friends. close friends. best friends. soulmates.

i have the most genuine. true. accepting. caring. loving. trusting friends, one could ever have.

this year brought so much. good times. laughs. strong, unbreakable bonds. memories i will never forget.

it brought lessons learned. a friendship that isnt always so perfect; but in the end, always mends and goes another round; is a friendship meant to be. sometimes perfection takes a few tries. but when you love someone, its worth the effort to keep working until you get it right. i know the mistakes i made in that certain friendship. and through many trials and errors, i know what it takes to get it right this time around.

ever heard the saying, "if it sounds to good to be true, then it is?". what a lesson this was to learn. when you hear and see so many "red flags" but choose to ignore them, they will eventually become "un-ignorable". to think i was fooled by the "o so perfect words spoken at the o so perfect times", my stomach rumbles. the hypocrisy. the lies. the holier-than-thou. is anyone really this perfect? just call me little red riding hood because i was defiantly fooled by this wolf in disguise. although i will remain civil to this person, being well aware of who this person really is will now always provide for an air of caution.

as for my other friends. my close friends. my best friends. my soul mates. the seven people who i am so grateful to be a part of the bond that we all share together; i love you dearly. i cannot wait to see where the new year brings us. thanks for all the wonderful times this year. and to those this applies, the years past. were like fine wine....we get better in time. we better be, since we drink enough of it. xoxo

new years resolutions - final list

ive added two new resolutions to my list, so for an update from a few blogs ago:

1. continued weight loss/no smoking 2. nursing school. 3. no more debt 4. have a baby

my two new ones:

5. go to the movies more 6. take a cooking class and a salsa dancing class with the hubby

merry, merry, happy christmas!

well, jolly ole saint nicholas has come and gone. i hope everyone got what they asked for.

christmas is so commericalized. when i was a child it was so simple. family. gifts for us kids. dinner at our mamaws house. but now, its a shoppy frenzy and the race to get the biggest and best gift. we kept it simple this year. and we were just as happy as we were last year, when we spent a small fortune. christmas is about the birth of our Lord. i wished everyone would keep that the center of their holiday.

jamie and i spent new years eve with our families. today, we enjoyed each other. we went and saw a movie this afternoon. now, getting ready for the new year. re-doing my kitchen. getting ready for part one of nursing school. im just so excited for this new year.

christmas time in the mountains

ok. cutest thing. we were on our way to the cabin yesterday, which was our christmas to each other & on the side of the highway, was a santa..waiving from his sleigh...with his reindeer. now, the reindeer was a beautiful brown cow, with antlers. it was so adorable. if it hadn't of been so cold outside, i would've stopped and paid to have my picture made.

the cabin was beautiful. cozy. we had an absolutely awesome time. from dinner, to the movie, the hottub to a 2 hour super duper bubble bath in the jacuzzi tub, everything was perfect. i cannot wait to go back. ive done a lot of things in my life, but i had never been to a cabin. it was wonderful. again, i cannot wait to go back.

christmas is a few days away. ive never, ever been so "bah humbug'ish" as ive been this year. im sure i know some reasons as to why, but i dont like being so blah! i cannot wait until the new year. mmm, exspecially for the black eyed peas and ham hock. mmm, mmm, good.

i went to the dr. today. 15 days from my 1st appt; ive lost 9.2 lbs. and havent smoked. how awesome is that. he was super duper excited. starting tomorrow, i have to start incorporating 30-min workouts, 5 days a week. i lost my gym buddy =( so im not sure if ill hit the gym or roll the trusty ole' treadmill back out. maybe a bit of both. exercise is fun, but i have to admit, id rather be shopping. its healthy. one hour of shopping can burn 150 calories.

im dreaming of a white christmas

we could have one this year. how exciting this could be!

im watching the bucket list...again. this is one of the best movies, ever. if you havent saw it...please go rent it.

ive been busy getting ready for school, starting in january. looking for a PT job to work during school. the next year is gonna be super crazy but exciting at same time. im so excited.

this week it has rained. for 7 days straight. maybe more. i love the rain but im thinkin i need a day or two of sunshine soon.

my new, new years resolutions

ive thought alot about my resolutions for next year, over the past few weeks. i think last year was the first year that i actually adhered to them and didnt forget them by mid-february. indeed, i am proud. my list last year was rather lengthy, but needed.

this year, i have a carry-over and 3 new ones. a simple list.

#1. carry-over
continue my journey of weight loss. since 12/5, i have lost 10 lbs & stopped smoking.

#2. become a nurse by 30
school starts in April. although my birthday is in October, I will be in clinicals by that time and will only be a few weeks away from getting my LPN license.

#3. debt
everything extra will go toward paying stuff off this year and getting on a strict budget. this is super important to me this year.

#4. baby
we will continue our journey to have a baby of our own.

coming soon...

lots of changes.

when one is about to turn 30; your all of a sudden aware of many, many more things, than you were just a short 365 days ago. number one, you are only 10 years from being 40. 40! 40 used to be so, so far away. now, not so much. you realize that you didnt do all the exploration you had hoped, when you left home at 18 and was going to conquer the world....travel. exotic cuisine. different cultures. im confident mexican, chinese & japanese, dont count for exotic foods and having been only to 14 states, doesnt quite count for a world traveler. the only culture i know is living in the south. impressive right?

not really. 30 years old. grrr. ive done nothing.

out of high school in '97, i turned a bit rebellious. a year i wished i could go back and redo. but the past is the past and i learned much from my many mistakes. the fall of '98, i started college. a teacher. a doctor. or an accountant; my undecided goals in life. i was in college for a semester & a half when i met jamie. 10 years later, im knocking on the door of being the big "three-oh!" and i realize that im still so undecisive about things now as i was back then. for the past 7 years i did have an awesome career that i loved and enjoyed. but its not what i want to do for eternity. personally, pushing paperwork and handling corporate problems leave me feeling that i dont give much to society.

ive been in a "ive got to find myself" phase, for the last several months. probably, the last year. knowing that 30 was approaching i knew that i had to do something that i would be proud of. something big. sometimes, a lot of little things just dont add up to something big.

change 1: after two-years of taking time away from my career to foster kids; and after grieving over the last few months for no longer fostering kids...i am actively looking to go back to work full-time. ive been stir crazy for a while. im too much of a social butterfly to sit at home. it bores my brain and i get grouchy.

change 2: i start nursing school in April. im nervous. scared. excited. impatient. ive wanted to do this for a long, long time. but this has been in works for several months. i know i love people. and i love taking care of people. and helping people. i will be a great nurse.

change 3: because i am going back to work. and because i am starting nursing school. and this is all so new to me. i will be training to become a CNA the second week of January. During nursing school; I will be working as a CNA part-time. the work of CNAs arent always glamourous. but being in the hospital culture and getting the experience of the medical field, to me...is a must.

i wished i wouldve accomplished these things 5-10 years ago. but i didnt. and im doing them now. and i couldnt be happier. im looking forward to what the next several months have in store for me.