2010 Year in Review

I am starting this post on 12/30 at 10 pm because I suspect that I will need to write it in smaller doses. 2010 has been a big year in some ways and a nothing year in others. I am borrowing these headlines from a fellow blogger to keep me on track!

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
Good question... I have been MUCH better about blogging. One of my frustrations with my writing is that I tend to not stick with it. Not only have I stuck with it, but I have written twice as many entries this year as I did last year! I also ran 3 5ks, which is one more than usual. We also have gone mostly gluten-free. We don't need to, but we wanted to give it a try. Aside from baking products, it has not been bad and I think we will continue. We started an annual fall camping trip with our couple BFFs. We went for my birthday this year and loved it so much that we plan to make it an annual event.


2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? 
I don't really make resolutions, but I did want to try to eat better and exercise more. Did I do this? Yes and no. I still have zero self-control when it comes to sweets so I continue to be a failure in that department. We renewed our gym membership and have been making an effort to walk and do yoga.

3. What places did you visit? 
 ~Maine
 ~Boston
 ~Vermont


4. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
 a baby


5. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
On June 25th, our couple BFFs got married. We were both in the wedding, and it was great fun. On March 1, we became active with our adoption agency. On July 5, we celebrated 2 years of marriage!

6. What was your biggest achievement of the year? 
Happiness. I know I am happy because my life is real. I feel content in my heart with who I am and with the relationships I have. My husband has changed my life is unmeasurable ways. I feel lucky everyday to have someone who cares about me so deeply and who has created such a beautiful life with me. Some days, I actually pinch myself because it is hard to believe that this is my REAL life. 

7. What was your biggest failure?
 I would have to say not taking enough time to do fun activities. As I re-read many of my posts from the last year, I was consumed with self-imposed busy work. This year, I want to make a conscious effort to just BE.  I want to spend more time pursuing my passions--writing, reading, art, travel. Being on a budget, I may need to compromise on how I pursue these things, but I am confident that I will find a way.



8. Did you suffer illness or injury?
 Aside from minor colds here and there, 2010 was a healthy year for me!


9. What did you get really, really, really excited about? 
Silly as it sounds, one of the things that made me the happiest this year was our season pass to the local state park. We went there often to hike and swim with the dogs. It did bring me a greater sense of peace and harmony with nature that I never really knew I was missing. 

I also sold ~$100 worth of my candles this Christmas! This was huge for me because it seemed that my hobby would stay a hobby. I love it when life surprises me! 


10. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier


b) thinner or fatter? I think about the same


c) richer or poorer? poorer financially but richer emotionally

11. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I always want to travel more and to see new places. I think we would enjoy day trips, but we NEVER, EVER do them. Day trips would be perfect because our home is in reasonable driving distance to Boston, NYC, Canada, RI, VT and PA. With the adoption being so potentially last minute, we are hesitant to book a trip out to California to visit Dave's sister, but we do hope to get out there asap once our baby is home and old enough to travel.

12. What do you wish you’d done less of?
That would hands down be working at the golf course! It was a HUGE source of stress and angst for me, and I hope I am finished working there. Sad to say, there is a decent chance I will be back there unless I find something else. Add that to my resolution list!

13.  What were your favorite TV programs?
~ House Hunters
~Glee
~Modern Family
~Property Virgins
~football
~The IT Crowd
 
14.  What did you do for your birthday in 2010?
My birthday this year...I actually had to go back to my older entries to find out! Unfortunately, I only wrote about my gift. Dave and I went to dinner at Cantina,our favorite Mexican place in Saratoga. We has a great meal and mojitos, and then we headed to Gaffney's to sit outside and listen to live music. My sisters surprised me by coming up and the 4 of us had a great time. I remember, one bad but hysterical part, when these 2 guys got into a fight of sorts that involved throwing drinks and chairs. Looking back, it was funny but it was scary at the time.

We also went on the previously mentioned camping trip the weekend before my birthday. While it was quite chilly, we loved it!


Dave also surprised me with a Kindle. It is amazing and so is he!


15.  What is a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010?
 With the failing health of my grandparents, I have learned to TRY and live in the moment. We cannot take tomorrow for granted.  Which leads me to the next question...


16.  My goals for 2011:  
 My grandparents have asked me to write a book about their lives and our family.  As you know, I have always wanted to start writing, but never could quite find a meaningful topic. When they asked me to do this on Christmas Eve, I knew that I could not say no. I do not know if the book will be good, or if it will even be published, but I want to write it for them. I am excited about this project because it will involve interviewing them and learning about their early life together and their childhoods. I feel that I know some of it from the stories Pop has told us, but I know there is so much more there. I hope I am able to do this for them as it would be a wonderful tribute to their lives and who they are.


This post was completed at 9:52 am on 12/31! Wow, a whole day early!
     

Holiday Catch Up

Before I begin to describe our holiday week, I must say that I was BEYOND disappointed that we did not remember to pack our camera. I love holiday pictures, and aside from the pictures taken by others, I do not have any from Christmas 2010. But anyway...

We spent the morning of Christmas Eve at home, not really doing much at all. We took a nice long walk, which was longer than we thought and ended up making us almost late for church. We rushed to pack and get ready, which is why I forgot the camera and my tooth brush. We made it to mass with 10 minutes to spare! Luckily my parents saved us a seat. After mass, we had our traditional Polish Christmas Eve. My grandmother has always prepared this meal, but her health isn't the best so my youngest sister Amanda cooked. She did an amazing job! I am hoping that she will post about it on her food blog. (http://sweetgirlsguidetosweets.tumblr.com/)

On Christmas morning, we opened gifts with my side of the family before heading to New Hartford to see Dave's side of the family. We arrived in NH at about 4, and spent some time with Dave's parents before the rest of the family arrived. The Maine branch of the family arrived around 5, Pop Pop and Norma shortly after, and the California branch arrived around midnight. We had a nice lasagna dinner that night, but the real feast would be the following day. My MIL thought it best to wait until everyone was here and rested before we enjoyed a prime rib dinner. I look forward to her prime rib every year because it is AMAZING! I definitely overate all through the holiday weekend. We continued to exchange gifts while we were there, and we ended our stay there with my MIL's birthday lunch. We went to an awesome lunch at a yummy Lebanese restaurant. We took off for home after lunch.

As wonderful as it was to spend so much time with family, there is no place like home!

Favorite Quotes

As an English teacher, I have always been fond of inspirational quotes. My students often groan when I give them a quote and ask them to write an essay about it, but those were my favorite assignments when I was in school. I know, I know, NERD ALERT!  But anyway, here are some of the quotes that I am loving this week:

“Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love still stands when all else has fallen.”

“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

“I don't pretend to know what love is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me; love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person, love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, including the things you might be ashamed of, love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you.”  

"Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human." ~ Anthony Robbins 

Crazy Christmas Weekend

It is Tuesday, and I think I have almost recovered from the weekend! On Saturday evening, we hosted our 5th annual holiday party. It was one of the best yet, I think! We had a great mix of old and new friends and so much food. The picture below is just the food that Dave and I prepared. Most of our guests also brought something to much on, and we ran out of room on the table!

In past years, our party has turned into a huge drinking party. We felt that while some holiday cheer is awesome, we wanted to keep it in check. Wow, I just sounded like an old fart! Here is a photo of the bar before the party began. I did end up making a second batch of hot cider since it was quite popular. I was pleased that everyone enjoyed it as it was a new idea for me, and one that I love.

Here are some photos of our friends enjoying the festivities!

 So how come Dave isn't in any of these photos?? Well, it may appear that way to the untrained eye, but in the first photo, Dave is there ;-)

2 Hour Delay

Yay! I was hoping, but not counting, on having one of these today. This winter, we keep missing the big storms so I knew better than to assume we would be closed. I would post a picture, but Dave has the camera. We didn't get much here, maybe a few inches. I assume up north it is worse so I will head into work a bit earlier than usual. A 2 hour delay day flies by too, and not just because the day is actually shorter! They mix up the class periods so that adds some extra variety to the day.

Instead of going back to sleep as most normal people would do, I used the time to catch up on some things. I made chili, did some laundry, and I will be heading out to shovel as soon as I finish this post and my coffee. I want to sit by my tree for a few minutes, and I think I will have time for that. I am hoping the roads will be taken care of as Dave did not get a delay and he doesn't have his snow tires on yet!

Happy Snow!

Ask and you shall receive

Snow! We had some today. I would say we got less than an inch, but it does look pretty. The news reported that wester NY got 4-5 FEET! That would be insane. I remember when I was in middle school, there was a blizzard. We had 3 days off from school, and the snow was piled up to the roof of our high school.

As I was sitting in my classroom today, talking about Christmas with the kids, I looked out the window. At that time, it was sunny and green. I tried to imagine what it would be like to live in a place where it never snowed. As much as I hate cold weather and winter (for the most part), it just wouldn't feel like Christmas without snow.

I am feeling very in the holiday spirit this year. We have much to celebrate and be grateful for.

Let It Snow?!

I know I will complain about snow sometime in February, but it is the second week of December and there has been no snow. Correction, there have been some flurries. If you look out my window, it looks like it might be April or September. I can't wait for the first real snow fall. There is something so magical about it. Last year we had a few big storms, and I snapped these beauties. Until we get the real deal, enjoy!

I Quit

the blog challenge...I liked it, but I also felt somewhat restricted by it. So here I am, back to writing about nothing in particular! I do not have much to say these days, but I am getting quite excited for Christmas. It's funny that as I get older, I like it even more. We put up our tree on Sunday, and I finished up almost all of the decorating tonight. I am still in search of a way to hang our stockings.  While my tree looks the same every year, I simply love the color scheme too much to change it. Every year I contemplate trying a new scheme, and every year I go back to red and gold. In any case, I love my tree. I have been told that it looks like it is from a magazine, which to me is the best compliment I could receive. Here is a photo of the tree: