2009 Resolutions: Out with the old

So, before I delve into my long list of resolutions and goals for 2010 I wanted to recap quickly where I ended up on my 2009 resolutions as of yesterday.

2009:
.Read 15 books- I read 14 new books, 1 new audio book, and re-read 4 favorites for a total of 19
.Set up an efficient new household- I've definitely got a system going that is working for me, but not perfectly. I feel pretty darn efficient, but there is still room for improvement.
.Finish my needed dental work- made no progress whatsoever.
.Try yoga and tai chi- did try yoga, and got a tai chi dvd from Netflix in the past few weeks, but never found the time for it.
.Watch 5 foreign films- Breathless, Cinema Paradiso, Metropolis, Shall We Dance, and La Strada
.Travel more- We went to Washington DC, San Francisco, a quick one day jaunt to Austin, and I went south for my sister's graduation.
.Cross 5 things off life-goals list- I was able to check mark: See Woody Allen Live(!), Learn to put on eyeliner (embarrassing, but being honest here), Go to Washington DC, Read all of Jane Austen's books, and Win a contest (crossed off when I remembered I'd actually done this in 2008, ha)

2008 Continued:
.More physical activities: pilates & walking- failed miserably here, involving this in new resolutions
.Study photography and experiment- I took 4 classes at a local camera shop, read several books, and took an online course. Also experimented with the Holga I got for Christmas last year. Plan to continue with my hobby this year.
.Keep up with Newsweek reading- did pretty poorly at this.
.See our friends more often- We definitely socialized a lot more this year, more parties, more hang outs, made new friends and traveled to see old ones.
.Improve my wardrobe- I'm definitely looking better than I was last year and think I am getting a little closer to developing a personal style.
.Be much more money conscious- I did better tracking our expenses, and we have several targeted savings accounts for our different goals now. We could be more frugal though.
.Try 4 new restaurants- I try not to count out of town restaurants, since obviously most of those are new. This year we tried a couple of new restaurants in the area, but we also stood by our old favorites as well.

Au Revoir 2009

It's really hard for me to believe that in twelve hours this year will be over. 2010! This time last year I was figuring that 2009 couldn't possibly be as great as 2008 was, but it definitely proved me wrong. 2008 will remain #1, maybe because it was the first truly awesome year I've had, but 2009 absolutely didn't disappoint. Here are some highlights of this tip top twenty-oh-nine.

We bought, painted, and moved into our first house!















We found a new local restaurant we like, Chadra's.
I took several photo classes at a local camera store.
We switched to buying organic, mostly local, meats.
We vacationed in Washington DC and attended Steve & Meri's wedding.















We threw a house warming party and were so happy to have so many friends come to see the place and party with us!
We hosted a baby shower for our best friends Stephanie & Rodney and their twins, who will be here so very soon!
We spent time in California with our good pal Diggy.















In just the last 6 months I've seen Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Paul McCartney, The Smothers Brothers, The Swell Season and WOODY ALLEN in concert.
An online travel agency picked up one of my travel photos.
We made new friends, and spent a lot of time surrounded by old and new friends this year.
I took an online photography class.
I roasted my first chicken!
My baby sister graduated from high school- salutatorian!
We celebrated our 11th year together and our 3rd wedding anniversary.
I had a Fort Worth Camera and a photopl.us Photo of the Day
We had our first Christmas in the new house.

Who knows what 2010 has in store for us? We're hoping for a camping & trout fishing trip in the near future with Josh's dad. I'm hoping we'll be able to get down to see my sister's new house. I can't wait to love on Steph's coming twins, and Rob & LeAnn's little Violet (also due very soon). And I definitely can't wait for all the fun and new experiences Josh and I will get to share together. 2010, be on alert- you've got big shoes to fill! I'll be back tomorrow with my 2009 resolution accomplishments and what I hope to work on for 2010. Happy New Year everyone!!!

Post Christmas Catch-up

Oh my! I'm finally starting to feel back in the swing of things. Of course, it follows that there's still New Year's to get through too so who knows how long this feeling will last. Christmas eve turned out to be quite eventful, in that we practically had a blizzard in these parts. It started snowing before 10 that morning and it just kept coming. It took forever for it to start sticking, but once it did it accumulated rather quickly. The roads eventually started to ice over too. Mom and my brother Justin and his family were supposed to be coming over for dinner and presents. Mom still made it, but Justin had to make a quick stop by himself to deliver gifts since my niece came down with a bug that day. What bad luck! But we had a nice evening anyway. The snow finally eased shortly after Mom arrived. I roasted a chicken, which we had with stuffing and roasted veggies. We lit some candles and opened a bottle of wine and had a nice leisurely dinner. Afterward we played a little Beatles Rock Band to show Mom what it was like, and then we had apple cider, egg nog, and opened our presents. My bro called so my niece could say Merry Christmas to us all. We visited for a little longer and then we helped Mom out to her car. Her door was frozen shut, which took some yanking, and I had to scrape her windshield off for her. Luckily she just lives around the corner, so she didn't have far to go on the slick and slippery roads. Then Josh and I put on the new pajamas Mom gave us, had some cocoa and more nog, and watched Muppet Christmas Carol before settling in for our Christmas sleep.

Christmas morning we had a nice sleep in and woke up to glistening snow all over our yard. I previously had hopes of taking a little family portrait in front of the house, but all the cold and snow called for a quick readjustment. I set up the tripod and snapped a pic of us in our Christmas pajamas on the sidewalk instead. Then we had some bacon, hash browns, eggs and coffee for breakfast and opened our presents. We spoiled each other as usual! Josh loved all his presents, and I of course loved mine. He got me most of the stuff I posted from my wishlist. Then I got changed and went outside to make a little snowman. I just couldn't let the white stuff melt without a few minutes of fun in it. We spent the rest of the day enjoying our presents and then got ready and headed to his Mom's house that evening. I helped Deana in the kitchen while the guys watched a movie. We then had dinner and opened gifts, finished the movie over dessert, and headed back home.

Day after Christmas consisted of Josh leaving very early in the morning and me sleeping in. I spent most of the day in my pajamas with the after Christmas blues, watching movies and stuff off the DVR. Went out that night with Holly to see Holy Moly at the Aardvark, followed by some post drinking Fuzzy's Tacos and back home to bed. Josh got home on Sunday, we grabbed some lunch, and then headed back out to House of Blues for the Rock School showcase and the Back In Black concert. Monday we slept in, then got ready and hit the road to Austin to see Woody Allen. I'll write about that in another post though, cause that was a big life moment for me!

Here are a few pics from our holiday weekend. You can see a couple more here.

Josh's Christmas Gifts 2009

Once again, Josh has promised to not peek so that I might share with you what he'll be finding from me under the Christmas tree this year. Josh actually asked for some stuff this year, and pretty early in the season too, so I had an easy task ahead of me. Didn't take me too long to decide what to get for him. Here's a peek at his presents. His gifts look a lot more colorful compared to last year's.























The Complete Monty Python's 16-Ton Megaset: Flying Circus, Justice, Volume 1 graphic novel, Mirror's Edge for PS3, Striped sweater from Old Navy (sold out), Moongel dampening gels (stocking stuffer), Flight of the Conchords Season 2 DVD, The Acid House by Irvine Welsh, digital tuner and metranome, Drumsticks and brushes (stocking stuffers)

My 2009 Christmas Wish list

This year I decided to do just one post on some of the things I put on my Christmas wish list, a la Olivia at Gnome Sweet Gnome. So, here are some of the things I am hoping to find under the tree this holiday season.


















1. A set of filters and some film for my Holga camera
2. A water color set, sketch pad, and brushes (inspired by Emily)
3. I always ask for books- shown: The Groucho Letters, My Life In France, Woody Allen: A Biography, The Photographer's Eye, Blink, and Bill Wood's Business
4. Some glass replacements for my old, plastic food containers and a new compost pail from Crate & Barrel
5. New slippers with a hard sole
6. The Grab Bag of Swell Season 2008 tour posters
7. A Darcy proposal mug and Pride & Prejudice ornament from Etsy seller Brookish (currently sold out)
8. The Muppet Show Season 3 on DVD
9. Bakelite necklace from Etsy seller PetitOiseau

Halloween 2009

Here we are ready for some spooktacular fun! Our friend Jen snapped this pic.

Resolutions Version 2009

I've been thinking about what resolutions I would like to make for this new year for several weeks now. Last year was the first time I've really made a strong list and accomplishing just some of them made me feel really great. I had been keeping up with my progress on a monthly basis, which I think helped so I'll try to do that again as well. I've got a list of new resolutions as well as some from last year that I want to continue, renew, or actually get done this time.

New Resolutions:
.Read 15 books this year
.Set up an efficient new household
.Finish my needed dental work
.Try yoga and tai chi
.Watch 5 foreign films
.Travel more
.Cross 5 things of life-goals list

Continued Resolutions:
.More physical activities: pilates & walking
.Study photography and experiment
.Keep up with Newsweek reading
.See our friends more often
.Improve my wardrobe
.Be much more money conscious
.Try 4 new restaurants

Goodbye Good Year

Despite my current illness, and the rather rough bout of depression through the summer, 2008 has been without a doubt one of the best years of my life. Here are just a few of the things that make me feel that way.

-Wonderful trip to Manhattan: Ellis Island, Pizza @ John's, Central Park, and 59th street bridge
-Marking 10 wonderful years with Josh
-My first jazz concert: sublime!
-Participating in the political process: caucusing, delegate at District 10 convention, and voting on a cheery election day morning
-Fun visits to the Amon Carter and Kimbell Art Museums
-Trying 4 new restaurants and finding a couple of favorites
-Getting more exercise: walking and pilates
-Eating better: Start making salad for us throughout the week, try more vegetarian recipes
-Making new friends and finding old ones
-Cruising along on our second wedding anniversary: lazy day on the beach, hiking Mayan ruins, good eats and good times
-Saving over $18K this year!
-House-hunting: maybe depressing at times, but a marker of a new phase in our life
-Celebrating with friends their weddings, birthdays, new births, etc.
-Supporting Josh in his new job that he loves
-Accomplishing half of my New Year's Resolutions
-Feeling positive about the year to come

Very much hoping that 2009 will be very jealous of this list and set out to top 2008! I'll share my new resolutions in the new year. Right now I'm hoping I'll be feeling well enough to drag myself out of bed to go by the party being thrown by Josh's bosses and then to the DeMeglio casa party.