A New Year and looking Towards the Future

New Years Eve started with a picnic style dinner of chicken fingers, pasta salad, and sliced raw vegetables.

After dinner the kid's party started.  At their request, we put on some kid's dance videos from YouTube and they danced around the living room to such hits as "Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes" and "Whip my Hair".

After about half an hour of dancing excitedly, they were tired and ready to curl up on the couch for a movie.  E choose Leapfrog: Adventures in Shapeville Park.

It's a cute little movie.  Scout is the dog from E's Leap Pad toy and I'd have to admit he's fairly cute as cartoon dogs go.

In this particular video Scout and his friends, other various cartoon animals, learn about shapes and measuring and build a playground with the help of some "measuring" mice.

After the movie it was 8:30pm.  We had told E that she could stay up until 9:00pm but it was clear that she was tired as she actually requested to do the countdown early so she could go to bed.

Luckily for us Netflix came through again with their countdown to "midnight" with King Julien.  E really enjoyed it.  We all had a small glass of gingerale to toast with and afterwards tucked her into bed with a story and the excitement of knowing that when she woke up it would be a new year.


With the kids in bed hubby and I were free to do our own thing.  We chose to watch a movie on Netflix as well.  The movie was entitled "Midnight in Paris".  I was hoping to find a romantic comedy and I wasn't sure about this particular movie but it was interesting.

In Midnight in Paris, a writer and his fiancee go to Paris for a vacation and he finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight. The idea of time travel is something that has always really intrigued me and the time periods shown in the movie intrigued me as well.  I'm a bit of a romantic and would have loved to so easily visited those times and returned to the comforts of home as well.  Overall it was a good movie though I'm not sure I would watch it again as it was a bit slow at times but the concept was good.

We interrupted our movie about 3/4 of the way though to watch the Ball drop in New York online, had some wine and a kiss, wished a few people "Happy New Year!" and went back to watching the end.

It wasn't as eventful as New Year's Eves that hubby and I have celebrated together in the past but it was peaceful and relaxing and we had a good time together.

So to answer the questions,  "If the way you spent your New Year’s Eve is any indication of how the rest of the year will go, how would you say your future is looking right about now?" I think the future looks good.  Overall it was a happy evening shared with family with lots of laughs and love.

My Word of the Year. . Envision

:to think of (something that you believe might exist or happen in the future) : to picture (something) in your mind.

My word of the year for 2015 is Envision.

This is the first time I've ever chosen a word of the year and I had a hard time figuring out which word to choose.  I wanted a word that would encourage me as we continue to push forward, and to help me stay strong.  Sometimes when you're waiting for something to happen you can feel kind of stuck, like you're just treading water rather than swimming to the next place, where you actually want to be.

I've put a lot of thought into choosing my word.  To begin with I was going to choose the word "possible" because for 2015 I want to focus on what is possible some day, hopefully in the near future: ie buying a house, adopting a second child, etc.  I'm sure there are lots of possibilities out there for me to discover.

However, in the long run I decided that "possible" isn't really something I'm in control of.  It doesn't come from me it happens to me.  Like they say "Anything is possible" but I feel a need to take a grasp on the possibilities, and gain more control and so I'll Envision it: I'll dream about it and if there are steps I can take I'll take them and if not I'll try to focus on the present and enjoy what life throws at me.

Another Year. . .More Resolutions

So last year about this time I made a blog post about my New Year's resolutions for 2014.  So now's the time to review them and see how I did. . .

My first resolution was to make more time for me. .

With all the appointments children have needed to get to, field trips to go on, and my husband's work I've honestly probably had less time for me in 2014 than I had in 2013 but it wasn't without trying. Sometimes stuff just doesn't work out.  It continues to be a goal I'll have for 2015!

Secondly, I planned to get more exercise. . .

Well, I intended to do yoga, and maybe take a dance class.  Throughout the year I did occasionally do yoga but I never really consistantly stuck with it.  I'm also not sitting around being lazy all day either though.  I have been chasing a toddler around the house since July and walking a 5 year old to school and back since September.  So I guess it's not planned exercise but it's not not exercising either.

As for dance classes, unfortunately my husband and I decided that dance classes weren't going to work out for this year, but maybe another time.

Have date nights with my husband. . .

I suggested a ball room dance class but there were no takers. lol. Two birds with one stone right? Haha.  Honestly though we do spend a lot of time together just not out of the house right now. We chit chat as we do our own thing.  In 2015 I hope to actually get out to the occasional restaurant though too.  I actually have a couple restaurant names jotted down now. 

Have more family time without tv, computers and iphones. . .

We actually managed it this summer when we went tent camping.  Two days without tv, computers or iphones.  .though my husband didn't have a choice as the battery died on his phone.  He had to leave it in the car to charge. Haha. We had fun!

Save money. . .

This is one thing we can definitely be proud of.  We've saved a lot of money this year.  We continue to save because we haven't met our goal yet but we're actually getting somewhere now! :)

Get rid of stuff, organize, etc.

This continues to be something I'm working on.  With Christmas having just passed we have more toys to find homes for, and I still have to organize our storage room so that you don't have to empty it to find what you need. :) Another thing to work on this year! At least I have a plan now.

Improve my appearance. 
I'm working on this one.  I recently got a hair cut, and purchased some new clothes which is something I haven't done in a while because I never outgrow my old ones. 

So, goals for 2015. . .Continue to work on making more time for me, go out for at least a couple restaurant dates with my husband where I put the effort into looking nice like I used to when we were dating, continue to save money (we're trying to buy a house), organize what we have and purge what we don't need!

Let's see how this goes. :)

10 Years Ago. . .This is me

This is me in February of 2005.  I would have been 22 at the time.  Physically I haven't really changed that much over the years.  I have a few more wrinkles and some grey hairs but overall photos of me don't look that different.

This photo brings back strong memories, memories that at times I'd perhaps like to forget.

It was taken by my boyfriend at the time.  I was "dropping by" to see him at work.  He worked security at a dealership at the time and this is a picture of me in the security car with him.

I look happy, but I wasn't really.

I probably was at that very moment but sometimes pictures don't tell the whole story, just pieces and long story short, he wasn't a very nice person.

Luckily, things change.  I left him in early 2006 and found my own way.  I think the only good thing that came out of the relationship was that I got my ears pierced. The one time being yelled at and called names and then being tricked into doing something led to something I had actually wanted to do for a long time.

I had to basically hit the bottom to get back to the top.  You could think of it as falling down an old, abandoned, dark well. You aren't expecting it because you didn't see the well in the beginning because the well was boarded up and covered in beautiful thick grass but now you're trapped and cold, scared and probably a bit sad.

To begin with I was happy, he was wonderful and I was shown off as his princess.  Other girls were jealous of me and people would tell me how lucky I was to have him.  I wanted it to work and he seemed great. . .until he wasn't, but I didn't blame him.  By then "I" was the problem.  Clearly I needed to develop a sense of humour/ try harder/ dress differently or stop talking to those people (my friends) and everything would be fine.

Eventually I'd lost every part of who "I" was. I was depressed. Night after night I cried myself to sleep worrying about what I'd done to displease him, begging him "please please don't leave me", promising to try harder.

Luckily there was light in the darkness.  I decided that my relationship wasn't the problem in my life but that I must be unhappy because I had a college diploma but was working at a Subway.  So I moved back in with my parents to look for a "real job".

Our original plan was that I would move down, find work, then rent us an apartment and he'd join me.  It became clear though eventually that that was never his plan.  He expected me to fail but I didn't. First, I found work and then I re-established connections with old high school friends.  Soon I was out with the girls, going out for drinks after work with friends, etc.  My confidence was coming back and his increasingly angry, jealous phone calls were showing me who he really was.  Except this time I didn't blame myself for his actions.

In February 2006 I dumped him and in November 2006, after a few months of being free to be me again, I met my now husband.  We dated from November 11, 2006 to November 11, 2007 before he pooped the question. We were married on May 3, 2008.

Luckily he's nothing like the guy who took that first picture.

So who is the woman in the second photo?  Well, I've changed a lot.  Now that I'm 32, I'm not the timid mouse I used to be in 2005.  Instead of pretending to have confidence I actually do have a lot more than I did, though I'm sure we could all use a bit more some days. I have an opinion about a lot of things and I generally only share those opinions with my husband unless asked as by nature I'm a peacemaker. I follow my heart, and at times I am sometimes probably too caring,  I'm a mom and I'm currently a foster parent and sometimes I'm even a blogger. . .sometimes. 

Hoping that this coming year I'll actually get around to sharing more here than last. . .

My attempt at Exercise

So one of my "New Year's Resolutions" or "goals" was to get more exercise this year.  Like I said in my previous post, I'm thinking of possibly taking a dance class.

I used to take dance classes in late elementary and early high school so it's been a long time and I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to keep up so I've been trying to get fit enough to take a dance class. lol.

Anyway, I decided why not get fit by doing barre exercises since that's likely going to be at least similar to what I'll do in a ballet class.

So I found this exercise routine on barre on YouTube.  I don't actually have a barre so I used the back of my couch and pushed my dining room table against a wall to allow room to kick. lol.

I made it to 20:55 before I had to stop.  I needed water, needed to catch my breath and my legs felt like Jello.  The dance classes I'm thinking of enrolling in are 45 minutes long.  I doubt they're as intense as this work out is, since they're "beginner" classes, but I think I'm going to keep trying to do this work out until the classes start in February just in case. lol.