Resolutions

New Year's Eve means that it is time for me to sit down and make a list of all of my new resolutions for the year ahead. This year, however, I think that instead of listing a whole bunch (that I know I won't follow), I will just list one resolution. One that actually means something and will benefit me more than "getting in shape" or "eating healthy," etc.

This year, I am going to build my relationship with God. By going to our amazing church every Sunday, reading my Bible a bit each day and praying, I'll be able to meet my resolution--for the first time ever!

That's it. I think that is really all I need.

Hindsight

There are so many things I wish I could go back and tell my sixteen year old self. I don't have many regrets, but there are definitely words of encouragement and advice that I could have used along the way.

1. Get close to God now. You have no idea how much you will need Him over the years, and loving and knowing Him will help fill that huge void you feel from Mom's death. You will make peace with her death so much sooner if you do this. Listen to Aunt Jayne when she gives you this advice!

2. You will meet your first "love." Enjoy the good times together, but when they start to get bad, move on so you don't waste an extra year and a half of your life trying to salvage something that isn't there. He isn't "the one," anyway. You'll meet your true love in college!

3. Don't stress so much about grocery shopping/cleaning/cooking/taking care of Dad and Traci. Learn to do those things, but make sure Dad and Traci know how to take care of things, too. It will probably make a big difference in Dad's life, and help Traci feel needed. You need to make time to enjoy yourself, too.

4. DO NOT let people tell you that you, Traci and Dad are the reason Mom got sick and died. IT IS NOT TRUE! Don't loose sleep over it. Don't start chewing your lips over it, because you'll never break that habit once you start.

5. Spend more quality time with Dad and Traci. Again, this might alleviate issues that will arise later.

6. Get extra help in Math. I know it's horrible (it will always be horrible), but maybe it will make college a little easier and you won't have to take Math three times to graduate!

7. Don't think you're ugly or unattractive. You are not.

8. Don't think you need to major in English just because Mom, Aunt Linda and Kristin all did. You're good at it, yes, but take the time to really think about what you want to be and what you want to do with yourself. But I hope you still choose to go to Plattsburgh! You will make some of the BEST friends of your life there!

9. Remember everything Mom taught you and told you. She is always right. Listening to those life-lessons will serve you well and make things easier. Make sure to take the time to teach Traci, too.

10. Know that the life you are living will be even more wonderful than you imagined! You'll get through all of the tough times just fine. Only remember the good ones!

After Christmas Shopping

It's the day after Christmas, which means that the world (and the two of us!) are winding down. Even though we were unable to be with our families this year, our Christmas was still wonderful! We ate some delicious food--though I say it myself--got some really great/thoughtful gifts, and even began a new "family" tradition.

I had high hopes this year of getting Bart and myself new winter coats. Ours are 3 and 4 years old and, lets face it, peacoats just do NOT get the job done when you live in Chicago. I thought for sure that we would be able to get some great winter coats at pretty fantastic marked down prices today, you know, because it's the day after Christmas and every store in the world is having sales. But, alas, it is not to be! I have had my eye on a new Northface coat for months now. It's beautiful. Black, removable faux-fur around the hood, down-filled, and to the knee. And you know what? It's STILL $300! Which means that the coat I wanted Bart to get is also STILL $200. Sigh. I guess we are going to be cold for a while more.

In other news, I am also in the market for a new nostril screw. I lost mine on Christmas day when it fell down the drain. And it was the BEST screw I've had, too! It was pronged, so the fake diamond never fell out and it laid flat against my skin instead of sticking up like a big round zit in the way some screws do. I asked my sister to pick me up another (if they still have them) in Saratoga, but in the meantime, I am going to a tattoo parlor out here to see if they have something that will hold me over until the new one comes. So yes, folks, this is going to be my big after Christmas purchase!

O Holy Night

This has always been my favorite Christmas song. It's beautiful, it's powerful and it always reminds me of the real reason we celebrate on this day. Merry Christmas!

O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees
O hear the angel voices

O night divine
O night when Christ was born
O night divine
O night, O night divine

Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and his gospel is peace
Chains, shall he break for the slave is our brother
And in his name all oppression shall cease

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we
Let all within us praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord
Then ever, ever praise we

Noel, noel
O night, O night divine
Noel, noel
O night, O night divine
Noel, noel
O holy night

Photos.

Well, last night I finally uploaded and ordered some pictures from our wedding for Christmas. It's something I have been wanting to do for a while since Carrie captured some really wonderful candids of our families having fun on the day. The only problem was that I had NO idea how to get the photos off of the DVD she sent and onto my computer where I could use them. Bart, thankfully, knows a thing or two about technology, and showed me how to upload. The bad news? It took 4 hours to get the 580 pictures onto my laptop! And guess what? Another 2 to get the uploaded photos uploaded onto mpix.com where I could order them! Lets just say that I watched a lot of TV yesterday.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about the pictures. I ordered one of me, Dad and Traci to replace the old one of just me and Traci above the mantle in the living room, and I just know he'll love it. He hates getting gifts on Christmas (he'd rather we saved our money), but he always loves the little, thoughtful things. Bart and I are giving Grandma and Grandpa a digital picture frame with a zip drive of alllllll of the pictures on it. That way, they can see them all and print out whatever they want, when they want. I can't give away the rest of the details since some people who read this blog will be recieving pictures!

I can't think what is more wonderful than looking at each and every one of the photos taken on our wedding day. It's so nice to get to relive the day over and over--all the happiness, the tears of joy, the laughs, the love. And tonight we get to look through all of them again! We have to choose our favorite 100 to go into our wedding album that Carrie is making for us. How amazing would it be to have a professional photographer following you around every day? Every wonderful moment would be captured forever!

Survival

Well, it's all over. Black Friday has come and gone for those of us crazy enough to go out and battle the crowds for the best Christmas loot. Though things are winding down in the stores, you can be assured that Christmas has now begun in earnest.

This was the first year that I went BF shopping without my sister, or at least a friend. I talked Bart into agreeing to go with me and to pull an ALL-NIGHTER in order to enjoy Thanksgiving at our friends' Jeff and Tara's and then hit Old Navy at midnight, which would be closely followed by Target at 4am. I had my game-plan (sort of) and my list of what we needed to get for everyone. So, we headed down the street to stuff ourselves full of food and settle in to wait for the first strike of midnight.

Unfortunately, during this settling period, Bart, Jeff, Matt and Jesse decided it would a great time to play darts. You know, the mature kind where the losers have to chug a beer or take a shot. And guess whose team lost 6 rounds in a row? That's right. So, I quickly decided to knock Old Navy's opening off of my list so we could focus on Target, because, you know, it's hard to shop with a drunk husband.

This game plan eventually turned into me waking up at 4am so I could order my items online since Bart was drunk and I suddenly couldn't move from the bathroom--but we won't go into details about that portion of my night here. ANY. WAY. In case you all didn't know (because I sure didn't), you can order stuff online for Black Friday, just not the good stuff that you really want. For that, you have to actually get up, get dressed and drag your exhausted and sick butt to the store. Which I did. ALONE. Because Bart was incapacitated. Or passed out, however you want to look at it.

So, I went Black Friday shopping at 4:30am by myself in the big city of Chicago. And you know what? It was horrendous! I got, literally, the last shopping cart in the lobby. All of the fliers were gone and I had forgotten mine. The $30 Christmas tree I was NOT going to lose out on this year? Sold out. At 4:45am. So I got an OK tree for $20. It was wall-to-wall people, and not the nice kind. Can you believe that I saw a lady with her screaming 5 YEAR OLD shopping with her that early? Probably not, because I had a hard time believing it myself and I was there. On a bright note, I DID get the last $12 blow up mattress. The negative? I didn't realize that the air pump was not included until we got home. I even broke into tears at one point because the lady in front of me just stopped moving because, apparently, her brain had melted or something. I'm going to blame the crying on PMS, exhaustion, homicidal feelings, frustration and feeling like poop.

I made it home by 6:30 with a bunch of stuff and woke Bart up with the door bell so he'd have to wake up and help me (bwahahahaha!). Then I got into bed, cried a little more, watched the sun come up, went to sleep, woke up at 10am and got dressed AND WENT BACK OUT SHOPPING! Because I am a Christmas ANIMAL!!!!! No shoppers, pets, husbands (barely), or gift items were harmed during the making of this Black Friday Fiasco.

***Bart has requested that I include the fact that he went out with me at 10 and was helpful. And that he's now cleaning the entire apartment to make up for the "BF Incident." :)

Bleak Friday

I can't believe that, in less than a week, it will be Black Friday. Forget Thanksgiving. That's just they day you carb load before the BIGGEST shopping day of the year. Normally I have my game-plan all figured out. I know exactly which stores I'm going to hit, how long I want to spend at each one, and exactly what I am going to buy for each person on my list.

Not so, this year.

As of right now, I have ONE fool-proof (I think) idea for a gift for ONE person. I have some other ideas, but the only problem is that I can't find any hard evidence anywhere that the items I want will actually be on sale on BF. And lets face it, folks, I'm on a tight budget here. Especially since I now have to figure shipping and handling in with the overall cost of each person's Christmas gift.

Today I went out and bought two--yes, TWO--Sunday papers for the inserts. Here I am thinking that the Black Friday fliers will be included, especially since each paper weighed about 3lbs. But, alas. I was wrong. It was filled up with PRE-Black Friday fliers for the PRE-Black Friday deals. I mean really. You are completely nuts if you think that I am going to take time out of my week to get shoved around by city jerks for NOT SO GREAT--AVERAGE SALES!!!

So, right about now, Black Friday is looking pretty bleak. Who wants to picture themselves standing in a crowded store filled with screaming people while they bite their nails and think, "Gee, I think my sister would like this. But I'm not sure."? I think I am going to have to go out and spend even more money on Thanksgiving for a paper that, I hope, will contain the inserts I want. And hopefully the stores will magically have the items I want at very low prices.