33 ~ wish i were there . . .

i know, i know - once again, i totally suck at keeping a blog :) it has been almost a month since i last wrote! i can't even begin to remember all that has happened since january 11th - a whole lot of the same old same old - and a lovely trip to mexico with my baby.

we went to tulum in mid-january - flew from austin to cancun on viva aerobus - a wonderfully cheap way to fly - it's no-frills for sure, but we don't need frills :) we've already booked two more trips to puerto vallarta (Sayulita ~ our favorite place in the world) - one in march with the bub (yikes!) and another in june (just me and my baby :) can't wait!!! tulum was beautiful - our hotel was devine - a b&b right on the beach - a lovely suite, rooftop hot tub, pool, yummy breakfast each morning, gorgeous views - we hit the ruins one day - ate some awesome shrimp tacos at a roadside dive - and spent many lazy hours just lounging at the hotel - heavenly.

since then, we've been doing the regular - school, work, play, eat, sleep, repeat. lyle is doing super in school - i've started my drawing class (i suck) - and work is going great for sean and me. i'll write more later - i promise! i've got some pics to post of my newly painted tea cart - it was my grandmother's - i've been meaning to paint it for years and years . . . now it's turquoise blue - very cool.

32 ~ red fridge

one of my to-do's for the year is to surround myself with color ~ i did just that this week with the purchase of our new red refrigerator! now, having to replace our fridge did kinda suck - it's money that we really didn't want to spend ~ but, this red fridge is so rockin' that i think the unexpected expense was worth it :) i mean, how friggin' cool is this fridge?! we all love it - even the bub, who called it "awesome!" when it was delivered.

i'm signing up for guitar lessons - another thing on my list. stacey and i are going to learn together ~ i'm excited! this is my year of living creatively - and it's gonna be crafty and colorful and cool :)

31 ~ things to do

a new year, a fresh start, a big ol' list of things to do ~ i don't like calling them resolutions, because lots of stuff on my list won't get accomplished this year or next - but it's always good to have a list :) i love marking things off of lists - even if the things i do are totally obvious and required on a daily basis - it makes me think that i'm actually getting stuff done, even when i'm not! first thing on my list is already accomplished - hence the new tag line for my blog - "a weekly journal of the things for which i'm most thankful" - ha ha. let's see if i can manage a weekly submission. sorry i've been gone for so long, but the last month has been a BLUR. i had a good time, but i'm glad the holidays have passed once again - heck, i've even got my decorations and my gifts for next year put away - crazy!!

the list:

• eat more ice cream cones with the bub
• live creatively - make art - love art - surround myself with color
• paint my bathrooms and a wall in the living room (i'm thinking orange, blue + purple!)
• start learning to play the guitar
• knit a scarf
• play more with the bub and clean house less (we'll see how that goes :)
• take more roadtrips
• swim in the ocean
• exercise (yeah, right. but i say it every year. maybe this year . . . )
• meet new friends + get to know my old friends better
• pick something
• bake cookies
• snuggle my cat - and my husband - and my bub!
• plant flowers
• read many books
• complain less, rejoice more
• write thank you notes
• listen to music
• write

okay ~ that's a good start, i think! there is much to do, so i'd better start cracking. oh, and i forgot: quit spending so much time on facebook! ugh - it is soul-sucking and addictive - and i can't stop!! someone help me . . .

30 ~ lazy girl

i have much to say, but i'm feeling incredibly lazy tonite. i just can't get it together to write anything even slightly interesting ~ it's been a long week. however, i had to post this pic of my bub - taken saturday at the tree farm (we went to have pancakes with santa - more on that later) ~ the bub was trying his hardest to master the monkey bars when i snapped this super-duper photo of him. i think it captures my bub perfectly - that face, that smile, those teeth, that hair, that spirit, that joy ~ he is everything to me :)

29 ~ party girl

it's been a busy week! i hadn't recovered from lyle's birthday party before i had to start preparing for my own holiday party ~ yes, i know, i'm crazy . . . and i obviously enjoy stress a great deal. but, that's another story.

anyway ~ it was tons of work and tons of fun. i hoped it would help me get into the spirit and help me out of my funk a bit ~ thankfully, it did both :) my house was full of sixteen awesome ladies ~ all moms/friends from our playgroup. we indulged in a few holiday cocktails and yummy treats - then spent the night laughing and telling stories. throw in a chinese gift exchange and you've got a real par-tay! the noise level was a bit deafening at times - i felt like i'd been at a show because my ears were ringing once everyone had left (around midnight) ~ definitely a sign of a good time :)

the week continued to be busy at work, with the playgroup and at school ~ a big end of year mailing, covering pinecones in glitter at the park, hot cocoa and cookies for the class ~ whew! i'm exhausted!! there is more to tell - and more pics to post - i'll get right on that tomorrow :) after lyle and i get back from "The Nutcracker" ~ yes, the bub is going to the ballet :) he's excited! i'm interested to see how he likes it ~ i just hope he can sit still and be quiet through the bulk of the performance - keeping fingers and toes crossed for that! wish us luck :)

28 ~ party at the park

the best way to turn a blue mood around ~ spend a beautiful day at the park with friends and cupcakes and bubbles and crayons and balls and pizza and juice and bikes and climbing trees and goody bags . . . lyle's party was a great time for all of us! the day was PERFECT - no, really - it was perfection. blue skies, crisp and cool, warm in the sun, leaves to crunch, trees to climb, goals to score, cupcakes to eat ~ we couldn't have asked for a better day. thank you so much to all of our friends who joined us ~ and many, many thanks to my good friend laurie who took the above photos after my camera's batteries died :) the one glitch in my perfect day!

i don't think we'll try to top this one ~ five will forever be lyle's great birthday year :) it did help my mood - once i got through all of the preparations - that always stresses me out a bit! especially after having to completely change gears when mcdonald's called the week before the party to tell me that they had overbooked their playspace ~ ugh!

lyle and i had another lovely day on sunday when we went to seaworld with stacey and her girls. another beautiful day spent with good friends :) now, i'm cleaning my house like a crazy person since i'm having my own little holiday party tomorrow nite! and i still don't know what i'm serving ~ i'd better get on that :) what i really want to do is dig into "new moon" - the second book in the "twilight" series. i finally got the other three books from amazon today, and i am anxious to start reading!!

27 ~ blue is the color . . .

well, after re-reading my last entry, i decided i got a little too blue at the end. my apologies for being such a major downer. the funk is still in full force, but i am trudging through it :) due to popular demand - well, stacey's demand :) - here are pics of my cool blue christmas tree! blue suits my mood that's for sure - blue also makes for a beeyooteefull tree :) don'tcha think?

dinner and drinks and shopping with friends last nite did cheer me up a bit ~ i needed that in a big way. i also bought myself a very cool pink glitter ring (pics tomorrow, i promise) that has glittered and sparkled on my finger all day :) tomorrow is the bub's big birthday party, and i can hardly believe that over 20 kiddos are coming ~ yikes! good thing the part-ay has been moved to the park - that way they'll have room to run :) it's supposed to be quite lovely outside - and with superhero cupcakes, pizza, juice and goody bags, it's gotta be a great day for the bub :) i'll fill ya in tomorrow after i've recovered a bit from all of the fun.