2013 Resolutions...

On this last day of 2012, I spent some time thinking of some wishes I have for the coming year. Most importantly, I want to make 2013 a happier year than 2012. I seemed to spend a lot of time feeling very negative and anxious. I don't want to live my life that way. I don't want to spend my time being disappointed with what I have and wishing for something more. I have a long bucket list of things I want to do, be or accomplish this year.

**I am giving myself a reality check and acknowledging that some of these things may not happen.**

Let's get started. I am going to list them in no order of priority. I am going to categorize them by ultimate goals and then what I need to accomplish in order to reach that goal.

*Tough Mudder (June) --> 3 days/week Run training
                           --> 3 days/week Strength training
                           --> run < 9.5 minutes per mile
                           --> 10K run (April)
                           --> Dirty Girl 5K (May)
*Half Marathon (October) -->same as above.

*Be Healthier --> 3 days/week run training
                       --> 3 days/week strength training
                       --> Eat healthier
                       --> Sleep better
                       --> Talk & visit with friends and family more
                      
*Disney Vacation
*Christmas Caribbean Cruise
*Sky-diving
*NYC to see a Broadway show
*Make the house our home --after 7 years of living here, I still feel as though this isn't our home.  It still feels as though we rent from hubby's parents and now that we don't have the daycare in the home, it's time to really make it our own. I'm excited to be able to do what we want inside our home.

One thing you may notice missing is a reference to having a baby. I have absolutely no control over that happening naturally. We have incorporated everything we can do at home, ourselves. It's not that I want to give up per se...but we have to save for any fertility treatment we may need (specifically IVF). That can't happen right now.  It feels as though we are always saving for something, always waiting for something, never fully living. I am tired of feeling like that. It's depressing. It highlights what we don't have rather than focusing on what we do have, which is each other, our health, a home and 4 loving and wonderful pets. We have our friends and our families and it's time we return to prioritizing them and our happiness with each other rather than something that's missing. Don't get me wrong, I want a baby more than anything, but I have to be able to have a life while we wait to be blessed naturally OR we have enough to have the treatments we need. I don't want having or not having a baby to be the only thing that matters. It's hard, though, to just turn off the cycle of baby thoughts that runs through anyone's mind who is TTC. Especially for a woman who, after 3 1/2 years is so in tune with her body, she knows where she is in her cycle without a chart or cell phone app. I still plan to monitor my bbt. But that's it. I want to focus more on being healthy physically, emotionally and spiritually.

 Which leads me to my last resolution:
*Be Happier ON PURPOSE -->Talk & visit more with friends and family
                                              -->Eat better
                                              -->Sleep better
                                              -->Laugh more
                                              -->Daily Affirmations


I have a long list of things to focus on. I am really excited to get started in less than 12 hours. And I want to wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I wish you all the health and happiness you hope for in 2013!!

Last Weekend Planning of 2012...

I am feeling a tad anxious that the year is about to close. I didn't accomplish quite as much as I wanted to this year. I am not nearly as organized as I hoped to be, I am still the same weight and I still have a hard time seeing the positives in life.

Still, I have high hopes for 2013. Resolutions are floating around my head. I will share them once I have some concrete idea of what I truly think I can accomplish this coming year.

This weekend we have a pretty calm agenda It is supposed to snow on Saturday!! I don't know why, I am so excited for snow. I hate shoveling it, I hate driving in it, etc. etc...but it's so pretty and calming to watch it fall. Anyway, I have several  items on the checklist I am hopeful to get to. Nothing too extravagant.

Friday:
Work
??Girl's Night?? -- We will see how I feel after a day's work.

Saturday:
Laundry, laundry, laundry
Clean and organize Master bedroom closet -- purge and donate
Mop the kitchen floor
Dinner & Game night with friends

Sunday:
More laundry, laundry, laundry
Strip and remake the bed (master and spare)
Clean the upstairs bathroom
Grocery shopping
Start packing up the toys from the daycare.

Monday: Day off for me!! Woot woot
More daycare toy purging
Organize daycare craft supplies
Sort paperwork/bills/mail
NYE out and about with friends

Tuesday: New Year's Day
Recover from NYE festivities
Lesson Planning
 -- Yeah, that sounds like about all I want to do that day.
??Maybe some Christmas decorations will get put away....maybe...if I feel like it! LOL

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a safe, happy and healthy New Year!!!

On the Road to Baby H... Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! This a joyous time. It is a time to look at your blessings and share the celebration of the birth of Christ with your friends and family. I hope you each have some precious memories filed away from this year! I myself got to meet 2 brand-new family members (our 4 month old niece and our 3 week old nephew) and we spent some quality time with family and friends.

It has been an emotional rollercoaster these past few weeks and days. Seeing friends and family prepare to spread the magic and joy of Christmas with their children is hard. It is fun to participate and fun to talk about, but sometimes it's a hard thing to think about. I want to do those same things. I have so, so many ideas that I would love to do, but they have to wait.

I was doing some random pinteresting today during the drive to family celebrations and I ran across this blog post regarding Infertility Etiquette. I copied and posted the link below for those of you who may be interested.

Infertility Etiquette

I hope all of your holidays were wonderful! Only 6 days until 2013!!

Handmade Christmas...

Handmade Christmas

This year I decided to make some gifts for friends, friends' children and my brand new baby niece.

 

Here are some of my projects this year.  For my friend's two daughters:

A hair bow holder from this blog tutorial: For my friend's daughter's 4th birthday (she is a Christmas Eve baby):

This is a memo board for my niece:

A hair bow holder for a friend of my DH. They just had their little girl at the end of November.

And for our 4 month old baby niece:

This canvas was for my co-worker at the daycare I work at now. She is going through some difficult times.

 

These weren't all my gifts this year. I am still working on a canvas for my god-daughter and her sister and one for my 7 year old niece. I hope they are received well!

Merry Christmas all!

Unbelievable.

Love, thoughts and prayers are with those in Newtown, CT. May God keep each family, child and community member protected. May God hold those 26 souls safe and loved until they can be reunited with their loved ones.

I pray that we, as a society, will have a day when life is considered precious again. I pray that day will be soon.

My love with you and yours.