good-bye 2011

2011 was a pretty good year, first one in a LONG time.  After some rough years I am hoping that we are on the way up and that 2012 will be even better.
2011, the year that. . .
- I finished graduate school!
- I got a job, a class at the community college.
- Lance "graduated" from preschool and started elementary school and is growing and learning so much.
- Lily was potty trained, no more diapers (pull ups at night) and moved from a crib to a bed, the baby phase is gone!  I thought I would be sad about this, but I am really enjoying being done with the baby years.
- Jeff moved his business to a new location and got more into recycle bicycles and sales have been better, not as good as they have been, but better.
- I became an apple fan, the year of apple gadgets, I got a macbook pro, then we all got an ipad 2, and then this fall I got an iphone 4s, we are enjoying all our technology, but with it, we are trying to learn to unplug sometimes too.
-  my grandmother did pass away this year, five days after her 99th birthday, which is sad, but knowing she isn't afraid anymore is comforting.
- we paid off our car, our Subaru is ours!  and I made the last payment of my undergraduate student loans, bad news, I know have to pay off graduate school.
- we got a shed this year and 4 new windows, hopefully the new windows will keep our heating bills down, it has been so mild we haven't been able to tell if there is a difference from the new windows yet.
Did I mention that I got a job?  Shortly after having Lance and quit teaching I thought that I might enjoy teaching at the community college, so two years ago I started on my masters and here I am with a soon to be rewarded graduate degree and I am teaching a class, amazing!  I am so thankful for the opportunity to teach, earn a little bit of money, and stay at home with the kids.
This year we also got to spend a week at the beach, take a spring break trip to Wilmington, NC, and a weekend trip to D.C. this fall. 
It has been a good year and I am sad that it is coming to an end, though next year is looking pretty good too.
We are hoping to go to Disney in March and the beach in July and hopefully a trip to visit family in Michigan sometime over the summer, and having a summer with no graduate school is a bonus.

Though I always break them, I have been thinking about New Year's resolutions or goals and here they are:

1- From 4-6 pm every day be electronics free
2- Get some form of exercise at least 3 days a week (this is easy in spring/summer, hard in winter)
3- Plant a vegetable garden
4- Get debt free and stay that way
5- Paint the house
6- Find affordable health insurance
7- Fence in the backyard
8- Drive my car less and the most fuel efficient that I can
9- Read the entire Bible
10- Start composting and get a rain barrel (for garden)
11- Get up in the morning before the kids
12- Be thankful and content

So good-bye 2011, you were good, Hello 2012, I have big plans for you!

hibernation

Yesterday as I was standing out at the bus spot it occurred to me that it was the first time in 24 hours that I had set foot outside.  The last time I had been outside was exactly 24 hours prior when I went get Lance off the bus.  I was shocked that a full 24 hours had gone by without me going outside and that I didn't even notice that I hadn't been out, which is highly unusual for me.  Our house is small, 1358 square feet to be exact and it seems to get even smaller during the winter months, yet it is seemed plenty big yesterday.  My realization of 24 hours of being inside got me thinking how I tend to hibernate during the winter months.  When it is cold outside, I can stay home all day and not go stir crazy.  I can't stand to be in the house all day during the spring and summer.  I should note: I can stay at home all day, but not stay inside, during the warmer, longer days I can take walks, sit outside, etc.  I hate the cold, I really do.  I also hate the darkness of winter, I hate how the sun goes down at 5 pm and these dark nights zap my motivation to do anything, especially anything out of my house: everything from going out to dinner to grocery shopping seems hard to do once the sun goes down.  I really hate winter, I can't wait for March, 2.5 more months.