Happy New Year!

I've learned some very important lessons in 2010. While all teachings have the ability to be life changing, a few of the lessons I had to learn this year will have life long lasting effects. Read on for my schooling at "Life University" this past year.

My first lesson came in February on our return trip from visiting Karin and family in NY. NEVER attempt to save money on flights by opting for a 3-plane trip with a not-quite-2 yr. old toddler. She will never make it to your destination in a good mood. And more than likely, the meltdown will occur somewhere in the middle...

Another lesson learned involved my desire to switch careers. I, like so many others, have been misled that there is ALWAYS a need for quality teachers. Well, after studying for weeks and successfully passing the Elementary Certification Exam, I woke up to a St. Pete Times headline that revealed that it was "The worst year for hiring teachers since the Great Depression." Needless to say, I'm still not employed as a teacher, but I am signed up for substitute training and keep trying!

The lessons continued throughout the summer, such as: you can't pay bills with fake money; unemployment doesn't stretch as far as one would like it too and yes, FL summers are brutally hot as ever. But nothing could have prepared me for the lesson that even IUD's are not foolproof. Yes... I have heard of people getting pregnant on birth control before, but with an IUD? Really? I called Mirena's customer service line to discuss my displeasure of their product. They reminded me that "no birth control is 100% effective, but they were sorry to hear that I wasn't satisfied with their product." Thank you very much. I will try to contain my joy at raising another child for 18 years.

While I was still reeling from my life long lesson discovered in August, one of Hillsborough county's finest educated me on the costly decision to accelerate beyond the posted speed limit over the Courtney Campbell Causeway (I really did NOT see the speed limit change!). About 2 weeks later, I learned that even the second car going through a green light is at risk of being hit by a red-light runner! Our truck was totaled in the accident that thankfully, spared everyone from injury.

Probably the most disappointing lesson I had to learn this year, was the one that even those you love, can hurt you beyond belief; and even your spouse can lie, cheat and steal. I'm a trusting person by nature and generally believe what someone tells me. Even when you've made mistakes before, I'll give you another chance just for the asking. I hope by learning this lesson I can learn to temper my judgement, but still keep my trusting nature.

I'm ready for 2011 to be a not so "educational" year for me. The lessons I learned last year will carry me through most, if not all of this one. Besides, I'll be learning a lot about being a single mom to a rambunctious soon to be 3 year old and a newborn. Lots of moms have done it before, and while I didn't want to raise my daughters like this, I'm determined to be successful too!

Christmas Memories 2010

Another Christmas has come and gone. Another holiday with people missing from the celebration. Not only was Sal absent (Abigail did ask if Santa was leaving him presents) but I missed seeing three of my sisters as well. Jill & Dwayne are still living in Oklahoma, although we did get to talk to them; Heather & Jaylen stayed home because Jaylen was pretty sick and had pink eye; Stacy, John & Bryce spent Christmas at Disney World. Now that's a nice Santa!

Since I wasn't working in December this year, and living with Grandma, I helped out a lot with different festivities and cooked my first Christmas dinner! Gram added some help so everything came out beautiful. We made cookies about 3 or 4 times, so I ate more than my fair share! Not looking forward to stepping on the scale tomorrow at the OB office... Although on a side note, as of last Dr. appointment, I was still down 2 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight.

We took a trip to Wesley Chapel to Wiregrass Mall Christmas Festival. It was beautiful! Light show to christmas music, lots of festive decorations and Abigail loved the lights! We ended the night with a trip to Blondie's Cookies. Yum Yum!

We made decorations and headed to church; we trimmed a few trees and wrapped about a hundred presents. All in all, it was a special year. A time for healing, a time for rejoycing, and most importantly, a time to celebrate our Savior's birth!

Enjoy the photo memories!

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Christmas Pictures

Abigail & I had our family Christmas pictures taken at JC Penney this year. Since I'm a Lifetouch employee, I get a really good discount. I wasn't expecting much, because as a photographer myself, I can tend to be picky about pictures of my daughter, expecially! However, I was really pleased with the results! So we ordered cards and a few pictures to share. Make sure you take time to get your family picture updated - you never know when that will be the "last" picture! Your memories are priceless...

Christmas Season

The Christmas season is in full swing! I've taken Abigail to the mall a lot recently, mostly to play at the small playground they have there. It has been unseasonably bitter cold here, and taking her outside to run off all that toddler energy is just not an option! My goodness, the kid doesn't even have a winter coat! I might be able to add that to Santa's list if I'm quick about it...

Anyway, while at the mall, I had her picture taken with Santa. She did awesome! She was so happy to sit on Santa's lap, talk with him, and of course she gladly accepted the candy cane he was handing out. Now when we head to the mall, she says "Hi Santa!" and waves just like they are old buds. It is so cute!

We've also made cookies a time or two. Marissa and Abigail helped make, bake and frost our first of many batches of traditional christmas cookies. I had a bunch of really cute photos, but realized at the end that the memory card wasn't in the camera. BUMMER! Marissa is such a great help with Abigail! Abigail just thinks the world of her of course...

Then, the other afternoon Mom came over for a little "grandma time" with the munchkin. They colored, made a Dora christmas tree complete with Boots and Swiper, and we ordered pizza. It was a great night! Mom & I got to talk, when we could get a word in edge wise, that was... Hope to have more of those...

Grandma took this one yesterday morning. We were wrapping presents and Abigail loves to play with all the empty rolls of paper. Did I mention she also wants to tape everything? So she is running around banging everything with the empty roll and she realized that one of them would open and she could wrap herself up in it. We added the bow to complete her look! She is really enjoying the season!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Another bittersweet holiday. We had a delicious dinner, which I made might I add (okay with help from Grandma)... at Grandma's house. It was also nice to have a toned-down family gathering. Missing some of our regulars (Mom, Stacy & Bryce & John) and of course - my husband. Jen's kids went to inlaws and their father's house right after dinner, so there were even fewer kids running around afterwards than usual. We ate until we could eat no more and then we played cards for a few hours. Euchre is the game of choice around these parts.

But I couldn't help but wonder how my husband was feeling spending Thanksgiving without his family. I know it was his choice, but still I have not turned into some cold-hearted bitch. We haven't talked really, other than a few emails and texts since he left, but I'm sure Thanksgiving was just one day recently that he wishes he made another choice.

On happier notes, Gram & I took to the mall for Black Friday. We were happy to see our local mall filled with shoppers, as it usually is so barren we are afraid of it closing. I was happy that Aunt Nancy agreed to take Abigail for the day so we could be toddler free! Thank you Aunt Nancy! That was a HUGE help! I got a lot of shopping done and even snagged a $70 purse for $20 bucks for myself at JC Penney's. I realized that my Gram is really getting older than I like to admit. Normally she would have gone shopping all day and it not really bothered her. Friday, after 5 hours she was toast! Her back hurt and she was ready to plop into bed. I guess she is entitled, she is over 70... Although I have to admit, with the plantar faciitis in my right foot, after 5 hours my foot was killing me as well! I even wore tennis shoes, but it still burned like fire.

Saturday Marissa spent the day with us and we made christmas cookies. I let her & Abigail mix, roll out dough, use the cookie cutters and then decorate the cookies. I even took such cute pictures along the way! Only to realize that the memory card was not in Grandma's camera! I was so mad! My point and shoot will tell me if there is no card in the slot, but I found out the hard way today that Gram's camera has no such warning... Oh well, the girls had a blast and the holidays have begun! This evening we went shopping to a few more stores and headed out to Steak N Shake for dinner. Two nights and two days of thanksgiving food was enough for me!

Christmas Pictures

Abigail & I went to JC Penney's yesterday for our annual Christmas card pictures. It was bittersweet, because last year's picture was so different from what this year's card will look like. Although I'm certain that this year's card will shine like the bright star in the east, it will only don two of us. Last year my family seemed more complete. Sal was still around and Sabrina was a part of our busy mix. By now Sal has resettled himself in Denver and really doesn't want to be part of us, and Sabrina is happily back home with her mom, which of course, is where she belongs. However, it still seemed incomplete for a holiday picture of two.

In the end, Abigail was WONDERFUL for the pictures! I couldn't have asked for a better 2 year old! She smiled sweetly on command, giggled at all the right times, and was so beautifully dressed! While we both have experienced a pretty traumatic fall, we do have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving & hope that you do too!

Trick or Treat! Smell my feet...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We had a fabulous time trick or treating with Maria and her girls again this year. I had been practicing with Abigail all week to say "trick or treat" as correctly and loudly as she could. She rarely will say whole words, let alone phrases, so I wanted to give her lots of time to practice! I think she remembered going out last year, because she was so very excited! She picked out her own costume this year, and she was a gorgeous little devil! We tried to talk her into a princess outfit, but nope! Guess she knows her personality the little stinker! Anyway, enjoy the photos!