I'm a little late...

Now before you all freak out and get super excited...please realize that my title of this post has to do with the fact that I haven't blogged in a while, and about what I'm going to talk about in this post.  Not what you crazy kids are thinking!!!!


I'm a little late in blogging...


...and I'm a little late in letting you all know what fabulous things I want to remember about 2010.


...and I'm a little late in letting you all know what my hopes are for this coming year!  Plus if I tell you all what my hopes are, you can help keep me on track.


I'm using the word "hopes" instead of the words resolutions or goals, for the shear fact that I don't like to fail (Ann this may be the one and only time you get to tell me "You're not going to fail," as opposed to me saying it to you ;0) Take advantage).


If I make resolutions...like pretty much everyone else on the face of the planet who sets resolutions...I will give up on them within about a week.

If I set goals, and I don't live up to them, I FAIL!  *cue Ann here.
...and as I said before, I don't like to fail.  It's one of my faults.  


So, I'm making my list of Hopes for the year 2011!  But before I get to those, I want to reflect a little on the past year.


You see, for me, 2010 wasn't all that bad.  There were many things that I experienced that I'd never experienced before, and multiple things that (barring I don't end up with amnesia or Alzheimer's) I would like to always remember.

So here we go...

My 2010 Firsts:
~ In January, my sister moved to a house located approximately 7 doors down from me!  Aside from when we lived in the same house growing up, we haven't lived that close to each other in...well, EVER!  In fact, this was the first time in 9 years that we've lived in the same state.

~I played laser tag for the first time.  This is semi-cheesey...I realize that.  But it was fun, and it was a first.

~I was called for Jury Duty...I didn't get picked, but I'd never been called before.  So that was interesting.

~I had my first Longaberger party as a consultant.  Thanks for hosting Mom!

~I had my first vacation to Myrtle Beach!  

~I turned 30.  I know...it's not like this was a chosen first, but truly, you only turn 30 once ;0)  I didn't dread it, and I actually like being 30.  

~I committed (with Chris of course) to go above and beyond our regular giving, and be a bigger partner in our church, Crosspoint.  Crosspoint is like home, when I miss a Sunday I don't feel complete.  I'm in community with these people, and I LOVE being a part of the Crosspoint Tribe!!!!

~I saw one of the Twilight movies in theatre with a friend.  Now I realize this sounds weird...but when Twilight and New Moon came out, ALL my friends went and no one invited me to go along...but this time for Eclipse, Hope invited me right off the bat!  Thanks Hope...I love you, you complete me!

~I became a School Nurse...and as you all know, I LOVE my new job!  

~I spent a day with the K-boys.  Actually I've done this a few times this year, but I'd never done it until this year, so I count it as a first.

~I went to a Symphony on the Prairie.  It was a fun date from my hubby...and it was all Michael Jackson.  Love me some MJ!

~I made the adult decision and actually CHOSE to go on home I.V.  I still can't believe I did this...what was I thinking?

~I celebrated 6 years of marriage with the BEST HUSBAND EVER!

~I went to a Colt's game.  Up until a few years ago, my concept of the game of football was null and void.   The first football game I ever actually watched was when the Colt's won the superbowl...since then, I've slowly learned more and more about football, and sometimes I tend to scream at the TV more than Chris when the Colt's are playing.  P.S. I only watch the Colts, if at all.  So our friends, Brian and Nikki, had a few extra seats and invited us to tag along.  It was fabulous.  "And that's another Colt's ehhhh ehhhh!"  ;0)

~I spent time with my friends from High School...this was really the first time, since High School that we all made it a point to spend quality time together.  I treasure their friendships more than they'll ever know.

~On December 13th I had my first snow day!

~Speaking of my first snow day, I spent that day in the ER....which leads me to the fact that I had my first (and for the love of God, please let it be the last) kidney stone.        

~My husband (ya know, the BEST HUSBAND EVER) for Christmas, got me tickets to see Wicked!  Seriously, he (and the show) is AMAZING!

~Celebrated my first Christmas without my Grandma Whetsel.  As sad as that was...I'm not gonna lie...I'm super jealous of the fact that she was with Jesus on his birthday!  Lucky girl!



My 2010 Favorites:
~My sister moved 7 doors down from me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~Chris and my 30th Birthday Party!  Seriously, it was so much fun!

~Making the commitment to Crosspoint!

~4th of July:  Every year we get one chance to go down to Dale Hollow, and we always go over 4th of July!  It's just so relaxing and fun to be on the boat (go ahead...sing a few lines of "I'm on a Boat"...I did), in the water, to tube and to ski!  We also always attend the John's 4th of July party.  It's just so fun to see everyone there, and spend time with them.  It's like a reunion (but without the crazy relatives)!

~I changed jobs, and became a school nurse!

~Miss Mariah Colleen was born!  I LOVE and cherish being an Aunt!

~My day with the K-boys was so much fun! 

~MJ Symphony on the Prairie...not only was it MJ, but it was a night out with my husband.  And while I cherish all the time I spend with Chris, this was something he came up with as a date for us, without me even knowing about it.  And it's moments like those that show me how much he adores me!

~Speaking of Chris, and how he's the BEST HUSBAND EVER...we celebrated 6 years together.  Though our celebrating this year, wasn't by any means under the best of circumstances...I'm still so proud of our 6 years of marriage and 10 years together.  I'm so very honored to be Mrs. Chris Elliott!  "God gave me you."


It's nice to look back and remember the blessing God has given me this past year!  

But as all we all know, the year has come to a close, and now it's time to focus on what I'm hoping for in 2011!

~I hope to be a better wife, "maschia" to the ducks, daughter, sister, granddaughter, aunt, friend, nurse, etc.  Who doesn't want to be better in all their relationships? 

~I hope to work/focus on our marriage more.  I LOVE my husband...after all, he is the BEST HUSBAND EVER.  And...I'm a very happily married woman.  Having said that, every marriage has to have effort put in by both parties to make it work.  I believe that Chris and I have a strong, healthy, wonderful marriage...but who's to say it couldn't be stronger, healthier, more wonderful?????  We're starting this by doing an 8 week Love and Marriage class.  Our church presented this the last few weeks, and without trying to sound like either of us thought there were problems, we had that awkward..."Ummmmm...what would you think...about...us...ummm...doing that...uh...Love and Marriage class?" conversation.  To which we both responded with a resounding "YES!"  We've never done any sort of marriage enrichment course/class/work...so we're both excited about this opportunity to learn from each other, and to be better spouses!  YAY TEAM ELLIOTT!

~I hope to communicate better.  This may be a surprise to some of you (but I doubt it)...I'm somewhat of a people pleaser.  I don't particularly like to rock the boat (unless it's whipping my freshmen into shape).  So when I don't agree with something, or I'm not particularly jazzed about something, or my feelings have been hurt (usually in a small way) I have a tendency to not speak up.  I realize this is all my fault!  My husband is not the overbearing/controlling kind that wouldn't let or want me to speak my mind (on the contrary, he would advocate for me to do so)...but I have trouble sometimes expressing to him how I feel about things.  Again...totally my fault, and I think it has to do with the whole "failing" thing again.  I don't want to let anyone, specifically him, down.  I think that going through this love and marriage course may help me to be a better communicator when it comes to speaking with Chris about how I feel...which will in turn help build up our marriage more (look at that...two hopes taken care of all in one)!

~I'm hoping to be better about letting things go!  I am a non-diagnosed person living with OCD!  I don't mean I have to unlock and lock the front door 567 times before I leave the house, or count to "20" 10 times before I can walk into my bedroom...I mean, I like things in their proper place and when someone moves it even 1/8 of an inch, inside my head I FREAK!  When something isn't put where it's supposed to go, I become annoyed.  I've gotten a smidge (but just a smidge) better about this since college.  I still don't understand how when a towel is used to dry hands it can't get nicely and neatly put back on the rack, or why when the cleaning lady at work dusts my office, she doesn't notice that the picture frames aren't equally facing inward at an angle, and she put the boyd nurse bear and rubber duck facing the back of the shelf and not the front!  To me...these things seem obvious and irritate me when I have to fix them daily...But they are not life/death issues.  So...again, I'm hoping to be better about letting these things go!

~I'm hoping to get more organized!  How, you ask, can I not be organized when I have above said OCD tendencies?  I am organized...I'm VERY organized.  But heavens to Betsy I LOVE organizing things...and there are a few things in my life that I've lost my organizational touch with.  Such as, since we moved into this house, I somehow magically stopped being able to send out birthday and anniversary cards!  January 11th would come and I'd say to myself (if Chris didn't ask about it and remind me already) "CRAP, I didn't get a card out to my father-in-law for his birthday!" AND...to make matters worse, I became very flippant about it!  Because after that initial thought, I'd then say to myself, "Well, Chris will call him tonight, so it's okay!  But the next person with a birthday I'll get a card out, and next year I'll make sure to send one to Dan!!!!"  But then it just kept happening!  So that's one area of need for organization.  *Side note:  I did get a card out to my father-in-law on time this year...AND I made it with the cricut cartridge my mother-in-law got me for Christmas!  I think that should earn bonus points!

~I'm hoping to start working on menu plans and use them regularly.  Chris and I are in the rut (as so many people are) of making and eating the same things, all the time for dinner.  It's just so tiring.  I LOVE to eat...and the fat girl inside me needs to be sedated with food on a pretty regular basis, multiple times a day.  So the fact that eating the same foods, coinciding with the fact that we HATE going to the grocery (so we put it off as much as possible) make us not in the mood for anything come dinner time...is hard to deal with.  I've been slowly going through all of our cookbooks.  I'm making a list of the recipes that sound yummy, easy, and don't have 5 million ingredients that we never knew existed.  I'm breaking them down by Chicken/Turkey, Beef, Pork, Seafood, Sides, and Other.  This way, when I make my weekly menu, I don't end up with 5 beef meals...plus, if I know I have chicken in my fridge/freezer already, I can just look up a chicken recipe, without going through all the cookbooks again.  My organizational skills at work ;0)  Hopefully this will get us trying new things...and give us more options to put on our staples list!

~I'm hoping to catch up on some of my scrapbooking!  I have a tendency to not scrap in order...which means, when 2009 was done and I was going to a crop night with the girls, the first thing I wanted to scrap was what had happened in January of 2010!  Sadly, I succumbed to that pressure, and have put off 2009.  However, I tried in 2010 to start at the beginning of the year, and work my way through the calendar, working in order.  This seemed to do better for me, and with the exception of a few pages here in there (due to not having pictures printed), I am up to August of 2010, and just moving right along.  This might be the first yearly scrapbook I finish in it's entirety, in well...EVER!  So, I'm going to try to stay strong and continue working on 2010 until it's completely finished, before I start on 2011!  Wish me luck!

~I'm hoping to do a weekly blog!  I realize I've said this before...and I know you're all snickering at me for this one.  But, I truly do.  There is inspiration all around me...and using the excuse that I have NOTHING to blog about is just a cop out!  I have a friend who is blogging daily for one month...now if she can find something to blog about on a daily basis (without it just being that she went to the grocery and had to fill up for $4.00/gal, ya know, the boring daily stuff) then by golly, I can find something to blog about once a week!  Who knows, there may be weeks I surprise you and have more than one thing to say...YIPES!!!

~I'm hoping we can move forward and buy a house.  Chris and I are interested in buying the house we are living in (it was my grandparents and we've been renting for a little over a year now).  Since Grandma passed away, and the process of closing the estate has been on the horizon for my Dad and Aunt, the idea of what to do about the house has come up.  We like living here.  We like that we know the house, the people who built it, it has sentimental value, it has character that NO other house has.  It's a great location, great school system (should we ever need to look into that), on a state road, but has a field out back that we can have bonfires in!  We love it...it suits us, and since we've moved in, we've been so honored to call it home.  I think Grandma and Grandpa would have been proud knowing that we've been here taking care of it, and cherishing and honoring what they worked so hard to build.

~I'm hoping to be better at encouraging others on a regular basis.  Not long ago, when were in a series with our church, and one of the things we were encouraged to do, was to think of 3 people to encourage that week.  I got more out of doing this, than probably, those that I encouraged got out of the encouragement.  It felt good lifting others up, which makes it sound very selfish to say that I want to do more of this (since I enjoyed it so much).  However, I know that the words of love that I spoke to them were things I should have been saying all along, and more regularly.  Sometimes God puts people on our hearts for reasons we don't understand...and it's in those moments that our encouraging and loving words or actions are welcomed most abundantly.  I want to show others that I love them and that God loves them at all times.

~Which leads me to my last hope (well...that I can think of at the moment)...I hope to grow more in my faith this year.  Like most other Christ followers, I have my "on" moments and my "off" moments.  You know what I mean?  The "on" moments when I feel like I'm very in tune to what God is doing in my life and I'm praying without ceasing, and I'm looking to God to carry my yoke.  Then there's the "off" moments when I can't put down my cross!  It's like I HAVE to carry it to get through the day, week, month.  It's so easy to tell someone else to give it to God and let him be in charge of it...but when it's my turn to heed my own advice I fail miserably (Ann you're not allowed to disagree with me on this one).  I've become stagnant in my relationship with God...and that's just completely UNACCEPTABLE!  I'm starting to work on this by signing up to read through the New Testament over the year.  I feel that this is a good building block for continuing to grow in my relationship with Christ.  It will get me reading His words, and processing how He's working in my life, and reminding me how much He loves me! 


Welcome 2011...we have ALOT of work to do!!!!!!!!!!!