Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

I can't believe there are only 3 days left, including today, in 2010.  Where did the time go?  2010 was marked with a lot of growth and fulfillment, as well as very hard times.  It was my first full year of teaching (although I started in 2009), my first full year of being married to my wonderful husband in which we also celebrated our first wedding anniversary, and my first full year in my home (which I am still trying to decorate!).  I've had wonderful relationships grow and found people who I feel will be a part of me and my husbands lives forever. Sadly, I've also had people leave my life for whatever reason.  I've had family who left, come back to stay.  I've helped family celebrate big milestones (turning 50).  My husband and I finally got to go away together (Oct. beach trip).  I found out that I am becoming a stronger person and somehow overcoming physical ailments I have suffered from.  My husband and I bought a new car (his dream car).  The biggest thing I am taking away from 2010, is to not dwell on the negative, only to think about it long enough to know how to turn it into a positive. I will try not to worry about the little things and over-stress/over-anaylize because that does more harm than good.  Everything happens for a reason in our lives!

I've been looking forward to 2011 though.  The start of a new year means the beginning of new memories and a chance to make new resolutions and goals.  My resolution is pretty much the same as it always is, to be more healthy as a whole person which includes a lot of things.  I've already been thinking about this coming summer and some things that I want to accomplish with my time off of work, even though I might work part time again.  This year I want to work out at least every other day (this includes the other months too, not just summer!), I want to volunteer somewhere, I want to take a class of some sort at least once a week or every other week, have game nights, do a few beach trips, decorate more, and a couple of other more personal things.  Those I guess are more of my goals than my resolutions.  Although, I could sum it up as "to be more accomplished" and state it as a resolution.  Either way, the start of each new year is a a chance for us to start over in a way, to grow more as a person, to take a chance and reflect on the past year, and to become more happier.  What are some of your resolutions/goals?  What in 2010 was good for you?



Sunday, December 26, 2010

Holiday Decor and More

Whoa, what a busy month this has been!  Between work, snow, getting ready for Christmas, my husbands birthday, my moms birthday, and all of the other daily stuff that comes along, it has been non-stop!  Anyways, I finally have just about every done!  I have biscuits in the oven now as I type... hopefully not burning! haha

I didn't want to spend another fortune this year on decorations, so I was trying to be "creative" once again.  I was a VIP customer to Michael's, AC Moore and then received a few things from mom.  Here are the results of a lot of hard work but I really like how it all turned out!


                                                                Tree in our bedroom

Tree in our dining area thanks to my mom. "The beach tree".

                                      Presents.  I love monograms and got this idea from InStyle Magazine, the one with Carrie Underwood on the cover!  



Staircase going upstairs.. remember the Fall decor that was once there? We also painted the front wall in the picture.


                Main tree or "the big tree".  I tried to incorporate all of the colors on this level of the house...

     Wreath on front door.  I did have a before picture of this but not sure where it went. hmm. Anyways, it was a red berry wreath, now silver and gold thanks to lots of spray paint layers.


I found this idea on the internet... wish I could tell you what website but it has slipped my mind.  We finally decided to hang it at the entrance to our upstairs.


Dining table.  This picture came out dark.  I wanted it very simple so there wouldn't be a lot of clutter to remove before eating.