New Year's Resolutions...

It's that time of year again! Time for us to all make our annual New Year's Resolutions. How is it that every year we can make the same promises and somehow never seem to keep them much past the end of January? Back when I went to the gym regularly I would avoid it as much as possible during January because it was always packed with all the New Year's Resolution people who would slowly drift away by the beginning of February. Is it just the idea of being a shiny, better, sleeker model of ourselves that has us renewing these resolutions year after year?

Well, say what you will, but here I am January 2nd and I'm making the resolutions too. Although, of course I've given myself the weekend to live it up and go hog wild one last time before I "officially" start on Monday, January 5th. So is that really a "New Year's Resolution" if I let 4 full days of the "New Year" go by before I actually start? With that said, here are my New Year's Resolutions (let's see where I am by February 1st!):

1. Eat healthier
2. Exercise more... okay, at all
3. Budget my finances better
4. Find a new church and attend regularly
5. Do a better job of keeping in touch with my friends and loved ones other than through Facebook!

Well, there you have it. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing too fanciful. But let's see how long it lasts when I can't even get started yet!!! :)

Here's hoping that 2009 is a wonderfully blessed year for you and your family!

Christmas Quiz!

I got this off of someone else's blog. Cut and paste this onto your own email or blog to share with friends and see how others celebrate!

1. Where will you spend Christmas this year?
at my mom's house here in Atlanta

2. What is Santa (hopefully) bringing you? What is he bringing your spouse and kids?
Joe and I already decided to buy ourselves a Wii this year as our gift to ourselves!

3. How do you celebrate Christmas Eve?
We go to Christmas Eve service at my parents' church with my sister-in-law's family too. Then we go back to one of the two houses (this year it's my parents' house) and have desserts with my brother's in-laws and just talk and eat!

4. What Christmas activities are you looking forward to this year?
Just seeing all of my family for the first time since Easter and playing games and of course, eating all the good food!

5. What is your typical Christmas Day dinner?
It changes from year to year depending on my mom's moods... I don't know what we'll have this year.

6. What is your typical Christmas Eve meal?
Joe and I are pretty good with late night Waffle House. Yum! :)

7. Is your Santa Claus wrapped or unwrapped?
Santa changed his ways at some point during my life. They never used to be wrapped and now they are all wrapped. Each person has their own special wrapping paper too and we each open a present one at a time while everyone else watches.

8. How do you decorate for Christmas?
This is my first year decorating, so I'm pretty excited about it. Here's my tree:


9. Fake tree or live tree?
This year it was real, but I swear I'm getting a pre-lit fake one as soon as the season is over. No more stringing lights for me!!!

10. White lights or colored lights?
white

11. Favorite Christmas song?
I'm pretty traditional. I love O Holy Night.

12. Favorite Christmas memory?
When Robert and I were kids we were never allowed to go downstairs without my parents on Christmas morning and so we would just sit together at the top of the stairs and wait for them to tell us it was ok

13. Do you love Christmas or just pretend to?
Oh I love Christmas. I love decorating and all of the family time together. And I'm a big fan of giving gifts!

14. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
I've only had egg nog once in my life and it was pretty good, but I'm still a hot chocolate fan.

15. Colored lights or white?
white (didn't we already answer this?)

16. What kind of cookies do you leave Santa?
Oh gosh, it's been so long I can't remember. I think it was sugar cookies though.

17. Favorite Christmas gift of all time?
Honestly? I don't think I have one favorite, but one that stands out in my mind was the My Little Pony castle I got. It rocked.

18. What tops your tree?
A big blue and silver bow. See picture above...

19. Favorite Christmas movie?
It's a Wonderful Life

20. Favorite ornament?
It definitely has to be the "pregnant" angel ornament. My mom and I made our own ornaments one year when I was a kid and this angel came out looking pregnant. It's awesome.

21. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
No, we're Christmas Day purists. No one opens any gifts until we're all together around the tree.

22. Worst Christmas gift ever received?
I really can't think of one in particular, but probably a sweater that a grandma gave me at some point.

23. Are you still buying presents on Christmas Eve?
Nope, everything is wrapped and under the tree!

24. Most annoying thing about the Christmas season?
having to deal with the people who forget about what Christmas is all about and have to turn it into something bad.

25. Favorite thing about the Christmas season?
spending time with my family that I love.

101 Things to Be Thankful For...

It may be a little late, but I wanted to take the time to put down on paper (or I guess on the 'net) what I'm thankful for this year. I think often times we all get together with our family and loved ones on Thanksgiving and have good food and watch good football and we forget to stop and think about what we're truly thankful for in our lives. So here it is. My list of 101 things I'm thankful for this year:

1. The unconditional love of God and all He has provided for me and my loved ones.
   
2. My wonderful, amazing, loving and completely supportive husband who always loves me even when I don't love myself
   
3. Being blessed enough to not only have 2, but 4 loving parents
4. My little brother, even though he drove me crazy when we were kids, I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world
   
5. Having a wonderful, extended family who are very involved in my life
   
6. Having in-laws that I ADORE. There are so many people I know that hate their in-laws and I couldn't have asked for better in-laws. I love them all!
   
7. Having friends that I know I could call on at a moment's notice and they would drop whatever they're doing to help me in any way they could
8. The Bible - that helps keep me on track when I get lost
9. Being employed during such a time of turmoil and uncertainty in our economy
10. Living in a country where we are free to express our opinions about politics, religion, etc.
    
11. For the men and women spread all over this great world who are fighting to keep us free
    
12. Having a wonderful house that we were very fortunate to get
    
13. Books on CD. So I don't have to listen to annoying morning shows on my hour drive to work!
14. That I am 30 years old and still VERY fortunate to have 2 of my 4 grandparents still alive
    
15. That I had all 4 of my grandparents for 27 years of my life
    
16. Being able to reconnect with friends that I've known since I was 4 years old but haven't seen in about 20 years or so
    
17. Getting a library card for the first time since I was almost banned from the library in college
    
18. My wonderful dog and cat
19. I'm thankful that I'm healthy and that all of my family is healthy too
20. Flip flops. They are the greatest shoes ever!
    
21. The beach
22. Having family that lives at the beach so I can visit for free!
23. DVR and never having to watch commercials again if I don't want to!
24. Cold beer
    
25. The lowest gas prices we've had in AGES!
26. My garage. So I have a (relatively) warm car to get into on cold mornings
    
27. That in 5 short months I will have my car paid off!
28. Fuzzy slippers that keep my feet warm on cold mornings
29. Having a fireplace that keeps our house warm!
30. Low electric bills in the winter
31. College football (even when my team isn't so good)
32. Spell check
33. The "Do Not Disturb" button on my phone at work when telemarketers call
34. Free parking at work
35. When my mom tells me that something I'm doing is just like my grandmother
    
36. Lazy weekends
37. Getting to sleep in with my husband and dog
    
38. Sitting out on our back deck in the summer, watching my dog play and my husband grill while drinking a cold beer
    
39. Facebook and MySpace and staying connected!
40. Getting a good night's sleep
    
41. Days full of baking in my little kitchen with my helper husband
    
42. That I'm still learning things everyday
43. Friends like Tara who help keep me grounded in reality and what really matters in life
    
44. Enjoying a fabulous bottle of wine at a restaurant and then coming home to find it online for only $16 a bottle!
45. Days when my bosses generally leave me alone and I can work in peace!
    
46. Warm brownies right out of the oven with vanilla ice cream
47. Laura Madison's ability to make the world's greatest grilled cheese sandwich
48. Vacation days... heck, any days off of work!
49. Girl Scout cookies
50. The comics
51. Christmas parties
52. Pulling out coats for the first time this season and finding out you left money in the pocket last year
53. Cell phones and text messaging
54. Brett, the one attorney up here at work that I always like and who always makes me laugh (despite the fact he's a UGA fan)
    
55. The many blogs I read on those days when I have nothing to do
56. Payday
57. Game nights with Laura and Steve
58. Having so many people in our lives that are generous with their time and their money
59. Black Friday shopping with my mom
60. Google
61. Wikipedia - I will never be uninformed again
62. Blockbuster's Total Access. I will never again have to grace an actual Blockbuster store unless I really want to
63. Crossword puzzles online
64. Finding "Scrabble" on Facebook today!
65. Instant Messenger
66. My BUNCO group
67. Bubble baths
68. White Chocolate Mochas from Starbucks
69. E-mail - Staying in touch has never been so easy
70. Health insurance
71. Amazon.com and Free Super Saver Shipping!
72. My electric blanket that keeps me warm on cold mornings!
73. Friends like B who doesn't get irritated when I call her in a tizzy because I've somehow managed to get myself lost... AGAIN!
74. Food Network
75. Southern Living Magazine
76. Laughter
77. Old Christmas movies that remind us what the season is really about
78. Babies
79. Murphy's Law... because it keeps me guessing
    
80. Snow Days... even though we rarely get them
81. A husband that is willing to clean house
82. Co-workers that I adore
83. Space heaters for cold offices
84. I stole this one, but I agree: I am thankful that there is not war in my country, in my city, on my streets
85. That, despite being 30 years old, I still sat at the "kids table" at Thanksgiving this year :)
86. That I didn't have to do the dishes!
87. Hugs
88. Photos that help me remember all of the great places I've been and experiences I've had in my lifetime
89. My parents teaching me how to stand on my own two feet without needing to rely on anyone else to support me
90. The internet in general
91. My husband being a Kroger employee which means we now get discounts on Kroger products!
92. Coupons
93. Swimming Pools
94. Chinese takeout
95. Valid excuses for leaving work early
96. Naps - especially when I can lay in bed in the sunlight on a warm, sunny afternoon
97. Target. One of the greatest stores ever
98. Good books that are turned into movies so that I can enjoy them even more!
99. Flannel sheets
100. Crazy reality tv show marathons that I inevitably always get sucked into watching
101. That I'm done with this list!
     

Christmas in November...

Ok, it is only November 13th and apparently it is already "officially" the Christmas season. Why is it that we can't even make it through Halloween before the retailers are putting up Christmas decorations and doing big countdowns on how many shopping days we have left? Seriously people!

Why can't we just focus on one holiday at a time and then deal with the next one as it comes? I noticed on Monday as I was leaving the office that the management company that owns our building has workers busily setting up the platform in our parking lot for the large Christmas Tree they erect every year and the bushes are already adorned with twinkling Christmas lights. I am already seeing commercials on TV for Christmas decorations at Lowe's. Apparently, according to friends of mine they are already playing Christmas music at Wal-Mart. My husband and I went into Target over the weekend and there were at least 10 aisles dedicated to Christmas decorations up already. I know that Hallmark has had their Christmas ornaments out for months now! Is this ridiculous or what???

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Christmas. I love Christmas music and decorations and giving gifts to my loved ones. I love our Christmas Eve service at church and getting to spend time with my family and my family's family (i.e. - my in-laws and my sister-in-law's family). I love being reminded of the real reason for Christmas - the birth of Jesus. But I still think that we should be able to get through one holiday before we start throwing ourselves into the next one!!

For the first time last night, I saw a commercial on TV that was actually about Thanksgiving. What's that? Thanksgiving? Oh that's the holiday that's in exactly 2 weeks where we gather as families and take time to remember what we are thankful for. What? No gifts are given? Then it's not important to retailers apparently. I might point out that the commercial I saw on TV last night was for Publix (local grocery store). They can do commercials about Thanksgiving because it is a retail bonanza for them. Although I will say the commercial brought tears to my eyes as it showed several families talking about how thankful they were to be together and how much they loved one another.

There are 2 very important members of my family that won't be with us this Thanksgiving... my grandmother and grandfather who've both passed away in the last two years. I'm reminded that while I was always thankful for them in the past, I guess I never really stopped and thought about it that much while they were still with us. I never took the time before, I guess, because I never knew what it was like to not have them around. Now that they are no longer with us, I really take the time to stop and be thankful for those in my family that I am still able to celebrate with.

The point of all this? That this year I will be focusing on Thanksgiving before I focus on Christmas. Christmas can wait for now. I will celebrate Christmas and I will be out on Black Friday just like everyone else, but for now... for now I am focusing on my family and my loved ones and making sure that I tell them all how thankful I am to still have them in my life. Make sure you take the time to remind your loved ones how much you love them and are thankful for them during this "thankful" season.

Remember the Veterans...

As we all sit back and remember the Veterans in our lives, it's an important day to thank those extra special veterans in our lives. I have been very fortunate to have 3 wonderful Veterans in my life:


My grandfather, Robert Howard Rutherford, Sr. served in WWII in the Air Force division of the Army. At that time there was not a separate Air Force. He was in the 446 and served in England. He received the Soldier's Medal for rushing onto a burning plane to save a man on the plane. He truly was one of the most amazing men I have ever known in my life. He passed away in August of 2007, but not before teaching my brother and I some of the most important lessons of our lives. He and my grandmother (Mary) lived in Tuskegee, Alabama and raised three wonderful children and not only did they all live through the Civil Rights Movement in one of the hot spots of the time, but my grandfather was the Mayor of Tuskegee when the schools there were ordered to integrate. He had an amazing strength and determination and was a great Christian man. He truly is one of my heroes and I miss him terribly.



My other grandfather, Hermon Louis Sutton, fought in the Army in the Korean War. He is one of the sweetest, kindest men I've ever known. I am very fortunate to still have him in my life and he loves to tell stories of he and my grandmother (Pat) when they were young and dating. They raised two children and now have three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Although, I'm sure I'm the favorite out of all of them. :) He is a devoted follower of Christ and I admire him for his desire to share his love for God with his entire family. He truly is a wonderful man.



And finally - my step-father, Harold Dean Cremer who served in the Coast Guard in the Vietnam War. He is truly an example for all men. He grew up in the small town of Minonk, Illinois and has worked his way up to where he is now. He has been a wonderful second father to my brother and I and has taught us many valuable lessons in life. If it weren't for him, I honestly don't think that I'd be as financially stable as I am now. He has taught me so much about managing my finances as well as my life. He has taught me to be honest and to live my life simply. He is definitely a no-frills, man's man and I wouldn't have it any other way. I only hope that my husband is as good of a father to our children as he's been to us and to his own two children.

Do you know a Veteran? If so, tell them how much they mean to you today!!!