2009 in review

What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Sold 1/2 of all my furniture and moved my family into a 2 bedroom apartment in order to save money and pay of debt!


Did you keep your new years' resolutions?
? I can not even remember what it was! I am sure it was an attempt to loose weight or something. so no.

What are some of your resolutions for 2010?
Get 100% out of credit card debt and re prioritize my life.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
No

Did anyone close to you die?
Coreys grandma Dalebout

What countries did you visit?
Do people usually visit more than one in a year? I visited the United states, and did not go farther than Utah. HAHA!

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A better sence of balance. No debt, and $ saved and hopefully a house!!

What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Steve getting of the airplane fro his mission! He looked great we were all soooo EXCITED we totally overwhelmed him and the look on his face was as if he just stepped into the twilight zone.
Ethan got baptized 12/19/09 It was so special to see him get baptized, he was so happy.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Loosing weight.

What was your biggest failure?
Gaining it ALL back, plus a little more.... grrrr!

Did you suffer illness or injury?
We have had a pretty good year. No one in the family got very sick beyond the usual! :)

What was the best thing you bought?
The dresser for my bedroom set. We have been waiting to buy it for like 2 years! our room is now complete!

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Probably my own. I hate how I am so impatient sometimes. And also my crazy 2 year old who loves to scream and throw fits...IT's lovely.

Where did most of your money go?
Costco.... I swear I can't leave that place with less than $300 worth of stuff.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Steve coming home, Getting out of debt, Ethan getting baptized, going to Disneyland, Wii for Christmas for the kids, Paying of 2 of 4 credit cards.

What song will always remind you of 2009?
'rockstar' by Pink. My and the kids rock out to it in the car. "So what what! Im still a rock star, I've got my rock moves....." it's totally awesome.

Compared to this time last year, are you: much happier, richer, nicer?
I would say this, yes and no. I am not going to lie. The prospects of where we will be this time NEXT year make me happy but having 6 people and one dog in this apartment makes us all a little crowded, stressed and not so nice sometimes. As far as Richer! I alway feel rich in my many blessings. I was blessed with a prompting that has helped us get financially fit and that makes me feel Rich & happy!


What do you wish you'd done more of?
Outings with the kids. I felt like the summer was a blur and we did not do a whole lot.

What do you wish you'd done less of?
Staying up late, computer, Eating, yelling..... {it's 2 am and I am on the computer, see}

How did you spend Christmas?
WE stayed here and My dad and step mom came out as well as Coreys parents. We went to Jess and chads for Christmas eve and spent the day at Aunt Kristens. It was great. THe kids had a wonderful christmas and Corey worked as usual, but it was overall very nice and relaxing.

Did you fall in love in 2009?
Yes! with my dear hubby of 12 years! he is amazing.

What was your favorite TV program?

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE reality t.v. like wife swap, nanny 911 and clean house. I suspect it is because watching other peoples drama/naughty kids/messy house makes me feel much better about my own!! hehehe. I also really like Grays anatomy, so you think you can dance, and american idol. I don't watch much t.v. otherwise

What was the best book you read this year?
fly lady, and The millionaire next door.

What did you want and get?
AN I MAC and CS4.... because my husband is a ROCKSTAR!

What were your favorite films of this year?
My sisters keeper, avatar, and star trek, I also really liked Harry potter, becasue the visual effects and the beauty of the cinematography was amazing!

What were your least favorite films of this year?
Sereioulsy, Christmas Carol in 3D. it was so disapointing.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
WOW! I can't even remember, I am trying to forget I am in my 30's now. I was 31.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If there was a flipping 3 bedroom appartment available any where but the Ghetto!

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
well...started to fit into my skinny jeans. bought some cute stuff, went back into my fat pants and have been living in my gym clothes for the past 2 months. GREAT... if I am not careful I will show up on what not to wear!

What kept you sane?
reading, working out, talking to my hubby. but I am not sure I am sane.

Who did you miss?
My family. I did not see much of them this year :(

Who was the best new person (people) you met?
I will have to think on that some more.


Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
"Some people sit and dream of success.... while others WAKE UP go out and WORK HARD for it!"

What are you most excited for in 2010?
WE will be 100% out of credit card debt by March!!! I am doing a fun workshop for photography in March. We have a few fun vacations planned, and I am sosososossoooo excited about starting to look for a house this time next year.

What are you least excited for in 2010?
The apartment

What a fun look back on the year. This is actually good for the record books. I have a bunch of back posting to do that I am hoping to get working on soon.

My New years resolutions for the year are:

*me NOT on a diet. I just want to be healthier and love my self.
*of course the financial debt goals
*prioritizing my time and making every day count

I am So BUSY!!! blah, blah, blah,- yadda, yadda, yadda!

I read something pretty impactful the other day. It is this book I am reading It is called "change your questions, change your life" by Wendy Watson Nelson. It has been pretty good so far. very insightful It is all about asking different questions and how some of the questions we ask ourselves are destructive such as. "why do I always?" how come he never?, etc. Well in this one part it was talking about how it seems that a lot of us apologize a lot and make excuses for ourselves and become victims. Even using the excuse of being Busy!

Up until now I never thought about that before. I am always apologizing and making excuses. I use the "Sorry I am just SO BUSY!!!" all the time.

And I am busy! but really most of the time it is just excuse for not doing something I should have. Am I really to busy to call a loved one or friend? Am I really too busy to exercise, or clean my house , or do my visiting teaching, or go on a date or take some time out for my husband or kids? NO not really. It is all a matter of priority and organization.

I know you all do this too. Corey will want to hug me or or kiss me or spend just a few minutes or ask me to sit down with him. AndI say "don't" or "not now I have this and this and this to do" or I will sigh/groan and plop down and look annoyed!
SERIOUSLY am I such a brat and so busy that I can not take time for the man I love. I am lucky he still puts up with my fat grumpy butt, and realize that Romance takes time attention and TWO people. Sometimes I make my honey feel like cleaning bathroom toilet is higher than him on my priority list. That really stinks! {no pun intended}

Because of this I put a statement on my fridge. it says:

"stop saying sorry and being a victim. even a victim of "busyness" !!!!


SO I am just going to own it. I know I should call. I will do better next time. Lets do our visiting teaching earlier this month.
Yes I can take a minute and sit with you to develop our relationship. I should not feel bad if I can not fit something in, because all things will take of themselves.

Don't all of us get very busy. I think especially us women. For some reason we think we should be all things to every person. We over schedule ourselves and then feel guilty if it can not happen, or if we neglect something else. But it is o.k. it's o.k. to not do everything and o.k. to make certain choices to do certain things we feel are a priority and do not have to apologize. {of course unless we do something hurtful or neglectful or totally blow someone of}


SO heres to January 8th 2010! may we no longer be victims of "busyness" Just OWN it!

it's 2010

ha funny, Last night I was thinking about my new years eve in 1999 when it was turning 2000 I was pregnant with halli and we were all waiting for something to blow up or for our computer to come alive and attack us or something. haha. Hmm this decade has been a whirlwind! I can't imagine the next will be much different.

I am so happy to be alive! so happy that we are doing what we are doing. I have made so many goals on so many new years. I am a huge list making goal oriented always looking for ways to change...FOOL. yep thats me and this year is no exeption, although I feel that we are making huge strides already.

We are doing excellent with our debt paying. I have to admit though that with the christmas tree taking up the whole living room of our two bedroom place I started to feel a little boxed in. but whala! as of yesterday I have my living room back and feeling much better!

It is so weird but I have a constant stream of ideas flowing into me lately, ideas about how to unite women, make a difference in out communities, and strengthen eachother, as well as inspiring others to get out and live their dreams and make things happen for them. I am not sure where it is all coming from, but for sure I need to find a forum to do this. Blogging is one of them, I am just not that great of a writer, so hopefully I will be able to convey ideas in a way people will connect with. I am sure you will hear more about this. { lucky you} just not sure if I will be doing it on my photo blog or this one. ?

so anyways, hope you all had a wonderful new year. I can not wait for the kids to get back to school and most of all for church to move from 8:30 to 10:30, but to tell you the truth I am sure we will still be late. thats just how we roll I guess. I strive to get to church on time, but well anyways it does not always happen.

I have a bunch of back logged posts to do. But I have been beating on my computer and it really hates me now. so my hubby thoughtfully like a knight in shining Armor bought the MAC of my dreams, I am to excited and hopefully I will be able to post a blog in under 2 hours!!!! I hate technology,, why does it seem that i break all our computers?

tata! happy new year. talk to you soon, Keri