New Year's, 6 months/25 weeks

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions. Mostly because a. I don't end up keeping them, and b. things like that just don't work for me, thus the don't end up keeping them. 


Instead, I usually like picking a word to live my year by. Last year, I didn't. 2011 was not the best year in the world. In fact, it was rather sucky. The overall tone of the year was just bad. Now, there were good things that did happen. To highlight a couple: 


-Molly happened. Obviously. Amazing wonderful seriously awesome. And probably the highlight of the year for us. 


Along with that, Hubby and I celebrated 3 years of marriage! Wow. And to find out that we were having Molly just a week or so before was the perfect way to celebrate it. Also, in December, we celebrated 5 years of being together. And Hubby got to feel Molly kick for the first time! It was lovely. 


-Raises. We both got raises this past summer. And we are incredibly grateful for them. Especially in this economy. Hubby also got given sick days/vacation days/holidays too. Which is wonderful. 


Because of the raises, we were able to pay off a good amount of debt and such. Which is perfect, since that's what we wanted to try to do before we got pregnant. Worked out well! 


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Now, on to 2012. I've been thinking a lot about what kind of word I wanted to pick. My friend picked experience. Which I liked. 


So I think I'm going to go with that word too. Because I think I'm going to have a lot of new experiences in 2012, not the least of which will be childbirth and becoming a parent. In fact, pretty sure that will define most of 2012 for me. 


I also want to experience new things. See what this year has in store for us. Be willing to try things, even if they don't work out. 


So here's to 2012! And experiencing new, amazing things. 


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Also, sending out a HUGE thank you to all the family who bought us lovely things for Molly. She is going to look adorable. 


We're also very grateful to Hubby's parents for getting us the sleeper and stroller/carseat for Christmas! I practiced with it and was able to take out the carseat and fold the stroller down one-handed. Very happy about that. Plus, not that heavy either! 


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Molly Update:


She's moving a TON now. Uterus is the size of a soccer-ball (good lord). She's gaining fat and such, probably weighs 1 1/2 lbs. And overall, packs quite an oomph when she puts her mind to it. In Hubby's words, "Has she always been that active?!" "Yes. There's a reason I can't sleep at night sometimes." 


I have a dr's appointment next week, and another ultrasound the week after! Very excited for the ultrasound. She should be moving around enough to get a good picture. 


Here's my 6month/25 Week picture: (You know, the ratio of belly to my legs is getting quite hilarious. 9mos should be quite interesting. Also, belly button is doing weirrddd things.)

New Year

So far, this new year hasn't really turned into what I'd hoped it would. Of course, it's only January (barely) still. I'm hoping things will change in the near future.

Because of some personal things, I am not going to be blogging for...well....as long as I need. There are some things I need to work out and deal with, and that definitely does not include ranting about them on here. 

So for now, I am taking a hiatus from this blogosphere. I shall return later, hopefully in a better place emotionally and spiritually. 

Until then. 

End of the Year

As this year comes to a close, I am amazed at how quickly it's flown by. It felt so long during the days, but suddenly it's the last day of 2010.


I took some time yesterday to read over my blogs from this year as well as look through my journals. And what I've realized and remembered is that this year has had its ups and downs, though honestly has felt like a pretty bleh year, for me at least. Nothing too amazing happened, lots of things that we wanted to, didn't. I struggled with a lot of things, lost some good friends for various reasons, and overall it's just been hard.  


However, there's been great things that have happened, and that's what I will think about when I think of this year. We moved into a wonderful condo that has continually blessed us and feels like home. It has served us very well, and has enabled us to help out friends when needed as well as have friends be able to stay over and hang out.


I have been able to figure out what I'm doing with my life. I started at a CC in Early Childhood Education, and have been loving it. I cannot wait to finish up the units so that I can become a preschool teacher. I miss working with kids, and I have loved learning about how they develop and grow. 


My hubby and I celebrated 2 years together by going on a cruise, which we've decided to try to do every year. It was such a blessing to relax and be together with no worries for 9 1/2 days, also the longest vacation we've taken together. As I've said, we're going to do it again this year and boy are we looking forward to it! 


I am also so happy to see how much we've grown together, even more so than last year. We've pushed, helped, encouraged, and otherwise enabled each other to grow and become confident in who we are. He loves me and I love him, no matter what, and there is such freedom that comes with that.


Personally, I've become stronger in who I am and more confident. I've had some hard things go on this year and I've had to do a lot of soulsearching, but I am (finally) completely content in who I am. Not that I think I don't have any more growing to do (HA!). But I am honestly content in being me. I used to get so freaked out cause I couldn't figure out who I was or what I was or who I should be, etc etc etc, and I've finally just come to the conclusion that I am me, with all of my good things and bad things (that I'm working on), with all my ups and downs, "warts and all", and I don't need to pin myself in those specific words in a box to describe me. 


I picked Gypsy as my word to describe this year. And I initially chose that because I thought I would have a lot of changes coming along, mostly in the physical practical sense. The only huge physical "change" in my life was that I switched schools to one nearer my condo. I then thought that I didn't really "live" this year as a Gypsy, like I thought I would. But...the more I think on it, the more I realize that that's completely untrue. While I didn't have too much new physical things happen (Moving once and switching schools), this has been the year of me growing in who I am. I've become content in who I am, what that means, what's important to me, and how I show that. I've learned to love people in different ways, I've taken control of issues that I needed to, and I've let myself change as I've needed. I know who I am and I am happy and content. I know I'll keep growing, but I don't know how much HUGE change will happen like the mental work that did this year. We shall see. 


I've gotten closer to friends, grown apart from them, and made new ones. I've gotten closer to my in-loves and have been so blessed to be accepted into their family. I've grown in my love for my husband in such deep ways that it's hard to explain in words. And I've reached that stage where I accept who I am (I know, I've said this a lot, but it's a huge deal to me!), and I love it. 


So here's to 2010. You've been a hard but growing year, with your own ups and downs and frustrations and satisfactions. 


Let's see where 2011 takes us and what it brings. I need to think up a word for you but for now, I'm just content in relaxing in the last few hours of 2010. 


Have a wonderful evening, have fun, and be safe. 


Cheers! 

Non sum qualis eram

Hello!

Well, along the same lines of my New Year's "Resolutions", I have decided to adopt a thing my friend has done for the last couple of years. It consists of choosing a word to represent the year and what you want to have happen.

Here's a better explanation:
"'The Experiment: What's the word? A resolution revolution'

New Year's resolutions have never worked for me, especially in a world of information overload. It's another list that gets lost before January ends. That's why in Y2K some friends and I committed to a WORD for the year. A single word or short phrase that would be the compass, true north, filter and driving force for the year ahead. One you want to own. One you remember. One that inspired you, makes you think, grow and learn. ... See More

For example, my JUMP year I ran a marathon, took bigger risks in business, and learned new ways of relating to the most important people in my life. Another year, PAUSE inspired me to take time to read, to build margin in my schedule, and to be quicker to listen and slower to speak.

In a year of DOWNTURN, UNCERTAINTY, CHANGE and BAILOUT, we need more GOOD, HOPE and PERSPECTIVE. The power of a single word can shift opinions, change events, reshape habits...

-Lorraine O'Keefe
principal, ThinkinBig Communications"

I decided I really liked this idea, so I have been musing and thinking about what word I want to represent this year. I at first thought of "Change" but it didn't quite represent what I wanted (and I didn't feel like sounding like our President who used that word too much). After much consideration, I have decided on "Gypsy". This may seem odd, but let me explain.

I chose that word because the whole idea of a Gypsy and who she is, is exactly what I want. For me, Gypsy signifies a willingness to go on adventures, to not be satisfied with being in a rut. To always be willing to go where the wind leads (In this case, the "wind" and God). To always be changing. To never be satisfied with just being and surviving. To be willing to do new things, to pursue things I didn't think I could before...to be at ease no matter where I am. To be satisfied and joyful with what I have, even if it's not much. To be joyful in Life. To take joy in Facts.

It also means being flexible, to embrace changes and enjoy them. To be courageous and do things I've always wanted but have been too scared or worried to try.

Essentially, being a Gypsy and embracing Life as it comes, no matter what it brings.

So let's see how this year turns out together, shall we? I'll do my best to keep blogging (hopefully once a week or so).

P.s. The Latin Phrase means: "I am not as I used to be".

It's going to be a happy new year!!

Hey Everyone,

Well...Christmas has come and gone. Twenty-ten starts on Friday. Someone please tell me where the hell did 2009 go?? Wasn't only just yesterday that we were celebrating the '09 New Year? Well, apparently not.

Christmas was good. We had a wonderful time with our family. Had the day off, had wonderful food, and hanging out with family. Church was beautiful as usual. Ended up hanging out till almost 11:30. Then instead of going home, my hubby surprised me and took me to see the midnight showing of Sherlock Holmes at Downtown Disney. Such a wonderful Christmas surprise! Christmas morning, we took Mom/Dad/Tall-Little Bro to LAX for their flight home. Which was sad. We miss them already.

Oh, yes. Remember that food poisoning my hubby got? Wasn't food poisoning. It was the flu. Bright side: I lost some weight. Bad side: I was sick for two days straight, missed work, and felt awful. You know, I never really saw the appeal of bulimia. Now I really don't. Yuck yuck yuck. I'm slowly getting my appetite back, but it's slow in coming. I think I've eaten one full meal a day since Wednesday, and I'm not getting any urge to eat more. Ah well.

Sherlock Holmes was an amazing movie. I was a bit unsure how well they were going to stay to the book (I knew it wasn't an actual plot from any of the stories, but to the character/spirit of the book itself), and needless to say, it exceeded my expectations. Not only did they stay true to the characters, they also did so many little hints of things from the book. Such as showing you the clues as Holmes saw them. When he's thinking and figuring stuff out, it quickly zooms all over the clues--giving you, I'd assume, the ability to solve it if you were smart enough. They also had erratic violin playing (Yay!), the playful hilarious love/hate relationship with Holmes/Watson. Even down to the socially awkward Holmes is in person and out and about. I think one of my favorite things was the supernatural aspect of the movie like every story has. All in all, amazing! Go see it.

For once, I was actually excited to get back into work. After being gone since last Monday (not really of my own volition), I felt rested enough to be happy to be at work again. Though I realized today that I have Friday off again because of New Year's, which I totally forgot about. So, yay a three-day weekend!! I have no idea what we're doing, considering our money is pretty tight right now. It's cause of Finals week/graduation. Once the 15th pay period comes around, things should start evening out and settling into a pattern. It will definitely help that Hubby is going from 23 hours every two weeks to 80 hours. Huzzah!

Hubby and I had some fun printing out pictures of projects/wishlists to keep track of things we should/want to get. The top priority for me is glasses. My eyes are getting bad, and I desperately need them. Probably will at least help stop the migraines I get. So that's the top priority for me, though with some fun things and practical things thrown in. Hehe. Now I just need to get a board so we can pin them up and take them down as they are accomplished. Hm....

Overall, I'm rather excited to get this New Year going. It should be pretty fun and full of some great changes. For once, I'm looking forward to change and new experiences and new things. I generally like staying comfortable, but...for some odd reason, I'm excited to experience new things and be put in new situations.

I don't do New Year's Resolutions, generally, because they always have a habit of breaking and getting forgotten. But I might this year. We shall see. This New Year is going to have some fun changes, that it seems a shame not to have a couple New Years Resolutions. I'll have to think about it.

Oh! We also saw Pirate Radio on a whim last night with friends at the dollar theater. Pretty entertaining. And the soundtrack is awesome. Though, I probably would watch anything that had Kenneth Branagh's name on it. Shameless fangirl, I do admit. Also, Emma Thompson had a small role!! Which makes such sense, considering that they always do things together. It's very entertaining. Go see it if you enjoy good classic rock and roll, British humor, don't mind cussing and some slight sexuality. Well, there's nothing graphic or anything, more just lots of talking about it. I'm going to go find the soundtrack now.

Speaking of British humor, I need to catch up on Dr. Who. Gah!!

And one of the other awesome Christmas Presents I got was a Palm Pixi from my wonderful mom-in-love. Hubby and I needed to upgrade our phones, which we did, and I ended up getting a wonderful phone that suits me amazingly. Hubby got a Hero HTC, which he's absolutely loving.

All in all, a wonderful week it's been (besides the whole sick thing).

I've just been informed it's time for lunch. Time to wrap this up!