It's official - I took the Christmas decorations down last night - this means that 2009 is on its way. And all of the excitement for the new year has me thinking of how quickly the time has gone these last 11 years I've been in Alaska.
There are a few New Year's celebrations that stick out in my head. I remember watching the fireworks on TV from town square in Anchorage on the eve of Y2K - we didn't dare drive outside in case everything went haywire. Remember the fear of the world ending? I remember a couple of years later when some friends had a huge party at a house they were house-sitting and we dressed up and had a great time. (that house had some great hiding spots for playing sardines - not that I would know about that) I remember the year we got married and all of our friends went to bed early (like by 10:00) and we tried to find people to "play" with and they were literally in bed or on their way so John and I stayed up playing nerts until 2:00. I remember last year - going downtown for the Fire and Ice celebration and then praying and having communion right at the change of the New Year.
And, I remember making goals one year with my friend Greg. We divided our paper into financial, physical, spiritual and educational goals. This was well before I married John, and I was still in college and had a car payment. I decided that I would pay off my car that year, and I did. I worked hard making double and sometimes triple payments and got that thing paid off. When I look back at it - I think about how having a goal and writing it down was a necessary part of getting it done. I think I'll make some new goals this year using the same quadrants, some for me personally and some for the two of us.
I think another important thing for me as far as making goals goes (goals goes?) is to make mini milestones along the way. By March I plan to...by June I hope to...etc.
I've got some thinking to do - I want to be sure that I make some goals that might just be reachable!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Christmas
We had a nice Christmas - it was very laid back and I liked it. I'm usually a party til I drop kind of person when it comes to holidays - and I don't mean drink and party until I drop, but socialize and play games until I drop.
We went to our friend's house on Christmas Eve - he is from the Philippines so it was fun to chat with his family and friends and eat their food. On Christmas Day, we slept in and casually made our way through the morning, and then John's parents came over with their little Shih Tzus in the afternoon. We ate ham and potatoes, green beans and salad and just hung out. We watched The Nativity and ate cookies and ice cream - it was very relaxing. When John's parents headed home, we walked them out to their car and discovered the 10 inches of new snow we'd gotten that day - it couldn't have been a more perfect Christmas.
Friday we hung out at our place in the morning and then went to Fireproof that afternoon. That was a good movie - I enjoyed it and would recommend it. I cried, of course, through the whole thing. I get so stressed out in movies where people are yelling at each other - especially married people.
Friday night I went to a girls night for the youth at our friend's house. My friend's husband went over to our house and spent the night to get away from all the girls and play video games with John. I stayed up until about 5:30 that night...er...morning. Yeah. We turned the lights out at 4:00 and the girls stayed up talking until about 5:30 when one of us chaperoning adults had had enough and said - "girls, seriously, it's time for bed." Anyway - it was fun, the girls were super cute and I had a great time.
Saturday was spent recovering from Friday night - and then we went to "Bedtime Stories" with our friends - that was also a super cute movies. Oh by the way - we also watched "The Kite Runner" wow...that was an intense movie - it was so very good. Disturbing and yet really good. It was kind of a movie weekend.
Back to work today - more of a normal week with a day off in the middle - YAY!
We went to our friend's house on Christmas Eve - he is from the Philippines so it was fun to chat with his family and friends and eat their food. On Christmas Day, we slept in and casually made our way through the morning, and then John's parents came over with their little Shih Tzus in the afternoon. We ate ham and potatoes, green beans and salad and just hung out. We watched The Nativity and ate cookies and ice cream - it was very relaxing. When John's parents headed home, we walked them out to their car and discovered the 10 inches of new snow we'd gotten that day - it couldn't have been a more perfect Christmas.
Friday we hung out at our place in the morning and then went to Fireproof that afternoon. That was a good movie - I enjoyed it and would recommend it. I cried, of course, through the whole thing. I get so stressed out in movies where people are yelling at each other - especially married people.
Friday night I went to a girls night for the youth at our friend's house. My friend's husband went over to our house and spent the night to get away from all the girls and play video games with John. I stayed up until about 5:30 that night...er...morning. Yeah. We turned the lights out at 4:00 and the girls stayed up talking until about 5:30 when one of us chaperoning adults had had enough and said - "girls, seriously, it's time for bed." Anyway - it was fun, the girls were super cute and I had a great time.
Saturday was spent recovering from Friday night - and then we went to "Bedtime Stories" with our friends - that was also a super cute movies. Oh by the way - we also watched "The Kite Runner" wow...that was an intense movie - it was so very good. Disturbing and yet really good. It was kind of a movie weekend.
Back to work today - more of a normal week with a day off in the middle - YAY!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Six Years Ago Today
It was a warm night for December standards, but then again, they were in Colorado. The two decided to go for a hike up a well known trail in Colorado Springs. As they climbed, she thought to herself "interesting, I remember I told him about my friend who got engaged up here a few years ago - I wonder..."
But as they were overlooking the incredible falls beneath the cliffs, the opportunity seemed to come and go, and back down the mountain they went. She was sad, but knew she loved him and he could take his time as far as she was concerned.
About half way down the mountain, he grabbed his heart and asked if they could stop for a minute. "Of course," she said. He fell to the ground and continued to complain about chest pain. She was concerned - was it altitude sickness? After all they had come from Alaska and were probably standing a good 7,000 feet above sea level.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, it's just my heart."
"Can you make it down the mountain?"
"My heart hurts because you're holding it in your hands."
And he pulled a heart shaped pillow ornament made by his very own hands (with help from his fabulous mom) out from around his neck. It had been hidden under his shirt. And tied to the heart is a beautiful engagement ring. More beautiful than she would have guessed. And he says, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me?"
And the tears streamed down her face and she says "yes, yes, yes, of course....oh my...wow"
And they were married, and so far, it has truly been happily ever after!
But as they were overlooking the incredible falls beneath the cliffs, the opportunity seemed to come and go, and back down the mountain they went. She was sad, but knew she loved him and he could take his time as far as she was concerned.
About half way down the mountain, he grabbed his heart and asked if they could stop for a minute. "Of course," she said. He fell to the ground and continued to complain about chest pain. She was concerned - was it altitude sickness? After all they had come from Alaska and were probably standing a good 7,000 feet above sea level.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, it's just my heart."
"Can you make it down the mountain?"
"My heart hurts because you're holding it in your hands."
And he pulled a heart shaped pillow ornament made by his very own hands (with help from his fabulous mom) out from around his neck. It had been hidden under his shirt. And tied to the heart is a beautiful engagement ring. More beautiful than she would have guessed. And he says, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me?"
And the tears streamed down her face and she says "yes, yes, yes, of course....oh my...wow"
And they were married, and so far, it has truly been happily ever after!
Morning Madness
John is now working the day shift and it has made my mornings so much easier. We both work at 7:00 - I live about .5 minutes away from work and he tries to be at work well before his shift actually starts. I've gotten used to getting up 1/2 hour before I have to be at work and high tailing it out the door as soon as my wet hair is dry. With John's new hours, I've been getting up, having time to do stuff and take my time getting ready...what a concept!
This morning I thought my ample time would allow me to get all kinds of things done. I got up and started wrapping presents and getting a box ready to ship - then I went to the grocery store and got some last minute items as well as stuff to make dinner. I was sort of just wandering around the store (I'm usually an in and out person - I don't like to wander) and I realized that it was now 7:00 and I was at the store, I hadn't checked out, I didn't even have everything I needed...wow.
The good news is - my watch is fast and I made it to work by the time it was 7:00 here...and that was with chatting with the checker lady who I always seem run into at Carrs!
I have tomorrow off - cannot wait - seriously. I'm going to sleep in and take it easy and maybe even stay in my pjs most of the day. hopefully my friend Marlene stops by - because I've stopped by at her house when she was in her PJs! :)
This morning I thought my ample time would allow me to get all kinds of things done. I got up and started wrapping presents and getting a box ready to ship - then I went to the grocery store and got some last minute items as well as stuff to make dinner. I was sort of just wandering around the store (I'm usually an in and out person - I don't like to wander) and I realized that it was now 7:00 and I was at the store, I hadn't checked out, I didn't even have everything I needed...wow.
The good news is - my watch is fast and I made it to work by the time it was 7:00 here...and that was with chatting with the checker lady who I always seem run into at Carrs!
I have tomorrow off - cannot wait - seriously. I'm going to sleep in and take it easy and maybe even stay in my pjs most of the day. hopefully my friend Marlene stops by - because I've stopped by at her house when she was in her PJs! :)
Monday, December 22, 2008
For some reason I can't get this to post the "right" way but it is just too funny to not post...so here's a link:
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/1wWJiSZ6GR2YjNZvNswF
Hopefully that really works this time.
We had a fun weekend - we went to the party on Friday night and we both decided to skip the usual fancy dressing and opted for Alaska Dress-Up instead. I work work clothes with a little extra jewelry and John wore a shirt that had to be ironed...so that was us dressed up! Sorry...no photos this time! :)
We spent Saturday with our friends and Melissa and I scrapped and chatted all day. I got a lot done for some Christmas projects I was working on so I'm feeling really good about that! John and Josh played pool and watched a movie and then we had dinner with our friends and headed back home.
We had a really cool thing Sunday morning at church for Christmas. our pastor and his wife treated us to breakfast and people shared Christmas memories. It was a special time - even if we were an hour late. That's right people...and HOUR late. I work at 7:00 so even on the weekends I find myself up by 6:30 or so, John doesn't have this same internal clock. But I must have needed the rest because we woke up 15 minutes after we were supposed to be at the church. Oops...we did get a lot of rest though! HA! After church we did some shoppting and toured a couple of open houses and then came home and worked more on our projects. John worked on his project, I mostly did laundry and a bit of housework and chilled for the day. I love Sundays!
Last minute shopping should be done tonight and I think we're almost all set for Christmas. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Packages in the mail...cards sent...stuff waiting to be wrapped...oh yeah, and there's the whole celebrating the fact that Jesus came to earth. I'm working on keeping that more central this year.
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/1wWJiSZ6GR2YjNZvNswF
Hopefully that really works this time.
We had a fun weekend - we went to the party on Friday night and we both decided to skip the usual fancy dressing and opted for Alaska Dress-Up instead. I work work clothes with a little extra jewelry and John wore a shirt that had to be ironed...so that was us dressed up! Sorry...no photos this time! :)
We spent Saturday with our friends and Melissa and I scrapped and chatted all day. I got a lot done for some Christmas projects I was working on so I'm feeling really good about that! John and Josh played pool and watched a movie and then we had dinner with our friends and headed back home.
We had a really cool thing Sunday morning at church for Christmas. our pastor and his wife treated us to breakfast and people shared Christmas memories. It was a special time - even if we were an hour late. That's right people...and HOUR late. I work at 7:00 so even on the weekends I find myself up by 6:30 or so, John doesn't have this same internal clock. But I must have needed the rest because we woke up 15 minutes after we were supposed to be at the church. Oops...we did get a lot of rest though! HA! After church we did some shoppting and toured a couple of open houses and then came home and worked more on our projects. John worked on his project, I mostly did laundry and a bit of housework and chilled for the day. I love Sundays!
Last minute shopping should be done tonight and I think we're almost all set for Christmas. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Packages in the mail...cards sent...stuff waiting to be wrapped...oh yeah, and there's the whole celebrating the fact that Jesus came to earth. I'm working on keeping that more central this year.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Finally Friday
yay - here we come weekend!
We had a great time last night at a Christmas Fondue Party. The longer I live in Anchorage the smaller it seems to me. It was funny being there and running into very good friends that we've known for years and didn't expect to find them there. Christian circles run 'deep and wide' in this town, and it's something I really love about Anchorage. The food was great, the conversation was fabulous, and the friends were worth coming for. We even sang a couple of Christmas songs, and Bean treated us to her incredible rendition of O Holy Night (my used-to-be fav Christmas song by the way) that girl can sing.
More partying tonight - we're going to a work party with John's parents. I think it will be fun and I'm looking forward to dressing up - as dressed up as we get here in Alaska. It's always fun to see all the different ideas of what dressing up is - from Carharts to sequins.
I think a goal for me in 2009 is going to be making more time for our friends. We have had a very busy life since we got married, and we're often trying to just make sure we get some minutes together each day. Last night we hung out with a couple that we really love spending time with but rarely see and I thought how silly it is that we don't see each other more. We mostly just run into each other at this event or that event and hardly ever set something up on purpose. That's something I'm going to work on - see friends more often. As John's schedule settles in it will be more and more easy to know what to expect. It feels like we've been in "hang loose tightly"mode for a while and I'm looking forward to some normalcy.
We had a great time last night at a Christmas Fondue Party. The longer I live in Anchorage the smaller it seems to me. It was funny being there and running into very good friends that we've known for years and didn't expect to find them there. Christian circles run 'deep and wide' in this town, and it's something I really love about Anchorage. The food was great, the conversation was fabulous, and the friends were worth coming for. We even sang a couple of Christmas songs, and Bean treated us to her incredible rendition of O Holy Night (my used-to-be fav Christmas song by the way) that girl can sing.
More partying tonight - we're going to a work party with John's parents. I think it will be fun and I'm looking forward to dressing up - as dressed up as we get here in Alaska. It's always fun to see all the different ideas of what dressing up is - from Carharts to sequins.
I think a goal for me in 2009 is going to be making more time for our friends. We have had a very busy life since we got married, and we're often trying to just make sure we get some minutes together each day. Last night we hung out with a couple that we really love spending time with but rarely see and I thought how silly it is that we don't see each other more. We mostly just run into each other at this event or that event and hardly ever set something up on purpose. That's something I'm going to work on - see friends more often. As John's schedule settles in it will be more and more easy to know what to expect. It feels like we've been in "hang loose tightly"mode for a while and I'm looking forward to some normalcy.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
New Christmas Favorite
This is quite possibly my new favorite Christmas song - A Baby Changes Everything, by Faith Hill
I took out the ooos and ahhhhs :)
Teenage girl much too young
Unprepared for what's to come
A baby changes everything
Not a ring on her hand
All her dreams and all her plans
A baby changes everything A baby changes everything
The man she loves she's never touched
How will she keep his trust
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
She has to leave, go far away
Heaven knows she can't stay
A baby changes everything
She can feel it's coming soon
There's no place there's no room
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
Shepherds all gather 'round
Up above the star shines down
A baby changes everything
Choir of angels sing
Glory to the newborn king
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
Everything, everything, everything
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
My whole life has turned around
I was lost, but now I'm found
A baby changes everything, yeah
A baby changes everything
I took out the ooos and ahhhhs :)
Teenage girl much too young
Unprepared for what's to come
A baby changes everything
Not a ring on her hand
All her dreams and all her plans
A baby changes everything A baby changes everything
The man she loves she's never touched
How will she keep his trust
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
She has to leave, go far away
Heaven knows she can't stay
A baby changes everything
She can feel it's coming soon
There's no place there's no room
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
Shepherds all gather 'round
Up above the star shines down
A baby changes everything
Choir of angels sing
Glory to the newborn king
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
Everything, everything, everything
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
My whole life has turned around
I was lost, but now I'm found
A baby changes everything, yeah
A baby changes everything
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Why can't I wake up?
I'm having one of those mornings when I can't shake the fuzz out of my brain...bug! I don't think I had a rough night sleeping...but who knows? I was at the grocery store for work around 7:15 this morning and I stood in the bakery for at least 5 full minutes trying to think of what it was I was there for. I was staring at some cookies and wondering...what was it I needed? wow...so very sad. Then, once I remembered what it was I needed, I scanned my credit card and was talking about how tired I was to the clerk and he's just standing there, and I'm just standing there, and then he says 'you can just sign right here' and indicates toward the signy thing....oh brother...talk about spacing out!
Anyway...that's my exciting news!
Anyway...that's my exciting news!
Monday, December 8, 2008
December's First Weekend
Another busy weekend came and went. Friday I got my hair cut and love it. It was funny - when I came home John said "I thought you were getting your hair cut", "I did," said I. "Oh - it looks the same," said John.
Then I turned around.
"Ah hah - it is quite different!" The back is much more stacked now and I LOVE it. The front is a little shorter, but I don't really expect that John would notice the tiny bit that got cut off the front. It's funny when I get my hair cut because it always looks so good when I leave the salon (I love the lady that cuts my hair) but then the next time I try to do it, it never looks the same. I can have the same products - blower, curling iron - everything the same and then poof...my style looks very different. Oh well...I still love the cut.
Friday night (Sat. morning really) John went to work with his dad a bit. He got home late and woke me up to tell me about how he had been parked in the street in front of his parent's place and a drunk driver had hit his truck right there in the street. the guy was wasted and said he had been going 25 miles per hour...uh huh...and managed to move a Ford F350, crew cab, extended bed with 1,000 pounds of wood in the bed from its parked position to 5 feet away from where it was. Interesting. Thankfully it was the truck the guy hit - his car was totalled, but the truck isn't much worse for the wear. Had it been our little car I think it would have been over for the poor thing. That was the second time in a week one of our cars was hit. Wow...no one was seriously injured in either accident - and the drunk guy will hopefully pay enough in fees to be over driving while intoxicated.
Saturday, John slept in and I couldn't sleep so I got up around 6:30 and started housework. I worked out and came back home and John was still sleeping so I looked around for something quiet to do and ended up waking him up in the process. Something about jumping on the bed and saying "come on lets go somewhere" wakes people up...who knew? He was happy to get up and we did some shopping and got most of Christmas finished. Then we wrapped up the housework and baked a goodie (seriously we should not have made it, my tummy was very upset over the whole thing, I couldn't stop having 'just a tiny piece more') and made dinner for our friends that came over with an armload of games we had never played. We've had a great time with these friends - they're a lot of fun and we laughed quite a bit. Plus the games were very fun - and the husband cracked me up saying that we can't play a game involving charades until the four of us are on our third date...something to look forward to I guess! :)
Church on Sunday morning and then we went out to lunch with some friends that we hardly ever see that are thinking of starting to attend our church again. It was fun hanging with them. Then we went to John's parent's place and hung out for a while. The home again for dinner. We finally made it to Home Depot last night to get a tree - the first one we shook out was beautiful. we snatched it up and brought it home. We had fun decorating and rearranging our living room to fit everything in. In the end the couch remains...sigh. I love real trees - I'll deal with the sweeping and sweeping to get the smell and the way the branches hang. LOVE IT! We watched a Hallmark movie while we decorated - of course I cried...wouldn't you!?
Wow, if you read all of this, good for you! I was chatty this morning!
Then I turned around.
"Ah hah - it is quite different!" The back is much more stacked now and I LOVE it. The front is a little shorter, but I don't really expect that John would notice the tiny bit that got cut off the front. It's funny when I get my hair cut because it always looks so good when I leave the salon (I love the lady that cuts my hair) but then the next time I try to do it, it never looks the same. I can have the same products - blower, curling iron - everything the same and then poof...my style looks very different. Oh well...I still love the cut.
Friday night (Sat. morning really) John went to work with his dad a bit. He got home late and woke me up to tell me about how he had been parked in the street in front of his parent's place and a drunk driver had hit his truck right there in the street. the guy was wasted and said he had been going 25 miles per hour...uh huh...and managed to move a Ford F350, crew cab, extended bed with 1,000 pounds of wood in the bed from its parked position to 5 feet away from where it was. Interesting. Thankfully it was the truck the guy hit - his car was totalled, but the truck isn't much worse for the wear. Had it been our little car I think it would have been over for the poor thing. That was the second time in a week one of our cars was hit. Wow...no one was seriously injured in either accident - and the drunk guy will hopefully pay enough in fees to be over driving while intoxicated.
Saturday, John slept in and I couldn't sleep so I got up around 6:30 and started housework. I worked out and came back home and John was still sleeping so I looked around for something quiet to do and ended up waking him up in the process. Something about jumping on the bed and saying "come on lets go somewhere" wakes people up...who knew? He was happy to get up and we did some shopping and got most of Christmas finished. Then we wrapped up the housework and baked a goodie (seriously we should not have made it, my tummy was very upset over the whole thing, I couldn't stop having 'just a tiny piece more') and made dinner for our friends that came over with an armload of games we had never played. We've had a great time with these friends - they're a lot of fun and we laughed quite a bit. Plus the games were very fun - and the husband cracked me up saying that we can't play a game involving charades until the four of us are on our third date...something to look forward to I guess! :)
Church on Sunday morning and then we went out to lunch with some friends that we hardly ever see that are thinking of starting to attend our church again. It was fun hanging with them. Then we went to John's parent's place and hung out for a while. The home again for dinner. We finally made it to Home Depot last night to get a tree - the first one we shook out was beautiful. we snatched it up and brought it home. We had fun decorating and rearranging our living room to fit everything in. In the end the couch remains...sigh. I love real trees - I'll deal with the sweeping and sweeping to get the smell and the way the branches hang. LOVE IT! We watched a Hallmark movie while we decorated - of course I cried...wouldn't you!?
Wow, if you read all of this, good for you! I was chatty this morning!
Friday, December 5, 2008
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
I cannot wait to get our tree this weekend. I think we're actually going to get rid of the beautiful green/white striped couch that has been the bane of our living room for the last 5.5 years! What? We have to - to make room for the tree!
Then out come the decorations - I can't wait. I love this time of year, I love the smells the sights the love, it's just a great time of year. Our house already smells all Christmassy (I found the world's best candles through my friend Kim - I can't even think of the name right now, but they are way better than any candle I've ever had) and it will be fun when it looks cozy too!
Then out come the decorations - I can't wait. I love this time of year, I love the smells the sights the love, it's just a great time of year. Our house already smells all Christmassy (I found the world's best candles through my friend Kim - I can't even think of the name right now, but they are way better than any candle I've ever had) and it will be fun when it looks cozy too!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Future Steph
Dear Future Stephanie,
You are going to look back at this time in your life and thank God for the challenges and the growth you experienced. You’re going to thank God for the incredible character growth, and that your Father allowed you to learn more about yourself and about Him even though it may have been uncomfortable. You’re even going to be thankful for the career development and the expansion to your resume.
This time in your life was perfect to set you up for what you’re doing today. Each heartache and stumble was needed to help you become who you are, and to allow you to help others in their own struggles. Sticking your neck out might feel like it’s stretching too much – but trust me, it’s worth it! Those muscles need elongated too!
Future Stephanie – you are who you are because your Father loves you, and He likes your personality and the things about you that make you unique. The refining takes place in the fire, remember that when the refining process starts again.
Love,
Present Stephanie
You are going to look back at this time in your life and thank God for the challenges and the growth you experienced. You’re going to thank God for the incredible character growth, and that your Father allowed you to learn more about yourself and about Him even though it may have been uncomfortable. You’re even going to be thankful for the career development and the expansion to your resume.
This time in your life was perfect to set you up for what you’re doing today. Each heartache and stumble was needed to help you become who you are, and to allow you to help others in their own struggles. Sticking your neck out might feel like it’s stretching too much – but trust me, it’s worth it! Those muscles need elongated too!
Future Stephanie – you are who you are because your Father loves you, and He likes your personality and the things about you that make you unique. The refining takes place in the fire, remember that when the refining process starts again.
Love,
Present Stephanie
Ideas?
I have no idea what to get John for Christmas. he's not giving me any ideas...so if you have any fabulous thoughts about what he'd LOVE to get, let me know. I'm so stuck here!
Monday, December 1, 2008
resolution for the week
I will not allow job stress to spill outside of my office. I resolve to keep a lid on negativity at work and just keep plowing through things as though I were on our 4-wheeler. This is not only my resolution but a heart felt prayer.
Here I go - I'll let you know how this works out for me.
Here I go - I'll let you know how this works out for me.
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