2011, here we are! When did that happen?

Boy, 2010 just FLEW by, didn't it? I can't believe how fast this past year went! Seems like just yesterday that I made a bunch of New Year's resolutions that I completely failed at.

I don't see the point in making them, anyway. And why does it have to be a new year to make a resolution or a change in your life? What's so special about that? You can have a fresh start or try to change your life in little or big ways any day of the year, as far as I'm concerned! Seems like I'm always attempting to "start over" in some way anyway. Whether it be trying to eat better, get more sleep, spending more quality time with my hubby, getting the kids to bed on time, moving more, cooking more, budget better, etc. etc. etc, it seems like I'm constantly in a state of attempted improvement. For what it's worth, I always succeed to a certain extent, but I'm never perfect. If I was, I wouldn't have anything to work at, right? Plus, some things you just can't do enough OF, like quality family time or eating right, you know? There's not a certain level that you can get to that's optimal. There's always something to work toward or strive for.

Lately, it's trying to keep our practice moving and growing and keeping our family life as unaffected by it as possible. It's hard to not bring work home with us, because it IS our life right now, everything depends upon it.

Eh. Seems like a dreary and depressing topic and I really don't want to dwell on it any more than I already do. So. Let's see, where was I? Oh, right, New Year, 2011, all that.

We had a nice Christmas this year, our first in our new house, starting/continuing our Spencer family traditions. Which, really, this is the first time we've really had a chance to start some traditions that we CAN keep in place since we don't HAVE to move in 2 years unless we want to. It's finally our turn to be stable and static and not have to upend our entire family. We can safely get attached to people and places without feeling like we'll have to abandon them in a couple of years. It's a really nice feeling, I've got to say. I enjoyed the Navy but I longed to be part of a permanent community, have my kids grow up with friends and neighbors and have a permanent address that wasn't my parents'. We finally get a chance to have our own stuff. Wow. It still doesn't seem real. I keep thinking that we're gonna have to go catch a flight back to Japan any time now. I think it'll take a couple of years to really sink in that we've REALLY not got any more obligations to the military. For it to really feel like we're not going to have to uproot our entire lives anymore.

So we spent a quiet Christmas at home, just us. Grandma and Grandpa stopped by for a couple of hours on Christmas Day and that was nice. We had brunch and they got to see the grandbabies on Christmas morning, which is always exciting and cute. The kids were excited to see them and show off their loot from Santa and Mom and Dad. We went down to Arkansas for New Year's and it felt good to be back there, I love visiting Steve and Shirley and the farm. I went out skeet shooting with Glynn and Steve for my first time ever and discovered a new talent of mine. It was entirely too much fun, blowing stuff up in the middle of nowhere. What a rush! It's like first time you connect with a golf ball, it's exhilarating and you just want to do it again. The first time I hit one of those little orange clay pigeons and saw it explode into dust, I was hooked. Now granted, I have bruises all over my shoulder from the shotgun kick but it was worth it.

Annie and Sarah have been going to "Nana and Papaw Camp" for years, since they were in diapers. That was more out of necessity than anything, they had to be connected to Glynn somehow in that difficult time years ago, as who really wants to be away from their babies for more than a few hours at a time? I know that I never was able to leave my kids overnight until just recently when they ASKED to stay with Grandma and Grandpa. The whole point is that I think Maddie and Brady are just about at the right age to go visit the farm for a couple of days for Nana and Papaw camp this summer. They all LOVE it down there and Nana and Papaw spoil them rotten and runs them ragged outdoors all day long. We went on a "walkabout" with Papaw the day we came back and the babies had such a blast. They love being down there and playing with the dog and cat and just enjoying being outdoors in such a remote area, surrounded by the stream and the mountains and the critters. I know some of my best memories were spending summers with my Grandma and Uncle Ken on their "farm" in Kansas. I want Maddie and Brady to have the same experiences that I did. And I know they'll love it. They've already gotten to spend some overnights with Grandma and Grandpa, and I want them to be well-rounded and spread their little wonderfulness around with both sets of grandparents.

That's about it for now, I've got two little stinkers that don't want to go to sleep and Arkansas is playing in the Sugar Bowl and I've got to give that some more serious attention before my husband leaves me for gross neglect.

I'll try to post more often. I've got some pictures from Christmas and I'll try to put them up tomorrow or the next day. Happy New Year, everyone. I hope it's great for everybody.