2012 - A Year in Review

I've done this meme for the last 2 years, courtesy of inspiration from a blog that I enjoy very much called Playgroups Are No Place for Children. Here is my 3rd installment of this fun look back on the year!

1. What did you do in 2012 that you'd never done before?
I started working at a bakery and made items that people bought and enjoyed.  It was very fulfilling!

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I'm going to echo exactly how I answered this last year.  I successfully marked some things off the 101 Goals list that is ongoing, but I've stopped making resolutions for the most part. Something about setting myself up for failure has grown tiresome.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My oldest friend (meaning that I've known and loved her for over 30 years now) gave birth to her second child this past November. I actually know several people who had babies this year, which is great because I love to live vicariously through them since we're done with having babies.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
I made a couple of trips to the funeral home this year, but not for anyone that was close to me.

5. What countries did you visit?
I didn't step outside the USA this year.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
More financial stability and dedication.

7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The end of November because Jake was called out of town at the last minute, resulting in the girls and I decorating our Christmas tree alone.  The tree fell 3 times, shattering almost every single glass ornament that we owned and had collected over 18 years together.  It broke my heart, but I'm learning not to put so much stock into holding onto things.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Going to Disney World with my family and seeing my girls truly enjoy the experience.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not making the dent in our debt snowball that I was hoping to make.  Medical debt seems like a hole we're never going to climb out of.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
My bulging disc gives me trouble every now and then.  I developed a horrible skin infection after our trip to Disney World, which nearly resulted in surgery to resolve, but thankfully it finally cleared up.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My favorite new acquisition this year was my iPad, but it was a gift from my Dad.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My youngest daughter put a gift under the Christmas tree for us this year that was 100% from her beautiful heart.  It was addressed to mommy & daddy and it said "I love you very much and I wish to never grow up".  I'm a big Christmas morning crier anyway because nothing makes me happier than seeing the joy on my kids faces.  However, when I saw my hubby tearing up before he handed me my daughter's note, I knew I was in trouble!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Politicians routinely appall me and since this was a major election year, there are just too many people to choose from.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Bills, bills, Disney World, bills...

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Our Disney World trip this past October!

16. What song will always remind you of 2012?
"I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a)happier or sadder; b)thinner or fatter; c)richer or poorer?
I am sadder, a little thinner and poorer.

18. What do you wish you had done more of?
Gone to the gym.

19. What do you wish you had done less of?
Overscheduled myself.  I need to learn that slowing down doesn't mean I have to go into ultimate lazy mode.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas morning was spent at our house, opening presents with the kids and then my parents came over for a big breakfast with us.  That evening, we had dinner at my parents house after my brother & his family came in from out of town.  It was a lovely day.

21. Did you fall in love in 2012?
We fell in love with the newest member of our family, Scotty!  He is Big A's dog and an adorable long-haired red dachshund.

22. What was your favorite tv program?
This is a really hard one to answer because I watch a LOT of tv.  My favorite new show would have to be Duck Dynasty.  That show is HILARIOUS!

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
There are people I strongly dislike, but I don't hate anyone. And nobody new for sure.

24. What was the best book you read?
This year it was "Room" by Emma Donoghue.  Such a sad story, but very well written.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I am a new fan of Phillip Phillips, the guy who won American Idol this year.  I was also delighted to discover that Little A is a pretty good piano player as she started lessons this year!

26. What did you want and get?
A trip to Disney World!

27. What did you want and not get?
To work on the landscaping at my house and replace my roof.

28. What was your favorite film of 2012?
It would have to be a tie between "Brave" and "Dr. Seuss's The Lorax".  Both were seen with my kids and both made all of us cry (in a good way).

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 37 this year and it was pretty much just another typical day.  I think hubby & I went out to dinner, but I'm not 100% sure.  I have officially given up on getting a surprise party now.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Being significantly closer to getting out of debt.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2012?
I'm all about the comfort!  Jeans and t-shirts for this girl.

32. What kept you sane?
Spending so much time with my Girl Scout troop and working towards our family Disney trip.

33. What political issue stirred you the most?
I don't let many political issues get me riled up.

34. Who did you miss?
I miss seeing my nephew grow up.  Spending the last few days with him has been great, but reminds me how much I really miss him when he's 10 hours away.

35. Who was the best new person you met?
My bakery co-worker, Tammy, is the best new person I met.  She's very down to earth and funny and I enjoy working with her so much!

36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.
"The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them." - Maya Angelou

37. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"The trouble it might drag you down, If you get lost you can always be found, Just know you're not alone, Cause I'm going to make this place your home." - Phillip Phillips

1 Shade of Gray

I've said for years that vanity isn't really my thing.  I don't wear makeup.  I don't use hair styling products or tools.  Most of my clothes are between 3-7 yrs old and came from Target or Old Navy.  I'm just not very concerned about being stylish.  Or at least that's what I thought.

I'm coming up on my 37th birthday next month and I'm a little distressed that with each passing day, as I look in the mirror, I seem to spot just one more gray hair on my head.  And while the first few didn't bother me too much, I'm now officially REALLY bothered.  And I can't decide if I'm more bothered by the gray hairs themselves or the fact that they are making me feel old all of a sudden.

I take it as a sign that I received a Living Social deal today for a cut, color & style from a local salon that I've been wanting to try for quite a while.  And so, I'll call tomorrow and schedule the appointment that will officially segregate my life into 2 distinct time periods:

Angie B.C. - Before Coloring
Angie A.D.J. - After the Dye Job

The Sunday Skinny

It has been a TOUGH week.  If you look up the term "stress eater" in the dictionary, you will see my picture with a blue ribbon because I was the champ this week!  Here's a sample of some of the things that were eating me, causing me to eat everything in sight.

1. My house (and everyone in it) had to be treated for head lice.

2. My microwave has been out of commission for 11 days now and looks to be down for at least another 7 days thanks to the perpetually crappy service that Best Buy provides.  Have I mentioned recently just how much I despise Best Buy?  And just how much I use my microwave on a daily basis?

3. My youngest child was diagnosed with her 2nd UTI this month and is now awaiting further tests to determine if she'll need surgery to fix a potential kidney valve issue.  She's been vomiting up her antibiotics and running a fever that is worrying to me.

4. Thanks to a lot of unexpected expenses (and lack of work hours available), I'm afraid we're not going to be able to pay for our big Disney vacation payment that's due next month.  (And yes, I realize that this is a "first world problem".  It still sucks.)

5. Aunt Flo decided to visit early this month.  That bitch.

I wish that was everything going on, but sadly, it's not.

This week just has to be a better week and I have to figure out a way to manage my stress that doesn't involve my eating habits.  So, let's try this again.  My goals for this week are:

1. No more than 3 carbonated drinks this week.
2. Exercise at least 3 mornings this week.
3. Try to eat at least 1 serving of fruit every day this week.

I'm hoping for a much more upbeat and positive report next Sunday!

Ten on Ten: July 2012

This is my first time participating in 10 on 10, hosted by a bit of sunshine.  The project is to take a picture an hour, for 10 consecutive hours on the 10th of the month.  Here's my day in pictures.

Getting ready for my morning workout

Arriving home as the sun begins to peek through the trees

These girls are ready to go to camp!

Doing a little paper shuffling at the office

Maleficent is so demanding!

Packing up for the day's later activities

Sully, my buddy

Lunch with friends is always tastier

The storm clouds are about to open up

My happy campers!

Shortcomings

As the mom of 2 girls who are pretty close in age, I find myself struggling with the balance of building up their self-esteem but understanding that failure is a part of growing as a person.  I want them to know how proud I am of all their achievements.  I want them to know that as long as they choose a path in life that makes them happy, I will always be proud of them.  I want them to know that I love each of them equally, for different reasons, and strive to never hold one of them to a higher standard than the other.  I hope that they never look back on their childhood and feel like they disappointed me with any kind of regularity.  

I say all of this because as an adult, I struggle heavily with feeling like a failure at most things, especially when it comes to anything having to do with my parents.  My childhood, while it had many good things, had more than its fair share of moments when I was made to feel like I was a huge disappointment to my parents.  Much of it had to do with my younger brother being put on a pedestal and treated with what seemed like a complete different set of standards.  Some of it was brought on by my own stupid adolescent decisions in certain situations, but it seemed like there was a huge amount of pressure put on me from an early age to reach a certain standard.  And not reaching that standard resulted in yelling, belittling and taking away things that were given to me as gifts because I didn’t perform as expected.

I can remember taking tours of Ivy League college campuses from the age of 13.  Yet when it came time to tour colleges that I was actually interested in (and could possibly gain admission to), it appeared more of a bother to my parents.  A let down.  I’ve often felt that no matter what I accomplish in my life, it will never be the standard that my parents expected of me.  And this feeling is perpetuated when I hear my parents bragging about how proud they are of my brother and his graduating from an expensive name-brand university and his powerful career and the fact that my father is parading him around to his business colleagues because “this kid is going somewhere”.

I’m really hoping that this feeling dissipates over time because it really sucks that I can’t even make it through a family dinner without spending an hour crying in the bathroom over my father criticizing my choice of dinner venues.  Those are some deep-seeded issues.  And I’m sick of feeling this way.

The Sunday Skinny

I've been a major slacker with my weight loss posts over the last 2 months.  Ok, maybe 3 months.  The good news is that I'm in the same size clothes that I was in during my last post.  The bad news is that the good news is simply miraculous because I've fallen into some old (i.e. horrible) eating habits and my exercise level isn't where it needs to be.  So, I'm getting back on the blogging bandwagon to hopefully give me some accountability.  However, I'm changing things up just a bit.

In an effort to avoid becoming even more obsessive about the number on the scale, I'm taking a break from recording my weight.  I've felt for quite a while that if my clothing size continues to move down, then I'm happy.  I keep reminding myself that last summer, I was wearing a size 20 shorts.  This summer I'm wearing a size 14.  That's fabulous!

So, my goals for this week are:

1. Work out 3 mornings

2. Don't drink more than 2 carbonated drinks

3. Make a conscious effort to eat healthy snacks instead of junk food

My new hobby is a winner

I've been an absent blogger here lately.  I wish I could say it's because I've been overwhelmingly busy, but that's not the case.  I have been doing stuff, but I'm the type of person that if I don't have a million things on my plate, then my productivity comes to a screeching halt.  I found a couple of summer jobs (thank goodness) and I've tried to keep busy with the kids, but alas, I have spent a LOT of time clearing stuff off the DVR and taking up a new hobby.

My friend Kat's husband is an avid online sweepstakes player.  He enters lots of sweeps and he wins some great prizes.  Inspired by his success, I decided to get my feet wet and see what kind of luck I would have with the world of online sweeps.  My ultimate goal is to win a Disney vacation for my family, so I enter all of those sweeps that I can find, but I'm now entering lots of smaller blog hosted sweeps that offer some great prizes too.  I can't tell you how excited I was when I got an email the day after I started entering sweeps that said I was a winner!

Tara from A Spectacled Owl, was hosting a giveaway of adorable hand made owl items from Sabrina at Daisy Dew and Tutu and the package arrived yesterday!  My many thanks to Tara for hosting the giveaway and to Sabrina for making the most adorable owl items I have ever seen!  My 7 yr old has been wearing the necklace nonstop and she put the keychain on her brand new backpack.  (She's excited about her friends seeing her new bling at school next month!)  My 6 yr old almost cried when I gave her the bow holder and new hairbow.  All of the items are beautifully made!

So, stay tuned to see the news about my other win that I found out about this week.  I'm waiting for the items to be in hand before I blog about them.

Do you enter online sweepstakes?  Have you won any prizes that you were really excited about?