2011 Check Up

Last December we began the tradition of having a 'goal lunch' - eating some good food and talking about what we wanted to accomplish in the coming year. I blogged about it here. Lots of fun stuff planned for 2012, but before I get ahead of myself (who are we kidding, I havent blogged in 10 days), let's send out 2011.

Physical

1. Sub 2 hour half marathon - Mercedes - 1:58:40 for me, 1:56:40 for MS - his PR:)

2. Run Statue to Statue 15k- main goal is to survive the mountainous climbs - 1:25:42 for both

3. Run two 10ks - Ran  Village to Village. and the Power Run. Also ended up running a full.

Spiritual - We've been visiting a church for a while now and we both feel this is where we want to be and want to further our involvement.

1. Find a Sunday School and become involved

2. Join the church. We are looking forward to this process and having a church home.

3. Continue devotional time together. We started this a few weeks ago and its something I really look forward to. Having a specific time to talk about our relationship and praying together can be a little awkward at first but I believe the benefits to this time together will be priceless. After finding this on a favorite blog this morning, I was even more inspired to spend this time investing in Matt. -Added this to 2012. We didn't do great in this area, and I'm a little dissapointed we let it fall by the wayside, as it's one of the more important ones.

Financial - This was the easiest category for me. If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you know I'm nerdy about the budget. It is refreshing this year to have a partner in budget goals. 2010 mainly went towards paying off the car and a wedding, so this year we're playing a bit of catch up in some other areas and trying to find some balance and enjoy life. Sorry Dave, I just can't get on the rice and beans plan.

1. Triple emergency fund savings.

2. Begin saving for a house downpayment - I got seriously burned in the housing market crash and I will never, ever again buy without a good e-fund and a down payment. One of my bigger regrets. Although, it is what fueled me to be more responsible with money. See, always an upside if you look for it....

3. Pay cash for travel. This is one of the things I'm most excited about this year. I'm really looking forward to doing some traveling with MS. We are already enjoying throwing around ideas for potential destinations. Accomplished this with Greece (here, here and here) and our anniversary trip to San Francisco(here, here and here.) We also took a late winter trip to the mountains with the Grizz.

2011 was pretty good for an odd numbered year. No pressure 2012.

Its Christmas Eve...

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Jazz, Cows and Date Night

We waited patiently Friday night for MS to return from way up North.

 But in the midst of Oprah's Lifeclass (don't judge me - it's really good!), some of us couldn't keep our eyes open. A thirst for knowledge is not one of Namath's best traits.

 Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder - not to mention makes me appreciate how much MS does around the house. Folding clothes, taking out the trash and making my own breakfast every day....jeez. Maybe Kate Middleton could sympathize.

All that to say, we were glad to have MS home for some family time. Saturday, we headed down to the park for jazz music and the tree lighting. We LOVE this park being so close. It's won quite a few awards lately. As well as my own personal award, "Places I can run by myself before work and not feel like I'll end up in a quarry." It's pretty distinguished.

 MS tried to share the finer things in life with the beast - some live music.

 He enjoyed it!

 He did not enjoy the Chick-Fil-A cow. Those jingle bell shoes sent him over the edge. The cow was none too impressed either. I think he gave Namath the hand. Are we still doing that? Does this mean Namath  prefers chicken or beef? All questions I don't have the answer to.

 Saturday night we headed out on a date night. Excuse my cheese, but I love date night. I know it's super easy for us to get out now, since we can put our only responsibility in a crate, so we try to take as many opportunites as we can to get dressed up and enjoy a new restaurant. Which you won't know the name of, since the light was too bright.

 We even brought a bottle of wine from our anniversary trip.

The baked feta and manicotti did not dissapoint. Neither did the company. Glad for everyone to be back in time for some of our favorite Christmas traditions.

Friday Favorites

I mentioned Sunday night was the Christmas cantata at church. We went last year and it was amazing - so it was so fun to see MS singing this year. He runs, he sings, he folds clothes - move over JT - he's a triple threat.

Hands down, this song was one of our favorites last year, so I was so glad when it was a part of the  program this year. Members of the symphony accompanied the choir and it all came together so well. Little Drummer Boy is not anywhere on my list of favorite Christmas songs, but this version....WOW. Definitely in the top five. Hope it serves to remind you of the meaning of the season and how a powerful and holy God humbled himself for each of us - though we deserved nothing but His wrath.

Merry Christmas!

Oh, Yes We Did

 We took the four legged to see Santa and his red cheeks.*

He found Namath's favorite cheeks...That's the spot Santa!

*We normally don't force Namath to participate in traditions clearly intended for humans, but it was right down the street and for a good cause, and seemed like a great idea over a pitcher of Bloody Mary's. There will be no Easter Bunny pictures. It also eased the case of dog guilt I've been suffering from lately.

Merry, Merry

 MS was out of town all last week, and with the combination of a late arrival Friday evening, and the fact that we just ran a marathon, we took Saturday off from running and enjoyed a big salty breakfast and a pitcher of bloody marys. Well deserved.

 Don't be fooled - I was productive last week. I cleaned the apartment, cleaned the DVR and wrapped all these presents. I really tried to capture the magic and joy of the season by making my wrapping look as child-like as possible. Read: the ends are all bunched up and held together with a load of scotch tape.
 

 Namath was VERY interested. After he got done screaming bloody murder at the rolls of wrapping paper.

 This for me??

 Saturday we had this picture framed. Naturally, I bribed him with a treat to do a little photo comparison shot.

Naturally, he acted like a brat. God love him.

 Sunday was the choir's Christmas cantata and they did an excellent job. More on that later.

With last minute rehearsals, I barely saw Matt before he was off again, to the land of free health clinics - prepared with plenty of hand sanitizer.

Seriously. Dnt b sharin it.

Friday Favorites

Ahhhh...Winter. Fighting all of nature's elements to try keeping skin clear, moisturized and looking like I've seen the sun before. I'm on week one of this raging battle, since it just turned cold this week. I can always tell when the steam rises off Namath's pee in the mornings, winter has arrived. I'm no Robert Frost, but I speak the truth.

I've only been using these two for about a week, but I really like the foaming facial cleanser. It cleans well without leaving my skin feeling dry. Make sure you get the FOAMING face cleanser. I'm not sure why this is so key, but it was emphasized to me dramatically, so I'll return the favor. FOAMING face cleanser. Green top. (tip: It's on sale at CVS this week - and that never happens).

Where there's smoke...another CeraVe product. I like this as a night moisturizer. It's a tad to thick for the mornings, I think. Also, I'm pretty sure I heard McSteamy mention it on an old episode of Grey's a few weeks ago. So consider that a consult from a world renowned plastic surgeon. Because everyone at Seattle Grace is at the very top of their field, performing ground breaking surgeries while I watch steam rise off my dog's pee.

I tried this earlier this year as a facial self tanner and it did nothing for me. But now that Saturday's aren't spent lounging by the pool, I pulled it out again. I really like it for legs and arms. I think with self tanner,the key is to apply, and then immediately follow up with lotion. It helps blend in some of the uneven spots and help with streaking. I've had the best luck finding this at Wal-Mart.

I started this and a multi-vitamin this week. My doctor wanted me to start a multi-vitamin (last December), so I jumped right on board (11 months later). I can tell her I followed instructions now, right?

 Vitamins were BOGO at CVS and I've heard this does great things for hair and nails. Anyone have good experience with it? I've wanted to try it for a while, but the blonde doesnt come cheap, and I didnt want to rush to the roots. I caved in the name of thicker, stronger hair and nails. The OPI isn't cheap either.

There you have it. My other favorite will have to wait, as it is still under testing and deserves a post of its very own...