Top Two Tuesday

Today over at Taylor's blog, its time for Top Two Tuesday!  One of my favorite blog posts of the week!

1) Friends are extenions to family.  I have a few friends in my life that have touched my heart like only sisters can. (or at least how I imagine sisters can)  These ladies are truly my family and I am so thankful for them, their friendship has gotten me through so many good and bad things in my life. 

2)  Friendship is a necessity of life.  Without friends, life is boring and unhappy.  I went through a summer during high school where I was transitioning away from a group of friends that weren't true friends.  During this time, I learned what real friendships were and how important they are to being happy in life.  Friends are there to lend their ears for listening and arms for hugging.  My life just would not be the same without friendship.

I am lucky to have many friends and friendships that I cherish.  Some are new to me within the last year through this blog.  Thanks to you lovely ladies who encourage and share your lives with me, and read when I share mine with you! :)

Have a great Tuesday friends.

Is it Friday yet???

Does anyone else feel like this week has gone sooooooooo super slow????  I woke up this morning thinking it was Thursday and have been disappointed all day.  I'm READY for Friday evening. 

Hubby has an outting planned with Steph's boyfriend, some real male bonding stuff, so I think Cooper and I will have a playdate at home.  When he goes to bed, I will have some alone time!  I'll walk and get a movie in maybe!  I'm really looking forward to it!!

Saturday we are heading out to the Indianapolis Home Show with my mom and her husband.  Sunday we have no plans!  I hope to get my hair trimmed up sometime this weekend if I can.  We'll see if I can get all that done.

What are your plans for the weekend?  I'm obviously really looking forward to a couple of days off!  How about you?

31 Gifts Giveaway @ Growing Up Imel

Who doesn’t love 31 Gifts?  I mean they have the cutest bags that I’ve seen in a long time!

My good friend Shannon is hosting a giveaway over at her blog, Growing Up Imel, please go and check it out! 

She’s generously giving away this fine accessory: (the hard case wallet in Onyx Medallion)

{source}

So head on over here and check out the giveaway and enter to win!



To Dyson or Not to Dyson?

The Johnson Household is in need of a new vacuum cleaner......  What do we choose?  I have been -researching Dyson's.  My sister-in-law has one and loves it.  This is the one she has.

{source}

Do you have any recommendations?  I've never thought of spending sooooo much on a vacuum cleaner, but we need a new one badly, our last one didn't last but 2 years and we spent $250 on it.  So, is it worth the extra money to get a Dyson?  What do you think?  Help me!

Thanks ladies, I hope you have a great day!

Top Two Tuesday!

Top Two Tuesday today is Top 2 Healthy Recipes and Snack ideas. 

My favorite snacks lately have been fresh fruit. 

 I've really been eating lots of navel oranges.

And Gala Apples.  I am planning on making some apple chips from this very type of apples later this week!

Some of my other favorite snacks are here from a previous post.

Have a great Tuesday Everyone!

Home & Thankful

We are home again.  I hope for awhile.  It was a very tough week/weekend.  I still am in shock about my young nephew.  We all are. 

On the positive side, we are glad to be home.  We're mostly healthy, though sleep deprived, we are thankful for this day that our Lord has given us. 

As our household gets ready for a new week, we are cleaning, doing laundry, cooking and watching some football.  Right now Cooper is down for his second nap, and I am taking this opportunity to get a quick note out to the blog world, then for a rest. 

I wish you all a wonderful Sunday afternoon/evening and great week ahead.

Too Many Things

Ever had one of those weeks where nothing seems to go right?  That's kind of where I am this week.  So my Crazy Tuesday post was just the start....

Wednesday seemed to be a pretty normal day until my way home from work.  I left work about 15 minutes before I usually do, picked up Cooper and headed home.  My hubby called me when I was about 5 minutes away from home.  He only said a couple of things and he was really out of breath/panicked.  My nephew was dead and he needed me to hurry home.  Thank God I left early that day.  I got to Tim fast and we headed for Ohio to get to his sister's house, a five hour drive.

We were all and still are in a state of shock.  my.18-year-old.nephew.was.dead. He was my step-son's age.  How could this be?  My sister in law was and is a wreck, my niece and two nephews are so upset about their brother.  Everyone is just miserable.  It was all an accident, and it happened at home, while he was working out.  If you can, please pray for my family.  I am not going to allow comments on this post, I am just asking for your prayers.  My sister in law has lost her father, stepmother, and now son all in the last 6 months.  My husband has lost his dad, stepmother and now nephew in the last 6 months.  This has been difficult for all of us. 

Thank you all.

Crazy Tuesday so far!

Let me just say, this Tuesday morning really mimics a monday, and i'm counting it that was as I was off work yesterday.


So, my morning - got up, showered, got ready, went downstairs and unloaded dishwasher, noticed that it was raining, had to let the dog out and then she wouldn't come back in, so i had to basically towel her completely off - we have a Great Pyrenees so she's big and has lots of hair.

this is what she looks like when she's dry and clean. huge!

Needless to say, I needed another shower when I was done drying her off.

Then, i refilled the humidifier and spilled water everywhere, all over my clean kitchen floor.

Then made my lunch, which was fine, but looked at the clock, and realized I was running out of time and had to go and wake Cooper up and get him ready.

He had a doctor's appointment with the neurologist that I thought was at 8:15, but more on that later.

Oh boy did he wake up on the wrong side of crib, was screamed for 15 minutes straight, all through his yogurt, but i got him ready, had the car started (it's cold here in Indiana), then got him all loaded and all my stuff loaded.

I got on the road, looked at my calendar and his appointment wasn't until 8:40!!!!!

Boy was I frustrated, but .... we headed back home, Cooper was still screaming in the back of the car. I unloaded him, and went in. Did I mention that it's raining this entire time so we're both wet???? (yes, parking in the garage will be a major request of mine when the hubby feels better)

Tim got out of bed and offered to help and I said yes, please come down and watch sesame street with this child!!

So they did. I cooled off by starting a load of laundry and loaded the dishwasher back up and was finally back to my normal calm mommy self.

Off to his appointment, and then the babysitter.

Just too many times in and out of the car with a screaming 15 month old this morning!!!!!

And oh, the rain. Stupid people on the roads, did I mention it was raining? Yeah. that causes people to forget how to drive. no headlights in the dense fog and rapid rain. it was nuts.

I am thankful to be at work, where things are a bit calmer here. (i'm sure as soon as I say this, some chaos will occur)

I know this isn't as bad as it could have been, and I am sorry for the complaining, whining and pouting, but I'm over it, I just needed to vent, to get it out there, for others to laugh. At least I hope you're having a good laugh right about now!

Tonight should be better, dinner is warming in the crock pot, and the laundry is already started, plus, I'll have a nice walk on the treadmill and things will be nice!

Have a great Tuesday Ladies!

Surgery, Recovery & Saturday

Surgery.  So, Tim's surgery went beautifully on Thursday!  Thank goodness!  He had all 3 hernia's and his lipoma removed in an hour and a half.  I was in there to see him by noon and we got to leave the surgery center before 1pm.  I was thankful because they had told us he might not be ready to leave until 3pm.

 

Tim yesterday evening, having a bit of a treat (skinny cow individual ice cream cups, yum!)

Recovery.  Tim has been such a trooper!  He was able to do stairs the day of surgery, we weren't sure he was going to be allowed or feel like it, but hurray he did!  Friday, Stephanie came over to stay with him during the day so that I wouldn't have to miss another day of work.  (trying to bank away all the days I can so that I can be off as long as I can with pay if I get pregnant later in the year)  He's been sleeping a lot yesterday and today, but that's part of the recovery and I'm gald he's able to rest.   He has some majory bruises, and I thought about sharing one, but it's pretty gross so I'm leaving it out.  We did take pictures of them and I'm not really sure why now that I think about it. 

Saturday.  Today has been great.  Cooper woke me up around 7 this morning.  I love when he sleeps until 7, I really love when he sleeps until 8, but that rarely happens.  Anyway, I decided that he and I were going to slip out of the house and do the weekly grocery shopping.  We left by 7:30, after Coop had his breakfast.  We went to Walmart first, because I wanted to avoid any possible crowd.  NO ONE seems to grocery shop that early on a Saturday.  (And when I say no one, I mean only 20-30 people with carts vs what seems like millions later on in the day or on Sunday after church.)  It was great.  I stocked up on everything!  Pretty sure Cooper looked like this when we were done:



{via}

 After Walmart, we went to Sam's Club to stock up on chicken, hamburger and some other important things in bulk, then we headed home.  Today I spent 78% of our grocery budget for the next two weeks!  EEK!  I know it'll be fine though since I stocked up on sooo many things. 

Cooper eating his yummy lunch.

Coop took a nap when we got home and I did a lot of grocery unloading and organizing the pantry.  Then I made some lunch and some yummy cookies.  After that, I also made some candied pecans since I had an egg white left over from the cookies.  Then some laundry and a bit of clean up.  Cooper then woke up and we played and played for a few hours!   When 2pm came around, he was ready for another nap.  Poor kid, not feeling the best today, such a runny nose and a bit of a cough.  Mama was ready for a nap too.  Since Tim was napping, I decided to lay down too.  It was quiet in our house for 2.5 hours!  I slept for an hour and a half, went downstairs and found Tim watching sports on TV.  He had just gotten up, which must have been why I woke up.  We had about an hour of quiet until Coop woke up. 

The rest of the night was playing with Cooper, dinner and more playing, I even had a nice walk on the treadmill once Cooper went to bed!  Overall, a great Saturday! 

We'll be skipping church tomorrow due to Tim not being able to get around or sit up quite yet.  I wish a Happy Sunday to all of my sweet blogging friends!

Surgery & Thankful Thursday



{via}

I am thankful for healthcare.  As I sit here writing this post, my dear husband is having surgery.  He's having three hernias repaired and having a couple of tissue buildups removed as well.  I am worried about Tim, the surgeon is wonderful, and I know Tim will be fine, however, when your spouse, the love of your life, and best friend undergo anything like this it makes me worry.  I just keep saying prayers for him.  I am so thankful that Tim is able to have this surgery and that he has an excellent surgeon.

I am thankful that I am off work today, but have already found myself logging into work just to check on some things.  I am so thankful for a job where I can take time off without feeling negative effects from it the next day. 

I am thankful for a wonderful Mom who does more for us than we deserve.  Today my dear Mama came up to watch Cooper while Tim is in surgery and while I am here waiting on him.  She is always here for us, and we appreciate everything she does. 

I am thankful for blogging.  This new hobby of mine has introduced me to some wonderful people and some new friends.  I enjoy this blogging world more than I could have imagined.  I have learned many new tips and tricks for crafty projects, new recipes, and household tricks!  So much fun!

I am thankful for Stephanie, my stepdaughter.  She is such a good sister to her brothers and she is so good with Cooper.  I am so blessed to have her in my life and know this girl is in the world to do great things.  Tomorrow Stephanie is going to be at our house to babysit her dad.  Since Tim will not be allowed to be up and moving all that much for the next couple of days, she is going to hang out with him and take care of him all day! :)  Isn't she great?

I am thankful for Cooper who makes me smile every day.  I am thankful for Andrew who does some silly yet smart things that bring education and entertainment to my life.  I am thankful for Tim, who through this life is walking beside me as my partner, best friend and my love.  Thankful too for my brother, his family and my dad. 

 What are you thankful for on this Thursday?

11 in 2011: Day Eleven

Day 11: What I am Looking Forward to in 2011

The thing I'm most looking forward to in 2011 is getting pregnant and hopefully bringing that baby home this calendar year!  I hope that we have a baby girl, but really any healthy happy baby is going to make this mama happy!  We already have names picked out for either sex, and I know that Cooper and any future sibling will do great together. 

What are you looking forward to in 2011?  I look forward to reading about all of your exciting ventures for 2011!

Another Award!

Wow, I feel like a very lucky girl these past couple of weeks!  I've gotten my first two blog awards from some wonderful people.  I received this "Stylish Blogger Award" last Friday from Jenny over at Simply Jenny!  Jenny has a fun blog and she's a super sweet girl, you must stop by and read what she's got to say.  Thanks Jenny!

Along with this award comes some responsibilities......

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Award 15 recently discovered bloggers.

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

Here are the 7 things about me:
1)  I LOVE to shop!
2)  I am a huge spreadsheet geek, I have a spreadsheet for everything, vacations, jobs, budgets, healthcare, pictures, passwords, like I said big geek!!
3)  Pecans are my favorite nut.
4)  I can bake a darn good cookie.
5)  Purses/bags/totes are my addiction.
6)  I'm addicted to my iPhone.
7)  I don't know what I would ever do without chic lit.  I love to read, and it's always chic lit.
 
Now, time for me to award 15 recently discovered bloggers!  (To me, this is everyone, since I just started blogging within the last few months!)
1)  http://growingupimel.blogspot.com/
2)  http://pigtailsandbowties.blogspot.com/
3)  http://jesseandtami.blogspot.com/
4)  http://boxandb.blogspot.com/
5)  http://nine-ninety-one.blogspot.com/
6)  http://journeytofitandfabulous.blogspot.com/
7)  http://theloflands.blogspot.com/
8)  http://ardjla.blogspot.com/
9)  http://www.emyselfandi.com/
10)  http://thetollivertimes.blogspot.com/
11)  http://www.thetarrpit.com/
12)  http://www.lifebyleah.com/
13)  http://scarlett402.blogspot.com/
14)  http://katieslifejourney.blogspot.com/
15) http://thehallfamilyof4.blogspot.com/
 
I'll contact the award winners later tonight, Congrats Ladies and Thanks Again Jenny!

11 in 2011: Day Ten

Day 10: Favorite Girls Night Out Event

Goodness, I wish GNO events happened more often than every few months!  The last time the girls got together was in November!!  It's time to get it organized again, so I'll have to start emailing, facebooking and texting to get the crowd together!

It doesn't really matter what we do actually, as long as we get together for some girl talk.  I just love catching up with these ladies.  In November, we went for dinner and drinks for birthdays, Joni's and mine!  You can read about it here.

Here are a couple of pictures.  I'm hoping the next time we get together we can arrange a pitch in and do it at someone's house?  Maybe we can do a pajama movie night?  Just hang out and watch movies and catch up on our lives!

Top Row: Me, Erica, Mel
Bottom Row: Stephanie, Joni, Shannon

Same Girls, Shannon, Joni, Stephanie, Erica, Mel and me

What are you favorite activites for GNO?  Any suggestions for a non-clubbing group of girls???

Day 9: Favorite Things to Do on a Cold Winter Day

Yesterday's healthly snacks really gave me some good ideas for when I go grocery shopping next week, so i want to first say a big THANK YOU to all of you ladies who posted yesterday!  Onto todays topic.....

My favorite things to do on a cold winter day have certainly changed since I had my baby.  Before Cooper, my favorite thing would have been to put on some really warm clothes, grab a throw and lounge on the couch, watch movies and eat snacks all day with my husband OR read a good book while he watched sports. 

Now that the munchkin is here and old enough to play, my cold winter day is not much different than any other day at home.  We play with toys, run around the house chasing one another, pushing Coop on his Mickey airplane or playing basketball with his little tike basketball hoop.  Sometimes we play in his room, but most of our day is spent playing.  One thing I enjoy when Cooper is napping is to take a nice Sunday afternoon nap!  So that'll be tomorrow after church and lunch, Cooper and Mommy will take a nap while Daddy watches football.

What do you do on a cold winter day?  (Assuming you're not working that is!)  I'm taking the rest of the day off from blogging, and hopefully the computer in general other than to get some recipes typed into some recipe software.  Have a wonderful day!

11 in 2011: Day Eight

Link up with MJ & Kit for Days 8-11 of the 11 in 2011

Day 8: Favorite Healthy Snacks

Carrot Sticks

{via}

Quakes!  My favorite flavor is Vanilla Creme Brulee

{via}

Dannon Greek Yogurt, Blueberry, Strawberry or my favorite, Vanilla!

{via}

Dried fruit.  Lately we've been getting these from Trader Joe's.  Cooper also loves this stuff!!

I love dried apples as well, but almost any dried fruit will do!

{via}

I'm looking forward to these posts so that I can learn about some new healthy snacks!  The hubby and I are trying and so far succeeding at eating healthy for 2011.  I am hoping we continue.  I think we can.

What are you favorite healthy snacks????

11 in 2011: Day Seven

Day 7: Favorite Memory of 2010

This is a tough one!  Thinking back to 2010, The Johnson Five had so many good times!  I think my favorite was Cooper's First Birthday. 

<>Below is the slideshow that I posted originally, it has several pictures in it.  If you take a look at the link above, you can also see a video of Cooper taking out his cake!  Boy was he messy.</></></> </>

<>
</></></></></>

That day was great!  Almost the entire family and several friends were able to join us for Cooper's first birthday, and we all had a great time!  I am so thankful we were able to celebrate with great friends and family.  My little boy is now 15 months old, I cannot believe how fast time is flying!! I look forward to reading about your favorite 2010 memory.  Have a great weekend all!

11 in 2011: Day Six

Day 6: Best Organization Tricks

I would say my best organizational tricks depend upon what I'm trying to organize.

In the kitchen, I have many seasoning packets for foods, such as Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning, McCormick's Meatloaf, Beef Stew, and many others. For these items, I have a small flip top container like the one below in order to "file" these and keep them organized in my pantry.

via

I also have a wire spice rack on the door of my pantry for other types of spices that don't really have a good place in the pantry.  This leaves my spices well organized and very easy to find.  The picture below isn't my pantry door, but it's the same spice rack and mine looks almost identical.

via

For my family's medical bills throughout the year, I have to keep all of our receipts very organized because we must keep records for our flexible spending company.  So I got one of these last year and made several categories inside within the tabs and it worked great!  Everything is so well organized and it is easy to take back and forth from work to home. 

via

Another place I really like to be organized is the kids' bathroom closet in our house.  This closet stores their towels, the sheets for all the beds, beach towels and several cleaning supplies.  The closet is just the size of a linen closet, but my husband put up several shelves in there.  I keep the normal everyday towels rolled (like below) on one shelf about chest level since they are the most used in the closet and that makes them easy to get to.  The cleaning supplies are on the top shelf so that Cooper cannot reach them, beach towels are rolled on another shelf along with hooded baby towels.  Lastly the sheets are on the bottom shelf.  It is quite organized and I LOVE IT.


via

I'm not as organized at my house as I'd like to be, but I'm getting closer every day.  Our house lacks much storage space, but I'm finding new ways to incorporate shelving for our goodies all of the time! 

I am excited to read about some of your organization tricks, I can always use some help in this area! :)

Have a great Thursday!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Click above to link up with Jamie for WILW!

I'm loving these....Crocs!  I'm on a Crocs kick the past few weeks!  I found some more Crocs that I'm sooooooooo tempted to purchase.  These babies are 1/2 off right now, and Brad's Deals has a code for another 10% off and free shipping.  What do I do???  I don't really need another pair of shoes, but they are so pretty......

via

I'm loving the new address book that I just ordered from Amazon!  I had one similar and it finally fell apart after like 10 years, so I'm looking forward to entering my addresses!


via

I'm loving my new sweatersfrom Kohl's.  I got them with some returns from Christmas!  I cannot find a picture of one of them, but below is one:

This one so comfy and warm.  Wearing with a white long sleeved shirt, and looks wonderful :)



via



What are you loving this Wednesday?  I will read lots when I get home from work, almost time for that too, yippie!  Have a great Hump Day!!

The Undomestic Momma's Snapware Giveaway!

Hey Ladies, if you haven't seen it yet.....

Jump over to The Undomestic Momma checkout the giveway she's got going on today!  It's for Snapware and that stuff is so cool!


I love two of their items in particular

Snap N Stack, two layer ornament box!!



via



The two layer cookie and cupcake carrier!

via



So, if you haven't done so yet, stop by and enter into the giveaway!                   

11 in 2011: Day Five

Day 5: Place I hope to go this YEAR

Today with Kit and MJ we are talking a place I hope to visit in 2011! 

This summer, I *hope* Tim, Cooper and I will travel to San Diego.  Tim has become really obsessed with the San Diego Padres over the past couple of years, and he listens to as many of their games as he can with his super duper MLB iPhone app.  So we'd like to visit there and go to a Padres game and take a tour of the stadium.  Not to mention do many other things in SD like their amazing zoo!  I haven't been to SD since I was in the sixth grade and I remember loving it, so I cannot wait to go back!

via

via

This trip, is going to be a massive undertaking for us - that's for sure!  See, Tim has only flown once commercially.  He's also flown one other time on a little puddle jumper up in Canada when he went on a fishing trip, but before these two trips (within the last 3 years), he'd never flown before!!!  He has been afraid of flying.  But, last year when he flew to his company's corporate headquarters for a business trip, he decided he was done being afraid! :)  GOOOOOOOO HUBBY! :)

Now we can fly!  We can actually take a trip that doesn't include a long car ride!  Yippie!

So..... unless some unforeseen circumstances crop up, I see us taking this trip in 2011, Yay for us!

I cannot wait to read where everyone else hopes to travel in 2011!!  Have a wonderful Wednesday ladies!!  I may be back a little later for WILW.

11 in 2011: Day Four

Link up for the 11 in 2011 here or here!

Day 4: Best Leftover Recipe

I love recipes!  I think my favorite recipe to use leftover turkey in is Turkey and Wild Rice Soup!  I've made this soup twice in the past month, and we had it for Christmas at my mom's house.  It's pretty easy, just takes awhile to make, but TOTALLY worth it!  I absolutely love this soup!

Via Jenny @ The Box and the "B"

What are your favorite recipes for leftovers?

I'm looking forward to reading about your leftover recipes!

Top Two Tuesday!

Link up by clicking above for Top 2 Tuesday!

Top 2 Favorite Items from 2010!

Tervis Website

1) Tervis Tumblers!  I think we bought 10 or 12 of these this year!  We love them, they don't sweat and they are insulated!  Everyone in our house uses them, except Cooper that is, and we can't keep enough clean! :)  Try them!  

 
 

 

2)  My Nikon D5000!  My hubby and I got this for Christmas 2009, but I got all kinds of use out of it in 2010.  I have a VERY difficult time using my point and shoot now, and sometimes it is necessary since it's small and easy to carry around.

 

What are your top two favorite items from 2010????

 

A Big Thank You and The Winner Is.....

This afternoon I got a surprise! I won my very first blog award thanks to this lovely lady :)   Lisa @ The Tolliver Times is one of my all time favorite blogs to read.  She gives me inspiration and great ideas when it comes to raising my son!  So, I was thrilled to receive this blog award from her!   Thanks Lisa!!!



 

<a border="0" href="http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy216/krissybbe/blogaward.gif"></a>

It's my turn to give a few awards away!

Shannon, one of my dear friends in blog world and real life, has a son who is 4 months older than Cooper, and she is the one who got me into blogging to begin with, and now I'm addicted!  If you haven't read Growing Up Imel yet, stop by, she's always got some funny story to tell. 

Katie.  I just love reading Katie's Journey.  She's a young lady who is about to become a teacher and lead our youth forward in some crazy times!  I first met Katie through the 30 day blog challenge she hosted last year and have been hooked ever since!

Al.  Al has really been through a lot this past year, but she shines through it all.  I enjoy each and every post she writes over at Traffic Jelly!  I know this lady is doing great things through teaching and she's bound for a wonderful 2011 ahead!

Enjoy the awards ladies! :)

11 in 2011: Day Three

Link up with MJ or Kit for 11 in 2011!

Day 3: Favorite Work-Out Tips

Well, because I don't work-out much, you can read about my resolution to become more fit here, you'll read about my lifestyle and my hopes to change it.

So, I'll be very interested in reading all about your work-out tips.  I am going to try to motivate myself to do this working out business first thing in the morning, but I know that won't always work out.  Jessie, from Journey to Fit and Fabulous, told me about a beginner running program to help me get my butt off the couch, it's called Couch to 5k.  I hope to try it this week!  Thanks Jessie!!!  I appreciate your help!

So that's it for me, post your tips and I'll try them out!  Have a great back to work Monday everyone!

11 in 2011: Day Two

Link up with Kit or MJ for 11 in 2011!

Day 2 of 11 in 2011 is Favorite Holiday Memory. 

I would say my favorite holiday memory was on New Years Eve/January 1st 2008.  This is the night my boyfriend took me out to dinner at my favorite restaurant, we stopped in at a new years party of my friend Shannon's.  We didn't stay long, because we wanted to spend the majority of the night together, but we were invited, so we had to stop by. 

When we got back to my house, I don't even remember what all we did, I think we watched a movie and hung out on my couch snuggling.  I was leaving bright and early on New Year's morning to Orlando, FL for a family vacation that was planned before I had even started dating Tim.  When we went to bed, I couldn't sleep, and Tim couldn't either.  Sometime during the middle of the night, I am fairly certain it was 2:19am, he proposed.  Let me tell you, it was SO HARD to get on that airplane the next morning.

I knew he was going to propose sometime, because he had taken me to pick out rings after church the Sunday before, but I knew the ring had to be sized, and I knew that there was no way he was giving it to me this soon.  We knew we were going to get married, just didn't think he would have proposed this soon!!!

So, we printed a picture of the ring that he was going to give me, and I carried it around in my pocket during the entire vacation!  I'm not sure how much my family liked me that week, I was constantly talking on the phone with or texting Tim.  Hey, he was my fiance, he just proposed and I had to leave him that very day!

Gosh. 

That is my absolute favorite holiday memory of all time.  What a special day to me! :) 

I cannot wait to read about some of your favorite holiday memories.  Have a very happy Sunday!

11 in 2011: Day One

Happy New Year All!  Today and hopefully the next 10 days, I'll be linking up with Kit for her 11 in 2011!

Click picture above to "link up!"

Today's topic is New Year's Resolutions.   This year I have a few "goals" not necessarily resolutions as I'm not a huge fan of that word.  I think it is just the perception of the word as the dictionary definition is fine.  Not that much different than a goal.  Something that I can resolve to do.  Anyway, onto the actual goal/resolutions.   I hope to join Kit in Project 365.  One picture per day in 2011.  I should think this should be easy enough, if I cannot use my regular camera, I always have my phone for a picture.  As soon as this post is complete, I think I'll go take my first picture.   Another goal for me in 2011 is to get in better shape.  I am a pretty sedentary person, and I'd really like to change that in 2011.  I want to just become more active, which I hope yields to getting in better shape and losing some of this weight that I put on while being pregnant with my son.   If I can accomplish the above, I hope to start a running program.  Eventually in my life I would like to run a 5k.  I don't know what that takes, and it really scares me to death to even think of me running.  I mean ME RUN?  Are you kidding me?  I don't think I've ever even run more than a mile in my entire life.  So, we'll see, but it is a big goal for me in 2011.   My last goal is to get pregnant with baby #2.  My husband and I would like for our kids to be about 2 years apart in age, anywhere from 22-27 months or so, and Cooper is 15 months old on January 3rd.  It's time to start trying I think!  This goal may really be counterproductive to the two listed directly above, but I know I can still be active and perhaps even begin running while I'm pregnant, so again, we'll see!   What are your new year's goals (resolutions)?   Did you stay up and ring in the new year?  My husband and I went to bed around 11:20, we did watch the ball drop, but then I was out.  O.U.T. OUT OUT OUT!  After the long day on Friday, and keeping up with the toddler, this Mama was tired and little ones just do not know that they are supposed to sleep in on New Year's day!   HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!