Goals 2010

I cannot believe how much my life has changed in the past 10 years. Ten years ago tonight I was with a great group of friends making a time capsule (Which has yet to turn up! No one remembers what we did with it!) and cautiously mocking those preparing for Y2K. Remember that?! We are all married now, and many blessings have been given to each family. So I'm reflecting on the past year, and decade, and thinking about what is important to me to accomplish this year. So, here's my top 20 list of things I want to do this new year. Some are more eternally important than others, but I do adore checking things off a list, so I figure I'll be more motivated this way!

1) Become a Stay-at-Home mom, and do it well

2) Take a cake decorating class, or two

3) Take a sewing class, and sew more

4) Make a quilt for Sweetpea's big girl bed

5) Finish landscaping our yards

6) Read the Bible all the way through

7) Find a new home church, and get involved

8) Be a good friend and make connecting with friends more of a priority

9) Have a Girlfriends weekend with my college friends

10) Have a weekend away with Gary

11) Call out of town family at least once a month

12) Have a baby

13) Build L'alfabeto, my Etsy shop, and spend more time on it

14) Participate in two Christmas Boutiques

15) Find, and set aside time for, a couples Bible study with Gary

16) Spend time with God, everyday

17) Pray for the things in my life that are important, consistently

18) Expect, and pray for, a miracle of supernatural proportions for Kate

19) Grow out these pesky bangs (Why do I keep thinking bangs are a good idea?!)

20) Laugh more

I know I will add to this list, and I hope to revisit the list several times this year to stay on track. I know several of these things are beyond my control, but they still need my time and attention. Do you have a list?

Trip of a Lifetime

Way back before actually giving birth to our child, Gary and I made some bold statements about what we would and would not do as parents. The only declaration that actually stuck was we were NOT going to take our child to Disneyland before he or she was five years old so we wouldn't have to deal with naps or strollers there (I know, I know, meaningful stand to take eh?). Thus began our new family tradition of taking one child at a time to Disneyland for their 5th birthdays. Once Goofball was born, we got a big old water bottle and started saving our spare change to take him there for his fifth birthday. Even after Sweetpea was born, we continued saving vowing it would be just the three of us for his special birthday trip. The big 5 seemed monumental, as if it would never actually arrive. Well, it finally did. Last week Gary and I took our Goofball to Disneyland for three solid days of spoiling rotten. It was truly a trip of a lifetime. Everything went so smoothly... great trip over, perfect weather, no long waits for rides, one very well behaved wild boy, and two trips to the Starbucks across the street. We were so giddy and could hardly wipe the big dopey grins off our faces all day. It was so special to give him the undivided attention for a little while and watch our sweet boy turn into a bigger little boy.
So, I have to digress... even though the trip itself was phenomenal, our hotel experience was less than ideal. Oh the hotel room was fine, we're not too hard to please. We were missing bath towels and I dabbed myself dry with a wash cloth, found another human's hair in the tub, and occasionally heard a small beeping sound coming from an unknown source... again, I can work past this. The fireworks from Disneyland started promptly at 9:30 and lasted until 9:42 all the while sounding as if someone was going postal outside our door with a missile launcher, hand grenades, and an assault riffle, again... minor inconvenience. However, just a little piece of advice... no amount of covers to the ears can muffle the throw caution and modesty to the wind couple next door. If you're going to get your hanky panky on, please keep it down lest a bewildered mother has to explain what that noise is to her sweet, not quite five year old. Just saying.

Cookies in a Pinch

Okay, this is seriously the most simple peanut butter cookie recipe ever. You probably have the ingredients in your kitchen right now. Goofball and Sweetpea helped me test this one out because I was skeptical too at first.

What you'll need:
1 cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky
1 cup sugar, plus a little more for rolling
1 egg

That's it, seriously.

Get to it:
1. Heat oven to 375, stir together peanut butter, sugar, and egg
2. Roll dough into little 1-inch balls, roll balls in sugar to coat, place onto cookie sheet
3. Press each ball down with a fork to make a good, old fashioned crisscross design
4. Bake for 10 minutes, or until cookies just begin to brown a bit on the edges.

I'm enjoying a warm one as we speak, happy baking :)