So here is a little update on my resolutions: I could be doing much better! But I am trying! The good part about goals is that even when you get de-railed on them there is always time to get back on track!
I did manage to do something AWESOME in the first few weeks of the year though! I did something new!
I made bread in my bread maker for the very first time. WHEAT bread! Yum. The bread maker has been sitting my cupboard gathering dust for like a year. We bought it because Nathan wanted it- but he only used it one time. I didn't know how to use it- adn we lost the manual, but thanks to the internet I was able to find the manual online and try it out!
It turned out pretty well! I might have to do this bread thing more often. Perhaps I can start making bread every week and using it for Nathan's sandwiches that he takes for lunch! Hmmmm I might have to talk to him about that...
In other random news- my sister and her girls came over after church last Sunday and we had a great time. We played games, blew bubbles, ate homemade bread, AND I got to play makeup artist! I love doing over the top make up on my nieces!
Jessica and Bethany matched! For as young a Beth is- she does an AWESOME job at getting her makeup done. Usually kids make it really difficult- especially for eyeliner and mascara- but not B! She rocks.
Mel on the other hand was not as cooperative. We did a little on her eyes and then she wimped out and said she didn't want it anymore. She wound up rubbing most of it off by the time we left. Stinker.
Jessica and Bethany looked fabulous though! Jessica did their hair in "Snookie Bumps" to complete the look- it was fantastic. Fun times.
Well, as gung ho as I was about setting some awesome resolutions- my plans were stalled out by some tiny ugly germs!!
-------------------- PSA about Tiny Ugly Germs:
---------------------------------
Ok, I did not eat dirty food off the ground- but those buggers got in my system somehow and made me sick. Nathan too! So I have spent the first few days of the new year worrying more about taking these things...
...than worrying about of my resolutions! The good news is- I am starting to feel better, so my plan is start in on my list of awesomeness starting tomorrow morning! Full steam ahead! woohoo!
While we were feeling a bit under the weather- Nathan and I found new and exciting ways to entertain ourselves- like wrapping our dogs up in a blanket and seeing how long it takes them to find their way out!
First victim, Little Dave:
Then- Buster! He was a bit smarter about it than Dave, so Nathan had to raise the bar and make it a bit more challenging for Buster Mustard. Unfortunately, the memory card filled up before Buster was able to make his escape:
I went grocery shopping tonight and stocked up a bunch of stuff. I thought we were stocked on stuff before, but found out the hard way that a lot of the things that I thought were non-perishable actually do have an expiration date! I threw a bunch of stuff away- but now our shelves are full again- and not only are they full, but they are also ORGANIZED!
We finally got the shelves cut for the pantry so things are all tidy and grouped and stacked and wonderful! I can actually find things now without digging! It's so wonderful.
OH! And look what I discovered tonight while I was shopping:
CRUNCHY Hazelnut Spread with cocoa! How have I gone my entire life without knowing that this existed?! So freaking good! It's like Ferrero Rocher in a jar!! What could be better?!And it's cheaper than buying the chocolates too. =p That's all for now.
Alright- so I have decided that I have been too negative lately- really down in the dumps! If you only really keep up with us on the blog, you probably haven't noticed because I don't have much time to blog. If you are a facebook friend- you may have noticed a little bit more. I have tried to hide my grumpiness the best I can when I am around other people, but I personally have noticed it a lot. I have had my priorities all out of whack. I have basically let our business run my life for the past 6 months and have lost hold of a lot of other things that are important to me and that keep me sane. It took an absolutely epic melt down for me to really figure this out. So, the last 2 weeks of 2010 I have been thinking things through, and I am declaring the year 2011...
the Year of Awesome!!
That's right ladies and gentlemen! You read correctly- we are going to have 52 weeks of pure awesomeness! Or at least we are going to try or darnedest! I am going to try my very best to have a more positive outlook on things and to find the good in things; think happy thoughts!
haha... that just made me think of this:
good song. ok, sorry for that a.d.d. moment- back to what I was saying- I am making some changes- all for the better- and this year is going to be awesome! ...because I said so!!
How am I going to make it awesome? Well let's start by making 11 awesome resolutions!
1. Put God first- back where he belongs! When I said before that I had let the business take over- I meant it. EVERYTHING else got pushed aside, including the really important things like daily prayers and scripture study, regularly attending ALL my church meetings, going to the temple, etc.
Why I stopped doing these things to begin with is beyond me- I have proven it to myself over and over again that when I do these things I am way happier and more pleasant to be around. So, these things go to the top of the priority list from now on!
I am going to start everyday with prayers and reading some scriptures and every end every day with prayers too! I am going to make an effort to go to all my church meetings (even though they start at 8:30 am now!!) and make super sure tithing gets paid. And I am going to try and make it to the temple at least twice a month, if not more. We really have no excuse on this one- we live less than 5 minutes away; we are even off the same road about 3.5 miles apart.
2. Get in shape! I know I share this resolution with like half the world- and I have been saying I am going to do it for a while now, but I am really determined this time. I have gained so much weight since we have gotten married- it's really embarrassing. I don't even feel good about myself anymore- and I know that by getting into a work out routine will help me drop some pounds and improve my mood. I want to be able to run a mile without stopping by the end of the year or sooner; I wasn't even able to ever do that in high school, though I never really tried that hard to accomplish it then. I also want to be able to 100 push ups before the end of the year. My visiting teacher shared a link on facebook of a training program that can supposedly get you there in only 6 weeks, but we'll see how that goes with my busy schedule.
3. Eat more veggies! Another thing that I have proven to myself over and over- when I eat better I feel better. I really actually love veggies too- I just got out of the habit of eating them because my hubbie doesn't like them and fast food has gotten too convenient with all the time spent up at the shop... which leads me to my next resolution...
4. Bye bye fast food! Hello cook books! I have been addicted to collecting recipes for a while, and I have decided that this year I will put them to good use. I am going to nip my fast food habit in the bud by simply spending my food money at the grocery store and trying out all these recipes I have gathered from the internet, and cooking magazines, and cook books! And I will try to use the veggies from resolution 3 as much as possible- and I will try to hide them too, so Nathan will eat them and not even know they are there. =p If I come across some fantastic recipes- of course I will share on the b-l-o-g.
5. Try new things! Life is short- and I find myself doing the same things over and over sometimes. When we go to restaurants I usually order "my usual"- I watch the same shows on tv all the time, I play the same games all the time, do the same things for dates- I wanna shake it up and try at least one new thing every month. I, of course, will post these new things on the blog and give my verdict. I am not guaranteeing that I will like all the new things that I try- but I will try them!
6. I am breaking up with Facebook! I have spent waaaaay too much time on facebook- actually, let me rephrase that- I have WASTED waaaaaaay too much time on facebook! I am sad to say that I am one of those miserable people that got sucked in and addicted. It has been one of the first things I do in my day- check facebook- check my facebook games! Not anymore. I am not deleting my account, because it is a lovely way to keep in touch and see what everyone is up to, but I am limiting the amount of time I spend on facebook each day to 15 minutes or less. That gives me plenty of time to see if I have any messages and read everyone's status updates for the day- I may even be able to squeeze in a game or two of bejewled blitz- but that is all. No more than 15 minutes! There are far better and more productive things I should be doing. 7. When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God. I will look for service opportunities as often as I can. I really do spend an awful lot of time thinking about myself. I am going to take as many chances as I can to think of others and do some service. I am going to miss being a primary teacher- but I really think there is a reason that I was called to be on the humanitarian committee in relief society. I think it's going to be a great learning and growing experience. =)
8. Wash that mouth out with soap! well- figuratively speaking! Please don't actually put soap in my mouth! I am going to do my best to stop swearing- it's another one of those bad habits that I fall in and out of- and taking over the pottery business threw me back into it. Now it's time to climb out and clean up my act. Someone once told me, back when I was a beehive, that there is no beautiful way to say a swear word. They are ugly words and you simply can't sound beautiful with those words coming out of your mouth.- This is a very true statement.
9. "Get ready for the 10 second tidy!" While running the business my house seemed to fall into disarray. It's amazing how dirty your house can get when it seems like you are never home! Luckily, I was able to find time over my Christmas break to get my house somewhat in order. Now, my goal is to keep it that way. Take a few minutes before bed every night and make sure everything is tidied up. Make sure the counters are de-cluttered and wiped down, dishes are at least in the sink, clothes are in the hampers, towels hung in their appropriate places, etc. And I am going to at least try and make my bed in the morning. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like the organization of my entire day is better when my bed is made.
10. More time for just the two of us! =D Now that Nathan and I aren't together 24 hours a day, I want to make sure that we make time for just the 2 of us. I was looking at pictures from our engagement and when we were first hitched- and we look so happy and smiley in all of them. We've gotten too business- we need to make time to enjoy eachother and be happy together and not worry about work all the time- we still need to run a profitable business of course, but also have to find the time to relax and let loose a bit. I love love love spending time, just me and my husband!
Side note: Nathan's one and only resolution? More "alone time" with his wife. wink wink (he didn't think I would post it! haha)
11. Build and strengthen friendships. I have fallen out of touch with so many of my friends and just am not as close as I would like to be with others. I want to build those relationships up. If you are reading this- you are probably one of those people! Can you do me a favor? If there is anything on my list of resolutions that you would also like to work on this year- tell me! Let's be each other's resolution buddies! I know it's going to be hard for me to tackle all these things completely on my own- I am willing to take any help I can get, especially if it means making more friends along the way. Either comment on this post, email me, text me, or send me a message on facebook; help me make this year awesome! Pleeeeeeeeeease? =D I really hope you will- even if it's a long distance thing, we can work something out.
So there are my 11 resolutions for 2011. I really truly hope that I hear from some friends and family soon that can help me reach my goals! Let's do it together; make 2011 the year of AWESOME!!!
We decided to invite everyone in our family over for new years eve!! Unfortunately, not everyone could make it- but it was still a fun time. Nathan's sister Amy, and her family came, and so did his parents. Later on my aunt Lara and cousin Jared came- and towards the end of the night my folks showed up too.
We had a TON of food! That's the main reason I was hoping more people would show up. The 14 of us- plus the pups- did manage to polish a lot of it of this off though.
We had....
Mini margarita cupcakes. Well, they were supposed to be- they wound up tasting more like lime cupcakes. They were tasty either way.
Jalepeno poppers and bacon wrapped jalepenos. (The Lunt side of the family likes spicy!) I'm not usually a jalepeno fan- but they were both pretty tasty, even if they set my mouth on fire a little bit. =p
Bacon and chive stuffed mini tomatoes! I wish these weren't so time consuming to make; they are one of my favorites and super delish!
Southwestern turkey sliders.
Bagel pizza bites- that look like they may have been just slightly over cooked.
AND some yummy taco dip!
See, I told you it was a lot of food! My aunt also brought some bacon/cheese/artichoke tarts that I wasn't able to get a picture of. And my mom & dad brought over some macaroni & cheese bites that were quite a hit as well.
We watched a few episodes of that old cartoon, Rugrats, on Netflix through the wii and braved the freezing cold weather to do some fireworks!
You'll have to forgive my video- for some reason it didn't register in my head that if I held our super old camera sideways that video would turn out sideways. It looked good on the little camera screen...when I was holding it sideways! I feel like a big dork- but anyway- here is a little video of just one of the many, many fireworks we shot off:
Once we got through ALL of the fireworks, it was pretty late and our guest headed home. (They wanted to get home and be off road before all the crazy drunks started driving home too!)
Nathan and I rang in the new year at home on the couch with our little Dave & Buster. We drank some sparkling cider and went out front to see a variety of fireworks going off throughout the neighborhood and to set off the last few that we had of our own.
I tried to get a picture of a new year's kiss- but apparently we aren't as good at the kissing pictures as we used to be! =/ We just got a bunch of goofy ones!
Jessica and Bethany matched! For as young a Beth is- she does an AWESOME job at getting her makeup done. Usually kids make it really difficult- especially for eyeliner and mascara- but not B! She rocks.
Mel on the other hand was not as cooperative. We did a little on her eyes and then she wimped out and said she didn't want it anymore. She wound up rubbing most of it off by the time we left. Stinker.
Jessica and Bethany looked fabulous though! Jessica did their hair in "Snookie Bumps" to complete the look- it was fantastic. Fun times.
Jessica and Bethany matched! For as young a Beth is- she does an AWESOME job at getting her makeup done. Usually kids make it really difficult- especially for eyeliner and mascara- but not B! She rocks.
Mel on the other hand was not as cooperative. We did a little on her eyes and then she wimped out and said she didn't want it anymore. She wound up rubbing most of it off by the time we left. Stinker.
Jessica and Bethany looked fabulous though! Jessica did their hair in "Snookie Bumps" to complete the look- it was fantastic. Fun times.
