new years week and resolutions and such.

1. New Years Eve, I left the boys behind and took a little road trip to Ikea with my sisters. Driving on the open road next to sheep and bovine always makes me burst into songs of praises to my God. No matter what storms are brewing in my mind, I cannot help but worship God while on the open road.

One minute dashing through snow-capped mountains and the next moment joining the throngs of traffic  in Burbank. It's kind of unreal.


The mother ship calling me home...

I had not been to Ikea in like 15 years. It's quite the experience. I could not stop galking at all the strange  peeps, especially the guy in pink crocks. I kept pointing out weirdos to my sisters.

My sisters were like, "you must be suffering culture shock from being sheltered in a small town for so long... because we think everyone looks normal". Haaa.

My little sister Lindsay bought some super cool metal shelves from Ikea, and so I made the trip to pick some up for my house too. She gave me her blessing to be a complete copycat. Gotta love sisters. So much fun that day.

2. We rung in the New Year by traveling to my sister Jessica's house to celebrate the day with the entire family, including my boys.

Lindsay made tiny pies that were adorbs.


Jessica bought a cute tablecloth at Target. Arrows or trees? Take your pick. I love how arrows look like Christmas trees and vice versa.


Why hello Ollie! Love that boy.


3. The next day, I decided that I urgently needed a teeny tiny white unicorn from Only Hearts Club...so that I could play with Ollie and Twain and Tabby and Tux. Forgive the cruddy phone pic.

But this white unicorn is so mysterious, that it cannot be found anywhere. They only tiny unicorns being sold are pink or purple. I'm totally bitter. And nobody cares but me.

4. On my list of things to do for the new year was to buy new sneakers. My old ones were lit-er-a-lee falling apart at the seams.

My requirements: Neutral greyish color, good support for exercising and walking around town.

I went to a special store where they put you on a treadmill and take a video of your foot pronation while walking. It's pretty nifty. If you have any feet/knee/hip or back issues, I'd highly recommend this type of store. Also I stepped onto an electronic device that took digital readings of my foot/weight distribution and it was found(for the first time) that I have high arches and need great support. Who knew???!!

So I've been meaning to blog about my exercise regime(or lack thereof) on this blog for a while now. Basically I get into a groove for a month and then completely fall off the bandwagon. Either because my knees are stinging from the exercies, or I get busy or sick or what-have-you. I'm completely inconsistent. But a main problem for a while has been stinging knees whenever I run, jump or lunge. It's rude.

I have loose ligaments near my knees, according to Dr. W, and that has been part of the problem.

And today at the shoe store I learned that due to my high arches and weight distribution, it sends shocks straight up to my knees whenever I step/jump/run. Hence the stingy knees. So the shoes I bought should help with this. *crosses fingers*

Everyone in the store was wearing wild flashy colorful sneakers and all of a sudden I wanted wild ones too...everyone looked so happy and sporty in them. But alas, the shoes the fit best were these plain janes. And at the end of the day, I want happy feet and knees.


So here's to a new year with hopefully more exercise. And I should like some sporty clothes to run around town in, to match my shoes. Because I want to live in these bad boys. So not my usual style.


5. Yesterday John informed me that he wanted me to do "the LIONS SHARE" of cooking in the house from here until eternity.

Ok, maybe he did not say for eternity...

My reaction? I wanted to curl up in the corner and cry. I felt so overwhelmed. I will confess that I am NOT motivated in the kitchen. At all. My mom and sisters are amazing in this area of service to their family(and should plug their ears for a minute) while I am a bit of a black sheep in this area.

Here's the deal. I don't mind making festive meals for company or bringing people meals. It's the mundane daily grind where I fail.

And then John and I got into an argument...and the following convo makes me sound bratty(I was in a horrifically ornery mood and had a head cold):

John: "Don't you want to serve your family?"
Me: "No." (See? Ornery. I did not mean this at all.)
John: "Didn't you sign up for this deal when you decided to be a stay at home mom?"
Me: "No sorry. You got the short end of the stick when you married me. I'm sorry."(Yikes, super ornery)
John: "That's ok. I still love you as a wife. You do have other good qualities."

Poor boy. And I did later apologize for reals and ask him to forgive me for my shortcomings...which he did:)

And the root of the problem which makes me wince to write: I am a bit lazy in the kitchen.

There. I said it. No point in lying. Now I can move forward and deal with the problem.

My dear friend told me that I am part of the RCA(Resistant Cooks of America). LOL. Is this for real?

Anyhow, in order to combat this horrid RCA condition of mine, I had to come up with a plan, or resolution, if you will. I should prepare the main course of dinner in the morning or afternoon, when I have the energy and desire. Because truly, when 5 p.m. hits, I am mush. If there is not meat defrosted or a plan, I just get too overwhelmed and self destruct. If there is a plan and meat defrosted, I actually don't mind cooking at all. And we do write down all of our meals on the calendar. But it does me no good if I don't actually look at the calendar until 5 p.m.

And I'm praying for a change in attitude every time I am tempted to poop out and get lazy. Because truly truly, I realize it's a huge honor to feed these boys(and husband) of mine. And I have all the food and cooking tools at my disposal in this bountiful nation and I am truly grateful for the ease of cooking in this day and age. This a pep talk for me and anyone else who struggles with kitchen motivation.

So, with this in mind, yesterday I made a chicken pot pie and was done before 3:30 p.m. I felt like I won the lottery, at being done so early on in the day.


I mean, can't you tell from my expression?


I really was smiling ear to ear. Honest.

Such awkward selfies(self pics).

My reward for cooking dinner early in the day will be snuggling up with a book at 4 or 5 while dinner cooks in the oven.

John got me the Anne of Green Gables book at the library. I'm excited to read it next.

6. My other new years resolution. I need to learn how to be a boy scout. Or girl scout.
Basically, I have no head in emergencies.
I have no idea how to read a map or operate a compass. I barely know my bearings. I don't know where to drive when the damn breaks and floods my town(an entirely possible situation if an earthquake hits, but that's another story). And if this happens I need to drive North or South.

The entire time I have lived in this town, I was convinced that I knew which direction North, South, East and West were. I was wrong. Even though I thought I was going S, I was really going SE according to my iPhone compass.

And every time I thought I was going W, I was really going NW.

No biggie. But good to know. So I'm practicing. 

I'm learning how to be more independent and how to improvise and figure things out if need be. I could make myself crazy thinking about fires, floods, earthquakes and evacuations. Instead, I will trust in the Lord to take care of me and the boys...but in the meanwhile, do my best to learn and make wise decisions with the tools and brain he has given me.

7. One more thought on resolutions....comes from our Pastor Ryan: God is even more zealous to transform us and grow us than we are. Any change that comes about is initiated by God. Our part is to respond in obedience, and to use the tools that God has given us to do the work He set before us.

For example. If we have a neighbor who doesn't mow the lawn and we buy him an awesome lawn mower to get the job done...it's pretty pointless if our neighbor does not use the lawn mower, but instead chooses to watch t.v. all day. 

Happy New Year!