Mandy and Jace

We have made it to a new year, and I can’t believe it is already here. A lot has been going through my mind today. Some big things happened in our lives in 2010. It was so great I almost didn’t want it to be over. We went through construction and purchase of our very own house, moved in and got everything settled. I still don’t have the house fully decorated, but it feels like home and that’s all that matters. We traveled a lot more this year than we normally do and went to some places we have never been to before. We went to Florida, South Padre Island, Dallas and Georgia and had a great time everywhere we went. We did lots and lots of cooking, got to know some amazing friends and got closer to each other in the process of all of this. I’d say it was a pretty good year. The Lord has definitely blessed us with an amazing life and I don’t think I would change a thing.



The other thing on my mind is this new year. I have lots of goals and resolutions for 2011, but there are a few big ones that all the others just kind of fall into. My first resolutions is to get healthier. I got a treadmill for Christmas and I want to lose the last 5 pesky pounds that keep hanging on for dear life. I plan on continuing with my meal plans and sticking to them instead of getting too lazy to cook. I also want to feel healthier. I may have almost lost all the weight I wanted to lose, but I still feel very sluggish and gross. I want to feel good about my body inside and out. Not only do I want to work on my physical body, but I want to work on my spiritual body. I want to study more and learn about what I believe in and why. I’m tired of just floating though the motions.

Second, I want to learn to be still. I have to be doing something at all times or I feel worthless and like a bad wife and housekeeper. I know in the back of my mind that I’m not a bad wife because I sit and watch a couple of tv shows, but all I can think of are the things I could be doing while I am sitting there. I want to be able to enjoy il dolce far niente or the sweetness of doing nothing.

Have a blessed and happy new year everyone!

Back in May I put together a list of goals that I wanted to accomplish by the end of the year. I think I did pretty well for myself! I accomplished most of them and ended up enjoying some more than I thought I would. You can click on the titles and see the photos of all the things I have accomplished.

Read more books
I have read tons of books since May and have become an avid reader. I can hardly go to sleep without reading at least a chapter of something that is sitting around. I have a bad habit of going to Barnes and Noble and picking up two or three books at a time and I end up reading most of them eventually. I started reading books on my iphone but I realized that I didn’t like not having a hard copy to put on the shelf or let someone else read.

Learn to drive a standard transmission
I have yet to accomplish this one due to the lack of a vehicle with a standard transmission. I’ll put it back on the list for next year.

Bake more breads
I now love to bake breads but I also hate baking breads because you have to eat them after you bake them. I try not to eat too much bread and when a loaf of home made bread is sitting on the counter it’s hard not to devour the entire thing.

Learn to shoot (and look like Angelina Jolie doing it)
Shooting has become something that Jace and I really like doing together. We both got guns for Christmas and even though he is much better than I am, I’m having lots of fun learning. It is also something I enjoy because It makes me feel like a stronger woman. I never want to feel weak or powerless and this is something that I can do to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Learn photoshop
I still haven’t learned Photoshop. I’m still editing in iPhoto and I’m OK with that.

Climb the alpine tower at Lone Tree
This was something I’ve wanted to for years and have turned into a chicken every time we were out there ready to climb. I’m so stinkin proud of myself for doing it and I’m ready to do it again.


Eat more candlelit dinners
I finished this one up about a week ago. I lit all the candles in the house and the Christmas tree and we had pizza and watched a movie. Very romantic!




Find a piece of seafood that I can stand to eat
So, I’m still not eating much fish. But I’m not afraid of eating it anymore.

I think I’m going to do a new set of goals for 2011. It pushed me to do things I would have never done if it weren’t for a set list and I have come to love some things that I never thought I would ever try much less learn to love. I encourage everyone to begin thinking about your 2011 goal list and hopefully we can accomplish them together.

We had an excellent Thanksgiving here. Everyone fit into our house and the meal turned out great. I learned several things in the thanksgiving meal process. First, it’s much easier to defrost your turkeys in the bath tub; second, that two bags of potatoes make way too much mashed potatoes; and, third, home-made rolls make great sweet potato sandwiches the next day. The next morning instead of shopping we slept in late and then we went and bought our Christmas tree. This is the first time I’ve ever had a real tree and it turned out gorgeous. No, I’m not a black friday shopper. I don’t care for crowds of pushy people who haven’t slept so they are all in terrible moods. I’d rather shop online from my VERY comfortable bed in my pajamas. Saturday, Mom broke into the Christmas stash and let me shoot my gun that I’m getting for Christmas. We all went shooting and it was a blast. I’m slowly getting better!

Here are some photos of our weekend.

I named the turkeys Martin and Herman.

Here is this week’s meal plan.

Tonight: turkey pot pie made with some of the tons of leftover turkey
Tuesday: chicken and rice
Wednesday: pizza (not sure what kind)
Thursday: take out after practice
Friday: special service at church

Happy eating!

We have a crazy week planned this week so I’m not doing a meal plan.

I want to take time to wish my amazing husband a happy birthday. You truly are my other half and I’m can’t picture my life without you. So I have a list for you!
…Thank you for letting me dance like an idiot in the car and not laughing too hard
…Thank you for buying me new printers when I am yelling at the top of my lungs at ours
…Thank you for eating healthy food even though you want fried food
…Thank you for matching socks because I hate doing it
…Thank you for loving me. You are the best husband ever.

Happy birthday!

I have a rocky past with reading books. I hated to read through school. We had to read so many books to graduate and it was like pulling teeth to get me to read. Then when I did actually wonder into the library to pick a book to read I would find the shortest one possible and flip through it hoping that some of it would seep in. Most of the time it didn’t. When I graduated however, I found some extra time that needed to be filled so I started reading. I read tons of girly books like The Devil Wears Prada and P.S. I Love You way before they were movies. Now I have gotten into this phase to where I have several books at I time that I’m reading. I keep one by my bed to read at night, one in my purse and also several loaded onto the kindle on my iphone. I still typically read girly books but I mix it up with some “smart books” too.

Over the past couple of months I have read too many books to tell you about but I can give you some of my favorites.


The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
I decided to pick it up and see what all the hype was about seeing as everyone had read it and couldn’t get enough of it. I really ended up liking this book even though I hated it through the first half. The book was slow and pretty boring. But, once they got the characters established and the story going it became a book that I just couldn’t put down. It has mystery, suspense, love and a good ending, couldn’t ask for much more.


Velvet Elvis
I have read this three times now and have a full notebook of notes after every time. It is written by Rob Bell, who is one of my all time favorite speakers and authors. He sums up Christianity so well and makes it make sense in a modern world. I think he does a great job of helping the church evolve with the times as the people evolve with the times but, he also is sure not to lose sight of where we came from. While I didn’t agree with every word in this book, It made me think harder than I have in a very long time about my faith and where it is going.


Heart of the Matter
Your typical upscale girl’s husband cheats on her and now she is left to pick up the pieces of her marriage and life. I know, it might as well be every lifetime movie ever made but, I wanted a girly book and I got it. It was actually a pretty good read.