Welcome 2011!

My first blog post of the new year starts with an apology for skipping out on the nearly last two months of 2010. I wrote right before we took off for Seattle for Thanksgiving and haven't written since. After we came home, we were busy constantly and I put blogging aside throughout the holiday.

We did have a ton of fun celebrating the holidays with our friends and family. Back home, we arrived just in time for Thanksgiving dinner! All the girls went out the next morning a few hours later, for black Friday sales and scored a bunch of things for ourselves :) Dan and I stayed at my Mom's new place and she had the entire family over to play with the new Wii we all got her for her Birthday. My 5 year-old cousin practically beat us all in bowling and did very well on the Just Dance game, too. We didn't visit very long, but we still had a chance to catch up with friends. We went bowling with Beth and Karen and had lunch with Shauna, Jon and their daughter Lily. I absolutely loved being back home and surrounded by everyone I love and now I miss it.

Once home, I was put to work right away, decorating our huge tree in our lobby at work. From then on it was Christmas parties galore: my work parties, his family parties, and I even added hosting a dinner party for our friends! All of it was hard work but we did enjoy ourselves. I swore I wouldn't get stressed out and figured I could cut that potential stress out if I did all our shopping online this year. I'd say that worked! While I made it easy on us, I did get annoyed with the people I encountered who were already stressed. I still love everything about Christmas- The music, the lights, the decorations and traditions. I love that moment each year on Christmas Eve, holding a candle in the candlelight church service and singing Silent Night, and I have such peace realizing I didn't have to hear anymore complaining from anyone. All the madness was over and we could all just focus on being with those around us, celebrating. That was a good feeling.

So, what's in store for us this year? Well, we are in the process of figuring that out. I went back and found my Happy New Year's post from last year (read it here). All in all, I think we did well in achieving some of our goals. I'm so thankful for our continued good health and blessings in our jobs. We will continue to do both traveling and adding to our savings, but we hope to make this year more about the experiences than anything else!

I am looking forward to Learning/Experiencing/Doing the following:

1. The all girls Alaskan cruise in June with my family! We will be celebrating my Grandma's Birthday! And I hope to try the zipline at one of the ports....oh, boy....
2. This month I will be taking a soup making class (I've never made soup that didn't come out of a can, not counting making chili).I loved taking my cake decorating courses, so I thought this would be fun with some friends. I also got new cake pans for Christmas, so I can make tiered cakes...thanks Danny!
3. My company has offered to pay for anyone's enrollment fees into a local 5k run in May. I already have been working harder on the treadmill and making slightly better food choices. :) I am looking forward to finishing this with my co-workers.

2010 was a great year. We gained some new friends, Dan made significant progress with his side-business, and we found ourselves in all sorts of cool, new places in our travels! Farewell 2010, thanks for the memories... hello 2011.