Can you believe it is New Year's Eve?!

I can hardly believe it is another New Year's Eve. I am glad of it though...rather looking forward to putting 2008 behind and move on to 2009...hoping for better times ahead. 2008 was a tough year in my house, not that it was all bad, but a tough one nonetheless.

I am taking a little inspiration from my little girl this year. She is all about Camp Rock and The Jonas Brothers. She is our little performer and loves to sing and put on shows (a bit like her mother was at that age actually! LOL!) She has a particular song that she loves from Camp Rock, sung by Demi Lovato called This Is Me. I was listening to it this morning on the way to work (yep, got the whole Camp Rock soundtrack on my MP3 player -- I AM a Disney girl through and through!) and even though I know all the words by heart because I have heard Alyson sing them hundreds of times, this morning they really struck a chord with me and as I was singing, I felt like I could be singing about myself. Cheesy, right? So, I started the song over and sang at the top of my lungs! (and you thought I couldn't possibly be any more cheesy, eh?)

I've always been the kind of girl

That hid my face

So afraid to tell the world

What I've got to say

But I have this dream

Right inside of me

I'm gonna let it show - it's time

To let you know...

This is real

This is me

I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now

Gonna let the light shine on me

Now I've found, who I am

There's no way to hold it in

No more hiding who I want to be

This is me

Do you know what it's like

To feel so in the dark

To dream about a life

Where you're the shining star

Even though it seems

Like it's too far away

I have to believe in myself

It's the only way...

This is real

This is me

I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now

Gonna let the light shine on me

Now I've found, who I am

There's no way to hold it in

No more hiding who I want to be

This is me

Okay, so I am not looking to be a rock star or anything but the words have inspired me to just be me and not worry about what the world thinks...This is me, so if you don't like it, well, that's okay.

I am not usually one for New Year Resolutions but this year I am feeling rather compelled to write out a few for myself...

I will take better care of myself.
I will stop putting myself last.
I will be the best wife I can be.
I will be the best mother I can be.
I will stop and take in the moment.
I will try really hard to worry a little less.
I will stop caring what other people think.
I will be the best friend I can be.
I will not lose faith.
I will not lose hope.
I will be a more positive person.

I will be okay with me.

These are the first things that come to mind. I have a few scrapbooking goals for myself as well but I will post those later. If you have any resolutions, feel free to link back here -- I would love to hear what goals you guys have. And you can feel free to have a good little giggle thinking about me jamming out to Camp Rock and singing at the top of my lungs...although just so you know, I did score over a million points singing it on Disney Sing it! ROTFLOL!

Wishing you all a safe and fun New Year's Eve and a 2009 filled with love, laughter, friendship and all things good!

More of my Christmas Journal

Man, I have been so busy lately, haven't had much time to play with all my scrapbooking goodies. I am way behind on my Christmas Journal but I am determined NOT to give up this year so here I go still plugging along...

December 7th - Making a List

This one is pretty simple...journaling reads: Every year I vow to be more organized and ahead of the game…and more times than not, I fail. I will inevitably find myself stressed and running around at the last minute trying to get things accomplished. Well, NOT THIS YEAR! We have cut back substantially on the gift giving this year which makes things so much easier! The Christmas cards are just about ready to go and once I get my cookies made it should be smooth sailing! WOOHOO!



December 8th - Disney Christmas Magic

I took the day off of work on Monday, December 8th and we made the kids think they had a dentist appointment before school...and took them to Walt Disney World instead! We were the cool parents that day! I used pics taken throughout the day for this entry. Journaling reads: Can there really be anything more magical than Walt Disney World at Christmas time?! Or a suprise day off from school in order to see all that magic?! I think not!

December 9th - Traditions

I am always envious of families who have all these great and meaningful traditions...never had any of those growing up but I hope I can change that with my own kids. Journaling reads: When someone asks about our family traditions my initial thought is that we really don’t have any and I find myself envious of those who have special things they do and look forward to each Christmas…but then the more I think about it the more I guess that we do have a few - like the kids getting their picture taken with Santa Claus every year or us taking our family photo for the Christmas cards. The kids always have their chocolate countdown calendars and we hang our stockings up too. Each Christmas Eve, we leave milk and cookies out for Santa and sprinkle reindeer food outside for Rudolph and friends. And when Santa does drop in for his visit he always helps me put out all the gifts under the tree in addition to what he brings. He also likes to leave a letter for the Stevie and Alyson. So while we don’t have a lot of traditions, the few that we do have definitely help make our Christmas special...and who knows, maybe we can add a few more in the years to come.

December 10th - My Favorite kind of Holiday Wrapping

This entry was totally inspired by my friend Karen...hope I did yours justice girl! ;) Journaling reads: I know it is Christmastime when I treat myself to a vanilla latte at Starbucks and they hand it to me all "wrapped" up in their pretty holiday cups! They are always so pretty and festive! It also means their new Christmas ornaments will be out soon too! ;)

Playing catch up! (half way there...)

We had a pretty busy weekend and then we surprised the kids and took them to Disney yesterday (poor things thought we were taking them to the dentist before school! Steve really had Alyson going! LOL! But that will be a story for another day!) so I have not had much time to sit down and work on my Christmas Journal. Tonight though I was able to finish up through December 6th!

December 4th - Perfection

This entry was all about your perfect Christmas...the journaling reads: Every year, I imagine having that “perfect Christmas”. I think I am finally coming to the realization however, that really there is no such thing. Nothing will ever be perfect. But I do believe that there are always “moments” of perfection - even if they only last for a second or two. The more I slow down and really take the time to notice, I can see at least one every single day. And while I may not have an entirely perfect Christmas, they are always filled with moments of perfection - quite a few actually. One of my most favorite ones is that very first moment when the kids wake up and come out to see the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. Their faces are lit up with pure and absolute joy, excitement and bewilderment. It just doesn’t get any more perfect than that. (The picture is from 2003...can't believe how little they were!)

December 5th - Counting Down

There are so many different ways to countdown until Christmas Day. This year we added one to our house. Journaling reads: Stevie and Alyson really love counting down to Christmas. Each morning they eagerly open the next “door” in their chocolate advent calendar. This year I wanted to try and start a new tradition as well. I wrapped up 25 different Christmas themed books and put them in a basket. Each night one person gets to pick a book out of the basket and unwrap it, then we all sit together and read it. So far they are really excited about it and are quick to ask if it is time to read our book. I am really hoping this can become a fun, new tradition for our family.

December 6th - The Good and The Bad

I decided to take a bit of a different approach on this but I am sure Shimelle won't mind! ;) The basic prompt was a good memory vs a bad memory (or not so good). This past Saturday, the 6th, was the night of our neighborhood's first Progressive Holiday Party. We used to do these when we lived in Seatle and they became something we all looked forward to and so this year Steve and I thought it might be fun to try it here. I got a great response and the party was better than I expected! Everyone had such a good time and so it just seemed perfect to use it in my journal entry for the day. I included a pic of Steve and I as well as me and 2 of my favorite neighbors - otherwise known as "The Real Housewives of The EL!" -- the new show coming soon to Bravo! (NOT) ;)

Journaling reads: One of the things I never really looked forward to during the Christmas holidays was the fact that Steve would get to go to his company Christmas party, but I never got to go. He worked for Scudder for so long, 10 years actually, and in all that time, spouses were never invited. That was always tough for me and I am not going to lie, I was just plain jealous! Especially the years when we moved and he would fly back to Chicago to go. I wanted to be able to get dressed up and have a good time too!

When we were living in Seattle, our neighborhood starting doing Progressive Christmas Parties each year and so finally I got to get all dolled up and have a good time. It was a big deal and we all really looked forward to it. Of course once we moved back to Florida it was back to the way things were! This year though, our little neighborhood had our first Progressive Holiday party and it really turned out great! It was so much fun to get dressed up again and everyone seemed to have a good time and thanked me for putting it all together. I would definitely be up for doing it all again next year! I mean, seriously, who doesn’t love a good Christmas party?!

Feels good to have those completed. Now I just have 3 more to go and I have a pretty good head start on those already. I am pretty proud of myself for keeping up this year...definitely much better than last year's journal. Hopefully I will have more to share tomorrow. (((hugs!)))

This is for my little brother...it IS my little brother! Can you tell it was a slow day at the office? (oh and that other guy is Phi...one of our co-workers...pretty sure this is is internet debut! LOL!) **for the full effect you will need to pause the Christmas music...just scroll down and it will be on the left**

P.S. Hey Topher....your neice says you are weird! LOL!

Christmas Cards & Earnest Graham...

My entry for day 3 of Journal Your Christmas is complete! GO ME! Thanks again to Chiara for helping out with this one...if not for you I would have just put it off...

Journaling reads: Christmas cards are one of my favorite traditions. In this day and age of email, it is rare to get something fun in the mailbox! And I think Christmas cards are FUN!
I love getting the pictures every year and seeing how our friends and family have changed. I love to have them on display throughout the house. We normally have a picture taken by the end of November so that we can get our Christmas cards out right at the beginning of December. We are a bit behind this year though since Steve was pretty sick over Thanksgiving - kind of threw off our “schedule”. We will still get ours out though and I will be sure to tuck an extra one in this envelope as well. It is always fun to go back and look at how our little family has changed each year as well.

Every night at dinner the past couple of weeks we have started a new thing with the kids...talking about the best and worst parts of our days. Today one of the best parts of MY day was meeting Earnest Graham of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in person! Doesn't he just have the best smile?! He reminds me of a kid - his face just lights up with pure joy. He was so nice and sweet, so appreciative of everyone who came out to meet him. His story is so inspiring and I just couldn't be happier for him and his family. I am praying that he will be healthy again soon and back out on the football field doing what he does best!

Journal Your Christmas (12/2) - Snow Day

My journal entry for today...

I had some fun with this one...used all old stash too!

Journaling reads: I confess, sometimes I miss the snow. Most of the time - well, not so much! LOL! But at Christmas time, I must admit, it would be nice to look out the window and see the world covered in a beautiful blanket of snowy white glistening in the sunlight. When we lived in Seattle I use to love watching the snow fall. There is nothing like the look of freshly fallen snow. I loved seeing the kids all bundled up with just their rosy cheeks and perfect little red noses peeking out.

The kids miss the snow sometimes too. I remember just a couple of years ago in 2006, Alyson was in Kindergarten. I picked her and Stevie up from school as usual and we were walking out to the car just before the Christmas Break and Alyson told me she wanted it to snow. Of course, we don’t typically get snow here in Florida and so I told her that I was pretty sure that wasn’t going to happen. Apparently she did not like that answer and proceeded to throw a nice big tantrum, complete with tears and stamping feet, all the while crying out that she wanted to see snow! Oh the looks on the faces of the parents around me was quite humorous! All I could really do was laugh and shake my head.

One of these years I am sure we will get back up to the north somewhere to see the snow…for now though we have our memories.

Today I was able to leave work a little early and head over to Alyson's dance class...it is Parent Observation Week. Normally they are behind closed doors so we don't get to see what they are working on. Alyson is taking a hip hop class...at 7 years old it doesn't tend to actually look like hip hop dancing but oh my goodness, it was just so fun to watch! My little girl may not be the best dancer out there but she was definitely having SO much fun. I think it is safe to say that this year is the most fun she has had in dance. Her teacher is really great with all the kids and I know I have used the word a bit already, but she makes things fun! I took some video of a dance they did tonight...a little too tired to upload it tonight but I will try and do it tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be another fun day for me too! We are going to an autograph signing for one of our favorite Buccaneers players! SWEET! Pictures FOR SURE on that one! One of these days I need to start THAT scrapbook!

Journal Your Christmas - December 1st

Today is the day...the first day of Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas. I have really been looking forward to doing this this year and am feeling pretty good at having gotten the first day done! I am letting go and just keeping things simple. Both in my journal and in my home. For years we have been saying that Christmas has become too commercial and too much about getting gifts, this year Steve and I both agree that is going to change.

Journaling reads: This Christmas I will make something with my own hands, my own words and my own memories. Starting today, December 1st, 2008, I will keep a Christmas journal. Each day I will use this journal to reflect on those things that are essential to making mine and my family’s Christmas merry and bright. I hope that by taking the time every day to do this I will be able to make the most of this Christmas and reclaim the joy of the season. I hope to teach my children the real meaning of Christmas this year and to keep it alive and well in my home, my heart and my children’s hearts. This year, it is not about how many gifts are under our tree and getting everything we want. It is about the precious gifts of our family and friends and wanting what we already have.