Ella meets Santa

"Let's see...what did I have on my list?!"

Back in the Saddle Again

Whew! Life's been crazy! Since August I've flown four times, been in five states outside of Washington, mourned a relative, celebrated two weddings, and spent Thanksgiving in my hometown for the first time since 2004. It's been an expensive, exhausting, and completely worth it whirlwind adventure.

I haven't blogged in a while mostly because I haven't had time or nice things to say but I've decided I need this outlet. I need to champion my family, rage at the world, and detail the minutia of my life. It helps me get it all out and channels my energy.

Things on my plate right now:

1. Fitness Re-Boot. I have the gym membership I've been craving for so long and I LOOVE it. However, to get in my workout for the day and still be a present member of my family, my workout slot is 5am. This, I do not love. I was very good about going for a while but travel and bad weather have conspired with my innate laziness and I haven't been in quite a while. I will be there tomorrow, high waters be damned (we have had a lot of high water around these parts lately...hell, not so much)! I've resigned up for SparkPeople to track my fitness and my food and it's telling me that if I keep this up fairly consistently, I could be at my ultimate healthy weight by next Christmas. :) Merry Christmas to me!
2. Crafting Ahoy! My goal this year was to craft and I've been semi-successful. I am always working on Ella's baby book. I have even started playing around with other scrapbooks (England 2006, Wedding 2007, etc) but those aren't really started yet. Over Thanksgiving, my mom and I made one of the three stockings I wanted to complete by Christmas this year. The pieces are cut out for the other ones but I haven't really had the time or space to do any sewing. I'm planning on devoting a chunk of time this weekend to it in order to bang out the rest. It's 11 days until Christmas - can I have them done in time for Santa?
3. Cleaning, Cleaning, Always Cleaning We have a tiny apartment and due to our own financial problems and some job worries, we won't be able to move any time soon. Therefore, we have been slowly culling through everything to determine what we really need and what can either be pitched, donated, or sold. It's a work in progress but it always feels nice to make a little bit more room.

Life hasn't worked out exactly as planned lately (when does it?) and I've been working through phases of anger, despair, anger again, and acceptance. We're blessed to have health, love, family, and (as of right now anyway) a room over our head and food for our baby so we can't really complain.

I promise to keep up with blogging a bit more. I'm sure all two of you who read this are thrilled. :)

One More Sleep Till Christmas

Well, it's Christmas time again. Time has flown by. Things are, as always ever-changing. What we thought about two years ago as our future is no longer. What we thought we would be doing and where we would be living last year is radically different as well. We're finally in a place where *maybe* what we think of this year will come to pass next year. Maybe.

I suppose I should wait until New Year's to look back on the last year but really, why wait? Christmas always makes me a bit more "think-y" than I ought to be anyway.

The last year in reflection:

• A final push for Craig: the last semester in seminary.
• Many awesome pub nights with friends
• Never a dull moment for me at work
• Easter spent in West Virginia with family - it snowed!
• Graduation in May - family arrives from both coasts to celebrate
• Our friend Ryan gets his plate at the Saucer and a bunch of us gather to drink in his honor
• We travel back to West Virginia and Pennsylvania to celebrate Craig's grandpa's 91st birthday and get to see family from Chicago and Maryland as a bonus
• Our 2nd anniversary is spent in Atlanta and was awesome! Champagne, aquariums, Muppets, and a fancy dinner.
• Just a few days after our anniversary weekend we find out we're expecting! Woot!
• Another trip up to West Virginia and Pennsylvania for a cousin's wedding party and a baby announcement
• A trip to Seattle for a final interview...fingers crossed!
• Craig gets a job offer and we start to plan a cross country move
• Craig arrives in Seattle in September and sets to work prepping the apartment and settling into his job
• McKenzie says a sad goodbye to Columbia but a happy hello to Seattle as she arrives in the Northwest
• Awesome OB doc is found and the big announcement - It's a girl!
• McKenzie gets a job that helps with the bills and forces her to be out amidst the rest of human kind of a regular basis.
  
• Craig and McKenzie spend the rest of the year (a whole two months) adjusting to the weather, the people, the different driving/parking quirks, the lay of the land
• McKenzie's family visits for Thanksgiving and Christmas

All in all - an eventful year and one that I will be happy to see end. I'm looking forward to March and to new adventures with the Falvo 3 instead of the Falvo 2.

Merry Christmas to all!