31/365

This just looks like a winter morning to me.

30/365

Today was nuts. This is the closest I could even get to taking a picture.

29/365

They're enjoying the lovely weather too!

28/365

Dinner! Venison kebabs.

27/365

Kinda proud :)

26/365

Sample wedding invitations... Decisions, decisions!

25/365

Hooray for a fresh new half cord of firewood!

24/365

Oh, snow...

23/365

Ugh... Crappy weather...

22/365

The highlight of my day. At least until dinner time :)

21/365

Another cheat, but that's ok, because its funny. I know there are a couple memes out there, but I want your captions!

20/365

Three days in a row with blue skies. Been a while!

19/365

My grandmother bought these for my mom. The world is ending.

18/365

Hooray!

17/365

And I was almost even kinda excited for some snow...

16/365

My poor empty wine rack :(

15/365

This is my Mattie's favorite place to sleep lately, on my legs.

Too funny not to share...

This is what I try to prevent in my line of work... Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

14/365

It's amazing how good a manicure can feel sometimes...

13/365

Somebody's Babe Ruth jersey from when he was 12 fits me just wonderfully :)

12/365

The sun was trying so hard to break the fog

11/365

My view for the evening.

10/365

Gotta love the traffic...

9/365

I love that my fiancé can cook.

8/365

How much is that kittie in the window?

7/365

This was just what I needed after work. Right I after I took this, I spilled it. Go figure.

6/365

Always live inspired.

5/365

Now THIS is an oyster!

4/365

So this is kind of a cheat. I know these pictures are supposed to be pictures that I took, but all things considered, this is only appropriate. Always Live Inspired.

Sigh...

I'm too young for this.

I attended the memorial service for my friend Ali on Friday. She was 40. Lung cancer took her, lung cancer that can't be blamed on smoking or any other bad habit, just genetics. She died last Friday after defying every prediction the doctors made for her over the last nearly 2 1/2 years.

My Facebook friend list has far too many people on it that are gone. Cancer has taken a couple, and war another. All young, and all reminders of how fragile life is. All reminders that none of us ever know when our last day on this earth will be. All reminders that we should all be living our lives every single day.

I never thought, when I was younger, that I would have lost friends at age 32. Who ever thinks that?

I'm a master procrastintor. At everything. But one thing I really want to try to never put off is making sure that those I love know that I love them, just in case. Because even though I am far too young for this, you never know.

Rest in peace, Ali. May love and music always surround you.

3/365

I went looking for a new slow cooker but found this - even better!

2/365

It's my cat in a box...

1/365

Happy 2013!!

Looking back on 2012 and ahead to 2013

Wow. 2012 is on the books. That sure was quick.

First, I want to take a look back at my first post of 2012, and see how I did on each of my "resolutions":

1. Eat a fruit or vegetable with every meal. Ideally, actually get 5 servings of fruit/veg per day. This will be especially hard at breakfast for me. I did OK on this. I really started eating better in July, switching to a mostly Primal style of eating. I'm not 100% on this, but I'm MUCH better.

2. Fit into the pink dress I bought a couple years ago and LOVE but have never worn. Not quite there yet, but definitely MUCH closer than I was when I added it to the list!!

3. Try to be less cluttered. Eh. This one is hard. I'm better at work, for sure - the job move and a slightly smaller work area helped with this. But at home... I'm consciously trying, but I'm not sure its really working

4. Let people finish sentences without interrupting. I'm REALLY bad about this, partially because my mind tends to move a zillion miles an hour. I'm more conscious of this, but I still find myself doing it. But I think about it more, so that counts for something, right?

5. Eat fried food no more than twice a month. I would say never, but that's just not realistic. So I'm going to try to limit it. I'm not sure if I've stuck to this, but I can say that, especially since July, I overall eat MUCH healthier than I did at the start of the year. So there's that

6. Blog at least once a week, if not more. I did pretty darn well on this one!

7. Write more songs. Maybe even record one or two of them. But this one... epic fail.

8. Get rid of the clothes that I haven't worn or fit into in years but haven't wanted to get rid of because of sentimental reasons. I have a HUGE bag of clothes sitting in my guest room waiting for me to take to Goodwill. I also took a couple of big loads earlier this year. So success, I think.

9. Read one book per month. Not sure about January and February, but I'm pretty sure I did this. Other than July - it took me over a month to read the Reagan Diaries, but it was a super long book so I think I can still say I did this.

10. Finish my master's degree. I finished all the course work! I had to take some time off with the job move, but all I have left to do now is the capstone, which I start on Monday. Success!!

On top of all of that, 2012 was just generally a pretty good year for me. A job change, a move, and, not at all least, the engagement!! 2013, I'm hoping, will be even better - if for no other reason than I get to marry my best friend this year.

So, continuing on the same track as last year, here's my top ten list for this year:

1. Don't let the wedding planning stress me out. Also known as have fun with the wedding planning.

2. Keep up with the better eating lifestyle. I'm less focused on the numbers, but I still want to wear that pink dress, dammit!! I think a feasible goal would be to be able to wear it to the rehearsal...

3. Keep decluttering. This is really hard, but I have to work on it. One thing that might help, at least with some of the paper, would be getting a desk or a good filing cabinet.

4. Continue working on not interrupting people.

5. Be a better listener. This goes hand in hand with number 4, but its not the same. Especially with Matt, I'm not always very good about listening and watching the way that I talk to people, especially those I'm closest to. I need to work on it.

6. Re-evaluate my budget and start saving more and contributing to my IRA again.

7. Cut my credit card debt in half. This goes hand in hand with number 6, but honestly, I'd rather get that debt cut in half before I worry about the IRA too much at this point.

8. Write more songs. Maybe even record one or two of them. Yes, this is a repeat. But I really want to come back to writing and singing.

9. Do project 365 - post a picture for every day of 2013. Day 1 will follow in the next post.

10. Be able to look back on 2013 with much of the same satisfaction as I have today as I look back on 2012. While it wasn't a perfect year, and I didn't do everything I wanted to do, I can say that it was pretty solid, and I'd be happy if 2013 was as good.

Happy New Year to everyone... What's on your list for 2013?