dates are done. I'm happy to report that I survived. Being single isn't SO terrible.
2. Complete three 5Ks (1/3) - I did one on April 9th. I organized one on August 13th?? Does that count??? Nah.
3. Get down to goal weight by losing 18lbs (13/18)
4. Refinish my antique dresser
5. Read 24 books (5/24) - I have had ZERO time to read (between moving and planning a 5K). I'm currently reading one book and plan on reading another one. Right now I have other priorities besides reading for fun. I hope that I'll have read 10 books by the end of the year. That would be fabulous!
6. Read the Book of Mormon cover-to-cover - Still working on this, got behind because of the move and the 5K, but I'm definitely going to finish by the end of the year.
7. Make a Christmas activity advent calendar - I'm going to need to start on this soon... I'm so excited!
8. Improve photography skills by learning from 20 sources (10/20)
9. Go to the temple once-a-month - Of course, the temple is further away now, but I really think I'll hit this goal. I went once this month and will definitely go next month.
10. Find my father - Ehh... I could take it or leave it. Maybe it'll be on the list for 2012.
11. Cook a healthy dinner at least 100 nights this year - I haven't kept track of how many I've cooked, but it's definitely up there. 
12. Start and catch up on Addi's baby book - I've worked on it!
13. Start Hannah's baby book - I've started it!
14. Make a book out of my old blog (0/1)
15. Make a quilt (0/1)
16. Sand and paint kitchen stools and chairs (0/12)
17. Learn to grill and grill during every Longhorn Football Game (0/total games)
18. Make a monthly budget - My budget is to spend as little as possible. So check :)
19. Take some classes online (0/Total Classes) - Probably won't happen this year, my focus has been my business, but don't be surprised if I'm applying for a master's program sometime soon :)
20. Get engaged (Hey, I can be ambitious) - Ugh... question I should be asking myself is... Am I even ready to be engaged??

The Girls' Eleven
1. Go to a parade - We went to one for the Fourth of July in Corpus Christi!
2. Go out-of-state - We moved to Texas! Check.
3. Do a craft at least once a month (6/12) + 1 - I'm sure we've done something almost every month. But with the holidays coming up we'll rock it out!
4. Go to Wheeler Farm - We moved before we could do this, so we'll switch this to "Go to Pioneer Farms"
5. Go to a dinosaur museum 
6. Go for a walk on temple grounds once a month (3/12) - The move through this off, but we went while we lived in Utah. I still haven't taken them to a Texas temple since we've been back. San Antonio here we come!
7. Go to the library once a month (8/12) + A bunch - Going to the library has become something we do every week. I love it and the girls love it!
8. Go to the aquarium
9. Ride on the Heber Creeper - We moved. BUT, we can ride on the Hill Country Flyer!
10. Go to the beach - We went for the Fourth of July in Corpus Christi!
11. Go to Sea World. - It's on our list to do for this fall

my greatest (and most exhausting) blessings

I went to bed around 11:30pm.

Hannah woke up to eat around 11:50pm.

I fell back asleep around 12:00am.

Hannah woke up at 3:30am.

Hannah is still awake as of 5:37am.

This is one of those day's it would be good to have backup.

Thank goodness for nap time! Cause this mommy's going to need it!

And another thing... Why is it that when you're awake in the middle of the night for multiple hours that you feel like you're starving?? I could seriously eat half of a large pizza right now. Maybe even more than half. And some breadsticks. And salad. And...

Ok, I think she's asleep. Good night again for 45 minutes until Addi wakes up.

At least I love these girls. They are my greatest (and most exhausting) blessings :)

I was mowing the lawn yesterday and this just came to my mind. I HAD to create it. With a little bit of photoshop and a lot of laughs I present...

Now, if you're not Mormon you might not get it, but in 1988 a "MormonAd" was released called "Rise Above the Blues". MormonAds are just little scripture quotes with a picture that are meant for the youth in the church. This is probably one of the best-known MormonAds...

Since BYU is a Mormon school, it was just too perfect. I saw my opportunity and took it.

Hook 'Em Horns

sleep

It's been more than 9 months since I got more than 4 hours of sleep in a row. That's got to stop, and today is the beginning of that. Hannah wakes up at least twice a night and I need to reduce that to once a night. I've just spoiled her and I'm now paying the price.

For so long I was just in "survival mode" where I would do anything to get her back to sleep as quickly as possible, and that usually meant feeding her. But now she needs to get to the point where she just sleeps through the night and soothes herself back to sleep. So basically since 4am (it's now 5am) Hannah's been off-and-on crying. It's awesome. Actually, I hate it, but she has to sleep on her own. So I'm blogging. Just so the sound of me typing on the keys, overrides her crying.

The best part of this whole thing is that now my day has started at 4am and I didn't go to sleep until 11pm, with Hannah waking up once at midnight. That gives me about 5ish hours of sleep tonight. Which means... today is going to rock. Hardcore.

If anyone else is bored, there's a party at my house. My mom and I are both awake due to Hannah's crying and are playing "Words with Friends" and "Hanging with Friends" while she falls back asleep.

In other news... I'm totally in love...

with Round Rock donut holes. Have you tried them? They're fantastic. Although the thought of them right now makes me want to barf cause I'm still so full from dinner last night.

Don't you just love my early-morning ramblings, when I feel like a Zombie? Ya, hopefully I'll never write anything like this again.

And... silence. OK, I'm going back to bed for an hour until Addi wakes up.

Love,
Heather

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Me: "I've lost my mind. I don't know where it is!"

Addi: "Umm... I think it's behind the trash can."

Dear Hannah,

Dear Hannah,

You're 9 months old today!

You:
- wear size 9 month + clothes
- wear size 3 diapers (almost too small)
- wear size 2-3 shoes
- crawl
- pull yourself to a stand
- cruise
- squat
- can briefly stand with no support
- tattle tale on your sister by screeching
- wake up 2 times a night
- eat strawberries and grapes
- eat baby food
- eat baby snacks
- eat any crumbs left on the floor
- have 7 teeth
- are super silly
- love to smile
- love "Popcorn Popping"
- have crawled up 1 step
- put everything in your mouth
- love Mommy the most, then Addi, then Grandma
- get confused when guys hold you

Dear Addi,

Dear Addi,

I REALLY did not want to go swimming last night. But I promised you, if you finished your dinner that we would go swimming.

I didn't think you'd finish it because you never do, but you must have REALLY wanted to go swimming because you ate the rest of the turkey from your turkey burger and you were ready to go.

So we got ready. And you insisted on wearing your high-heeled, jelly, light-up Cinderella shoes.

We walked across the ditch to the swimming pool and got in the not-so-hot, not-so-cold water.

Every time we swim you pretend you are a hippo ballerina, and you tell me that I'm an alligator (like from Disney's Fantasia). Then we dance like ballerinas and I chase you like a mean alligator.

The past few times we've gone swimming you try getting your face wet. You've been very brave. But yesterday you went all of the way under the water. More than once. You went so far under there was water over the top of your head! I was so impressed! You just did it, I didn't even tell you to. You're awesome!

You love to play with kids at the pool, but yesterday all of the kids were already playing with other kids. And on top of that they either spoke Spanish or Chinese. You still don't understand what different languages are, and to you it just sounds like jibberish, so you started ba-ba-dee-dee-do-ing to the kids in hopes that they'd play with you. Of course they had no idea what you were saying.

There was a little boy at the pool who was collecting dead bugs from the pool and lining them up on the edge of the pool so that they would come back alive. Of course, the bugs were dead and wouldn't ever come back alive, but he was holding out hope. He told me to tell you not to touch them. I wasn't too worried about that, as there can't even be a piece of fuzz floating in your bath water without you yelling "bug!"

When we left, you put back on your high-heeled, jelly, light-up, Cinderella shoes and headed home. You weren't watching where you were going, mis-stepped and fell in the pool. Luckily it was by the stairs so you just got back out and I put your shoe back on.

Then we went down some stairs. You must have thought we had reached the bottom because you completely missed the last step and ended up on your knees on the ground. Good thing you had your big turtle floaty around you to soften the fall! You just got up and kept on walking.

Then we had to walk through the ditch again. Your shoe got stuck in the sand and fell off... like Cinderella losing her glass slipper, except your foot was now filthy and you had to balance while I put your shoe back on.

When we got home you told grandma that you "lost your balance". She asked you where it was and you said "at the swimming pool."

love, admiration and respect

A sweet man planned a surprise birthday party for his wife's birthday. He asked me to photograph it. He also asked me to create a slideshow of pictures through his wife's life.

He's known his wife since high school. In every picture they have together they are so in love. You can just feel the love and happiness coming from each moment captured in time.

He and his wife have been married for 31 years.

They spent most of the party apart from one another, mingling with friends. But when they got together you could just feel the love, admiration and respect they have for each other.

And while watching them dance, I totally started crying... I just could not hold back the tears. It was so shocking to me that they each found someone who loves them completely.

Then, it shocked me that it made me so emotional. It made me realize that maybe I didn't believe in love like that. Like I had never seen it before. It was just a love that people talk about, but that doesn't really exist.

After getting divorced I thought if I could just find a guy who is thoughtful, has a job, treats me well, treats my girls well, loves the gospel, then I would have it made.

But now, that's not enough. On top of all of those check-list items we must be completely madly in love. Because I don't want to have just a good marriage... I want a GREAT marriage. And anything less than that is not worth it to me.

Now accepting applications. I'm ready to get this ball rolling :)

family mission statement

While reading the Ensign on Sunday I came across this...

"May our families and homes be filled with love: love of each other, love of the gospel, love of our fellowman, and love of our Savior." - President Thomas S. Monson

I've wanted a family mission statement for a while and this just seems so perfect.

Love each other

Love the gospel

Love our fellowman

Love our Savior

laser tag

On this day in 2009 I wrote this on Facebook:

"I can't believe Elliott and I had the entire Laser Assault arena to ourselves last night. It was fun and freakin scary!"

I completely remember that night. It was a night when no matter what I did, I couldn't get the argument to end. So I drove up to a laser tag arena and said "we're playing." And we did.

But a BIG detail I didn't remember of that event (until I read that past status today) was that it happened on our 2-year anniversary. How on earth does an anniversary turn out like that?

every. day. was. a. battle.

It didn't matter the occasion.

So grateful that's not my life anymore.

New blog.

New blog.

New chapter.

Life back home.

Life in Texas.

The three things I value most in my life are:
Peace
Love
Blessings

So the title is fitting.

I have a lot to say; a lot on my mind.

Read it here.